Chapter Four

*

Evie and Sybil were both sipping their morning coffee in the canteen when Mike appeared at the door.

‘Evie, Norton is calling you. Immediately!’

The man’s face was agitated and Evie sprang to her feet.

‘What’s going on?’ She asked as she followed Mike out of the canteen.

‘I only know that the Sirian patrol has returned and they have some urgent info.’ Mike said and they walked into the boardroom.

Commander was standing at the table and at the other side there was Ethan with Olve. Evie remembered that she’d met the other man before when he came with Ethan. He was almost as tall as his chief, though a bit more heavily muscled. When Ethan was on his own with her before she thought he was big but now as she had him side by side with another Sirian she had to give Olve justice. Despite his intimidating built though the man’s brown eyes were warm and friendly when he looked at her which gave him the look of a huge cuddly bear. Ethan seemed so preoccupied with showing something on the big screen taking the best part of the wall in the room that he barely noticed Evie come in. When she entered Norton’s face relaxed visibly.

‘Good you’ve come so fast.’ Norton said. His voice was serious. ‘Chief Nacher has some important information for us and I’d rather not misunderstand anything.’

‘Let’s get to the point.’ Ethan broke in.

He just nodded slightly to acknowledge Evie's presence and turned back to the screen. Her stomach did a violent dive and tied in knots immediately sensing something was terribly wrong. Ethan's face was professional and completely impersonal. He spoke fast leaving her little time to think over what she translated.

‘We reached the Archer’s Ridge and went over it. The mountain disturbed our instruments but once we got over the ridge we had a clear view. Our scanner registered a few military planes and we found out some of the rebel forces had moved south. It seems they are aiming at your base, maybe they’ve decided that it gave us good strategic support. Of course we don’t know their intentions but gathering their forces and moving in this direction may mean that your base is in danger of being attacked. I’d advise you to evacuate as fast as possible.’

While telling all this Ethan showed the direction of the enemy’s moves on the screen. He didn’t look at Evie even once and she had to concentrate hard on the message she was translating trying to keep her voice even.

‘How much time do we have captain?’ Norton was practical.

‘We’ve tried to hurry back. Well, a day, two at most.’

‘A day!’ Norton was agitated and appalled. ‘I can’t evacuate the base in a day, not even in two.’

‘I can’t advise you anything better commander, I’m sorry. My team can't offer any substantial support against air raids, we don't have enough heavy ammo to fight against military planes. If you can't evacuate in time I'd advise you to call for support from your headquarters. We'll stay as long as we can to see how the situation plays out and do whatever we can to aid you but you must understand I am responsible for my team so if things get out of hand we'll have to leave. My people can be ready at any time, we’ve already started packing our things.’

Ethan’s voice businesslike and impersonal seemed to freeze Evie’s unspoken questions and dilemmas before they could even be formed properly in her head.

‘Well, I suppose that’s all captain then. Thank you very much anyway.’

Commander Norton turned to Evie.

‘You’ve heard what we must do Evie. Go and tell your friends to get ready to move. We’ll start taking people away right now.’

Ethan nodded to the commander and left the room with Olve at his side and Evie followed with a heavy heart. He didn’t even say goodbye to her, she thought. That proved their relation meant nothing to him. What relation? She scolded herself mentally. There was no such thing as a relation with the Sirian chief you idiot.

‘We have to pack, Sybil.’ She said coming into the laboratory where her friend had already got to work.

‘Why? What’s going on?’ Sybil looked at her with surprise.

‘The rebels, they are heading towards the base. We may be attacked, perhaps tomorrow. Commander ordered an evacuation.’ Evie sat at the computer and looked at the screen with blank eyes.

‘Evacuation!?’ Sybil exclaimed, then she had a second thought. ‘What about Ethan?’

‘What about him?’

‘Did you talk to him?’

‘Sure, he offered to marry me so we’re leaving today and going straight to Toulouse to meet his family and talk about the wedding.’ Said Evie sarcastically.

Sybil shook her head.

‘Right, that’s ridiculous.’ She admitted.

‘He hasn’t even said goodbye to me.’ Evie’s own reserve broke for a moment, she just couldn’t stop herself. ‘Just left the base without a word.’ For some unexplained reason it hurt her.

They both sat in silence for a while then Evie shook off her melancholy and turned to the monitor.

‘Right, there’s no time to waste. We have to save data to take with us. Let’s get to work.’

