The inky substance floated on the water like grease, but came off skin with relative ease and a little hand scrubbing. There’s no soap in this place. What did people do before they invented soap? She scrunched up her face, unable to think of where cleansing gel came from prior to the machines that produced almost anything from jars of gel. Food machines used protein-based slime, while other fabricators used non-organic goo. Though, some clothing, particularly softer fabrics, also came from bio-slime.
She didn’t let Lissa stray too far away, or do much more than float and enjoy the water. Something told her to keep the child’s activity level low so she didn’t hurt herself. Lissa remained content to stand neck-deep beside her, watching spherical creatures the size of apples swim around near the lake bottom. The bracelet sensed no venom in anything that came close enough to scan, though Sima still cringed away from the ‘fish,’ not wanting to touch them.
Lissa’s sudden squeal startled Sima.
“What?” She looked over at the girl.
“They’re coming!” Lissa poked a hand out of the surface, pointing at the Auraks.
All—now twelve—of them, swam in a formation toward the humans, like a flotilla of boats with long necks. Juan squealed and rushed for the bank. He stopped in ankle-deep water and spun around to gawk at the birds.
The huge feathered creatures drifted closer, all peering down at Sima and Lissa while making pigeon coos deep in their throats. Despite her fear at being surrounded by such enormous animals, they gave off a bizarre sense of gratitude—especially one with pale blue feathers. A little larger than the others, it had an air of age about it, and paid particular attention to Austin, who remained on land.
After gently nuzzling Sima with its beak, the older bird glided as close as it could to the edge without standing up out of the water and stretched its neck out to Austin. Soon, Juan got the bright idea to lob one of the rhubarb-raspberry fruits, which grew in large numbers around the lakeshore, into the air. An Aurak snapped it up and emitted a happy trilling call.
The other birds swam closer to him.
Austin ran to the tree line and gathered some fruits as well, and he tossed them, one by one, up at the waiting beaks.
“I wanna feed the birds, too,” said Lissa.
“Okay.” Getting her out of the water sounded like a good idea anyway, so Sima held her hand and walked her to shore.
Lissa ran off to grab fruits. Sima frowned at the white EGSF-issue underpants on the ground, along with her top. Austin seemed to share her discomfort, being the only one presently wearing them. She debated pulling hers on while still wet, but reluctantly decided to air dry a bit while the kids threw fruits up to the waiting birds.
She sat in the grass to enjoy the steady, warm breeze. This is so like some weird dream of paradise, but I don’t think this is what the crew had in mind. Daydreams of a nice, clean modern city made from the guts of a former starship came and went. The people who had planned this expedition had not been expecting to send anyone to live like primitives here, least of all a bunch of Outcasts thrown on board at the last minute. She rationalized that all the storage compartments by their stasis pods had been empty because the government couldn’t get enough volunteers for the trip, so they packed the last hundred or so stasis pods with street kids to get rid of them, not bothering to include any supplies. Probably because it would either delay the launch, or no one wanted to spend glint on Outcasts. Heck, they didn’t even cover whatever medical care Lissa needed, leaving it to the colonists to provide instead. Money seemed like the only reason they would’ve done that.
Get her healthy enough to survive the trip and let the doctors up here worry about the rest… except they’re all dead.
The kids’ laughing and giggling eventually lifted her spirits. She fiddled around with the grass, trying to weave it into something useful, but the gossamer strands kept breaking. Various leaves at the tree line looked promising, but she didn’t want to go wandering around until she got dressed. Sitting in one place with nothing on made her blush plenty enough already. Juan ran back and forth from where Austin and Lissa threw fruit to the birds, collecting them by the handful, likely so the girl didn’t have to wear herself out.
Once Sima dried enough to pull her garments back on, she stood and walked over to the tree line, checking out the various leaves. The broad ones here were soft, but broke apart like cobwebs at the slightest touch. Thinner ones looked (and acted) like knives, the edges sharp enough to cut her skin. Though they appeared to be leaves similar to palm fronds, they had enough woodenness that they’d work as tools to cut steak, assuming she could even grab one without shredding her hand.
