When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

30. Ex Deus

[Author's note: I'm changing the title "First Man" (head of the Ardvenian state) to "First Leader" because, it may feel a bit weirdly parallel to the USA president is referred to as "The First man" and I don't want to give that sorta allusion. There are no similarities between the two. Any similarities are purely coincidental (as always). Thank you for reading!]

The hiban trees formed the heart of Torqua forests that lay in the south western valley of the Republic of Vardin. The hiban leaves are a rich bluish green that sparkle when the moonlight hits it. The Torqua tribe (who give the region its name) nail a fan of thick blue leaves to the roofs of their huts and houses because it attracts the white chatterpies that are the sigil of the Torqua; signifying peace and harmony.

Ashaal, the stern, the divine being that the Torqua worship was the one who sowed the seeds of hiban himself. Or so the myth says. Thus, the hiban woods were sacred to the tribe.

But the same blue woods of the Torqua valley became a lot more sacred when an earthquake caused a crater in a clearing. A giant cavity was ripped into the face of the ground. In the dark depths of the opening, a glint of soft blue light was seen.

This is where the Deux Fragment was discovered.

#

Elder Junka Braal felt the tremors in his bed at dawn. The jute tapestry on the wall opposite to his bed shivered. The portrait of his late wife rattled on the night stand. A rumbling was going off in the distance.

He hurried out of his bed, as fast as his arthritic limbs would allow. The fog of slumber still clouding his mind, he groped his way though the dark corridor and made his way downstairs.

The sky was dark gray when he stepped out. And the sight he was about to witness would make his sleep vanish in a minute.

He saw flaming red hands of fire rising out of the ground in the distance. The fringes of the valley had been set aflame. Junka's heart threatened to stop beating at what he saw. The fringes were protected by the Vardin government. And there wasn't anything else that could've caused a natural fire in that area of all places.

All of it left just one possibility.

Someone much more dangerous had set the place on fire. Someone had invaded the valley.

#

The Ardvenian fighter planes zapped across the sky at 50,000 metres altitude. The valley borders had patrol teams that kept any intruders from trespassing the government protected area. That was the first zone they'd dropped the air-to-ground missiles on.

Five F-21 Zeedok fighters followed the massive Valkyrie 57 bomber over the Torqua valley. The air raid showered the unarmed, vulnerable tribal zone with their laser guided bombs and machine guns.

A trail of fire was left in their wake. The forest burnt in a cacophony of crackling wood and screaming people.

The fighters dispersed in east and west as they continued their shelling across the settlements and over the thicker canopy of trees. Walls of fire rose, forming a burning barricade between the sacred blue woods and the response teams of Vardin that would soon follow.

The bomber's hatch then opened, discharging armed soldier in wingsuits. This was team Alpha red.

The reds landed right in the middle of the settlements, charging straight into the huts and houses, firing warning shots, dragging the children and women out of the hiding, kicking and screaming. Torqua men who put up a fight were put down immediately.

Meanwhile team Alpha green were dropped in the vicinity of the crater where the Fragment was. The crater was surrounded by an outpost of armed torquas who stood guard around the sacred wood ever since the earthquake.

It took the greens about twenty minutes to take down the outpost with their high powered assault rifles. The torquas didn't stand a chance with their spears and bows as weapons.

Valkyrie 57 had moved on by then, headed north to accomplish it's next objective. The remaining Zeedok fighters kept shelling the Torqua settlements.

Team Alpha red had taken cover with their tribal hostages while the fighters kept softening the ground with machine gun fire. The forest burned under the fury of the F-51s.

Elder Junka watched this from afar as the fire of man swallowed the house of another man. He stood frozen in the terror of what unfolded in front of his eyes. The sounds of screaming children and scurrying adults drowned in the roar of gunfire.

It was half past seven in the morning when the heart of the Torqua valley fell into the hands of the invaders. The sacred woods were now corrupted.

#

About ten thousand kilometres away, in the country of Ardvenia was the capital city of Kraunberg. The home to the Seat of Authority–residence of the First Leader. On the second floor office of the sprawling government estate, a telephone buzzed on top of a shiny oak wood desk. A spotless, manicured hand reached out and answered the phone.

"Team Alpha has successfully captured the valley." Said the voice on the other end. "It's only a matter of time that we haul the Fragment away."

There was a pause. And then the First Leader said, "Good," and then ended the call.

His office overlooked a luscious orchard of fruits and beds of a variety of flowers. The wall to the left was covered by a mahogany bookshelf that held dozens of rare tomes and volumes in several different languages. The wall to the right was empty except for the gilded mural that framed the golden words: Service to humanity is service to the future.

The First Leader pushed a button on the intercom. "Jennifer, come to my office now." He said.

In less than a minute, a woman in her mid twenties poked her head through the door. The First Leader gestured her to come inside. He pointed at the typewriter next to his desk. "Write a message." He said, getting up from his chair and walking over to the big window overlooking the gardens.

Jennifer obediently sat by the typewriter. He started dictating: "It is with much pleasure that I like to tell you, the Ardvenian army has successfully conquered the valley. Our dreams are immensely close to materializing. The march for haven can begin as soon as the Fragment is fully acquired. Yours faithfully..."

Jennifer brought the typed message over to him after he was done dictating. He signed his name at the bottom.

The name that he signed on the letter told her whom it was meant to reach. Accordingly she sealed the letter with a yellow seal rather than the official red one and sent it out for delivery.

#

Words of Ashaal the stern from the holy scripture of the Torqua

There will come a day when the sky will lose its splendour and the sun will close its eyes. The moon will the abandon the stars and the stars will stop blinking. There will come a day when the air will turn to smoke. And the rivers will turn to poison. The birds will stop singing. And the trees won't bear any fruit. There will come a day, when man will feed on man and the humanity will start to perish. When that day may come, I'll pierce the heart of earth and shed my flesh for my brethren. Be wise when you use it, my children. My fragment can nourish like water but burns fiercely like the sun.

It can light up the darkest night like a bright afternoon but it can also spread a dark night across a bright sunny day.

My fragment is a source of life, my children. Do not make it a cause for death.

For that death may keep spreading and spreading till humanity perishes. And my fragment will have become the cause from which that death began. 

(to be continued...)