by Thomas Stone
*
The soft forest floor muffled Kathleen's footsteps. It was dark and quiet, like walking through a cathedral. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and she almost lost sight of the old man. Kathleen was scared. Not of the forest and all the strange things that dwelt there, but of what she feared might happen to her there. She thought about breaking away and making a run for it. Where would she go? The way the younger Bedoran moved, she knew escape was impossible. Besides, this was their home. Kathleen, on the other hand, had been there something short of three days. If they wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have a chance.
Dejected, she followed the old man. They walked for a long time. Kathleen's blistered feet began bothering her and she slowed a little. Kretin was right there at her shoulder so close Kathleen could feel his breath on her back. Seeing that Kretin had never set eyes on a toothbrush and, according to Bedoran custom, washed only once a month, he didn't smell very good. Kathleen continued along and tried to ignore her feet and the primitive's odor.
The old man finally slowed, then stopped and took a good look around. Kretin followed suit. Satisfied there was no immediate danger lurking in the shadows, the old man turned and faced Kathleen. Kretin moved to his side.
"Well," said Kathleen, "I guess this is it."
The old man looked at her for a long, questioning second, then said to Kretin. "I do believe the creature thinks we are going to kill it."
"And waste the meat?"
"Never mind." Facing Kathleen, he said, "I give you this staff..." He handed the spear to the woman. "...to protect against the terrors of the night. I pass the strength of the Bedorans to you and pray that the forest spirits grant you safe passage back to haven."
With that, both Bedorans took a step backward. The old man raised his hand. In his palm he held the crystal. As Kathleen watched, the stone began to glow. It flashed briefly and temporarily blinded her. By the time she recovered, both males were gone.
She frantically looked around. No sign, no sound of anything. It was as if the two aborigines had never been there.
Chapter 22
Out of all the scenarios she had imagined, being stranded in a dark forest wasn't one of them. Kathleen sat down and rubbed her feet. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. She was alive but she didn't know where she was or which way to go. Stranded on an uncharted planet and forced to wear Monte Carlo swimwear by stone-age primates.
The forest was dark and quiet. The natural sounds of the woods played havoc with Kathleen's imagination. She peered into the darkness. What to do? She considered building a fire, then thought maybe it would attract wild animals. There was nothing to build a fire with anyway. For a brief moment, panic welled up within the young woman. She took a deep breath and brought herself under control. At this point, her options were few. She could stay where she was and become the next meal for a hungry alien carnivore, or she could do something for herself. She got to her feet and headed in what she hoped was a southerly direction.
Kathleen reasoned that the team would return to the same area, probably to the same clearing, to look for her. That was where she decided to go. The problem was, which direction to go? Ten minutes of wandering and stumbling got her nowhere. Somehow, she needed to get her bearings. If she could see the sky, she might be able to figure out which way to go. She looked up into a maze of tree limbs.
All alone, the rookie astronaut stumbled on, but it wasn’t long before she stopped out into a grassy, moonlit field between the great trees.
Hiding at the edge of the darkened meadow, Kathleen watched and waited before walking into the open. The wind blew through the treetops, rustling the branches and making an easy, soothing sound. The second moon was coming up, adding to the light cast by the first. Kathleen spun around, thinking she had heard the padding of feet, or paws, upon the forest floor. Or was it her own heartbeat? Nothing but darkness behind. Seeing nothing, she turned her gaze back to the open field.
The stars twinkled overhead while the larger of the two moons dominated the sky. Out from under the forest canopy, there was plenty of light and it revealed nothing but more forest in all directions. Kathleen walked to the center of the field and looked upward, hoping to see a small point of light crossing the heavens, an assurance that her team aboard the Magellan still maintained its orbital position, but she was disappointed.
For the first time, she entertained the thought her team might have left her for good. Perhaps they had already returned to look and, unable to find her, assumed she was dead. Even now, they might be entering Earth space on their return. Kathleen forced the thoughts from her mind and looked at the sky.
Like the Earth's moon, the moons of Mia Culpa rose in the east and traveled west through the night hours. Kathleen faced the second rising moon and determined which direction to take. South was to her right. Over the trees, some miles away, she spotted a craggy peak. That was the landmark she chose to guide her way.
There was nothing but grass between her and the edge of the forest. Kathleen began walking south through the open field. Halfway across, Kathleen hesitated. She looked over the vacant, moonlit meadow, but could not shake the feeling something was watching.
She turned back to the trees and was soon within shadows again. Entering the forest again, her biggest fear was that she would spend hours traveling in circles.
A twig popped. In the calm forest, it sounded like a small caliber gun shot. Kathleen stopped, listened, and watched. Nothing showed.
Sighting a new bearing, she set off again. Off to the side, a shadow seemed to move. The wind came up. Kathleen couldn't feel it, but she could hear it in the trees above. The increased volume stayed steady for several seconds before she recognized it for what it was: the sound of air being beat by rotors. Heart pounding, she turned back in the direction of the clearing and ran as fast as she could, using the spear as a blind woman’s cane to clear the way.
Lights shone from between the tree trunks. Kathleen dropped the spear and the small bag and began to shout.
