Authors: CJ Rutherford,Colin Rutherford
5 – Regulan space – The Battle
Centuries earlier
Derren had trained his whole life for this, but it wasn’t until right this second he knew everything was pointless.
As the alarms screeched throughout the station and everyone jumped up to run to their posts, himself included, he looked back at his bunk, at the drawings hanging on the bulkhead behind his bed.
One in particular drew him back, but he tried to dismiss it. He’d only drawn a few outlines on the page. In fact, he didn’t understand why he’d even done this much, but it always stayed with him, wherever he ended up.
Derren drew real life, as he interpreted it. Most of the drawings on his bunk were of his squad, either as he’d seen them in person, or as he’d imagined their movements in the simulations.
There were several of his squad in various situations, some of them in this room. Derren enjoyed capturing them at moments of extreme behaviour, but there were several pictures of solitary people, sitting contemplating whatever they’d been thinking at the time.
To the others, the drawings were simply pencil or chalk on paper, but when Derren looked at them, he knew what each person was thinking, at that exact time. It was his gift, one he kept secret. He wasn’t sure how the others might react to finding out he knew their innermost thoughts.
Top centre was a sketch of the dorm on the training station, drawn the evening they’d all arrived, scared and nervous, straight out of boot camp.
Botra. Large, hulking, loveable Botra, sat beside the door, on the number one bunk, wondering what to do. He knew he wasn’t a leader. His size had been the casting factor, and uncertainty etched his face.
Dwenn was next down, lying relaxed on her own bunk, furious with the decision not to appoint her as lead. She lay, watching in delight as Botra panicked. She loved Botra, but Dwenn had a cold streak she found hard to control sometimes.
The other in the picture was Hick, Derren’s best friend, who had been with him, in one guise or another, since they were children, living on their parents’ neighbouring farms. Hick sat in the drawing, looking in humour at the wreck happening across the four foot divide between the bunks, while trying to hide the fact he was hopelessly and tragically in love with Dwenn.
So much had changed in the years since he’d drawn the picture. Most of the others in the dorm that night were dead. Of the three people pictured, two remained.
Dwenn was dead along with the rest, killed in the same battle that took his twin sister, Krista, from him over six months earlier.
He was now squad lead, with a rank of Captain, leader of a much larger group than he’d ever imagined. Hick was his Lieutenant, and Botra his sergeant.
He sincerely hoped Dwenn and Krista were dead, even though his heart ached for them. Reports coming back to him, since his promotion gave him elevated access, suggested otherwise. Death would have been a release, compared to the horror stories which returned from the front, tales of reanimated corpses rising to attack their former friends.
The page pinned to the bottom left of his bunk, beside where he laid his head on the hard pillow every night, didn’t belong with the rest, but Derren always kept it close.
It was always in the same position, wherever and whatever ship or station he’d been on since the invasion six years ago. He’d never even put another mark on the page after his initial sketch, but as everyone scrambled to their stations, he stood there gazing at it, irresistibly drawn to the image within.
He heard Hick calling him, as if under water. Everything around him grew dim and faint. As he watched the drawing, his hands reached out to stroke the page as a face took form. He knew the face, he’d been dreaming of it for years, but he’d never seen the features take form. Only a whisper had ever revealed itself to his conscious mind.
Time stood still. All the detail outside of the page continued to blur, as the face took full form and colour, in an explosion of revelation and clarity.
He knew who this was, and his heart leapt and recoiled at the same time. He didn’t know, couldn’t understand how he felt so strongly for a person he’d never met.
Time froze again as he took in her features, her emerald eyes, set in a beautiful face, framed by pale, honey coloured hair.
Derren was so caught up in the moment, he started as a hand gently touched him on his shoulder. He looked up in wonder as his sister looked lovingly down at him, smiling her crooked smile which was a mirror image of his.
She winked, conveying her love, along with a hint of mischief which Derren had missed so much these last few months. Derren reeled in shock and relief, as he realised this was not a dream, or a trick of his mind. She was real. His sister was alive, and she was here.
“Time to go, little brother,” she sang out, taking his hand in her’s, and raising him to his feet.
Derren shook her away, and turned to look around at the activity in the corridor beyond. The corridor, however, and everything else surrounding it was gone. He and Krista floated amidst the wreckage of what had once been the battle station. As he took it all in, he saw body parts of people still attached to the larger pieces of the structure which had been there just a few minutes earlier. They span through space, and as Derren watched, fires winked out as compartments blew open to space, expelling bodies along with the wreckage.
“What happened?” He turned to Krista, pleading with her. “I was just here. Botha and Hicks were, too. We just heard the alarms. Where are they, Krista?”