Some of the tree branches looked about the right diameter and rigidity to be plausible for the construction of a hut frame. They had an almost rubbery quality somewhere between wood and cork.
“Can I make a shelter out of any of this?”
‹Out of range.›
She walked closer, holding her left wrist out at the various plants and branches.
‹The smaller stalks have a material composition similar to wood and appear to be good insulators. It should cut quite easily with the axe you found, though I am not reading anything here that would be usable as a cord or twine to lash stems together into a cabin-type structure. You may be able to weave them into a primitive lean-to or similar shelter. However, given the size of the planet, we’ve encountered an incredibly small percentage of what is possible. There may be better foliage elsewhere more suitable for construction of shelter and clothing.›
“Right.”
‹Oh. You should also avoid those broad, red leaves. The sap has neurotoxic properties and may result in paralysis, which could become permanent if you overexpose to it.›
Sima gulped and backed away from the woods. “Well, I was going to say that maybe this planet isn’t too bad after all. Still, I guess there’s less stuff here that’ll kill me than back home.”
‹Fewer. Fewer things that will kill you.›
“What?”
‹You have missed too much school.›
“I’m stranded basically naked on an alien planet. I lost everything I ever owned. The only possessions I have to my name are one set of underwear and you. Does it really matter how I talk?”
‹You also possess the axe, and the adoration of three children.›
She sighed, and twisted around to watch the kids. They’d stopped feeding the birds and had become brave enough to climb up on one. “Is it safe to let them touch those creatures? Don’t birds have like fleas or lice or something?”
‹Out of range.›
Grumbling, Sima trudged back to where she’d been sitting. “This sucks. All these plants are useless. It’s going to rain eventually, right? And what about winter? Does it even get cold here?”
‹According to the long distance survey data I was pre-loaded with, we have landed in a near-equatorial region that should remain warm enough year-round that your current attire will not present a danger to health.›
“Great.” She rolled her eyes, embarrassed all over again. Lissa and Juan certainly didn’t seem to care at all about what (if anything) they wore. While she thought it fine for now, it would become severely awkward, at least for Sima, in a few years—and not only due to the lack of clothing. How would she handle it if Austin became attracted to her after he hit puberty? She hadn’t been able to even kiss a boy her age back home. Every time the moment almost happened, she’d think about her mother’s creepy boyfriend grabbing her, and she’d run away. On top of that, after two or three years regarding Austin as more of a little brother, or even son, any romantic feelings would be totally wrong. Hopefully, he’d think of her as a sister and not have those sorts of thoughts about her. But if they really were the only humans on this planet, she worried everything would get weird eventually. Would they invent gods or start worshipping fruits, dancing around fires at night?
Who am I kidding? None of us are going to live that long.
Lissa coughed a few times, and swallowed something.
Especially her. Sima glanced over at the scrawny girl, every rib showing clear on her back, her legs like noodles. At least she had no bruises or scars. That poor kid isn’t gonna last long out here without a real doctor.
Her somber, fatalistic mood lasted for a little while until the kids’ laughter chased it away. The Aurak were quite friendly, and surprisingly intelligent. She couldn’t help but believe that the one bird had somehow communicated with the others that Austin had plucked the quills from its side to help it.
Sima thought back to a few little beggars she’d stuffed in ORC bins out of frustration. Guilt weighed heavy on her shoulders even though she’d caused no actual harm. “Karma, right?,” she whispered to herself. “I’d been such a bitch to kids back home… now I get to watch three of them die.”
Pattering drew her attention to the little holographic screen floating over the bottom of her left forearm. ‹With the exception of medical conditions beyond your control, there is little reason to suspect they will die if you undertake reasonable efforts toward survival.›
“I don’t understand,” muttered Sima. “I used to hate having kids around. I mean…” She sighed. “I didn’t hate them. They just got all the money.”
