Excelsior

by Jasper T. Scott

  David’s lips parted and his brown eyes grew wide. It took him a moment to recover from her outburst. “How do you know?”

  Caty looked away. Hot tears welled in her eyes once more. “They called.”

  David said nothing, seemingly frozen in place.

  A tear fell from Caty’s eye lashes and ran down her cheek. David snapped out of it and pulled her into a strong embrace. She sobbed anew while he whispered in her ear, telling her everything was going to be okay.

  He was wrong. Alexander wasn’t coming back to save her. The world was never going to go back to the way it had been before. Nothing was going to be okay ever again. She soaked David’s shirt with her tears, and he rocked her back and forth, stroking her head for what seemed like hours.

  Eventually the cold fury of grief gave way to the warmth of that embrace, and Caty began to notice David’s hands running lightly beneath her shirt, up and down her back, making her skin tingle.

  A part of her that had been denied for more than two years came roaring to life, making her blood sing in her veins. Pent-up grief turned to red hot desire, and everything else ceased to matter. Why hold back any longer? The words till death do us part came to mind, and she suddenly turned her head from David’s shirt to face him.

  She pulled his lips down to hers and drank him in. He smelled like sweat and tasted like beer, but somehow that was better than perfume and mint. He was real. He was alive.

  With every desperate touch and gasping kiss, she realized that this was something they’d both wanted for a long time. Catalina surrendered to the moment, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt while he ripped her blouse open and stripped her naked. He spent a moment admiring her before she pulled him down on top of her.

  A few minutes later she lay gasping on the bed beside him. The heat of the moment was gone, leaving her cold and shivering. Suddenly she felt smothered under an impossible weight of grief and… guilt. She bit her lower lip and rocked her head from side to side on her pillow. What have I done?

  David lay on his side, staring at her, his hands running lightly over her naked chest. Her skin glistened with sweat in the dim light pouring in from the hallway. David’s eyes glinted at her, diamond pinpricks of light adrift in a sea of darkness.

  “He would want you to be happy, Caty.”

  Shock coursed through her. Was she that easy to read?

  “I know, because that is what I would want, if I was him.”

  Catalina nodded. Alexander would have wanted her to be happy, but this still felt wrong. It felt like she’d betrayed him. She hadn’t even waited a day between hearing that he was dead and moving on with another man! Ice crept inside her soul, making her shiver. What kind of wife jumped into bed with another man as soon as she heard that her husband was dead? A painful lump rose in Caty’s throat, and David began showering her with kisses. David stroked her cheek, wiping away a fresh tear.

  “It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here, and I’m not going to leave you. Not even death can take me, mi chiquita. It already tried. I will make you whole again.”

  Caty nodded once more even though she knew those were all lies. It wasn’t okay; she wasn’t safe; and David could try all he wanted, but he would never be able to fill the hole that Alexander had left in her heart.

  “I think… I need to be alone,” she said, not looking at him.

  David’s expression darkened. “Alone? Despues de lo que hicimos?”

  “I’m sorry. I just… it’s been a long day.”

  He looked angry, ready to object, but all he said was “Entiendo,” and then he rolled out of bed and walked away, not even stopping to put on his clothes.

  Caty watched him leave, thinking that he really didn’t understand. He’d already grieved for his wife. He’d given up hope a long time ago. He didn’t have hundreds of unread letters written to a ghost. She hugged a pillow to her heart, and half-prayed, half-whispered her apologies to Alexander.

  She wasn’t sure if some part of him still lived on and was listening, but it made her feel better. She vowed never to do it again. David would have to understand. She couldn’t be with him. Maybe she would move out. The Waltons might be willing to take her as a live-in. It would be nice not to have to spend four hours on a bus every day.

  Thinking about that made her feel better. I’m sorry, Alex, she whispered to her pillow for the hundredth time. I’m so sorry…

  Chapter 27

  11th Day On Wonderland - June 2nd, 2790

  (Wonderland’s Frame of Reference)

  Alexander stood in his hab module, staring out a transparent square in the side of the dome. Rain streaked down, beading on his window and roaring against the hab canvas. Outside, floodlights lit up the perimeter of the compound, illuminating driving swaths of rain. As Alexander watched, the night’s sky flashed with a dazzling fork of lighting that left a fading purple bruise on the clouds. A split second later there came a deafening bang! followed by a throaty roar from the alien sky.

  Outside, the wind whistled and intermittently punched the hab canvas, making the normally smooth white dome ripple and undulate like a living thing. Alexander hoped it would hold.

  There was something particularly frightening about weathering a storm on an alien world, even more so considering they were weathering it in a bunch of glorified tents.

  Alexander’s comm band beeped at him, and he answered, “Captain speaking.”

