While the girls were searching for a come-back to Wayne’s distinctly accurate analysis of their life-threatening experience, Blackie was already out of the car inspecting the area around the Nomad. “Where is Anonoi?
“Here we go again,” said Wayne, as he pulled the handle and opened the car door. “He’s worse than having a dog that digs under your fence. Half the time he’s off on his own adventures, and with no warning I might add.”
“Did you see anything, Wayne?” asked Blackie.
“What?”
“During the time and space shifts, when we were twitching. Do you remember anything in those scenes that flashed by; anything that might explain why he rushed off and didn’t talk to us before he left.”
Wayne closed his eyes and let his photographic memory play the snippets of scenes. One after another he brought them up and scrutinized them. Near the end, one of the scenes was different. Anonoi had taken them close to a certain planet, but decided against staying, and moved on two more times before putting them down.
“He went by a lot of places before he left us here,” said Wayne. Every one of them was being torn apart. We got close to one planet before we stopped here; so close I could see some of the inhabitants, and they looked panicked. But, I might be reading something into it; hard to know without some context. I didn’t see any evidence of the World Eaters, but the beings on that planet were spooked just the same.”
“What was it like?” asked Amelia, “pretty, ugly, beautiful, drab?”
“It was ugly. An ugly gray planet full of trolls.”
“Excuse me?” said Joules, who had a quizzical look on her face.
“It’s a mythical creature on earth,” explained Amelia. “They were typically cave dwellers, and were depicted in folklore as either giants or dwarfs. Virtually all descriptions of them indicate they were remarkably ugly.”
You mean like those big oafs in The Hobbit?” said Blackie, “the stone trolls?”
“Stone trolls? Yeah, that would be close to what I saw. Look, since Anonoi dumped us without so much as a 'see you later', or a 'don’t wander off', do you think we could stretch our legs; maybe walk down to the lake,” he said pointing through the trees. “I’m sore from that invigorating stroll we had on Horsh Gorbrey. The plant life was absolutely delightful. What was that grass again? Sangriaphobia?”
“No, that’s fear of red wine mixed with fruit and spices,” chuckled Blackie.
“Sanguinifolia, Wayne,” laughed Joules as Wayne frog punched Blackie’s left arm.
“Right. Well, how about a walk?
“If we stick together, and someone doesn’t wander off by themselves, or go touching things that shouldn’t’ be touched.” Amelia gave Wayne a wide-eyed stare, “I might enjoy that. I’ll get my backpack.”
They walked through a thick stand of trees and down a long gentle slope that led them to the water’s edge. The lake was calm, like caribbean blue water in a tea cup, and the beach was covered with white gravel as far as they could see. When one of them noticed flat rocks were mixed in with the gravel it wasn’t long before they were involved in a hotly contested rock skipping contest.
Wayne was out first, since everyone else got five skips and he only got four. Amelia was out next, leaving Blackie and Joules in the game. Joules finally won the game with a tremendous 'eight skipper'.
“Let’s walk down the beach and check out that abandoned boat,” said Wayne, pointing to an area way down the beach where water had formed a shallow tidal pool behind a ledge of rocks.
They started down the beach in the direction of the boat, but Blackie, Amelia and Joules lagged behind, looking for good flat stones as they went. Wayne on the other hand was determined to reach the boat and plowed through the loose gravel, not realizing the others had stopped to sling rocks. When he reached the boat, he was almost two hundred yards ahead.
Waves crashing on the beach had rolled it over on one side. Wayne slowed as he neared it, and edging carefully around the end, he was in a position to view the other side. It was sticking out of the water and its side was easily as tall as Wayne’s lower leg.
“What is he up to?” asked Amelia, who had flung a stone in the water and looked down the beach in time to see Wayne almost disappear behind the boat. In a matter of seconds, Wayne bolted into full view and was now running toward them as fast as he could in the loose gravel. They stood watching as he ran the entire distance. Red faced and huffing heavily, he bent over and grabbed his knees.