‹Being stranded in a potentially hostile environment without tools or equipment can easily cause one to rearrange their priorities.›
“Yeah, I guess.”
‹You feel obligated to protect them.›
She jabbed her fingers at the ground, smirking. “Yeah. I mean, even on the street… older Outcasts looked out for little ones. I was just jealous.”
‹Karma. Now, it matters. They need protection and guidance.›
“But what about me?” whispered Sima, holding the bracelet close to her mouth. “I’m terrified. I’m only sixteen. I never even really had a mother. I have no idea how to be one.”
‹You have a lot of practice already at taking care of a child.›
“Hah. No I didn’t.”
‹You took care of you.›
She sighed at the clouds. “That’s not funny.”
‹I was not attempting to initiate humor.›
Lissa giggled and jumped from an Aurak into the water. Sima’s heart leapt into her throat when the girl went under. She didn’t breathe for almost thirty seconds until the child resurfaced and laughed. “I hate her.”
‹No, you don’t.›
Sima curled into a ball, hiding her face against her knees. “I hate that she’s so small. So defenseless. So damn sick. I hate that she’s gonna die, and I don’t wanna deal with that!” A war of emotions raged inside. She wanted to metaphorically shove Lissa into an ORC bin and run away so she didn’t have to cope with losing her, didn’t have to bear the responsibility of having to look out for anyone but herself. But she couldn’t do it. She hated herself even more for thinking about it.
“Why are you crying?” asked Lissa, right beside her.
“Oh…” Sima sat up and wiped her face. “I dunno. It’s just so beautiful here.”
Lissa tilted her head. “You’re not a good liar. Did you step on an ouchie?”
Sima glanced over at the scrawny child staring back at her with a face of total innocence and concern. “No… I was thinking about everyone else on the ship and being sad that it’s only us left.”
“Yeah. That is sad.” Lissa flopped down next to her.
“Put your pants on.”
Lissa scrunched up her face. “I’m wet. I just got out of the lake.”
One of the Auraks let off a long, modulating call. The others returned shorter chirps. One by one, they turned toward the humans, emitted the same short chirp, and swam off in a V, following the eldest bird toward the far side of the lake, which had to be several miles away.
“We’re going to need to make a shelter,” said Sima.
‹It would be best to use the lifeboat as it is much more durable a structure than anything you could fashion from plants.›
The suggestion appealed to the lazy inside her, so Sima nodded. “All right.”
After giving everyone a chance to dry off, Sima got the kids dressed and picked Lissa up. Most of the day spent walking and swimming had tired everyone out, but she hadn’t found any other lifeboats, any sign of debris, or anything really new other than the lake.
“Which way is home?” asked Sima.
The bracelet displayed a map, showing a waypoint at the lifeboat she’d found the children in. According to it, they’d gone one-point-four miles away. A bit far for any routine trips to the lake, though they had closer sources of water even if they weren’t quite so vast to swim in.
Lissa snuggled in tight, her chin on Sima’s shoulder.
The boys followed, both working together to drag the fruit pod, as she carried the girl back to the lifeboat, avoiding the sharp plants and keeping a wary eye out for danger. Something out there had quills that carried venom. The bracelet thought it a monstrously large porcupine, but that didn’t make sense. How could one of those have managed to get quills stuck so high up on a bird that big? The base of its neck had to be twenty feet off the ground.
An Aurak would step on a porcupine, even one as big as a gee-vee. She said nothing of her fears, not wanting to alarm the kids, and made her way back to the crash site. By the time they arrived at the grassy field around the lifeboat, daylight had weakened enough that she calculated less than an hour before full dark.
They ate more of the lemony-peachy fruits and curled up on the cotton-soft grass to sleep. When it got dark enough that no one could see her face, Sima let herself cry in silence while clinging to Lissa and Juan like a pair of living dolls. She’d felt unwanted at home, but more than ever now. The entirety of human civilization had deemed her, and these kids, unworthy of even remaining on Earth.
