The Star Engine: ELF

Prologue

Space. Endless, dark, empty space. Even the densest clusters of stars have so much space between them that the universe is made up of mostly nothing. And yet there are those who believe that even in the deepest unilluminated parts of the void there are things that lurk, always watching but as yet unseen. Hidden peoples who despise the light.
There are those who claim to have glimpsed these beings; old Star Engine crews and settlers on the most distant colonies. Most will not speak of what they’ve seen for fear that these hidden people will take drastic action to ensure their privacy is not threatened; blinding the witness or worse. And those who do speak give wildly varying accounts; sometimes the hidden people are beautiful, yet cold. Sometimes monstrous. Are these all just fanciful tales or are some true? Could there really be whole civilizations living right alongside us who have managed to keep their existence secret from the ever expanding empire of man?
Perhaps it starts when human beings leave their civilized homes behind to go in search of new frontiers and fertile new worlds, carrying with them their equally fertile imaginations. They find themselves in a new settlement on a distant rock, isolated and alone. And when night falls on these far flung worlds, the settlers see shadows in the dense forests and vegetation that are deeper and darker than anything they have seen before since the illumination of our science and technology has not yet reached those places. It’s easy for those people to imagine that, somewhere within the darkness that surrounds them, there is something sinister watching and waiting, coldly scrutinizing their every action.
But then in time the colony grows. A few huts grow into a city, the surrounding forests cleared for farmland. The wild frontiers of people’s imaginations become tamed.
But, despite all our rational explanations, space is so vast and for all of the foreseeable future the human empire will continue to push outwards. And so long as it does tales of Hidden People will likely continue to endure.
The Hidden People may prove to be indestructible.

There is a place always in twilight. A world in a locked orbit around a distant, faint red star; one side always in daylight, the other night and a thin belt half way between which is the only place life has taken hold here. Silver pools dotted the rocky landscape and around them fungal growths emitted faint blue and purple glows. Of the fauna however there was none in sight. With the sun never shifting on the horizon the place had an eerie stillness, as if time itself had been stopped. The whole world was a tomb. But that serenity was about to be shattered.

First came an enormous boom from above, like the crack of a mighty whip. In the next moment the silence returned, before being broken again in the next as a dark oblong shape plunged through the mists that shrouded the land touching down on thick metallic stumps. The huge cylinder steamed and hissed as its surface was rapidly cooled by the mist closing in on it again. The area around the cylinder then lit up as beams of light cut across the rocky ground.

After a few moments, just as the stillness had returned, a white stripe appeared on one side of the vessel as a rectangular section fell away forming a ramp to the ground. The silhouette of a man appeared and began to descend, heavy boots clanging on the trembling metal steps.

Feeling a chill upon setting foot on the soft but solid enough surface, the man, haggard and weary, pulled his heavy coat tighter around himself. Finding his bearings using a bronze compass he started to march away from the safety of his vessel and into the eternal twilight, a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

Hours passed and little changed in the landscape around him. The distant sun remained in state, never rising or dipping on the horizon. Then the needle of the compass started to behave erratically, just as he came upon a group of tall rocks arranged in a circle. Like the fingers of a giant reaching up through the earth.

He started to point the compass in all directions and watched as the needle refused to settle; then he pointed down and it stopped. What he was searching for had to be beneath him. He started to pace around the circle but could see no entrance nearby into any sort of cave. But then, the ground beneath him fell away taking him with it. He was fortunate not to strike his head on the rocks as he fell, and the ceramic armour he wore beneath his coat just saved him from sustaining any crippling injury, although he was still quite banged and bruised even before he hit the ground.

He lay still for a moment, a little bit in shock, but soon came around and staggered to his feet driven on by his purpose. There was light here at least; the same fungi that was on the surface also illuminated the cave. At first he thought that was all the life there was... but then he jumped back, swinging his weapon from his shoulder and bringing it to bear on the beast that had been lurking and watching silently as he fell.

When it didn’t react at all to his sudden movement the man exhaled, shaking his tired head. It was only a statue guarding the entrance to a tunnel. It looked like a wolf, snarling and showing its teeth, but it was as lifeless as all the other rocks. Ominous though the figure was, it was the first sign of habitation. That tunnel was the only way he could go now anyway. And so he did.

It was a whole network of tunnels and caverns. While passing through one of the later he again brought his weapon to bear, sure he’d seen something through the corner of his eye... but then it was gone. Although he could hear whispering coming from all around. He could make out none of the actual words being said but he was sure he could hear talking... perhaps a group of people some distance away. Or perhaps it was just his own exhaustion. He was sure he could crying now as well...

