Arboles Borealis (Trees From Space)

7/23/2019 Arboles Borealis (Trees From Space)

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Prologue

I think it is difficult to explain how a world ends. Or, for that

matter, how a new one begins.

All I can promise is to do my best.

In our particular case, history will prove that selfish people and

limited resources do not sit well together.

Too much pollution and the crazy exploitation of our planet led

to lots of angry weather; hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and wild

fires amongst many other things. The droughts, famines and social

unrest that came next seemed destined to lead to one terrifying

conclusion: total war.

And so with the arrival of a new global war the world we know

reluctantly disappeared.

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Chapter One

Our story begins in a future not very, very far away in anotherpoint and curve of the universe where a solar system spins formed

not unlike our own. There in that solar system on a blue and red

planet an alien spaceship readies its engines for take-off. The four

extra-terrestrials on board push buttons and pull levers with their

long, thin purple-veined tendrils. They root their eight legs to the

floor as the spacecraft begins to shake and lift itself off the ground.

Like a shooting star in reverse, the scout ship breaks through its

planets outer atmosphere and up into the vacuum of space. With a

small correction to its course the ship fires its main boosters and

surges forward on a heading towards a little blue planet that we

know as Earth.

Half a minute later a million other spaceships blast off following

very closely on the trail of that first ship.

* * * * *

As the alien craft launched itself into space, two children left

their temporary refugee tent on planet Earth to take the ten minute

walk to their much larger school tent. The boy held the smaller girls

hand and they both wore little home-made rucksacks on their backs.

The mousey-blonde hair of the boy scruffily stuck up at different

angles whilst the long white-blonde hair of the girl moved lightly in

the wind. Ben, for that was the boys name, was focused on the

creature in his green shirt pocket when his sister, Samantha, tugged

on his arm angrily. She asked her question again for the umpteenth

time. The same question Ben had been ignoring since breakfast.

Why do you have to take him to school?

Ben thought about answering, because he knew who his sister

was talking about, but decided to be obtuse instead.

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Whos Him? The cats father? he asked irritably. Ben did not

really understand what the phrase meant, it was only that he had

heard his Mum say it to his stepfather once when they were talking

about his real Dad.

Elmo of course, Samantha replied, and then for good measure,

Who dya think, you dimwit!

Ben tutted, frowned and shook his head, What do YOU reckon,

Samantha?

Ben only called his sister by her full name when he was angry

with her. He knew it made her angry too and he smiled inwardly asthat was what he secretly wanted to do. Another bit of him also knew

it was wrong, but for some reason he could not stop himself.

Dont call me that! Sam cried, You know I dont like it. The

little girl fought back her tears as she spoke. Only Daddy ever called

me that! She turned away as they walked, attempting to hide her

crying face.

Suddenly feeling very guilty, Ben stopped his sister and lookedinto her watery olive shaped eyes, Im sorry Sam. I know. I dont

mean to be mean. Please, forgive me?

He offered his little finger. Sam looked at her older brother for

a moment and then slowly hooked her dainty finger into his. Suitably

joined, they sang; Wake up fake up! Dont want to be so vain. Make

up, make up! Never do it again. Whilst they shook their linked hands

vigorously up and down.

Sam smiled but then turning serious she said, You know, I

wont forgive you properly until you answer my question. She stared

at her walking feet as she added, Its just that Petr and Pavel make

fun of me because of your ratand if you just left Elmo at home

then maybe theyd stop picking on me.

Ben was silent for a moment. He knew his little sister was right.

There were two other boys in the camp who were as old as Ben and

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they spent a great deal of their time teasing the younger children.

They were brothers. And they were bullies. Ben did not like them at

all, but they left him alone in the main, reserving their taunts for those

far smaller and weaker than themselves.

Listen Sam, you know how Elmo gets if I leave him behind and

you know how he is too. Its true that Petr and Pavel pick on you little

kids, but if they do anything to you, all you got to do is call me and Ill

come and help, Ben said earnestly. You know I will too. Like when I

rescued Elmo. They dont scare me.

This was not really true because the two bullies did scare Ben.

He was being brave for the sake of his sister, like that time he took the

brothers on. Ben hated fighting but it had seemed like his only choice

after he found the bullies torturing a little rat one day during school.

The young louts had caught it in a trap and had tied a piece of thread

to its tail. They were letting it run away a short distance and then

violently pulling the animal back with the cord. Ben had heard the

pitiful screams of the rat from around the corner and then when he

saw what the bullies were doing he had flown into a blind rage.

It had been an unusually bright sunny day but the rats

tormentors had not seen Ben until the very last second as they were

concentrating on the animal so much. As he flew at them, all red

faced fury, Petr was busy kneeling and tugging the rat from side to

side with Pavel grinning at his shoulder. Ben had crashed into Pavels

lower back at full speed, leaving the boy in a crumpled breathless

heap. Petr, meanwhile, remained rooted to the spot gawping in shock

with his mouth and eyes wide open. Ben lifted himself off Pavel and

panting angrily took the string from Petrs trembling fingers. He

punched him in the stomach, once but really hard, and picking up the

rat he caringly placed him in his shirt pocket. Leaving the bullies

sprawling in pain on the ground he took the terrified rodent home to

safety.

That had happened over a year ago and, against his stepfathers

wishes Ben had nursed the rat back to health. He named him Elmo,

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which was the name of his old dog, and he had made a little collar

with the rats name on. He fastened it round the brown, furry neck of

his new pet friend. Elmo was very grateful to Ben and loved to sit in

his shirt pocket. In fact the rat hated to be away from Ben for even asecond. He would shriek and run round in circles until his beloved

owner appeared again.

Since then there had remained an uneasy truce between Ben

and the brothers. Ben knew they bullied a lot of the other kids, even

his sister sometimes, but he basically kept out of their way as it

seemed the safest option. Now that had all changed. His sister had

mentioned them to him and being her older brother, Ben felt he hadto do something; but what that thing was he did not really know.

As it happened Ben did not need to worry much about planning

what to do. That day the teacher asked for volunteers to stay behind

after class to help organise the schools sports day and Ben wanted to

help so he told Sam to wait for him outside as the teacher had said it

would only take a few minutes. However, when Ben left the school

tent later with the other children Sam was nowhere to be seen.

Scratching his head he imagined that she was still angry with him for

earlier and had decided to just go home.

Ben wondered, as he walked, whether he was going to tell his

Mum about Sams disobedience, when he suddenly heard a muffled

shout coming from his left. He stopped and centred his hearing

towards the spot where he thought the noise had come from.

Listening intently it came to Ben again, a hand covered scream, which

was followed this time by hushed voices. The sounds were fairly

close it seemed, about four tents away, and as Ben advanced towards

them he was full of both curiosity and trepidation.

Holding Elmo, Ben was on his tip-toes as he crept up to the

corner of the tent. Carefully peeking around the edge of the canvas

and looking through the cords he saw Petr with his hand clamped

over his sisters mouth, which was crammed full of what looked like

cheese. Her arms were trapped at her sides by Petrs other arm and

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Pavel had her legs held at her ankles. Another younger boy, Jaroslav,

was clutching Sams knapsack close by. With a frightened squeak, and

before a startled Ben could stop him, Elmo was out of his hands

scampering away between the tents. Ignoring his pet, Bens gaze wasquickly drawn back to his sisters plight.

Breathless and still the three boys shared looks that were all

nervously flicking back and forth. Briefly Ben wondered why they all

seemed so anxious; it could not have been for him surely. Then he felt

the red cloud fogging his thoughts and heating his body with anger.

Explosively he sprang like a cat from his crouch towards them, his

face a snarling beast as he kicked Pavel in the small of his back. Therewas a loud crack as shoe connected with bone. Pavel screamed in

agony and lay rolling on the ground clutching at his spine. Instantly

Ben was on Petr before the bully had a chance to react. As Bens fist

connected with the other boys face Sam was finally freed from his

sweaty hands. Spitting cheese she half choked the word, Ben. And

then with a quick, deep breath the girl shouted, No, its a trap!

