Day 142 - Babel - Chapter 38 (1507 words)

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BABEL

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 38

Barbara saw the boat returning, very slowly towards the island where everything was well in the moonlight and the sound of the small engine straining to push the boat ever so slowly sitting so very low in the water. She could not see what lay under the tarpaulin that covered the cargo, a heavy and bulky load, but she could also not see anyone else. Victor was piloting but there was no other movement or figures that she could see, which became more and more apparent as the boat drew closer and closer.

That meant George was either dead under the tarp or they had parted ways at the shore. She was beginning to think that the former default leader of the Village society where they lived did not have the bottle, the courage or the determination to take the fight to the next level. Not like Victor did anyway. George was solid and dependable, a good leader when all that was required was maintenance, but then someone needed to step up and be bold, be brave and just a little more insane than the problem that they faced, he was seriously outmatched.

Victor on the other was the polar opposite, with George you always knew what he thought and you could see how he felt about things no matter what it was that he said. That was probably due to the way the village worked, with the Babel before they stopped being human that was, they needed honesty in expressions because there were no words to contradict your feelings there were only what you could read of people and the clearer that was the better. Victor kept his cards close to his chest, he did not waver and he did not consult in his actions. There was strength and purpose there, he was driven to stand for what was right and he was a little mad, she knew that and could see it. Unlike George who also saw the same madness, she accepted that it was necessary to win.

Nice guys finish last, that's what they used to say when people still 'said' things and it was an axiom for a reason, it was a fact, you had to be an asshole to succeed, life had taught that lesson many times over and over. He did what was necessary, he was not limited or afraid because fear was not an option for him, only defeating the alien menace. The menace that caused the Babel, the menace that turned them from human to these disconnected zombies, slaves to some alien mind control, it was almost beyond imagination to contemplate what they had done. That was why someone who went beyond imagination was needed to combat them, someone who thought outside limits, outside morality and fairness and just needed to beat them, someone who thought like Victor.

Barbara stood on the jetty was the boat came closer and closer, and as it did she could see that something big and metal was hiding under the tarp, she could make out the hard edges and long straight lines, maybe fins at the rear, were they torpedoes? There was no sign of George in the bottom of the boat, which was possibly a good sign, at least Victor was not bringing back a body.

The boat did not dock there though and Victor waved her back to the shore as he drove the boat at full speed into the sand, driving it into the beach and wedging it firmly there in very shallow water due to the depth the boat was sunk too with the additional weight. He jumped out with his hand still on the throttle and with the extra weight off the boat it surged forward a little more and came closer to nosing into the dry sand.

“Can you hold this, just keep a eye on the blades, get in, get in!” Victor was nodding to the engine and prompting her impatiently to jump into the surf, lightly lapping at the shore, in full clothes and shoes irregardless. Barbara complied and he lifted the boat as much as he could so that it surged forward even further and the nose was now out of the water barely. They bunny hopped the boat with this manoeuvre three more times, gaining a little less each time until it was as far as it could go and the blades were hitting sand and going no further.

The tarp came off and Victor beamed at his partner as she looked on opened mouth at the missiles, which was not too far from what she had guessed at but were shocking to see in reality, hard cold metal tubes that assumably would carry a decent detonation. She remembered the wharf and the story George told, and she recalled the bridge and how that had gone. Victor had denied his involvement, but she had her doubts about that. It was in fact the thought that he had done it that sealed his fate as the man to lead them to victory. He was willing to do what it took, he was willing to win and to fight at whatever the cost for freedom.

Whatever the cost, she could picture the people drowning, if they were still people that was. Maybe they were after all, they had no proof one way or the other, but sentimentality was never going to win the war was it? She looked at him as he rubbed his chin and contemplated the practicality of what they needed to do, how they needed to do it. She was not mentioning George, she could ask and Victor could tell her, and it would make no difference to what they had to do, to what he had to do with her help. He could lie, he could claim responsibility or he could shrug and say nothing one way or the other and any one of those potentially awkward conversational outcomes would still lead to them taking down the alien ship.

The missiles were big and heavy, they strained to lift one out of the boat and carry it to the shore, far enough that they could lay it on the grass away from sand and seawater. They manhandled a second missile the same way and though her biceps were cramping from the strain she held it together long enough to place it on the ground near the first.

“Let's take a rest, a few minutes before we take the next two to staging.” Victor rubbed the muscles of his thighs and stared out to sea again before pulling the tarp over the remaining two missiles. Barbara was glad to have a rest and she sat by the two grounded Sea Sparrows and looked them over, running her hands over the coll metal exterior wondering how volatile they truly were. They were heavy and they looked solid, big and deadly to her when she stood next to them. When she looked up to the ship, glowing eerily in the night, she had to wonder if they would even make a dent.

She closed her eyes for a second and tried to rest her weary muscles and when she woke up the sun was dawning on her and Victor was reading a book on the beach. She shook herself out of the half waking state and scrambled to her feet. Victor saw and pocketed the book as she approached.

“How long have I been...” She started but Victor waved her off.

“You needed sleep and I needed to read up on these things, they don't just fire themselves out of the launcher. I took a manual from the Ordinance Operational Guide, that's the good thing about the Navy, they're very organised. You needed sleep and I needed to study this.” He patted his pocket and then stood up and walked to the boat.

“We'll get the other two out and set up on the north beach then?”

Victor smiled at her and shook his head. “We’re not taking these two out just yet, not here. I just needed to lower the weight of the boat, we'll take them to the target site, two at a time so you can come in the boat to help me unload and prep in two journeys, but those two we'll put back in the boat again when it's empty, so we'll be able to get it a bit easier when its empty, we can use the jetty and lower them in. There's some ropes and harnesses on the big island, we can get them when we unload there.”

Barbara was confused, the Big Island was Waiheke, why would they go there?

Victor was not looking out to where Waiheke was, he was looking at the peak of the mountain beneath the ship, right underneath the very centre of the saucer, and he raised a finger to shake it at the Alien Ship that hung there, giving it a silent warning of it's fate.