It floated there, not saying a thing.
“Dean, any chance I can get the hell back to the ground yet?” Slate asked, his voice strained.
Before I could answer him, the shadow spoke again. “Welcome, True. You have completed your first task. In the box is the path. Thank the Atrron for their service. They will be rewarded as promised.”
The shape changed, forming the symbol once again before dissipating into the box from whence it came. The orange box was solid, with no lid, but as the mist receded, it began to glow, a line along the top quarter of it. When it went back to its normal state, it clearly had a top that could be opened.
I was about to open it, when I heard Slate call for me. I threw the box into the pocket of the thrust pack and jumped off the platform, turning the power on as I dropped at a slower speed than I’d expected. There he was, falling a few hundred yards away. “Slate!”
“Dean, go get him!” Mary yelled from her spot on the ground.
“The damned things caught up to me, and a few of them flew into my pack. They must have hit the thrusters, because it won’t work.” His words came fast, and I raced toward his falling form.
The small-winged gray animals were all around me now. I tried to fly between them and hit a few with my helmet. I soared headfirst to get to Slate before he ran into something.
“Stick your arms out!” I called to him as I approached. I took the time to look past him and saw he was about to hit a treetop. “Now!” I yelled, and he did so.
I flew by him, spinning around and jamming the thrust up. He slammed into me, face to face, grabbing my body as we started to move backwards. “Hold on,” I said, and he didn’t argue as I adjusted our trajectory again, narrowly missing the tree. We were still moving downward, now only forty yards from the forest floor. The birds all stopped, as if there was a forcefield keeping them there.
I was able to get us under control and slowed our speed as the ground rushed to meet us. Slate was hanging on to me, his arms wrapped around my waist, and his long legs hit the grass first. A split second later, it was my turn, and I rolled as I impacted. I spun over myself and ended up on my stomach.
“Slate!” I rolled over and saw the big man on his back.
“Holy crap, boss, you did it!” he said, his chest rising and falling as he laughed hysterically.
“Where are you?” Mary’s voice came through.
“Just east of where you are. We’re okay,” I said and started to laugh with Slate. It was infectious. By the time Mary arrived, with a few lanky towering Atrron behind her, we were in tears, hiding our terror with hilarity. We’d made it down alive, and I had what we’d come looking for in my pocket.
“Did you get it?” Mary asked. After seeing we weren’t hurt, she was straight to business.
I reached inside my suit and pulled out the orange stone box. It was around eight inches square and fit into my hand as I showed her and Slate. The Atrron beings caught up to Mary and made a strange noise at seeing the box.
“Done is it. Plant to knowledge obtain,” the one we’d first met said.
“What does that mean?” I asked them, getting to my feet.
No one replied. They just turned and walked away, as if expecting us to follow them.
“Plant it?” I opened the box as Mary and Slate stood around me, all of us leaning in curiously.
Inside was a large metal seed.
“Is it encased in an alloy?” Slate asked, tapping it with his suit’s gloved hand.
“I’m not sure. What good do you think planting a steel seed will do?” I asked.
“Let’s go find out.” Mary took one last look at it and began to walk in the direction the Atrron had gone. Their heads were still visible as they slowly made their way. It was only a couple minutes later when we arrived back at the opening between the gargantuan trees I’d just flown to the top of half an hour ago.
The Atrron gathered in their semi-circle formation, and our guide pointed to the ground. It used to be packed firm, but now there was a six-inch-wide hole that went down three feet.
I shrugged, taking one last look at the seed in my hand. It had hard edges, lines cut into a rounded metallic object. I had no doubt this would do nothing. It wasn’t organic.
I dropped the seed into the pre-dug hole, and when nothing happened, I looked to the Atrron, who were stepping backward.
“Anyone have some water?” I joked before the ground at my feet began to rumble.
“Dean,” Mary said.
“Are the birds back?” I asked, looking to the sky.
“Dean, get down!” Mary yelled as she tackled me away from the hole.
