As he finished speaking he hefted the plasma torch for emphasis.
“But that thing is too heavy for me,” Linda protested. “I couldn't wield it the way you do. Maybe I should gather the wood.”
“No! I've got several things I need to run around and do,” George replied. “Besides, you couldn't drag back some of the larger branches that I intend to. So the first thing your going to do is to dig the tripod out of the supplies.” As he spoke, he scooped up the Captain's pistol from the ground. He checked it's air gauge and pellet chamber. He judged that it still held about twenty shots. He handed it to Yolonda. “If any of them come sniffing around you and the captain while were over there.”
Yolonda just nodded.
“Found it!” he heard Linda's voice proclaim from over by the pile of supplies.
“Good!” he replied. “I'm afraid the best spot to set it up is right by Randy's body.”
Linda didn't reply, at first. She didn't have to. The look on her face told him what he already knew about how she felt but as much as it pained her to do so, she placed the tripod next to Randy's remains. Then as George fitted the plasma torch to the tripod, Linda spoke up.
“Don't worry,” she said venomously. “They'll not be snacking on any more of him neither.”
George quickly dragged back a couple of large fallen branches from the nearby trees. He piled them in a clear spot near where Linda was standing guard with the plasma torch.
“I hate to waste the power Linda,” he said. “But I need the light of the fire.” He pointed at a thick junction where the branch on the bottom split into two branches. “Aim here and light this thing up.”
He'd selected those two branches well from the assorted debris that had accumulated over the years as these huge trees near the cave mouth grew. It burst into bright flames so suddenly that he caught sight of a few dogs that had been lurking in the vicinity before they could retreat beyond the fires glow. At that moment he heard four soft air gun reports in rapid succession. When he looked towards Yolonda, he saw a dog twitching in it's last death throws and ever so briefly, he saw the tail of another one running away before it vanished into the gloom. He decided to take advantage of the brief state of disarray. That would be in the hunting pack, due to the surprise burst of fire and he grabbed an axe and stepped further into the gloom than he would otherwise have dared.
He could just see the remains of a fallen tree that he'd actually noticed when there was a bit more light, just before the dogs first attacked.
George knew it was too big to drag back even for a bull of a man such as himself but he'd noted a spot where it's trunk rested on a boulder. When the tree fell it had almost broken itself in two on the edge of that rock. He figured that it would only take a few axe strokes to finish the job. Then since it was just a little bit higher on the hillside and if he was lucky enough that none of the branches caught on anything, he just might have the strength to haul the upper half down slope to the edge of the circle of light from the fire.
Then Linda could watch his back while he hacked it into more manageable pieces. Just as he dragged the end of this bounty of firewood into the light he heard a snarl as a pair of dogs tried to get him before he could get any closer to the fire. Both of them were reduced to burning dog flesh in mid jump. As he rolled out from under what was left of their bodies he heard a few more dogs rapidly retreating.
“Void!” he muttered to himself. “How can any island support a dog pack this big?”
Then he unslung the axe from his shoulder where it had been hanging by a strip of that incredibly strong packing blanket fabric and lopped off the few branches that had been caught in the jet of plasma.
“Nice shot!” he called out to Linda, in appreciation that she had roasted both dogs, only grazed the tree and above all, managed to completely miss him.
George made a small pile of the burning branches on the far side of the tree top and added more to them until the circle of light from this second, smaller fire lit up his new work area. The axe worked better than he had hoped. As he quickly reduced the tree top to 5 fair sized segments. As well as a few dozen loose branches that he quickly hauled up the slope. He made a pile of them, next to the cave mouth. George paused only to add some of the loose branches to the main fire. Then, one at a time, he hauled 4 of the tree segments up the slope. As he did this he occasionally collected the few small branches that broke off, and used them to build up both fires. Next he started collecting dog carcasses, which he stacked in a heap on the other side of the cave entrance.
