by Nate Johnson
“Not if we all pitch in, we could get it done in a day,” Billy added.
Epiphanies strike at the most unusual time, that’s what makes them epiphanies. Erik had learned a long time ago to grab them when they came by.
He had one now, an insight into this crew. They wanted to be challenged, they needed the challenge, don’t tell them how to solve a problem. They’re not kids, granted, they might be from privileged backgrounds, at least from his perspective, but they had each earned his/her way onto this trip through hard work and proven ability.
Smiling to himself he started pacing off steps from one corner of the tree line to the other, then back again to the half way point. Using his heel, he dragged parallel lines in the dirt, kicking aside several pieces of wood.
“What’s that?” Gene asked.
“A gate,” Erik said, then smiled and added “come on,” before heading back up to the shuttle.
He gathered everyone together except for Brenda, who was sleeping, and Jo, who was still with Professor Creshington.
Once he had their attention, he said, “As everyone saw last night, we have a problem. Those Yarks, as James called them...” there were a few chuckles - “Are obviously pretty dangerous, and I think we need to build a fence. Something across the gash.” Several heads nodded in agreement.
“So Billy, and Gene, you guys pick five workers each. One of you takes one side, the other start on the far end. And, let’s see who can get to the gate first. I figure it’s got to be over six feet tall and sturdy enough to stop one of those things knocking it over. You guys up to it?”
Both, Billy and Gene, looked gob smacked, then they each broke out in a huge grin. Erik knew immediately that he had set up the right situation, now it was just a matter of staying out of the way.
He left the group and went in to check on the Professor.
.o0o.
The morning hunt was still on. Just delayed a day.
Erik woke to find his wound almost completely healed. The Professor was not so lucky. A nasty infection had settled in where the beast had bitten her shoulder. She lay on a rear seat sweating like a stuck pig, tossing and turning in her sleep.
The Nanos should have been able to fix things, given enough time and enough energy. But, Erik wasn’t too sure. He remembered what that thing’s breath had smelled like. That yellow saliva must have been jammed packed with new and deadly germs.
His heart lurched a little when he thought about the women possibly dying. They had lost too many already. Sighing, he reached out and gently patted her good shoulder before turning to join his team.
Nora was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Her hands were on her hips again, and she looked madder than a Valdorian hen caught in the rain.
“Why do they get to go?” she asked, indicating the four boys waiting for him, each of them armed with two spears.
Erik sighed, he had hoped to avoid this.
“Because we need food, and I think this is the best combination to get some. Besides, four men will be staying behind to protect you women.” He knew he’d said the wrong thing as soon as he said it.
Her eyebrows jumped to her hairline, but before she could go off, Erik said, “Tell you what, you pick three other females, and you can go with me tomorrow. Okay? Let me try this first.”
She continued to stand there and stare at him like a bug under glass. He didn’t have time for this crap, he thought. His side hurt, he was hungrier than a Valdorian Jumbo coming out of hibernation, and everyone was watching.
Sighing heavily and shaking his head, he threw up his arms in frustration and stepped around her. “Come on guys, let’s go.” They seemed to hesitate, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Get your asses in gear!” he yelled, “or, I’ll leave you here.”
With that, he started down the slope. Not bothering to look back, but he was pretty sure that if looks could kill he’d be dead a thousand times over. God, they better get something today. Bring in fresh meat and everything would be forgiven.
The group of five crossed the ford and headed out into the plain. Erik had explained his plan and gotten general consensus. Now, it was just a matter of finding lunch. Their eyes scanned the area. They walked on the balls of their feet more than before, but after the other night’s attack that was certainly understandable.
The sun baked down, its yellow brilliance throwing everything into stark relief.
A slight wind, carrying a faint hint of dust, ruffled the grass as they moved farther onto the plain. This has to work, he thought. Pretty soon they wouldn’t have the energy to keep looking for food. He hunched his shoulders and checked his companions.
It was a good three miles into their trip before they spotted a herd of Kairns in the distance. Over a hundred animals were grazing, loosely grouped between two of the large purple trees. Erik raised a hand, halting the band, as he crouched down into the grass.
He gently motioned the others forward to join him. Their faces were masks of concern and concentration as they studied their targets.
“Okay, you guys know what to do. Give me thirty minutes to get into position. Do you understand where I’ll be?”
Each of the men nodded, not taking their eyes off the prey. Erik sighed and sent up a silent prayer, this has to work, please. His stomach growled in agreement.
He turned on his heels and duck walked through the tall grass until he’d put enough distance between himself and the large brown animals. Standing up, he started to move to their flank, being sure to always keep them in site but never close enough to spook them.
When he’d gotten well in front of the heard, he started looking for a likely spot. Finding the set of big boulders out in the middle of the plain, just where he remembered them. He crept up and knelt behind the biggest and looked over its shoulder. The herd had barely moved.
As he watched, he caught another puff of wind, confirming that it was coming from behind them and into his face. Good.
He clamped a hand over his stomach when it began to growl. His heart began to race, and they hadn’t even started yet. Wiping the sweat from his eyes, he forced himself to relax.
