To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy)

by Thomas Stone

  "How far can we let it go without doing something?"

  Bonner looked at his watch. "If we don't hear something from Fagen in another hour, I think we should prepare to bug out."

  "Oh, yes," Nadine said and wrapped her strong arms around the engineer's neck, "that's what I wanted to hear."

  Chapter 29

  Something stuck Harry in the side. He'd felt it for some time but was just now getting uncomfortable with it. It was a knot on the inside of the log. The dawning light was sufficient to allow him to peer from his cubbyhole and scan the surrounding forest. All was quiet. He slipped out of the hollow log and crouched as he took a good look in all directions.

  Nothing moved except for the occasional breeze passing through the upper branches. He got up and began walking back toward the tree where he had spent half the night. It wasn't far and he identified it easily by the deep, clean burns in the bark.

  He approached it warily, but there was no need. No one was there. No sign of anyone. On the opposite side he found one of the helmets. It was crushed and useless. There were no spent cartridges. Harry was sure he'd heard shots being fired.

  As he walked over the site, he tried to imagine what had happened. He could see where the first alien had appeared and where it had fired and missed. Marks on the ground and the tree attested to the hot beam of the laser weapon.

  Beam weapons required a lot of power. Power storage for such devices was bulky and heavy, quite difficult to lug about. That's why Fagen had left theirs back at the shuttle. Even so, the energy drain was so great they could only fire the weapon in bursts. Before the next shot could be fired, the system had to recycle.

  The weapon he'd seen last night didn't have any of those characteristics. It fired a varied beam in broad strokes several times within a short span. But still, it had missed. That was odd. Such impressive technology would surely have processor-guided aiming devices. Harry should have been hit, but he wasn't. It was odd.

  He walked under the branch Fagen had used for his escape and found the place where he'd jumped to the ground. From there, it looked as though he had run to another tree. Sure enough, when Harry got there, he found the shell casings. There was still no sign of Fagen or Parker or anything to indicate where they'd gone.

  If they escaped the aliens, Harry reasoned, they would continue to press on to the shuttle. Suddenly afraid he might be left stranded, Harry set out to find the craft.

  He knew it wasn't far. The armor he wore was uncomfortable and he considered removing it, but decided against it while he was still lost in the forest. It would feel good to get back to the shuttle and remove the bulky suit.

  Harry picked his way between the trees, occasionally stopping to scan the forest ahead. He walked for forty minutes without seeing anything. By then, he began looking ahead for the clearing that held the shuttle. He didn't see it, so he continued his course for another thirty minutes. By then, he realized he was lost.

  *

  One hundred yards from the clearing, Fagen and the doctor sat behind the cover of a mammoth tree trunk. They had been there for a little under an hour, watching for movement and signs of the aliens. There was nothing to indicate the aliens had discovered the shuttle.

  "Let's just make a run for it," Parker suggested.

  Fagen didn't take his eyes from the clearing and didn't reply.

  "How long are we going to wait?"

  "Until I'm satisfied the shuttle's not being watched."

  "Edward," Parker said, exasperated, "we've been here an hour and haven't seen anything. We need to check in with Bonner and Nadine."

  "All right, all right. Stay here while I check things out." Fagen rose and worked his way closer to the shuttle. Parker watched as the commander approached the vehicle.

  At a distance of forty yards, Fagen stopped. The hatch was open. Perhaps Kathleen had made it back. Or maybe Harry had beat them back. Or maybe there was another possibility, maybe the aliens had located the shuttle and now waited to spring an ambush. Fagen squatted behind a log and watched.

  *

  Unfortunately, the homing signal emitted from the shuttle was useless without a receiver. Harry's receiver was built into his helmet, and he had dropped it in the confusion of the chase. The forests were nothing like the city streets of Earth. Every few yards looked like the last few yards. Even after he knew he was lost, he doggedly continued until he was sure he had gone in a circle. There was no other way, he had to re-trace his steps to the point where he had gone off track.

