The three horsemen were not making any moves towards me.
But neither were they letting me step any further.
I introduced myself. "I'm a third assistant engineer of the Trans-Galactic Shipping vessel Golden Eagle," I said. "I am requesting assistance to contact the corporate offices on Mars."
"Mars," one of them men said.
I noticed another man speaking into what appeared to be a handheld radio. They held their palm out, reminding me to not step any closer.
I knelt down, placing Ta'Nari's body on the ground. The horsemen did not seem to be very familiar with scalies.
In the distance, I saw another horse approaching, with a man riding on top. He soon reached the other horses.
The man appeared to be in his early thirties. His skin was black like the other horsemen, and he had a scar going from his left eye to the corner of his mouth.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You speak English," I replied.
"That's why I rode here. Who are you?"
I introduced myself again.
"And what is that thing?"
I looked at Ta'Nari. "She's not a thing. She was an able crewman of the Golden Eagle, assigned to engineering."
"How did you get here?"
"The Golden Eagle went on a trip and we left Mars. We were attacked. The ship was heavily damaged, and our skipper ordered us to abandon ship. I got onto an escape pod and landed here. We were then attacked by these flying machines."
"I see," said the English-speaking man. "And why do you wish to proceed further?"
"Well, first of all, I need to find a way to contact Trans-Galactic's Martian offices. Maybe they can ask the U.N. Spacy for assistance on a search and rescue operation. Second, I…I want to bury Ta'Nari.
The man spoke into a radio in the same language the other horsemen spoke. My heart raced. I knew he was speaking to whoever his leader was, and his leader may very well order something even worse than denying me entry to wherever they are.
"It is late," said the man. "You may take shelter at the village. We will also let you bury your friend- outside, of course."
"Thank you," I said.
"Do not thank me; it is not my decision."
"I guess I'm lucky your people had someone who speaks English."
"I am Ebrahim Mlama," he said. "I was a sergeant, United Nations Army, Southern Cross, 213th Infantry Battalion. Now come, follow us.
And I did.
Oooooooooooo
I dug a hole in the soil, at least six feet deep. Once I dug the hole, I climbed out and lowered Ta'Nari's body into the hole. I then used the blade of the shovel that the villagers gave me to push the dirt back.
Finally, I tied two tree branches in the shape of a cross and planted it on Ta'Nari's freshly dug grave.
"Sorry about friend," said a boy.
"Uh, thank you," I said. He looked to be about twelve, with skin the color of the soil I used to bury Ta'Nari.
"Itzak," said Mlama.
The boy then spoke to Mlama in this language.
"Come," Mlama said to me. "Let me invite you in."
I was tired after burying Ta'Nari, along with that long walk to the village. Along the way, the wilderness was replaced with farms, with their farmhouses and barns and tilled filled, and barbed-wire fences marking the boundaries of the farms. Aside from the architectural style, it looked pretty much like the countryside of the Commonwealth.
The village was small, maybe about a mile square or so. It was surrounded by this brick wall with barbed wire on top, with armed guards manning towers built into the wall. The planet's sun was setting, an orange ball at the horizon. The markets were closing up. At the street corners were covered wells. The buildings looked like they were made from recycled materials. Most people walked or rode bicycles or horses; I did see a few motor vehicles parked on the unpaved streets.
Ebrahim Mlama led me to one of the houses. It was a one-story building with a sloped roof. A flowerbed was located right outside a window. I took a look and noticed that the flowers were pink, and came in triplets.
He and Itzak took me in.
It looked like a typical house, with a living room and a dining room with a table and chairs. A huge pot sat inside a fireplace, and I could smell some sort of food. The kitchen had a washing basin, with pans hanging from racks.
Dinner was not much, it was some sort of bean stew served in ceramic bowls, which my host called lentils. I was hungry and I did eat the lentils.
"Thank you for your hospitality," I said.
"You are welcome. I can at least show you where in this galaxy you are."
He went to the back of the house, where I supposed bedrooms and storerooms were located. He brought out a globe.
"This planet is Earth."
Earth? I could hardly believe it. I remember the stories Mom and Dad told me about Earth and the Robotech Wars.
"As in Invid-occupied Earth?" I asked.
"Yes."
It took me a while to process it. I knew about Earth, both from what my parents told me and from my schooling, but I never imagined that I would end up here.
"Let me show you where on Earth we are," said Mlama. He spun the globe and pointed to this continent that sort of looked like an inflated, upside down letter "L". "We are in the continent of Africa, in its rift valley in the east. To the northwest is Lake Victoria, to the north is Nairobi, and to the southeast is Dar es Salaam. Kiliminjaro is to the northeast" He pointed these locations, not that those names had any meaning to me.
"Okay. I would at least like to contact Mars. Would I be right to assume you do not have any communication off-world?"
"No. The Invid cut off the people of Earth from the rest of the Universe. Our radios do not even pick up transmissions from the moon." Mlama places a hand on his chin. "You might have better luck going to Nairobi or Dar es Salaam. There are Invid hives there. Maybe they will be generous and let you ask for help in leaving Earth."
"Are you serious?" I asked. "There's no way the Invid would do that."
"They are not our enemies. The Invid do not attack if we do not attack them nor trespass on their territories. Some nations like Ethiopia even trade food to the Invid in exchange for fuel. If only your escape pods had landed there instead of here."
"Do they have spaceships?"
"The Invid control the orbital space above. No one can leave Earth without their consent."
