Rockets in Ursa Major (10 page)

He turned to Ungnee. 'Come on, prisoner,' he said, 'quick march.' He made a gesture to the Essan to accompany him and walked back to the escort.

To my huge delight, well shared by the soldiers, Ungnee slipped his hand into the Colonel's and gambolled along fluting away in his musical voice. Even the back of Ganges' neck looked embarrassed.

`Get fell in,' roared the sergeant-major. 'Jump to it, Smith. What's the matter with you, Robinson!'

They formed a box round the Colonel and marched smartly off to the H.Q. building.

`Well,' said Sir John. 'He may give me the pip but --

`He has a quality,' said Betelgeuse. 'Dr Warboys, Rigel will join you at your meeting; your valve can be useful to us too.'

Betelgeuse and Sir John set off for London and I went to the labs, once more immersed in the threat of the Yela.

In an hour or so we'd overcome the problems that had arisen. Production space and men had been organized. Rhodes had dovetailed his servicing squads into the system so that there could be no delay on installation. Rigel had joined us as promised and the co-operation had been fruitful; he had a massive knowledge of the physical science, much of it a long way in advance of our own. It was flattering and stimulating to find, however, that some of my ideas were new ground for him and on my way home I wished that the situation were different and could allow us time to co-operate on some of the most interesting fields.

I was dog tired and got into bed without delay, falling asleep straight away. I must have slept restlessly for when I woke in the morning my pillows were against the far wall. My books, watch and other articles including the electronic alarm were scattered all over the room.

The door buzzer was going like mad and, feeling foul, I pressed the intercom button.

`Yes.'

`Good morning, Dick,' came Sir John's voice. 'Sorry to disturb you.'

`O.K. I'm coming.' I said, slipping on my dressing-gown. I opened the door. 'Come in.'

`I've brought a friend for you to look after for the day,' Sir John said briskly. Behind him stood a rather shy Alcyone. She'd discarded her green uniform and was dressed in a blue-green jacket and trousers.

`Good morning,' I said, a little embarrassed at my bare feet.

Alcyone laughed gently. She'd seen my quick glance at my feet. 'Good morning, Dick.'

`Well, I'll leave you. I shall be at the War Office; there is a lot to do. I'm glad your end is tied up, and a day off would do you good,' Sir John said, making his way towards the staircase.

`Come in, Alcyone,' I said, waving a farewell to Sir John.

Alcyone entered diffidently, but once she saw the general untidiness her step became more lively. She wandered around, and then made her way to the window. I must admit the view was one of the best in the university with the old chimney pots and roofs and in the distance the delicate spires of King's College chapel. A view that's probably remained much unchanged for five hundred years.

`You haven't got a translator,' I said, covering my bare feet.

`No. One of my jobs is to learn languages. When we rescued you, I had time to run a program on the English language, and then I started to learn. Betelgeuse and the others are learning too.'

`But your command of the language is extremely good for a few hours; what did you do, plug yourself into the computer?'

`Something like that,' she laughed gently.

`Laugh you may; how about applying your advanced knowledge to making a cup of tea.'

`A cup of tea, is that a drink?'

`Yes.'

`Well, I can try.'

I went back into the bedroom and tidied up, showered, shaved, dressed and hurried back to see what Alcyone was up to. She sat in the kitchen engrossed in an old cookery book, that my great-great-grandmother had used.

`Quite an interesting document,' she said, looking at a recipe for Christmas pudding.

I looked round. 'No tea?'

`Ph, I'd forgotten,' Alcyone said.

I found a couple of mugs that weren't damaged in one way or another and put tea tablets in, poured on some hot water and threw a couple of milk pills in for luck.

`You don't make tea like that,' she said.

`Don't you?' I handed one of the mugs to Alcyone.

`How to make tea,' Alcyone said, pointing to the recipe book. 'Boil a kettle of water. Pour a little boiling water into a teapot and allow pot to warm. Throw the water away and add three spoons of tea and pour on boiling water. I don't really understand it.'