  Time was of the essence. If Fagen and Parker had managed to survive and if they beat him back to the shuttle, there was a high possibility that he would be left behind. Harry had to find the shuttle. And soon.

  He started back on the same path, deviating slightly in hopes that the correction would lead him to the clearing. After fifteen minutes of walking, he caught a glint of sunlight reflecting off a smooth surface. His first thought was that he'd found the shuttle and he almost starting running. That would have been a mistake. As he made his way forward, he once again saw the reflected sunlight. It wasn't reflected off the metal hull of the shuttle-craft, instead it glinted off the metallic body of an alien.

  The alien was turned away from Harry. Harry didn't take comfort in the knowledge. Sensors could see in 360 degree circles and the creatures were almost certainly equipped with instruments that permitted them to detect movement from all directions. Harry ducked behind the base of a tree.

  The alien remained where it was and didn't appear to have noticed him. For a moment, Harry thought about backtracking and detouring. It wouldn't be easy. The forest was thin there and the alien stood in a place that allowed it to see for a thirty or forty yards in all directions. At least there was only one this time.

  Making his decision, Harry began backing up, all the while keeping an eye on the monster. He stepped on a small, dry branch and it broke with a crack that sounded to Harry as if a gunshot had been fired. The sound echoed through the forest and the alien shifted toward its source.

  Harry dove for cover behind some brush, but it was too late, the alien had seen him and was now coming his way.

  Harry desperately looked for a place to hide. There wasn't much to choose from. Without another thought, he began to burrow his way under the brush and fallen branches. He dug his hands into the earthy vegetation and felt something cold and slimy shudder at his touch. In surprise, Harry fell backwards.

  The giant worm reared up and thrashed its head one time, then turned earthward and bore down out of sight. Harry glanced up and saw that the approaching alien was only seconds away. A loud pop sounded and a beam of laser light sprang from the creature, creasing Harry's arm and igniting a small fire in the pine needles.

  There was no longer time to consider his next move. Harry reacted out of instinct and tumbled into the worm tunnel, dragging his weapon along after. The worm drilled through the soft soil quickly, leaving behind a tunnel large enough for a man to crawl through. Harry made the best use of it and quickly followed the burrowing creature.

  Above, the alien reached the entrance and withdrew a device from its utility belt. A unwinding tube, seeming to have a life of its own, extruded and snaked down into the hole.

  Ahead, he could see nothing. The worm was not far away but it moved faster than Harry. He looked backward and saw the tube dangling in the air not three feet away. The thing jerked forward another foot and Harry grabbed it with both hands. It squirmed and twisted as if it were alive. Harry wrestled with it and tried to break the end off. With a sudden twist, the tube broke free and withdrew. Harry pressed on into the darkness until he tumbled into a different tunnel. It was a stroke of good luck and it allowed him to change directions. But now it was completely dark. Harry could see nothing; he might as well have his eyes closed. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anything else in the tunnels besides himself and the worms. He briefly wondered if they were carnivorous.

  In the next few minutes, he changed tunnels twice. His sen
se of direction was hopeless, all he could hope was that if he kept moving he would be able to avoid the aliens and eventually find a way out. He didn't think the aliens could follow, the tunnels were too small for that, but as sophisticated as their gear was, they could probably track him underground. If that was so, he didn't stand a chance.

  The sounds of the drilling worm had vanished. It was dark and silent and Harry knew the tunnel could very well end up as his tomb. What if he couldn't find his way out? And what if he could? The aliens would be waiting.

  He found a wide place in the tunnel and sat for a while. What a predicament. He thought about Kathleen and hoped she was still alive and had found her way back to the shuttle. Things didn't look too good. He might never get a chance to see her again. It was too bad. He was just beginning to get to know her and, he had to admit, he liked her. He had from the moment he had first seen her. She wasn't like the other women he'd known. Actually, there weren't many, fewer still in the intimate sense.