The Kairn closest to him lifted his head, its ears twitched as he sniffed the air. At over Sixty yards away, Erik was pretty sure he hadn’t given himself away. He waited, any moment now.
The herd started towards him. Taking a few steps, then dropping their heads and taking a bite of grass. A few more steps, then another stop. He couldn’t see the guys behind him, but he knew they were moving in. The herd felt it too.
Without warning, they were off. Sprinting towards him like their tails were on fire.
He heard a human yell behind them and thought that their ancestors, those cavemen who had dropped from the trees, would be proud.
The leader of the herd, a big buck with massive spiraling horns, raced to the front and started to lead them to the right when James jumped up and started waving his arms and began running with them. The animals immediately sprang back to the left and in Erik’s directions. With a death grip on his two spears, one in each hand, he waited, his mind racing as he got ready.
The herd was closing in fast. Much faster than he’d anticipated. He would only get one shot at this. As they drew nearer, he crouched, his leg muscles bunched, ready to spring. They were in full flight, their wild eyes huge as dinner plates. Closer, closer they came.
Now!
Jumping out from behind the rock he ran several steps and slid to a stop. Sounds fell away, his eyesight narrowed. The only thing on this planet was his target. He hurled his spear at the closest one. The javelin flew through the air straight and true. It struck low in the creature’s neck, right in front of its shoulders. Erik felt an unbelievable burst of joy at his success.
The creature screamed a weak, pitiful sound and stumbled before jumping up and running on. The spear continuing to stick out of his neck, catching itself on passing bushes.
Erik began to sprint after it. The rest of the h
erd had already passed him and was high tailing it out onto the plain. Their wounded brother already lost and forgotten.
Fighting to keep the animal in sight, he shifted the other spear to his right hand. He wasn’t going to wait for the others to catch up, he couldn’t let the animal get away to crawl into some hidden bushes and perish where they’d never find it.
It had taken almost another hundred yards before he started to overtake the beast. His side was killing him, and he was gasping for breath, but he was definitely closer. Up ahead a few drops of red blood stained the grass.
He didn’t stop to investigate, but continued on. He’d gotten to within twenty yards of the animal when it suddenly collapsed onto its knees, then onto its side. The beast’s chest heaved like giant bellows as it continued to make that weak screaming noise from deep in his throat.
Erik stopped, afraid if he approached too close, the animal would jump up and run away. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to follow it much more. Leaning over, he sucked in air while keeping an eye on it.
Memories of the farm and hog killing time flashed through his mind. Pulling his spacer’s tool from his pocket, he dropped his spear. Looking around for the others, he saw that he was all alone and would have to do this himself. Taking another deep breath, he approached, taking only one step at a time. Those horns looked as if they could skewer a man like a shish kebab.
He held the horns down as his knife flashed across the animal’s throat. It was over within seconds
.
Chapter Nine
The look on Nora’s face was priceless, Erik thought. The look on Combs' face was worth even more.
.o0o.
Nora jumped up from the fire when the men stepped into view through the fence. Each of them bent under a heavy load. Her heart raced, and her palms began to sweat. Had she really been that worried about them? About him, she wondered.
As they drew nearer, carefully stepping over broken trees and smashed wood. She noticed the bloody haunches of meat slung over their shoulders and let out an un-lady like squeal that would have upset her mother to the ninth degree.
The men approached with glistening eyes and smiles a mile wide. Erik looked directly at her and nodded his head, and then dropped the meat at her feet, before reaching back and stretching his side. She quickly scanned him for any new wounds. Then, searched his face for any troubles.
“You did it,” she said, her voice rising with each syllable.
His smile grew even bigger, as he nodded and said. “For today, anyway.”
She refused to worry, they had food for now.
Billy was already testing the meat and Jo started slicing it up with her homemade knife, the one that looked like a prison shank.
Within minutes, skewered chunks of meat were sizzling over the fire. The aroma enveloped the entire camp and drew everyone in close. Each of them stood and starred at the meat, licking their lips and wiping their hands on their uniforms.
“How’s Professor Creshington?” Erik asked.
“Not good,” Nora said. “The Nanos aren’t working as fast as they should, and I think she’s coming down with an infection.”
Shaking her head, she stared into the fire. “Brenda is worried, she’s the only one who has any medical training. A year of pre-med and volunteering at the hospital. It’s not a lot, but it’s more than the rest of us combined.”
Erik nodded, a concerned look crossing his eyes. “We’re going to have to find natural remedies for a ton of things. But, I think the infection is going to be the worse. The Nanos were designed to work in a normal environment. But, there has got to be some seriously bad bugs floating around.”
“How?”
“We’ll have to test stuff like we do for eating. The databases should be able to tell us what we’re looking for. Penicillin came from moldy bread, aspirin from willow bark. We don’t know if it’ll work on these germs, but it will be better than nothing.”
.o0o.
Erik paced besides the fire, hands clasped behind his back, wearing a path in the dirt. Twenty-two days since landing and only one death so far. He was surprised it hadn’t been a lot worse. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stopped and surveyed the camp. The group (he’d stopped thinking of them as kids) had been hit hard.