The Sirian chief was sitting in front of the fire looking towards the base with unseeing eyes. The tents were packed and the boys were going to sleep just plain on the ground with their backpacks under their heads. As Ethan said they would stay to see if they could be of any help but they had to be ready to go at any moment. Ethan's thoughts were going over and over the last half hour. On the way back to the base he was entertaining crazy thoughts of asking Evie to leave with him. He just couldn't stand the thought that it could all end like this. But of course, that was meant to end like that from the very beginning. What was he thinking for Pete's sake? They were of two very different worlds. Her world was in the Earthian base and his was in the jungle fighting partisans. It was always clear there was no way their lives could ever align. He was stupid to even hope that Evie would be interested in someone like him. She was surely more reasonable than him. She was friendly with him like with anybody else that's all. Yet he felt remorse about the way he left the base without saying a word of farewell to Evie. Once again like at the very beginning of their acquaintance he behaved like a rude uncivilized bastard. But he just couldn't bear to look at her knowing it was for the last time and that he won't see her ever again. He didn't trust his own reactions. So he avoided raising his eyes at her focusing solely on his task until he could leave the base. It was time to end daydreaming.

Olve sat at his side.

‘What are you thinking?’ He asked directly.

He knew his friend would understand what he was asking about. Ethan was silent for so long that Olve thought he wasn’t going to answer him at all.

‘What does it matter? In this job you shouldn’t really let yourself feel too much. Nothing good results from it.’ Ethan said at last and Olve didn’t find anything to say to his friend that would comfort him.

It was still dark, two hours separating them from the first light of the dawn. Ethan didn’t know what woke him at first but then he heard the low whistle of the engines coming closer with every second. He sprang to his feet.

‘Wake up!’ He called and his boys started to move swiftly.

They hardly managed to get off the ground when the first explosions directed at the Earthly base lightened the sky. Ethan stood motionless for just a second then he shouted:

‘Get scattered among the trees! Take your things and get ready to go. I’ll be back in ten minutes. If I’m not, start off without me with Olve at the lead.’

He ran towards the base bent in half trying to stay low. His mind switched off completely letting in only one basic need: find Evie. He didn't plan what he would do when the time came to leave but now he acted on instinct. He noticed some of the buildings were already on fire, people were running around trying to get to the airpods' hangar. And it was clear that would be the first place the missiles would destroy. He cast a glance around trying to spot Evie in the crowd and he was lucky for there she was indeed running with Sybil towards the hangar. Ethan spotted two planes hovering over the yard. Shots were fired and he saw Sybil fall on the ground. Evie stopped and turned and the plane turned as well.

‘Fuck!’

Ethan swore loudly and ran towards the girl at top speed. Evie knelt at Sybil’s side and Ethan got to her almost at the same time. One look at the other girl’s blank eyes was enough.

‘Leave her, she’s dead!’

He grabbed Evie’s arm and pulled her up ruthlessly. She wanted to cry out in protest but her throat was strangled as if her body forgot its fundamental functions. Even if she tried to fight him it would be no use. He was hauling her effortlessly after him as if she were just a paper kite in the air. They managed to run a few steps before the next shots raised dust around them. Ethan pushed Evie behind a piece of ruined wall and turned back to aim at the plane. He fired twice and the machine exploded over their heads showering the ground with burning debris. He grabbed Evie’s hand again and pulled her along. She didn’t protest, just held on to the Sirian’s hand. He seemed the only safe element in the surrounding chaos. Constant explosions and blazes of fire blinded and deafened her, wherever she turned her eyes the horrific pictures seemed to freeze like still frames in the movie and for the time being her brain refused to process them. The only thing she was able to feel was the heat of the Sirian’s hand holding hers in a strong grip as she ran after him. They reached the trees and she noticed Ethan’s people were crouched among them ready to leave the camp.

‘Move!’ Ethan shouted not stopping for a moment and they dutifully turned west.

The pace was fast. Although about twenty men were marching before Evie and cutting their way through the bush she tripped every now and then over the roots sticking over the ground or was hit on the head by a branch she didn’t manage to catch in time. She wondered how they managed to see anything in the darkness below the branches of the bush. Eventually, it started to get light and she could distinguish the details of their surroundings more easily. She remembered herself want to know what the bush was like but now she was too stunned to really see or process anything. They marched at that crazy pace for a few hours and it was almost noon when Ethan let them stop.

Evie sat on the ground and hung her head between her knees. She was so exhausted her muscles shivered and her head swam. Her brain seemed anesthetized into dizzy numbness with shock and fatigue. Ethan sat near her and passed her a bottle of water.

