Mary ran for the babies' lives.
Rodger and Paul had been dropped haphazardly in the double stroller, crying as the wheels bumped and jarred down the uneven grassy slope. She fought to keep them going, going at speed, knowing one wrong move would send the not yet year old infants spilling onto the ground. Danny was to her left, with the other stroller. He held half Orang Jeli, with one arm, the boy clinging to his neck as if he knew what was at stake, all sense of play gone. Danny's free hand pushed his double stroller, the front wheels coming up off the ground more often than not. Goldie ran a bit ahead of them, sprinting on all fours, calling out obstacles.
Above...
****
Rinda burst out of the dining room door, skidding to a stop, eyes unable to accept it.
Ludzie.
A Ludzie ship. Above their homes. There was no fleet here. No Orang warships to aid them. They... they...
"Rinda!"
Chuck's voice broke through all fear. Turning, she reflexively caught the Orang rifle her husband had tossed to her. Hands which had not touched a weapon in a year automatically checked the safety, the clip. She saw the others pouring out into the path. Alicia had a second rifle. Chuck held the third. He gestured, voice firm.
"Rinda, Alicia! Help the kids! Nona, medkits! Everyone else, arm!"
Her hopes soared. A plan. That's all she needed. A plan. With no further thought, she was off.
****
Daium despaired as she ran home.
The weapons were scattered. Every home had some, so they would never foolishly be unable to reach them if some native beast entered the town. Non-native dangers had never been considered.
Ludzie.
The ship was a small one. A scout, or destroyer. It was damaged. Heavily damaged. How much from some earlier fight, how much from stupidly coming out of hyperspace inside the atmosphere, she couldn't say. Smoke and fire came from the rear. As she watched, two streaks appeared in the sky, coming from the landing pad. The white trails met the Ludzie ship. A fireball erupted. A split second later, the sound wave hit.
The squirrels. Fighting back. The stupid, fucking... there had been a chance this wasn't an attack. That it was, yes, a damaged ship. That those leaving it on feathered wings were abandoning the craft to its fate.
Now... now...
****
The ship was falling.
Danny could see that. It was going to come down, inland, to the west. On the other side of the crops, it looked like. There was fire. A dozen, two dozen, winged creatures were gliding down, green wings spread wide. They were huge. He knew that. Over eight feet tall, with talons and beaks... the lowest one split off. Had spotted them. Was dropping lower...
Golden fur flashed before him.
****
Goldie was not useless.
She knew that now.
Her body, for once, had a use.
She could not help with the babies. Could not carry one, could not push a stroller. She could not work a weapon. Her hands were not nimble enough to work most tools, her legs no good at keeping her upright for any length of time. She was not the most technical person in the village.
She could do one thing, though. One thing, that could save her friend. Her brother.
With a running jump, the golden teen leapt up at the incoming alien.
It tried to veer. Too late, it saw her as a threat. With a roar her throat had never given, Goldie grabbed a feathered wingtip. There was bone in that wing, bone that snapped easily as gravity captured her body again. The creature screamed, a taloned claw futilely reaching for her. Goldie held on tight as she hit the grass. Her free hand grabbed another paw full of feathers, even as her legs pushed her up and onto the body of the thing. With a roar, she went for its neck.
****
Chuck picked a spot next to a tree, firing up into the sky.
He was trying to hit them, naturally. That was the goal when you used a weapon. At this range, up into the wind, he knew he had little chance. No. He wanted them to come this way. To come towards him. Away from the children. The first clusters of bird people were landing, between the fields and the town. Between him and his babies. All thoughts of demanding their surrender ended as projectiles hit the tree, splinters ejecting from the thick trunk.
Chuck lowered his aim.
He had their attention.
****
The door to their home did not so much open, as cower back in fear. Hannah was in before her husband, rushing to the far wall as she had never moved before. Eyes hard, her hands gripped the rifle on its mount.
She had never known true fear. Never been in true danger. Even in the first encounter with the Ludzie, there had been a sense of un-realness. This new universe still had not exerted its permanence deep into her being.
Now...
Now, she knew this was life. This was all she, her husband, her children, would ever have. There was no going back. They would live, and die, here.
Dying was not on the agenda.
"Here!"
