Chapter 7

Andena had trouble keeping Haruz positioned on her shoulder, but she was pleased when her core helped out by maintaining her balance.

“Push his body away as soon as you jump down, “ her core advised.

She was surprised that Haruz hadn’t moved at all and she hoped that he would be stunned long enough for her to get onto the balustrade of the balcony. As soon as Andena attempted to climb the iron bars, Haruz shouted, “Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

She heard Meleda screaming, and she knew she had to act fast. Without further delay, she forced her way up onto the top of the balustrade, and she was pleased that the stretched gorse of the field was just ten feet away.

“Stop it Andena!” Haruz commanded, but she ignored him completely. She was taken aback by the sheer size of the field. It looked like a huge box, about two-hundred by hundred-fifty feet and at least fifty feet high. She assessed the situation carefully because she wanted to make sure she didn’t make any mistakes. She reckoned that she could easily reach the field, even with Haruz’s extra weight.

“Andena!” Haruz bawled.

He tried to wriggle off her shoulder and started to hit her back with his hand. However, Andena had locked him tight against her shoulder in an iron grip. It took her just a moment to regain her balance before she leapt towards the field, with a grunt. As they fell forward, she tried to push him away, but there wasn’t enough time. As they landed on the gorse the shiny fabric caved in and Andena was unable to prevent herself banging her head against one of Haruz’s heavy boots. The blow was extremely painful, and she had trouble to keep her body away from him. He yelled furiously, “What the hell have you done?”

Andena’s head hurt and she was barely able to see straight. He tried to climb away from the cavity that they had formed all the while shouting for help, but the fabric was too slippery. She had to dodge away to avoid another kick from Haruz’s boot. Her core had flashed her a message, but her vision was still too blurred and she started to panic because she hadn’t expected the gorse to cave in as much as it had. It now seemed a lot harder – perhaps it was even impossible – to get away. She tried to move up by grabbing Haruz’s his arm but his frantic movements made that impossible. It wasn’t long before she felt something coiling around her legs, and Haruz’s agonising whining stopped abruptly.

The vines, they were there already!

She felt the thorns pressing against her legs, but the fine carbon mesh of her suit was strong enough to prevent them from penetrating her flesh. They had neutralised Haruz in a heartbeat, and she knew she had only a few moments left to get her machete out of her boot. The vines started to move up her thighs causing her feet to feel numb by the lack of blood circulation. She knew she had to act fast: she needed to get to her machete. To her amazement she saw that the hilt of her knife was still free! With a stretched out arm she tried to reach her boot but she had trouble twisting her body because of the many vines which had coiled around her already. She was roughly shaken about when someone else landed next to her on the gorse.

It was the woman! What the hell was she doing here?

Andena was taken aback when the woman started to sing a strange melody that seemed to have a calming effect on the vines. The vines moved slower, and Andena saw her chance to reach for her machete. As soon as she tried to get the machete out of the sheath, another vine shot out of the hole in the gorse and before she had a chance to touch the hilt of the knife, her arm had become trapped in a coiled vine. The vine was too strong and Andena saw her core’s text appear at the moment a thorn pressed into her hand.

“I’m afraid we’ve lost the battle Andena. I’m sorry.”

The pleasant tingling in her hand travelled up her arm with dazzling speed. It was strange to hear the soothing melody while her body was losing the fight to stay awake. As she tried to reply to her core, another thorn found her neck. With a shudder, she felt the thorn slowly breaking her skin and her last conscious thought was wondering why the singing had never stopped.

Meleda managed to land on the gorse just next Andena, and she had trouble holding the tune. She was alarmed when she saw that the vines had wrapped her brother up into a neat cocoon and was surprised to see that Andena was still struggling against the vines. Meleda gasped for air as the vines slowly started to coil around her legs, but as soon as she had enough air in her lungs, she continued to sing the song. She heard Andena moan and she knew that the woman had also lost the battle against the vines. Holding the tune was difficult as she watched Andena’s body suddenly go slack.

“Meleda!” Arnost shouted with a tremulous voice.

