The Space Between (9 page)

"What?" But he saw for himself. "We don't
have time."

He was probably right but Kim pointed at the
mass of injured people on the other side of the field. "They're the
ones who don't have time."

"But..."

Kim crouched down and finished tying the
bandage. Her hands were shaking. "Come on. Get moving." She looked
around. "Cannoneers," she shouted, "let's go."

Keeble had already opened the chest and was
poking amongst the contents. Kim wasn't sure if that was a great
idea but let him keep going. It proved to be the right decision.
Boydie saw what was going on and scrambled to his feet.

"Get out of there," he said, shooing the
little man away.

"If you aren't going to do it," Kim said
with a smile, "then someone has to."

Boydie sighed and, in a surprisingly loud
voice, called to his companions. He set to work straight away while
the others gathered about him, shuffling their feet and watching
the sky nervously. It seemed they would stand there all day or, at
least, right up to the time when they got a bomb dropped on their
heads.

"Harry, don't just stand there," Kim said.
She had to clear her throat again.

The big man looked at her
as if to say,
Well, what else am I
supposed to do?

"We need the cannons adjusted." Kim said it
as if she knew what she was doing. The second bat was coming in
from a different angle, slightly higher. "We need them spun to the
right."

Harry kept standing for a moment, watching
the bat, then shrugged and looked around. "You heard the lady,
lads." He and another man went to the cannon next to Boydie and
started to heave on the ropes while Kim sighted along the
barrel.

"That'll do it." Highly technical stuff. An
exact science. Kim wondered if she was going crazy. Her mouth was
so dry she could hardly swallow.

Two more men had already started shifting
the next cannon. Kim followed Harry to the one that had just been
loaded. Less than a minute and the bat would be upon them. Kim had
to make some real decisions. She stood behind the cannon, Harry
nearby with a box of matches in hand. It was surreal. Thick, bitter
smoke drifted around them one moment, and the next it was clear.
Sound came and went. Moans and shouts filled her consciousness,
leaving no room for other thoughts, and then she could think all
too clearly.

Kim took a deep breath and tried to calm her
racing heart. That was a futile exercise.

"What do you think?" Harry shook his head.
"Bloody hell, we're being attacked by giant space-bats."

"Space-bats?" Kim said. "You think they're
from space?"

"Can you think of a better idea?"

"Well..."

"Beware," Harry bellowed and stepped
forward.

6: Open Doors

"Not yet," Kim said, a hand on his arm. She
tried to gauge the bat's speed and imagined the flight of the
previous cannon balls. The idea of space-bats kept getting in the
way and she shook her head to clear it. "Not yet." She used her
shoulder to wipe sweat from her forehead. When she looked up again,
the bat was skimming over the trees just beyond the far side of the
field. "Fire," she said softly.

"Fire in the hole."

Kim covered her ears. She felt the explosion
hit her in the chest, smelled the cordite and watched the ball
sailing across the field.

No good. No
good
. She could tell almost immediately.
While the others continued to stand and stare, she hurried to the
next cannon, checked the aim, then started to push on the back
corner. Keeble came to help a moment later.

“
[Who are these soldiers?
They just don't understand how battle works, do they?]”

Kim ignored him. What else
was she supposed to do? "Harry." And Harry ignored
her
. "Harry."

She stepped back then pulled Keeble away a
moment later.

"Harry. Quick"

Harry shook himself, turned, and went to the
second cannon.

"Fire the damn thing."

"Fire in the hole."

The thump in the chest.
Ringing ears. Kim held her breath. "Come on. Come
on
." The ball sailed
though the sky, a black spot against the blue.

Kim leaned to the left. She held her
breath.

She almost thought she
heard the impact of the ball hitting the bat. That wasn't possible.
But it
did
hit.
She turned to look at Harry for a moment, saw the same look of
stunned disbelief that she knew must be on her own face.

"Huh."

They'd hit it.

There was a screech that cut through all
other sound and Kim turned quickly back. The huge creature was
leaning dangerously to one side, tried to correct, went the other
way. After a couple of seconds of struggle a wing clipped the
ground. It came down in a rush, plowing a long furrow in the
outfield and sending up a storm of dust. Sounds of pain came from
the cloud, but if Kim knew anything at all about giant space bats,
and she didn't, she didn't think that one was going anywhere in a
hurry.

"What now?" Boydie asked after what seemed
like an hour.

Smiling, Kim continued to watch the results
of their handiwork. "We should go see who we can help." She had
almost forgotten about all the injured people.

"What about those cylinders though?" Harry
asked.

"What?"

"Those cylinders that were strapped under
the bat-thing."

"Well..."

"I don't imagine the bats made them."

Kim wiped sweat from her face and looked at
the cloud of dust, as if she could see the creature inside. She
chewed her lip for a moment as she thought. "Your point?"

"My point," Harry said, turning to look at
her, "is where are the people who did do the making?"

"As far as points go," Kim said, "that's a
pretty good one." If she hadn't still been feeling the rush of
shooting the thing down she might've had the same thought.

"
I
thought so."

Bats from outer space were bad enough. Bats
from outer space that were nothing more than vehicles for other
things were even worse.

Boydie cleared his throat. When Kim turned
to look at him she had the distinct impression he'd been a couple
of steps further forward a moment ago.

"Perhaps we can ask them," he said.

The dust cloud was starting to disperse and
figures were now clearly visible around the still writhing form of
the bat.

Kim swore.

They all wore colorful, clanking, hissing
armor, like the strange figure who'd been standing in the Major
Oak. Kim turned to Meledrin. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I told already. Monsters attacking here
have already attacked my people."

"Yes, but..." Kim watched as more and more
armored figures became visible. There were more than a dozen of
them, moving with a sense of slow implacability.

