Weathering Storms

by Taborri Walker

  Yes… but here. I want to focus on the dining hall. Watch the entire day from in there.

  Then you have a problem… make that 2 or more.

  What? Sesha felt some irritation. It was a good idea! Hide up in the rafters and watch…

  Well, you’re going to get cold in the shadows up there. Hot world inhabitants have natural cooling systems but you know you get cold much faster without sun or other form of heat. Too cold, you pass out.

  So I take breaks and slip outside.

  Not easy to do in camo mode. We’ve seen this building is busy all the time, Sesh, except for that nightly meeting. Getting in and out will be exceptionally hard.

  Next?

  Eating and voiding. Smells will drive you nuts, you know that. And while you could get the wafer out and to your mouth unseen, you must have the fluid too or have a bad reaction. Not even a standard ton-weighing Sirl-frac from Quarra’s fourth moon can handle a dry wafer. You get the bottle out, you will be seen. Instant chaos.

  Well then, there’s just one answer to this problem, Shni.

  Don’t you dare!

  What other choice do I have?

  There was a long silence from her computer as she stood in the growing dark. Then,

  You’ll need to go back to the shuttle to do that, Sesh. Let’s get going so we can get back.

  To perform this part of the spying mission, Sesha needed to access a rarely used feature of the Aga Zero suit. This suit was never supposed to be used by anyone below the military rank of Master Soldier Third Rank. It was Head’s code that kept the suit locked away but even she didn’t have the actual activation code. That was stored in the Brain to be confirmed by the soldier after boarding, for whatever reason that Being would be needed.

  But Sesha, in her illegal poking and prodding through computer files, had found the Aga Zero and wanted to see it, even try it one at least once, in private, so she did some more rooting and skulking and came up with the command codes for releasing the suit and using it. She placed the codes in a secret file all her own and waited for the day. She just never dreamed the day would be like this!

  As Sesha ran down the wide path she considered what she wanted the Aga Zero to do for her. The wearer could be, in effect, invisible. The suit caused light to bend around it as well as blending in with the surroundings and somehow not even casting a shadow made for almost perfect invisibility. The only problem was the hidden being might be heard breathing and walking under certain circumstances, there was always a chance of being bumped into, so she would have to be extraordinarily careful – that was, if she could get the Aga Zero to perform the function.

  When the technology had been made, the manufacturers programmed in a special clause. Primary access to the program was from a qualified Protector. But there was a second article that allowed access. It was much more difficult, requiring exact verbiage and unemotional phrasing. The request must prove a life-or-death need for the program, and that was determined not only by the Brain, but by the suit itself! Sesha and her Gem program carefully discussed possibilities until she got into the shuttle and powered up just the Brain there and connected the suit’s computer to that.

  Speaking succinctly, Sesha laid out the damage to the ship’s shields and Brain, the trapped and soon-to-die crew and her need for the ocean water. All the details she knew were fed into the program by Shni, then Sesha shut up and waited. Her Wrist Gem went totally blue as it worked in conjunction with the suit and shuttle for several minutes, and then lit up with the answer. It was the code to type in to start the program!

  Sleep at least 5 hours, Sesh. We’ll get back to the camp and in well before sunup.

  That was a good idea, even though she woke up so stiff that at first she thought she was paralyzed. Slowly she just flexed muscles until they loosened up, then started moving carefully until she gained her feet. A little munch from her almost gone supplies, a good drink of what little regular water the ship carried and she shut down the Brain – after telling it thank you – and reset the camouflage.

  Let’s do it, Sesh, with a nod, the woman keyed in the code.

  It was eerie. Everything still appeared to her entirely normal, unchanged in the least, but trusting the suit, Sesha walked right along the road into the city and despite the torches kept burning at prime locations best for seeing anything coming or going, she wasn’t seen at all. Sesha even dared to walk normally and not disguise her breathing, as quiet here just wasn’t needed.

