Kraken Orbital

by James J. Stubbs

  Chapter 4

  Triassic World

  I awake to a grumbling, belching, ear splitting roar. My eyes spring open in shock and I scramble undignified to my bare feet. The sun is barely up behind us and a cold wind races through the unforgiving desert in the early morning. Sand whips up from across the dunes and blasts into my eyes unsympathetically. In the cold light of the morning I can see further and more clearly than last night.

  I can see the trees on the horizon sway, and I can even hear their branches and trunks snap, but can’t make out the form of a beast. Something must be moving through the tree-line.

  I can only assume that noise was from one of the resident dinosaurs. Kolt is already up and is sat by the calm water with that bottle jammed into his veins again. I can hear him breathe in time with the low, gentle, lapping waves. I stretch my tight muscles to get rid of the cramp forming in the backs of my things and at the base of my spine. I reach for that left over snake meat and tear into it. Shame it’s gone cold but I can’t wait for the sun to heat it back up again. It would just burn it to more of a crisp anyway.

  I eat fast and it makes my stomach turn. I couldn’t care less though. I just want to eat. I hope we even find another one it’s that nice. But this is survival, different to any other situation I’ve ever been in, and every day counts. So I doubt realistically that we’ll find another.

  The night was cold like I thought it would be. I kept my armor on right through the night though so I guess it could have been worse. I looked at all of the stars again. I spent hours laying on the cool sand, stubbornly awake, just staring at the glimmering lights in the black sky above.

  I remember how I used to pick one in the distance. Back when I was a kid. I remembered how I used to pick one at random and dream about what might be there. What planets might orbit it in a celestial dance. What creatures, or even men, used to walk upon their surfaces and swim in their oceans. I imagined a better world. I just wanted to spread my wings and break off the chains that held me to one place. I just wanted to wriggle free of the shackles that bound me to the one spot.

  I used to use that feeling to remind myself that there was always a way out. To remind myself that no matter what, you just have to keep one eye on the door at all times. Even when things seem ok. You never know when you might need that desperate escape route. So that’s why I stole the rig and crashed it into a sandy desert. I was buzzed with that thought all night.

  It was kind of rock and roll, what I did. Never caring and just hitting the open sky with a stolen ride. I felt elated and self satisfied. I had been keeping an eye on the door the whole time. But that wasn’t enough. Eventually, after staring at it for long enough and hating your life for long enough, and coveting what might be on the other side, you just have to open it. And step out into a bigger world.

  Right now I don’t even care if I die out here. I don’t care if I get eaten alive by monsters that were supposed to be long extinct. Because it will be my own damn fault. And that sets me free.

  Kolt sharply tugs the needle and tube away from his arm. He stands un-phased by the sinewy noise it makes and turns to me. I know I have a huge smile on my face. It’s just an aftershock from the sudden and probably a little naïve energy burst I have. I’m just pumped to get going. All those thoughts I had last night about stretching out to distant stars and just seeing what there was there. I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn’t just start enjoying myself in the here and now.

  I know it’s dangerous. I know all we are doing is going off in search of rescue but it’s enough. Even though I’ll probably just end up going back home to be brought up on charges. And then likely shot in jail. At least the food will be better there.

  ‘Are you prepared?’ Kolt asks me between labored breaths. I have already got my red, battle brushed, armor on since I slept in it. I pull my boots on quickly and drink the last of the water. We will have to find more once we reach the forest on the other side of the expanse of water. Kolt hasn’t picked the backpack up and I frankly see no need in dragging it along. I have equipment slots in my utility belt and in the pockets of my basic armor. I don’t want the bag to weigh me down on the swim. He just takes the clear bottles that used to have water in and pins them to his equipment belt underneath the muddy colored overalls.

  ‘Let’s do this?’ I almost shout. The trees upon the horizon have settled and I hear no more monstrous growls. I am a little scared. My ego has shrunk that to a niggling little voice though and my eagerness is masking it, even from myself. I clap my hands together and flail my arms around to get the blood back to my fingers. I can feel my heart rate increase as I swing my limbs around and jog on the spot. Kolt does nothing.

  He enters the water like a specter and simply walks until he can stand no longer. He then spreads out his arms and begins to wade through the waves. The air still holds a cold sting but I would rather we set off now that wait for the sun to reach it’s full strength. That would sap our strength and the sun stroke would probably drown us in a haze of confusion. I ride my energy boost and throw myself into the water and splash like an excitable child to catch up with Kolt. I slow my pace for his sake. But saving my energy is probably the best option anyway.