Bright lights illuminated the landing area. Kathleen ran toward them under spreading branches. Grass blew violently at the edge of the meadow under the exhaust of air fans.
She stumbled on an exposed root and nearly fell. Recovering, she ran into a shadow that came from nowhere. Incredibly strong hands gripped her by the arms and ankles. A strap was looped around her elbows and before she had time to cry out, she was pushed onto the ground. The hands that gripped her ankles jerked her legs into the air, and then, with little effort, pulled her straight up into the branches overhead.
A furry hand clamped over her mouth and prevented her from screaming. As she was dragged higher, between the branches she glimpsed the craft as it descended into the meadow. It set down and the engines shut off. Whatever held her suddenly stood absolutely still. Its breathing slowed to practically nothing and Kathleen could feel its strong, slow heartbeat.
The branches prevented Kathleen from seeing the shuttle, but she heard the sound of an opening hatch. Realizing it might be her only chance for rescue, she began to struggle. Kicking her legs free, she managed a half turn and was surprised to see the same young aborigine who had been with her since her first capture. He looked scared.
He said something incomprehensible and removed his hand. Kathleen opened her mouth and started to shout but he immediately clamped his hand over her mouth again. She tried to struggle free but he held her tightly by the strap tying her arms.
Below, someone walked into the forest. Kathleen spotted the shadow as it moved under the tree. There was something odd about it. It didn't move like a person. She stopped struggling and looked closer.
What she saw was wholly unexpected.
As the creature stepped under the branches, Kathleen saw it wasn't one of the survey team.
It walked in a strange manner, delicately picking its way along the forest floor. Its three spindly legs moved like a spider, churning quickly, then stopping as it inspected the territory. Kath
leen grew very still: this wasn't a rescue.
It seemed to be searching for something. It wandered under the trees systematically, covering one area and then moving on to another.
Arai edged closer to the trunk of the great tree. Kathleen moved with him. She didn't know what was below, but it didn't look friendly. From the boy's reaction, Kathleen knew it was dangerous.
Soundlessly, Arai untied the strap from Kathleen's arms. She stretched and the strap fell to the ground. The creature had left the immediate area but now spun about and looked for the source of the noise.
Arai pulled on Kathleen and motioned for her to follow. They moved down the branch looking for an avenue of escape. Kathleen didn't move as nimbly as her companion and inadvertently dragged a foot along the bark. The beast reacted immediately and rushed to a spot directly beneath them.
Kathleen and the boy squatted in a crook of the tree and watched from the shadows. The creature knew something was there. As the two watched, it began to emit a high-pitched sound and started to lift off the ground. Fortunately, the branches prevented it from flying freely. Both Kathleen and Arai cowered and remained perfectly still.
The monster, frustrated by its inability to search through the branches of the great tree, returned to the ground and walked back to the clearing. Arai jumped out of the shadows and beckoned for Kathleen to follow. Together, they ran as far as they could until they had to change branches. At the end of the next branch, they ran out of choices. If they were to go any farther, they would have to take to the ground.
The boy looked toward the clearing and, seeing that the coast was clear, jumped to the ground. He turned to Kathleen and motioned for her to follow. The branch upon which she stood was nearly nine feet above the ground. Kathleen didn't think she could safely make the jump, so she prepared to hang and drop.
As she positioned herself, Arai crouched and looked toward the clearing. Something was wrong. In alarm, he jumped up and ran in the opposite direction. Kathleen hesitated. Behind her the same whining sound started up again. She turned to look just in time to see the thing floating up among the branches on the opposite side of the tree. She took a breath, dropped to the ground and rolled to her feet. The boy was nowhere to be seen.
Kathleen ran under the branches until they mixed with the branches of a neighboring tree. Breathlessly, she reached the base of its great trunk and stepped around until resting with her back against the backside of one of the great roots. She peeked back in the direction from which she had just fled. The creature was on the ground and coming her way.
Taking care to keep the great tree trunk between her and the monster, Kathleen ran deeper into the forest. Behind her, the creature changed course. As she passed the next tree, she heard a singing in the air and suddenly a metallic javelin pierced the air and struck the trunk, missing her by mere inches, driving its shaft deep into the bark.
Panic took over and she ran without thought, concentrating only on moving her feet as fast as they would go. The creature had seen her and continued its pursuit. Each time she glanced over her shoulder it seemed to have gained a little more ground. Through the trees, she saw a light and changed her course toward it.
For a moment, she allowed herself to believe it was Harry and Fagen, come to her rescue. Unfortunately, the light originated from a second creature that stood beside a structure in yet another clearing set between the trees. The monster was motionless and appeared to be waiting. Kathleen ducked between two oversized tree roots. In front of her, the second tri-legged monster squatted and waited while behind her, the first one closed in.
She had only seconds before the thing reached her. There was nowhere to run without being seen, so she stood transfixed by the approaching terror.
A soft hiss came from very near. Kathleen squinted in the dark to make out a beckoning hand. It reached from the ground as if a corpse was trying to dig its way out of a grave.