Only Jonathan, Nora, and Brenda seemed willing to work, everyone else had to be pushed into doing anything. He glanced over to the cairn of stones in front of the shuttle. God, please let Professor Creshington be the last one, he thought.
He was getting fed up with their attitude. If this had been his crew, he would have gotten them together for a blowout, a night of revelry and remembrance. Something to help them move on. But, it wasn’t his group, and they couldn’t afford to waste time.
They might be getting over the Professor's death, but there were still a lot of issues. He was pretty sure that Jo and Billy Thompson were hooking up. If they hadn’t already, then, they were close.
Erik had thought about trying to put a stop to it, but decided that the Captain’s off limits edict didn’t apply any more. At least not the off limits between students. The one between crew and students was still in force. His gut clenched up every time he thought about it.
Everyone seemed okay with the two coupling. Everyone except for James who was acting like a jealousy boyfriend. As far as Erik new, he had hardly ever talked to the girl. What did he expect?
He knew people were watching him pace, but he ignored their stares and continued, head bent, focused on his steps. They’d been able to stay ahead of the food issues. Taking a Kairn every few of days. The last one had been brought down by Combs.
Erik had taught them how to skin and dress ‘em out. Jonathan was working on figuring out how to tan the hides. He had some kind of secret project down by the river, but refused to let anyone else in on it. He’d claimed every animal hide, whether a full blown Kairn or one of the small woodchuck like creatures they had started to snare in the woods.
They’re turning into true tribesmen, he thought. They might make it, but deep down he knew they hadn’t really faced any true adversity yet. They hadn’t seen any more Yarks. But, fresh tracks were outside the fence every morning. It was almost as if they were patrolling at night, looking for an opening. He shivered when he thought about being caught outside after dark.
“Salt!” he exclaimed to himself. Then smiled when he realized everyone was looking at him like a lost roster.
“We need salt to preserve meat, we’re going to need a lot of it, and a lot of meat if we’re going to make it through the winter.” He could see their shoulders drop, and their eyes cloud over. They don’t want to think about being stuck here that long. They want to ignore everything and hope it goes away.
Grabbing his two spears, he said, “I’m headed for the beach to look around, anyone want to come?”
Silent looks of disdain greeted him. They knew the rules, no one goes out alone, but this might be one of those rules that had to be broken. He wasn’t going to order someone to come along. It was hard enough to get them out hunting. It was only the thought of hunger that made ‘em move.
He looked at each person in turn, but they all dropped their eyes or slowly shook their heads. When his gaze got to Nora, she starred back, and then nodded affirmatively.
“I’d love to go, hold on, let me get changed and do my hair,” she joked, patting the back of her head. He watched as she jumped up and grabbed another spear, then gestured for him to lead the way. He shook his head in bewilderment, just like that, she was willing to step off into the wilderness and explore new places armed with no more than a stout piece of wood and a primitive knife he had made for her. You had to admire a girl like that.
Smiling, he said to the group around the fire, “Okay guys, you play nice while were gone.”
.o0o.
Nora’s heart raced as Erik slowly opened the gate and peeked outside. Smiling, he held it wide and motioned her through. Clenching her spear, she stepped through. The outside al
ways felt terrifyingly exhilarating. Visions of Professor Creshington being dragged along the ground by the monster flashed through her mind. She shuddered and forced herself to focus.
The trail followed along the river. Wide enough for only one at a time, Erik took the lead. She had to run two steps for every fifth of his.
“Why so fast?” she demanded.
He stopped and looked back, his brow creased in confusion. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “Sorry, habit.”
He set out again, but at a slower pace. Nora hurried to catch up. Her eyes were repeatedly drawn to the wide shoulders tapering down to a narrow waste and the cutest, tightest butt any woman had ever seen.
She grounded the spear to regain her balance. Get your mind in the game Nora, the guy has let you know a thousand different ways that he’s not interested. Shaking off the sudden tightness around her heart, she focused on the area they were passing through. Repeatedly, not looking at the man in front of her.
They had traveled almost three miles when the river passed through a narrow canyon, then took a jog to the left. They stood at the apex of the curve, both of them stunned at the barren plain before them.
They looked out over a flat depression that appeared to go all the way to the sea. A lifeless, stone filled plain that looked as inviting as a hard wooden bench.
This is weird, she thought. No life, not even a blade of grass. It sent a shiver up her spine. Every step was entering a new world, not just different, new! She shifted the spear to her other hand so she could wipe the sweat from her palm.
“This is weird,” Erik said, mimicking her thoughts.
Looking up at the sun and then back along the trail they had just traversed, Erik squared his shoulders and stepped off. Nora shook her head at his arrogance. He just assumes I’m going to follow, she thought as she ran to catch up.
They proceeded more slowly than they had on the trail. Erik took his time weaving between an occasional bolder. The ground was covered in pebbles and bigger rocks the size of bowling balls. Nora kept expecting something to jump out or fly over. She rubbed the back of her neck and held her hair away, trying to find some coolness. The sun seemed hotter the farther away they got from the shade.