Silver sprouts shot out of the ground with an insane velocity. Mary and I clawed desperately away from the shiny growing plant.
When we were far enough, I could see what shape it was taking: a tree. A looming metal tree, right in the epicenter of the dozen other ancient trees around it. It kept growing until we could no longer see the top, well past the orange leaves I’d just flown to.
“That was… unexpected,” Slate said, standing behind us.
The Atrron were on their knees, braying in their harsh language. The translator only picked out a few words, as they were either in elation or anguish. I couldn’t tell. I heard the words “god,” “bounty,” “heavens” mixed among the otherwise indistinguishable phrases.
“It’s not done yet.” Mary stood up and walked to the trunk, which was at least fifty feet across. “There’s a door.”
My heart raced as Slate and I joined her at the entrance to the tree. The outline glowed, and I stuck a hand out, expecting to hit a solid surface. Instead, my glove entered the tree.
Without hesitation, Mary stepped forward before I could tell her that it might be dangerous. Slate set his arm in front of me and followed Mary. Moments later, his head popped out through the solid-looking door. “It’s clear.”
The Atrron were watching us with vested interest, but they didn’t move from their kneeling positions. I entered.
Eight
Soft lights lined the walls and floor leading to the center of the tree’s interior, to a circle of blue gemstones. Mary was enthusiastically staring down at it, seeking answers. I approached behind her, hearing only my own shallow nervous breath in my helmet.
Slate was walking the perimeter of the room, which looked larger inside than outside. Its walls were rounded in the shape of the massive metal tree trunk. “Nothing to see over here,” he relayed.
“It has to have something to do with this,” Mary said, staring at the stones. She knelt, getting a closer look, and that was when I saw the dim symbols on either side of them.
“Mary, look between the stones, not at them. The light they give off makes it hard to see the ground.” I could make out five symbols, the same five from the cube I’d found.
“You’re right. The symbols. Here’s Atrron,” she said, touching the ground. As she did, they all illuminated, and Atrron faded away, leaving no sign the etching was ever on the floor. The floor hissed, and a shadow oozed out.
Mary jumped back from her crouched position and fell back. I reached a hand out to her, not taking my eyes off the Theos shadow.
“You have completed your task.”
“Damn right we did,” Slate said, without getting a reply.
“Why is this called the Forest of Knowledge? The Atrron don’t seem to have advanced technology.” I wasn’t sure if the ancient Theos ghost would have an answer for me.
“Knowledge is more than technology.”
His reply hit me hard. He was right. Did technology teach us how to love? How to exist, to breathe, to smell the flowers?
“What knowledge do the Atrron have?” Mary asked.
“The Atrron don’t die.”
“What do you mean, they don’t die?” Slate walked up beside us, his hand on his left hip.
“The Atrron are the original forms we put here to guard the Forest.” The shadow shape moved slightly, turning its head in its illusion
to seem responsive.
I’d assumed they’d been trained generation by generation to stay in their huts and wait, but if what the Theos said were true, those Atrron had potentially been waiting for thousands of years. Given the circumstances, I thought they’d held up quite well. “How does one obtain infinite life?”
“You are gifted it.” His answer came out matter-of-factly, like it was common knowledge.
I shuddered. The idea of a race of beings giving us infinite life scared the hell out of me. No wonder Sarlun had been so careful to not let anyone know where we were going. It had made sense before, but now it did so on a larger scale.
I wanted to keep asking it questions, but the shadow had its own agenda. “You have completed your task.”
“What of the Atrron? What happens to them now?” Mary asked, clearly worried about the eternal race.
A screen appeared on the far wall, showing us Atrron from outer space. I knew the planet from our files, and the distinct yellow continent in the eastern hemisphere. It zoomed in, showing us elaborate cities spread out in beautiful concentric circles, the outer high-rises resembling the twelve trees around us now. In the center stood a larger one, a foretelling of what was to come. It was strikingly eerie.
“They come for their brethren now. They will be reunited as heroes and bask in the glory of the ultimate sacrifice.”
