by Vicky L Holt
I scoffed as I hustled through the grasses. “I was here first,” I said. I had a new item to add to my checklist. Evade an alien invasion. On my planet.
I cursed. I had planned on an expedition for some vegetation I could eat, as well as to collect the reptile meat, which is why I searched for animal life in the first place. And found it. But now I needed to find that ship before whoever flew it found me.
“VELMA, track the landing of the red ship.”
“Scanning. According to my calculation, the landing site is six hundred seventy-four feet west. It would take you thirty minutes to reach the destination, putting you at risk of predation during nocturnal hours.”
I bit my lip. “VELMA, patch into the camera feed of one of those nano-drones but keep it under cover.”
“Patching into feed.”
As long as I kept the hDEDs activated, whoever flew the ship wouldn’t be able to find me. Unless, of course, they had superior tech.
“Destination reached. Thermal imaging engaged.”
Even in the gloom of twilight, I could tell it was the red ship. Its charcoal hull was sleek, almost reminiscent of a bird’s beak. The back bulged up like a whale. I couldn’t see the landing gear. Without a frame of reference, I couldn’t tell how big the ship was. I didn’t see its passenger or passengers anywhere. I took over the controls for the drone and circled the area, trying to find a path into the woods. There was no trace of anything. I wished I could maneuver closer, but I didn’t want the drone to be detected.
I hovered for a while but saw no signs anyone was in or around the ship.
“Would you like to deploy an off-board camera to surveille the landing site?”
“Yes.” I could feel an urgency as my heart hammered and my lungs couldn’t find enough air. It had to be him. He was coming for me. Prickles of sweat beads made my armpits itch.
The drone retreated into the foliage. I couldn’t see what its little robotic arms were doing, but soon, another video feed patched into my screen.
“Gotcha,” I said, eyes fixed on the video. “Thanks, VELMA.”
“You may watch recordings from the off-board camera at any time.”
Now I had to hustle.
With limited sunlight left, I hiked to the dead snakes and cut off a few strips. I wasn’t prepared to make a fire and attract the rowdy nightlife or the ship’s occupant, but I could adapt a heating element to cook the meat. After checking the feed once more and finding it quiet, I foraged around just outside the pod. In minutes, I had a variety of strange-looking vegetation from which to choose. Secure inside the pod, I sat samples on the scanning surface. A clear acrylic enclosure snapped down, and various tools erupted from inside the enclosure to test the fruits. One by one, VELMA spat out reports on the bio-availability of the items and their likelihood of poisoning me. One plant was marked as poisonous to humans. Its fruit was an obnoxious orange color with red spots, and it grew in the shape of a banana. Hey, it was a long shot.
Everything else was deemed safe for me to eat.
Every few minutes I inspected the video feed. Its stillness gave me eerie shivers.
Rubbing my hands together, I sat down to my first real meal in a while.
The viny green tendrils tasted like heavily peppered grass. It wasn’t horrible. The green balls from the yellow-leafed bush burst in my mouth when I crunched them. They were so sour they made my eyes water. “That’s gonna take a while to get used to.”
The long, dark-green seed pods were next. I pulled them from the low-hanging branches of a black tree. I had high hopes for these things. They reminded me of my grandma’s heirloom pole beans.
I cracked open the pods and let the purple peas drop into my hand. I sniffed them and recoiled. They smelled like stinky socks. “All in the name of science …” I plugged my nose and put them in my mouth. I liked the texture at first bite. Cautious, I unplugged my nose and let my taste buds experience the delicacy. Okay. They tasted a bit like a strong cheese. There was just the right amount of saltiness and bite. I could almost imagine I was eating a cheeseburger. I ate some cooked meat along with it, satisfied to have a hot meal. The purple beans from the dark-green seed pods were my favorite.
“VELMA, please locate every black tree in a half-mile radius.”
A map sprang up on the screen. I was set for life here.
Movement on my little drone’s off-board camera caught my eye. Oh crap.
It was the armored guy from before. My purple burger turned to coal in my mouth. He had brought reinforcements.
