Terrineia

by Brian Whiting

  Alex looked up at the well defined layer of smoke on the ceiling that appeared to be growing slowly.

  “No in fact she didn’t exhale at all.” Alex said refocusing.

  “Try again breathe into her.”

  Alex blew into her mouth once again, carefully pinching the nose which could have passed for completely human. All the air he gave her never returned.

  “Something is wrong it doesn’t return.”

  “I suggest you start thinking about escaping the ship. I of course would deeply appreciate if I was considered in your escape plans.”

  “Funny, you think I want you to boil in the flames?”

  “Its been described amongst digiforms as a horrific event, one I do not wish to experience.”

  “Fear not, I am coming to get you, what about her?”

  “It’s not likely she will make it.”

  Alex stood, leaving the woman on the floor, the gauze he wrapped around her neck was spotted a little with blood but it didn’t saturate like he was expecting. He froze as he watched her lifeless body.

  “Alex.” Symboli said gently.

  “Yeah.” He turned and quickly made his way back to his cabin and retrieved the digiform tank.

  “I’m going to have to disconnect the wireless transmitter from your tank, I can’t carry you, the transmitter and the battery pack at the same time through the twisted corridor.”

  “I understand, I suggest you try to exit via the viewscreen. The bulkhead appears to have been torn open, the normal exit might have unfriendly guests waiting for you. Thank you for your efforts with my life.”

  “Don’t get all emotional on me now.” Alex disconnected the digiform before it could respond.

  With moderate effort he lifted the tank from the crate and began an awkward journey to the bridge. At times there was nothing to do except to drag the tank on the floor or wedge it between debris so he could grab it from the other side as he navigated the maze of busted bulkheads and collapsed ceilings.

  It had taken some time but he finally made it to the bridge. Wishing he had more water, he made his way back to his cabin and retrieved the wireless transmitter and power pack which were smaller and much lighter to carry.

  When he returned to the bridge, he dropped the equipment in shock. The woman was sitting up against the wall, her hands touching her neck and a look of confusion or panic on her face. Standing there, despite all he had just done for her, he too felt helpless.

  Quickly, Alex reconnected the transmitter with the tank.

  “Tell her not to scratch the bandage.” Symboli said in Alex’s ear.

  Alex put down the equipment and walked over to the woman. Tears streamed from her eyes and she completely relaxed as Alex approached.

  “Don’t touch your neck.” Alex said knowing full well she wouldn’t understand him.

  Then he placed his hands on his neck and shook his head left and right.

  She whimpered for a moment and then became quiet again, still continuing to stare at him. Alex reached out with his hands toward her, hoping she would understand his intent. When she grabbed them, he smiled and pulled her up to a standing position.

  The moment she became fully erect she began coughing fiercely.

  “She needs to limit the coughing, she hasn’t healed.”

  With nothing to say that would be understood and nothing to do to help, Alex could only stand there hoping the coughing would subside.

  “Alex, inject her with the yellow syringe.”

  “Where?” Alex asked as he retrieved the syringe from the first aid kit.

  “Thigh.”

  Alex expected her to resist but as the needle approached her leg she made sure to give him a clear path as she continued coughing, blood-spattered over her hands as she did so. Alex quickly injected her.

  “You’ll need to catch her, she’ll fall as the drug takes effect.”

  Alex walked behind her and she quickly relaxed into his arms.

  “Drag her as close to the mound of dirt as you can.” Symboli said.

  Alex did just that and left her propped up against the inclining wall of dirt.

  “What happened to her?”

  “I assume the internal wounds haven’t fully healed and the blood is trickling down her airway causing the coughing fit. Her blood does not seem to coagulate as quickly as ours does. Inject her now with the brown syringe. That might help.”

  “You know as well as I that could kill her, there’s no way to know how it will affect her body.”

  “If the bleeding doesn’t stop, her lungs will fill with blood and she will suffocate, do it!”

  “Assuming she has lungs,… Damn!” Alex yelled as he injected her with the brown syringe.

  “How long will she be out?”

