Chapter Nine
I had watched with increasing apprehension as 541588 trained its forces for combat, waiting on a reply from the central control. It turned around instantly when the computer screen flashed on without warning and sounded a buzz. A familiar face peered through the screen; that wrinkled scraggly man succumbing to old age. However, he seemed to be considerably happier this time, and he spoke of good news. The forces had been prepared for deployment, and within the next few hours could be in the field. 541588 and its merry troop would be quickly subjugated and brought back into order. They would borrow some grain crops from surrounding communes and the commune would be returned to normal in only a week. Everything was going to be fine. The months of fear and uncertainty were about end. Upon hearing this news, I was relieved and excited and forgot to ask about the specifics of the operation before the grand master had departed.
In the early hours of morning the old transport plane carrying the troops departed from the headquarters of the central command. Over the next quarter day, it flew over land and sea and touched down on an island previously known as mainland Australia. The airports had been retained from the time before the new world was established, but the centuries of disuse were evident as the plane jolted onto the cracked, uneven tarmac and ground to a stop. The men stumbled out of the plane, desperate to escape the turbulence in their head and stomach that they had suffered for the past six and a quarter hours, and quickly received orders to begin a march to the nearest central settlement fifteen kilometres away. They got marching; first through the dilapidated airport buildings, then into the increasingly thick bush. Without human interruption, the plant life had regenerated and with it, insects had reappeared in large numbers. Trudging through the dense scrub they were pestered by floods of flies buzzing loudly around their faces and clinging on to their sweaty backs. As they walked, the winds blew the clouds above them and then there was rain. The flies disappeared, but out came the mosquitoes, furiously attacking their bare skin, this rare delicacy triggering a feeding frenzy. The group were none the wiser. Instead, it was the incessant rain, the thick branches and uneven terrain that posed the immediate challenges as they pushed along, their direction uncertain, based on their last sighting of the suns’ position. Thud, crunch, pitter, snap, buzz, slap, patter, gasp. Then, to their relief, the bush began to clear out, and soon they found themselves within a grassy plain, the central settlement visible in the distance. They picked up their pace, the finish line in sight, and covered the remaining distance quickly, despite the soreness in their legs. They were weary when they arrived, but there was no time to lose. They were each handed a package of food, then ushered onto a helicopter.