She stared as it waved to her. The hissing sound came again. Steeling herself, she inched closer to the hole in the ground and looked down. Again the hand emerged from the darkness. It was the boy's hand. He had found a hole, a cave, and was now hiding within. Frantically, he waved for Kathleen to crawl inside.
Kathleen had no choice. She crawled inside the small cave. Arai moved deeper inside, giving her more room. Overhead, she heard the creature as it walked over the area. She moved deeper into the cave as a shadow fell over the entrance.
A blinding light shined into the hole followed by a long metallic shaft that stabbed into the entrance mere inches from Kathleen's face. She clapped both hands over her own mouth to keep from screaming. The shaft withdrew and then came thrusting down again at a slightly different angle, this time a little farther away. After a few more stabbing thrusts, the creature showed no more interest and went away.
For a long time, the Bedoran boy and the young woman sat in the hole without moving, listening for the creature. Kathleen wondered if it was not waiting for them, just outside. If so, how long would it wait? For that matter, what was it? And what did it want? Kathleen didn't think she wanted to know. So she waited.
Time passed. Occasionally, she was sure she heard something moving overhead, but whatever it was, it never tried to get her and the boy out of their hiding place. Kathleen was tired, dirty, and beginning to wonder if she would make it out of the situation alive. The boy slept peacefully through it all.
Light seeped into the hole and Kathleen realized she had dozed off. She started to press herself deeper into the hole then saw that the light was not artificial, it was sunlight. They had managed to survive into the morning.
Arai's eyes popped open. He wordlessly looked at Kathleen, then motioned for her to move a little to one side. She did so and the boy crawled past her. Moving slowly and deliberately, he got to his feet and peeked out. With the light, Kathleen was able to better see where she was. The hole was curiously regular. Whether it was made by erosion or by other means she couldn't tell. It was more of a small cave than just a hole in the ground, but it appeared to have caved in at the deep end. Kathleen noted that the dirt was freshly dug which ruled out erosion as the source. Arai motioned to her and she turned her attention back to the opening.
She moved into the light and crouched at the bottom of the hole. The boy stood beside her, making no move to climb out. Kathleen stood until her eyes were at ground level.
It was another beautiful day on Mia Culpa. Sunlight streamed down among the massive branches and illuminated the forest. A short distance away, Kathleen could see a small pre-fab building, obviously too sophisticated to be attributed to construction by the aborigines. There was no movement and no sign of the creatures she had seen the previous evening.
Arai, with help from Kathleen, shimmied out of the hole. Using his tail, he reached down and took Kathleen by the hand. With relatively little effort, she was lifted out. Once again, Kathleen marveled at the strength of the little fellow.
He looked at Kathleen and she could almost swear he smiled. She had no idea if a smile among the primitives meant the same thing as a smile among humans, but in any case, it didn't appear to be a hostile expression.
Outside the cave at last, the Earth woman took a quick look about. There was no activity around the low building that sat in the small clearing. It was oddly constructed. There were no windows and, at least from the side Kathleen could see, no doors either. She couldn't imagine what it was used for, much less who or what had built it.
Arai wanted to leave the area, to go in the opposite direction away from the building. Kathleen hesitated. There was no movement, nothing to indicate the presence of the strange creatures. She took a step toward the building. Arai made a whining sound. Kathleen looked back. The boy looked at her and waved his tail frantically, and then, with a pointing digit, indicated that he wanted to go the other way.
Kathleen wanted to check out the building. If there was another intelligence on Mia Culpa, an intelligence capable of building sophisticated structures, p
erhaps whoever had built it would help her contact the members of her crew aboard the Magellan. It was a long shot and she knew it, but at the moment it seemed to be her only shot. The mysterious creatures she had seen the night before were nowhere to be seen. For all she knew, they were gone.
She urged the boy to accompany her. Stubbornly, he refused. But he didn't go away either. He moved to the closest tree and climbed up into the lower branches. From his perch he watched Kathleen as she stepped toward the clearing.
The structure wasn't as large as she originally thought. It was circular and low with a portion of its roof flattened out. On the flat part was something that looked familiar, like a solar heat collector. Although the design was one she'd never seen before, the collector was a popular source of energy for people on Earth and had been for nearly two centuries. Nothing special about that. She circled the building.
The opposite side was a mirror image of the first side. It was perhaps thirty feet by forty-five with seamless walls that showed no sign of windows or doors. Its purpose was not readily apparent.
Kathleen approached the structure warily. It looked to be built from a molded material because its surface was perfectly smooth. At one end the grass was trampled as if someone had walked up to it. The trail led back into the trees, in the direction of the larger clearing.
Kathleen looked to the tree in which the boy sat. If she hadn't known exactly where he was, she couldn't have spotted him. He sat on his perch and watched her with great interest. He saw her look at him and he twitched his tail in response. Kathleen waved back and felt silly doing so.
The sun beat down on her exposed body. She thought about going back into the forest where it was cool, but decided to take a closer look at the building first.
Passing out of view of the boy, she approached the building. Two feet from the wall, she felt a tingling sensation. She stretched out her hand and felt pricks of electricity. A force field.