Arthur and the Andarran Rescue Read online

  Arthur

  and the

  Andarran

  Rescue

  Craig Speakes

  Copyright © 2018 Craig Speakes

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

  Matador

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  ISBN 9781789012361

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

  For Mum

  Special thanks to:

  Mouse

  Cover design by Kate Zarayewa

  Contents

  1 Andarra

  2 Banished

  3 Rybok

  4 Where Merlocks Roam

  5 Sa

  6 Char

  7 A Close Shave

  8 The Break-out

  9 Getti

  10 The Valley of the Serena

  11 Friend or Foe?

  12 The Old Watchtower

  13 A Change Of Plan

  14 Yan

  15 They Know

  16 Separated

  17 When Two Hands Meet

  18 An Unexpected Friend

  19 The Jaws of Victory

  20 In We Go!

  21 Is It Really You?

  22 A Crazy Idea

  23 M is for Merlock Squadron

  24 Tally Ho!

  25 Rendezvous

  26 Decisions

  27 A Cruel Twist

  1

  Andarra

  Arthur turned his head towards the waterfall thundering into the river a short way up the valley and closed his eyes. A gentle breeze was carrying the spray in their direction and the sensation of cool droplets on his skin felt pleasant under the soft heat of the Andarran sun. Only the sound of Sky talking kept him from forgetting he wasn’t back on Earth.

  He sighed and opened his eyes. Sky was sitting next to him, deep in conversation with the Rebel Commander’s daughter, Finna, who had befriended them after they’d arrived on Andarra more than six Earth months ago. They were discussing something about giant merlocks, which apparently could be found high up on mountain peaks. He hadn’t been paying much attention, but he understood that this bird like beast was not something to be messed with. The cat, though, was paying very careful attention.

  ‘And what exactly does this thing eat?’ asked the cat, trying to sound casual.

  Finna, who’d been about to change the subject, paused and glanced at him, her pale Andarran eyes scanning him.

  ‘If you’re wondering if it would be attracted by a species your size, I think not… I think they would prefer bigger things than you,’ she said.

  ‘Oh,’ mumbled the cat. ‘Well, that’s good then, isn’t it? I mean, it’s always comforting to know that you’re unlikely to be eaten, really, don’t you think?’

  ‘Don’t be upset, Cat,’ laughed Arthur. ‘I bet there are plenty of other things on Andarra that might be interested in you.’

  ‘Upset? I don’t know why you’re laughing – you could still end up as a Merlock’s lunch!’

  ‘Someone said something funny?’ enquired the Major, appearing, as if by magic, from the entrance into the mountain.

  Arthur looked up and smiled.

  ‘It’s the cat, Major, he’s asking again about things that might eat him.’

  ‘Ah, indeed… Yes, quite a few of them on this planet, I fear,’ replied the Major. ‘Anyway – good news,’ he announced. ‘The Argon Brigade Commander has decided that we are ready to join the rest of brigade on active duty. So, I think congratulations are in order. Well done to you both, and to the others, of course. I know it’s been particularly tough, but given the circumstances, you’ve acquitted yourselves admirably.’

  The Argon brigade was the elite wing of the Andarran military, a special forces team whose exploits had already made them the stuff of legends. As a result, many Andarrans were astonished when the small group from Earth had been allowed to train with them, especially Arthur and Sky, who were deemed to be too young for such a dangerous assignment. But it was the President of Tresk himself who had formally requested that the visitors from Earth be assigned to the brigade. Although it was high-risk, it was considered their best chance of preparing to find their captive crewmates – and Arthur’s father.

  No one knew exactly where the Solarians had taken their Earth prisoners after they had escaped Tresk’s attempt to rescue them, but it was certain that they were being held somewhere on Andarra, the sister planet to Tresk in the Tharan system. Accordingly, the President of Tresk had arranged for Arthur and the rest of the Earth group to join the rebels in the northern part of the Central Zone. That was the Andarrans’ name for the area around the middle of the planet, which they had colonised. Like Earth, the poles of the planet were covered in ice, but here the ice zones extended much further. They reached all the way up to the foothills of the zone itself, a rugged chain of mountains wrapped around the planet. Within these dense ranges were numerous lush green valleys, and it was within these that the Andarrans had made their homes.

  The arrival of the group from Earth had been greeted with a mix of curiosity, suspicion and even some animosity. But because they were there directly at the behest of the President of Tresk, it meant that they soon, begrudgingly or otherwise, became accepted into daily life. Their acceptance into the Argon brigade had meant months of tough, intensive training.

  The Major carried on. ‘And your little show yesterday, Arthur – well, let’s just say that I think it had a lot to do with today’s decision. The Argon brigade isn’t used to being outfoxed, and that was three times on the trot that we’ve been able to evade them. So now they’ve seen fit to give us a crack at the real thing.’

  Arthur felt himself blush as Sky squeezed his arm and congratulated him.