  The dining hall was empty, and setting the gravity on her suit to almost nothing, Sesha just pushed up on her toes and soared to the rafters. At the end of the place she settled in a seat flush to the wall on a brace and snoozed until noise made her open her eyes.

  A group of women entered and set about their tasks with a minimum of talking. Lamps were lit, stoves stoked back into flame and the bustle of fixing the first meal of the day began. Under the cover of all the noises of cooking, they talked quietly and Sesha and the program soaked it up. According to her chronometer, 30 minutes after sunup brought in the camp’s population. Now young men went right to the stoves, taking baskets that had been prepared and leaving with them while other females laid out crude dishes and eating implements.

  Before sitting, the Leader spoke loudly but thankfully briefly. Sesha guessed a longer chanting - probably thanking a deity for the food instead of the cooks - would render it cold and less palatable.

  They settled by rank first; the Leader and his cadre, several other men, probably apprentices, then other men, families and finally unattached women. A real study on the social order of things, here. At least the food was evenly divided among tables although the men served themselves first, then women served the children, females last. Talk was extremely soft, the flowery language of the Leader except when speaking to children. All food put on plates was finished somehow; Sesha saw several ease food from one plate to another.

  As soon as most of the men were finished, one of those at the head table read off a list, Sesha and Gem was sure it was chores. Other names were read off for specialty things; more language was needed to understand it all but some faces looked angry, upset or set hard to stay neutral. Another set of people collected all the dishes, some others filled up some other plates and set them aside. Leftovers were put back on sideboards for further distribution.

  And as Shni predicted, Sesha was having a lot of problems. The smells, while a lot foreign, were marvelous. The bread especially! Some kind of dough that fluffed up into rounds that pulled apart easily.

  Should I try?

  Keep the gravity very low, hon, and activate the sticky mode too. Crawl across the beams then face down. Stroke the fingers on your glove and the material will stretch. Snag no more than 2, though. Scans already say the breads and herb-like items are edible. Not so sure about the meats, I’ll need samples.

  The room was almost cleared out so Sesha rose and began stepping carefully so as to not drop any dust or shavings down to alert the people below, and noticed.

  These beams are clean as a whistle, Shni, and then she saw why. Four girls came, two with buckets of steaming water, the other two with four odd implements.

  “Please to finish with the food, friends. Tuesday we wipe down the rafters.”

  “Almost done,” one of the older women turned and smiled, a genuine one. As she did, Sesha scrambled down the wall and snatched two pieces of the bread just inches from her hands, then crawled crosswise and up to the inverted V of the ceiling. The suit stuck there and while she ate – slowly – she watched. The implements were long poles with another piece off the end like a scythe would be, but flat. Cloth surrounded that. It was dipped in the hot water, allowed to drip then lifted onto the rafters and pushed back and forth across. Wet pieces were pulled off; dry ones put on and the clean wood was dried, including the sides and bottom for drips.

  “We’ll be back in a minute to wash tables,” another girl said and they took the tools out. By the time they returned Sesha was in her sp
ot again.

  She stayed there the entire day, twice more filching something to eat and water to drink. By dipping a finger in, the suit activated a program that purified the fluid. The suit also kept her body responses quelled until there would be a time Sesha could leave to void. Not much to worry about there; she’d had so little lately her body would use almost all of it. When the fires were banked and the last person in the building was in what she now knew was called a ‘Church,’ Sesha got down and daringly used one of the draughts, as they called them, to void. It was painful and her Wrist Gem lit up a warning about dehydration. Couldn’t be helped. Not knowing what to expect plus the fact that almost everything extra she needed was locked away, Sesha was down to the most basics for survival. If something didn’t happen soon, she figured she’d end up like the bodies in the ravine: dead.

  Now on her fourth day in camp Sesha followed a group of women. When passing men, they used the flowery speech and kept their faces down, hands tight to the breasts as they hurried by. The Gem didn’t bother translating that, just recording.