She looked up and saw Arnost standing there with four guards who were all staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on their faces. It was clear that the men were clueless about what to do and it made her even more determined to get out of this field. She knew she had to continue singing the melody as the vines coiled around her body. She thought it was horrifying, but sensed that the vines wouldn’t harm her as long as she kept on singing the tune. As they gently pulled her down into the field, she watched Arnost’s face turn ashen before the gorse blocked her view. Meleda’s voice choked as she saw the naked men and women entangled in the trenches of the alien trees. She had known that people were being held in the fields, but had never envisioned the surreal view that greeted her. Shocked she tried to resume her singing but her vocal cords refused to create any decent notes, and she sounded more like a croaking goat. She was surprised when she heard a gentle tenor voice saying, “You can stop singing now, the Cerasus vines will not harm you.”

Before she realised, she was standing with both feet on a paved path. The vines were still loosely around her middle, but her legs were free. She turned around looking for the man who had spoken to her and was surprised to see three people standing a few feet away from her. There were two men, one dark-skinned, and a woman and they were surrounded by the same vines as well. She wondered what they were because they looked like humans but it was clear that they were not from Earth. The most striking feature was their eyes which were at least twice as big as human eyes, and this made them look like dolls.

“Who, who are you?” Meleda stuttered.

The woman stepped forward and said with a ringing voice, all the while pointing at the darker skinned man, “I’m Saida and to my right is Latif,”

As soon as the other man spoke with his tenor voice, Meleda recognised him as the one who had told her to stop singing, “I’m Uso. We are pleased to meet you. What is your name?”

“My name is Meleda. I’m Haruz’s sister, the man you brought down. It was the other woman, Andena, who is the reason that we all ended up on the field.”

Uso chuckled and said, “Ah yes, the feisty young lady. The Cerasus have met her before.”

Meleda had heard the story how Andena had escaped the vines, but she thought it was irrelevant because now she had only one goal; she wanted to leave the field as soon as she could, ideally with Haruz. She knew she needed to stay friendly with the creatures and she asked politely, “Forgive me for asking but I really would like to leave you at peace, and I’d like to take my brother with me.”

“We will discuss that later Meleda. We would like to know how you knew the song,” Saida said.

Meleda thought about the question and knew that they would ask more questions as soon as she mentioned the alien’s name.

“I saw Tancred one evening, and I heard him singing the song,” she replied nervously.

“I see. We haven’t seen him lately, do you know where he is?”

Meleda had to swallow a few times before answering meekly, “No, but I know he is safe.”

Saida looked at her and shook her head as she whispered, “Poor Tancred, he will suffer not getting his Joy.”

Meleda sighed and confessed, “I know. I’m sorry, but we needed to find out when the rest of you were coming.”

Uso smiled as he said, “We are not his kind, Meleda, we are Medifocans. We were captured a long time ago, and we ended up as assistants on Tancred’s vessel. Now we’re pleased to finally be able to free ourselves and that we were able to regain a physical body.”

This news shook Meleda to her core, and she whispered, “Oh my, that’s astonishing.”

She was still trying to figure out what had happened to them and was wondering how they could have survived without a body. She was startled when Saida took her hands and said, “We are here to help you. Ask us anything, and we’ll try to comply to the best of our capabilities.”

Meleda looked at them and asked, “Are you willing to help us fight against the invasion?”

Saida looked at her associates and said hesitantly, “No, we are a peaceful race, and we do not fight. However, we think your world can defeat the Ocronins with the knowledge we possess. For example, we know that they will arrive within twelve days.”

Meleda gasped. Twelve days!

She started to tremble knowing that they still had masses of work to do. She needed her brother back!

“Where is Haruz? Why isn’t he here? What’s the matter with him?” she asked with a trembling voice.

Latif said, “Your brother has been diagnosed with a severe case of fatigue. He has been using chemicals excessively to stay awake for longer periods. His liver, kidneys and his heart have been damaged but luckily are not beyond repair.”

She wasn’t surprised by the fact that he had used pills to stay awake, but she was taken aback by the medical knowledge of the aliens. She asked, “How do you know this?”

Uso answered, “Our race was known for their ability to cure nearly any disease with the help of the Cerasus vines.”

Meleda stopped breathing for a moment when she realised that they might be able to save her but then she knew for sure that those black pills had wrecked her body beyond repair. She dismissed the thought and asked, “How long will it take before Haruz is okay again?”

“It will take five days for him to recover fully. The first three days he needs to stay here, but after that, he can be moved to his own bed.”

