The Yeomen of England (Posleen in England)

Command Base

Newcastle, England

7^th April 2007
The journey northwards had been nightmarish, even though Sergeant Kendrick had pulled strings to keep Brad and Sameena – and the other couples in the Civil Defence Corps – together. The Posleen had raged against Liverpool, poked small raids up towards Preston, and scared hundreds of thousands of people. Despite the best efforts of Sergeant Kendrick and the Civil Defence Corps, public order was breaking down.
“I heard that there are people surviving in the Peak Districts,” Brad said, trying to keep warm. The room was freezing cold, even though it was April. English weather had been going funny before the Posleen arrived, and now it was tipping badly towards an eternal winter.
He scowled. If the Posleen ever managed to complete the invasion of Earth, it would never be illuminated by sunshine again.
“Idiots,” Sameena said. She cuddled close to him, trembling with the cold. “The Posleen will get them.”
“I know,” Brad said. He kissed her, wishing that they were alone. Sex might warm them up. “I wish…”
“I know,” Sameena said. She’d had amorous thoughts as well. “I know what you meant, love.”
“Thank you all for coming,” Sergeant Kendrick said. “As you know, it was intended that most of you – having applied for the army – would be trained in army procedures.” He smiled darkly. “Unfortunately, the Civil Defence Corps has been recruited for something else, something apparently more important that fighting.”
There was a stir. “I will now introduce you to General Anderson, who will explain the matter to you,” he said.
General Anderson was tall and thin, wearing a basic army uniform. His face was tired and worn, but carried no scars, not even a shaving scar. Rear-echelon mother fucker, Brad thought coldly; clearly Anderson was nothing like Amherst, who’d fought to the death in Liverpool.
“We have a serious problem,” Anderson said. “Eventually, the Posleen will come north, heading towards Scotland…and there will be nowhere left to run. They have already killed millions of us humans – and they will kill the rest of us in Scotland.”
“Then lets hang ourselves now and save the effort,” someone muttered, loudly enough to be heard.
“I have a better idea,” Anderson said firmly. “We have one final throw of the dice, one last chance for victory. If we lose the industries we have established in the north – game over. Therefore, we must not lose those industries.” He pointed a hand at a map, indicating a red line running from cold Newcastle to Gretna Green, where couples had once run away to be married. “I will give ten points to Pornwatcher²³ for the person who can tell me what this line is.”
There was an immediate buzz, mainly over what Pornwatcher was. “It’s Hadrian’s Wall,” someone said finally. “Sir, what’s Pornwatcher?”
“Never mind,” Anderson said firmly. “We’ll sort that out later. Now, as it happens, Hadrian’s Wall – the original – is no good for stopping the Posleen; most of it is in ruins. However, we are going to build a new Hadrian’s Wall; one that can stop the Posleen.”
Brad gaped at him. “Are you suggesting building a line of defences two hundred miles long?”
“More like one hundred and seventy-five kilometres long,” Anderson said grimly. “We have the ability to build it; we have hundreds of people here, tons and tons of cement, several Handling Machines and plenty of firepower to put on the line.” He sighed. “I won’t lie to you,” he said. “This will take a very long time indeed.”
Hadrian’s Wall, Brad thought. “Sir, how long do we have to build it?” He asked. “The Posleen might be willing to challenge us before we’re ready.”
“I know,” Anderson said. “It will take at least a month of massive effort by nearly five hundred thousand people to develop the wall. Hopefully, we’ll have two months at least – the Posleen are eyeing Ireland and London – but we should have time.”
“We’ll be integrating Newcastle into the defences,” Sergeant Kendrick injected. “It will probably end up being the weakest link in the defences.”
“I wonder what they want with you,” Brad muttered to Sameena.
“Perhaps a medical position on the line crew,” Sameena said. “I don’t think I could bear to be parted from you again.”
She said that loud enough to be heard. “That’s pretty much what you will get,” Kendrick said. There were some good-natured chuckles. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?”
***

Two hours of heavy work later, Brad was grimly certain that the line would never be finished in time. He understood, in part, that that was the result of crippling tiredness, but it seemed impossible to make an impression in the ground.