  Harry leaned back and put his hands behind his head, stretching his legs out. He wanted to think about something else, something to take his mind from the present situation. He'd made some progress in learning the language of the primitives. There was still much to be learned, but Harry felt that if given a little more time, he could learn it well enough to communicate.

  He wondered what the primitives could tell him. How much did they know about the aliens? How long had they been on this planet?

  He would like to have communicated with the aliens, but that was obviously not working out. They had tried to kill the men, no questions asked. Harry wondered why. Could be the creatures were simply and totally self-centered with no regard for other life forms. Maybe they felt threatened. Harry doubted that. They had superior technology, superior firepower. There had been no attempt at communication. It seemed they didn't want to talk.

  It was odd. Harry had assumed an advanced culture would be interested in other intelligent cultures. How naive, he thought.

  For a while, he dozed in the darkness, jumping to full wakefulness when an insect crawled over his hand. He looked at the luminous dial of his watch and saw he had spent nearly two hours underground. He took a deep breath and started crawling uphill.

  *

  Fagen carefully approached the shuttle while Parker watched from hiding. The open hatch was ominous. Fagen bent at the waist and stepped under the ship.

  There were no tracks on the ground, nothing to indicate who had opened the hatch. Fagen clicked off the safety on his weapon and peeked inside. A black rat scampered from the inner cabin and launched itself out of the hatch. It glided a considerable distance, bounced off the ground once, and fairly flew into the trees.

  *

  Harry poked his head from the hole until he was at eye level with the ground. One of the creatures was twenty yards away, standing over the hole Harry had entered. Beyond that, some distance away, Harry saw a second alien slowly walking on its three spider legs from left to right, as if it searched for something. Harry knew it searched for him.

  He sensed motion behind and edged back down into the hole. The opening was partially hidden by a root and a tuft of grass that somehow had found enough light to flourish on the forest floor. A shadow passed over his head and he moved deeper into the hole. The passing alien did not discover the opening.

  That was three of them, Harry thought. There could be others, he hadn't had that good a look. How was he going to get out? For a moment he thought about trying to communicate with them, after all, that was his specialty, right? No, he had already seen enough to know these things weren't going to play around. He couldn't make a run for it because they were all around. Yet if he stayed where he was, he could miss Fagen and they would take off without him.

  Edging up to the opening, Harry took another look. Maybe he could squirm out of the wormhole and run to a nearby tree quickly enough to avoid being seen.

  Now he could see only one creature, but he also heard something new. He held his breath and listened. It was the unmistakable sound of someone walking across the forest floor and dragging a foot behind.

  Maybe it was Parker, limping on his injured foot. Harry wanted to call out, but he held his voice. As he watched, he saw the walking figure pass into view. It wasn't Parker. It was an aborigine.

  It looked to be an elderly native. He used his spear as a walking stick, sometimes dragging it along the ground. He hadn't seen the aliens yet and was walking straight into a trap.

  Harry was helpless. He could see all three aliens now: they had moved away from Harry and positioned themselves to ambush the old man. While their attention was diverted, Harry took advantage and slipped out of the narrow opening.

  He flattened out against the ground and crawled to the nearest tree trunk, then rolled behind the massive roots that connected to the tree.

  The elder Bedoran kept on walking into the trap. Suddenly, he stopped and straightened, sniffing the air as he peered about. That was when he saw them.

  The aliens didn't move. For a while, neither did he. Finally, he raised his spear and shouted what sounded to Harry like a challenge. The aliens remained unmoving. The old abo pushed out his chest and re-issued the challenge. This time, one of the aliens moved forward.

  The aborigine never had the chance. Before he could hurl the wooden shaft, the alien fired a device that launched a metallic lance. It pierced the Bedoran's chest and knocked him six feet backward. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  It happened quickly. Harry edged backwards and rising to his feet, he began to run under the trees, not bothering to look back. In his haste, he failed to see the figure drop down above him. A net fell over Harry's head, jerking him off his feet. He dropped to the turf and fought his restraints, but only succeeded in entangling himself further. Something sharp jabbed him in the back and he stopped his struggles.

