The Temporal Knights (72 page)

Sir Oldalf, the Lady Merwinna, Sir Ceorl and Æthelf
læ
d all chimed in with stories of their own about what they had witnessed, but they made it sound more miraculous than practical, and both Peebles and Rice were surprised by how they viewed the events of the past few months. The world as they knew it was changing drastically and rapidly. The printing press had yet to be invented, and the largest library in England, the King’s own, held no more than twenty-eight books and most of those were the bible in several languages. Oh, there were more enlightened places in Europe where libraries contained hundreds or even thousands of books on all subjects from astronomy to politics, but those places were now mostly in the Arabic world and not in western Europe. News traveled very slowly in these times, mostly by word of mouth, and it took many months to hear of anything that happened even in mainland Europe.

As it turned out Grimbald the Bishop was the chief interrogator, challenging nearly everything either Rice or Peebles claimed, and to be honest they could readily understand why the facts they spoke of with such assurance seemed incredible and fanciful to the people of these times.

But when they told of creatures from the heavens attacking and killing untold billions of humans, and continued to kill until all humans were gone from the Earth, it was too much. Even a picture called up on the computer of the Skawps did not help to convince or explain the significance of their plight. How could all humans be gone? Were they na still alive? Why had the creatures na visited them? And then it would start all over again, as Peebles and Rice struggled to explain time travel to an almost illiterate group of ninth century noblemen.

“They’re all gone,” Rice said taking his turn, “all the women, all the children, all the men. The Skawps killed them all, and we fled here to this time to escape and rebuild. But the Skawps are still out there even now, and in 1100 years they will attack again. We must be ready this time. We must be stronger.”

Sir Wulfhere and Asser the monk were both very intrigued and were heavily swayed, but Alfred, who remained in the background for much of the telling, remained unconvinced. The King kept quiet, listening and thinking, and only occasionally asked a question. Finally the full tale had been told. The Bishop was still fuming and casting wicked glances at Father Gillian for associating with such men, but even he had run out of possible points of contention, and fell silent at a command from the King.

“Tis an impossible story,” Alfred finally said.
“Be ye gods? Did ye ‘xpect the Anglish to fall and worship ye?” Do ye think to gain the crown through me daughter?” He asked voicing his true fear. That the strangers could take his country; that he did not doubt. They were strong beyond all comprehension in the ways of war, and Alfred knew that he and all his allies could not hope to contend with them on the battlefield. But he couldn’t quite believe that with such strength, they still had no interest in conquest.

“No,” Peebles said at once, beginning to despair that they would ever get through to this King, or these people in power. The peasant on the street, the minor noblemen, they all trusted and judged them by their actions. But it seemed that those with the real power were so consumed
with holding and keeping it that they could not believe that others did not covet their position. “We don’t want your crown, or country, but we want...no, what we demand is your cooperation, your help. The Skawps came, that is true enough, and they killed, maybe not in your time, but they killed all of the people you help to sire. Maybe not your grandchildren, or even your great grandchildren, but in time they came and wiped you and yours out. They killed them all, end of your line, end of your story. Except for helping us, whatever else you do matters little, for who will be left to remember you, and tell the stories of your glory…of any glory.”

Everyone was quite for a time, King Alfred looking out the window, watching the colorful banners flap in the wind. The Bishop stared at the floor, lost in thought. Rice shrugged at the General and Colonel Lemay just sighed.

“Mayhap the end of Man tis God’s will,” the Bishop said softly without any real conviction.

The rage that had built up over the last five years of death and frustration came to a head within the General and very nearly boiled over. He had to use every ounce of self-control to keep from killing the Bishop on the spot.

“Easy General,” the Colonel said quickly. He stood and went to him, knowing his friend and his intolerance for ignorance and a defeatist attitude.

“They’re just trying to understand what we tell them in their own terms,” Rice explained quietly, but Alfred heard and turned around to face them.