Whirling, she tossed the heavy weapon to Anthony. He grabbed it from the air, briefly dropping the butt to the ground as he finished belting on a pistol belt. Hannah took a belt of ammo from a peg, tossed it on like a sash, grabbing the remaining weapon down.
"Ammo!" She turned, tossing a second sash to her husband. He caught and dropped it over his head in one motion. As she moved past him, he grabbed the back of her head. She paused, eyes closing as his lips touched hers fleetingly.
Then they were moving.
****
Mary screamed in pain as a Ludzie bullet pierced her shoulder.
She fell, legs tangling under her. Hands still gripping the stroller, her body pulled the cart over with her. The distressed cries of the babies became screams of pain.
Her unfocused eyes could see Danny. See him ten feet, fifteen feet, further towards home. He couldn't stop. Couldn't risk the other babies. Couldn't help her.
Two of the creatures were descending towards her.
She'd failed....
Failed...
Mommy...Daddy...
Light flared to her right.
An orb. An orb of glowing blue light, easily ten feet tall. It stood there, in the grass. Humming. Drowning out the cries of the babies.
All other noise stopped.
The world stopped.
Mary's eyes widened.
From the sphere, appeared a brown horse, with a rider.
She was a teen. Short black hair, small breasts under thick, tan, leather armor. In her hand was a wooden bow, arrow already nocked and drawn. With a shout that told the universe to beware, she released the bowstring before the mount's front hooves even touched this world's soil. Another arrow was nocked even as the rear hooves met the ground. The contact sounded like thunder to Mary's ears.
In an instant, horse and rider were gone, bounding away out of view. As quickly as they were gone, another sprang from the mist. The horse was tan, its rider majestic. She was all curve and muscle, blonde braid whipping behind her head as she entered this world. Her own bow was large, her muscles straining as she held the string taut. Leather clad legs directing her mount, the pair bolted opposite of where the first went. Her arrow let fly as she passed out of view.
Mary then saw the others...
****
Cathy pulled back hard on the reins, Rhea almost rearing up as she tried to comply. A girl was on the ground before her, right hand clutching her left shoulder, red blood trickling from between her fingers. Next to her, some sort of baby carriage, upturned onto the ground. Two infants were in the grass, yowling in distress. One of them seemed... lightly furry. She turned her head. Both hunter's horses had come through. Ben, unable to see the strangeness of it all, looked around from his mount unconcerned.
"Did it work?"
"You're human!"
The stranger was on her feet, legs shaking, eyes wide. She was in a light dress, arms and much of her legs bare. Lunging forward, she grabbed up for Cathy's hand.
"The babies! We have to get the babies back!"
Cathy looked up. Ahead, she could see wooden buildings, maybe a bit over half a mile away. A man was pushing another cart towards it, two people from the town running to meet him. One of them looked... blue and furry.
She blinked. That couldn't be right. A sound overhead jerked her head up. Something large was falling, burning. The stranger tugged harder on her hand.
"Please!"
Yes. Of course. She had to help. To not help would be evil. Cathy nodded.
"Give me one, give the other to Ben. He's blind." The girl nodded, letting go and dropping down on one knee next to the crying babies. "Ben! You're going to be handed a baby! Hold on to it hard, we'll be galloping!"
"Sam's?"
"No!" The girl was beside her again, holding up a white diapered child. She was using both arms, pain written all over her face. Taking the reins with her right hand, Cathy took the baby with her left. A smudged red handprint on his back sent a chill through the princess.
Lil dropped down onto her shoulder, sword in hand.
"What the hell is going on?"
The stranger paused, lifting the lightly furred baby into her arms. She looked up at the nude fairy, blinking once. That was all the reaction, as if she had seen her like before.
"We're being attacked! Anything with wings is bad! Please, help us!"
Lil let out a snort as the girl rushed behind them to hand the second kid to Ben. She waved her sword in front of her a few times, as if testing the balance she knew so well.
"So, it's that type of world. Just our luck."
"I have him!" Ben yelled. Cathy took a look behind. The girl had fallen to her knees, hand again trying to stem the bleeding.
"Go! Please!"
The horses bolted towards the town.
****
Sam had no idea what was going on. All she knew was arrows killed flying things, and killed them well.