The warning came too late. Suddenly there were small

starbursts of pain detonating all over Bens body. He found out later

from Sam that there were three other boys there, but to him it felt like

a small army was kicking him to death. The air left his lungs with a

whoosh after a foot caught him just under the ribs and he lay

defenceless and gasping for breath. Feebly trying to cover himself

with his weakened arms the kicks rained on until Ben was close to

passing out. The last thing he heard was Petr saying something about

Pavels back and how he was going to have to pay big style. ThenPetrs foot smacked into his jaw wickedly and Ben slipped gratefully

into unconsciousness.

* * * * *

At the same time as our heroes particular ambush was taking

place on Earth a similar drama was being played out many light-years

away. The alien spacecraft was now traversing another nameless

nebula on its unbending course towards our planet. Their journey

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had so far been an extremely quiet and very uneventful affair which

was just about to change; for lying in wait, and eager to pounce, was a

small gang of space pirates. They were hiding their vessels behind

five large asteroids in the rocky ring of the closest planet as theymonitored the spaceship with greedy anticipation. The pirates could

not believe their luck, out here in the middle of nowhere a lone

spacecraft ready to be attacked and looted. Silently they watched as

the ship cleared their positions. Then as soon as the alien craft was

past the attack order came and initiating their engines they began

speeding after them.

Without any panic or histrionics the aliens immediately went tobattle stations and began evasive manoeuvres. The Weapons officer

on board rapidly pushed some buttons and brought the weapons

systems online as the Pilot twisted the ship one way and then the

other. By now the five pirate ships were attempting to direct their

fire onto the crafts main thrusters. The Pilot was finding it difficult to

avoid the pirates plasma cannons as the occasional deep red flash

would light the view on his screen. So far the spaceships defensive

shields were holding but it was only a matter of time before theyfailed. The Pilot communicated its concerns to the Captain who

relayed the thoughts to the Weapons Officer, who in turn blinked its

eight eyes in affirmation.

The pirates were now sending repeated radio transmissions

calling for the aliens to desist or die. At the same time, and like a pack

of hyenas hunting their prey, they were also attempting to encircle

the ship. Concentrating on its computer display the Weapons Officerconfigured and got sequential target locks on all of the pirates space

crafts. Without waiting the alien fired. A huge blinding flash filled the

pirates vision as the alien weapon hummed and powered up.

Blinking as they recovered their sight the pirates watched as a

multi-coloured column of rainbow light shrank down to a singular

pinpoint of brightness which shone beautifully in its formation. This,

fortunate in a way, was actually the last thing the space pirates ever

saw. Within the space of a millisecond the beam had leapt like a

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lightning bolt between the five chasing ships. At its touch and in

quick succession they instantly froze and began to shimmer. Then

with a slightly different but small and insignificant slurping pop, each

and every one of them imploded into dark matter.

Without pausing to survey the mini-black holes they had just

created the alien ship continued on towards its Earth-bound

destination. The fleet followed.

Chapter Two

Sam was helping her brother as they entered their familys tent.

The other boys had run off pretty quickly after they had seen

that Ben had lost consciousness, and Sam had sat waiting at his side

until he slowly opened his bloodied eyes.

Oh Ben, Sam cried in delight when he had blinked awake, I

thought you might be dying!

Uhhh, my head, Ben returned, feeling his bruised and swollen

face gingerly with his fingers.

Ben, are you ok? Sam asked looking with concern at her

brother. You look terrible, and your foots really bad.

Saying nothing and trying to get up Ben had seen that his left

foot was unshod and bleeding from a cut. He pushed Sams proffered

hand away and took a deep breath before standing. After pausing to

get his balance back he tried to walk but this only opened the wound

more and he immediately collapsed to the ground gritting his teeth

against the tremendous stinging pain. And so, after a moment, Ben

grudgingly accepted the offer of help from Sam and with him leaning

on his Sister like a crutch, they had wordlessly struggled back.

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Their mother was at the low table in the corner of the tent that

they called the kitchen. She had been chopping vegetables and now

she put the knife down and flicked a loose strand of blonde hair

delicately behind her ear. Ben watched his mother and marvelled athow she managed to do everything just as good now as any time

before the accident.

The accident. It had happened a little over five years ago, Ben

was just eight and the war was still raging. Their father was away

fighting whilst they remained back in the relative safety of their

mountain valley home.

It was a very small but normal village in the Czech Republic;

stone built buildings with grey tiled roofs lining several winding

streets. Ben and Sam had been born in the country as their parents

had emigrated there just before all the troubles. Ben remembered

playing in the village fountain when the sun had been really hot,

which was most of the time. Then one day his mother had told him

not to go outside anymore because the Leaders had, for once, actually

agreed that the solar radiation had reached very dangerous levels.

After that Ben had to stay inside most of the time. The only exception

was the three half days of Special school, which soon became two,

then one and finally none at all. The sun had got too hot and you

could only go outside if you were totally covered, which for their

mother, had made every shopping trip a hot, sweaty and difficult task.

There was no television, neither digital nor satellite and the radio

only broadcast war news. So Ben was stuck inside a dark house with

nothing to do but play and look after his little sister.

Samantha idolised Ben. Her first actual word had been his

name and she followed him everywhere in the house. Sam loved him

so much that she would copy him a lot of the time, even imitating her

older brother when he threw his temper tantrums. She would cross

her arms and screw her face up just like he was doing, then uncannily

she would stamp her foot down at exactly the same moment as Bens.

On the first occasion this had happened, Ben had been immediatelysurprised out of his anger. He had passed a puzzled expression from

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his sister to his mother and then back again before all three had burst

out laughing. Their mother had then scooped both of them up tightly

in her arms and exclaimed, I love you two so much, and with tearful

but smiling eyes added, When Daddy gets back well be the happiestfamily in the whole world.

Sam continued to do this mirroring trick for the following two

years and at times they would all finish like that first time; laughing

together happily. On other occasions however, Ben would find

himself getting angrier and even though he knew he would feel better

if only he could laugh, he was not be able to stop the rage rising and

filling his body. When this happened Ben would go bright red andrun out of the room usually shouting something like Its not fair or

Everybody hates me.

On the day of the accident the tantrum followed pretty much

the same routine as before; his mother had told him off for eating

some snacks without asking and Ben could only see contradictions in

her argument. She was always saying the number one priority in life

was good health. Ben thought eating well was part of this and had

decided that it meant he could help himself because he was hungry.

He had been trying to explain this logic to his mum but had found that

it was making less sense now, and his frustration was boiling towards

anger. His face began turning beetroot and as his foot followed its

usual course he sensed his sister behind him. He spun round as soon

as they had stamped their feet and, looking at Sam, had screamed I

hate you.

Sam stared at her brother for a second and was frightened. She

had never seen him quite so angry, and when he began charging

towards her she turned to flee as quickly as she could, which at three

years old was not very fast. Ben saw his sister attempting to escape

and this only made him more determined to get her. He accelerated

to within a grabbing distance as they both emerged from the house,

and that was when it happened. There were three loud crackling

bangs above their heads and just before the first bomb hit Ben saw

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three little dots high in the sky speeding away into the yellow grey

clouds.

The force from the explosion hit Ben and Sam from behind like

a giant fist of hot air and debris. They were thrown off their feet and

landed in the garden about five metres away from the house. The

noise and smell that hit them a split second after the blast left their

ears ringing and noses running. The huge shock of the event meant

the two siblings found themselves sitting statue still on the ground

with their mouths hanging open in fearful wonder.

Deafened, coughing and blinking red eyed through the dust the

two children looked around at the village they had known all their

lives. Now it was unrecognisable. Everywhere their gaze turned they

saw collapsed buildings, mangled cars and trees splintered and

broken or completely uprooted. It was when Ben saw the village

fountain, half missing and spraying water sideways that his thoughts

worriedly sprang to his mum.

It seemed as if Sam had read his mind because they both rose at

the same time and looked towards their ruined house. Staringthrough the thinning cloud of pulverised brick and mortar they saw a

small mountain of rubble in the place where their home used to be.

The bomb had not hit the house directly and as such a few of the walls

were still standing. Surprisingly the kitchen wall remained fairly

intact and still boasted a window frame which the two children ran to

look through.

