LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 01 - post176

“Their sting is as painful as the sting of acid, Dommi. Luckily the effects are not as bad, though they are draining us of our energy. The main mass is staying out of reach while they attack in the thousands, or hundreds of thousands. I would guess the plan is to weaken us until the main cloud can come in safely. If they are planning this, it suggests they have met resistance before. I hope not. I hope the aliens are right. They outweigh us too strongly for us to fight them if they are intelligent and capable of planning strategies.”

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646

“Have you come up with any strategies Roberto?”

“I used one trick Alki.” I explained it to him. “I do not think they will allow me to play the same trick again. There must be billions, more likely trillions of them. I cannot keep thinking up new strategies while only killing off a million or two at every attack. We need something more effective or we are lost. They are draining us too fast.”

“Can you break yourself up into a number of spheres?”

“I have no idea Meli. Hold on. The healer says yes. Why?”

“If I was writing this as a story, maybe what I would try is to bluff them. Make it look as if we are getting weaker very fast. Then we break up into a cluster that begins to drift apart. We even allow them to destroy one or two small spheres. They will then attack. Suddenly, when the time is right, you are no longer alone. All of us join you - you said that when Cherine joined you, you became stronger. We will be in their center, but this time, instead of expanding, we send out spikes or nets that capture and kill millions. Could that work?”

“If we were strong enough it just might. Thank you Meli, we will try it. Sam, what are you doing?”

“You have to stay here a couple more hours dad. I am going to join Cherine. She should not be left alone...look at her body, it is weakening faster than yours did.”

Of course I wanted to return immediately, but they all fought me, even Alki and Marian. Socrati had been listening without speaking.

“Roberto, when it is time for you to return, take me with. You can teach me. Then when you have to return here, I can be there to help the young ladies.”

Nicko arrived. He had been and seen me wasting away. Dommi had explained and he had left, troubled, but not seeing a way he could help. Hearing Alki demanding to also come, or at least after Socrati returned, he also volunteered. He then told us of the news being broadcast on all television stations worldwide.

“Over the last weeks, since these green things came, thousands of people have been dying every night in their sleep. It has become a major problem as the same is reported by governments from all around the world. Nobody knows what is happening, what is causing so many sleep-deaths, as they are now calling them.”

647

“Shit! I can’t stop them Nicko, not yet. I am not going to refuse the help of anyone. You all know what the aliens said about them attacking Earth? They were obviously speaking the truth and we have to concentrate on stopping them, we cannot allow it to happen. I have been worried that they might send off a portion of themselves to feed while the other half keep us at a distance, forced to concentrate on defending ourselves.”

Rosie said, “We must warn the people.”

Nicko said, “Oh my Rosie, you are so sweet, but I have to tell you, it would not work. Who would believe you? Nobody! Not the governments. And anyway, what could they do?”

I was not thinking clearly, my body still recovering was taking up most of my energy. “Actually I wonder if there is not quite a lot they could do. For instance, I think it is difficult for them to penetrate our atmosphere. Maybe even a good thunder and lightning storm could kill them. If people stayed indoors it might help.”

Nicko insisted, “Robert, even when the government knows there will be a terrible earthquake, they do not warn their people. They think the panic would kill more people than the earthquake. More important, if they warn the people and a few hundred are killed in the panic, but then the earthquake is not so bad, they will be blamed. They cannot be blamed for the deaths from an earthquake. You think they would look at this in a different way?”

Alki forcefully said, “Nicko is right. Something else, even if they believe you, what do you think would happen? They would say you do not have the proper military training. They would place you under the orders of idiots who know nothing about the void. Forget about warning the people and exposing Cherine, this is our battle.”

Sadly I gave up that hope, for the truth is, the responsibility terrified me, but allowing others to lead a fight they know nothing about terrified me even more. “Alki, I fear you are right. Come Socrati, it is time, I cannot wait any longer, I have to go, something is about to happen.”

“One moment dad.” I looked at Tina. She smiled nervously. “You all say I look like a gypsy. Maybe we need the cunning of gypsies. Why are they not attacking Earth yet? If they are mindless insects, is it not because they are lured on by something that attracts them more powerfully? I think they are trying to get past you to the alien Worlds.”

“What are you saying Tina? That we let them?”

She flushed with anger. “You do that and I will never respect you again! Dad, they are like lambs with no power to defend themselves. That should not stop you from listening and thinking. Maybe, if I am right, the knowledge will help you create another strategy.”

I swooped on her, threw her up in the air and as she returned to my arms I kissed her. “Thank you my darling daughter.”

I quickly lay down and moved, drawing Socrati with me. We emerged into the protector.

I was right. A small cloud, no larger than a solar system was racing towards us. The rest were splitting into four and racing to bypass us on our flanks. Their distance gave me a short time to think, but I did not have long.

Cherine, Sam and Socrati tried to help, but there did not seem to be an answer. In frustration Cherine shouted at us, wishing she could bring a giant vacuum cleaner and suck them all up. We laughed, but an idea came. I called to Sam to go back, to bring as many of them as she can get, we need to dance. That girl of mine, she is remarkable. She must have thought I had gone nuts, broken under the pressure, and yet she dashed off and did as I told her.