  “Sir, it’s Korbin. You asked me to check in with our department heads for an update. I’ve finished compiling a summary of their findings so far. Would you like me to send it to your inbox or deliver the report in person?”

  Another fork of lighting bruised the sky, followed by a noisy clap of thunder. “In person. I don’t know about you, but I could use the company.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Korbin replied.

  “See you.” Alexander signed off, and a gust of wind hit the window in front of his face. Cold canvas touched the tip of his nose, making him flinch.

  Alexander went to wait for Korbin in his sitting room. The electro-magnetically sealed flap at the entrance of his hab opened a moment later, and she walked in.

  “Captain,” she said, saluting him.

  “Take a seat, Commander.”

  She sat down opposite him on an inflatable couch that matched the inflatable armchair where he sat. Thunder rumbled, and Korbin’s eyes drifted to the ceiling as it billowed above their heads.

  “Quite a storm,” she said.

  Alexander nodded, waiting for her report.

  Korbin’s eyes returned from the ceiling, and she began, “All good news so far. Wonderland is looking more and more habitable by the day.”

  “How’s Max doing?”

  “No signs of any active infection. Toxicology scans also came back clean.”

  Alex’s eyebrows floated up. “That is good news.”

  Korbin nodded. “Doctor Crespin finished analyzing the rest of the soil and air samples, and there’s still no sign of a human-compatible strain of bacteria or virus. Crespin wants to continue testing, but even he admits that it’s unlikely we’ll find anything pathogenic at this point.”

  “How confident is he about that?”

  “Ninety nine percent.”

  “So apart from potentially hostile flora and fauna, we’re ninety nine percent sure that Wonderland is habitable for humans.”

  A booming peal of thunder punctuated that statement, and Korbin nodded.

  “What about agriculture? What’s Cardinal have to say?”

  “He’s already got corn, wheat, rice, and potatoes growing. It takes some work to prepare the soil, but otherwise it looks like we won’t have any trouble. So far our plants don’t appear to be compatible with Wonderland’s microbial life any more than we are, and the crops Cardinal has growing outside the lab haven’t attracted any insects yet, so there’s a good chance that we’ll be able to grow food even more easily here than we do on Earth.”

  “So what’s stoppi
ng us from leaving in the morning?”

  Korbin shrugged. “The consensus among the crew is that everyone would like to stay for at least another week, but I don’t think we really need more time to call Wonderland habitable.”

  Alexander tried to keep his excitement in check. They could be back home in another seventy days—give or take a few weeks of transit to and from the wormhole on either end. “They have tomorrow to consolidate their findings and pack their samples, and then we’re out of here.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be sure to let them know.” Thunder boomed louder than ever, and this time both of them turned to look at the ceiling.

  Alexander’s comm band beeped at him, and he absently brought it up to his mouth to answer. “Captain speaking.”

  “Sir, it’s Ryder. I’ve got movement on infrared, out at the tree line. Six signatures.”

  “Trees or animals?”

  “Animals, sir. Big ones.”

  “What are they doing?”

  “They appear to be headed for the hab complex.”

  “Why would they come here?”

  “Maybe they saw the floodlights?”

  “We’ve had our lights on since day one, and they haven’t bothered us before. Who’s out there with you?”

  “No one. Lieutenant Stone just left to change out with Fernandez.”

  “Bad timing. All right, see if you can scare them off, but don’t engage unless they attack you first.”

  “Yes, sir. What if they breach the perimeter?”

  “Then let them have it, precision fire only. We don’t want to risk hitting the habs.”

  “Roger.”

  Alexander listened as high caliber rounds stuttered out over the comm band’s speakers. “Seems to be driving them off… wait, no… they’re comin’ my way now. Shit!”

  “Ryder, how close are they?”

  More weapons fire. “Close!” Machine guns rattled away, and this time Alexander picked out the deep vibrating hum of laser fire. “They’re not spookin’!”

  “Shoot them!”

  The sound of weapons’ fire intensified, followed by Ryder cursing. Then came an eardrum-bursting roar, followed by static.

  “Ryder!”

  No answer.

  “Ryder, come in!”

  The comm call ended automatically, and the words connection lost appeared hovering in the air above his comm band.

  Korbin shot him a wide-eyed look, her mouth agape.

  Alexander bounced to his feet. “Change of plans. We’re leaving right now. Evacuate the crew to the shuttles.”

  “What about our research?”

  “It will be worthless if we don’t live to tell about it. Spread the word and get everyone out as quickly as possible.”

  “We should at least backup our data to the Lincoln.”

  “I’ll leave you in charge of that, but don’t stick around to wait for the backup to finish.”