He looked around at the total devastation, teetering on the edge of panic, and saw the sparks in the heavens marking where the other stations had stood defiantly against the enemy. Clouds of fire and plasma, dotted throughout the heavens, marked where the defensive fleets had made their stand.
Fleets which had kept the peace in this area of space, hundreds of worlds, allied for a thousand years, all now gone in the last desperate battle for survival.
“Derren, we have to go…now.” Krista looked scared, glancing around furtively. Dimly, Derren remembered he’d never seen his sister frightened before.
“I’ll explain when we get there, but please, take my hand. Please, trust me,” she begged.
As he looked out over the planet of his birth, a massive shadow passed between it and the sun it orbited. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the huge creature soar towards them. Krista caught her breath as she saw it, but twin beams of coherent light struck it, linking it for an instant with the surface of the planet.
The beams hadn’t impacted or caused any hurt to the beast, being shrugged off in disdain by its magical defences, but thankfully they distracted it briefly, and the monster spent a moment purging the entire continent below with unholy flame.
Derren was distraught. Everything and everyone he’d ever known had been annihilated, but the one thing, the one person he’d missed the most was standing here before him, pleading with him to leave. He knew he had nothing to stay here for, but somehow he couldn’t leave this spot.
Then he realised the drawing was still there, within his reach, the beautiful face calling to him, looking back at him.
“Who is she?” he asked his sister. Krista looked back in confusion.
“Who’s who?" She looked in the direction Derren indicated but saw only open space, interspersed with explosions.
Derren didn’t understand. Why couldn’t she see her? The picture hung in the air at his right hand. Why was it he could see, could feel so much for, this person he’d never even met, yet his sister couldn’t even see her? He decided then to let it go. He knew the features on the page. He knew the twin of his own soul, and she would always be there in his heart.
“I thought I saw something for a second,” he lied. He raised his hand and clasped his sister’s tightly. In a flash, the stars disappeared, and they were in a different place.
6 – Belfast – Dreams become visions
Present day
Back at Katheryne’s apartment, Perri finished making them both tea, and came to sit next to her friend on the sofa.
“Well, at least you aren’t dreaming of the end of the world anymore,” Perri joked, twirling her fingers through her hair. “So what does he look like anyway, this guy?"
Katheryne looked down. She didn’t know how to explain what she’d seen in the club, and was on the verge of writing the whole experience off as a hallucination, brought on by lack of sleep and too much wine.
“I don’t know.” Katheryne’s shoulders slumped. “To be honest, all I remember are his eyes.” She sighed in frustration.
Perri took a sip of her tea, put it down at her feet, and shifted round so she was looking at her friend.
“So everything else is still a blur, same as always?” asked Perri. Katheryne shrugged again. “Bummer.”
Perri sat quietly. Perri didn’t do quiet, so Katheryne immediately knew something was wrong. She paused for a few seconds. She knew Perri enjoyed this little game of theirs, and they both knew the rules.
“So?” Katheryne asked, after the appropriate pause.
“So, what?” Perri wasn’t going to make this easy.
“So, obviously you saw something Perri; so out with it... now!”
Perri had a strange, pensive expression on her face, which Katheryne hadn’t seen before. Her friend was usually so sure of herself, that she blurted out what she wanted to say before fully thinking it through. This new Perri was…disquieting.
“Actually, it’s more like something I didn’t see,” she replied.
Katheryne looked confused so Perri went on. “You know that guy? Your ‘friend’ from tonight?” Katheryne furrowed her brow in annoyance, but nodded. “Well he was cute, really cute, even by my standards.” This provoked a snort from Katheryne. “Okay, sometimes my standards can be...off, but not this time, believe me.” Perri looked dreamy for a moment before Katheryne nudged her.
“Sorry, you lost me there for a second,” she said. “Well anyway, I was, you know….appraising him… when I noticed something freaky; here was this guy, this gorgeous, God of a guy, gazing adoringly at you, standing right there in the middle of the club with God knows how many people in it. But no one was looking at him. Not one, Katheryne. It was like they saw through him. And no one had the right to look through this guy, if you know what I mean.”
Katheryne looked at her friend,suspiciously. She was used to Perri’s love at first sight habit, and was willing to indulge her, but then she realised what Perri had said.
“And this...invisible...guy, was looking at me? Are you sure?” she asked in disbelief.
“I think I said, gazing adoringly, anyway it was more than just looking, believe me,” said Perri, "but then he looked across at me. He was surprised I was looking back...surprised I could see him. Then he disappeared.”