“What’s up?” asked Blackie as Wayne tried to catch his breath.
“You’ve got… you’ve got to see this,” said Wayne weakly. “It’s… incredible.”
“Wayne, I’m not walking all the way down there in this gravel to see some old boat abandoned on the beach.”
Still trying to catch his breath, Wayne now had one hand on his left knee, and was holding his side with his right hand. After several deep breaths, all he could manage was an almost inaudible whisper.
Joules thought she might have heard him, but certainly had misunderstood, “Come again, Wayne?”
Wayne took another deep breath. He was starting to recover from his sprint down the beach, but he didn’t have his wind back yet and had to take another breath before he could answer loud enough for them to hear. “It’s not a boat, it’s a shoe!”
No sooner were the words out of Wayne’s mouth Blackie scanned the section of beach behind them, and then the beach beyond what he had thought was a boat. Amelia recognized the concern on Blackie’s face and picked up her backpack, hoisting it onto her shoulders in one smooth movement.
“You want to walk down the beach and see it?” asked Wayne.
“No, let’s get back to the Nomad,” recommended Blackie. “We’ll go straight up the beach into the trees, then we can veer off toward where we left the car. We need to hurry,” he said, pointing in the direction of the boat, “there’s something moving, in the distance. It can’t be more than a mile away and it’s running right at us. We need to move now!”
An unmistakable sense of urgency was in his voice, and after they took a quick glance down the beach, Blackie didn’t have to ask twice. Wayne was already helping Amelia through the gravel toward the trees, and Joules only hesitated long enough to dump the flat skipping stones out of her pockets. Wayne hesitated inside the tree line to let Blackie and Joules catch up.
“Let’s go,” said Amelia.
“Why don’t we hide and find out what’s coming?” asked Wayne. “Anybody game?”
“I am,” said Blackie. “But if that boat size shoe fits the foot of whatever is headed this way, that might be a very bad idea.”
“I think we should go,” said Amelia again, “let’s get back to the Nomad.”
“I agree with Amelia, we should leave,” said Joules. “I don’t have any idea what’s coming down the beach, but we should leave before it gets any closer. I don’t want any unwanted attention, and besides, we’ve been away from the Nomad long enough. Anonoi might be back.”
“Good point,” agreed Wayne. “Let’s go back.”
As quick as they could, they made their way through the forest at a diagonal to where they entered. Behind them, near the beach, the sound of trees being snapped and pushed over crashed through the air.
“We need to move faster,” said Blackie, as the sounds behind them got closer and closer.
Amelia had a panicked look on her face, “It’s catching up.”
Wayne sensed Amelia was right. Turning to Blackie, he said, “We’re not going to outrun it, we need to hide.”
“There,” yelled Joules, “we can hide in there,” she said, pointing to a thick stand of brush.
“Follow me,” shouted Blackie.
They moved around the perimeter of the brush and when they were on the upslope side, forced their way into the middle of it on their hands and knees.
Somewhere on the slope between them and the beach, the sounds of trees being mangled and broken stopped. They waited, n
ot daring to chance the slightest whisper. The stillness was broken when a dull thumping sound echoed through the trees and the ground all around them shook like some enormous compacting machine had pounded the ground.
Again, and again, the ground around them quaked, but the pounding wasn’t in regular intervals like those made by a machine, they were sporadic and whatever was causing them wasn’t far away. Blackie motioned to the others to stay down, and after several minutes the ground tremors stopped. Whatever had been responsible for the violent concussions now pushed its way through the trees back toward the beach.
“Let’s find the car,” suggested Amelia, and they crawled out of the thick bushes. They stayed close together and hiked for a while, but decided they should spread out, to lower the chances of accidently walking past the Nomad.
“I think that low ridge ahead of us will take us to the Nomad if we take it to the right,” said Wayne, motioning to the others.