“What in space are you doing with them?” Linda asked.
“Keeping a promise to Randy!” was all he could bring himself to say.
Linda was obviously revolted by the idea of such a huge pile of dead dogs being made on the doorstep of the cave they intended to use for shelter. She couldn't imagine what promise to Randy could possibly compel him to do so but she could read George like a book. So she knew from the way he moved, that there wasn't any point arguing with him about it. Then George threw a few more of the loose branches into the fire and turned his attention to his captain. He noticed that there were some fresh bandages on his left hand. He recognized the fabric as coming from Miss Heroner's blouse.
“Hnnh, he grunted. “Keep this up and your not going to have anything to wear.”
“It's only my sleeves George,” Yolonda replied. “Besides what else was I supposed to do. He needed some bandages. By the looks of things you could use some to.”
“Maybe later,” George said with a shrug. “Right now I want to get everyone into the cave.”
With that he picked up his captain's unconscious form and carried him to the cave mouth. The light from the fire didn't shine very far into it but it was enough to see that the floor of it near the door was nearly level. He gently laid his captain down just inside, then he retrieved the bioscanner from the captain's pack and checked the cave for life signs. The only significant life form it detected was a human at the far end of it's range. He wondered how long Mr. Naville would remain cowering in the dark at what must be the back of the cave. One thing was for sure, he didn't have time to go coax him back to the group.
Next he went outside and took the plasma torch off it's tripod. Then he asked Linda to set the tripod up closer to the cave. When it was positioned to his satisfaction he placed the heavy tool on it again. Then he called out in a strong voice.
“Do you think Miss Heroner, that there's any chance of the captain regaining consciousness any time in the next couple of subcycles?” he asked.
“Not a chance,” Yolonda replied. “My stunner was on maximum George. I don't expect he'll wake before morning.”
“In that case,” George explained. “It'll have to fall to me as the senior ships officer on duty, to perform a solemn duty for Randy. I'd much rather the captain spoke the litany but I owe it to Randy to make sure those dogs don't get to feed on any more of his body.” He heard Yolonda gasp. “I'm sorry Miss Heroner I should have informed you more gently. But I forgot you hadn't seen his leg. In any case, unless I'm going to drag his corpse into the cave with us, I'm going to have to cremate him soon. I intend to build a bonfire for that. Then I'm going to build a fire nearer to the cave. With which I'm going to have to cook all the dog meat, before it spoils.”
“What?” Linda fairly screamed. “You can't possibly think any of us will eat dog!”
Then she saw the look on George's face and fell silent.
“I don't like the idea either Linda,” George explained in a hoarse voice. “But frankly we can't afford to let all this protein go to waste. Besides that, it's the deathside promise I made to Randy.” George paused, unable to speak for a moment. Then he continued with difficulty. “Our cook's very last thought was of how to feed us. He begged me not to let the meat he'd just slaughtered go to waste. So we are not going to. Do you hear me? We will not dishonor him that way.”
Then George fell silent.
“I knew Randy was something s
pecial,” Yolonda spoke up. “And he was right you know. I've been on several extended hunting trips Linda, so I know that people can and do eat some fairly unusual meats. Some of them actually taste good. But tell me George, if your going to dress out all these dogs tonight, What do you intend to do with the blood and entrails?”
“I guess,” George said. “I'll just have to burn all that. But right now I've a litany to speak.” George gestured towards the plasma cutter. “Please keep an eye on my back Linda.”
As he finished speaking, George grabbed the remaining loose branches and placed them in a pile next to the small outer fire. To which he added a few small pieces for more light. Then he quickly chopped the remaining segment of the tree top into fairly large pieces, making a pile of them together with some small brush, to serve as a funeral pyre next to the small outer fire. Finally, George stood beside Randy's corpse and after a moment of still silence he spoke in a monotone.