  “If hers is anything like your physiology, too long, you need to get all of us out of the bridge. If you can, start by widening the opening in the upper left corner by the ceiling.”

  Alex followed the beam of light from outside and began shuffling dirt away to make the opening larger. Smoke was entering the bridge and exiting the very hole he was widening.

  Alex began frantically scooping dirt away from the opening. His tongue felt dry, sand was covering his face and eyelashes, his hands felt weighted as the ground stuck to his skin like tar. Yet he endured until he could shuffle through the opening on his knees, then he began to use his legs to move the ground faster from the opposite side of the opening. Another minute or two went by and he could nearly walk upright through the opening.

  The local sun was starting to set on the horizon and a chill touched the strong breeze. Alex forced a sigh as the problems continued to mount on him. Entering the bridge, he grabbed Symboli first and dragged the tank through the opening. Followed by the transmitter, his weapon and the first aid kit along with three of the datapads that seemed to survive the crash. Then he used his remaining strength to pull the woman off the bridge and onto the mound of dirt on the exterior of the ship just as even more smoke began to pour into the bridge from the lower decks.

  Alex stepped away from the opening to the bridge looking for the group of hostiles that had left the ship not so long ago, fearing they might be nearby. However, the light outside was dwindling fast, replaced by the soft glow of fire from the rear of the ship, and he could see nothing from his limited vanatge point.

  Alex turned back to the ship and gazed at it in frustrated hopelessness.

  “The thruster tank ruptured or is leaking, either way, with the fires limited intensity it will likely burn for weeks or months.” Symboli said.

  After relieving himself against the hull of the ship, fatigue overwhelmed him and he sat down on the ground not too far away. The wind was whipping against his bare chest and he started to rub his arms.

  “Alex, you must go back inside the ship and retrieve another shirt from your cabin, and put on your uniform jacket and other fabrics to stay the cold.”

  He closed his eyes thinking about how much easier it would be to lay down, which sounded far more appealing and he began to lean against the ship.

  “Alex, your Jacket!” Symboli yelled.

  Alex jumped. “Easy for you to say, I bet you don’t even sleep.”

  “Try to stay below the smoke line, and be quick.”

  Alex sighed and crawled back into the ship. The exhaustion lingered as he slowly crept along the floor to his cabin. It took more time than he liked, but eventually he arrived.

  “I suggest you also grab the bedding and include the pillow.”

  Alex grabbed his uniform jacket, sheets, blanket and pillow.

  “I bet you want the pillow for yourself don’t you, you selfish goo.” Alex quipped.

  “It’s for the woman to assist with her recovery.”

  “Lies.” Alex said cracking a smile knowing Symboli couldn’t see it as the camera was mounted facing only towards the front on the headset.

  Alex did his best to get his linen through the ship and outside unscathed, bu
t unfortunately when he arrived outside the ship none of what he’d retrieved was clean.

  “Last thing, Alex, right now you’re exposed on three sides. Reposition your camp against the hull of the ship on the side facing the expected sunrise. Then get close enough to the fire to allow it to warm you.”

  “You do it!” Alex said, sounding exhausted and defeated.

  “You know I would if I could.”

  Grabbing under the woman’s shoulders he began to drag her the hundred meters towards the rear of the ship where the fire continued to burn. The moment he no longer felt the nip of cold he stopped. Breathing heavily he fell backwards onto his rear, the woman was on the ground leaning back into his chest, he too leaned back against the ship. He looked toward the front of the ship at his supplies that he still needed to retrieve. But his thoughts moved groggily and before he could even think of how to move the woman off his chest, his eyes drifted closed and he promptly fell asleep.

  “Good night, Alex.”

  CHAPTER 2

  ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON

  THERE WAS A steady breeze blowing across the valley, but it didn’t bother him. There were odd fuzzy worms hanging around Alex’s hands and closer to the fire, but it didn’t bother him. Something akin to crickets were buzzing nearby, but that didn’t bother him either. The sunlight broke over the horizon and shone directly on his eyes, and that pissed him off.