  These women joined others in a large room where several large pieces of equipment were set up. Standing in a far corner, Sesha watched as they wove cloth and talked in a more understandable vein… now her Gem worked fine, translating the chat about what they missed from where they’d come from, how hard life was and how discontented they were, but there was no way out. When some men stomped in to announce needing someone for an extra chore, Sesha slipped out with them.

  Next she followed some men into the forest on the other side and saw a very clever set up. Instead of having to hunt regularly, this was a trap area. Animals were lured in by salt licks and kept confined. All ages and different types were in separate areas. All they had to do was rope and shoot what they needed, then drag the body out. From there Sesha got four different blood samples.

  While they are edible, dear, they’re extremely borderline. It’ll cause serious upset if you eat very much of it, so try to avoid it, especially those larger ones. See how they cook the small ones before you try any, okay?

  If we can work this right I won’t have to eat any of it, was her wry answer.

  Turning, Sesha went back into the camp and from there crossed to the fields and carefully stuck to the plowed rows and observed the plant life carefully. Scans were run and yes, the non-flesh foods were edible. Good. She’d come back later and harvest some. The Nestram woman then crossed to an area of tall plants that weren’t being bothered and laid down to rest for a while. The people left the field before she thought they would, so she carefully picked a large amount of different colored fruits and carried them off with her for consumption.

  “It’s been four days now, I’ve watched. Haven’t seen a sign of the two who were beaten, which bothers me. I wonder if they’ve died and were just buried or burned somewhere.”

  “I understand dear, but now we need to figure out what to do.” Shni came out again; happy to see him Sesha stepped in for a hug so quick he solidified just enough and gave what she needed. “Talk to me.”

  8

  The next morning found her – them, Sesha had already created an attachment to her Program above the norm – down in the ravine. All functions of the suit were off, it was open to just past her tiny breast-valley and she was already sweating.

  “Think that’s enough?” Sesha collapsed onto the hill to the side of the huge animal where it was eagerly chewing on the green vegetation she’d ripped up and thrown down. Seeing flat teeth for sure this time said ‘vegetarian’ so she pulled stuff from the ground that looked like what was in the wild animal traps to give. As it ate Sesha turned on the scanner and took a reading of the animal.

  “Just a bit more… it’s almost comfortable, already processing the food into energy. This time, hold the food; see if it takes it from you without acting savage. Its job was to pull the conveyance so it must have been tame at one time.”

  Unable to quell the fear, Sesha nonetheless did as suggested. The beast stretched to the end of his tether to reach the food so she advanced and it gave an odd noise, but ate and didn’t bite her. Daring, the woman reached out and gently touched the top of its nose, feeling the coarse fur. It looked, then rubbed up, enjoying the touch. Sesha kept bringing handfuls and stroking until Shni said no more.

  The animal tried to lie down but couldn’t for the wood that held it; against the Wrist Gem’s advice, Sesha undid it and grateful, it lay down.

  “What if it can’t get up again?”

  She just shook her head.

  Next was the bodies. Gagging from the stench, Sesha started to pull the first body out and it began to come apart so she backed off.

  “Idea, girl… in the emergency supplies there’s an ultra-thin plastic sheet. Spread it out on the ground at the rear, zip up and get a boost from the computer to heave it up. It’ll tumble everything out and you can drag it down more.”

  “I love you, Shni,” was her reply. But it didn’t stop the smell and twice Sesha stopped to throw up stomach fluid, for that was all she had, using the energy wafers and fluid. This was a horrible chore that events were forcing on her! Sesha cursed frequently until the bodies were settled far enough away that she couldn’t see them anymore. She didn’t worry about burying them, because it was a certainty that there would be animals that would devour dead flesh. Since this living beast was this big and a vegetarian, then it was lower on the food chain and there would be ones that would even eat the bones of these poor people. If there was any left after the multitude of insects was finally done with them!