Meleda wasn’t pleased that it was going to take so long, but she knew she had no choice. It would be a challenge keeping the precarious situation under control. She had too many things she needed to take care of: the missing androids, Arnost who wanted her to get the nuclear launch platforms online, Harrold who was getting too close to her again. She sighed and conceded, “All right. Can I come to pick him up in three days?”

“Only if you are going to swap places.”

“What do you mean? I’m fine; I don’t need medical attention.”

Saida asked gently but with a chiding tone, “Do you think you can hide your illness from us, Meleda?”

It was not often that Meleda blushed, but this time it felt like she had been caught red-handed, and she stuttered, “I, I’m sorry, but I don’t think that my condition can be cured.”

Saida shook her head as she said, “We are capable of healing you, but we understand you need to organise a lot and take care of your brother’s affairs, so as soon as he is released, we expect you to stay here.”

Meleda said resolutely, “No, no, no, I can’t leave Haruz alone just like that.”

Saida laughed briefly before she asked, “What are you going to choose, Meleda? The possibility of life or death because you feel obligated to support your brother? What better support can you give him than to stay alive?”

She muttered, “Well if you put it that way, you leave me no other choice.”

“Good,” responded Saida, “Now, I want you to stop taking those destructive pills.”

Shocked Meleda squeaked, “But I need those to be able to do my job!”

“We know you do, but the Cerasus vines can provide you with a much better medicine.”

Meleda had great trouble believing that the vines were capable of administering anything what would help her.

“Do they now?” retorted Meleda wearily.

“Yes, they do. Please Meleda, let them administer a dose.”

One of the vines was slowly snaking up her chest, and she knew it would end up close to her neck. She remembered Tancred caressing the vine that administered the drug by latching its thorn to his neck. She was aware that she must have a horrified look on her face because the three were smiling reassuringly. Uso said with a soothing voice, “Don’t worry; It will be over before you know it.”

Meleda gritted her teeth as she squeaked softly, “Oh, all right then.”

As soon as she had given her consent, the vine’s thorn punctured her neck, and to her surprise, a warm glow slowly spread all over her body. She immediately felt a lot better, and she realised how tired she had been recently.

“Wow, this is amazing,” she exclaimed happily.

Saida grabbed Meleda’s hands again as she said with a sincere voice, “I know you feel wonderful and you’re free to go now, but please come back tomorrow before noon for another dose. Will you promise me that?”

Meleda started to grasp the idea that she might have a healthy future and she was more than happy to comply with Saida’s request. She confirmed gleefully, “You bet. I’ll be back to get my shot again.”

Saida’s laugh sounded guarded as if she didn’t want others to hear. She took Meleda by her arm, and as she walked her to the gorse, she said, “I’m sure you’ll come back tomorrow with a list of questions which we will be more than happy to answer.”

Meleda was relieved to be able to walk out of the field in a much better condition, and she realised that Andena was the person to thank. She felt a pang of regret at having to leave Andena behind because she had no idea what would become of her.

Saida noticed the change in Meleda and asked concerned, “What is it Meleda? What is wrong?”

Meleda whispered, “Andena, the woman who brought us here.”

Saida chuckled and said calmly, “She will be fine. Now, go. You’ll need to get yourselves organised if you want to keep your planet safe.”

Joshua woke up because he was too hot. He was lying on his back, and there was something warm and heavy draped on top of his body. Slowly the foggy haze in his head started to clear, and he realised that this warm and soft yet sturdy mass was Olga. Within a flash, he remembered what had happened last night. Olga was now his girlfriend, and they had spent the night right here in this bed. It was strange seeing her getting into bed dressed only in a thin nightdress. He had decided to sleep in his boxers which had seemed the best choice considering the situation. He knew now why he was so hot: Olga was using him as a pillow. Her head was resting on his chest, and her left leg was lying between his legs. Her thigh was pressing lightly against his groin which wasn’t an unpleasant feeling at all. His arm was resting on the small of her back, and he couldn’t resist caressing her softly. The fabric of the nightdress was bunched up giving Joshua an indication as to how far down he could move his hand but then he suddenly realised that Olga’s behind was completely bare. The idea that she was lying half naked on top of him was exciting but scary at the same time.