  “Computer, lights off!” Alex grunted.

  “Welcome back, Alex.” Symboli said quietly in his ear.

  Alex cracked his eyes open slowly at first, but as his gaze focused his eyes snapped fully open in shock and his heart skipped a beat.

  The alien woman was nose to nose with him. Staring into his eyes.

  “Do not be alarmed, she has been observing you as such for half an hour now.”

  She stepped back two feet or so and kneeled with her hands touching the fabric of his uniform jacket.

  “Pas hock sermona tasha, xi pas kando.” She bowed her head at Alex’s feet and remained there for several uncomfortable moments.

  “Yeah that’s nice, look you’re welcome.” Alex placed his right hand on her head. Which felt odd, like a thick mat of clumpy sweat and dirt. The bone crest was interesting however, and he spent a few moments rubbing his fingers along the ridges. They were firm and smooth as if the skull grew to the outside of the skin. Short bone spires rose up around the rim of her head.

  “Must be solid bone.” Alex mumbled. The woman slowly stood to her feet and reached down with both of her hands towards Alex. He grabbed them, and she helped lift him as he did for her the day before. She struggled a bit with the effort, but he was soon standing before her.

  She ran her hands over Alex’s thick hair. It was an odd experience for both of them Alex imagined. She turned his head left and right, she even walked behind him for a moment.

  “I assume she’s looking for evidence of the bone crest.” Symboli stated.

  “Way ahead of you.” Alex smirked and faced away from the sunlight. He looked up towards the rear of the ship where smoke continued to billow slowly into the sky before looking down at the dirt. He watched as hundreds of fuzzy worms were spreading along the ground in various directions.

  “Galop.” The woman reached down and tossed one of the worms in her mouth, smiling while she did so.

  “I’m good, thanks.” Alex sidestepped around the woman to check on Symboli.

  Alex made his way up the slight incline towards the top where the bridge and the rest of the supplies were located. Smoke continued to stream out the front of the ship via the small opening behind the viewscreen bulkhead.

  “Alex, there are several more people entering the ship at this time.” Symboli said.

  Alex froze with alarm as he pulled out the oversized handgun, and rechecked the number on the side which he believed signified the amount of ammo remaining. ( 4 ) He looked around at the terrain. The ship had crashed at the far end of a large valley. A huge mountain stood in the middle, with ridges on two sides and a forboding flat plain that disappeared around the curvature of the planet on the opposite side. Looking into the valley, Alex was reminded of a desert. The lone mountain towering over the horizon was surrounded by vegetation that grew thinner the further it was from the mountain. The sight seemed to dampen his mood.

  There was some dense vegetation near the base of the ridges and mountain, but nothing else seemed to scream hiding spot or defensible location.

  Alex carefully stalked around the front of the wreckage to the other side of the crashed ship. There were eight, six legged horse looking beasts hanging around near an opening in the hull.

  “Juntard.” She pointed out in front of Alex at the beasts. He was slightly annoyed.

  “Juntard.” She pointed at the beasts and then pointed towards the nearest mountain ridge.

  She began to edge past Alex and make her way towards the beasts. But Alex grabbed her hand.

  “NO, not yet. We need to bring… my stuff.” Continuing to hold her hand he led her to the pile of supplies. He tossed the sheets and blanket over one of her shoulders. Then gave her the first aid kit to hold.

  Alex picked up the tank and placed the wireless transmitter and battery on top. With a lot of effort they made their way towards the incline of dirt at the bow of the ship.

  “Where are the intruders now?” Alex asked hoping they were between decks.

  “They are transitioning onto the first deck, one at a time. However I don’t have sensors operational on that deck.”

  “Excellent, we’re going to steal their rides.”

  The Juntards seemed very docile and didn’t care that they approached with a lot of bulky items. One of them already was loaded down with supplies, the woman tossed the sheets and blankets over the supplies that were already loaded and with careful effort she used the harness to climb on.