“You mean he left,” corrected Katheryne.
“Kat, there’s no way this guy could’ve moved so fast. That’s why I dragged you to the bar, to see if I could catch sight of him, but he wasn’t in there. And before you start, you know what I’m like with cute boys…I have radar.” Perri’s last statement was true. Once she’d ‘locked on’, she never missed.
“Well remember, I never saw him either,” said Katheryne, “and I seem to remember your radar snagged you another target soon enough.” Katheryne raised an eyebrow, but Perri brushed her comment off.
“But what if you did see him?” Perri was deadly serious.
Katheryne looked at her friend, as she slowly came to accept, and put together the two separate events. “It was him…I saw him in the mirror, but when I turned to look, he’d gone.”
“Yeah, neat trick huh?” joked Perri, before taking Katheryne’s hands in hers. “Kat, I don’t know about you, but this is starting to give me the willies.”
“Me too, Perri. I...I just can’t understand how this is happening. I mean they’re just dreams; how can they be real?” Katheryne verged on tears as she laid her head on Perri’s shoulder. “So, what do we do now?”
“I have no idea,” Perri replied, glumly, but then turned to Katheryne with an indignant look on her face. “Why’d you tell me the dreams had stopped?”
Katheryne gave her a guilty smile, and looked down at the floor. “I...I knew you’d never leave if you thought I was still having them, and its true isn’t it?”
She looked up at Perri, but her friend dropped her gaze, and she knew she’d been right. “I couldn’t ask you to stay. I had no right to do that.”
Perri raised her head to stare back at her. “You didn’t need to ask me, I’m your friend remember? That’s what friends do.”
“Yeah, right. I think what you’ve been doing goes above and beyond the job description,” Katheryne said, “but I’m really glad you’re here.” Katheryne leaned her head on her friend’s shoulder again as Perri put her arm around her.
The girls sat in silence and companionship for a moment before Perri spoke.
“So what did you mean when you said that back at the club? About the dreams being different now?” Her eyes narrowed. “Hey, I’m still mad at you for not telling me, so come on, spill.”
Katheryne fidgeted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with what she was about to say.
Finally, she sat up and sighed. “When you told me about the Dublin job, I was terrified, Perri. You were the only one I’d ever told about the dreams, and you’re the only reason I’d managed to stay sane. But you were leaving, so I had to do something.”
“But Kat, you should have said. There’s no way I’d have left you alone if I’d known how scared you were. I mean, what sort of friend would I be if I’d done that?”
“I know, Perri,” said Katheryne, “but there was no way I was going to let you miss out. You love your job; it’s what you’ve wanted to do for as long as I’ve known you. I just had to try harder to control the dream. And it worked…for a while at least.”
Perri didn’t understand where this was going. She’d watched Katheryne cry out in pain in her sleep too many times.
“How? Kat, these dreams were killing you. I know that, and so do you. I thought they’d just…stopped, somehow. Now you’re saying it was you?”
“Yup,” she said, as Perri looked back with a deadpan expression. “I managed to push back the flames, a little at a time and more each night. After a while I’d made this sort of bubble that protected us.”
“Us? What do you mean us?” Perri voice rose in tempo and bordered on hysteria.
“I wasn’t alone, Perri. I couldn’t believe it, but as I pushed the flames back, more people, well, some of them weren’t human, were able to shelter under the shield. By the time you left, there were over a hundred others there on the beach with me. It was an island, Perri. I’d made an island in the middle of all of the fire.”
“Wow,” Perri squeaked, before asserting more control of her faculties. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me all this? You let me think the dreams had stopped. Now you’re saying you’ve been playing about on a beach with…with, aliens?”
“Perri, I’m sorry, but I’m only just staring to remember.” Katheryne reached over to hold Perri’s hands. “Up until now everything’s been…misty. I barely remembered anything when I woke up. It was just like normal dreaming I guess. So, I wasn’t…technically, lying when I said the dreams had stopped.”
Perri was furious. “No way am I letting you off that easy. God, I am so pissed off with you!”
The sight of her friend getting up and pacing repeatedly across the apartment had an unexpected effect. Katheryne tried her best, but she couldn’t muffle the laugh that escaped her lips.
Perri stopped to look at her in annoyance. She stood with her hands on her hips, anger bubbling up inside her as her friend looked back, choking her humour. Before they knew it both girls were hugging and giggling uncontrollably.
“I’m still gonna make you pay for this, you know that, don’t you?” said Perri.
Katheryne smiled. “I probably deserve it. Jesus Perri, it’s good to have you back.”