‘Thanks.’ She said gratefully and drank from the bottle.

She noticed that her hands were covered with dried blood and she remembered having touched Sybil’s blood-soaked clothes. Then she recalled having pushed her hair from her face a few times before and realized she must be smeared with Sybil’s blood all over. She wanted to get it off herself. Ethan was looking helplessly as her shivering became uncontrollable and a violent sob got out of her throat as she tried to wipe her hands on her shorts. All the horrific pictures from their escape came back to her: bodies twisted on the ground, people shouting, balls of fire everywhere. Evie suddenly felt everything rise in her stomach and she sprang to her feet and turned back but she was sick before she managed to get away.

‘I’m sorry.’ She stammered when it was over. ‘It’s just shock.’

‘It’s okay. Here, wash your face.’

Ethan poured water from the bottle on her cupped hands and she washed her face and rinsed her mouth. In other circumstances she'd be embarrassed but everything still felt surreal and too raw for her to think of herself and what impression she was making on her new team. For a second as he looked at her a terrible sick feeling twisted Ethan's guts. It could have been Evie's blood. It could have been her lying dead in the base if he hadn't acted. But he did. Relief washed over him almost pushing him to pull the girl into his arms to comfort her. But he pushed it out of his mind with the full force of his will. What has he done? What was he thinking taking this girl with them from her home base? Taking her out into the Sirian jungle on a long and unpredictable journey? Now that he'd made that step she was his responsibility and he wasn't sure he was ready to take that on himself. How will he be able to focus on his job with her by his side all the time? With Evie so close at his reach how will he stop himself from taking another step and claiming her as his? But he couldn't have left her behind for certain death. That was as much out of question as leaving his boys behind. So he'll just have to deal with it now. Somehow. He didn't even know if she was okay with being pulled out from her surroundings so ruthlessly and without asking her in the first place.

‘Thank you. I’m fine now.’ The Earthian girl whispered breaking his trail of thought.

‘We’ll slow down a little now. I just wanted to put as much distance behind us as fast as possible.’ Ethan said apologetically.

‘I’m not complaining.’ Evie shook her head.

‘I know.’

That was true he realized. She wasn’t the one to complain easily.

‘The base was completely destroyed?’

Only the intonation made it a question and Ethan nodded sadly.

‘Most probably.’

‘Maybe someone has survived.’ Evie couldn’t rule hope out of her voice.

‘Even if that is so we can’t turn back. Rebel forces are most probably all over the place. If anyone survived they will have to manage by themselves.’ He didn’t want to tell her that the rebel forces had probably killed anyone who might have survived their bombing.

‘Where are we going?’ She knew she wasn’t in a position to question his decisions but still she had the right to know that.

‘We have to get through to Fort Lourdes. There’s our headquarters there. We would be able to contact your base in Jamall so that you can get back to your people.’ As he said that his gut twisted in insane protest and Ethan set his teeth to calm his rebellious mind.

‘How long will that take?’

‘It depends on how fast we march. Maybe two weeks.’

Just as he was speaking the words out Ethan realized despite his earlier doubts that he felt happy that fate enabled him to spend more time with the girl. Well, think of it honestly fate had little to do with it. Evie sat silently pondering his words and Ethan cast her a secret glance wandering what the Earthian girl was thinking. Was she unhappy about how things turned out? Would she be counting days before she got back to her kind? His spirits plunged at Evie's questions. From what she asked he could suspect she wanted to be among her own folks as soon as possible. Obviously, she didn't share his enthusiasm about the two-week journey in his company. He turned his head to hide his disappointment.

‘All right, let's get moving.’ He shouted standing up and breaking his reveries.

They were cutting through the bush till the evening. On the way boys hunted a deer and now as they stopped for the night they started roasting it over the fire. Evie was sitting near the fire with Ethan and Olve. They didn't talk much, everyone occupied with their own thoughts processing what's happened today. The Sirians seemed to respect Evie's mournful state. She's lost all her friends and her home today and it was understandable she wasn't in the mood for conversation. Evie still couldn't fully grasp her situation. She was too numb to be able to think ahead about what would happen to her. She should be afraid. She was in an alien camp surrounded by about thirty muscled dark men much bigger than she was. She was completely at their mercy: had any one of them thought to hurt her she would stand no chance to stand up to them. The only familiar people really were Ethan and Olve and Kahim whom she dealt with before when they came to her base. But even so, she didn't really know these men. She felt she could trust Ethan, he saved her life twice now after all but it was the only thing she could hold on to. He might not act so civilized without the proximity of other Earthians. He might well decide it was too much trouble to help her get back to her kind and just abandon her in the middle of the jungle if she was slowing them too much. What if they encountered rebels and there was a fight? Would he still be able to protect her? Or if nothing like that happened she might not even survive the two weeks journey through the bush. She shuddered remembering the snake. The jungle was undoubtedly full of dangerous creatures. The deer smelled appetizing but Evie was so tired that she didn’t even feel hungry. Besides her stomach was still cramped with nerves. Even though she still accepted a plate she was offered by Olve when the meat was ready. She knew she had to eat to be able to walk the next day. She forced herself to chew slowly while the Sirians were talking quietly but for once her numb brain refused to keep up with the meaning of the conversation in a foreign language. Her eyes started to close. Ethan cast a look at her and he touched her arm.

