A Silence Heard (3 page)

He led and Kendra and I stepped behind with Marcellus and Wirt keeping the rear. Although it was not so far to the end of the landing strip, my feet ached and I found it difficult to keep my balance. Kendra held onto me, and thusly propped, we managed to keep up.

Eadgard stopped and we gathered around him. The grey metal buildings that I had seen from so far above loomed huge before us. Their massive sides were smooth and I could not see any joins along the edges, so that it appeared they were crafted in one great blob and not in segments. Truly these Agros had tech beyond any I had seen.

“Impressive, if monstrous. Do you not think, my dear?”

I involuntarily grabbed Kendra’s hand. She pulled hers away and placed mine back into the tube. “Sorry. I’ll endeavour to keep my tell-tale mitts hidden.”

Eadgard scanned the scene before us and gave Marcellus a look as if to say, “Be prepared for a scuffle.” Marcellus nodded and stood beside him

“If we are all able to, shall we continue ahead?”

“I’m with ye. Let’s go,” Wirt said and stepped forward.

But, we did not get very far. A swishing sound halted our progress. It came from one of the structures to our left and we turned to see two bullmales exit from an oblong hole in the centre. They moved towards us and the hole closed. I blinked and no matter how hard I tried, could not see where the doorway had been.

Eadgard stepped forward and pushed Kendra and myself behind him. Wirt, stood to his right and Marcellus to his left. I nestled up against Eadgard’s back and took in long breaths to slow the pace of my heart.

The Agro guards marched closer.

I poked my head around Eadgard’s bod just enough to spy the males. I was eager to see an Agro up close and was full of apprehension. So far they did not look like the mutations I had conjured up inside my skull. Those Carnies, Ryce and Atyhtan, I believed to be Agro, were merely fake and did not represent their form at all.

In my imagination, Agros were huge and bulky, with tiny eyes and big claw like hands. In short, I supposed them to be more beast than hominid. But as they approached, I saw, with some disappointment, that they were not so different from us in shape and size.

They carried fierce weapons that looked as though they could both poke and bludgeon at the same time. I did not want to cause further palpitations by thinking of said weapons being used on me and mine, so took to gazing upon their person instead.

No two hominids could be more similar in appearance. They were tall and thin with patchy black and grey stubble splattered over much of their long sunken-cheeked faces. They wore the same uniform, an all-in-one blood red trouser suit made from a strange sparkly material. They stopped in front of us and aimed the weapons at our heads.

One of them stepped forward and lowered his weapon, “Follow,” he said. His voice was deep and boomy. His eyes were a dull brown and no light seemed to come from them. The other stared blankly at us and I felt Eadgard’s spine stiffen.

“Let us do as we are bid,” he said.

The guards swivelled round and walked away. We looked at one another then dutifully pid-padded after them along the straight gravelled path. I say gravelled, but the chunks of rock were so big that I felt them dig into the soles of my shoes. I was forced to stop from time to time and pluck out a stray pebble that found its way underneath my insole.

To distract my mind from foot pain, I took to looking around at my new surroundings. Low shrubs that were brimful of white and orange flowers boarded the walkway we trudged along. On either side of it was a luscious green lawn as neat and cared for as a bub in its coming out dugs.

I grimaced as bits of broken stone caused me to stumble from time to time, and became more than mindful of my new appearance and how uncomfortable I felt. I attempted to mirror the way in which Kendra moved, but my toes were not so used to shoes with high bits. I tottered so inelegantly that Wirt had to hold my arm to keep me from kissing the path with my noggin.

As we carried on, I became aware of a most pleasant smell. I looked to the sky and squinted at the pale sun before lowering my head to peruse the vast, flat place. There were acres upon acres upon acres and so on, of fields growing all manner of foodstuffs. Wirt nudged my arm and whispered in my ear, “How can this be? These crops be nearly all grown, and it is but the earliest part of spring.”

The sight was one of wonder, despite its curiousness. Colours ranging from the deepest green to the brightest yellow stretched out further than the any could focus on. I was dazzled by the enormity and scale of the vegetation, having never been near actual food plants before. They had a smell too. A sweet, cloyingness that tickled my nose and throat so much, that I could not help but sneeze.