  The tank was going to be a problem, Alex realized. There was no real secure way to attach it to the beast. He disconnected the wireless antenna and wrapped the cord around his body, tieing the wireless transmitter to himself. Then he managed to carefully set the tank on the back of the beast, and balancing the tank with one hand and using the other to pull himself up onto its back, he quickly got settled. He would have to hold onto the tank with one hand the whole time to keep it balaced in front of him, but he didn’t care.

  He watched the female reach forward and slightly squeeze the earlobe of the beast and it began moving forward. She exaggerated the delicate touching of the lobe itself. Alex was forced to let go of one side of the tank and do the same. Before he knew it they were both trotting off towards the ridgeline. At some point he realized she was holding a rope which brought up a third beast trailing the two of theirs. Alex smiled and wondered how long it would be before the hostiles discovered their loss. Alex remembered the neck wound and was suddenly concerned the riding might be harmful. However the six-legged beasts made for a smoother ride than with horses.

  After several minutes of trotting through the vast flat plains. The beasts squealed something terrible and came to a stop.

  “What happened?” Alex couldn’t help but ask. The woman made some wild arm movements but didn’t utter a word.

  “What?” Alex couldn’t help but ask even though she wouldn’t understand him.

  The woman put both of her hands over her mouth and began to shake her head no. He noticed the horses themselves seemed to be quiet as well, careful not to step or move a muscle. With a motion of her arm she caught Alex’s attention once again and she pointed to the ground about thirty meters in front of them.

  Looking carefully he saw nothing but short thin stalks of grass and more flat mushy mud. At first he didn’t notice the subtle movement of the ground, but when he did memories of something moving under his boots in the forest on the Gothan home world came to mind. He doubted they were the same creatures but it got him thinking. The fact that the Juntards with their size had developed a natural reaction to this thing was evidence en
ough to know whatever it was was dangerous. He pulled out the handgun once again and kept it at the ready.

  Alex and the woman turned in their seats to look back at the crash site maybe four kilometers away. He thought he heard a horn of some kind sound in the distance, but he wasn’t sure.

  “We have to go.” Alex whispered.

  The woman frantically made movements with her hands again. She seemed really pissed off.

  The Juntards continued to be oddly silent and careful not to move at all. He glanced back again, but couldn’t tell if the hostiles were approaching or not. Either way he felt he was running out of time.

  Looking around, they were still a few kilometers from the nearest pocket of vegetation, with nothing but open plains to get there. He tried to think of a creative way to use the gun but nothing came to mind. Finally his gaze rested on the extra juntard.

  Alex eyed the sheet that the woman had packed behind her.

  “Hey.” He whispered and pointed to the sheet after he resecured his gun.

  The woman angrily tossed the sheet to him and covered her mouth with her hand again.

  Yeah I get it, Alex thought to himself. With his left elbow resting on the tank, balancing it on the back of the juntard, he grabbed one end of the sheet with his left hand and with his right arm he made a circular motion until the sheet twisted to a point it could not be twisted anymore.

  With a flick, Alex snapped the sheet near the head of the extra juntard but he missed his target. Alex watched as something underground approached his juntard but stopped short. He took a minute to twist the sheet again. He eyed the female, her eyes were huge, bulging and her arms were out in front of her.

  With another flick, the sheet snapped right on the lobe of the third juntard and the beast took off at a sprint with a groaning roar. The ground moved quickly and before the beast could gallop more than twenty feet it stopped violently, as if its leg was pinned by something. The beast roared terribly, thrashing from left to right. Alex looked at the left rear leg and realized something must have caught it. Part of it was in the ground and he couldn’t tell what was happening to it. The beast used the other five legs and pushed straight up against the ground and the pinned leg came free. However, it was clearly deformed, the flesh torn from the first knee to the hoof. The beast tried to gallop on its remaining five good legs but came to a stop again quickly, this time it seemed two of its legs were stuck in the ground. The beast continued to roar and thrash around until one of the legs sunk into the ground all the way up to the chest. Then what looked like a large thick birds beak attached to a smaller head broke the surface of the ground and buried itself into the beasts flank. The beast roared again, but this time it sounded weaker than before.