“We the crew of the Starskewer,” he said. “Are here gathered to bid farewell to our fallen brother. Mr Randy Luborn at the age of 536 galactic standard years, did as ship's cook, faithfully execute his duty to his ship, it's crew and to his captain for the last time.
He serves as an example of courage and devotion far beyond the call of mere duty. It is with a great sadness and sense of loss, that we bid him a last farewell and consign his remains to the cosmos at large. So says the ranking officer. Yo!” This last word he shouted as loud as he could, then as soon as the echo faded he continued. “How say the crew?”
“Ho!” Linda shouted nearly as loudly, as she did so, another voice sung out from behind her somewhat less forcefully but with just as much feeling.
George hadn't heard his captain's ‘chorus’ to his litany. It was just as well he hadn't or the indecision on whether he should proceed in the role of ranking officer might have spoiled Randy's farewell ceremony. As it was, a moment after he heard Linda's voice shout the crew's final word. He gently lifted Randy's remains and carried him to the funeral pyre. George gently placed his friend upon it. Next he used the burning wood of the small fire next to it, to ignite the brush of the funeral pyre. Then as the fire grew, he snapped to attention. Saluted his fallen comrade's burning remains and issued to him one last command. “Crewman, dismissed!”
By the light from the pyre he found and retrieved Randy's knives where he'd dropped them in the fight. Then he grabbed the supply carrier and dragged it into the cave. Where he leaned it against the inner wall. Finally he used the last of the plasma cutter's charge. To heat up the funeral pyre enough to properly cremate Randy's remains.
“Well spoke!” his captain's voice said from behind him. “In this light I can't quite see the look on your face just now George. Which is a shame, I'd give a lot to be able to see it.”
Then George began to recover from the surprise that his captain was in fact awake.
“I'm sorry sir,” he said. “But I thought...”
“Belay that!” Wilber commanded “I know full well you wouldn't have taken on that duty by choice, if you thought there was a chance in space that I could have spoken the litany instead. I'm sorry to hear about Randy. Yolonda here told me of his bravery. And of that deathside promise you made to him. He was right you know, we need to salvage as much of that meat as we can. I imagine you'll have to turn most of it into jerky or something.”
“When did you wake up sir?” George asked.
“Hard to say George,” Wilber replied. “At first I thought I was dreaming, when I heard ‘you’ speaking in that tone of voice. Then for a moment I thought I might have been the subject of the litany, until you spoke his name. That's when I finished waking up. But George, as much as I hate to say this, if your going to prep that dog meat, you'd better get started. It's going to be a long night.”
Chapter 44 the cave
It would take George all night to dress out and cook the dog meat. All the while he would have to keep the fires fed. Linda would spend the night on guard duty. Since all the torch compatible power packs were depleted until they could feed them some sunlight, she had her captain's pellet gun and one of the crude axes that George had made.
Yolonda didn't want to leave the Captain unattended. So she had asked Linda to ask George if she could have a couple of branches, some of the fatty tissue from the slaughtered dogs and a few of the strap fragments from the remains of the supply carrier's harness. With which to make a couple of torches so they could see the cave a little bit better. In answer George relieved Linda from the guard duty.
“That's a good idea Linda,” George said with an only slightly forced smile. “Why don't you keep an eye on the Captain and fetch me the soup pan. While I stand guard long enough for Yolonda to pick the branches she wants from the woodpile?”
When that had been accomplished, Linda resumed standing guard while George dug into the pile of refuse, that he hadn't tossed on the fire yet, for fatty scraps which he placed in the pan. He set that on the edge of the fire to render the fat. Meanwhile he also resumed the grizzly task of butchering the rest of the dog's while keeping an eye on the fat. Now however, he placed any fatty tissue he encountered into it's own pile. When the initial batch of fat had been rended, George brought the pan to Yolonda.
“These dogs don't have much fat on them,” George explained. “Will this do for now?”
