PARTIES.”
“Tell me about it then,” said Margaret thoughtfully, “and if it’s feasible, we’ll give it our best shot.”
Later the next afternoon, after they had washed off the worst of the dirt and sweat of the day, Denny was in conversation with Margaret and Sylvia.
“You’ll just have to trust me in this,” she insisted. “What you say is true, and we will miss you. We’ll win the skirmish with the patrol and they’ll run back to their mothers when they meet real troopers at last.” She emphasised the word ‘real’, “but we cannot defeat Central unless you do as Hood asks,” and waited for a reply.
Hood had outlined the task she needed them to carry out, and the group had divided opinions about the feasibility of it. They had been told that the shuttle was refuelled and ready to go groundside, but the only suitable landing place, in their area, was Valencia’s commercial airport, which appeared to be strewn with wreckage or rubble. So if they wouldn’t mind, could they please go and clean up the runway? The purpose of bringing the shuttle to Valencia was a bit vague, but it sounded like Hood had got a working teleport device salvaged from an alien vessel, and needed an earth base. The tempter offered for their cooperation, was a new type of weapon with low energy emissions. Caren and Denny had spent ages talking into the dark hours of the night and re-reading the little prayer book. Caren was understanding about her sister’s fears of becoming ‘the dark one’ as described in the book, and was adamant that Denny would have to make the big decisions which could affect their future. So there she was, giving them what information she could, or thought she should, and persuading Margaret to take a small party from the village to Valencia. Margaret sighed again and rubbed her eyes.
“How many should go, do you think,” she asked Denny, and got what she expected, a detailed rundown of who would make up her group.
“Nine of you,” she replied instantly. “You, Gudrun, Ricky, Walt, Marcus, and Jimmy. Plus three from the village, probably Ella, Maria and Snowy.”
Sylvie looked up sharply, “that cuts the heart from our line, we’ll only have five top swords left.”
“There’ll be six on the day. She isn’t here yet,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “and she doesn’t know yet what’s to become of her.” She whirled round, and left the astonished pair quickly before the tears came again, running to seek out Caren.
“It’s done,” she told her, “they’ll be going tomorrow.”
As expected, the party going to Valencia was made up exactly as Denny had suggested, and they were on the road before noon, with a journey time of about seven or eight days. Their return was dictated by the state of the runway, and the amount of debris they would have to move. Until they actually saw it for themselves, there could be no target time for a return. There was much hugging and kissing, and more than a few tears as well. Hopefully, contact could be maintained, either directly, or relayed through one of the heavenly sisters. They were waved out of sight, and then they were gone.
There was an unhappy air about the farm for a few days, then Sylvia, Billie and Jade invited Anton to go for a walk in the woods with them. They returned several hours later, and Anton was greeted by Simon, the only other man left there.
“If Gudrun was here, she’d box your ears for you man.” He frowned at the lack of response from Anton. “What’s the matter fella, seen a ghost?”
“Hell, boy, I’ve seen worse than that. They took me to see the dogs. I’ve met Billie’s partner, Flame. Makes you see ‘going to the dogs’ in a new light.”