  Sesha collapsed near the creature again and it moved its head her way so she rubbed the top and scratched ears. It made more noises, but didn’t seem distressed so she kept on.

  “I’m thinking, Shni,”

  “That’s why I’m smelling smoke,” he joked and Sesha grinned but snarled back.

  “T’remui,” she insulted and he ‘oo’ed his mouth and shook a finger at her. “All three bodies fell a lot out of clothes; what’s left of them indicated violence done to them. They might have been ones who fled that madman and died.”

  “Possible, but I note a few things too,” the construct put in and Sesha grabbed her nose and gagged. He put his long, slender, pointed tongue out an impossible distance, curled the end into his nose and flicked a holo-booger at her, which vanished at the field’s edge. “This cart is a different design than the few we saw there. Despite the breakage from rolling down, the seams appear to have been caulked for water-tightness. The body is almost a wide canoe – sharper corners to make bow and rudder so it would be hard to steer.”

  “So you think whoever made this tried to escape by ocean? What about the animal? They don’t swim too well, I gather.”

  “Lemme do some assuming,” Sesha just rolled her eyes at that but leaned back and listened. Shni sat himself on her very slender tummy cross-legged, his tail wrapped around his waist.

  “Let’s say that a while ago… I’m betting this decay is a lot older than we know, that these people decided they had to get out of there. Probably snuck the horse down the shore a ways as it’s pretty navigable. You just had too much fun jumping off the rocks.” He smiled when she snorted. “I’m betting they built this odd craft in secret too, maybe carting pieces down far enough to not be heard building it, then finally launched. They came ashore finally and finding enough of a path took it. Probably ran afoul of the natives and in fleeing, crashed down here and died. So?” he arched a finely plucked eyebrow to finish the question.

  “Where in the Seven moons of Y’kale’s Hell do you get these stories?” the tone wasn’t as light as she wanted, but she was trying.

  “Millions of tales from thousands of cultures, you know that,” Shni’s answering smile was gentle.

  “Okay, you’re most likely right. But I’m thinking that somehow we get this damn thing up and on the road,”

  “Shuttle has a winch,”

  “I put on the woman’s attire, we get this beast to w
alking – I hope – close enough to the camp to be found.”

  “And you would be what?”

  “Well, skin tone is a bit different – so is the native’s that-a-way,” she jerked her thumb in the general direction, “so what’s to say people from other areas on this planet aren’t too? That and language… even though I have a basic grasp now, they don’t know that. I’ve eight languages in my repertoire, and if I gabble in any of them, they’ll think I’m from far away, which should take care of the skin color difference too.”

  “Let’s hope it covers blood too – yours is more pinkish-yellow, but dry its brighter red. That might change though, depending on how much of the food you keep down. It’s the meats that worry me… your alien blood may not be at all compatible with crudely processed meats and whatever bloods are undrained. If you do this wild plan, be sure you only eat meats cooked extremely well, preferably with lots of fluid. This could be dangerous, not just because you could be discovered to be otherworldly, but because the foods and germs here could kill you even quicker. Open wounds, Sesh, even covered invite things to breed that you’re not inoculated against.”

  “Let’s go get the winch,” was all she answered and rose. To her surprise – and relief – the animal got up too and made more noises. “I’ll be back,” she stroked its face again and before leaving, threw down a few more greens to munch on.

  Sesha was glad of the devices added to the basic shuttle. The Company who made the ships had made shuttles at a basic edition; meant only for to-and-from planet for Beings and purchases. But when not in TravelSleep, the Engineers spent a lot of time tinkering, modifying anything possible. They shopped too; purchases for the ship were line-itemed and automatically approved so the technicians went wild. All shuttles were now armed, had super-specialized winches and were being fit with something to make each one unique. This one hadn't been updated further, but the winch was all she cared about.

  First thing Sesha did, though, was access the sensor logs and get an idea of this area of landmass from the brief scans she’d done on the way down.