There was no way the Invid would allow a privateer like me to just go free.
"I see."
"We have little dealing with the Invid," said Mlama. "We could give you a more detailed map. You can make your way to Nairobi or Dar es Salaam or some other place where humans are on good terms with the Invid. Beyond that, our assistance to you ends there."
"It will be enough. I will let my bosses know of the assistance you gave me."
"But be warned. This part of the world is in dispute. We have had battles over territory."
"Battles?" asked Itzak.
"So many orphaned," said Mlama. "Itzak doesn't have my blood, but he has my love." He turned towards his son and said something. Itzak returned with a blanket.
"Good night," said Itzak.
And so I lay the floor of the living room, with a blanket above me. It was a few minutes before I could drift off to sleep.
Oooooooo
I stirred awake to a rumbling sound.
"Are you all right?" asked Ebrahim Mlama.
"Yeah," I said, rubbing my eyes.
"We're under attack."
I was wondering. Were the Invid attacking this village? Were they after me?
If they were after me, I had to surrender. I could not let the people here suffer after the hospitality they gave me.
I went out the door. Underneath the night sky, I could see flames on the horizon. I heard this whirring sound.
I saw the silhouette of an attack helicopter, illuminated by the fires below.
I saw a man emerging from the Mlama residence, clad in this doublet with a helmet covering his face. He carried a rifle.
"It's me," said Mlama. "I need to join up with the others. Stay with Itzak. It is not your fight."
Mlama gave Itzak a brief hug and then ran off.
"Come here," said the boy, leading me back into the house.
He pressed a button on a bookcase, and it slid open, revealing a flight of stairs. We went down some stairs and hid inside this cellar. I looked around, using a flashlight I retrieved from the escape pod's survival kit, and found there were racks of weapons. There were boxes and containers, as well as an old Suzuki motorcycle. The air felt a little damp. The sounds of the battle even reached this cellar.
"He sure was prepared," I said.
"Dad said he learn lesson after Invid invade," replies Itzak. "he had old Southern Cross stuff."
"is it the Invid attacking?" I asked. The Invid Regency were not known to use attack helicopters, but…
"It is not Invid," said the boy.
He handed me a pistol, and armed himself with a pistol. I was not about to go out there and fight whoever this enemy was. But if they came knocking here, at least we had a chance of taking one or two of them out.
I heard the fighting die down. Did the villagers repel the attack?
Was Ebrahim Mlama still alive?
We heard footsteps above us. After a minute, we both knew that Ebrahim Mlama was not above, as he would have come down to the cellar. I heard voices above.
And then they stopped.
"They not know we here," said Itzak.
I looked at Itzak. He looked to be about twelve, which meant he would have been a baby during the Invid Invasion.
"Your dad left us food and water here," I said. "We should hole up here at least until the next evening. Who are they?"
"They work for warlord who want our land," said itzak. They're bad."
Was this true? I heard rumors about how things were on Earth. Many regions were in a state of chaos even before the Invid Invasion and Evacuation of Earth, and I guessed this would be true in parts of the planet not under tight control by the Regency.
All I could do was sleep on it.
During the day, we ate some dry lentils. Mlama still had not returned, and we both somehow knew he would never return.
"Your dad said you weren't of his blood," I said. "How did you come to live with him?"
"He said he found me in burnt village six years ago. I was all alone; no one to help. There was always war here, war for control over land. He took me here. This was safe."
"Not anymore."
"Fighting never this bad. Fighting never reach home."
I decided to change the subject.
"What was life like here?" I asked.
"I go to school like other kids. I do work on farm. I play."
"I grew up on a farm, too," I said. "It was in the Glorie Commonwealth on the Planet Glorie, a planet far from here. I was good at fixing things like tractors and bikes. That's why I became an aerospace engineer."
"What's that?"
"You know, we fix spaceships and stuff like that. In fact, that's how I ended up here."
So I told him about the Golden Eagle, and about how I crash landed.
"Why you people take Invid prawkulch?" he asked. "Isn't that bad?"
"The United Nations gave my employer a letter of marque and reprisal," I said. "That made it legal for them to hunt the Invid."
"So you attack Invid like village was attacked."
"Well, I…that's , uh…different. I mean… Listen, it's best if we take a nap. If we have to leave, it would be late at night, and we would want to be rested."
And so we did.
ooooooo
I woke up upon being prodded by Itzak. It was time for us to leave the village, find another village or town that was safe from whoever the enemy was. I made sure to pack the essentials.- non-perishable food, iodine tablets to treat drinking water, fuel, a firestarter, sleeping bags, a first aid kit.
The essentials that I could not find was makeup and nail polish. I mean, what kind of girl could survive without those essentials?
I inspected the Suzuki's engines and made sure the motorcycle was fully fueled.
I then went up a set of stairs- not the ones leading to the main house, but another set of stairs, and opened the door.
It was dark outside; the only light came from the night sky. I could still smell smoke.
With itzak's help, we lifted the Suzuki from the cellar up the stairs leading outside. We both stood outside; it was very quiet.
Itzak looked sad. His father would have come for him by now.
I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go," I said, putting on a motorcycle helmet.
He sat behind me on the Suzuki, and we took off into the night. We had to get far away, to a safe place.
Then I heard the whining of a engine.
And then this bright beam of light.
I looked in the rear view mirror and could see the silhouette of a motorcycle behind me, trying to shoot at us.