Man Of Earth
9
“Rex! Speak to me! Are you alright?!”
## Rex Canon began to stir painfully as his eyes slowly refocussed on the world about him. The Transport listed on its side, broken and smoking, with fires beginning around the sparks that ignited the trickling fuel that was escaping from the fissures in the hull where the fuel lines had been smashed apart. There was a low hum, perhaps from one of the retinue craft, or from the swelling in his head. He felt his face, which was sticky from blood. Eventually his eyes focussed on the dark shape before him, the one calling to him in an Earthly accent. It was the Captain. At least he was alright ##
“Dan? What happened?” Rex asked carefully.
“We were ambushed, I’m afraid, Rex. One of those things.”
“I must get to the Democratic Prime meeting! All the other Democratic Primes will be waiting for me!” Rex Canon tried to stand, but Dan forced him down easily to the floor again. Rex was seated upon grass, with his back to a piece of dragged-over wreckage. Dan also had cuts about his face, and his uniform was cut and ripped in places, but it always looked more dramatic on him.
“Where are we?” asked Rex, a little calmer, still holding his head when another wave of headaches came over him.
Dan looked around, “Somewhere between Sunray City and the Geomelliar Gorge,” surmised Dan.
“Right. Have you -”
“Yes, I set the beacon off. A rescue team should be here soon, perhaps within the hour.” smiled Dan.
“So, nothing to do but sit and wait.” said Rex.
“Very true, Rex,” agreed Dan, “Let’s just hope those scoundrels don’t return in the meantime.”
Silence fell then, and it made Rex Canon uncomfortable. He was used to regular activity, and this simply made him anxious, “You know, it wasn’t always like this, here on White Haven? There was a time when everything was at peace.”
Dan laughed, as he picked amongst the wreckage for usable items, “I doubt very much if White Haven was ever at peace!” joked Dan, picking at some loose wires.
Rex chuckled, “You may have a point there, Danny boy.”
Dan could sense how anxious Rex was becoming, so found a way in which to help. If Rex became any more anxious or stressed, it might be detrimental to his health, “I’ll tell you what, while we wait for them to come pick us up, how about a little story?”
Rex smiled, “Yes. I like to hear of Earth. It’s fascinating.”
Dan smiled in return, “Well, this is a little story about how Susan and I became, well, Susan and I, I suppose?”
#
Captain Ward was tired. He had flown the XCV Fighter Plane for over three hours, not to mention the previous eight yesterday, and the further ninety three hours this week alone. He loved his job though, because it gave him so much pleasure, passion and joy - but sometimes enough was enough and the poor man needed a rest. Except, according the Command, he was required on another part of the Base for a morale-boosting interview with a National Paper. He had done his fair share of those, and he almost wanted to refuse, but he knew how much it meant to the boys, from the good old chap with the wrench in his hand, to the poor man who had to fill out endless reams of paperwork, for every flight, every person on Base, right down to the Cooks, who turned nothing into something every damned night.
She was beautiful, sure, but then they only ever sent Dan the beautiful ones. What did they think he was? Some kind of misogynist? She seemed as lacklustre as he was, to fulfil each of their commitments, but started anyway.
“Susan Weathers. With the Daily Register -”
“Didn’t I speak to one of your chaps before?” asked Dan.
“More than likely. Look, why don’t we -”
“And they send over you, I see?” continued Dan.
“Yes,” said Susan, exacerbated, “They sent over me. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Not yet.” smiled Dan, disarmingly.
“So, Captain Ward, if we could -”
“You know they threatened to ground me if I didn’t take this interview? Oh, don’t get me wrong, Miss! For the lads, I’d fly into Hell and back!”
“Good. Now let’s stop wasting time then.” answered Susan, more calmly than she had the right to.
“How’s about we leave the Base, take in a show and, I don’t know, have a meal while we continue this interview?” continued Dan, with a smile.
It suddenly hit Susan then, what Dan was actually doing, “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”
“Maybe a little.”
Then, instead of what should have happened, with a slap on the face and an exit through the door, Susan decided to give as good as she got, “Well, Captain, If you’ve quite finished, and that wasn’t an invitation to interrupt, maybe the sooner we get started, the sooner I can wholeheartedly reject your invitation to a show and dinner.” With that, she raised an eyebrow and a smile. The ice was broken, and they began to converse over a pot of tea and a plate of digestives.
Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, it started to become interesting, “I was born in England, near Frantshire, you know.” remarked Susan, sipping at her tea.
“Really? You don’t sound very - British?” Dan said.
Susan was still in a playful mood, “No, you numbskull! I moved to the States when I was three!”
“So, not much of a memory of the Frantshire Moors then?” said Dan, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably twitching.
“I swear, if this table wasn’t in the way -” she teased back.
“So you like Jazz then?” asked Dan, changing the subject.
“Big Band stuff, yes. How about you?”
“Very much a traditionalist. A quintet, that kind of thing. An amalgam of instruments, if you like.” said Dan.
