Displaced

by Drake,Stephen

  “Can scent you kind here,” the enormous bear flashed to Murdock.

  “How fresh is the scent?” Murdock asked.

  “Same as young one.”

  That didn’t fill Murdock with confidence in the theory that the cub had wandered off. Why anyone would venture so far from the pod during such a bad storm, he thought, is beyond me. From the look of the tracks, the cub had disappeared close to the time that the storm stopped. That would mean that if it was taken, the person who had done so had been walking out here in the terrible storm, which was not the brightest thing in the world to do. Murdock could do little to hurry the search, as he was counting strongly on Rose.

  “Mei Lee, you do know what it means if the cub is harmed by a human?” he flashed

  “I think so,” she flashed, “but I’m sure Rose will succeed and everything is going to work out okay.”

  Murdock believed her, and then he found an extra set of tracks, quickly filling, in the fresh snow. His heart sank. No mistaking them: human.

  #

  Shortly before Murdock found the human tracks, Rose arrived at the stockade. She saw no signs of life outside, so she assumed they were still inside the pod. As she walked toward the gate, she saw fresh tracks, as if something had been dragged. She also noticed the gate was not closed tightly, as it should have been. With caution and quiet she drew her twelve-inch machete and crept forward. I’m glad Kevin and Mei taught me how to handle myself, she thought. I’m sure I can hold my own against anyone on this planet.

  She listened as closely as she could while walking forward slowly. The crunch of the snow beneath her feet sounded as loud as a bass-drum as she crept forward through the gate. Inside the compound, the snow had drifted against the walls of the buildings and the stockade and so wasn’t much over a foot deep in most of the travelled pathways. Rose strained her eyes to peer into every shadow for an attacker. She had thought of contacting Murdock, but she was too mentally exhausted to accomplish it. She had arrived using the last vestiges of her mental strength; she had nothing left. Periodically, she stopped and listened. Hearing only her own heartbeat — which sounded like thunder to her — she cautiously continued, following the drag marks in the snow. She noticed that they led toward the smokehouse.

  Thomas had wanted the smokehouse close to the ramp of the pod, but not in the pod’s shadow. They had built it with some room between the outside wall of the stockade and the smokehouse. That space was for extra wood storage, if needed, but as this was the first year, little wood was piled there. As Rose got closer to the smokehouse, she heard a weak growl, a choking sound, and then a light thud. She rounded the corner of the smokehouse and saw a white bear cub lying on the ground. As she watched, it got up, growled a little as it pulled against something, made a small choking sound, and then collapsed. She ran, as best she could, over to the cub, laid her machete on the ground, and inspected what held the cub. In the gloom, she recognized homemade rope. While the cub recovered from choking itself, she tried to reach around the struggling bear to untie the rope. Her gloves impeded her progress with the rope, so she took them off and put them on the ground next to her. Then, as she reached for the knot again, she heard the start of a crunch inside her head next to her ear. She didn’t hear herself hit the snow covered ground.

  #

  When Murdock first saw the human track in the deep snow, he immediately tried to contact Rose to warn her.

  When he couldn’t make contact, he contacted Mei Lee: “I found human tracks, looks like a man’s,” he flashed. “If you can make contact with Rose you need to warn her. You need to keep trying.”

  “I will keep trying and will pass on the information,” Mei Lee flashed back.

  Murdock tried to mentally instruct the huge white bear that they needed to get to the transport pod as quickly as possible. The white bear was too angry to understand, so Murdock changed tack and requested Beron with a high imperative. That did seem to get through.

  When Beron contacted him telepathically, Murdock gave a quick, condensed version of events and asked if he could instruct the white bear to take him to the transport pod as quickly as possible. Beron didn’t answer Murdock right away, but in what seemed like a short period of time, Murdock saw his large friend sliding through the air toward them quickly.

  “Get on,” Beron instructed after he stopped in front of Murdock. He complied, happily, and they were all off to the pod at a high rate of speed.