This planet, Mirage—or whatever they called it—might’ve been beyond beautiful, but it still felt like a giant ORC bin they would never be able to climb out from. Her vision full of stars and wispy trails of glowing space gas, Sima gradually drifted off to sleep with a soft breeze wafting across her skin, and the breaths of small children puffing at her arms.
17
A Cave of Wonders
The next morning after breakfast, Sima decided that sleeping out in the open probably wouldn’t work as a long-term solution.
Her Omnicomputer’s assurance that they’d landed near an equatorial region erased her worries about cold becoming a problem. Even in this planet’s version of winter, the climate shouldn’t get so chilly as to be harmful given their lack of clothing. Any garments she might someday make from leaves or plants wouldn’t offer much in the sense of warmth, only modesty. Though winter-at-night could be uncomfortable.
Suggesting they use the lifeboat as a ‘house’ terrified Lissa, but that came as no surprise. Had Sima nearly suffocated inside her stasis pod, she’d probably not want to be anywhere near it again either. Lacking the skills or materials to build a reasonable shelter, she decided to try the second best option to the lifeboat: the cave.
Because the Omnicomputer had tracked her journey since she landed, the map had a marker at the location of the alien cave. Another option would be her lifeboat, but the cooling system had gotten stuck on overdrive. According to the bracelet, the interior temperature had been forty-two degrees, far too cold to sleep in, especially for a fragile child with some unidentified lung problem. Even a mild cold could prove fatal. Which brought up another worry. As soon as she wondered if this planet even had the necessary viruses on it to cause colds, she also wondered what other awful things might be here, diseases no human had ever experienced before.
That thought gnawed on her brain while they marched across the jungle, heading for the cave. She debated asking the bracelet about that, but didn’t want to scare the kids. From what little science class she recalled, she wanted to say that since this planet never had humans, no viruses or germs would’ve evolved to prey upon them. While in
all probability, diseases did exist here, whether they had the capability to infect people, she had no idea.
A little before noon, they reached the opening of the cave, which triggered an instant, “Whoa” from both boys. Austin darted in first and ran down the corridor to the dome-shaped chamber. He stopped short at the bottom, mouth agape, staring at the glowing grooves in the walls.
The eerie light emanating from the decorative carvings tinted Lissa’s skin blue and made both boys appear darker. Though a few days of living had dimmed the pure whiteness of everyone’s garments, the fabric remained clean enough that it practically glowed within the chamber.
“Wow…” Austin walked around the wall, running his fingers along the grooves. “The light’s just coming right out of the rock.”
“This is cool!” yelled Juan, his voice echoing.
Lissa shivered. “It’s kinda cold in here.”
“There’s gotta be aliens on this planet,” said Austin.
“Yeah.” Juan nodded.
Sima opened her mouth to say something before the kids scared themselves.
“But it’s us,” said Juan.
“Huh?” asked Sima, her thoughts derailed.
“We’re from Earth. So we’re the aliens here.” Juan waved his arms.
Lissa climbed up onto the metal disc at the center of the room. “It’s cold…” Arms out to the sides for balance, she crept around the edge.
“Don’t stand on the table,” said Austin.
“It’s not a table.” Lissa kept going, staring down at her feet as she walked heel-to-toe around the metal disc. “It’s a circle. An’ there’s no chairs, so it can’t be a table.”
“What if the aliens are like big slugs and don’t have legs?” asked Austin.
“They’re not aliens here,” said Juan. “They’d only be aliens if they went to Earth.”
Austin rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Sima followed him around the outer wall, trying to make sense of the grooves. In some areas, the lines resembled a printed circuit board while others had spiral patterns. The more she studied it all, the more she felt an odd energy in the air. Something about this room unnerved her. Lissa marched back and forth across the platform. The soft pap-pap-pap of her feet clapping the smooth metal became the loudest sound in the universe for a little while.
Out of Sight (Progenitor Book 1) Page 20