The view that greeted them did not leave much room of hopefor their mother. The only familiar item that could be seen was the

misshapen kitchen sink which sat half buried and upside down with a

wood beam resting on top. Broken tiles and shards of glass lay

amongst smashed plates and twisted cutlery. There were thin jets of

water arcing from punctured copper pipes and sparks firing from

loose electrical cables, but apart from that there were no other signs

of movement.

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Time stood still for Ben and Sam as they wrestled with hitherto

unknown fears and emotions. Their thoughts flew in the face of

reason as they both refused to believe the worst.

She just cant be dead. Ben sobbed.

Sam remained frozen by his side and felt a solitary tear roll

down her dust covered cheek and drop to the floor. Maybe this was

some kind of magic catalyst because suddenly it appeared as if a tiny,

miniature dragon had exhaled a short puff of smoke heavenwards

from the middle of the pile.

Holding their breath the two children stared at the spot forwhat seemed to be an age until eventually another small cloud

appeared. Ben began to jump up and down excitedly.

Sam, dya see that too? he asked impatiently.

With a lost light returned to her eyes his sister nodded rapidly

in answer and then followed on her brothers heels as he immediately

sprinted into the house.

Ben was frantically pulling at the debris with his bare hands as

Sam put her palm forcefully on his shoulder. She stood there, eyes

bright, with her finger in front of her lips. Ben stopped digging and

recognising the sign for be quiet bent his head to listen. As if on cue

there was a much muffled, almost inaudible cough from beneath their

knees. Nervously they both shuffled slowly backwards and, as one,

lent in closer to where the sound had come from.

Mum? Ben called. Is that you? His voice was shaking with

adrenaline fuelled worry; scared that his mind might be playing tricks

on him. The eerie reply that greeted them was a profound and silent

stillness. They sat, feeling alone and cheated, waiting for anything

like an echo of that ultimate sound. Seconds passed into minutes and

then, just when their hopes were beginning to fade, it came again. But

this time in place of a cough the very faint, weak but unmistakable

voice of their Mother rose to meet them.

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* * * * *

After Ben had gone for help their Mother was rescued fairly

quickly from her temporary tomb. She was very badly injured and

they took her directly to the emergency field hospital close to the

village. Her spine had been broken in two places and her left arm

crushed by the wooden beam. Even after numerous operations the

Doctors could not manage to save her legs or arm but they did

manage to save her life.

Following more surgical interventions and months of agonising

recuperative therapy she was finally released from her Doctors care.

She was given a joystick controlled wheelchair and the family were

assigned a tent in the newly set-up refugee camp where Ben and Sam

had to help their Mother with simple chores like getting dressed,

washing and going to the toilet. After a while though, she became

more confident in her own abilities and with time required the

childrens help less and less. Now she was also practically capable of

carrying out every task she and her husband deemed necessary of a

wife and mother.

Ben was staring at his Mum, the pain in his face and body

momentarily forgotten as he felt a huge surge of pride, when he saw

her turn to look at him. Her features slowly changed from that of

calm, serene beauty to one of horror and disbelief. Ben. She

blurted, then recovering her composure only slightly, added, What

on earth has happened to you!

Moving over to the two children she tenderly touched thebattered and bloodied face of her son. Wincing as her caress sent a

few painful shockwaves shooting along his nervous system Ben

unsuccessfully tried to open his mouth. Seeing that her brother was

having difficulty speaking Sam began to explain what had happened;

the boys trap, her as bait, Ben rescuing her and then the beating, how

she thought Ben dead, and finally the struggle home.

Oh my word, their mum said looking with a slightly puzzledexpression at Sam, Thats really terrible. Then after a short,

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questioning pause she said, Its also extremely hard to believe. And

you know how your father is. Hes going to get very angry if its not

the truth. Turning to Ben she asked, Are you sure you havent just

been picking fights with Petr and Pavel again?

Ben and Sam shared a quick glance of raised eyebrows until Ben

shook his head and tried to speak again before grimacing against the

pain throbbing from his swollen lips.

No Mum, its true! Sam answered for her brother.

Well I hope it is, their mother replied worriedly, Because

your father will definitely have something to say about it when hegets home, then softening her expression she added, But before all

that, lets take a proper look at my little man and see if we cant get

him cleaned up a bit.

Chapter Three

What a load of twaddle! Their stepfather shouted. What a

pile of tripe and nonsense!

But they swear its what happened, explained their mother.

Dont you think we should believe them? At least go see the otherboys mothers and ask? She reasoned.

No, I dont think we should believe them! Remember the

rubbish he spouted about that damned rat? Was all a charade, the

boy attacked those kids without any provocation; he just wanted to

steal their pet. Im telling you Irene that son of yours is a bad egg, and

now hes dragging his sister into his backward world. Their

stepfathers voice swung from anger to outrage. Youre too soft onhim Irene, He claimed. You molly-coddle him. He needs discipline;

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needs to learn how to be a man! At this he balled up his fist and

struck his chest.

Their mother looked at Ben and Sam and then turned to her

husband and said fairly forcefully, No, I dont think Im too soft on

him. Look at him; hes a mess because someone did that to him.

Someone attacked my son and if they say these six boys did it then I

believe them. She held back her tears as she pressed on, For once,

Kazimr, I think you should listen to me and go see the other boys

mothers because if you dont.... then, I will.

All right woman. Stop with your crying. Ill go and see them,

conceded their stepfather. But if I find out theyve been lying to me

then Im going to have to teach them some respect and none of your

whingeing and whining will stop me, okay? He concluded. Then he

turned to Ben and said harshly, You hear me boy, you got some hard

lessons coming if you be messing with me, understand? Now get to

your room.

Ben limped to his room which, basically just two canvas walls,

were dividing him from the rest of the family. He sat grumpily on hisground-mat bed and tried to block out the noise by stroking a

sheepish Elmo who had returned to his master after the bullies had

run off. Unfortunately this did not work and Ben listened as his

mother was treated to a barrage of shouting from his stepfather. He

was arguing about Ben, claiming that it was because he had been

without a male influence for too long, that because of his supposed

learning difficulties they had spoiled him, and all this had helped turn

him into a right little brat. Then Kazimr said something that made

Bens temper instantly rise from smoulder to boil; Maybe it was

lucky that his father got killed, gave me the opportunity to sort him

out before it got too late.

The young boy, squatting on his bed, covered his ears against

the insults and began to shake with a fury that felt unlike any he had

felt before. How could he say that about my Dad? Ben raged

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inwardly, then, How could he say all that to Mum? The idiot knows

my Dad was a hero cos it was himwho brought the medal here!

It seemed like ages now but was factually only two years since a

grey and solemn Kazimr had come to their tent and they had thought

they were in trouble. He was head of the camps Security Force and

he was always harassing people about things like wasting water,

saving rations or the after dark curfew. It was Kazimr himself who

had decided to create the Security Force because he had argued the

refugees needed some form of protection and direction. Nobody had

objected to the idea in principle and the Security Force was officially

inaugurated with Kazimr in charge. Consequently the majority ofthese new policing vigilantes were drawn from his friends and all

they did nowadays was to go round waving their guns and telling

people off. It was strange but Ben had felt that they were far better

off before these guys had actually shown up.

After a time and claiming a need to share the workload Kazimr

had decided to create a younger version of themselves; the Security

Force Cadets. A good few boys had eagerly joined up with the

prospect of handling weapons and explosives at the forefront of their

minds. Ben had decided he would rather not. He had thought that

whatever Kazimr was teaching could not have been that good

because from the start both Petr and Pavel had become his favoured

students.

Now the bullies teacher was standing there, at the opening to

their tent, with a telegram from the European Alliance Military

Command and a hand written letter for each one of them. He stood at

attention and passed the envelopes to their mother who was now

openly weeping. Mum, whats wrong? Ben asked, wondering if this

man could upset people just by being there.

Looking with an irritated expression at Ben, he began, Mrs

Simmons, his narrow lips spitting the words out underneath a

grey-white handlebar moustache, On behalf of the EAM Command I,

Kazimr A. Hubnik, Security Force Commander, am hereby authorised

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to convey the sad news that your husband has been killed in action.

Their mother sobbed loudly and she was visibly trembling as the

security chief pressed on, We inform you that he died a hero; whilst

pulling two of his injured men from an ambush he was shot by anenemy sniper. He died instantly and without suffering.