  #

  As Rose started to regain consciousness, her head throbbed as never before, and her arms ached. Without opening her eyes, which she was sure would be exceedingly painful, she could tell she was tied and suspended. She felt vertical logs against her back, but her feet hung off the ground.

  “It took you so long to come to, I was beginning to think I’d killed you,” Rose heard a voice say; dry, crackling, definitely male. She was sure she had heard it before, but couldn’t place it.

  She tried to force her eyes open and felt the pain of it, but once that subsided, she saw a formless bulk on the ground in front of her. She tried to see his face, but couldn’t. His face was obscured by something over his head. It resembled a hide of some kind, but none that she recognized. The hide hid his shape and disguised any clues to his identity. Then she noticed that her outer coat was gone, as well as all the weapons she had. The cold was starting to creep through her inner coat. Her hands, which had been exposed for some time, were close to numb, not just from the cold, but from the rope that held her off the ground.

  She saw the figure standing close to her feet, but not so close that she could kick him. Holding a twelve-inch machete in his hand, he was looking at the panicked cub.

  “I find I’m in need of a new, white, fur coat,” he said with menace.

  “You really don’t want to do that,” Rose said with as much authority as she could muster. She struggled against the rope, but it was quite sound. “The parent of that cub is sure to find you,” she warned him while trying to think of a way to free herself.

  “So what if it does?” he said in the same menacing voice. “You really can’t have too many white fur coats.” He chuckled with that same dry, cracked voice.

  Rose glanced to the pod, but saw only the very top part of the ramp.

  “You think they can help you?” he asked, catching her glance at the pod. “They can’t help you. They can’t help anyone.”

  His voice, as much as what he said, chilled her.

  “I bet you’d enjoy watching,” he went on. He untied the cub, dragged it over, and secured it so it was directly below her feet.

  As Rose hung there, she saw the look of panic on the cub’s face. She tried to contact the cub telepathically, but couldn’t. I’m still too weak, she thought. Kevin and Mei would have contacted me by now. Then Rose heard the familiar scrape of machete against scabbard and tried to get loose again. The blade glinted a little in the gloom. Bracing her feet against the wall behind her, she tried to gain a little leverage. She jerked her weight against the rope; she felt as if her shoulders would be dislocated. The blade rose. She braced herself again and jerked on the rope; it gave a little. The shadowy man grabbed the cub to try to hold it still. As the cub struggled, so did Rose. The rope gave more each time. The blade reached its apex, and as it did, she jerked her weight on the ropes. The ropes gave; she pushed against the wall behind her. She flew through the air and hit the man full on with her entire bulk.

  Rose didn’t feel the blade enter her at first. She was too full of adrenaline and too cold to feel much of anything. She knew her weight had knocked the shadowy man over backward; then she realized his blade had entered her body. The farther it went in, the greater her pain. Breathing began to be extremely hard. As she lay on top of the shadowy man, Mei Lee contacted her telepathically. Then Murdock contacted her as well. Rose smiled inwardly.

  “I love you both,” she flashed to them. She would not have been able to speak to them out loud. “I want to thank you both for loving me the way
you have. I have never felt so loved, wanted, needed as I have with the two of you. Love each other to the hilt, just as the two of you have loved me. I want you both to remember that no one took my life, I gave it freely!”

  As the connection broke, Rose was vaguely aware that the shadowy man had pushed her off him and was standing. The last thing her eyes saw was the jaws of a very large, brown bear turned sideways as it bit the back of the man’s neck, severing his spinal cord.

  “No-o-o,” Murdock screamed.

  The instant Rose died, a mental cry of anguish, loud enough to drown out everything else, went out to all who could perceive. The pain was so severe that though she was miles away, Mei Lee fell to her knees through the sheer magnitude of it. Murdock, who had jumped from Beron’s back just before the creature struck the man, ran to his wife’s side and held her close. He tried and failed to contact her telepathically, but he could see that her life had been poured out on the snow. His tears flowed freely as he lovingly picked up her body and carried it over to the pod’s ramp, then laid her down gently. The smell of fresh blood permeated the inside of the pod. As he looked around, he saw that the throats of Thomas and Rebecca had been cut; they had bled out holding hands. He found Krysia with an eighteen-inch machete sticking out of her back. When he rolled her over, he saw that the blade had gone through her and into her infant son. From what he could ascertain, she had tried to shield the infant with her own body, but to no avail.