  ‘I don’t think it’s really me, though,’ said Arthur modestly. ‘It’s the Arnac. They’ve given me this ability to feel things…’

  ‘You are their Keeper,’ said Sky, ‘so of course it’s you!’

  ‘Fuf!’ meowed the cat. ‘He’s not their only Keeper and I’m still waiting!’

  ‘So,’ continued the Major, ignoring the cat, ‘we will be moving out of the Nira valley for the first time tomorrow morning. Be at the Argon headquarters at the seventh hour tomorrow, understood?’

  ‘At the seventh hour,’ repeated Sky.

  ‘Very well,’ said the Major, and he headed back towards the steep rock wall, vanishing into it.

  ‘I still can’t get used to having to say time like this. You know, the “seventh hour”, the “twenty-seventh hour,”’ said Arthur.

  ‘It’s only because that’s the closest understandable translation for us from
the Andarran words for time, silly.’

  Arthur rolled his eyes.

  Finna looked at them oddly. Her mood had changed dramatically.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Arthur, noticing how unhappy she suddenly looked.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said, averting her eyes.

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Sky.

  ‘I’m fine. You wouldn’t understand, anyway.’

  ‘Understand what?’

  ‘Nothing. It’s just that… it’s not fair, that’s all.’

  ‘What’s not fair?’ asked Arthur.

  ‘That all of you were allowed to join the Argon brigade and now you’ll start going out with them. It’s not fair! I am as good as any of you, better even probably, but I can’t join before my Passing Through ceremony, and even then there’s no guarantee of it. I’ve been training since I could walk for this, but you – you arrived on our planet and were allowed straight in!’ She got up. ‘I should go,’ said Finna, and without saying goodbye she walked back into the mountain.

  Arthur and Sky sat and watched her go.

  ‘She seems really upset,’ said Sky.

  Arthur nodded. ‘Did she ever say anything to you about the Argon brigade?’

  ‘No, nothing. I guess she must’ve been keeping it all bottled up or something.’

  ‘I guess… Come on, let’s go back, it must be time for dinner by now,’ he said.

  ‘How is it you manage to tell time by the feelings in your stomach?’ asked Sky, getting up with him.

  ‘It must be one of those new abilities that the Arnac have given me,’ joked Arthur. ‘Let’s go, Cat. If we leave you here, you’ll probably get eaten.’

  ‘Why are you in such a good mood?’ grumbled the cat, stretching himself.

  ‘Why shouldn’t I be? Didn’t you hear the Major? Training is over and tomorrow we can start searching.’

  ‘They haven’t made one search for the crew in the whole time we have been here. What makes you think they’re going to start now?’

  ‘Cat!’

  ‘Well, it’s true,’ meowed the cat.

  ‘I heard that they interrogate every Solarian they capture about where our crew is being kept,’ said Sky.

  ‘Lot of good it’s done!’

  ‘Maybe. But at least now we’ve a chance to stop sitting around and waiting for something to happen!’

  As with all the planets in that solar system, the war had come to Andarra as well, but unlike on Tresk, the Solarians had not come in such great numbers. This was a mining planet, with none of the civilities of Tresk and even less strategic importance. The Andarrans, being a very cautious race, had always distrusted strangers. As a race, they had always been miners, and although some had chosen to build in the open valleys, most had tunnelled deep into the surrounding hills and mountains. With time, they had created many fine towns and other settlements, rivalling and often exceeding those on Tresk in their artistry and finesse – their architecture stunningly carved with fine halls and courtyards, fountains and promenades.

  Whilst they welcomed opportunities to trade the fruits of their mining, they rarely did so from the comfort of their home valleys. Instead, separate areas of trade had been created, often in specially selected valleys some distance from their own.

  As a result, when the war had started, many of the valleys and areas where the Andarrans lived were still unknown to the Solarians. Indeed, Andarra had long ago developed ways to cloak entire valleys so that they couldn’t be detected from the air, and had done so even during times of peace. It was perhaps because of this, and because the Solarians had directed the full force of their war machine against Tresk, that the conflict on Andarra evolved differently.

  It hadn’t started this way, of course. In the first years of the war, spurred on by their successes on Tresk, the Solarians had thrown everything they had at the Andarran people, looking for a quick victory. But the cloaked valleys and the fact that the Andarrans lived far inside the mountains meant the Solarians had been unable to defeat them. Indeed, by the time they had stumbled across the valleys, there were very few Andarrans living there any more. The nature of the war soon changed. The Solarians maintained control of the skies, and the unforgiving nature of the mountains meant that the rebel groups were able to appear and disappear at will.