Ships hovered low to the ground, caravans of them moving toward the real trees in the distance.
Satisfied the Atrron were going to be okay after duty had stolen so many years, Mary asked the question we’d all been thinking. “What’s next?”
A noise whirred from above, and a box lowered of its own volition from somewhere inside the tree. I’d assumed there was a ceiling above us, but now I thought the room might just keep going upward. The gemstone box hit the ground outside the circle, where the Theos still wavered in the dim light.
“I got this, boss,” Slate said, lifting the lid. Invisible hinges allowed it to lever back. Inside were three helmets.
“What do we do with these?” I asked it.
“Swim,” it said, and before I could answer, the shadow changed forms into the Theos symbol, then disintegrated back into the floor.
“Swim? I’m not much of a swimmer,” Slate said, holding one of the helmets in his grip.
“Do we go back to the portal, then, and try the next place on the map?” I suddenly felt very tired. Maybe I could convince them to head back to New Spero for a day or two before continuing on.
We each grabbed a helmet, which were surprisingly light, and Mary spoke as I started to make for the exit. “I want to keep going.”
“Boss,” Slate said, nudging me. The blue gemstones making up the circle were beginning to glow brighter. A powerful light shot up from the ground all the way to the treetop, beyond our sightlines.
Mary, with her helmet in her right hand, stepped forward. I tried to grab at her, narrowly missing her pack’s strap. She entered the light, and in a flash, she rose up. I blinked, and she was gone.
“Mary!” I called after her, but it was too late. “Guess this only leaves one choice.” My feet were already moving.
“Boss, we have no idea where it leads!” But I was already gone into the light.
I became weightless, flying much faster than I had with the thrust pack. I looked up and swore I spotted the soles of Mary’s EVA boots before I slammed through a circle of blue light.
When I passed the light, everything changed. I began to fall. I was spinning, the ground coming to me in a rush, and just as I was about to land, I hit the surface like a cannonball and began to sink. It wasn’t hard ground at all. It was water.
The helmet ripped from my firm grip as I submerged. I gasped for breath before realizing I was in my EVA, my suit secure and waterproof. It was too heavy, though. I fought to swim to the surface, but my tiring arms and kicking feet just couldn’t get enough momentum to bring me up.
I was sinking.
“Dean, come in.” It was Mary’s voice, coming through my earpiece.
“Babe, are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine. I made it to the beach. Where are you?” I heard mild panic in her voice but could tell she was trying to stay calm.
“Beach? I just fell into deep water and haven’t seen anything. I can hardly make out up from down.”
“I see you on my tracking.”
“What a rush,” a new voice said in my earpiece. I was dropping fast.
“Slate, I see you. Follow my voice!” she yelled loudly, hoping he could hear her.
“I’m dropping,” I said. “The suit’s too heavy.”
“Take the boots off,” Slate said, his voice gruff, and I realized that was what he was likely doing. I listened to him, knowing they were the heaviest part of the suit. They sank as I pulled them free, and I felt a moment of worry as I watched them descend into the dark water. I’d need them later, but if I was dead, it wouldn’t matter.
“They’re off!” I called and pushed my tired arms to pull me upwards, finally able to fight the current and rise to the surface. I took a deep breath as I breached, even though I always had oxygen in my suit. It was a reflex. I spotted the Theos helmet nearby and made my way to it, grabbing it and clipping it to my suit.
Mary was directing me at this point, and soon I felt the sea floor below my feet. Long green foliage wafted around me, and the memory of the creature wrapping and dragging me underwater rushed into my head. I hurried and found Mary and Slate on a black sand beach. I stumbled over to them, Mary meeting me halfway. She helped me forward and I slumped down, every inch of my body exhausted.
“That was fun. Can we do it again?” I joked, lying back and closing my eyes. “Mary, maybe next time, you can cool your jets before leaping blindly into a Theos rocket beam.” I opened my eyes slowly, taking note of everything around me. If I wasn’t in a space suit, shot there by a long-dead race, I’d think I was back on Earth, sitting on a beach in Hawaii.