  He exited the pod, went over to the shadowy man Beron had killed, and rolled the man over onto his back. Removing the hide that covered the man’s face, Murdock saw the man was Whittier.

  Murdock’s anger was such that he was unable to speak or communicate in any way. I want to pound what’s left of Whittier, but what good would it do? Would it bring back Rose or any of his victims? Somewhere, his conscious mind heard the growls of the cub, and Murdock went over and removed the rope; freeing it to rejoin its parent.

  As he returned to the pod’s ramp, he saw the white bear leaving with its cub. He saw Beron standing still, looking at Rose’s body. Murdock joined him and stood gazing at Rose for a long time. Beron tried to touch Murdock’s mind gently, soothingly, but Murdock would have none of it.

  Murdock picked up everything he could find and placed it all a good distance outside the stockade. He found all of Rose’s cold-weather gear, placed it with her body outside the stockade, and asked Beron to watch over her. He pulled out all the bodies from inside the pod and placed them on top of the smokehouse. Then he gathered all the wood together and made a fire. By the time he had finished, the stockade was burning quickly. The fire would consume everything, leaving only the pod shell.

  When Murdock exited the stockade for the last time, he saw Bridget guarding Rose’s body. As Murdock walked silently toward his wife’s body, Beron levitated him. Then Murdock was placed onto Beron’s back. Bridget gently levitated Rose’s body and all of her belongings. As Beron started off for Murdock’s cabin, Murdock communicated that he would like to bury Rose’s body by the caves she loved so much, if it was permitted. Beron moved slowly, twenty feet above the snow, toward the caves. His mate followed, levitating Rose’s body next to Murdock.

  #

  After Mei Lee had recovered from the mental blast of pain and anguish, she tried to contact Murdock, but got no response. Given the circumstances, she really didn’t expect one. The cabin feels so . . . empty and alone, she thought. She paced as she cried uncontrollably, going over to the babies and crying over them as well.

  “I’ll see to it that both of you always know your brave mother,” She vowed. She wanted to know what had happened to the cub and who had killed Rose. And what had happened to Thomas, Rebecca, Krysia, and her baby? She wanted to know, but then again, she didn’t. Knowing would mean accepting their deaths, and she didn’t want to accept the death of her co-wife. She did, however, feel the strong need to help with her burial.

  When she got a very tenuous grip on her emotions, she went outside the cabin. Two gigantic, white bears stood in front of the cabin with a third considerably smaller one. The two bigger ones seemed to bow to her. Surely, Mei Lee was mistaken.

  “Please, Honored One. We take you and young ones to husband,” they flashed to her.

  “Young one safe?” she asked telepathically as she pointed to the little bear. She noticed that the paws of the little one were bloody, and she saw a ring around its neck. This bear was the little one Rose had defended. “Please wait,” she flashed as she went inside to get herself and the babies ready to travel.

  Outside again, she was immediately levitated onto the back of the biggest bear. When she looked back, she saw the baby’s cradles levitated with the same care. All three of the bears levitated themselves and started off in what seemed to be the direction of the caves.

  Mei Lee cried the entire trip. Her heart broke to know that Rose would no longer be there to help her figure things out or raise the babies. She couldn’t have explained it any better than to have said that a part of her was missing — an important part.

  The trip to the caves seemed to take forever. It didn’t help traveling in the dark and cold. When she felt the need to check on the babies, the slightly smaller bear levitated the cradles over so she could check them without having to stop. Close to daybreak, Mei Lee saw the mountain that housed the caves. They headed for the mountain in a straight line.

