Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

she’d yelled
and begged.
    There was a scream. We looked down the ridge and saw that the mud
had already reached the village’s lower buildings. A young couple
with a kid were standing on the roof of a low hut, about to get cut
off.
    Lian said, ’Sir? Your orders?’
    I waited one more heartbeat, as the mud began to wash over that
hut’s porch.
    ’Lethe, Lethe.’ I ran down the ridge until I hit the mud.
     
    On the mud’s surface were dead fish that must have jumped out of
the river to escape the heat. There was a lot of debris in the flow,
from dust to pebbles to small boulders: no wonder it was so
abrasive.
    Even with the suit’s strength augmentation the mud was difficult
stuff to wade through - lukewarm, and with a consistency like wet
cement. The stench was bad enough for me to pull my visor over my
mouth. By the time I reached the cottage I was already tiring
badly.
    I found the little ’family’, parents and child, terrified, glad to
see me. The woman was bigger, obviously stronger than the man. I had
her hold her infant over her head, while I slung the man over my
shoulder. With me leading, and the woman grabbing onto my belt, we
waded back towards the higher ground.
    All this time the mud rose relentlessly, filling up the valley as
if it had been dammed, and every step sapped my energy.
    Lian and Doel helped us out of the dirt. I threw myself to the
ground, breathing hard. The young woman’s legs had been scoured by
rocks in the flow; she had lost one sandal, and her trouser legs had
been stripped away.
    ’We’re already cut off from the bridge,’ Lian said softly.
    I forced myself to my feet. I picked out a building - not the
largest, not the highest, but a good compromise. It turned out to be
the hospital. ’That one. We’ll get them onto the roof. I’ll call for
another pickup.’
    ’Sir, but what if the mud keeps rising?’
    ’Then we’ll think of something else,’ I snapped. ’Let’s get on
with it.’
    She ran to help as Doel improvised a ladder from a trellis
fence.
    My first priority was to get Tilo safely lodged on the roof. Then
I began to shepherd the locals up there. But we couldn’t reach all of
them before the relentless rise of the mud left us all ankle-deep.
People began to clamber up to whatever high ground they could find -
verandas, piles of boxes, the ground transports, even rocks. Soon
maybe a dozen were stranded, scattered on rooftop islands around a
landscape turning grey and slick.
    I waded in once more, heading towards two young women who crouched
on the roof of a small building, like a storage hut. But before I got
there the hut, undermined, suddenly collapsed, pitching the women
into the flow. One of them bobbed up and was pushed against a stand
of trees, where she got stuck, apparently unharmed. But the other
tipped over and slipped out of sight. I reached the woman in the
trees and pulled her out. The other was gone.
    I hauled myself back onto the hospital roof for a break. All
around us the mud flowed, a foul-smelling grey river, littered with
bits of wood and rock.
    My emotions were deep and unwelcome. I’d never met that woman, but
her loss was visceral. It was as if, against my will, I had become
part of this little community, as we huddled together on the roof of
that crudely built hospital. Not to mention the fact that I now
wouldn’t be able to fulfil my orders completely.
    I prepared to plunge back into the flow.
    Tilo grabbed my arm. ’No. Not yet. You are exhausted. Anyhow you
have a call to make, remember? If you can get me a data desk - ’
    Lian spoke up. ’Sir. Let me bring in the stranded locals.’ She
said awkwardly, ’I can manage that much.’
    Redemption time for this young marine. ’Don’t kill yourself,’ I
told her.
    With a grin she slid off the roof.
    Briskly, I used my suit’s comms system to set up a fresh link to
the Spline. I requested another pickup - was told it was impossible -
and asked for Kard.
    Tilo requested a Virtual data desk. He fell on it as soon as it
appeared. His relief couldn’t have been greater, as if the mud didn’t
exist.
    When they grasped the situation I had gotten us all into, Admiral
Kard and Commissary Xera both sent down Virtual avatars. The two of
them hovered over our wooden roof, clean of the mud, gleaming like
gods among people made of clay.
    Kard glared at me. ’This is a mess, Lieutenant.’
    ’Yes, sir.’
    ’You should have gotten Tilo over that damn bridge while you
could.