The last of the creatures in the air that she could see dropped, her arrow embedded into its chest. The rest had landed, were taking cover. They had weapons, some of them, strange devices with a stock like that of a crossbow, but not a bow. They were birds, yet seemed to glide rather than fly. That was good. It meant now she could focus on the ground, ignoring the air. Ignore that huge burning thing falling behind her. To her left, she saw three creatures behind a small rise in the earth, their back to her. They were shooting their weapons at a large tree just before the town. Well, she could change that. Kicking her heals into Brownie's flanks, she charged, another arrow notched.
****
Goldie was losing.
The raptor-like Ludzie was on top of her. Its clawed feet had ahold of her legs, preventing her from pushing off the ground, from getting any leverage. Both her hands were on its neck, keeping that beak away from her face, those short arms away from her body. But... she was losing strength. The damned thing wasn't choking fast enough. Its weight was fully on her arms, her elbows slowly bending.
She was going to die.
Her Mommy was dead. Her beautiful Mom, with golden hair so much like her own fur. Mom would be proud of her. Had always said she was proud, had always told her how good she was, how much she loved her little baby. Maybe... maybe she would go to see her Mommy... maybe dying would be OK.
The beak came closer to her face.
Maybe...
Something black flew between their faces.
Squawking in pain, the Ludzie reared its head up, blood coming from its left eye. Its grip on her loosening, Goldie didn't hesitate. She rolled the thing onto its back, hands going to its left wing. With a growl, she snapped the limb. The creature howled again, now somehow having both eyes gone. She saw a rock at their side. Grabbing it, she lifted it up above her head with both hands, bringing it down on the bird's head.
It made a crunching sound.
All movement under her stopped.
Goldie sat up on her haunches, the dead thing surprisingly comfortable. She looked around, fearing another was about to attack her. But, no. She was alone. There was the sound of shouting, of gunfire, but, here, it was just her, and...
She saw him. A man, small man, human, skin as black as night. He was bald, hairless, nude, hanging before her face on golden wings. A silver sword was in hir hand, a brown belt around his waist. His eyes were looking at her, as if she...
****
Kik couldn't breath.
Her.
He knew her. From dreams of prophecy. Knew those eyes. That mouth. The golden hair. She... she was the one. The one...
She jumped off of the dead bird, coming to stand on four legs. He could see her shoulders rotate, muscles working out aches. He could also see her breasts, the golden fur over them lighter, sparser, than that over the rest of her. They did not so much hang, as firmly thrust themselves downward. Her eyes met his.
"I'm Goldie," she whispered.
"Kik." Tearing his eyes from her, he looked around. "Tell me, what..."
The world to their right exploded into fire.
****
Sam almost dropped her bow at the sight.
The forest out beyond planted fields was ablaze. Huge chunks of whatever that flying thing had been towered above the trees. What, in the name of all the gods and goddesses, could make fire like that? Never had she seen something burn that bright! Entire trees were aglow already, flames higher than the highest branches. It... it was beautiful, and horrible.
"Stranger!"
She whirled. A man was running towards her. He was stocky, in bluejeans and a light blue shirt, hair short and brown. In his hand was one of those strange weapons, but he held it casually, the front pointed to the ground. Figuring he was not in the best of shape, she lightly shook the reins, moving her mount towards him. Behind him, in the town, she saw others moving. Saw Cathy ride into town, a half dozen people around her. Coming up on the man, she pulled back on the reins.
"I'm Sam, daughter of Gary, wife of Jack. Who are you?"
The man came to a stop, eyes lighting up with humor.
"Chuck." He gave no further titles. "We can exchange histories later. Is it just the four of you? Is anyone hurt?" Sam looked around. Heather was riding towards her, bow put away, but sword drawn.
"I think we're OK, although two of our companions are very small so we'll have to wait for them to report in."
"OK. Not surprised." He paused a moment. "I need you to go into town. Find Anthony, tall guy with a mustache. Tell him I'm going to start with the fire. We have to keep it away from the fields. Tell him to send every droid we have to me. Got to dig a fire line, or something."
She frowned at the stranger, Heather reining in her mount next to them.
"What's a droid?"
"Don't worry about it. Just tell him. Please. And let my wives know I'm OK."
Wives. He said wives. Plural. That... well, she'd think about it later.
"I will, but, do you know anyone named Jack? Blonde hair, can't talk?"
"No," he said, shaking his head, "but then all sorts of people are popping in today."