I laughed. 'It's very simple really, and occasionally, when I can get tea leaves, I make it that way. I'll show you some time.'

Alcyone put the book down and looked at me thoughtfully.

`I will tell you one of the most remarkable things about you, and many people I've met on Earth,' she said, sipping her tea.

`Go on.'

`Well, you believe there will always be a tomorrow. Whatever the disasters, the days will pass and time will heal all wounds or at least the surface of these wounds,' she said.

`Well, why not?'

`Do you believe that there really is a tomorrow?' `Personally I believe in a tomorrow. Sometimes I have doubts about next year, but it doesn't last.'

`You realize that there is no real tomorrow for us?' `Oh, come off it. You'll be here tomorrow.'

`You don't understand. Soon there will be a great grief for all you Earth people.'

`I understand that we were attacked the other day, and we might be attacked again in the future, but I can enjoy today.'

`But it won't be the same sort of attack. The next time the Yela itself will come. It may be soon, it may be many years, but the Yela Will come -- and then there will be death, everywhere, all over the face of the Earth.'

`But how will the Yela produce such devastation?'

`Perhaps you will realize how when I say that the Yela are capable of moving a blanket of hydrogen around a planet.'

`How much gas?'

`As much as is in the atmosphere of the planet itself.' `Then these Yela people do have tremendous powers,' I said, getting up.

`Yes. They don't move hurriedly. A planet is slowly surrounded with hydrogen, so that below is the oxygen of the ordinary atmosphere and above is the hydrogen blanket. Then at one place the hydrogen is pressed in.'

`Good Lord!' I said, beginning to visualize the terrifying picture.

`You begin to see? The hydrogen and oxygen combine with a great release of heat. The heat causes the gas to rise and more hydrogen is sucked down. Within a few minutes the whole atmosphere everywhere -- is a raging inferno.'

`Quite a bomb. Makes a nuclear weapon seem like a pop gun.' I walked over to the window. 'How did it happen to you?' I turned to face Alcyone.

`Well,' Alcyone said, getting up and coming over to join me. 'About a hundred thousand years ago, we began spreading our people from planet to planet -- Mankind, the human species. We moved steadily from one star to the next. We thought of ourselves as masters of the galaxy. At one time, many, many thousands of planets were under our control.'

`Then this expansion, I suppose, came to an end?'

`Yes, after an attempt to invade the territory of the Yela, we were vigorously repulsed. Then the Essans joined with many other oppressed creatures and allied against us, resulting in a long war.'

Did you lose?' I asked, treading carefully.

`Not immediately. We were winning, when the federation appealed to the Yela for help. The Yela decided against us -- from then on it wasn't really a war anymore -- only continuous disasters.'

`So you had to keep moving, I suppose. Never landing at any place for more than a little while,' I said.

`That's right. Except on one planet, one fluke planet -- the Earth.'

`The Earth! Why particularly the Earth?' I asked.

`Because here, by a million to one chance, there happened to be primitive men -- creatures resembling ourselves.'

`That would be Neanderthal man,' I said thoughtfully to myself.

`Yes, that's right,' Alcyone said, catching my remark.

`So you think a few of your survivors managed to land here. Intermingled with the true inhabitants, and used them as a sort of camouflage?'

`Yes, that's exactly what happened. Now you understand why we look alike.'

`Indeed I do, but it's a weird story.'

`Yes, and to make matters worse, in time you Earth men developed space craft and went exploring. A foolish mistake, for then it was known outside your solar system that humans inhabited the Earth. You were not to know this, but the damage is done. The Yela will come.'

`Yes, but why are you so sure we're helpless?'

`We've tried everything. Your only chance is to build ships like ours and escape with us.'

`I don't see that that's the only answer. Surely we might try to argue some sort of case. After all, it's fifty thousand years since this happened.'

`Ah, yes. Fifty thousand years ago when we landed here, the Earth was teeming with animals. Today all the primitive men are extinct and many species of animals.

Your domination, to the Yela, is a form of oppression. A fine case you'll be able to argue,' Alcyone said with feeling.