“God bless you. Or Mother Nature, depending on who or what you believe in,” Kendra said and handed me a cloth for wiping said snout. I blew and handed it back. She closed one eye and shook her head. “No, my dear, best keep it in case you require it again.”

“Will do and ta.” I bumped into the back of Marcellus, who’d come to an abrupt halt. He turned and I gave him a coy smile. He returned it and then some. A sizzling sensation swept across my private bits, and I became far too aware that we were not alone. I clenched my thighs and tried not to think of intimate things. My guess was that Marcellus felt the same, for he bent his head and “Hem, hemmed” in a most embarrassed manner. Our uncomfortableness was ended when one of the guards spoke.

“Wait here. Don’t move or touch anything. Or pick any flowers, or anything for that matter. Savvy?” He looked directly at me.

“Yup,” I agreed for us all.

To prevent my thoughts from wandering to all things carnal, I perused where we had stopped. Our feet rested upon a slightly raised, square piece of ground that was different from the rest of the greenly stuff. It was a perfectly shaped square patch, in itself not so oddly. However, the blades of grass were cut to an even level throughout, as if a Tech had been employed to manufacture its existence. I wondered if the Agros employed tiny folk to undertake the task of maintaining the neatness of said greenery.

Then I noticed the talking guard take a small black oblong thing from his pocket. He pointed it at the afore mentioned rectangle and a red beam of light spurted forth. Holding the device at shoulder height, he moved it in a zigzag pattern across the green patch. The light appeared to slice into the ground and cause a trembling to occur. He switched it off, stepped to the side, and the earth parted in the middle with a smooth swooshing sound. As it opened a blast of warm air swept over and past us.

“Right. Stay put until you are fetched.” Both he and his silent companion stepped into the hole in the ground, and disappeared from sight.

Chapter Three

When Lies Are Better Than Truth

We turned from the ground opening and huddled close, not sure of what were to come next. Marcellus stood apart and kept a watchful eye, whilst Wirt and Kendra spoke in hushed tones. Both Eadgard and myself had to lean in close to hear their words. “Did you see the fields? My dears so much food in progress. Now, I have been around and seen many sights, but the abundance of veg growth out here is more than staggering.”

“Ye are right Kendra. We Woodsfolk are not unfamiliar with land crops like these. Yet not in so much number and size. These folk have much to hide. I wonder they will allow us to go unharmed with the image of what we have seen inside our noodles.”

Eadgard rubbed his bristly chin and narrowed his eyes. “My thoughts to the point of it, Wirt. I fear we may be expected.”

“Wa? How so?”

“Agros know much that we would rather they did not.”

“Explain, please. I weary of all this hush-hushyness.”

My friend had no chance to answer for Marcellus tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Adara, all, look.”

We turned our heads to where he pointed and saw, rising from the hidden hole, the guards and two well-dressed males. They wore a shiny cloth that resembled the guard’s uniform. Except it was black and consisted of flared pants and long lapelled coats that had big buttons all the way down to the hem, which touched their knees.

“This is not a goodly sight,” Wirt said. I gripped onto his hand.

The four Agros walked towards us. Despite not resembling great scary beasts, they had a manner in the way they swaggered that oozed threat. The guards broke away, stood on either side of the path and pointed their guns at our heads.

The other two ‘dults stared at us. They were flabby-built, with faces as round and chubby as a new-bub, and with more than their fair share of chins between them. I’d never seen hominids so full of flesh before and could not help but wonder how they could be so much heavier than the guards. Unless they gorged on provisions meant for others. Both had sparse crow-black hair cropped short all over that looked to me as though a glob of ants were sat on top of their noggins. Their eyes were small and round, and darker than the night sky. I saw no fleck of light bounce off their pupils and wondered if they saw at all. But see they did, for on glancing in my direction they turned to each other, blinked with thick eyelashes and nodded.

One was slightly more rotund than the other and his nose and lips fleshier. Other than that, they could have been born from the same wombsac. I noticed that the sleeves of their coats were embroidered with a symbol in the shape of a green twist of barleycorn. The guards had no such stitching on their coarser uniforms. I surmised that they must be of high rank. The smaller of the two folded his arms and tilted his head to one side.

“We have visitors? What a delightful surprise. Don’t you agree Oswald?”