Keeble said something then crossed quickly
to a display of weapons outside a nearby tent. He selected a sword,
swung it awkwardly, threw it aside and took an axe instead.

"Keeble says creature weapons fire... Not
know word. I believe it like lightning."

"They shoot lightning?"

"As I said, not certain."

"Shit." Kim looked around as if inspiration
might strike her. It was better than anything else that might
strike her. "Boydie, you might want to get those two cannons
loaded."

But Boydie was gone. He was disappearing
into the trees at a sprint. There were still a few cannoneers
around.

Kim took a deep breath. "Cannoneers, load
up."

None of the men moved.

"I just gave an order. Why aren't you
moving?" They weren't real soldiers, but they started to move. One
of the men who'd been assisting Boydie took charge. There was one
cannon already loaded so Kim took Harry by the arm and dragged him
over to it.

"Shouldn't we wait to see if they attack
us?" Harry asked, match held in his trembling fingers. It was
finally getting the better of him, and Kim used that thought to
gather courage.

"Do you think these things were prisoners of
the bat?"

"No."

"Right."

But at that moment a knight, just a couple
of meters away, started to scream. He shuddered and convulsed,
caught on the end of a long beam of crackling, distorted air. Smoke
streamed from the joints of his armor after he'd fallen to the
ground.

"Don't stop," Kim shouted to the men loading
the cannons. She swallowed bile and rushed to lower the muzzle of
the one that was already loaded. Harry pulled her away after a
moment.

"Beware." He dropped his match, quickly
regathered and lit it with shaking fingers. "Fire in the hole."

The cannonball crashed into one of the
armored creatures and took out another behind.

"We'll get the bastards." Harry said in a
shaking voice as he moved to another cannon.

But there were fresh screams coming from the
main crowd. People were scattering again.

Kim wanted to help but didn't know what to
do. She stayed where she was, dividing her glance between the
monsters and the crowd.

"Beware. Fire in the hole."

Kim remembered to cover her ears. And again
a minute later. More of the creatures fell, but not nearly enough.
The rest continued their slow advance. They were three quarters of
the way to the main crowd now.

Men came to load the cannon in front of
her.

"This will be our last shot," Harry
said.

"What? Why?"

"Today was the last day of the festival. We
never bother lugging spare powder around. Hell, the balls are just
for show. You're lucky we had any at all."

Kim wasn't feeling lucky. "Damn it."

She looked around for inspiration once more.
Keeble was by the weapons' rack, lazily swinging his newly acquired
axe in his one good hand. There were more than twenty other
'warriors' standing around as well. Sir Douglas was one of them,
blood seeping through the bandage on his arm.

"Doug." The big man didn't answer.
"Douglas."

He spun to look at her.

"Get your sword."

"What?" No knightly affectations at all.

"Get your sword, buddy." Kim headed for the
nearest rack to find her own weapon, wondering with each step if
her legs would support her. She made it all the way and, looking at
the choices, decided on a solid, spiked mace. She didn't know if
she'd be able to do any damage with a sword even if the creatures
didn't have the armor.

"Are you crazy?" Douglas asked.

"The way I see it, standing around isn't an
option. Either run or fight."

Douglas glanced at the creatures then back
at Kim. He gave a small nod and picked up a sword from near his
feet.

"Get some weapons," Kim called to nobody in
particular. She cleared her throat to try again, but the men heard.
They turned to look at her though none did as she suggested. "So
all this is just a game?" She gestured around at the tents and the
weapons. "You're just like little boys playing cowboys and Indians
in the back yard? Get some God damned weapons and help those
people."

Finally, they started to move.

"Beware. Fire in the hole."

Kim almost hit herself in the head with the
mace as she covered her ears. "Come on."

One of the armored figures, blue and green
with rusting rivets, was heading towards the cannons, plodding
along as if it had all the time in the world. Kim headed for it,
shoulders hunched as she ran, angling across in front of it as it
started to raise its weapon.

"Slow as hell," she muttered to herself.

"What?" Douglas was just behind her,
rattling along like a shopping trolley full of empty cans.

"These bastards are slow."

Her arm was already starting to ache from
the weight of the mace, but as she got closer she stood up straight
and raised the weapon. Her target was swiveling slowly to meet her
but wouldn't be quick enough. Its arm bucked slightly as it fired
an experimental shot in her direction. It missed, but Kim still
felt the hairs on her arm stand on end. He mouth was instantly dry
again.

"Electricity," Douglas said before she had
the chance.

She thought he sounded very calm for a man
dressed as a human lightning rod.

Kim swung her mace with all her might,
aiming for a seam in the center of the chest. Her hand shuddered so
hard she almost dropped the weapon.

Momentum carried her past as Douglas hit the
same area a moment later. Keeble, just a second behind, swung his
huge axe at the back of their enemy's knee. Kim spun, trying to
ignore everything else. She had enough problems. It felt as if her
hand was still shaking. Her arms felt like they were going to drop
off. She heaved the mace up and swung. The armored figure was
trying to turn to face them, and the mace crashed into the
faceplate. She heard a crack, pulled the weapon free and swung
again. A moment later, as she tried to get the mace up off the
ground once more, Douglas pushed past and rammed his sword into the
hole she'd created.

The armor stopped moving.

"Is it dead?" Kim gasped. She went to have a
look through the hole as Douglas reefed his sword free. "Shit.
Shit, shit, shit." Whatever was in there wasn't human. Its face was
a mess of exposed flesh, thick, dark red blood, and splinters of
bone, but there was no way anyone could ever think it was a human
face.

Kim almost threw up.

"What is it?" Douglas asked.

She wiped her face. "I have no idea." And it
wasn't the time to be worrying about it. Kim tried to put it from
her mind and looked around. She knew that if she thought about it
she'd be no use to anyone.