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Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details. Earth Woman by Barry William Metcalf
Janus was on the verge of complete and utter exhaustion. There could be no doubt about it. He had experienced symptoms of this nature often enough before: gritty irritation of the eyes, fogginess of the brain, arms, and legs that felt like lead weights. His energy reserves were definitely running low. His arms trailed listlessly by his sides, and he could only just lift his feet, each step requiring a definite, conscious effort of his mind. Janus had never felt quite as lethargic as this before, but that was probably because he had always had ample rest following each task, which he had been commanded to perform. This time it had been different. He had no sooner returned from his previous, exhausting assignment than he had been delegated this top-priority, secret mission. Time was the one thing that he had so little of. Time was running out, and thus there was to be no rest for his weary body. No! Until this job was completed, Janus could hope for no relaxation either of muscles, or of mind. He forced his tired and wandering mind, normally so active and analytical, to concentrate on walking. To keep placing one foot in front of the other, again and again, was almost as much a problem as playing three-dimensional chess while wearing a blindfold. How he wished that he could rest! The red dust rose from the ground beneath his plodding feet with each dragging step that he took. The fine particles wafted toward his face, on the stirring of the air that he made as he walked. His silver-grey uniform no-longer shone brightly enough to reflect the dancing light of the hot, yellow sun. The outfit, like his silver boots, was dulled and lifeless, well hidden beneath a thick coating of red dust. There was no wind. It seemed that, in the entire world, he was the only thing that moved. "One --- two --- three --- four ---", he counted his steps aloud, in order to stay awake, to keep his body and mind functioning, "five --- six --- seven --- eight". A shadow crossed his path, merged with his own, passed over and beyond him, and then circled back. At first, he gave no thought to the dark shape: on Earth, where clouds, flying creatures, and machines all invaded the atmosphere, such shadows were commonplace. On Earth, such a shape would not necessarily forebode evil but this was not Earth: it was Hooja, planet of death! All at once, Janus' senses, previously dulled by exhaustion, came to life, the spark of danger igniting his brain into action. In one breathless moment he recognized the shadow for the danger it was, and took immediate, evasive action. Janus had met this type of danger before and he knew, from experience, the best way to cope with it. That was why he had remained alive so long; why he was still active, while so many of his associates had perished. That was why he had been chosen for this important task. In less time than it takes to tell, he had flung himself to the ground. At the moment of impact, his left shoulder had taken the weight of his fall, but before then his right hand had grasped the hilt of the broadsword at his hip.He was no longer an unarmed, defenceless man. As he rolled upon the flat, featureless Hoojan plain, the fine red dust rose in voluminous clouds, to irritate his nostrils and eyes and Janus tried desperately to keep his weary brain focussed on the task at hand. One moment of inattention could prove his undoing. He knew this attacker would neither ask for nor give any quarter. His tactics had the desired effect. The Hoojan, for such it was, that had attacked him, was confused by the man's defensive actions. Expecting to find another easy victim, the large bird-creature had been content to take its time in making its kill. Now, it did not know what to make of these strange antics and it hesitated. This was what Janus had counted on, he was quite aware of the slowness of the Hoojan mental processes. It could solve complex and abstract problems, it is true, but it was not sharp-witted enough to quickly take stock of a strange situation, and to act accordingly. This quickness of mind was the one advantage the Earthman had over the Hoojan, after all, did not he, Janus Philk, have an intelligence quotient of 205? His quick-witted actions had resulted in the fact that, although still kneeling, he was now facing the winged creature, which had halted its own attack. As Janus rose carefully to his feet from his squatting position in the thick red dust, the Hoojan flapped its wings and continued to warily circle the man. Janus waited and, as he waited, he cast his eyes over the hideous form that he had only encountered before in holographs, or on MP3 records secured by other Earth agents. He would never forget how repulsed he had been on the occasion that he had observed, on file, the first of the Hoojans. This Hoojan was no exception: it was exactly like the others of its race. A slight tremor ran through Janus' light frame, a shudder, not of fear, but of revulsion. The creature was two metres tall, half-man and half-bird. Its skin was purple in colour, but not apparently opaque, as was human flesh. It was transparent, so transparent that its skeletal structure could be seen through the skin. It always made Janus quite uneasy when he saw the bones, at the creature's joints, swivel and turn in their sockets. Somehow, this sight seemed an invasion of privacy, almost obscene. Apart from these obvious differences, the creature was built very much like a human, except that its face was dominated by a hawk-like beak, framed by a pair of large, owl-like eyes. A pair of wings seemed to sprout from the Hoojan's back, and, with these, the creature was able to travel very rapidly through the rarefied atmosphere of the planet Hooja. Now the Hoojan dived to the attack and Janus forced all excess thoughts from his mind, and concentrated on the movements of his attacker. Its beak gaped open, the awful curve and sharp point catching and reflecting a shining sliver of light. Drops of yellowish saliva ran along the undercurve of the beak, to smear down the creature's bare chest. Its green, forked tongue shot, snake-like, in and out of the yawning chasm exposed by the gaping, red beak. Its eyes burned with a hatred Janus had never before seen in the eyes of any creature that he had encountered. The bird-creature's sword was in its left hand; a short dagger occupied the right. With wings neatly folded upon its back, the Hoojan dropped like a stone, expecting the man to either stand