Ben and Sam began to cry too, their thoughts refusing to accept

these fateful words. It just could not be; Mum was always talking

about Dad coming home, and now here was this horrible man telling

them that they would never see him again. Ben wanted to stop him,

kick him, tell him he was wrong, anything to cease the sickening

drowning sensation he felt. Please go away. We dont need you.Ben aimed mentally at the man standing in front of them.

Agitated, Kazimr paused for a moment and then swallowed

before continuing, Posthumously your husband, Richard F. Simmons,

Sergeant First Class, has been awarded the King William Cross for

Exceptional Valour on the Battleground. He stopped and handed

their mother the medal. Then half-leering with his dark beady eyes

he took her delicate hand into his hairy grip. My sincere condolences

Irene. he said. If theres anything you need, anything at all, just send

one of your kids to get me and Ill be here quick as a flash. Youre the

priority now, you know Irene, for the family and all that. He added

with a thinly disguised sneer before releasing her from his sweaty

grasp. He left promising that they would see him very soon.

Three months later their mother and Kazimr were married. To

Ben and Sam it seemed like a cruel joke; to lose their father and to

have him replaced by this other, lesser man, but their mother seemed

sort of happy. The honeymoon period, though, was short. It only

lasted for about seven weeks and then, for some reason, it changed.

One day they were to be rudely awakened by their new step-father

screaming for his breakfast, and demanding to know why his uniform

was not cleaned. It did not seem to matter that their mother was in a

wheelchair; Kazimr wanted a normal wife who behaved as he

commanded. These demands had not changed since that day, withtheir mother following a strict routine of cooking and cleaning and

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trying to make sure the children did not upset their new father too

much.

Unfortunately, and against all of the familys best attempts,

Kazimr still got upset a lot and would usually shout for a bit and then

disappear for hours. Just like now; he was still raging at Bens mum,

repeating the same argument over again and only pausing for quick

rasping breaths. Ben could not bear to sit there any longer and hear

his stepfather shouting at his mother like that so he decided it a good

time as any to escape. Placing Elmo safely in his shirt he lifted the

exterior wall of the tent and shuffle-crawled out underneath into the

moonlit night. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he hadtaken a deep lungful of warm, slightly humid air he sprinted off,

keeping low and scooting from tent to tent; his intention to avoid the

curfew patrols completely.

Silently and without incident Ben reached the ruins of their old

bombed village and rested for a minute to get his nerves under

control. He had never tried to get to his secret place at night and now

he was having doubts about the need for this escapade. He could

sporadically see the beams of the torches moving in the near distance

as one Security Force team carefully searched their surroundings

whilst they patrolled. As the distant grinding noises from their

torches dynamos floated towards him on the air Ben started to

worry. His mind flicked fearfully to the future and then returned to

his familys tent and the angry voice of Kazimr and he knew if he had

stayed he might have done something he would later regret.

The problem now was the five kilometre stretch of open,

slightly hilly ground called No-Mans Land that lay between the

abandoned village limits and the black face of the mountain which

housed his goal. Ben could see the torch lights slowly fading as the

patrol group moved away from him but he had no way of knowing if

the next patrol were that close behind them. He started trembling, his

breathing rapid; a feeling of panic beginning to well up inside of him.

Before the SF Cadets were formed he had never really worried aboutavoiding the single patrol that Kazimr sent out every day. However

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the fervent desire of the younger recruits to catch and punish

someone meant Ben was now more than a little preoccupied with his

own well-being. He started to imagine the things Kazimr, Petr and

Pavel would do if they caught him in No-Mans Land and he began tosweat and go dizzy.

Weakly Ben plunged into his pocket, his hand shaking against

Elmo who squeaked in protest, and dug out a crumpled photograph of

his dad. It was the only one he had and it had become a bit scratched

over the years but his fathers image could still be made out fairly

well. Ben looked into the rugged but handsome face of his dad and

begged him for some kind of guidance or assistance. There was noanswer immediately and Ben felt himself slowly growing fainter

when unexpectedly from out of nowhere he remembered something

his father had once told him.

It was from a now solidifying memory when his dad had held

his hands firmly after one of his tantrums and looked hard into his

eyes. Ben adored looking into those blue eyes, so full of light, life and

love, even on those occasions when his father was angry with him.

This time though his Father had been extremely consternated and

very serious. Ben, you have to calm down son, he said, then

continued You know youll never be able to truly grow up until

youre able to beat those rages.

But its something I cant control Dad, Ben argued. If I cant

control it how can I beat it? He reasoned. Smiling his father had sat

him on his knee to teach him about the importance of concentrated

breathing. It was weird, Ben thought for a second, because even

though he had completely forgotten that days lesson until this

moment he now remembered those instructions perfectly to a word.

A little laboured at first, but like his father had taught him, Ben

managed finally to slow his breathing to a deep and steady rhythm.

He clasped his hands over his belly to feel the air moving in and out of

him, inhaling through the nose and exhaling from the mouth. At the

same time he imagined a cool stream of blue healthy air going in and

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hot red angry air coming out with every breath. The doubtful

thoughts still remained but it seemed as if they were becoming lighter

and less solid. In time the worries appeared either to float away or

evaporate completely. Surprised, Ben sensed his body relaxing andso, pushing the last remaining doubt about careering into the second

patrol group from his head, he decided to make a run for it.

* * * * *

Whilst Ben was making up his mind and only one galactic

branch distant from our own, the aliens on board their spaceship

were also debating their next move. Having up to now encountered

nothing similar to that of the space pirates, the lone craft had just

come upon an expansive green force-field that spread away in all

directions as far as they could see. Up, down, left and right; it stood

blocking their path like an immense wall in space. The initial scans

revealed that the energy was being generated from thousands of huge

metallic globes that floated in the semi-transparent greenness.

The Science Officer explained that the massive force-field

circled an entire spiral of the galaxy. It spoke through its verticalmouth in a loud, crackling monotone; each word seemed to be a

single drawn out syllable. The alien argued that they had to pass

through this energy-field in order to reach Earth otherwise their

missions chances of success would fall to zero. Though there were

some concerns over what would happen if they were to cross into the

green light the Science Officer was fairly convinced that it was simply

a motion detection system. The ships computer, however, warned

that it could actually be something far more sinister. It was a form of

light energy that they had never encountered before.

The Captain stood pensively, listening to all of the arguments

and conjecture. Then, standing taller, the alien commanded the Pilot

to manoeuvre the ship closer to the most immediate sphere. The

Pilot responded, starting up the ships thrusters, and the craft sped

alongside the wall of green energy towards the nearest globe. As they

approached their objective the Pilot slowed the ship. They watched

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curiously as red, yellow and blue lights on the balls surface began

flashing randomly; noticeably speeding up as they drew closer.

Bringing the craft to a halt directly in front of the sphere the Pilot

turned questioningly towards the Science Officer as the lights startedstrobing violently. The answer was a quick, stiff shrug.

Even though the aliens ship was absolutely dwarfed by the

silver orb the Captain ordered the Weapons Officer to fire upon it.

With the press of a button the command was followed and the bay

doors swung open on the crafts underbelly. Four large sleek missiles

dropped and then surged towards their target. Closing in on the giant

ball they broke apart and each missile then released a further fiftysmaller rockets which sped at different angles towards the globe. The

detonating impacts from the multiple strikes sent explosions

blooming across its surface.

What followed was as dramatic as it was unexpected; the giant

orb began to shake violently and huge energy bolts started shooting

over it like an overloading Frankenstein machine. Amongst all this

chaos a short range automated signal was received from the sphere.

The repeated transmission was in a language of colours and the ships

system was finding it extremely difficult to translate. The Science

Officer shifted four eyes from the communication monitor to the

Pilots view screen as a particularly large blast rocked their craft. The

orb appeared to be in the throes of blowing itself apart.

Instinctively the Pilot retreated to a safer distance as the metal

globe in front of them began to crack and suffer much larger

explosions. Now, from their two hundred kilometre vantage, they

could see miniscule specks from inside the sphere floating out into

space or into the fluttering force-field where their existence was

ended with a quick, tiny flash.

The globe was collapsing in on itself and appeared to hold its

breath for a second whilst it shuddered. Then, rapidly expanding to

beyond its limits, it blew up. The blast was immense and shook the

aliens spaceship as its shockwave pulsed passed them. At the same

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time a flash of intense green energy was sent radiating over the

force-field in every direction.