22
“We are not enemies,” I announced to the quiet group. Grunts and growls met my ears. “The Makathel come from far away. They seek to steal our planets. They seek to subjugate our women.”
Raxkarax met my eyes. He would listen. Natheka sprawled in his seat in the ship. He had already shown loyalty to me. Raxthezana refused to acknowledge me since we landed, instead sharpening his blade with a clump of black lava rock. His name meant blade-male. I would do well to remember that. I turned to Hivelt Matheza. I still felt the sting of his strike to my face. My strength had held him back from administering his death blow.
“I do not wish to be your enemy.”
Hivelt snorted when I emphasized “your.” He laughed.
“You have felt the wrath of Hivelt Matheza. And now you want to be friends.”
I offered him my hand. He considered it a long tik. Then he grasped it, and we pierced the rough textured skin of each other’s palms with our claws.
“We will return our wrath upon those who deserve it,” he said. “Whomever it may be.”
He squeezed my hand. I felt his promise and warning.
“I noticed you landed too far from the Mountains of Shegoshel,” Raxthezana spoke up. “Have you no intention of obeying the queen?”
I licked my blood from my palm and faced Raxthezana. “You know better than any hunter. Why do the Ikthekal die so easily on this trek?”
His face colored from the usual moss green to a yellow hue. His armor creaked as he stood. “Do you dare to insult the death of my father?”
I must step with caution around this chasm.
“Never. What do the stories say?”
He bowed his head.
A low voice sang the song of the Mountains of Shegoshel.
“They invited us to kiss the faces of the Suns
We climbed and fell
The slaves to the Sisters
The weak at the feet of the strong
Every step closer to death
Every step closer to life
May our deaths bring life to the Sisters
May the Sisters bring life
Out of our deaths
As we kiss the faces of the Suns”
Natheka’s voice echoed within the metal walls of my flyer’s cabin.
“If Theraxl hunters will not admit what is right before your eyes, I will tell you!” I stood amidst them, my chest heaving as I shouted. “Our Ikma thrust a blade through the ritual of Raxshe Raxma. And when I refused to submit, she broke the oaths. Sending us to our deaths, because she did not receive what she demanded, like a petulant child!”
The hunters were silent until Hivelt spoke. “The expedition to retrieve the Waters of Shegoshel is supposed to be after a solemn ceremony,” he said. “The females send the warriors off with lilies from the fields wrapped around our necks.”
“And twined in our hair fronds,” Natheka added.
I stalked away from the hunters and observed the green ikfal through the window of my ship. The suns were setting, bringing the cloak of night to Certain Death. My eyes caught a tiny light.
My heart stumbled against the walls of my heart-home for the briefest of moments. Using the sight-capture in my visor, I homed in on the light. It was green and flashing in rhythmic beats. It was a small machine flying above the trees. Then it retreated deeper into the ikfal.
My little traveler lived. And sent her spying vermin ship to see my power. Cha
llenge and fight flooded my veins in a thick rush. If I didn’t have to keep the other hunters away from the female, I would hunt her down and—
A flash of her scent came to mind, along with the sensation of her hair spilling through my large fingers. Even the taste of her lips held my thoughts captive. My head bowed. What would I do to the slender willow branch? Flay her skin and disembowel her for the jokapazathel to devour?
My head shot up to observe out the window, but the small flying machine was invisible now. It was just as well. Raxthezana stood at my elbow. He spoke. “Perhaps you are the Mighty Hunter your sight-capture showed you to be.”
I said nothing.
“We must show the Ikma we will not be toyed with,” Raxthezana continued. “All five of us must return. We must bear the vials of the Waters of Shegoshel, as if it were a fountain. We must bear the cold lava metal in bushels and baskets. We will bring Theraxl wealth untold.”
“They will sing songs of our valor in the halls and in the Court,” said Natheka. “And by our deeds will they see the error Ikma did commit. Let the tribunal decide her fate.”
“May the life of Shegoshel shine upon us and our offspring.” That from Hivelt.
