by Greg Curtis
“He can’t do much else. Not and let his people maintain any pride. He won’t harm your people. If just the knowledge of his ancestor’s actions is so terrible, acting with violence would be so much worse. And that would in all likelihood create a war. All four other races would band together for their common good, and he knows that. My guess is he’s just trying to buy some time.” Cyrea understood what he couldn’t bring himself to say, and answered his fear. He just hoped she was right because unfortunately he wasn’t so sure. The Mentan had already done things he couldn’t do, and he was quickly being backed into a corner by events. He was desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
But even if she was right which was all very well, it still left them with the prospect of being stranded on a world in the middle of nowhere, with very little hope of being found.
He rubbed his middle, feeling the comforting weight of whatever items he’d managed to steal from the creature. As well as the stuff he’d grabbed from the cabin when the panic had begun, Cyrea’s hand laser, the rest of the learning tapes and player, his own survival toys and a handful of Cyrea’s mini-robots were all neatly stacked away in the army jacket’s multitude of hidden pockets. God bless the army. He wanted to show them to her, to tell her all about it, but he had the terrible feeling they were under observation. Maybe it was paranoia, but he knew he couldn’t take the chance.
Besides, though he hadn't told Cyrea as she had enough to deal with, he understood that this wasn't the first time the Mentan had struck at them. The fact that her shuttle had gone down for no apparent reason. The other accidents. There were no accidents. Though he had no explanation for how he'd done it, David knew it was him. He had been determined to end the Leinians' mission to Earth and what better way to do it than a nice, public shuttle crash. He'd been trying to stop the information getting out for a long time.
It was at that moment that the turbulence suddenly hit them and he forgot everything else in his sudden panic. Inside the tiny pod they felt as though a giant hand had suddenly caught them, and then started playing catch. He stared at Cyrea’s worried face and saw his own reflected. But she wasn’t surprised by this turn of events. Even having been strapped in, David realised he still hadn’t understood the nature of the trip. He had somehow assumed that this was going to be another silky smooth ride, like everything else the Leinians had offered. Instead it looked like being something much rougher.
“Quick. Get in position.” Cyrea leaned her head back against the head rest and pushed her hands firmly under her buttocks. The seat responded to her position, the head rest suddenly growing into a ring that moulded to her skull, and the straps around her tightened, holding her rigid in the seat’s embrace. David quickly copied her and his seat did likewise. In a second he was bound tighter than any mummy, completely incapable of moving and barely able to breathe.
He tried to say something, anything, but Cyrea beat him to the punch, telling him swiftly not to. He’d bite his tongue in half. Instead he concentrated on breathing, and calming his heart rate, which was going through the roof.
It was cramped and uncomfortable, but he was grateful for the security of the seat and its belts when the pod started shaking and rocking like a leaf in a tornado. Had he been able to move a muscle, he would surely have broken something. The buffeting got worse as they fell towards the land so far below. Sounds began assailing them, the noise of a giant roaring in pain and rage, while he rolled the pod like dice. The nausea swiftly became unbearable as he stared at the roof, three feet in front of him, concentrating on it, while his inner ear told him he was spinning completely out of control. But somehow he kept his breakfast down, knowing it would only end up all over him if he didn’t.
They kept falling for what seemed like hours, and he wondering constantly how far from the ground they were. And all the while visions of the small craft burning up like a satellite on re-entry kept running through his mind. Surely, he kept telling himself, the Leinians had thought of that. Their life-pods would have heat shields, just like the space shuttle. But the longer they fell, the worse those thoughts became, and the hotter the air inside seemed to get.
Then, when he least expected it, the seat restraint suddenly tightened even further, and he could only take very shallow breaths, something he hadn’t expected. Instantly he realized that the reason was surely that the ride was about to get rougher still. But how much rougher? Naturally he panicked, and even as he tried to escape his bondage he watched the edges of his vision go dark. He was running out of air and panicking at the same time, which was using up more air again. And he couldn’t even turn his head to see if Cyrea was okay, or if this was normal.
All he knew as the darkness claimed him was that this was not the first landing by a human being on another world that he had dreamed of.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Strange sounds and sun light were what brought him back to the world. David realized he’d passed out somewhere on the way down, though he didn’t remember it. He didn’t really remember waking up either. But what did make it through to his tired brain was that they were on the ground. On an alien planet. They were marooned.
The pod had opened up, the steel wall somehow vanishing, and he was staring up at a strangely yellow sky. An alien sky. A few hundred yards away he could see another life pod, and another not that far behind it, all looking like steel eggs, half blackened from cooking. But each of the eggs had opened up like theirs as if someone had taken the top off with a knife, and inside he could see the occupants in each of them, all of them looking every bit as shell shocked as he felt. But at least they were alive.