They gathered on the ridge and veered right as Wayne suggested, hoping the car wasn’t far away. Before they had walked long, a tremendous crash echoed up the tree covered slope from the lake below. The deafening noise stopped them all in their tracks. Amelia covered her ears with her hands, and her face was flush with fear. The subtle glow that always surrounded Joules began to intensified in her hands until it reached a bright white radiance.
They all stood perfectly still and none of them spoke. Blackie put his fingers against his lips, then jabbed his pointing finger in the air several times in the direction of the Nomad. Wayne nodded and took the lead as they quietly moved down the ridge without talking.
Another crash echoed up the slope, and they stopped momentarily to scan the trees, making sure nothing was approaching. After continuing their hike, it was only a few minutes before they saw the Nomad in the distance. Blackie stopped as soon as he saw it and crouched to the ground. When the others squatted on the ground around him he made a finger-wag to indicate they were not going to the Nomad.
Wayne had a questioning expression on his face, as did Joules and Amelia. They thought getting to the Nomad was the reason they had hiked so far through the trees. Blackie pointed to the Nomad, tapped the side of his head several times, then drew his finger across his throat. Amelia’s eyes widened and she shrugged her shoulders questioningly.
Blackie jabbed his pointing finger in the air several times in the direction opposite the Nomad and they silently retraced their steps. When they were out of sight of the car, he veered off the ridge and into a dense stand of trees about twenty yards down the slope. The others followed, and soon they were huddled up next to him behind a cluster of tall bushes.
“What did you see?” asked Joules.
“Nothing. I didn’t see anything and I didn’t hear anything. I just had a strange feeling something wasn’t right; like we were walking into a trap.”
Another tremendous crash echoed up the slope to their right, and they could hear something running on the ridge above them.
“Get down,” said Wayne, and they all quickly laid flat on ground.
They were only twenty yards from the ridge, but the trees and brush were so thick they provided good cover, and lying on their stomachs pressed to the ground made them more difficult to see them. Everything was quiet for a moment, then to their left, Wayne heard the sound of running again. It was running straight toward the Nomad. But, when it reached the stretch of ridge above them, it paused. Blackie strained his eyes trying to see what was on the ridge, but he couldn’t see anything.
Again, a deafening sound swept up the ridge from the lake, followed by the sound of trees being snapped and pushed over. For a brief moment afterward, it was unnervingly quiet. They laid still for almost a minute, then the unmistakable sound of running filled the air again. As whatever it was above them moved farther away, Blackie signaled for them to move down the slope, farther from the ridge.
“I had a view of the entire section of ridge above us,” said Blackie when they huddled together again, “but I couldn’t see anyone or anything standing there.”
“I couldn’t see anything either,” said Amelia, “and I had a clear view of the ridge to the right of us. When it started running again, I saw nothing. But we all heard it run off toward the Nomad, right?”
“I heard it,” said Wayne. Whatever was moving along that ridge had a bipedal gait. I’m sure it wasn’t an animal.”
“Goyspers,” said Joules.
“What is a Goysper?” asked Amelia.
They’re the indigenous natives of Arugune. They’re mostly a peaceful, hunting and gathering society. Goyspers haven’t embraced advanced technology. The university once had a dig site on Arugune. It was included in a fairly lengthy chapter in my astro-paleontology field guide. Arugune has significant deposits of metals, vast beds of marble and granite, forests full of timber, and its soil is tillable. The university was here looking for fossil evidence of an ancient rabbit like creature.”
“Did they find it? The rabbit?” asked Wayne.
Before Joules could answer, Amelia cut in, “You said the university once had a dig site here. And, you told us before, the field guide was made so students would be aware of the dangers associated with those sites. Did they find the rabbit skeletons or leave because of the Goyspers?”
“Neither one. They found several bones, but no complete skeletons. Then, Arugune was invaded and the University pulled out of the project.”
“Invaded by whom,” asked Blackie.