The aliens watched the green energy-wall shiver as the bright

wave-like pulse began to strike the neighbouring globes. With the

destruction of each orb the force-field visibly weakened and the

shockwaves grew in number as each spheres destruction caused

those adjacent to follow suit. Like soap bubbles in a wash-bucket; as

one burst the next ones popped and on and on until eventually all that

was left was clear space.

Diminishing, the fading green energy wall in front of them

flickered brilliantly once and then died completely as the last giant

ball self-destructed at some far-off point. Now all they could see on

the view screen was general cosmos and the scorched remains of the

globes spinning gently in the emptiness. Somewhat surprised, the

aliens cheered their success. It had worked far better than expected;

from their single shot they had managed to collapse the entire energy

grid.

Then the Science Officer spoke. The computer had justmanaged to translate the coloured radio transmission. Now playing

over and over again was the message; PLEASE STOP. WE ARE

NON-VIOLENT SPECIES. WE HAVE NO WEAPONS. THESE ORBS ARE

OUR HOME. PLEASE STOP. Silently the aliens looked at the Science

Officer who responded by widening his eyes. After a brief wait, and

without any obvious remorse over the apparent extinction of an

entire race of intelligent beings, the Captain ordered the Pilot to

retake their original heading.

Chapter Four

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Sprinting as fast as he could across No-Mans Land, Ben was

enjoying himself. The fears of being captured completely gone from

his head, he now ran with his eyes closed. He had never felt more

alive. His heart was beating strongly and Ben listened to the bloodsurging past his ears with a natural exhilaration. It seemed to him

that everything was as one, his body and mind relaxed in their mutual

activity of maintaining his balance and velocity in the darkness. Even

so, every now and again he would hit a patch of uneven ground and

stumble, almost falling. Each time, and with his eyes still tightly shut,

Ben sensed his legs taking quick, stuttering steps until they regained

his bodys centre of gravity. Then grinning even harder; on he went.

Bens joy would have been short lived though had he known

that roughly four hundred metres away the other patrol group was

slowly moving towards him. They were supposed to be following the

same route as the first team but had managed to lose sight of them a

while ago. Since that time Petr and Pavel had been whispering

disparaging remarks to the other cadets about Jaroslavs dad who was

supposed to be leading the young boys of the patrol. Blind idiot cant

follow a straight line...or a torch light. Petr now said under hisbreath.

Yeah, Pavel added equally hushed. Dude needs to take

orientation training again or summink. What a twonk.

Shut up! Jaroslav interjected angrily, after his patience had

finally run out. Youre the blooming twonks. He fired.

Jaroslavs father, embarrassed, turned to his son, Jaroslav? Areyou talking in the ranks? Then, with his voice trailing off weakly,

You should know better than that son. The other cadets sniggered

in thinly veiled contempt at his avoidance of dealing with the real

problem. Then either oblivious to the older boys insults or ignoring

them completely he told the surprised group that Petr and Pavel were

being put temporarily in charge before he left claiming he was off to

search for the lost patrol.

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With the two bullies in command the patrol had managed

thirteen seconds of dragging themselves around No-Mans Land,

half-heartedly shining their torches at imaginary enemies. More fun

was to be had in tripping each other up or punching one another onthe arm. From this general bodily harm some sadistic rules had

developed where any boy who dropped his torch was deserving of a

quick beating from the rest of the group. Having invented the game

Petr and Pavel had then focused all of their violence on Jaroslav,

repeatedly punching his torch holding arm in an attempt to loosen his

grip.

Jaroslav had been resisting solidly until, somewhat inevitably,Pavel struck a point on his elbow that had sent a numbing tickle

shooting up to his shoulder and down to his fingers. With a cry of

pain and despair the boy watched as the torch slipped from his hand

and started to fall to the ground. Before it had even reached halfway

Petr and Pavel were on him, pushing him to the ground and then

laughing raucously whilst kicking him on his torso. The two other

boys quickly followed, gleefully adding their fists and boots to the

game. Jaroslav lay on the ground, curled into a ball in an instinctiveattempt to protect himself from the blows. He did not cry, knowing

from past experience that this would only make things worse.

Ben was still running. He was also still heading directly

towards the group of thugs whom at this moment were initiating the

beating of their companion. Unaware of the danger laying in front of

him Ben felt as free and as light as a speck of dust in the breeze.

Eyelids clamped closed he maintained his speed until he blindly halffell into a particularly large divot and his legs went splaying. He

opened his eyes as his knees gave up and buckled under the effort of

staying upright. Thrusting out his hands, he tumbled head first

towards the ground, wincing in anticipation of the impact.

Skidding to a stop about twenty metres away from the boys,

Ben lay wondering if what was in front of him was exactly that which

he had glimpsed as he fell. Slowly lifting his face from the dry,powdery earth his fears were horribly confirmed as he stared at the

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boys attacking Jaroslav. Silhouetted, with his back to him, Pavel

seemed like a windmill with his arms spinning round in great arcs

and thudding into the boys thighs. Opposite him Petr was on his

knees roughly slapping Jaroslavs face whilst the other boys weretaking turns at kicking his ribs. As Ben watched the four assailants

laughing gleefully he wondered why Jaroslav was not crying out or

screaming or anything.

All of a sudden Petr stopped and indicated to the others to do

the same. Breathing heavily whilst he stood the bully smiled and then

frighteningly turned his gaze and pointed in Bens direction. Scared,

Ben held his breath and pressed his body into the ground as much ashe could; hoping that if he was still enough Petr would not be able to

see him anymore. He closed his eyes and imagined he was a big rock

lying there as naturally as anything in the world. Though panicking

Ben really need not have worried; Petr was actually just pointing at

Pavel and paid absolutely no attention to the bit of dark uneven

ground behind his brother.

Time dragged for Ben as he refused to lift his head or even open

his eyes in case the slightest movement drew the attention of one of

the patrol. Fortunately, for the terrified boy, the cadets had totally

lost their bearings during the impromptu beating and were now

heading back the way they had come. After a while Ben could hold his

breath no longer and he gasped in a big gulp of air. Breathing out

slowly he opened his eyes and, surprised, saw that the group was

moving off away from him and he sighed hugely with relief. Not

hanging around to see if they returned Ben quickly picked himself upand, diverting his course to keep their torches as far from him as

possible, he continued his trek onwards.

Ben was struggling as he neared his goal; the brief encounter

with his old enemies had left him strangely weak and drained of

energy. He could not remember the last time he had felt so frightened

and the experience was something he did not want to repeat again.

Without desiring to, Ben remembered the day they had found outabout their Fathers death and how he had been crippled from the

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sadness and loss he had had to endure. The strength of his terror at

being discovered a moment ago matched the feelings of that fateful

day and now all he wanted to do was arrive at his destination and

sleep.

Reaching the craggy face of the mountain Ben felt his spirits

returning to their former levels. He stood rapidly, excited, looked

around slowly in the dark and then glumly slumped down to the

ground. With all the tension Ben had forgot his torch at home and

now did not know how he would be able to find the way to his secret

place in the black of the night. He cursed himself for being so stupid

and began to feel his anger rising as he repeated the same thought,simultaneously banging his forehead with his fist. Then recalling the

breathing thing from earlier he stopped and went to his shirt pocket.

However this time, in place of the photo, Ben scooped Elmo out with

his hand.

Listen Elmo, I think were stuck unless you can help, he said

earnestly. I really, really need you to find the way to our secret

place. You got to do this for me; please youre my only hope.

Elmo looked at Ben in a very curious way and then started to

clean his whiskers with his front paws. Ben, self-consciously felt a

little ridiculous but pressed on regardless.

Elmo, my little friend, do you think you can do it? He queried,

wondering at the same time if he actually believed the rat was

capable of understanding what he was asking. Halfway through his

question, and causing Ben to start, Elmo leapt from his masters handto the floor and began snuffling around. After a couple of long

doubtful seconds the rat scampered off among the boulders and Ben,

half shocked, followed fast on his heels as best he could. After a

couple of scary Elmo, I dont see you moments, and a few minutes of

scrabbling, they reached the mouth of the cave that led to their secret

place. The rat had returned each time Ben called, his head popping

out from behind a rock and then, secure in the knowledge that his

master was there, had immediately taken to his route again.