  “You there when Rose ceased?” she tried to ask the bigger of the bears. She thought she finally wanted to know. She received a vision of the stockade around the pod. In the vision, it was night, and Rose lay dead on the snow-covered ground. She saw the face of the shadowy man when Murdock had rolled him over. Then she saw the bodies of Thomas, Rebecca, Krysia, and her baby. Mei Lei saw Murdock set the stockade afire.

  When that vision was over, she saw what she thought was another vision. Two brown bears moved slowly toward the same mountain from the direction of the transport pod. “Husband” came to her mind.

  #

  It had taken the procession a long time to get to the caves. A part of Murdock was glad to see Mei Lee and the kids, but a big part wasn’t, and that part forced him to accept his loss when he didn’t want to. When they reached the foot of the mountain, they were across the stream from it. Murdock looked up and saw that they were in direct line of sight to the entrance of the caves in which Murdock used to sit and look out at the valley with Rose. It broke his heart to know they would never do so again.

  “Good?” Beron flashed to him. Murdock gave his assent. All of the humans were deposited on the snow-covered ground.

  As he watched, several blocks of perfectly cut stone emerged from the mountainside and were formed into a sarcophagus big enough to hold Rose’s body. The edges were laser-sharp. The bottom and top stones were two feet thick. Murdock and Mei Lee placed Rose’s body on the base and positioned her hands over her belly, clasping one another. They placed Rose’s belongings inside. Murdock kept one of her inside mittens; he had raised it up and smelled the inside. Smelling Rose, he placed the mitten inside his own coat. When Murdock and Mei Lee were finished, the rest of the stones formed around and were placed with such precision that no light or air could have penetrated the joints of the tomb. When they were in place, the top loudly boomed closed, signaling finality.

  Murdock and Mei Lee remained in place for several minutes. Weeping, they allowed themselves to be taken inside the cave that Murdock and Rose had occupied so long ago, but the two were not set down where Murdock had expected. Instead, they were taken past the pools and falls through a concealed passage. Not far inside, Murdock and Mei Lee were placed in a small alcove accessible several feet off the floor of the cave. As they sat there, the Oomah filed past, giving condolences for the humans’ loss. Bear after bear, type after type, they all filed past. Murdock recognized a few — Beron’s father, Beron, and Bridget. Most of them he didn’t know, and on this occasion, he didn’t want to. The last to file by was the great, white bear that had been Mur
dock’s bane.

  “You mate gave all for my young one; for my kind. She deserves all honors. No more hate twixt us. You/yours require something, we do!”

  “He said —” Mei Lee tried to interpret quietly for Murdock.

  “I heard him,” Murdock said, cutting off what she was going to say in an undeservedly sharp way. “I’m sorry, Mei. You didn’t deserve that.” She said nothing, just squeezed his hand lightly to indicate that she understood.

  With the procession ended, all the bears in the cavern bowed deeply to Murdock and Mei Lee.

  After Mei Lee and Murdock left the secret part of the cave, they returned to the section that he and Rose had lived in. Mei Lee took care of the babies while Murdock got a fire going. They didn’t have enough wood for the night, but it didn’t matter. Unspeaking, they both sat for some time. At some point, Murdock laid his head on Mei Lee’s lap. She stroked his head gently and absentmindedly; both were lost in remembrance.

  “She’s gone, Mei,” Murdock said finally, softly, as if the words were ripped from his soul.

  Mei Lee said nothing for a very long time. “I know,” she said finally. Her tears dripped onto his cheek and his onto her lap.

  26

  The massive, white bear and his mate returned Murdock and Mei Lee to the cabin after Rose’s funeral. Murdock tried to express his appreciation, but the bear wouldn’t hear of it. Murdock equated the bear’s response to a human’s saying, “A real pleasure; don’t give it another thought.”

  For the next few months, Murdock was inconsolable. Though he performed necessary tasks, the rest of his time was spent mourning, as did Mei Lee. Rose had helped her to get over the loss of Collier and all the pain that entailed. This new loss reopened an old wound that had never quite healed. They were like two robots doing what they had to do and avoiding anything that might cause pain to either of them.