Yolonda nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “This will do nicely. Please save me any more of the raw fatty tissue that you get. Since were using it for torches rather than for cooking, It won't matter so much, if some of it it goes rancid before it gets used.”
George just smiled and went back to work.
While she had been waiting for the rendered fat, Yolonda had tied strips of blanket material to a couple of the sticks she'd picked out. These she now coated with the fatty oil and rolled them up around the end of the sticks to complete the torches. Then she stepped outside long enough to light one from the fire. When she came back in she found the captain was again awake. He was standing up and looking at her with an odd expression on his face. They quickly explored the near end of the cave.
The entrance was an oblong eye shaped gash in the side of the hill that measured just over two arms in height at it's tallest point and just under four arms wide. It's floor was a nearly flat rock surface that sloped uphill from the opening for a short distance. The entry area was about ten arms deep where it stopped at a nearly vertical ‘wall’. Which ran parallel to the opening for about twice the opening's length.
The other ‘walls’ slowly curved away from the edge of the opening until the entry area was shaped like a crescent moon. The ceiling also curved up from the entrance so that by the time they reached the back wall, even the tallest of them could stand up straight. On either end of the back wall, there was another opening leading to a passageway, that went deeper into the rocky hill.
The one to the right was a narrow passage, about two arms wide, that sloped uphill for three arms before it opened out into a fairly large chamber. Which had a significant draft through a long narrow crack in the back wall, that stretched from the ceiling almost to the floor. They noticed that there were what appeared to be some faint traces of ashes at the base of the crack. The wall and ceiling near the crack also seemed to have traces of soot. Off of this chamber they discovered another somewhat smaller chamber with a thick layer of fine sand on it's floor. In which, since it was slightly downhill from the bigger chamber, the sand had mostly stayed put.
“It would seem that we have a natural fireplace,” said the captain. “Which is complete with a chimney of sorts.”
Both George and Linda looked surprised.
“That's good news,” George said. “That will make it easier and perhaps safer, to turn some of this meat to jerky.”
“There's more,” Yolonda said. “It looks like somebody else has used it for a fireplace before. Though not for a very long time.”
“We only ventured a short distance down the left hand passage,” capta
in Rivermon continued his report. “Down which Mr Naville disappeared. It appears to be consistently two arms wide for as far as we could see by torchlight. It also slopes somewhat downhill. Since the bioscanner still says Mr Naville is alive and well, I think we can assume there's no real threat down there. We called out to him. a couple of times. When the echo's died down he yelled back saying, ‘Stay away from me!’ Along with a few other less polite variants of the same thing. So I don't intend to go searching for him, at least not until morning anyway. For right now, Yolonda reminded me that if I want those fancy biomeds to finish healing me, I should try to get some more sleep. I hate to admit it, but I think she's right.”
Then the captain spent half a subcyclet looked at the size of the pile of dog meat that still needed cooking.
“I always thought it took a long time in concentrated smoke to make jerky,” he said. “Do we have enough wood for that?”
“We do with this,” George replied, brandishing Randy's seasoning shaker. Which he had extracted from Randy's apron. “I happen to know that Randy filled it with a concentrated nanotech food additive. Which will expedite the process and greatly improve the flavor.”
“Nanotech food additive you say?” the captain inquired. “Are you quite sure? There certainly wasn't enough is his budget to pay for something that exorbitant. Such a thing would also be more expensive than he could possibly have personally afforded at his rate of pay.”
“Randy once told me it was a cherished family heirloom,” George replied as he unscrewed the top and began extracting the small package within. “He was the last of a long family line of chefs you know. He also said that he'd only resorted to using it once in his whole life. He said it worked great but he'd always felt like it was too much like cheating.”
At this point George showed the captain the label on the inner package. There, just above the usage instructions and the improbable claim that the package had originally contained over 10,000,000 servings, there was a distinctive logo. It consisted of a monochrome image of a strange looking building with a waterfall pouring out from it's front doorway.
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