Dutch stared black
hatred at the Rider as he raised his crozier in victory and pursed his snoot
for a triumphant hoot. Behind him stood three cohort of Contrata in attack
formation, their swords at the ready. From this there was no escape. The flat
and barren landscape also afforded no protection for runaways. Gennetta and
Sweet Mary sagged visibly. To them this seemed the end of the line. Dutch let
her head swivel slightly as she took in the situation. Her instinct was to get
as close to the Rider as she could, and to that end she raised her hands in
defeat and began walking slowly towards him. Gennetta and Sweet Mary were just
about to do the same when a roaring black and red cigar-shaped space rocket
skimmed across the valley floor in front of them and launched two anti-proton
torpedoes at the mountainside opposite. The Rider on his flying saucer turned
to follow this with unbelieving eyes as the bombs slid silently towards their
destination.
Dutch was the only
person not immobilized by the mesmerizing spectacle. As the torpedoes were
released she simultaneously launched herself onto the flying disc, vaulting all
of seven feet into the air. In one fluid movement she came upright and flung
herself feet-first at the Rider, dropkicking him in the side of the head just
as the torpedoes struck the side of the mountain. The explosions blossomed out
briefly before they were sucked back into the massive anti-matter void created
by the bombs.
Dutch’s heels connected
with the Rider’s temple and he turned a perfect cartwheel in the air. Before he
even hit the deck Dutch had wrenched the crozier from his limp hand. She
couldn’t help raising it high in the air in a victory salute. But no-one
noticed as yet, their eyes fixed on a chunk of mountainside that had been
blasted loose and was teetering interminably on its fulcrum point. Then there
was a thunderous cracking sound and the ground shook as thousands of tons of stone,
ripped from the bedrock, began to topple over ever so slowly and crashed down
in a mighty cloud of dust that hid the valley from view.
To all this Dutch paid
no attention. She stood like some mythical warrior astride her steed; a modern
version of Diana the Huntress with her weapon in hand. She seemed to be
cocooned inside a bubble from the moment she had grasped the crozier. It was
like an invincible shield which nothing could penetrate. It gave her time to
think. It cleared her mind of trivial worries and let her dwell on the more
important matters. Like Power. But this was no easy ride. Holding the crozier
was like having a wild animal in her hand, and one quite likely to bite her;
the swirling vortex like a hungry mouth, dying to suck her into nothingness.
She thrilled at the feeling of holding so much power. In a kind of ecstasy she
drew a line of white lighting in between her and the cohort of Contrata facing
them and watched the chaos and confusion in their eyes. They didn’t know which
disaster to respond to first: the bombs, their fallen leader, or their
impending death at the hands of this female earthling. It was all too much for
them so they turned tail and ran.
Dutch looked over the
edge of the disc and smirked at the stunned Rider who was now pinned securely
between two tough looking Ahram girls. Dutch was tempted to hang him up on the crozier
as he had done to Sweet Mary, but some warning signal inside of her said that
it was a bad idea. She didn’t really want him anywhere near the crozier. He was
far too familiar with it. But on the other hand she couldn’t help thinking that
he had given up his power too easily. She looked at him again as he lay in the
dust, defeated, but his face was expressionless. He showed neither like nor
dislike.
“Tie him up,” she said
to the girls. “Feet too.”
She turned to Sweet Mary
who had a slightly dazed expression but otherwise seemed alright.
“You okay sweetie?”
She nodded dumbly back.
“The Contrata will be
back soon,” said Gennetta. “They will bring reinforcements.”
“I know,” said Dutch.
“But I need a moment or two.”
The Contrata were the
least of her worries. Right now she was trying not to be consumed by the energy
of the crozier. She concentrated on the task in hand.
As she became more
acclimatized to the rod and didn’t have to grip it so hard, it seemed to calm
down and become more at one with her, almost as if it could sense she was a
woman and not naturally antagonistic. She felt the hum of the disc beneath her
and a strange far off music pulled at her mind. The crozier seemed to weave the
music into a web of sound that the flying disc was floating on. She lilted the tune
this way and the flying saucer slid around on its melodious bed. With a wave of
her wand she then sent it the other way. Once again the disc obeyed fluently.
She was getting the hang of this.
The roar of the Tartarus
overhead made them all look up and Dutch finally paid attention to what
amounted to a small miracle; a spaceship from their own solar system…if you
could conclude that a ship with its name written in English along its side was
human built. It had probably just come through the wormhole. The question was
why. And why the attack on the mountainside? With a twinge of relief she
realized that it wasn’t a federation vessel, so it probably wasn’t someone
hunting for them. But who was it? She
supposed they would find out sooner or later.
However, they must be
impossible to spot down here…and barely had the thought crossed her mind than
the crozier sent up a column of light that damn near blinded everyone. Up into
the sky it shot, like an Alpha beam on steroids. She watched as the ship
responded to her signal and began to turn in their direction. She hoped she was
doing the right thing. This ship could be good news or, judging by its
gratuitous display of firepower, very bad news. But the signal had been sent and
the die was cast. Closer and closer it got, and louder and louder until they
had to shut their ears to the deafening scream of its airbrakes and the hideous
whine of the positron refractor pads as it set down not half a mile away.
Slowly the dust settled
and they all stared at the now silent hornet nestling in the sand on its
pneumatic legs, waiting to see who would come out. Before Dutch even realized
what was happening, her inquisitiveness had made the disc scoot along the
ground towards the ship. With a determined effort she reigned herself in and
adopted a more cautious approach. This ‘thought-drive’ flying saucer was making
her stay in the present moment like nothing else. She didn’t dare lose
concentration and let her thoughts wander. She squinted in the sharp sunlight,
watching for any movement from the newly-arrived craft. If they were hostile
she was going to have to act fast. She had just gained the upper hand and it
would be a bad thing to lose it again so soon. Cautiously she drifted forward a
bit more and then hovered a few hundred metres away, watching intently to see
if there was any movement on board. Then the hatch opened.