his ground, or, even better, to run and expose his back. However, Janus' computer-like brain had long since analysed the situation and its possible outcomes. He now did that which the creature least expected and, with a precision and speed unapparent in his light frame, Janus launched himself at the onrushing Hoojan. Although he did not possess the power of flight, the lighter gravity of Planet Hooja permitted Janus to leap considerable distances, and to do things impossible on Earth. The two adversaries met seven metres above the red plain. The Hoojan had not expected such tactics. Again, its inability to reason quickly gave the Earthman the opening he required. There was a clash of steel as Janus expertly parried the downward thrust of the Hoojan's sword against his own. The man's other fist, delivered with all the impetus of his leap behind it, connected with the bird-creature's exposed jaw with stunning force. Then, before the Hoojan could comprehend what had happened, it had somersaulted in mid-air to fall heavily, like a disabled Catherine wheel, to the dusty surface of the planet. A thick cloud of fine, red dust obliterated the scene from Janus' eyes as he alighted, three metres from the Hoojan. Had it not been for the concealing dust, he would have dashed straight to his dazed opponent and immediately finished the fight. The creature was not beaten yet, it shook itself, like a giant vulture, shedding water from its feathers, and struggled to its feet. Janus did not hesitate; to do so would have given the Hoojan a chance to recover and Janus had neither the time nor the energy for such luxuries. He covered the distance between them with a mighty leap that launched him full upon the Hoojan, before that creature was even remotely aware of what was happening. The impact of Janus' dive crushed the Hoojan to the plain once more. The Earthman's left hand gripped the creature's throat as Janus attempted to conclude the Hoojan's life but he had reckoned without the alien's knife. A searing pain in his left shoulder reminded him of what he had momentarily forgotten. The Hoojan forced Janus from itself and both fighters rose to their feet, panting. Again, they dashed together and swords clashed, one upon the other, as each combatant strove to end the life of the other. Clouds of red dust billowed around them, stinging Janus' squinting eyes and threatening to stifle his breathing, as the two creatures shuffled back and forth in their desperate fight for supremacy. The Hoojan was stronger than the Earthman and with each blow of its heavy broadsword, the half-bird, half-man forced Janus to retreat. The heavy blows jarred through Janus' arm, seeming to reach to his very soul, and tiring him even more than he had been, before the Hoojan had attacked him. The Hoojan's knife had already sampled the Earthman's blood, thin streams of which ran down the latter's chest from several minor wounds while, by contrast, the Hoojan appeared completely unharmed. A great wave of tiredness swept over Janus. He could barely keep his eyes open, let alone raise his arms, and he knew that he must finish the fight quickly, or he was lost. Utilizing his extraordinary powers of concentration to fend off the tiredness, Janus threw himself desperately at the Hoojan in one last effort to save himself. The slow-witted Hoojan warrior stood his ground. Blow after blow it took on its sword, as Janus put every ounce of his remaining strength into his sword arm, apparently with little or no effect. Then, as the Hoojan began to realize that the Earthman was weakening, the bird-creature threw caution to the winds and moved in close to finish off his opponent. This was what Janus had been counting on. With one swift, easy motion, the Earthman eluded the thrusting blade and grabbed the creature's right wrist, then, before the alien could utilize his superior strength, Janus entwined his legs around those of his opponent. This had the immediate desired effect, and the two combatants crashed to the ground, a cloud of dust rising above and about them. A sword rose above the swirling dust; it descended once, twice, and then was still. As the dust began to settle, Janus wearily picked himself up from the prostrate form of the Hoojan. His surprise tactic had momentarily dazed the alien into leaving its body open to the man's sword. Janus had killed his adversary at last, but at great expense to himself. His energy reserves were now at such low ebb that he knew he could not continue his quest without first resting his tired brain, and exhausted body. He staggered a few halting steps, his sword so heavy in his hand that it dragged along behind him, in the dust, its trail a meandering furrow ploughed by some drunken farmer. At last, Nature could no longer be thwarted and Janus could no longer deny his body the rest that it craved. He collapsed and lay still, his urgent task no longer of importance to him. *** As Janus slept, his subconscious mind released vague images of past lives and experiences. He dreamed of strange enclosed vehicles with four wheels that sped along paved ribbons criss-crossing the countryside; of weird, flimsy craft with two wings, one atop the other, that danced hither and thither about the skies, like vagrant butterflies; and of men dressed in white, and masked, gathered around a low table on which lay a strangely familiar figure. Although Janus could never recall any of these strange images in his waking mind, his conscious mind now struggled with the unconscious imagery, trying to fit it into more familiar concepts, and thus retain his sanity. Every time Janus dreamed, these same weirdly wonderful and often frightening pictures filled his mind; yet, upon awakening, he retained little more than a vague memory of his dreams. While Janus slept, rested and dreamed, mechanisms were also in operation of which he had no knowledge, awake or dreaming, and over which he had no control, mental or physical. Electronic relays, cleverly inserted and hidden under the skin at the base of his brain, had begun to take over certain parts of the Earthman's highly intelligent and highly trained mind. This was a safety device created by technicians of Janus' department for just such an emergency as faced the Earth agent, at this very moment. A mental image of Janus' headquarters on Earth was automatically formed in the man's mind. The electronic relays clicked, formed a familiar pattern of impulses, and Janus' body suddenly disappeared; all that remained to show where the body had been was its impression in the fine, red, Hoojan dust, and the sword, previously dropped. |