“May the death of our enemies bring peaceful slumber.” And Raxkarax finished the salutation.
“We will plan now,” I said, and there were no more arguments as we exited my ship into the clearing of the ikfal.
23
With steady hands and clear eyes, I soldered each wire painstakingly to its mate late into the night. “I’ve got you now,” I muttered. The camouflage feature was engaged, my porthole closed. They wouldn’t be able to find me.
I used a tweezer implement to pinch the last two wires together and touched the soldering iron to the melting puddle of metal. A satisfying thread of smoke rose into the air.
“A-ha! Take that, alien bully.” I jumped up and thrust my fist into the air.
Sitting back down, I snapped the two cylindrical halves together, pressed the buttons and it lit up with a steady blink.
I sat back and stretched, popping my back. “A in electronic components class.”
I put my hands on my hips and stared at the beacon. Someone was going to find me. Warm showers. Hot chocolate. Candy bars. Popcorn. Bacon. Actual cheeseburgers. Okay, why was food the direction I was going here? How about people? How about my job on Kerberos 90?
I sighed, and my smile dimmed. Chris. How excited should I be to go back to humanity? I shook my head.
My celebratory mood dampened by the reality of a sucky past, I put my tools away and made up my little bed. Turned off all the lights. And lay there, wide awake, thinking about the alien specter that haunted my mind, as well as the crotchety old woman who braided my hair. At least, I liked to imagine some bent old alien lady with long white braids of her own. She mixed up herbal remedies in a stone mortar and pestle. She had a humped back. And she had to have some kind of badass weaponry, because that giant spider’s head was in two.
“Awaken, Esra Weaver. My calculations and scans show your path to the hill will be unencumbered by dangerous carnivores.”
I blinked several times and rubbed the crust out of my eyes with a finger and tried to remember that last tendril of a dream. Two green-skinned aliens? Then it vanished.
“Excellent,” I answered and climbed to my feet, stretching out the kinks. “I assume you used the subsonic scan?”
“I did. Upon further study, I am compiling a list of biological features of the wildlife you have encountered thus far.”
“Wait,” I said, cocking my head. “You did say Machine Learning Division, didn’t you? Cool.”
“It is most helpful you have survived each of these encounters.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but what could I say to that? You’re welcome I didn’t die? I chuffed.
“Let me scrounge some breakfast, and I’ll start my day.” I put my suit on over my sports bra and jockey shorts. Last night, I had wiped down the inside of my helmet with disinfectant wipes and used an aerosol spritzer to sterilize the inside of my suit. Even after my thorough sponge bath, let’s just say I was about ready to battle it out with a dinosaur or any one of those huge aliens over some fresh water. I fastened, zipped, buttoned and snapped, and clicked my helmet into place.
I checked the infrasound overlay on the screen. All was quiet this morning, just minutes before the second sun rose. I inspected the landing site of the alien ship, but it was also quiet. Did my red guy like to sleep in? Outside, I allowed myself ten minutes to gather more of the items I knew were safe to eat, and a few more unknowns for testing. I had a handful of gigantic flowers that reminded me of zucchini blooms, but they were a little dirty. If only there was a stream or something. And with my helmet on, I couldn’t scent anything. In the cave, when my helmet had been removed by a mysterious being, I could smell everything. The dead spiders, the dirt, moisture …
Yes!
I scurried back inside the pod and scanned the unknown vegetation. Took off my helmet and breathed deep of the produce. I needed to move fast. I popped the sour berries by the handful. It was like sour candy without the sugar. I used the veggies to supplement my re-hydrated eggs and potatoes. It was almost like sour tomatillos salsa. Yeah, I was going with that. I put the beacon in my inflatable pouch and fixed my helmet in place.
After I set the beacon, I was going to pay my HipCow a visit, and then the cave. I bet two handfuls of purple burgers and a bundle of pepper grass there was fresh water down there, and I was going to find it if it killed me. Correction: it could kill me. And if there were more spiders down there? Maybe I should wait … But no. It was a matter of time before the alien found my camouflaged ship, and I didn’t want to be trapped inside when he did. I sniffed my armpits and grimaced. I hoped I wouldn’t die for the sake of clean laundry. But it was kind of worth it.
