STORIES
FOUR
The Erasmii were being, well, irascible.
Their world, Erasmus, was a sparsely populated, peaceful, quiet place in a remote corner of a peaceful, quiet star system that just happened to be in the way of the hell-bent Aedui horde.
In the not-too distant past the Erasmii had migrated to this planet, leaving behind a home brimming with too many people and too few resources, setting out to explore a new frontier and finally settling down in comfort and if not opulence, at least abundance.
To her great horror and never-ending shame it had not occurred to Wil Beinert that by stymieing the fearsome "Devourers of Souls" (as the Time Lords had named the Aedui) in her own universe, her own cosmos, that she would be provoking the murderous invaders into a state of unmitigated fury in another, different cosmos. A fury which roused the Aedui to become even more mind-numbingly brutal and terrifying than they'd been. Thousands of worlds had been ruthlessly laid to waste. Trillions of lives obliterated. The gruesomeness was unfathomable.
Everything that had been whispered or rumored about the Aedui had turned out to be true. Or worse. And once the multitude had crossed over from their home in the darkness of subspace to this bright and heavily populated universe, there was, as advertised, no stopping them.
All that could be done was to try to move people out of the way and pray that eventually the invaders would get bored, or grow tired, or simply become satiated, and retreat back into the darkness from whence they came.
But the Erasmii, so clearly and dreadfully among next targets of these most relentless of attackers, were being irascible.
And it was driving Wil crazy.
"You must understand," she was saying emphatically to the Erasmus leader, "that in this situation death is not the worst-case scenario. Not by a long shot. Once the Aedui enter your system your people will be captured, tortured and horridly abused. Your civilization will be eradicated, your planet annihilated. No living thing will be safe within dozens of parsecs. There will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide."
Halikaarn Jaad looked at her through opaque eyes while he listened to the words she spoke through a translation device and nodded – a human gesture he had picked up from Wil and John since their arrival on Erasmus a few days earlier. The slowness of the communication was bedeviling Wil Beinert. It irked her that he had insisted on using his own translation methods rather than rely on hers. The Halikaarn's stubbornness and inflexibility was perturbing her. In fact EVERYTHING was annoying her.
"If we start now, we can try to get as many of your people as possible out of the way of the oncoming invasion fleet and relocated to safety. But with all due respect, Jaad, we must start immediately; otherwise too soon it will be too late. Please, Halikaarn," she begged, "let us help you!"
John reached out, found her hand and grasped it firmly. She'd said all she could say. They waited for the Erasmus leader to respond and for the device to translate his words. When they finally came, they were not the words that Wil Beinert had wanted to hear.
"We understand what you're saying, but we do not wish to be torn away from our world. We will trust to our gods that we will be cared for and protected, but if not, then we will die in our own homes. This is what we prefer. This is what we have decided." There was a long pause while the translation device caught up to the Halikaarn's words and then regurgitated them. "We are grateful for your offer, and we appreciate your warning. If nothing else it gives us time to prepare."
Wil fumed in silent frustration and distress. She simply could not get through to them the terrors which were waiting on their doorstep.
John squeezed her hand. He was there to support her, but in general since their arrival in this – "her" – universe he'd stepped back and allowed Wil to take the lead. This wasn't because he was chauvinistic or intimidated, or because he felt powerless or even bored. Rather this was John Hart the consummate opportunist taking the time and making the effort to learn everything he could in the hope that he might be useful if the occasion presented itself. This was his normal modus operandi, a rational process: the meticulous marshaling of evidence, the careful weighing of options. It was his tried and true method for winning.
Although admittedly he didn't hold out much hope for success in this particular situation. The two of them had visited a handful of the star systems the Aedui had already exterminated. He'd never seen anything like it, and that's saying a lot because he'd witnessed some terrible things in his life. Vibrant, thriving civilizations simply gone; wiped off the star charts. Nothing remaining but the whispers. And the cold, dead rocks forlornly orbiting lonely stars in empty space.
It broke his heart because it broke Wil's heart. He watched her grieve for people she had known, places she had visited. He watched her grieve equally for people and places she'd not known. He watched as desolation seeped into her soul.
It broke his heart to watch her become bereft of new possibilities and new beginnings. It broke his heart to watch her come to feel that the moment was full only with endings.
It broke his heart to watch her realize that her attempt to make things better back in his (and, incidentally her!) home universe had made things so very much worse in this one. Her guilt was unassailable.
He had tried his best to comfort her, but there was in truth so very little he could do. His words fell on, if not unhearing, uncomprehending ears. His love, though eagerly accepted and energetically returned, could not fill the emptiness hollowed out by overwhelming sadness and despair. It became clear what she needed was to do something… anything… everything to help. He didn't deny he felt that same desire. Any people they managed to save would be a reprieve, a marvel, a blessing, a miracle. And a small victory against an opponent that clearly outmatched them.
Also becoming apparent to John was a fundamental difference between them. Where he typically worked through matters in his usual rational and deliberate way, she often acted impulsively; her humanity and thus her emotions driving her. And lately those emotions were running in high gear. There was no judgment here on his part, just an observation.
Their first attempt to act had ended in abject failure, not due to irascibility but rather to that far more ubiquitous nemesis: Time. To put it bluntly, they had not moved fast enough. It was as simple as that. That is, if the destruction of an entire world along with its entire population by way of bloody conflagration could be labeled "simple".
At least as far as her assessment went, they'd not been quick enough. It was a terrible blow and a wrenching defeat. But in his mind… well… it was possible they had in fact been too hasty, too impulsive. Especially considering what ended up happening…
It was even worse than it might've been because while they were ultimately unsuccessful in saving that doomed world's people, they had been given sufficient time to warn the Gnel as to what was coming. Unsurprisingly, across the planet, uncontrollable mass panic had ensued. It'd been a terrible, frightful mess. A dreadful, eventually unavoidable disaster made so much worse by paralyzing foreknowledge. Due to sheer luck a few Gnel individuals, a small visiting delegation, had made it out alive on Grasshopper – by chance having been aboard when the Aedui fleet of death unexpectedly descended out of the skies and onto their world. But even that small "victory" was bittersweet – for the survivors' families had been lost. Wil and John delivered the unfortunate and now destitute souls to Orolo – a tranquil, peace-loving planet in a distant part of the galaxy. The native inhabitants were incredibly sympathetic and welcoming, but the Gnel refugees were like the walking dead.
John wasn't sure what made him do it, because it felt slightly incautious – like a thing she would do, not he. It came out of nowhere, but he released Wil's hand and took a step forward toward the Erasmii leader, "Halikaarn Jaad, if you won't accept our offer to transport your people, perhaps you will consider your children? Will you allow us to take them to safety?"
He waited calmly while the translation device did its work and then as Jaad thought over the offer.