The sun was beginning to come through from behind a large bank of grey clouds. It didn't seem possible, looking out over the roofs and chimneys, that somewhere out in the bluey-black depths of space was a fearsome, relentless enemy.

`You look thoughtful,' Alcyone said, taking my arm. `I am indeed! Still, let's go out for a bit,' I said. `Don't you ever learn?' Alcyone cried in despair. `Certainly, but only under severe pressure,' I said, going over to my desk. I found my pass book and credit cards.

`Where would you like to go?' I asked, tucking them into my pocket.

`Somewhere that you would like to go.'

`Fine, come on then.'

I closed the door and stuck up a note. OUT FOR THE DAY. Then I had second thoughts and added a footnote saying that my message taker was switched on. A very simple device. The front-door bell works on body temperature, so that the visitor stands for a moment until his body heat is picked up by a heat cell, then the buzzer goes. I'd put this in one day when I had nothing better to do, because people complained I was never in and lost notes and messages. When the buzzer goes it turns the tape machine on and the visitor just speaks into the intercom microphone in the door.

We walked through the old part of the college. Alcyone was very quiet and looked a little wistful at the sight of all the old buildings. I wondered if they stirred some ancient memory in her. At the main gate, I asked one of the porters to hire me a helicopter.

Five minutes of slow walking brought us to the old market square, where we were to pick up the helicopter. It is strange how tradition carries on, I thought. The Cambridge market was in full swing, with its wooden stalls covered in gaily colored fabric to keep rain and sun off the goods. Some of the stalls we passed were stacked high with potatoes, lettuce, fruit and flowers.

`It's fabulous,' Alcyone said, walking happily round a flower stall. 'I have only read and seen pictures of such things.'

We walked round the whole market several times before Alcyone would be dragged away. Funny, I thought to myself, as I followed her round. I'd been in Cambridge for over ten years and the market had never struck me as a rarity. We take many beautiful things for granted because they are familiar.

`How long do you think you'll be?' said the man with the helicopter.

`Oh. I'll keep it until tomorrow,' I said, handing over my credit card.

`Where are you going?' the man asked.

`Well, I thought I'd go over to the east coast.'

`I'll give you a stack of empty cards and you can punch them for yourself. There are some detailed maps in the front pocket.'

`Come on,' I said to Alcyone, who was engrossed by an argument over the price of some potatoes.

`Where are you going to take me?' she asked, getting in beside me.

`Well,' I said, taking a quick look at a map of the area, `how about going to Dunwich.'

`What is this place, Dunwich?' Alcyone asked as I punched out the instructions on a card.

`It's a lovely old village by the sea.'

She looked at me as though I were mad. I pushed the instruction card into its slot and started up the motors. The day was now superb, a clear blue sky, warm sun and a vast patchwork of streets below us as we took off. We were whisked on to our course and were soon out over the green countryside. Newmarket came and went.

`No wonder you don't really worry. It's absolutely beautiful,' Alcyone said, smiling happily at the fields and woods below.

In a little over half an hour we were standing on soft yellow sand looking out over the green North sea. Dunwich was a strange village, left over from the seventeenth century. Despite all that modern technology could offer, this quaint village had slipped gently into the sea. Alcyone laughed when she saw the church which was sunk in the beach almost on the sea's edge. We walked over to it, and it made me think of a giant treasure chest buried in the sand at a strange angle.

`Why hasn't all this been demolished?' Alcyone said, looking at a shattered window.

`Possibly because we've destroyed so much in the past that people don't really care what happens any more.'

`You are all full of contradictions,' said Alcyone lightly. 'You care nothing of an invasion from outer space, and yet you care about an old subsiding church. You may say that you don't care about the church, but I have a feeling it brings you and others a certain peace of mind.'

`You're probably right about it giving me peace of mind.

I like the old world, the new one is a little too precarious for my peasant approach. Tell me, how do you keep sane?' I asked, trying to imagine what I would do floating through an endless universe.