24
“Raxthezana noticed I landed far from the base of the Mountains of Shegoshel.” I drew a map in the red dirt with a stick. “Here are the mountains.” I pointed to the triangles. “The common paths up the Great Mountain are treacherous. Only think of the song.”
“We climb, we fall,” Natheka whispered.
“Chasm after chasm and crevasse after crevasse,” I said with a nod. “There are not enough ropes on Ikshe to support a safe crossing of the mountain canyons.”
“We cannot land our ship on the Great Mountain,” Hivelt said. “It is forbidden.”
“Why is it forbidden?” I asked the group. They were silent. “Is it tradition to do it the hard way?” I pushed.
Raxthezana spoke up. “No.”
He drew our attention away from crunching into the bones of our breakfast meal.
“I have studied the mystery of the deaths of these expeditions.”
I swallowed my bite and hid my surprise. The hunters, the Ikthekal, were not a curious lot. We hunted. We killed. We ate. We mated when allowed. And we did it all again until we died.
“If you knew my father, you would know he was a brutal warrior who showed no mercy,” he said. “His bones were like rocks. His skin like the hide of the scabika.” He plucked at his own hide. “He couldn’t be killed easily. I disbelieved his death for many years.” He frowned. “And so, I began studying.”
He picked up my stick from the ground and drew another map.
“This is the path to the Great Mountain. This is the Great Mountain. These are the gases that spew from its mouth.” He drew wavy lines. “These gases will explode the fuel of our ships. We cannot land nearer the Great Mountain.”
We nodded, pleased with this information, even if it meant a more difficult journey.
“The paths will surely kill all of us,” Raxkarax complained. “How does anyone survive the quest?”
Raxthezana smiled, his fangs clipping his bottom lip. His thick brow shadowed his red eyes, and his strong jaw clenched.
“I have spoken with every survivor of the past fifty cycles.”
This time, I
couldn’t hide my surprise. “How many are there?”
“Eight,” he answered. “But I tracked them all down. I wrote down every tale. Every clue. Every sign.”
I nodded, as did my brethren. The Goddesses of Shegoshel were indeed with me. With us. I considered sharing my little discovery with them in that moment. I wondered what their reactions would be?
“The Goddesses of Shegoshel have prepared you for this journey, Raxthezana,” I offered. “Do you not see it?”
He frowned. “I prepared myself.”
“Oh, and did you know the good Ikma was going to select you to die on the Mountain on the same night you were selected to mate?” Natheka growled.
I held my hands out. “This is not the time for squabbles. Raxthezana has much to teach us. I will sit at his feet and learn.”
I brought my frame low to the ground, adopting the pose of the young student. My companions followed. Raxthezana was taken aback but recovered with a shake of his head. He smirked and puffed his chest out, meeting our eyes one by one.
“We will not be crossing any canyons,” he said with a crafty smile. “We go under the Mountain. That is the way to survive the quest.”
He drew a different map of curving lines and circles. “Here are underground passageways. Caves. Water tunnels. Veins of rich woaiquovelt. The predators we need fear are the agothe-faxl. But there are five of us, and those black sisters take large areas for their own.” He drew exes over drawings of the many-legged creatures. “With two per large area, we will have to kill five or six pair, total.”
“Unless it is the mating season,” Natheka said.
“Not for another month, at least,” said Raxthezana.
“From where do we begin our trek?” Raxkarax asked.
“There is an entrance not far from here,” Raxthezana answered. “Maybe thirty vel tiks.”
Ah. The cave of the mud-beasts. Where I left the little traveler to die.
The Goddesses of Shegoshel were sending me very clear messages this cycle. Sadly, I was a poor interpreter and an even poorer follower. My breakfast churned in my gut. I should tell them now. For our people and for our planets, we must find the female before we do anything else.