Voyage of the Stardancer

Chapter 10 - Land of the Minevians

At first light the following day, our little band of Soldats and Gentecs ascended the steep climb up the coastal cliffs and after filling our canteens in the stream made our way into the interior of the continent, by following the overgrown road. With the Soldats scouting ahead, we soon came to a small village, the buildings which the Soldats scouts had seen the day before. It immediately reminded me of Andoria, and although not damaged, they were in an extreme state of decay, on some the roofs had fallen in, while others were intact with the outside of the buildings overgrown with a red ivy type plant. We searched the interior of one dwelling which gave the impression that the occupants had left in a hurry, with their personal items still left in place, and everything covered in thick dust. Finding no living beings, we continued on our journey. After walking for three hours, I estimatedthat we had covered around six kilometres and by using the estimates given to us by the Stardancer's sensors, plus using the modified translators as a kind of navigation instrument, I worked out we were about forty kilometres from the city and by keeping Northwest we should circumspect the Minevian dockyard to avoid any possible contact with the Minevians or their robots. By late afternoon, one of Brindacs Soldats came running up to him and excitedly pointed to further up the road. He came over to me to pass on the news that a large town was just up the road and they had found the first signs of people. By now I was using the translator less and less, and while not having the musical accent of the Andorians, we could now understand each other. He said that although no live people had been found the circumstances were very strange, with the Soldat saying that we had to see for ourselves. We reached the town, which if you needed a comparison, looked a little like a Spanish hill town back on Earth around the twentieth century, small narrow streets leading to a central square. With our footfalls echoing along the empty street, it suddenly opened out into the town square, where we could see the rest of the Soldat scouts beckoning to us from the far side of the square near a large two story structure. As we got closer, we could see what they had become excited about. The hairs on my neck stood up, because there, trapped and damaged in the porticoes entrance, lay a smaller version of the robotic crab creatures that we had seen on the dockside fighting with the Andorian soldier ants. But that was not all, for among the rubble which looked like it had been deliberately made to fall from the above, lay the remains of some Minevians, still holding in their skeletal hands crude weapons of metal pipes and agricultural implements. Why the Minevians would be fighting their own robots was a mystery. Brigsy examined the robotic crab which had the usual clawed left hand, but it was the right which interested him. Unlike the larger one which had a heavy projectile weapon, this was harmed with what you would be described as a high voltage cattleprod. This robot was not designed to kill, but to terrorise! I decided that we should stop here for the night, so we found a house that was in a reasonable condition and made ourselves at home. From what we had seen so far, the Andoria's Guardian had been set to defend Andoria only, so no attacks had been implemented upon the infrastructure of the Minevians, but if this was so, where were the live inhabitants, and why was the crab in the act of attacking them. I estimated that at our present speed we would reach the city in about three days. Brigsy had found some vehicles in a couple of the larger dwellings, but was in such poor condition he doubted that they could be made to work, plus he could not find any hydrogen production equipment to manufacture fuel for them. So the next day we continued our journey on foot towards the distant city of the Minevians.

 As we walked along the road we occasionally saw aircraft heading out to sea, to attack Andoria and later on, the survivors returning, some trailing smoke. Seeing them strengthened our resolve to end this insane conflict and bring peace to this once beautiful world. The Soldats were getting skilled with their bows by keeping us fed on the local game which resembled a cross between a Hamster and a rabbit,but I feared that if we came across anything other that live creatures, then they would be useless against the robots. Leaving the village and descending for about five kilometres down the escarpment brought us down into a wide flat expanse of agricultural land like the one on the Andorian mainland. But there was one big exception,where as the Andorians were well tended, and ordered, these were left to abandonment with fields half harvested and machines rusting were they had stopped. The farm buildings had collapsed in on their selves with the shapes of tractors protruding out of the debris. There were no sign of life, Minevian or robot, so many mysteries, so many unanswered questions. On the afternoon of the third day, the outskirtsof the city appeared with the same situation, empty streets and houses. When we checked these houses, the interiors were in great disarray, personal possessions lay on the floor, broken or just dropped in their haste to leave. As we walked up the main overgrown street, there were numerous private vehicles, left by the side of the road, some with doors left open, and one that had run off the roadand crashed into a shop, the skeletal remains of the driver still at the joystick. As we turned a corner, a young Soldat scout came running from the other way, collided with us, a look of sheer terror on his face.

The rest of the Soldats immediately unslung their bows and took a defensive posture while Brindac calmed the young soldier down to find out what was the problem. He said that while scouting ahead he came face to face with one of the mini crabs, and seeing the damaged one and what we had told them of the fight on the docks with its larger cousin he had ran for his life. So with Brindacs Soldats leading we cautiously made our way forwards towards the place the youngster had indicated.We turned just off the main road near what looked like an official building, which was more or less intact, and there it was. The crab was sat in the pose like the larger ones in the attacking transportaircraft on the dockland attack, with the torso sat on the road with the four legs folded up. The robot was in a poor state, with algae growing on the upper torso, so leaving the main party behind Brindac and I approached with caution, ready to run if necessary. The robot made no movement when we reached it, so we thought that its power source must have run down over the many years of it obvious inactivity. With the danger gone, the rest of the party was called over and a decision was made to camp for the night. The following morning when everyone was up and ready to move out, the young Soldat,his nerve returned, walked up to the crab and threw a large rock at it because of the shame that it had put on him. With a soft click the square view plate on the head lit up with two malevolent red glowing eyes, and with a sound of rusty hinges being moved, the robot with great difficulty began to unfold its legs and stand up. The youngSoldat stood transfixed, unable to move, and just stood there staring at it. The crab stood to its full height of about two metres, and started to stiffly walk towards the young soldier, reaching out with its left pincer arm. Suddenly the Soldat snapped out of his trance,dropping down to avoid the pincers, the crab grabbed the haversack strapped to his back instead, and lifted him off the ground. The other Soldats rushed forwards, but were unsure what to do, some fired their arrows, but they just glanced off nearly hitting the youngster. Brindac shouted for them to stop firing and find long staves of wood.The robot had started to power up its high voltage shock weapon to disable its victim, but then a miracle happened, the robot was low on power, and with the added load from trying to power the weapon it started to slow down, power fading. Brindacs men rushed up and with long staves that they had pulled from the buildings attacked the crab by trying to turn it over. With the crab distracted, the youngster undid his harness and fell to the ground, rolling away out of reach. Seeing this, the Soldats concentrated their efforts and with a great crash the crab fell on its side, it's four legs thrashing uselessly in the air, the Soldats began heaving great lumps of stone down on its head. The power reserves in the crab finally gave out, the red eyes fading to nothing, the legs slowed to a stop,but the Soldats still pounded it till they were sure it was dead, a close call indeed, just how many more of these monsters awaited us I wondered.