No... no, wait... that last one was definitely real. Definitely an infant. He checked his compass again and knew that he was very close. He broke into one through another tunnel and into a larger cavern, split in two by a silver stream running through it. And there on the opposite bank was a crib, of sorts. It was more like the ribcage of some large and quite deceased animal had been fashioned into a crude bed and the infant placed inside.

After a long journey the end finally seemed in sight. Disregarding any concerns he might have had about why such a thing would have been left out in the open like this, he started to run to it. But then there was that sound again... chattering, whispering. Where were they? It seemed to be coming from every shadow.

“Hush now, my lovely,” a woman’s voice cooed. He’d been so preoccupied trying to find what was whispering that he hadn’t even seen her appear. Red dress, pale skin, dark hair and eyes... she was unmistakable. Brushing back her hair to reveal her pointed ears, she leaned over the crib and carefully lifted the now silent infant and held it close to her chest.

“You,” he rasped. The woman turned on him, eyes sparkling, tilting her head and regarding him like a child regarding an insect just before pulling its legs off.

“You’ve certainly come a long way, haven’t you?” The woman said, gently patting the child.

“No?” The woman said with a wicked grin. “I’m at least the closest thing he has now. Come now, my lovely. Wave to daddy...”

The child slowly turned its head to look vaguely at the strange man who had travelled light years to find him. The compass had led the man here, so this had to be his son... but his eyes were no longer those of his boy. Once gorgeous and blue, they were now deep black pools like those of the woman holding him.

“I’ve done all sorts to help you. To fulfil your every desire... every wish. You think its easy finding that much honey on an ice planet?” She giggled girlishly. “Oh, but we mustn’t speak of such things in front of the boy. Anyway, you didn’t really think I was helping you for free, did you?”

“No. He’s happy here. He wants to stay with us. Besides, with a temper like that you clearly can’t be trusted to look after him. Really, you should be pleased about all this... instead of a weak, dirty creature like you, he will be immortal. It’s far too late to change him back even if I wanted to anyway.”

“I’m sure he’ll want to make his mother happy, won’t you my lovely? You’re such a good boy...”

“Such a violent, vulgar man,” she sighed, “you see now why I couldn’t possibly let you have him? And you do realise that if you fire that weapon you will kill us both.”

“If that’s the only way to stop him becoming like you, then... so be it,” he said, preparing to fire. The woman didn’t seem at all concerned and he soon saw why.

He spun around to his side and fired... he could barely see the figure approaching it was moving so fast. It dodged most of the shot, only a few fragments bouncing harmlessly off its chitinous armour. Then it was upon the man. Humanoid in shape, it effortlessly batted the gun aside while thrusting its other palm forward, its slender frame belying the incredible power of the blow. The human was sent flying and colliding roughly with the cavern wall.

“It can’t have been easy, travelling all this way,” the woman returned the infant to his crib and started striding towards the man lying flat on his back. He didn’t know if she had any pockets in that tight fitting dress, but from somewhere she had produced a twisted glass bottle filled with some green fluid. “You must be quite thirsty, yes?” Although still dazed, he sensed there was urgency to get to his feet, but the armoured figure along with two similarly armoured companions, were holding him down. One clamped its hands over his face to hold his mouth open. “That’s right... open wide,” she said, pouring the liquid in. The armoured figure then shut his mouth for him to make sure he didn’t spit.

“I’m told if used on an adult,” the woman said matter-of-factly while screwing the lid back on, “the serum induces madness.” The figure let the man go and all of the aliens watched coolly as he writhed on the floor, his whole body burning. “Never seen it myself. But, they say you lose all your sense, your memories... everything that makes you, you. And all that’s left is an uncontrollable rage.”

“I... I-I’ll kill you,” he spluttered. His body stopped writhing at least. Now he was just numb with pain.

“All that aggression... is that what you’ll have taught your boy? It’s a good thing I’ve saved him. I’m sending you home and you won’t remember me at all... you won’t remember much of anything... except your desire to kill. Nothing else will matter.”

“Y-you...” he tried to reach up, desperate to strangle her. But his body no longer responded to the commands of his weakening mind... The Queen was the last thing he saw as he slipped away.

“Pity, really,” she sniffed, “we did have some good times together you know.”

“Your majesty,” one of the armoured figures bowed, “how much longer must we wait? The hunters are becoming restless.”

“Oh, my lovelies... you must learn to be patient. A lot has changed since we were last awake. Even the stars are different,” she sighed dreamily, “but don’t worry... it will be soon. Yes, soon the hunt will begin again. And there will be much screaming and death and, who knows, maybe even a song or two. And then more screaming.”

“You’re all such good children,” she smiled warmly as she strode away. As she passed some fungi she decided to break a piece off and put it in her mouth. “Hm... that’s not so good though,” she spat it out.