One by one they staggered out of the life boats; the craft having mysteriously opened by themselves and the seats having returned to a more normal shape and David did the same. What else was there to do?
It was confusing at first, standing up on an alien world, the more so for the disorientation that was making his head spin at first. But as the dizziness passed, the sights and sounds of an alien world made themselves known to David, and it was only his thoughts that were in turmoil. But they were becoming ever worse. On the one hand they were marooned, possibly forever, on an alien world, and on the other he was on an alien world. He was in fact the first human being ever to set foot on one. He spent the longest time simply staring wildly, his mouth opening and closing without a sound coming out, trying to take it all in.
They were in a valley. A giant green valley fully five kilometres across that was dotted with pods like silvery mushrooms. He counted twenty and knew there should be more, but he didn’t worry. The extra half dozen or so pods would surely not be too far away. Under his feet the grass was deep and green, but further afield it was yellow and red, and all under a slightly yellowish sky. Tree’s which looked like climbing frames with leaves were mixed in among the pods, and small flying animals circled them. They could have been birds, but they weren’t. Birds have feathers and only two wings. These had fur and four wings which flapped in two separate beats. First the front wings and then the rear, until the bird seemed to be doing butterfly in the air.
The aroma of the world impacted itself upon him, and he suddenly breathed deep. It was a heady fragrance, pungent and somehow spicy, but not unpleasant. An odour he’d never smelled before. Nor had any other human being.
A pair of hands he knew well, suddenly held him around the waist, and steadied his thoughts even as they steadied his legs.
“You okay?” He immediately nodded to her, then suddenly realising that it wasn’t enough, he picked her up and kissed her.
“I'm fine. You?” They were alive after a fall that he still couldn’t quite believe hadn’t killed them, and he was on an alien world! The first human being ever to set foot on another planet! One day he thought, he might even be famous, assuming they ever got out of this. The next Neil Armstrong! Except that he suddenly realised he didn’t have a clever line to say. Nothing for history to record. In fact his first words had been 'I'm fine. You?'. Th
e historians would hang their heads in shame when they found out. If they found out.
“I’m okay, Love. Just a bit dizzy.” David knew that feeling.
“We should go and greet the others.” Cyrea’s face appeared in front of him and he instantly agreed with her. In fact he started walking towards them before he even understood he was moving. But soon his thoughts caught up with his legs.
“Are you all right?” Cyrea seemed fine actually, but for some reason he had to check, again. He was horrified that he hadn’t thought to check immediately, especially when she was pregnant. But she reassured him that she was, and soon they started on their way towards the base of the valley. No doubt this wasn’t quite such an event for her as it was for him. This was not her first alien world, only the first she had been stranded upon.
Far ahead of them they could see the others also making their way in pairs to the centre of the valley; it was the logical place to meet. And there was some sort of structure there. No-one he noticed, was shouting or waving. If anything the silence of the valley was intensifying as they drew closer. No-one wanted to say anything. No-one knew what to say.
As they approached one of the trees, David saw that his initial impression of it had been accurate. It actually looked like a climbing frame with easily two dozen trunks growing out of the ground and branching and interweaving with each other in a complex maze of colour and angles. Leaves shaped like miniature Christmas trees hung on all sides. Just like the grass a profusion of green, yellow and red flowed over the bare trunks, giving life to the dark brown. In the higher branches he could see what he thought might be nests, but no faces stared back at him. Either the furry four winged birds of this place had fled, or else had hidden so well that they couldn’t be seen.
He was tempted to stand and wait for them to reappear, but Cyrea was in a hurry to be with the others. No doubt she wanted to tell them what she and David had discussed, and also find out if they had any idea of how to get off this planet. She wasn’t alone.
They carried on, heading down the valley towards company. But finally David’s thoughts had returned to something like working order, as he remembered what he’d done, and more importantly what he had in his jacket.
“Do you think the Mentan could be watching us now?” The paranoid agent he had been for so many years finally returned as he realised he still had to show her what he’d managed to steal. But he couldn’t afford that information to get back to their captor. Who knew what the Mentan would do if he found out. And Cyrea’s mad rush to the meeting place to discuss plans was exactly the action he would expect of everyone else. It wouldn’t have taken much forethought on the Mentan’s part to place a bug near where they’d meet.
“I doubt it. He may have put a bug on the central depot he’s left for us, but it’s not important. We can’t leave and we can’t call for help, so why would he care what we do?” Her voice was flat as she admitted the futility of their situation, and he knew she had been hit harder by that then she showed. Immediately he held her tight to him, making sure she knew he loved her and that at least they had each other. But he was also making sure she knew what he was carrying. Especially since he didn’t.