  I start to wave my arms though the sickly and salty water. The waves get stronger the further out we swim. I fight against the weight of my armor to keep my mouth above water level. The salty taste makes me physically sick but I can hold it together. The water tastes dangerously sweet but I still have to fight that powerful urge to just take a long, briefly satisfying, gulp. The waves toss us around like rag dolls in a bathtub but it’s kind of fun. I’m a confident swimmer, I even enjoy it. Even though I haven’t done it for a very long time.

  Kolt is still keeping his same pace, his same rhythm, and remains irritatingly calm throughout. I think we might be making some progress until I turn around and see the land we left is far closer to us than the land we left behind. I decide to pass the time by quizzing Kolt on his odd theories. Maybe I can even help him regain a few memories.

  ‘Why don’t you think you need to be rescued?’ I shout as another wave bounces me up with the force of the hydraulic motion.

  ‘From what do I require rescue?’ He shouts back. I can barely make it out through his breathing apparatus. Maybe he is having trouble keeping water out of it. I secretly hope we find a way to get that thing off for him. It would be nice to see his face I guess. I’m finding it hard enough to read him without being able to pick up on his subtle facial expressions.

  ‘Just to get away from this planet I guess. No family back home? Will they be worried that you’re lost?’ I shout again. The conversation is fragmented. I’m starting to run out of steam and I’m out of breath. I’m also battling the waves with fierce swings of my arms.

  ‘I was lost at home.’ He yells back in that irritating cryptic way of his.

  ‘What?’ I wished I could have hollered something more intelligent back but nothing comes to my tired mind.

  ‘What are your thoughts on being lost?’ I don’t even have the energy to reply. I can see the shore of the other mass of land come slowly into view. Another few more powerful minutes of aggressive swimming and we can make it.

  I pull myself by my elbows away from the foaming water and onto the warm beach of the next island. The sand here is grainier and scrapes audibly over my plastic coated armor. I cough uncontrollably and churn up a few mouths of salty water. I can’t move. I hadn’t even noticed how hard that swim had been on my arms. I thought I was stronger than that. Maybe my arms were just too used to chiseling at stone.

  Kolt, I see over my shoulder as I lie face down in the gravel like sand, walks out of the water on two feet. The ocean spills over his brown apron and over his heaving shoulders. He isn’t even out of breath.

  ‘Even though I called it home, and enjoyed the comfort of having one, my heart felt unsettled. My soul was lost to me. I ask you, Parker, how can a man find his soul without first becoming irreconcilabl
y lost himself?’ He sends shivers down my spine.

  ‘I do not require rescue because I no longer feel lost. Even though I am lost. If I am “rescued” I return to a home that I no longer crave. Somewhere I do not belong.’ He passes me by and doesn’t help me to my feet as I was oddly expecting him to. He peers into the tree line that sweeps the beach for as far as the eye stretches in both directions.

  The greenery is thick and I can’t see a lot through the choking veil of vegetation.

  ‘Where next?’ I ask him enthusiastically, still riding the emotional energy I seem to have stumbled across.

  ‘When I finally made it down the mountain, where my ship had crashed, I found a system of caves that led me into the forest we see before us. I hope that I can find my way back.’ I shrug. I could argue with him and complain that we might never find it but why bother? He has seen me right, even put me to shame, in terms of my physical ability so far on this trek. I trust him. I know I didn’t before. I know that I was scared of him and I found him aggressive. But he has won me over I guess.

  He slipped past the first palm branch and disappeared into the thick tropical shrubbery. I followed with a smile and I’m looking forward to the change in terrain and hopefully temperature too.

  The jungle is a dense and claustrophobic place to be in. The thick branches of the various plants and trees form thick symbiotic knots around one another. I have to remain constantly aware of what is around me and what is under my feet. Sometimes I can’t even see the muddy earth below. I have to climb through overgrown branches and coiled up vegetation just to make any ground. Progress is painfully slow and I’m starting to sweat already. I don’t dare take my armor off though. I know what is in the jungle, hiding, and to add to it I keep snagging my shoulders and chest on knotted branches and twisted trees that I don’t even see.

  I’m sure the jungle is beautiful to look at it but all I can see is my own feet and the bugs that crawl over them endlessly. The vibrant green colors, as I see them briefly pass over my eyes as the next large leaf slaps me around my cheek, are a good change from the bland sand and billowing dunes of the desert we just crossed. I was lucky, I suppose, to crash where I did. Had it been deeper in the desert, that I can only assume spreads over miles and miles, then getting out of it would have probably killed me dead.