  Harry rolled over and looked at the pointed end of the spear. He followed the shaft upward until his eyes rested on the primitive. He was pretty sure it was the same native who, along with the younger aborigine, had helped the men the night before.

  Kretin told Harry to get up. Harry understood and without hesitation he untangled himself from the net and got to his feet. A whistle came from above and both turned their gazes upward.

  Arai clung to a branch and pointed in the direction from which Harry had just come. The boy motioned quickly with his tail and Kretin jumped into the tree. Somewhat slower, Harry followed.

  He squatted in a crook of the tree and watched the natives prepare for an ambush. Not a good idea, Harry thought, but there was little he could do but watch. The larger aborigine spread his net over a branch while the younger one worked his way around to a spot that faced his brother. Harry glanced back across the expanse he'd covered and saw an alien headed directly toward them.

  Harry watched helplessly as the alien came closer. He tried to think clearly, tried to allow a solution to pop into his mind, but he could think of nothing, so he sat in the tree and waited while the alien closed the distance more with each passing second.

  When the creature was directly under the tree, Harry saw the smaller native rise from his hiding place and raise his spear. The other abo suddenly tossed the net over the creature as it passed. At the same time, the younger native threw his spear. It clattered ineffectively off the armored monster. Without waiting, the older native dropped down onto the back of the creature.

  Harry couldn't help but think either how incredibly brave the natives were or how incredibly stupid they were.

  Kretin pounded on the back of the monster without any result. The creature tried to reach the native with mechanical arms too short to grasp the pest clinging to its back. It turned one way and then the other in an attempt to dislodge the aborigine. Kretin stubbornly held on.

  Arai dropped to the ground and picked up his spear. The alien, still wrapped in the net, saw the boy and fired a beam at him. The light burned through the net and grazed the boy's chest. It was a p
ainful injury, but not fatal. The boy reacted by dropping to all fours and rolling under the metallic body.

  The alien, still trying to throw Kretin from its back, tried to stab the younger native with its pointed front leg. The boy rolled to his left and barely avoided being impaled. Kretin pounded on the metallic hull with the edge of his flint-bladed knife. He succeeded in marking the beast, but not in puncturing it. The last blow broke the knife blade in two and Kretin begin to grab at the weapons hanging from the creature's utility belt.

  Harry took another look across the forest floor. The other creatures were still out of sight, but he was certain they would be along any time. Without thinking about what he was doing, Harry moved to a branch just above the struggling alien.

  The aborigines held its attention. It thrashed in anger and tried to reach the both of them. The boy rolled on the ground, jabbing with his spear at the monster's underbelly while avoiding the repeated thrusts of the thing's front leg. Kretin managed to grab a device from the creature's belt, but it was to no avail, he didn't know how to use it.

  Harry saw that the aborigine held what looked to be a weapon of some type. Kretin had it pointed backwards at himself. He seemed to have some idea that the thing was a weapon, but he had no idea how to use it.

  Kretin had left a length of rope on the branch. Just a twisted vine, really, but enough to give Harry an idea. He took the rope and dropped a loop around one of the flailing arms. Holding the other end with both hands, Harry dropped to the ground and began tugging.

  The creature was caught off balance and tumbled over onto its side. It thrashed wildly and further wrapped itself in the hand-woven net. The boy scurried out of its reach and Kretin fell beside Harry, dropping the weapon in the process.

  Harry picked it up even as Kretin stabbed at the thing with his spear. The weapon didn't fit his hand properly, but its function was obvious. It had a barrel and a trigger. Harry pointed the barrel at the creature and discharged the gun. A cracking sound filled the air followed by a sudden electric discharge flashing from the barrel to the smooth metallic surface. The thing ceased to move as the electricity crawled over its body. The smell of ozone drifted in the air.