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Having arrived, a somewhat amazed and exhilarated Ben had

grabbed his pet and kissed and praised the little animal for being such

a clever creature. Lovingly placing Elmo back into his shirt Ben

started to clamber over the pile of rocks that normally hid the cave,but which now in the dark were more of a curse than a blessing.

Carefully he picked his way up to the top of the mound and felt for the

large loose stone that guarded his secret. Ben silently thanked his

Father. For it was he, or more justly his photo, that had led him to

this place.

The photograph had come with the letters that his Father had

written, delivered to them by Kazimr. After the Security Force manhad gone Ben was left alone as his Mum and Sam both wept

inconsolably together on their Mothers bed. He had tried talking to

his Mum but she had just looked at him before bursting into much

greater floods of tears. Not wanting to upset her any more Ben had

left. He took his letter with him and went to the edge of the camp,

next to the fenced off ruins of the village, where he could be alone. He

had had to sneak past Jaroslavs dad who was, as usual, sleeping on

guard. Sitting down, he numbly opened the envelope and read theletter. Apart from the photograph there was nothing new in it; he

knew his Dad loved him, he knew he would have to grow up now, he

knew he would have to take care of his Mum and sister, and worst of

all, he knew that his Dad was totally gone forever.

Feeling sick in his stomach and with tearful eyes Ben fumbled in

the envelope for the photo that the letter had claimed was there but

found nothing. Frantically, head turning rapidly, he scanned hissurroundings but saw only the red dusty earth that was there every

day. Desperately he stood up and looked towards the no go zone of

the abandoned village and saw it. Lying about thirty metres from him

was the small white pictured square that was all that remained of his

Father. Not thinking twice about breaking the Security Forces rules

Ben immediately climbed over the fence to collect his valuable

treasure.

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It was as Ben reached for it that a curious wind blew up from

nowhere, gusted past him and lifted the photograph into the air and

further into the ruined village. It landed, again roughly thirty metres

away, and rested with the upright image of his Father appearing tolook at him. Although a little puzzled Ben once more went to retrieve

the picture and once more it scooted away in another gust. The photo

danced past the burnt out and rusted shell of a car before skipping on

and over the village fountain which now lay broken underneath a fine

covering of yellowish grey-green lichen. Finally Ben caught up with it

as it came to rest outside their old house. Noticing the absence of any

kind of breeze he made his move, diving down to clutch his prey, but

once again the wind beat him to it. This time though the photo did

not fall but danced and flipped in the air as it was carried away from

the village and high into No-Mans Land. Luckily, Ben found a gap in

the bottom of the fence and quickly wriggled out after his prize.

With the wind gusting much more constantly Ben had trouble

keeping up. He was afraid that he might lose sight of the white dot in

the yellow grey sky that seemed to be blowing towards the mountain.

There was no thought of turning around, at least not until he had thatphoto back in his hands. Sometimes the wind would die a little and

the photograph would flutter earthwards, but then the breeze would

strengthen and lift it upwards again, although fortunately never quite

straying out of Bens view. Eventually, as they both reached the rocky

base of the mountain the wind took the photo on a whirlwind spin to

the top of a pile of boulders and stones that sat pyramid like against

the foot of the rock face. The photograph spun, somersaulted

delicately and finally wedged itself between two smaller rocks right at

the summit, where it sat daring at Ben to climb.

Back on that day Ben had dared to climb. He had found a large

circular stone right at the top which he had rolled sideways to free

the photograph. After grasping his treasure he had noticed that there

was a dark space behind where the boulder had been. He moved

some more rocks and, surprised, had found the entrance to a cave like

tunnel. Clambering down the other side of the rock fall wall Ben had

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come to stand in a cavern twice as high and twice as wide as he.

Small stalactites hung from the ceiling whilst smaller stalagmites

lined the ground. In the near distance a small triangle of daylight had

tempted Ben to enter. Walking towards the light, Ben had followedthe path of an old narrow streambed and arrived at a hole leading up.

Without a pause he had climbed through and emerged upon a scene

that appeared to him as if from a dream.

It was a sunken plateau and it was an extremely beautiful one.

Nature, against all the odds, had produced an enclosed

micro-ecosystem and it was flourishing due to the minimal sunlight

being magnified by the silica laced rock of the mountain. If Ben hadunderstood the science he would have enjoyed the irony of a good

greenhouse effect working inside a bad one.

Instead Ben gazed around, stupefied; there was lush grass

everywhere with little blue, yellow and white flowers dotted about.

Bushes lined the sides of a narrow stream that was fed from a small

waterfall, its source a fissure midway up the cliff wall opposite. There

were squat trees, with big red and black berries hanging beneath fat

healthy leaves. Honey bees buzzed about diligently collecting their

pollen and cream coloured butterflies flapped past gently in the air.

Ben could not stop himself from rolling in the grass, laughing and

breathing in the wonderfully clean, green scented air that surrounded

him. Relaxing by the second, Ben lay out and, as he drifted off to

sleep, had sworn to himself that this place would forever be his and

nobody elses.

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Chapter Five

Ben! A voice was calling to him from an unreal, faraway place.

It was a warm, safe sound and Ben needed to reach it. But something

was chasing him; a big strange creature that was moving slowly but

steadily after him. Ben was trying to run but he was finding that his

legs could not move; they felt like they were stuck in a big pot of glue.

A flash of lightning would illuminate his surroundings momentarily.

Occasionally it would be bright enough to blind him. Even though he

was scared to death he risked a look behind him and saw a large, dark

spidery shadow with eight legs and numerous thin tentacles reaching

out to grab him. Now he started to panic. Then the voice called again,

except that this time it appeared much closer and Ben felt a glimmer

of hope. Then a great frightening weight dropped into his belly as,

reaching him at that moment, the monster roughly grabbed him in its

octopus like arms and started pulling him towards its huge red gaping

mouth. Ben!

Jerking awake from his dream Ben stared into the worried face

of his sister who was shining her dynamo-powered torch into his

eyes. Rapidly blinking the sweat from his eyelashes he nervously

searched his surroundings for any sign of the creature but saw only

the shadowed, worried face of his sister. With calm returning Ben

began to work out that he must have fallen asleep by the waterfall

after finding his way to it in the dark, and then he had had thatnightmare from which Sam had thankfully shaken him. She was there

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by his side now and he started to babble rapidly about the monster he

had seen. Then he stopped and frowning with confusion asked, Uh

Sam, what? Where...how come youre here? Why...how did you...you

know, find me?

Umm, well...I kind of followed you once. She answered.

You did what? When did you? Ben demanded to know of this

trespassing in his secret place.

Looking at her brother seriously, Sam replied, Ben it was a long

time ago. Then even more seriously she said, Look, forget about all

that now, thats not why I came. You need to come back home, itsMum; Kazimr ran off to some security emergency and knocked her

out of her chair and shes hurt and... Stopping to gulp back a sob Sam

continued, And Im not strong enough to get her back in the chair on

my own.

He did what? Ben screeched, leaping to his feet, then grabbing

his sisters hand, added, Come on Sam, lets go.

Before retracing their tracks Ben had called to Elmo who hadbeen gorging himself on the reddest berries he could find. At the

sound of his name he had come scurrying down from his feast and

scampered over to his owner to be carried in his usual place close to

Bens heartbeat. The children, although being careful not to be seen,

had not wasted much time in returning home.

Rushing in they found their mother had managed to pull herself

onto her bed. She was now lying there weeping softly with a bloodstained hand held to her head. As soon as she realized the children

were there she tried to stop her tears and regain herself. She turned

to Ben and, with a forced concern, asked, Benjamin. Where have you

been? Your father is really angry with you...and so am I... She

touched her ear and coughed softly before continuing, You cant run

off like that...its dangerous.

Ben ignored his mum and, waving for Sam to join him, went tohelp her back into her chair. After they successfully performed the

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manoeuvre without too much trouble Ben stood in front of his mum

and stared intently into her golden green eyes. Listen Mum, he said

firmly, Dont worry about me, like thats not important now. I mean,

what happened to you? Look at your head. Its bleeding. And Samsaid it was cos the stupid idiot pushed you out of your chair.