  “I won’t. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to take the rover out and try to draw them away.” Alexander took off at a run. Behind him he heard Korbin giving the order to evacuate. He tried to tell himself that it was just a precaution and nothing was going to happen, but if those beasts had taken out a Cheetah assault mech, how much easier would it be to trample a few tents?

  Chapter 28

  Alexander ran across the grassy field from the hab complex to the rover, his heart pounding as rain pelted his pressure suit. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as he raced up the ramp to the rover’s rear airlock.

  Seconds later, as he dropped into the driver’s seat and belted in, his comm band beeped with yet another incoming call. Alexander routed the call through the rover’s comm system.

  “Hello?”

  “Captain, it’s Fernandez. I’m on my way to the perimeter now. Tracking six targets. Permission to engage.”

  “Permission granted.”

  “Engaging…” The sound of lasers humming and crackling roared over the comms.

  Alexander brought rest of the rover’s systems online and activated the vehicle’s headlights. Dead ahead he saw a cluster of white domes that was the hab complex. To one side, he saw a group of people running out to the nearest shuttle. Alexander checked sensors and saw the incoming animals. They were very close to the habs. As he watched, Fernandez’s Cheetah cut two of them down. The remaining four switched directions, heading toward their aggressor. They were almost on top of Fernandez, and moving fast.

  Alexander hit the gas and the rover lurched into motion. “Fernandez, you need to get out of there!”

  “Roger. I’m runnin’.”

  “I’ll see if I can distract them for you,” Alexander said. He began honking the rover’s horn and flashing its lights to draw attention to himself. Pretty soon two of the blips on sensors broke off and started chasing him. Alexander drove toward them, hoping to get a visual. He squinted through the driving rain, watching the twin cones of light illuminated by the rover’s headlights. Nothing yet, but visibility was cut significantly by the rain.

  Then one of the two burst into view. It was big all right—black fur was wet and glistening. It ran on its hind legs, balanced with its tail, and held its shorter forelegs in the air, just like a T-rex. Alexander blinked, shocked by the similarities. The beast was almost identical except for the fur. It ran right by him and body-checked the rover as it passed.

  Alexander heard a crunch as the metal hull gave way. Cursing under his breath, Alexander turned the wheel, circling back around to chase the creature. He was just in time to see the other one go barreling through the hab complex, snapping its jaws on white canvas and air as it tried to kill a big, hollow white dome. The creature trampled the entire complex in seconds, dragging several of the domes along with its momentum before tripping over the swaddling canvas and collapsing in a thrashing heap. Alexander watched helplessly as the monster shredded white canvas with its claws and teeth. Twin crimson beams shot by in front of the rover and the other dino collapsed right in front of him, hitting the dirt with a ground-shaking thud. Alexander couldn’t stop in time, and the rover rolled up and over the furry beast. He went careening down the other side of it, headed straight for what was left of the hab complex. Alexander slammed on the brakes and stopped just before a staccato burst of laser fire sliced through the billowing pile of canvas to hit the second creature.

  “That’s it. We got ‘em all,” Fernandez reported.

  Alexander sighed. “Go check on Ryder. I’ll get the crew together and we’ll see what we can salvage here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alexander dialed Korbin’s comm and sat listening to it ring. By the fifth ring he was starting to worry. What if she’d still been inside the habs when that dino tore through them?

  Then he noticed a strange golden light blooming in the rumpled pile of white canvas. It took him a moment to recognize that light for what it was—

  Fire. Ryder had used lasers to kill the dinos, and the heat had set the canvas ablaze. The hab complex was on fire, and Korbin might still be in there. Alexander placed a distress call on an open channel. Stone answered from Shuttle Two.

  “What’s wrong, Captain?”

  “Is Korbin there?”

  “No, I thought she was with you?”

  Alexander’s eyes flared. “She told you that?”

  “No, but—”

  “Never mind. The habs are on fire and I think she’s still inside.”

  There was a brief pause on Stone’s end, followed by, “We’re on our way.”

  Alexander hurriedly unbuckled his restraints and bolted from the driver’s seat, racing toward the rear airlock. I’m coming, Sirena, he thought.

  But by the time he reached the habs, the entire complex was one big blazing inferno, and there was nothing left to do but watch it burn.

  The rest of the crew came up beside him. Stone skidded to a stop and made a strangled sound over his suit’s speakers before screaming, “Shit!” and kicking the dirt
with his boot.

  Alexander turned to him slowly. The crew looked on in despair, watching their mission go up in the smoke of Korbin’s funeral pyre.

  “Max is missing, too,” Stone said.

  “What?”

  “I just did a head count and Doc Crespin told me Max stayed with Korbin to help her with the backups.”

  Alexander shook his head. After all the time they spent rescuing him, Max had ended up dead anyway. “This planet really is cursed. It’s time to get the hell away and go home.”