****
Rinda reached the Mary the same time Goldie did.
"Mary!"
The girl was very pale. She sat with her back to the overturned baby cart, a powder blue blanket wrapped around her shoulder. A dark stain shown through. Rinda dropped to her knees beside her.
"Oh, no..." She put her hand lightly on the wound. Mary grimaced, but the blood stain was mostly dry. "We have to get you to Nona."
"Is she gonna be OK?" Goldie sat down behind her, eyes full of worry. Rinda frowned.
"With luck. Shoulder wounds can be minor." On Orang, at least. She had no idea about humans. She shook her head to clear it. "Forget about going to Nona. I don't want to move her, so bring Nona here. I'll stay and watch her."
"I'll go. Goldie should rest."
Rinda looked at the source of the strange male voice. A... small man was sitting on Goldie's shoulder. A small black man with wings. She stood, a bit unsteady.
"On second thought, I'll go, you two watch her. I..." Shaking her head, she turned and ran back the way she came.
Could the day get any stranger?
****
All five children were with their mothers.
Well, Melinda had both Jeli and Carol in her arms, but that was close enough. The newcomer Sam also had her child in her arms, taken from the back of the young girl's horse. Anthony shook his head. Squirrels, Ludzie, and now horseback amazon warriors. And the planet on fire. Can't forget that. Remembrance Day was one to remember, no doubt about that.
Anthony saw the other newcomer riding up, the one adult among them. Not counting the little fairies, and one must always count fairies. He shook his head to clear it. There was too much to do for him to think silly thoughts.
"Anything?" He asked the woman as she reined in. Heather gave a shake of her head.
"If more are still alive, they're in hiding."
"I don't like that," Anthony said, frowning. "We'll have to set up a security watch."
"The... 'droids' are with Chuck now. He said to pack what you can, in case we have to retreat to the ship."
"Great. Hannah..." He turned, stopping. Marching up the long road from the landing pads came an army of squirrels. They were all dressed in their ubiquitous white dresses, a sea of thin young women in a rainbow of colored fur. The first few had rifles, but the rest carried shovels and other implements of destruction (as the old song went). Sarah was at the lead, answering the question of where the hell they went to. The girl Sam came up beside him, eyes wide.
"Squirrels are HERE?"
Anthony looked down at her.
"Ah, so you've met them. That explains so much. This is their fault, you know. It's always their fault." He raised a hand to the closing army. "Come to help, have you?"
An awed murmur went through the throng. Anthony put the hand to his forehead.
"If anyone asked you if you're a god, Sam, just say 'yes' for now. It gets complicated otherwise."
****
Chuck thought they were going to be OK.
They hadn't planted fields right up to the forest edge, giving them a nice buffer. Some wreckage had fallen among the crops, but that was minor. The trees were all green and healthy, which in addition to the rain two days ago was keeping the spread to a minimum. The fire line he had the droids and squirrels cut was damned wide, he hoped, and he felt confident having them start to work their way around to try and contain the back of the blaze. Already two dozen trees had been felled, trunks pulled out towards town. With no way to dump water on the thing, all they could do was try and make it a controlled burn.
Hedva stood at his side, apparently liaison between him and the furry girls working hard around him. And work hard they did. He had no complaints there. All problems with them started at the top, with what they were taught, not the women themselves.
Hell, he was even starting to like Hedva.
There was a shout from the northern edge of the line. Hedva's eyes widened.
"They found a survivor!"
Chuck's eyes narrowed. That... complicated things. What do they do, if any lived? Killing someone unarmed or wounded would not be right. Grabbing his weapon, he quickly followed Hedva, almost hoping to hear the sound of gunshots. It would make things so much easier.
A crowd of squirrels were in a small circle, shovels and picks motioning threateningly. Chuck almost thought they were growling. With a harsh shout from Hedva, a path opened. Moving confidently, Chuck passed through it.
There, on the ground, was a Ludzie. She was small, close to his height, wingspan maybe half of those he had been fighting. Her feathers were a light blue, small human like breasts on her chest between short arms. Her eyes were wide, frightened, as she cowered against an old log.
Chuck let the stock of his weapon rest on the ground as he held the barrel.
"Hedva, go get Daium, and Nona if the others don't need her at the moment. It looks like we have a guest."