Oh Benjamin, please...you have to stop this thing with Kazimr.

Really, he is your father now.

NO HE IS NOT! Ben was unconsciously shaking with fury.

That man isnt my father...he isnt ever going to be my father, no

matter what you say.

It was his mothers turn to start shaking as she turned away and

barely whispered, My word, give me strength...between the two of

them...theyre killing me...please... before she started sobbing softly

into her hands. Ben was about to touch her shoulder and say sorry

when Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bedroom.

Listen Ben, thanks, but I think you should go now. Not too far

though, and just for a little bit, you know, just until Mum has calmed

down. I can fix her head. I dont think youre helping here right now.

Ben looked vacantly at his sister before he seemed to reach a

decision. No, youre right Sam. He said determinedly, But I do

know somewhere I can help...Im going to go see that idiot right now.

No Ben, I didnt mean that... Sams voice trilled as she grabbed

for him but it was too late. She watched, painfully torn for a moment,

as Ben stomped out of the tent. After the briefest pause she shruggedand quickly went to get a dressing for her mothers injury.

* * * * *

It did not take Ben long to reach the large tent that housed the

Security Force Headquarters. It sat in the centre of the encampment

and had been converted from the old emergency field hospital at the

orders of Kazimr. It was never hard to find because during the day

you could see a huge red flag flying from it and at night it was lit by

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six huge church candles, four at each corner and two burning either

side of the entrance. Striding into the tent Ben did not feel the glow

from the large flames as he would normally have felt. Literally, his

hatred towards Kazimr was centrally heating him from within.

Having entered the tent, however, Bens anger was overcome

momentarily by surprise. The place was in chaos. Security Force

members were rushing backwards and forwards, pointing at maps

and screaming about enemy invaders and unidentified aircrafts.

Some SF officers were anxiously readying the large arsenal of

weapons and then handing them off to other equally agitated looking

SF men. Ben stared, as hastily given orders were spat out and then, ingroups of three, these heavily armed men disappeared into the night.

Bo-OY! Bens attention was drawn back to the tent as Kazimr

addressed him with a shout. What the blazes do YOU think you are

doing here? Cant you see that THIS is a situation critical and we dont

need any stupid brats getting in the way? Further we are about to

implement an emergency curfew so get out of here and home before I

boot you there!

What? Like you did with Mum before? Ben challenged back

determinedly. The five remaining officers in the HQ turned their eyes

from the young boy towards Kazimr.

Huh. What in damnation are you blathering on about now

boy? You realise that we dont have time for any of your nonsense

fantasies! Now shut up, go home, and expect a punishment when I get

back!

NO! Ben shouted, Mums got a bad cut on her head cos of

you...

Oh do be quiet you STU-pid boy! Kazimr ordered as he went

to grab Ben.

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...and its cos you pushed her out of the chair! Ben finished

and, only just failing, attempted to duck away from his stepfathers

clutches.

Grasping him roughly Kazimr lifted Ben up by his collar and

span him round to face him.

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING TO ME BOY? WHAT TRIPE ARE YOU

SPOUTING FROM THAT BACKWARD HEAD OF YOURS? I REALLY DO

HAVE TO TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS DONT I? AND, LOOK BOY,

YOUR MUM AINT HERE TO PROTECT YOU NOW! He was shaking

Ben by his neck as he spoke and enjoyed watching as the blood

started to drain from the boys startled face. Jaroslavs dad began to

say something and the other officers started to follow his lead.

Kazimr loosened his grip slightly, which was unfortunate for him

because Ben was reflexively kicking out with his feet and a lucky

boot caught the old man right between his legs.

As his step-father furled groaning in pain to the floor Ben took a

few stuttering steps backwards rubbing his throat and gasping in air.

Leaning, hunched over, on a table and taking deep shudderingbreaths he felt the oxygen slowly returning to his lungs. Then sensing

something behind him Ben was half turning when a sharp whack

exploded on the side of his head. It was if a sun had exploded to the

left of his vision and was firing miniature stars across his eye line.

Then another sunburst, though this time more fierce, as Kazimr

caught the boy again with his hand.

With the second blow Ben went flying and Elmo tumbled fromhis pocket as he hit the ground. The stunned boy lay there for a

minute before he rolled over weakly and saw Kazimr pointing his

handgun at him. Now Ben was scared. He recognised in his

stepfather what his sister must have seen in his face all those years

ago just before the bomb. It was pure hatred and Ben knew from

personal experience that there was no reasoning with that specific

emotion. His eyes focused on Kazimrs trembling trigger finger, Ben

did not move, nor did any of the other men in the tent.

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From the entrance a rapid blur drew everybodys attention

except that of Kazimr whose fury remained fixated on the boy in

front of him. Suddenly, though, the rosy cheeked face of Sam was

between him and Ben and he faltered in his hatred for a second.Kazimr lowered the gun and took a couple of paces backwards. He

stood with his head down and slowly shaking from side to side,

apparently calming himself. Then without warning he quickly lifted

his hand and pointed the barrel towards the children. Samantha

screamed and dived in front of her brother on the floor. The

desperate cry of NO from Jaroslavs dad was drowned out by the

loud retort of the gun as Kazimr fired.

Noticeably shaking but satisfied the Security Force Commander

wordlessly left the tent, stepping over the bodies of Ben and Sam. As

the canvas door flapped shut the other men rushed over to the

children. Aghast, they saw a small bloodstain spreading out from

under their huddled forms on the hard-earthed floor.

* * * * *

For about fifty seconds the officers hovered nervously, notknowing what to do. Then with a great surge of relief they saw that

both of the children were uninjured. Shakily Sam got up first and it

was as she helped her Brother to his feet that they both saw him.

With a dreadful realisation they now knew that Kazimr had not been

trying to shoot them. He had actually been trying to shoot Elmo, and

he had succeeded. With deadly aim the bullet had completely

removed a front leg and the little rodents body now lay there lifeless.

Ben went to his pet and, kneeling, cupped him in his hands and

began to cry. After a silent and short wait Sam knelt down next to her

brother and started to whisper in his ear. Ben responded by nodding

and shaking his head silently until it seemed a decision was reached.

Ben wiped away his tears and stood holding Elmo to his chest. Sam

grabbed his shirt tail and together they solemnly left the SF HQ tent.

The five astonished men were left wondering what, just exactly, that

had all been about.

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Chapter Six

The two children were as when they had left the Security Force

HQ, except that this time they stood on the edge of the old village.

They were looking out across No-Mans Land towards the mountains.

Back in the HQ tent Sam had suggested to Ben they bury Elmo like

they had with his old dog. She thought the best place would be

where the rat had been happiest in his life; under the red berry tree.

Ben agreed. So now they watched as randomly dispersed SF groups

noisily hand cranked their torches in their eager search for an

unknown enemy. There were at least twelve patrols bumbling about

at various points but it appeared that it would not be too much

trouble avoiding them.

Ben was about to start the trek to the mountains when he

suddenly stopped and desperately blurted, But, without, Elmo.. I

cant find... the... way! His breathing became more ragged with each

word.

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No, its alright Ben. Sam had removed her hand from her

brothers shirt and now she held his arm. I know how to get there,

like I did before, remember?

Huhh, yeah...right... Ben replied, halting the panic attack a

little, before asking, But how.. do you know.. in the dark? His boyish

face held a puzzled expression.

Oh Ben, sometimes you can be so clever and other times so

daft! Sam said smiling at her brother. Its pretty easy. Look up at

the mountains. You can still see the peaks, yeah? Well, if you aim for

the middle of those you get to the big boulders, you know? Then we

just go to the right of those and the cave is right in front! Ben stared

at his sister with undisguised admiration but said nothing. Instead he

took her hand gently in his as they set off aiming for the big V that

stood slightly less black in the nights skyline.

Skirting the various patrols by zigzagging their course the

children arrived at the cave entrance just as Sam had promised.

Folding his handkerchief around the body of the animal Ben

delicately deposited his dead pet into his pocket before theyclambered up the rocks. With Sam lighting the way Ben dealt quickly

with the rolling stone and, silently, they both entered the secret cave.