“Good. I think I have something to tell you.” He pulled her to him, even more tightly, forcing the objects into her flesh. She felt the bumps, surprised but initially not that curious. After all, what could they matter? But he kept placing her hands on them, making her feel their hard metallic shapes, and slowly she started to pay more attention.
Then he unzipped the front of his army jacket, allowing her to feel the solid lumps of what he’d stolen, and then as she reacted, guided her hands to each and every one of them. One by one he brought them out and held them close between them, directly under her nose for her to see, but refused to let her say anything. Every time she tried he just kissed her, until she got the idea. He still wasn’t sure that they weren’t under observation, but he had to be certain. And besides it was a pleasant way to pass the time.
Each object he showed her she held closely, inspecting it, and several he saw made her eyes widen. He just hoped it was a good sort of surprise.
“How did you get these?” She whispered it at him, suddenly caught up in his paranoia. But then she too had been victimized by listening devices.
“You don’t want to know!” Which was only the truth. When she found out he knew she was likely to be upset. Of course she wasn’t happy with his answer either and he wilted a little under her cool gaze.
“Let’s just say your friend and mine had a bit of a spill and I took advantage of his distraction.” He smiled at her and she stared calmly back, still trying to assess just what had happened. He knew she would ask again, until she found out and then she’d probably be mad. She didn’t appreciate any heroics by him. Not since he had so nearly died facing down Dimock. Especially not since she'd found out she was pregnant. But it wasn’t important. Not compared with getting off this world.
“You look cold my love.” And before she could react and deny his words, after all it was a warm day and she had her own clothes, he had taken off his jacket and was dressing her in it. After her initial denial she readily accepted the jacket, understanding that he was really giving her the items he’d stolen.
“Is there hope?” He whispered perhaps the most important question of the day into her ear, as he kissed her cheek. She kissed him back very hard.
“Just maybe. I don’t know what all of them are, but one of them is a communicator.” She would have told him more, but he didn’t need to know. He couldn’t help anyway, and besides it was more fun to kiss her and dream of getting out of here.
In time they resumed their trek down to the others, who were starting to arrive and mill around the depot like a gaggle of geese.
“Folks!” He shouted it, knowing he had to take the initiative. The others were just as lost and confused as he was, but not nearly as paranoid as they needed to be.
“I expect that our friendly pirate has left us a few presents, those he promised us, and a few he never mentioned. One of them I’m certain will be a bug. If any of you have any ideas as to how to get off this mud ball, for God’s sake don’t mention it anywhere near the supply depot, and don’t let him see anything either.” They stared at him, some wondering if he’d gone mad, others clearly wondering if he could be right. They’d never considered the possibility. He saw a few guilty stares and knew several had been discussing exactly that. Others, those who spoke English, translated his words for the rest and one by one he saw more worried looks appearing.
Before they had any chance to tell him he was a paranoid imbecile, Cyrea and he marched off, heading for a flattish area five hundred meters away, complete with some bush cover between them and the supply depot. At that range surely they couldn’t be seen or heard easily. Not without specialist telephoto equipment, and hopefully the Mentan wouldn’t have thought of it. As Cyrea had said, the Mentan wouldn’t really see how they could get off this world, so there was no need to watch them.
It was a gentle walk up a slight rise, and the sun was shining. Apart from the colours and the trees, it could almost be a pleasant stroll through a garden on Earth, and for a while he tried to imagine it was. In the end though, it was just a shame that it wasn’t. They held hands anyway.
Ten minutes later they reached the shelter of the single tree that stood nearby, and sat down waiting for the others to arrive. Sure enough they were following, a trail of single individuals followed by a clump as the rest decided to follow. The first to arrive were the ones who accepted or who had at least listened to his arguments; the rest were the followers. He noticed that most of the ship’s crew were in the first group, their passengers in the trailing clump.
As each person arrived, Cyrea and he suggested that they sit down nearby, while they waited for the rest to come. They both had to do it because only he and Cyrea had translators with them and he knew that the others would have limited English at best. Meanwhile his Leinian w
as pitiful. With the device in his ear he could understand them, but they wouldn't understand him. The first few sat down quietly enough, but the latecomers moaned about the inconvenience of it all. That was pretty much as he had expected.
Cyrea however, had had about enough trouble for one day, and when the grumbling grew too loud she decided to take control. She stood up, and pretty much ordered them to sit down, to which most responded pretty well. It wasn’t that they knew her from a bar of soap, or because they respected her rank as an officer. It was because she seemed to have some idea of what to do, something the rest of them lacked. In very short order, the fifty two crew and passengers were seated in a very large ring, all looking at her with something akin to hope in their eyes.