Fifteen of them returned. I told Cherine to gather the little ones and Dommi, they must form our Kaleidoscope World. She recalled the words of the alien, reminding me how vulnerable our World would be. I answered, ‘exactly’, and she raced off to the center of us, pulling the girls with her. They danced, blazing in their glory and exploded into our World. I enveloped it. I called to the others, some to join us, adding their strength, and others to dance and blaze as they have never done before.

648

The damn things were insects. Or had the same reactions. They all closed in, swerving from their paths. I told the dancers to be ready to return to their bodies instantly on my command. I reached in and contacted the I.

*I Robert am in command, you will obey me during this time of war.* The I agreed.*You too will disappear upon my order, release the parts within an instant and they must return immediately to their bodies. No exceptions.*

I got Socrati, Nicko, Keith, Alki and Sam to form globules of concentrated energy from the protector and we became a wheel with five spokes radiating out from me, spinning at high speed. Soon as I saw it was too late for the Sparkles to change course I gave the order and our World and the dancers disappeared.

I did not wait. Spinning, we attacked, moving forward at great speed. I knew that our molecular structure must be almost non-existent in earthly terms, but the Sparkles were no denser. We ploughed into them and through them like an ethereal scythe and killed tens of millions even as the rest were spun out into the darkness. By the time we had come out the other end, still spinning, I swung us around and returned, placing us back in place as guardians of the direct route to the alien Worlds. Mindlessly the Sparkles swarmed back to their distant position, re-forming their green cloud. This was further confirmation for me, if they were intelligent, they would not have returned from the distances we had thrown them behind us and would have continued on their way to the aliens, their target.

My mind was deafened by the mental whooping, shouting and glee of the others. I had not looked, being more preoccupied with analysing the Sparkles. I saw now, the cloud ‘seemed’ almost visibly slighter smaller than it had been, though I could not be certain that I was not just seeing what I wanted to see. Even as I sent them an image of my stupid grin, I sensed Cherine re-establishing her link. I relaxed, it meant that her body had not been too badly damaged for my healer to cope with.

I made sure they each took turns returning to their bodies. It was Dommi who came to force me to return, to take my time off. My body was in a bad way. I lay without moving, a dozen hands massaging me as my healer worked on me .

Usually I could expect a hot chicken soup. This time Claudia shouldered her way through them with a double mug of coffee and cigarettes. They all protested, Cherine upset more than the others, this going against her instincts. With help I sat up and gratefully took the coffee and waited as Claudia lit the cigarette for me. As all non-smokers do, she thoroughly wet the filter tip, but I did not mind.

“I sense elation. We have not won yet. What is the saying, you can win a battle and still lose the war. Every time they take a breather, they are able to feast on more souls while we stand by watching. With the energy from those souls they are building up their numbers again.”

Alki was feeling jubilant and emoting his pride. “It is not the battle we won. It is not who wins the war. Robert, you have shown we are true humans. We fought against impossible odds, as we will continue to do, and not just to save ourselves, but to help aliens who would not even stand by us as we fight for them.”

“Is that what you truly think Alki? I thought I was the dreamer, the artist. I am sorry to puncture your balloon. We are fighting to save ourselves. The Sparkles know we are here. If we let them through, they would consume the aliens and return at least twice or three times as strong. Then we truly would lose the war. We cannot allow them to consume any more souls, nor allow even one of the Sparkles to survive. If even one of them does, there may be another cloud of them again within our future. If that happens, we will be vulnerable, as I am hoping we will someday have thousands of Kaleidoscope Worlds existing permanently in the void, as the aliens do.”

I felt the effect of my words on them and was regretting them. It was only necessary that I know, I should not have deflated them. As I desperately tried to think of something to say to inspire their confidence again, Nicko moved from the back of the room and stood in front of me.

“Robert, I have known you as a kid, grown up with you. You were a sad little weakling that I befriended and protected, many times without you knowing. That familiarity caused me to feel a contempt that made it difficult for me to understand why men like Alki stood by you, acknowledging you as their leader. I envied these beauties you have gathered to yourself and wondered what they saw in you, could not help thinking that if they knew what a real man like myself is, they would not be with you.

649

Even the battle we fought together in the void, it did not rid me of my sense of superiority, my feeling that I too could have done as well or better if I had been in charge; after all, hindsight makes all ideas seem obvious.

All this until now. Your comment shot through me like a spear. I saw the many times you have shown yourself to be far greater and better than I could ever be, I saw what they all had been wise enough to see long ago. Only a great man would have rejected the praise and adoration and said what you just did. Robert, I greet you now as my true leader and never will I doubt you again.”

Was I supposed to sit through that nonsense with the stoical hard face of a leader? I do not know. I am only Robert, the idiot, the fool who cannot even win an argument with a ten year old chit of a girl. As Robert, I broke down and cried, hugging my friend who had grown soft in the head.

Next Post 177

^{For those readers who have not understood, when they speak using telepathy, what they say is enclosed within stars, and the thoughts exchanged are in italic.
e.g *Hi, I bet you are wishing you could read thoughts.*?}

I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love. Yes, most of all, always of empathy and love.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{17th July, 2018}
* posted on Steemit: 17th July, 2018



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