‘Evie, go to sleep.’ He said. ‘You can stay in my tent if you want.’

‘What about you?’ She asked wearily lifting her eyes at him with effort. Her eyelids seemed to weigh a tone.

‘I usually sleep by the fire anyway. Besides, we’ll be on guard tonight.’

‘All right then. Thank you.’

Evie got up and dragged herself to the tent put up nearby. She crashed on Ethan’s sleeping bag not even caring to get inside.

It seemed she’d barely closed her eyes when low voices outside woke her up. For a moment she lay stiff and disoriented not knowing where she was and what had happened. Then she heard Ethan’s commanding voice outside and the memories flooded her mind ruthlessly. For a moment she lay trying to ban the pictures that started flashing under her eyelids: terrible sights of death and destruction she witnessed the day before. Evie winced and squeezed her eyes shut more tightly to stop tears stinging her eyes. But it was no use. She got up and crawled out of the tent. She’d never been up and out at such time before. The jungle was enveloped in mist. Humidity was evaporating from the ground and all greenery as it already started to get warmer. The trees and bushes emerging from the mist looked mysterious and a bit scary in the faint light of early morning and Evie heard animal noises that she was not familiar with either. Most of the animals did not come that close to their base. Ethan's team were sitting around eating breakfast and drinking coffee or packing their things. She approached the fire on which Ethan was cooking water in a metal pot.

‘Hi.’ She said uncertainly trying to tuck her hair in a rubber band.

‘Hello.’

Ethan smiled at her and passed her a steaming cup. He'd heard her stir in the tent minutes ago and his heart jumped at the thought that he'd see her in a moment.

‘Thanks.’ Evie sat near to him taking a sip of strong black coffee.

‘We’ll be setting off soon. Eat something before we start.’

He pointed towards the bits of meat leftover from yesterday’s supper. His eyes skimmed her slim figure and he pulled his eyebrows together with worry. The same thoughts crossed his mind now: will Evie be able to stand the hardships of the journey? She seemed fit for Earthian standards but still she was just a fragile Earthian and the journey would be tough. He had no clue what her endurance would be.

‘We should reach the river before noon. We’ll make a stop then so you’ll be able to wash.’ He looked briefly at her T-shirt still stained with blood.

‘Right, that’s great.’ She tried to ban the thought that she must be dirty and stinky after yesterday's journey. Well, they were all in the same boat at least.

Her stomach rumbled at the smell of food and Evie started eating. The coffee was good and she was starved. Her body and mind must have come back to their balance during the night and gave her a signal she burnt more calories than she took the day before. They finished their meal in silence. For Ethan the girl’s presence in his camp was quite a new experience. He still couldn’t decide whether he was glad she was with them. To tell the truth, he felt a bit unnerved. The way this girl made his thoughts distracted made him uneasy and angry. He was afraid this might affect his work. He was not able to focus properly on his tasks as he kept thinking about her all the time. It was one thing to come to her base whenever he pleased to see her. It was nice to dream impossible dreams of her. He could come or not, it was only his will that determined it. Now he was condemned to her company whether he wished or not. And obviously he was losing control over his mind and body's reactions when Evie was so close.

Now they walked slower than yesterday indeed and Evie was able to look around at the scenery they passed. She’d spent a few years on Sirius but she’s never been in the proper bush before. She stayed in Earth bases most of the time and she knew little about Sirian conditions really. Of course she knew the different kinds of plants and animals inhabiting the planet, she’d examined hundreds of samples after all but she’s never seen them in their natural habitat. The little she knew about the Sirian culture she inferred from her relations with the Sirians she talked to as an interpreter. And now she was all alone among the natives in a strange alien world where she’d never know how to survive if they decided to abandon her.