“How about poetry?” Susan asked, “I’m reading William Garfendler at the moment.”
Dan sat up in his chair, “Me too! He speaks to my soul in a way no other can.” expressed Dan, looking to a spot in the distance. Susan chuckled, understanding him precisely.
After that interview, Dan and Susan dated for a while, going to see some local Jazz bands out in the sticks, in the dark and dingy clubs where the talent really honed their skills to a baying audience who always wanted more. So, it seemed, did both Susan and Dan, and as Dan was posted overseas, they lost touch and went their separate ways. That was until one fateful night, when a mutual friend of the pair invited them to a kind of party at the Radby University Campus.
It seemed that the Professor, one Wilson Bronnstromer, had made a great discovery about a spacial anomaly, close enough to observe by telescope, but he very much wanted to investigate it right there, in situ.
Dan was in two minds whether to stay, seeing as he was hanging on to the fringes, sipping away at an ineffectual cocktail, when he suddenly saw someone he had tried, but never managed to forget. Within two steps of her entering the room, she took his breath away again. He had not realised just how hard she had stolen his heart, and nothing now existed but the two of them, right there, as though fate had intervened in a very large oversight or mistake of nature, that these two people needed to be together - so much so that Susan required no prompting to look to Dan, and realise why she had decided to come to the party after all. It was so the two of them could be reunited.
A short few months later, here they were, on White Haven, fighting a war for the freedom of a Galaxy from a tyrannical guest, in the guise of Baron Adolfin Frost of the Sigma Dissonance.
#
Rex was happy - to a degree. He hated that he received the job of Democratic Prime from the sudden demise of Axel Paver, but there was nothing to be done about that now. There was an invading force on its way, and they had only just begun attacking the unwary and unready City of Sunray. It was true the City was becoming more organised now Rex was in charge, as poor Axel had never been up to the task. He was an old traditionalist, and that was a lost cause in these times of conflict. He died, unfortunately, in the first wave of the Sigma Dissonance onslaught.
Not that it was possible to predict, but the timing could not have been worse. Rex’s wife, Derra, was pregnant with their son, Arlow, and she was near term.
The Headquarters was a mess of twisted metal and stone, much like a large chunk of the City itself, after the numerous attacks. The rebuilding took much of Rex’s time, but he always spared a moment or two for his wife and soon-to-be child.
Then the attacks came, harder than ever. Rex was forced to leave his wife unsettled in their new apartments, to fight a war against the oppressors on the borders of the planet’s blanketing atmosphere.
The attacks were relentless, destroying, breaking, tearing at the very fabric of this world. Discussions began between once warring Cities about this force that threatened them, and Rex had to be there, all the time, for every little detail. It pained him, but he understood it was for the greater good. They all worked, and they all had to continue to work for the greater good. Capitulate and die was the only alternative. Then it came, that devastating day when Rex’s world, his personal world, fell about his ears.
“Canon!” called one of the Guards running to him. The informality of the name was justified in the times in which they found themselves, and Rex certainly wasn’t going to admonish the man for his causal address. It was quite evidently important, “It’s your wife! One of the shots hit the tower where she is, and no one can get to her!”
“What do you mean, no one can -” then Rex realised arguing an unassailable concept was pointless, when he should be where his wife and unborn child was. He left someone else in charge and ran to the Democratic Prime’s apartments, where before him was a jumble of stone and wires.
“Derra!” called Rex, uncontrollable with emotion.
“Rex!” came the reply, “He’s coming!” she added.
Rex needed no further encouragement. He began tearing with soon bloodied hands at the raw material, making a hole big enough to clamber through. As he did, others had arrived, and were beginning to clear the debris away, “Rex!” called out his wife once more, as she caught a glimpse of him in the shadowy dark. It was all Rex could do to remain calm in such a situation, but he managed to relieve his wife’s anxiety, as he helped deliver his own child. By the time Derra held her son in her arms, the Medics had broken through and were looking after Mother and child.
“I know it’s not a good time to interrupt, Sir, but you’re needed, back in the Situation Room.” expressed a Guard.
Rex looked desperately to his wife, who wordlessly nodded and smiled, knowing his duty was now needed elsewhere. Rex kissed first his son on the forehead, then his wife on hers, before turning and racing down the stairs.
#
Dan wiped something from the corner of his eye, “Beautiful, my friend. And he is such a credit to you. And who knows? Perhaps one day a Democratic Prime himself?” They both smiled at the prospect.
Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle, a Hover Slide, caught their attention. Dan was already on his feet, weapon drawn. It wasn’t until the vehicle came into view did they relax once more. It was the Rescue Team. Once landed, Susan and Ambassador Able alighted. Able rushed to Rex and called for a Medic, while Susan jumped into Dan’s arms.
“Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!” said Dan, wincing a little from the pain.
“That’s it!” insisted Susan, “I’m going to hug you now and never let go, whether you like it or not!”
Dan smiled, and hugged back.
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