  This continued for nearly a century, until the war on Tresk began to go badly. More and more Solarian fighters and resources were steadily diverted away from Andarra to try to stem the tide of defeat. As their supplies began to run low, the Solarians that remained resorted to quick strikes and ‘snatch squads’ to capture prisoners which they would often exchange for supplies. The final years of the war on Tresk – when it seemed the Solarians were losing their grip on the Tharan system, of which Tresk, Andarra and Skellar were the inhabited planets – had given the Andarran resistance renewed vigour and hope.

  The next morning, at the beginning of the sixth hour, Captain Schmidt noisily entered the room that Arthur shared with Sky and two of the other crew members from the Horizon One: Margot, the social anthropologist, and Vijay, the systems specialist.

  ‘Rise and shine, campers!’ He barked. ‘Come on, sort yourselves out – big day today! One hour until the seventh hour! Let’s go, let’s go!’

  Margot groaned and rolled over.

  ‘A few more minutes, mum,’ she mumbled sleepily and hid her head under a pillow.

  Arthur and Sky, who were already sitting up, glanced at each other and grinned. A few minutes later they were dressed and ready. Without waiting for the others, they left the room and headed down the tall, wide stone corridor to the Mess. This was what the Major had nicknamed the eating hall, which was shared by the different brigades stationed in and around the Nira valley. As they opened the door, the sudden noise and smell of hundreds of fighters all eating and laughing made them both stop for a moment and stare. Arthur had never seen this many fighters in the Mess all at the same time. The Argon brigade section was over on the far side of the hall.

  ‘Something big must be happening,’ he said as they walked across. ‘There are way more fighters in here than usual.’

  The Major was already finishing his food as they sat down. He nodded at them.

  ‘Morning. What I wouldn’t give for a good old-fashioned breakfast,’ said the Major wistfully. ‘I make a fantastic English breakfast, you know.’

  Arthur looked at the grey substance in front of him and, without waiting, swallowed it as best he could. It was like tasteless porridge. Only Yan, the engineer, seemed to have taken a liking to it; he was always helping himself to extra servings.

  ‘Busy in here today, Major,’ said Margot, arriving a few minutes later with Vijay.

  ‘Yes, there does appear to be something afoot this morning. No doubt we will find out shortly. I suggest you concern yourselves for now with getting some of this sludge inside of you. It might not taste of anything, but it’ll keep you going!’

  The Argon brigade HQ was located on the third level of the town at the end of a long, vaulted parade, lined with wall carvings and effigies of battles the brigade had been involved in. Several squads were already assembled when they arrived. Seeing them coming, the Brigade Commander approached the Major.

  ‘Get your fighters equipped and ready to move out. There has been an unusual spike in Solarian activity within our sector,’ he said, and paused to look at them all. ‘I don’t need to tell you, Major, that there have been many who have doubted the wisdom of allowing your people to train with the Argon brigade, and had it not been for the direct request from Tresk, it would never have taken place. But, all that being said, this day you have a chance to prove yourselves worthy of the trust that has been placed in you. I hope I make myself clear.’

  ‘Perfectly clear, Commander,’ replied the Major, doing well to conceal his irritation at being spoken to in such a manner. Turning aro
und, he exchanged looks with Captain Schmidt, who understood him perfectly. The Major then accompanied the Commander inside the brigade HQ.

  ‘Right!’ called out the Captain. ‘Plasma clips, body armour, fatigues, night vision, food, water, cloaks and Mag rifles. Go and get yourselves sorted quickly. Make sure that you get enough water!’

  ‘Still no combat clothes or boots in your size,’ said Arthur to the cat as he sorted out his equipment.

  ‘Not funny,’ he meowed.

  ‘Okay but seriously, I padded the rucksack with some of that body armour, so you’re probably more protected than anyone here.’

  ‘Yes, yes – but now it’s even more uncomfortable.’

  ‘Better take it out then,’ suggested Sky, nudging Arthur in the ribs.

  ‘Oh, you think?’

  ‘I would say so. You know, if the cat isn’t happy about it and all. ’

  The cat sat and glared at them.

  Arthur put on his body armour and made sure that he had taken extra plasma clips, before filling his bottle with water and picking up the Mag rifle assigned to him.

  ‘Ready?’ He asked.

  ‘Yes, I think so. Did you remember your night vision glasses?’

  Arthur patted his chest pocket.

  ‘Come on, Cat, you can either walk or you can ride. Which do you choose?’

  ‘Hardly exciting choices,’ said the cat and jumped into the backpack.

  When the group returned to the parade ground, they were called over to join a squad of fifteen fighters, none of whom Arthur had ever seen before, and none of whom paid any attention to them.

  ‘Did you see how they ignored us?’ whispered Sky.

  ‘Yes, I don’t think they want us in their squad,’ whispered Margot.

  ‘Then we had better prove ourselves worthy of being part of this brigade!’ said the Major sharply. ‘If we are ever going to be able to achieve what we came here for, we’re likely going to need their help.’ The Major looked at each of them in turn. ‘Work as a team and the Andarrans might even learn a thing or two from us!’