  The physical exertion of pulling my weight over branches and squeezing through tight winding trees saps the power from my already tired muscles. Even Kolt has been slowed down. He moves through the thick vegetation with ease and does so with artistic precision. He doesn’t trip like I am and he doesn’t get his arms snagged on tree trunks like I am. But moving that eight foot muscular frame around takes time. I can still hear his breathing apparatus but, even though its irritating and constant, it comforts me a little.

  It has become like a constant companion to the disorientating silence. Like him, I suppose. I’m determined not to fall behind today though. I’m still annoyed with myself that I had to stop yesterday and drink when Kolt could have just powered on. I needed food like my stomach was going to implode if I didn’t eat. But Kolt can’t even eat at all. I have no idea how he keeps going. But I’m seriously envious of him for it.

  We keep on going like that for a long time. Just pulling our way through the dense jungle without saying anything to one another. We sure could use a knife or sword to tear through the thick, enormous leaves and hack our way through the smaller, younger trees. But we don’t. So no point moaning.

  At first I thought it was just my beating heart heaving through my aching chest. I thought it was just the physical demands of powering through the horrible jungle and my muscles were just shaking. I didn’t even hear it at all. I was too focused on his breathing. I was entranced by it and I was using it to time my day and keep my sleep deprived mind alert.

  But as we drew closer I could feel the intense vibration thunder through the cavity of my chest. I could hear the monolithic rhythmic stomping of a large, two legged, beast of a dinosaur. I froze to the spot but Kolt kept going. Suddenly my breathing became deep and labored and my stomach began churning. It felt like it was tipping over and over again in my belly.

  I shook my head hard, tried to look around and met nothing but more trees and more hanging vines. I had no idea where the monster was.

  ‘Follow me.’ Kolt said as gently as he could and so that I could still hear him through the muffling affect of his mask. He knelt down in the mud by a long vine that stretched up a jagged, but soaking wet, exposed rock face. I hadn’t even seen the stones through the trees.

  As I eased myself gently closer to him I could make out the grey colored rock poking though the wall of green leaves and trees. He took a bottle from his utility belt and held it against the stone. I could just hear the water trickle down into the empty and transparent container over the intense and constant thunderous footprint of the monster that I could still not yet see.

  I waited there for him, as patiently as I could, while the drips slowly filled the bottle with clear and safe to drink rain water. I keep looking from left to right and back again for anything out of the ordinary. Not that much is within the confines of the ordinary on this planet that I have yet seen.

  But I don’t see anything at all. I would have felt better if we could just leg it and try to make it further away from the brute that was grazing for food somewhere near by. Logic swore to me that it was best to just run but I know that’s just bull. If we run we attract more attention to ourselves and we put ourselves in greater risk of being the highlight of the menu.

  Kolt finally screws the cap back onto the bottle and returns the container to his belt. He looks up. I knew he would. He has the same idea that I have but he definitely has more balls to make it happen than I have. We need to climb out of the pit of the forest, get on top of it, and get a good view of the intensity of the road ahead.

  I reach to take hold of the vine. It surprises me how fuzzy it is. I was expecting it to be smooth and to have to fight it for grip all the way to the top. I flex my open palms over it a few times and give myself a stern talking to. Ok I can do this. I say to myself so that I don’t look weak in front of Kolt. He comes up beside me and takes hold of the neighboring vine.

  I know he can sense my fear, even though I don’t detect even the slightest hint that he might feel the same, and graciously offers to go first.

  ‘I will climb first, you watch where my feet touch the rock, study my technique and repeat.’ He instructs me and trusts his full weight to the vine after tugging on it as hard as he can. I guess there is no other way to test whether or not it will take his weight. I do the same and mine uncoils somewhere at the top. My heart stops as it snakes around and plummets to the floor around me. It misses my head by inches and slaps the dirt below my feet with a loud clapping noise.

  I hold my breath and wait for the beast to howl then come running to discover us. Nothing. I breathe out slowly with a genuine sigh of relief and try the next vine over. Kolt has stopped to wait for me. I tug it again and again but it doesn’t give way. My heart is racing. I need to calm it down or I’m not going to have the energy to make it up the cliff face which is a sheer vertical wall with no forgiving recess in which to take rest.

  I dig the tips of my toes onto the first jagged edge and balance all of my weight on my arms. I reach up as hard and as high as I can with my right hand and pull as hard as I can. That forces my feet to run up the slippery and slimy rock face. Kolt watches me stumble up the wall from above and races ahead every time I catch up with him.