They quickly reached the triangular hole at the other end and exited

up to the sunken plateau.

All of a sudden and without a murmur Ben stopped his sister

from walking further by placing a palm flat on her chest. Sam

furrowed her eyebrows and asked, What?

I dont know, Ben replied. But somethings different. The

place feels...uh, you know, different. The boy was unsure of what but

something was not the same and he was pretty sure of that.

Yeah, well it would, wouldnt it? I mean, normally youd have

Elmo here and... Sam caught herself and changed tact, And, like

were here for him too so it should feel a bit weird...you know?

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Ben was not really listening to his sister, he was peering at the

dark shapes and shadows that lay before them. It was puzzling but it

appeared to Ben as if there were more trees than before. Then,

screwing his face up at himself, he decided that this was justimpossible and started towards Elmos favourite red berry tree. A

little nervously, she was flicking at her hair and shining the torch

rapidly from side to side, Sam followed her brother.

As the two children crept along at a snails pace they pressed

into each other in an instinctive attempt to feel safer. Ben did not like

this at all, it was not right to feel bad in his special place. The young

boy had a very strange feeling of being watched and not just by onepair of eyes. Imagining the faces of Petr, Kazimr or Pavel jumping out

on them Ben turned to his sister for a little confidence. Unluckily this

did not work, for Sam was more uncomfortable than Ben and the half

petrified stare on her young face scared him even more.

Ben, Sam said. I don like this.

Yeah, me too, Ben replied.

Im not sure this was such a good idea. Sam ventured, hoping

that her brother would suggest they forget about the burial idea and

go back home.

Yeah, I know...but yknow, were here now...and... Ben lifted

his dead pet out of his pocket for emphasis as he spoke. The siblings

were silent for a moment as they looked at each other and then two

loud, crackling noises made them both jump;

CCRRKKHHHHHHEEEEEE, then after a long pause,

CCRRKKLLLLLLLLLOOOOO! It was an extremely familiar sound but

yet extremely unknown at the same time. It reminded the children of

wood splitting or loads of twigs snapping underfoot but then it came

from somewhere above their heads which totally reversed their ideas

of normality.

The two children were statue still; Sam gripping Ben in a bear

hug of fear and Ben, half expectant and half hoping the sound would

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not return. After an interminable pause the sound did come again,

though this time sounding slightly closer, CCRRKKHHHHHHEEEEEE!

At this Ben jumped even more than before, spilling his old friend

Elmo to the ground. He bent to his knees searching frantically for hisrat when something big seemed to move in front of him. He looked

up and saw a large shape silhouetted in the darkness which filled

most of his vision. It was a dark form that had eight thick legs and

lots of thin tentacle arms that were rippling in the air.

With a growing terror Ben recognised the creature from his

dream. Speechless from fright he saw Sam shakily moving the torch

towards the shape. He wanted to halt his sisters hand but he foundhe was frozen, the dream becoming more real by the moment. The

continuously dimming beam of the torchlight, not much helping their

fear levels, finally came to rest upon what was in front of them.

It was huge, at least as high as their old two storey house, and it

towered over the children. Sam kept pumping the torch and with

each new pool of illumination a little more detail was revealed. It had

a dark deeply wrinkled skin covering a wide tubular body which was

topped by what seemed to be a thick white afro. Moving slowly, were

at least eight vertical eyes, their corners pointing up and down, which

lay randomly dispersed over the body. They held no white, but were

brown with their colour darkening to black at their pupils and sat full

of a translucent yellow liquid that dripped glistening in the light. All

of the eyes were focused on the two children in front of them.

Then, like in the dream, the creature rose up on its legs and,

creaking, moved slowly closer. As it neared them a long slit, as tall as

Sam, opened in its body which roughly grew to resemble a diamond.

From deep inside a fiery, red glow shone out onto the faces of the

stunned children, and finally with a gust of hot air rushing past them

the creature roared its ear-splitting CCRRKKLLLLLLLLLOOOOO

again. As the thing closed in on them it reached out to Ben with long,

smooth tendrils that sat just beneath its hair. Like snakes in the air

they wriggled towards the terrified boy who thankfully found hecould now move. He awkwardly grasped his Sister by her arm and,

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eyes popping after feeling the light flicks of the creatures touch on his

head, they ran desperately for the way out.

After reaching the relative safety of the cavern tunnel the two

children sat momentarily to recover from their fright. They passed

looks of incredulity and fear in equal measures as their heartbeats

maintained their accelerated rhythms. Presently the siblings calmed

sufficiently to share very nervous whispers querying if the creature

had followed them or even if it was real. Eventually Ben grew brave

enough to raise his head and risk a glimpse. Crouched by his side Sam

was horribly aware of the change in her Brothers face as she watched

it transform from bravado to worried shock. Closing her eyes, andthinking she must be mad, she took a deep breath and resolutely rose

to share the view.

If she had ever seen a moving picture Sam might have likened

the scene in front of her to one from a horror film. Not having had the

experience her mind was finding it hard to convert it into anything

comprehensible. The creature remained exactly where they had met

it, the red glow from its mouth seeming to give it a visible aura.

Slightly bent, its tentacles were all fixed on one point on the ground.

From their vantage the children could not quite see what the thing

was doing but they saw five or six tentacles lifting something up from

the grass. Confused, it was only when the white handkerchief slipped

from the object that the siblings realised the creature had got Elmo.

The youngsters remained transfixed as the thing, groaning and

crunching, lifted itself up to its full height. Its eight large, long legs

formed a kind of tee-pee structure and rooted themselves to the

ground. After the body of Elmo was borne slowly down by the

creatures wormy limbs it slowly and noisily placed the rat inside its

cocoon. Then with loud creaks the legs closed together and sealed

the dead animal in. A red glow from within broke out through small

cracks here and there and seemed to grow in intensity until it reached

its zenith. For about five minutes it pulsed as if it was breathing and

then it stopped.

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What is it doing? Sam asked her brother.

How should I know Sam? Ben replied. Maybe its how they

eat or something. He shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly the light shone out brighter from inside as two of the

legs creaked apart and a steamy cloud escaped upwards. After an

indeterminate wait the glow slowly died and then, unexpectedly, a

very familiar sound was heard by the fearful children. It was a

squeak. And it was Elmos squeak! Before Ben had time to question

the impossibility of this his old pet came leaping through the hole to

reacquaint with his owner. Surprised, Sam shrieked as the totally

alive dead rat scrambled past her but she soon found herself smiling

in delight.

Ben was also grinning happily as he stroked and caressed his

old squeaking friend. At the same time he examined the little animal

for any signs of scars or wounds. Ben was particularly careful about

the newly returned leg and he felt around, delicately lifting Elmos fur

to see the skin, but found absolutely nothing. Nothing, that is, except

for two little lumps in each front paw, of which Ben ended upignoring.

For at that moment, a cracking footstep sounded above them

and a clump of dark veined tentacles came floating at his sister

through the hole.

It was a terrifying few seconds. The creature managed to grab

Sam with a few of its tentacles and began to drag her upwards.

Striking at the wriggling tubers with the torch, Ben helped Sam to

finally struggle away, and they gratefully watched as the rubbery

limbs whipped up and out. It dawned on the children that the thing

was too big to fit in the hole and they retreated rapidly. In defeat the

creature let out two great roars, the first came as the siblings made

their way back along the tunnel; CCRRKKFFFFOOOORR. The second

came as they rolled the stone back to hide the entrance;

CCRRKKYYYUUUU!

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The strange sounds still reverberating in their spinning heads

the adrenaline filled children made home faster than they ever had

before. Sneaking into their rooms they both immediately fell into a

surprisingly deep and peaceful sleep.

Chapter Seven

...was Petr and Pavel that spotted the UFO! Flying over

No-Mans Land last NIGHT! Blooming MASSIVE apparently, with

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lights and guns and rockets, AND it landed somewhere near HERE in

the mountains.

Ben awoke, bleary eyed, to the voice of his step-father.

THATS where I was Irene. I AM the Security Force

Commander. I HAD to coordinate matters. THIS could be an advance

enemy force and Im NOT sure you understand the importance of

finding THEM, Kazimr said, emphasising the occasiona

Documents

Arboles Borealis (Trees From Space)