The sky was clear blue, perhaps a lighter shade than we were used to back home. Home. I reminded myself Earth wasn’t our home any longer. Small wispy clouds danced in the sky, a deep ochre star burning bright in the distance.
“The air is breathable,” Mary said, and I heard the familiar hiss of an EVA helmet being disconnected.
I sat up, seeing Slate following her lead. Mary pulled the elastic off her ponytail and shook her head, long hair blowing in the breeze.
“Since neither of you have keeled over from a silent and undetectable airborne virus, I think I’ll join you. I’m getting a little claustrophobic in this thing.” I unclasped my own helmet and lifted it off, setting it beside the one left by the Theos. Theirs was smaller, thinner, like a second skin. It was almost translucent. The air smelled a little off, like someone had tried to create the ambiance and scent of an ocean but subtly missed the mark.
“Let’s camp here for the night and figure out what we need to do,” Mary said, taking charge. I was happy to let her. She looked nowhere near as exhausted as I felt.
“Our supplies…” Slate started but cut himself off. “Looks like we’re down a couple thrust packs and hover scooters. Let’s evaluate.”
We each emptied out our pockets and the packs we’d had on our persons in Atrron. I was kicking myself for not going back to retrieve anything else before stepping into the light. As if she was reading my mind, Mary apologized.
“I’m sorry. I needed to see what it was. They haven’t done anything to harm us yet,” she said.
“I’d say attempting to bury a box on an ice world with me in it, and then tossing us into an ocean, might constitute as attempted harm.” I undid my suit, getting out of it, enjoying the sun and breeze on my sweaty jumpsuit.
“You were fine each time.” Mary was quick to side with them. I wasn’t going to call her on it. She was a little too intense about this adventure, eager to take each step without thinking.
“Here’s what we have,” Slate said, his inventory
done. “Seven power bars, three pulse rifles, two gallons of water, ten iodine tablets, the Relocator, Clare’s new hiding device, and a partridge in a pear tree. Oh, and our knives.”
“What about our tent?” Mary asked, and Slate unclasped the outer part of his pack.
“You know, just because I’m the biggest doesn’t mean you have to make me the pack mule.” He gave me a sideways grin.
“It’s not because you’re the biggest. It’s because you’re the youngest. Now stop complaining and put that tent up,” I ordered, laughing at him as he shook his head and stood.
Mary and I took a walk inland, looking for something akin to wood to burn.
“You seem upset with me,” Mary said after a silent minute of walking.
“I’m just worried about you. This quest seems like a fool’s errand. Like manipulation from a dead alien race. What’s the point? Do we really want eternal life? Do we need more than a bed, a pup, and an acreage to be happy?” I asked the questions, stressed that she wouldn’t say yes. That what we had back home wasn’t enough for her any longer.
“No, Dean. But there’s a chance we can help stop this Unwinding you were told about. We helped those Atrron sentries back there. Maybe we have to help others before we’re done.”
My blood began to boil, thinking of the ego the Theos must have had to arrange this elaborate game. “And if we hadn’t come, they’d still be waiting. Waiting for someone else for another thousand years, because the Theos were so arrogant as to force a race to wait at their beck and call.” I took a moment to let myself cool down. “For all we know, the Unwinding is a load of misinformation, meant to manipulate us into playing along.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you, Dean?”
I thought about it, but she was right. “I don’t. But I’m just saying, you seem to trust them implicitly, when we’ve never met them. We don’t even know if they’ll be there when we finish this quest.”
Mary took my hand and leaned in, kissing me fiercely. Her breath smelled stale, recycled, but I kissed her back, craving her touch. “I’ll be more careful,” she promised.
A while later, we arrived back at camp with arms full of twigs and undergrowth from the area. Not as much as we’d hoped for, but given the circumstances, we weren’t about to complain. We’d have a fire, at least.
The Survivors Box Set Page 70