“Look out,” Sergeant Kendrick shouted. Brad pulled himself out of the way of a Handling Machine, watching as the machine sucked in dirt and replaced it with compressed concrete. Thousands of bulldozers and lorries worked endlessly, working on building the line.
“We’ll have a bunker there,” Anderson said. Brad smiled, even though the aches and pains; the prefabricated bunkers were being brought forward on the rail lines, now that the east coast line was defunct. The Handling Machine had dug the first trench line, now the cranes lowered the prefabricated unit into the trench.
It was the wrong way round. Anderson shouted curses and insults at the crane driver and the entire bunker was picked up and carefully put in the right place. Brad smiled as a Handling Machine poured in more cement, preventing a single shock from blowing it out of the ground.
“Now, start putting in the tunnels,” Kendrick shouted. Brad leapt to obey, watching grimly as a network of tunnels was laid, then covered with dirt by the Handling Machine. The Posleen were large monsters; they would never be able to fit into the tunnels, and the humans could reinforce trenches with ease.
“A mile completed,” Kendrick pronounced, as the team ended work for the day. Brad nodded tiredly; he'd developed aches in muscles he hadn’t known he had. Perhaps it was possible, after all; there were thousands of men working all along the length of Hadrian’s Wall.
They’ll just keep adding to it and adding to it until the Posleen come, he thought, as he staggered back to the mobile home that had been provided for the two of them. He wished for a shower, but there wasn’t enough water for that. He collapsed into a chair and closed his eyes.
He was woken, sometime later, by Sameena. “What’s happened?” She asked. “What happened to you?”
Brad blinked. He could still hear the noise of the construction works and dimly realised that there was a second team at work. “Hard work,” he muttered, and closed his eyes again. His body felt unnaturally stiff. “How was your day at the office, love?”
“Stand up,” Sameena ordered. Brad tried and finally managed it; his body, which had once been in pretty good shape, hurt like hell. “What were you doing all day?”
“Digging and moving and sorting and…”
Sameena was rubbing her hands all over his back. “You’re all stiff,” she snapped. “Here.”
She started to undress him, pulling his trousers and boxers off without difficulty, and then taking more care with his shirt. Even in the cold, it had been so hot when they’d been working, hot enough to make them sweat. Her hands ran over his body, poking gently at knotted flesh, and then she smiled.
“You stink,” she said. Brad was too tired to be annoyed. His body had been covered in sweat during the working period. “Lie down on the bunk.”
Brad moved slowly, gently. “What are you going to do to me?” He asked. “What are you doing?”
“This is not proper massage cream,” Sameena said, as he lay on his front. “It’s what you need, love.”
Brad didn’t argue as her hands began to knead the back of his head, moving down to his back and buttocks slowly, tantalisingly. “I was cleaning up accidents all day,” Sameena said. “What you’re doing is clearly high risk.”
There was a mechanical screech from a machine. Brad tentatively identified it as a Handling Machine, cursing the idiot who’d given the machines limited personalities, or at least a semblance of them. They were…too human at times, just strange enough to remind humans that they were anything, but human.
“I’m glad you’re not there,” he said, sincerely. “It’s far too easy to be worried about you.”
Sameena kissed the back of his neck. “That’s what you’re there for,” she said wryly. “That, and paying the bills.”
“I always wondered what you saw in me,” Brad said. He yawned as she helped him to turn over, applying her fingers to his legs, massaging them slowly and taking out the knots one by one. He was too tired to be aroused, even when she kissed him once, shockingly, on his penis.
“Poor dear,” Sameena said. She held him gently. “I think you’d better have something to eat, and then go to bed.”
Brad laughed tiredly. It was almost a giggle. “Yes, mother,” he said. “I’ll eat all of my greens.”
He closed his eyes again and fell asleep. Sameena kissed him tenderly on his cheek and lay down beside him. Smiling, she fell into sleep beside him, holding him for the night. It would be another big day tomorrow; even the noise of the construction, continuing throughout the night, did not disturb them.