  My forearms start to burn quickly but I know I can’t let go. Even though my muscles are screaming at me to do it. I hold on with all my will power and keep pulling and dragging my feet up the wall. I glance down and realize just how far we have climbed. I lose all my depth perception right away and my heart skips a full beat at the sight of the ground below. I tighten my grip and push on. We climb, grimacing and shouting from the pain of it, for another few hundred yards into the sk
y.

  The high pitch shrieks coming from below stops us dead! My foot slips at the wrong time and my shattered arms relent. I fight the urge to let go and tighten my grip once more. I only slide down the vine a few feet but it felt like I fell for a lifetime. My heart races again and I glance down to see a pack of five beasts salivating below at the prospect of an exotic meal. They are long, sleek and patterned with green’s and red colors. Their scaly skin glistens in the odd sparkle of light filtering through the dense canopy above. Their jaws snap together like a crocodile’s and they keep leaping in turn up into the air trying to catch a flailing limb and pull us down to tear into our fragile bodies!

  I start to breathe erratically but manage to hold it together.

  ‘Climb!’ Kolt shouts at me from high above. I can barely make out his voice for the muffling effect and through my own consuming fear. I have to take his advice though or I was dead and eaten. Of all the ways I can think of to die, that has to be one of the lowest on my list of least favored ways.

  I fight the burn and numbing pain and slam my boots back into another crack of the wall. I can see Kolt is only a few meters higher than me so the beasts below are only leaping and snapping for me. How flattering? I pull hard on my tired arms and snap my foot into another gaping hole in the soaking wall. I scream in agony as I can feel the muscles in my arms snapping and creaking to keep up with demand.

  Kolt hangs on his vine with one tensed and bloated arm. He stretches out his other, enormous and powerful arm for me as I climb higher and higher. He grabs for my hand and heaves me up another few feet. I feel my entire weight trusted to his massive hand and powerful grip.

  It terrifies and comforts me at the same time. I take the opportunity to flex my other hand and get some more blood flowing. I grab hold of the vine again and he nods at me so I know to take my full weight again. The things below have given up leaping either through exhaustion or their lack of success. But they are still shrieking and that sound pierces my ear drums and sends shivers down my spine every time.

  ‘I can see the top.’ Kolt says without even so much of a strain. He quickens his pace and leaps up the rock face. He suddenly swings his legs over his head to one side and heaves with all of his might over the top. I panic for just a split second, wondering if he’ll even come back for me.

  His ghastly mask appears over the side, directly above my vine. He holds out his hands for mine but both of us know that I can’t reach him. My red face, covered in veins and visibly strained, gives that fact away. He disappears again but I feel the vine begin to move ever so slowly. I can feel his strength and power heave me over the top.

  I see his grey boots first and dare to look up to him. He has planted his legs under some jagged rocks and has his feet spread wide to take the weight. He holds out a free hand and I swing for it with the last of my pathetic energy. The feeling of his pale white, cool and huge palm comforts me instantly and I finally allow my battered muscles to relax.

  He heaves me one last time and throws me over the top. I can’t even stand. I hit the bare stone like a bag of bricks and pant repeatedly for breath. He reaches under his brown leather apron and reapplies his leather gloves of the same color. He reaches down at the wet rock below and runs his covered finger tips over the surface of the green colored rock.

  ‘This.’ He splashes me with it. ‘You can drink.’ He nods at me as the redness fades at last from my strained face. I don’t hesitate to start slurping the cool and tasty water from the surface of the rock below my hands. It tastes milky with all of the calcium from the rock itself. I drink until my heart is content and my tired muscles satisfied.

  I roll over and allow the gentle stream of satisfying water drench my hair and drain behind my armor. It instantly cools my shattered back and I breathe a gentle sigh of comfort. I open my eyes to see the sky for the first time since entering the packed jungle.

  The sky is blue and pale, a welcome sight, and the sun is warm but gentle after the desert. The rock face we climbed opened up onto a raised plateau and I can finally see the path ahead.

  The jungle stretches for miles and miles. Right up to the crest of the horizon. I can finally see the beasts that roam the land. I can just about see their heads above the canopy of trees below. They are fearsome, enormous, and snarling. They don’t see us. They are still too far away. The sounds of their stomping has become natural and I have all but drowned it out. But the sound of landing jets and the sight of a dark ship hovering in the sky, bearing a logo I instantly recognize, instantly fills me once again with fear.