They sat for a moment, just being with each other, before Perri’s curiosity got the better of her.
“So this guy, Mr. Bright Eyes, he was one of the others on the island?” Perri smiled, hungry for more of this fantastic story.
“No,” replied Kat. “He came later.” Katheryne’s expression darkened, as more of the mists appeared to clear in her mind. She sat for a second, using the relaxation exercises to calm herself, searching the jumble of thoughts, but as she did so something clicked in her brain, like a veil lifting from her memories.
She bolted upright in shock as things which had happened in the dream sharpened, like a camera lens instantly focussing. Katheryne almost passed out, as repressed emotions surfaced in a tidal wave, with the fear and terror fighting with the light and hope as she struggled to make sense of the storm.
Perri looked on helplessly as her friend stiffened and arched her back. Katheryne’s eyes closed, moving rapidly under her eyelids, but seconds later Katheryne regained normality and they flicked open.
“I’m OK,” she gasped. “I’m alright Perri. I...remember. I remember everything... I think.” Katheryne smiled gently at Perri and visibly relaxed. Perri was still worried, but took it as a good sign and sat back a bit, giving her friend some room.
“What do you mean, Kat?” demanded Perri nervously, “remember what? What just happened? It was like you were dreaming but more...intense, or something.”
When she was able to speak, Katheryne’s voice shook, but had an undercurrent of iron Perri had never heard before.
“There’s something out there Perri, something that wants to get here, and if it does everyone is dead. Everyone, everywhere will be gone, and it’ll be so terrible that we’ll be glad when we eventually die.”
Perri looked at her friend like she had a crazy woman on her hands, before realising this was Katheryne. The same incredible person she’d known most of her adult life. She nodded for her to go on.
“A few weeks ago…I remember the night because it was a nightmare. There was lightning everywhere and all the lights were out. I ran up from the bus stop in the dark. All I wanted to do was get into bed and pull a pillow over my head. It was mad outside, scary.”
Perri watched as Katheryne clasped her hands in her lap to stop them shaking.
“It turned out the storm wasn’t the worst of it.” Her voice shook as she continued. “As soon as I fell asleep and appeared on the Island I was attacked.”
Perri gasped but remained silent.
“The fire was...terrible, much worse than it’d been before. It was too much for me, but I couldn’t let the others down, so I fought back. At least until it appeared.”
“It?” muttered Perri.
“I don’t know what it was, Perri, but it was evil. I could taste the corruption coming off it in waves. It made me feel sick.” Katheryne grasped Perri’s hand as she reached across to her.
“It was some sort of beast, like something out of your worst nightmares, times a thousand,” she continued, “but it didn’t know I could see it, at least I’m pretty sure it didn’t. I’m certain if it had I wouldn’t be here tonight. It would’ve stopped playing with us and wiped us out.”
“So what did you do? You’re still here so I assume you did something, right?”
Katheryne nodded slowly, “I had to let it think it was winning, but I needed to protect the others. I let it burn me, Perri. Just enough to wake me up.”
Perri cried out in alarm, “You did what?! Are you mad?”
Katheryne’s expression was pained as she continued. “I had no choice, Perri. And besides, it worked. I woke up.”
The girls sat in silence for a while before Perri’s curiosity got the better of her.
“So what happened next?” asked Perri, not really wanting to know the answer.
Katheryne sighed deeply. “I didn’t sleep for three days. I was too scared. I popped pills, lived on coffee, Red Bull, anything I could think of to keep me awake, but it wasn’t enough.”
Perri knew the person sitting in front of her was far more than the one she’d left here a few months before. Katheryne was terrified, even now, weeks after this vision. Perri couldn’t imagine how her friend must have felt at the time. She’d come through it, and Perri sensed the strength Katheryne had carefully hidden and denied for years coming to the surface.
“I fell asleep on the couch on the third night.” Katheryne forced the words out, obviously reluctant to remember what happened next. “It was horrible, Perri. As soon as I arrived, the beast was there. It’d been waiting for me, and it caught me before I could do anything to fight back. I felt its hatred. I saw the others burning all around me and I couldn’t take any more. I knew I was beaten, Perri. I had nothing left to fight with, so I gave up. I can still hear its laughter. It was the coldest sound I’ve ever heard.”
Katheryne shivered at the memory, before brightening as a small smile appeared on her lips, to the bemusement of Perri.
“Um, forgive me for saying this Kat, but this doesn’t seem like a happy story to me. Why are you smiling?”
“Because that’s when he saved me,” she replied.
Perri gaped. She was speechless, as she watched her friend savour the repressed memories of her first meeting with…who?