“No one is sure who they are. No one has any idea where they came from or how they got here. They showed up and tried to take over the planet, and they are huge. That shoe you saw on the beach should give you some idea of their size.”
“What about the Goyspers? Whatever was running down that ridge didn’t sound very big,” said Wayne.
“They aren’t. They’re no bigger than we are.”
“So, these giant beings took over?” asked Blackie.
“No, not at all. In fact, almost the opposite. The Goyspers began hunting them down systematically. Whoever they are, they’re technologically superior, but they are no match for the Goyspers.”
“Huge, technologically advanced beings against low tech hunter-gatherers. I must be missing something. What do the Goyspers have that gives them an edge?” asked Wayne.
“They can make themselves invisible.”
No one said anything for a moment, thinking maybe she was joking. But it didn’t take long for them to realize Joules was dead serious.
“That certainly explains how they could manage a fight with someone two stories tall,” said Blackie.
“Are you sure about this?” asked Wayne.
“If we are on Arugune, I’m sure. But we have no idea where we are, and I’ve only read about them. I’ve never actually seen one,” said Joules. “But my major professor did, during the dig, before he shut it down after the invasion. According to him, Goyspers have the ability to control the surface of their skin so it diffuses and reflects light in such a way they can’t be seen.”
“You might say their skin becomes an invisibility cloak, and according to our field guide, they learned to weave cloth to mimic the cloaking properties of their skin. That would certainly explain why we couldn’t see anything up on that ridge.”
“Technically, that’s a huge technical advantage,” replied Wayne.
“If I can get my hands on him, I’m going to strangle Anonoi,” said Amelia. “He left us here? Right in the middle of a turf war between monstrously big invaders and the locals, who happen to be invisible. For all we know, they’re cannibals.”
“I don’t think he knew about the local situation, Amelia, or he wouldn’t have put us here,” said Blackie. “He is supposed to be protecting Joules, not trying to get her killed.”
“I’m sure your right!” I need to be mad at something,” she said, looking down at the ground. “I’m braver when I’m mad.”
“You’re brave enough,” said Wayne. “The six of us…we’re a
team, we proved that on Bantoria. Your job is to be the wicked-smart one, and help keep us out of trouble.”
“I don’t seem to be doing a good job of that.”
“I’m sure it’s a tough job.”
“I hear someone coming,” whispered Joules.
They could barely see through the trees, but they could clearly hear the sound of someone running along the ridge. It stopped directly above them. The sounds of vegetation being thrashed as it made its way down the slope toward them was unmistakable.
“It’s trying to flush us out.”
“Maybe, or he’s letting us know he’s coming,” said Blackie. He spied a piece of tree limb on the ground that was straight and reasonably thick and picked it up.
“What do you intend to do with that?” asked Amelia.
“Stick together,” and before any of them could stop him he dropped to the ground and scurried off to their left.
As Blackie sneaked away, the thrashing sound stopped about ten yards away from Amelia, Joules and Wayne. They scanned the slope above them, trying to catch a glimpse of something, but there was nothing, nothing but trees, bushes and a forest floor covered in leaves. But in a small clearing about twenty-five feet ahead of them, the air began to shimmer.
For an instant, it looked like thousands of tiny mirrors were stacked in the shape of a humanoid form and each one was spinning wildly, casting light in every direction. The shimmering space vanished, and in its place stood a fully visible Goysper. Wayne whispered, “Stay down,” and he stood up and walked several feet to his right.
“What do you want,” he said, hoping Blackie’s theory about the Jump Starter’s language immersion training also worked during time-and-space shifts. To the Goysper’s surprise, Wayne was speaking his language, and fluently. Wayne was as surprised as he was.
“You must come. They have taken it.”
“Are you one of the Goyspers? asked Wayne.
“Yes, now you must come,” he said, looking through the trees and nodding at Joules and Amelia who were crouched low to the ground. “They have taken your ship.”
“They took the Nomad,” yelled Wayne.
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