“Understand,” he said equally soft, “we canna understand little of wot ye tell us, but we be men as ye, and we understand death and deceit...teach us then. Wot did ye ‘xpect?” he added looking honestly into the eyes of the General, who stared back, and something in his brain clicked. He smiled, then laughed and walked over to the King and slapped him on the arm.

“Mayhap tellin’ ye
is the wrong way to get to ye?” Peebles said mimicking the local vocabulary. “I’ll show ye,” he added then turned to Rice and Lemay still smiling.

“We’ve misunderstood them Gordon,” he explained with another laugh. “Hell, why didn’t you tell me they were from Missouri. We’ll show them!”

Rice nodded, instantly understanding, and began to laugh, but Lemay, frowned not truly having an idea of what the General had in mind.

“I want Major Thane down here with that ship, pronto,” his commander said, and then the Colonel knew...and he knew they had finally found the key to convincing these people.

A half hour later they were on the tallest tower, leaning against the parapet, and looking west. There were twenty of them, crowded together, and there were a host of locals on the tops of the other three towers and many more crowded along the walls of Maiden, and thousands more still in the courtyard and on the castle grounds.

King Alfred waited expectantly with his Queen, frowning slightly when he noticed F
læ
d hovering close to the General, but the man was only giving her half his attention at the moment. The Bishop and Sir Wulfhere flanked the King, but said nothing. Dr. Rice was engaged with the smiling Lady Ellyn; after all, it was for her lover whom they all waited. Her father, Sir Oldalf was also by her side. Alfred’s grandson Leoforic was fidgeting with excitement as he tried to explain flying to Asser. Sir Ordmere, Sir Gospatrick and Ædwin were also on the tower. Alfred studied Ædwin for a long moment, but held no malice toward him. Sir Helmstan had become a liability in any case. The final person on top the tower was Colonel Lemay, who wore the flat metallic magic helmet of the strangers. Alfred could hear that he was talking to someone, but who he could not say. Inside the helm his words were mumbled and impossible to make out. The helmet made the Bishop and Sir Wulfhere a bit nervous, but the King had worn such a helmet before and so was not overly bothered by it.

The Colonel however, was not paying much attention to the locals, instead he was busy monitoring the GBF, and helping the Bots navigate the Major directly over the castle. They’d built a large, smoky bonfire just outside the castle grounds to help him with the spotting. The General insisted that the first pass be extremely impressive. Major Thane surprised Lemay when he reported that the ship could be ready for flight in fifteen minutes, meaning that all ship systems were up and running, ready for action. Lemay grunted his approval and hoped it meant that the Major was returning to his old efficient self.

Matt was flying now, just above treetop level, approaching at just over eight hundred knots. He would have preferred to be in an F-22, which probably would have made a much greater impact with its loud jet engines. The alien ship cruised through the air almost silently, but the Major made sure to fly well above the speed of sound so as to let the locals have a taste of a sonic boom. The alien ship was much larger than his beloved fighter, but still it was not all that big, well smaller than even a 727. Hopefully the speed, low altitude and sonic boom would make up for the lack of engine noise.

Gardner and Goode, the Bot pilots, had not yet spotted the larger ship, nor had Lemay with his TVD on maximum magnification, but it wouldn’t be long now, at the speed the Major was moving the flight would take just about eleven minutes. Lemay checked his watch and scanned the sky, remembering how the King and his advisors had reacted when the General told them the alien ship would be coming here very quickly from the Athelney.
“By river?” They’d asked, and the Colonel smiled at their assumptions, even now most were looking down toward the distant horizon and not in the sky.

“I have smoke,” the Major announced over the airwaves.

Colonel Lemay immediately turned. “He’s coming,” he informed the General, and everyone crowded up to the battlements on the west side of the tower. They all held their breath, but no one more so than the Lady Ellyn. Gospatrick, who was standing close to her side, was also expectant; finally he was going to meet this lover of hers, then he would know what to do. One look with the two together would tell him.