“I do indeed, Alfred,” the fat Agro said and stared at us.

I mused on their monikers. I’d heard similar ones before. When I was holed up with a Praisebee and a Carnie on the first full raid on Cityplace. I always wondered where these flesh munchers came from. So, Agros were lovers of meat too and chose tags that were not their real ones. Alfred and Oswald, being names of long dead Kings of oldie times. I know ‘cause ancientancientimes was my best subject. They fooled no one with their pompous epithet, though. They were nowt but Agro scum. My tum clenched when Oswald’s deadeyes met my gaze.

“We get few visitors these days. Mainly those souls who have wandered adrift and come to us lost. That fate has befallen you too?”

I looked at Eadgard, then at Kendra, who smiled a sweetly smile and glided over to the gents. “How perceptive of you. Indeed, we are lost. As you can see, we are merely travellers exploring our world for no other reason than that of diversion from our daily grind.”

She held out her little hand, drooped for best effect. Oswald took it in his and let his lips leave wet upon her knuckles. I shuddered for a fragment, then for longer when the other, known as Alfred, reached out and tried to prise my fingers from their hiding place. I stepped back ‘bruptly and he frowned. Kendra smiled and said, “Sir, I must apologise for my friend…”

“Darlene,” Wirt blurted out.

Kendra raised her eyebrows for a sec and continued as though she already knew that info. “Darlene. She is new to the Lady ways and is still somewhat farouche.”

The Alfred male bent near to my chest and spoke to it as though it was my head. “A shy thing is she? Well, we must see what we can do to rectify this. Are you aptly named, my sturdy one?”

“Not so much as yet. Being that I am still…farouche and all,” I said and placed my mitt–hider across my cleavage.

“Time enough for you to settle into your moniker. Perhaps,” Alfred said and leaned in close. So close, that I could smell the sweaty pong of his armpits, and the nasty smell of meat. I stifled a gag and allowed said Agro to lift my chin and stare deep into my peepholes. “Perhaps I will bring you out of yourself and you will grow into your tag of ‘beloved’.”

I gulped, pulled my jaw away from his gropiness and stepped away. He lifted his fingers to his nose and sniffed. I almost cried out, “Yak and then some,” but swallowed hard instead. I saw the other Agro, Oswald, lick his slit mouth and slink over to where I stood. He gave me a full on letch stare and let the back of his hand stroke the full length of my arm.

I stiffened.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Marcellus clench his fingers and Eadgard shield his fists by putting them behind his back.

Just when I thought that my flesh would melt from my bones rather than be touched further by the sleazy male, Oswald ceased caressing me and began to walk around my bod, nodding and grinning as he spoke.

“Oh yes Alfred, what a catch. An untouched Lady is a prize to be sure.”

He slid his finger across his bottom lip and stood by Alfred. He pouted all dirtyoldmale-like, and made a gesture as if he were about to pull away my face with his mime hands. “Do not be selfish, Alfred, share my friend, share,” he said and went to grab my wrist. Alfred pulled him back and shook a finger at his lust filled gob.

“Not so keen. Not so fast.”

A wave of relief dowsed my fear-filled innards.

“Perhaps I will share, Oswald.”

Oh, nad and plop.

“After all, there are not so many Ladies in these parts. Only the chosen few are allowed to enter our domain,” Alfred said and stared straight at Kendra.

She bowed her head for a sec then raised and fluttered her eyelids. “Sirs, although we have not been especially sought out, may I offer our humble services in exchange for some refreshment for myself, Darlene, and our protectors too?”

Wirt gave Kendra a “What the…” look and she returned it with a calmly smile. The two Agros walked away, turned their backs to us and huddled close. The guards stepped nearer and Eadgard, Marcellus and Wirt tensed every muscle in their necks and shoulders. I took in rapid breaths as the guards moved to a bubs length from my shaking bod.

Kendra quickly walked forward and tapped Oswald’s and Alfred’s back. They swivelled round and she placed her hands on their chests. In a tone as thick and sugary as honeyreal, she said, “I’m sure you would not be averse to a gentle muscle rub and a sprightly tale or two? I do believe that Darlene has the sweetest voice. Perhaps she can lull and soothe with her tender singing.”