“He’ll be flying very fast,” Rice said, noticing the same thing the Colonel had about the locals.

King Alfred was surprised to find that his hands were sweating, and he was nervous, something that rarely happened to him, even in battle. He glanced at his friend Sir Wulfhere, but the Ealdorman was looking wide eyed to the west and paid his King no mind. The Bishop Grimbald however, glanced at Alfred, and the King was shocked to see real fear on the man’s face. He frowned, but was pulled out of the thought as the Colonel pointed low in the sky.

“There he is,” he said and everyone followed his finger out to the horizon. At first Alfred did not see anything, but suddenly there it was, a dot in the sky, growing very rapidly and coming fast like lightning across the sky. His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide, and before he could think, or even say anything the ship was upon them, streaking just over their heads with speed and power that was incomprehensible to the ninth century king. After the ship shot past, no more than thirty feet above their heads, a great gust of wind hit them, pulling at the women’s hair. The windstorm was followed by a loud boom of thunder that struck with enough force to shake the stone tower they stood on. Everyone spun in unison and watched as the ship sped away from them, quickly getting smaller. As they watched it shot straight up going higher and higher until it was just a speck, and then gone.

“Thane reports that the ship handles well enough, but he’d rather have his F-22,” Lemay told Peebles with a chuckle.

Alfred was finally able to tear his eyes from the sky when the ship disappeared into the heavens above and was astonished to find that he was laughing. His heart was soaring as if it were tied to the ship above. He looked down to find the general smiling at him and Alfred couldn’t help but smile back, still laughing loudly. The Lady Ellyn was also smiling, as she held onto her father tightly, and though Sir Gospatrick did not exactly look happy he still had a gleam in his eye, and his breathing was coming fast. Sir Wulfhere clapped the King on the back and laughed with him, but Grimbald was on his knees praying, one hand clutching tightly to the King’s cloak.

Suddenly cheers filled the air as people waved and shouted from the other towers and all along the castle walls. People were dancing and twirling about, happy and excited. The King joined in, as did the Lady Ealhswith. F
læ
d was glowing with excitement, utterly breathless while her son and Prince Edward whooped and hollered with the rest. On the King’s tower only the Bishop showed no enthusiasm.

“He’s coming around for another pass,” the Colonel announced loudly, trying to be heard over the cheers. The tower instantly grew quiet. “This time from the north,” Lemay added, and almost as soon as they turned the King spotted the ship.

“There,” he said and pointed at the fast moving speck.

Peebles took a moment then spotted the ship. “You have very sharp eyes,” he told the King, and Alfred was surprised by the feeling of pride he felt at the General’s praise. The ship blazed over head moments later but this time the ship banked sharply and returned, then to the surprise of all it slowed to a stop and floated in the sky just south of the castle. It remained still for a moment and then began to move in their direction once again, but this time very slowly.

The King watched spellbound and hardly noticed the Bishop weeping at his feet. Closer and closer the ship came until it was directly overhead, stirring up a slight breeze and blocking out the sun. Sir Gospatrick stood with his mouth hanging open, trying desperately not to wet himself, but conceding that this was an entrance worthy of the Lady Ellyn’s lover. The ship remained overhead, floating directly above the King’s tower, not twenty feet above them. It was gray in color, so dark as to be almost black, and it was nearly circular, but with a deep indention along one side, rather like a cake with a bite out of it. Alfred could feel and hear the ships power. It emitted a low hum, a sound like a dragon purring, and the King noticed a number of blinking lights on the underside, like stars.

As it hovered overhead the Queen suddenly gasped. Alfred glanced down and saw that much of her hair was shooting up to the heavens as if attracted to the ship. He quickly looked about and saw that everyone’s hair was behaving likewise, as if each individual hair wanted to go for a ride. He reached up gingerly and felt his own hair and indeed it too was rising to the heavens.