by Jack Halls
They climbed to the ridge and looked over to find themselves standing on top of a sheer wall that dropped down for what looked like a thousand meters. They stood looking down into a narrow ravine filled with lush vegetation. The scenery was enough to take Gideon’s breath away.
“Beautiful,” whispered Takomi in a reverent tone. The only response Gideon could muster was a silent nod. The vast size of everything made his head spin, and he had to look down at his feet after a while. Leviathan, the only world he’d ever known outside of virtual reality, had seemed so huge to him before. The truth was his people had ridden to Valkyrie inside a broom closet.
Takomi looked over at him. “Well, we aren’t getting down that way. Should we hike along the ridge?”
Gideon steeled himself for the sight of Valkyrie’s vastness and looked up, scanning in all directions to discern the topography through patches of fog. “Pauline, what is the best way for us to get to the others?”
“Inconclusive. This area has yet to be charted.”
“All right,” said Gideon, “we’ll start moving along the ridge toward the east. Let us know if you pick up any useful readings.”
He looked over at Takomi and could make out the worried look on her face through her visor. “Sound good to you?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I can’t think of anything better to do.”
As they scrambled up the steep, boulder-strewn ridge, Gideon thought about how horrible, even impossible it would be while wearing an Emergency Evacuation Suit. As Valkyrie’s sun rose in the sky, it began to burn off the fog, and they got their first clear view of the climb ahead of them. The sheer size of the mountain set Gideon’s head spinning again, and he couldn’t look at it long before experiencing vertigo, so he limited his gaze to a few meters ahead of them. By the time they reached the summit after midday, they had a clear view of the expansive mountain range around them.
Far to the west, the ocean shimmered in the noonday sun. The coast was lined with green forest that stabbed into the mountain valleys between the ridges. The ridge they stood on rose out of the forest perpendicular to the coast. Below them lay a primeval valley with another high ridge opposite them. To the east, the valley slowly rose until it ended in a bowl surrounded by jagged snowcapped peaks. In the middle of the bowl lay a pristine lake fed by waterfalls tumbling down from the mountains around it. Behind them to the south rose row after row of jagged snow-capped peaks, all running from east to west. The slope they stood on ran down until the boulders gave way to trees.
“I never dreamed of anything like this,” whispered Takomi.
Gideon was shaking, but the beauty of the landscape was enough to keep him from closing his eyes again. “It’s incredible.”
The land went on and on until it faded into the fog. It was all so vast, dwarfing the Leviathan by so many orders of magnitude. A lump formed in his throat as he remembered his former home was gone, and he tried to think about something else.
While they continued to survey the landscape, Pauline spoke in his ear.
“The signal is stronger now,” said the AI, “I’m mapping a potential path to its source based on preliminary scans of the topography.”
A virtual path appeared, superimposed over the landscape, leading to a point indicated by a red arrow. The path ran along the edge of the ridge, around the bowl, and off to the north beyond his vision.
“How far, Pauline?”
“Inconclusive. The signal seems to be coming from the other side of the opposite ridge, but you will need to traverse several kilometers to get to it. Due to the terrain, you will only be able to move at approximately forty percent of maximum speed. It is possible that you could reach the signal within five hours.”
Gideon turned to Takomi. “What do you think?”
She shrugged. “Looks like we’ve only got one choice. Better start moving.”
Gideon gave her a half-hearted smile and sighed. “Ready when you are.”
Takomi tightened the straps on her backpack and rifle. “Lets see what these suits can really do.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Scattered
FOR THE FIRST few kilometers, Gideon’s stomach had lurched dangerously close to splattering his visor with his breakfast. A combination of nerves, emotions, a new gravitational pull, and the sensory overload due to the sheer size of Valkyrie was almost too much. The best way he could find to cope was to pretend he was in a simulation, or that the vast sky was an immense dome keeping the air from escaping into space.
The terrain along the ridge was rugged, but with their Sentinel Armor, Takomi and Gideon made good time. Pauline continued to adjust their path as the signal became stronger, and after about an hour, the signal’s location was confirmed by a thin trail of ominous black smoke rising over the ridge. As they rounded the bowl above the lake, they saw the opposite side was less steep than they had thought, and Pauline charted a more direct route.
As they descended into lower elevations, splashes of lichen appeared on the barren rock, then scrubby grass in nooks and crannies. Gideon wanted to take off his gloves and touch the alien plants, but thought better of it. Takomi pointed to a rodent-like creature as it skittered away from them into a fissure.
“Did you see that, Gideon? It’s an alien. An actual alien life form. Can you believe it? We might be the first to see one with our own eyes.”
He laughed, feeling his spirits lift a bit. “You’re forgetting all the trees and shrubs. They’re aliens too, you know. Not to mention the Luzariai that appeared on Earth thousands of years ago.” The beauty of this place and the novelties it carried helped drive darker thoughts from his mind. It was good to be busy with something.
Takomi shrugged. “I guess that’s true. Actually, we’re the aliens here.”
“Yeah,” said Gideon. “Better keep our distance until we know more about the kinds of creatures we’re up against.”
Takomi laughed. “What’s wrong? You worried your Sentinel Armor can’t hold its own against a squirrel?”
He chuckled and stepped up onto a large rock, but before he could take another step, the rock shifted underneath him and he fell flat on his back. Takomi laughed and bent down to help him up but jumped back when Gideon drew his pistol.
“Geez, Gid...”
“Quiet,” Gideon whispered. “Look.” He pointed to the rock that had made him fall, and Takomi froze as she saw that the rock was staring back.
The creature was brilliantly disguised, blending perfectly into the surrounding boulders. The only distinguishing features were four beady eyes, six stubby legs, and a mouth full of tiny, razor-sharp teeth. The rock creature was a meter across, two meters long, and looked as solid as the boulders it hid among. It glared at the two strange intruders and made a low gurgling noise.
In a flash, Takomi drew her pistol as well, and Gideon slid back away from the animal. As he stood, the gurgling noise intensified to a low rumble. The creature’s body vibrated, and its rocky hide shifted colors from bright magenta to black to neon green and back again.
They continued to back away, and then the creature made a barking noise and leapt forward with surprising speed. Before he could think, Gideon pulled the trigger. The creature reeled, screeching in pain. It convulsed several times, then lay motionless. For a long time, Gideon and Takomi stared in silence, before Takomi broke the trance by bashing Gideon’s helmet.
“Idiot! What did you do that for?” she demanded.
“What?” protested Gideon, shrinking away from Takomi’s blows. “It was coming after me. What was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe use your stupid suit to jump out of the way?”
She shoved him and walked toward the animal. Before Gideon could protest, she turned and gave him a look that made him think better of it. He didn’t holster his pistol, however, as Takomi reached down and touched the lifeless creature. In death, its chameleon hide slowly faded to a jet black. Gideon stepped forward to stand beside Takomi, and he too r
eached out to touch the hulking mass before him. It turned out that its skin was tough but not rock hard as it had seemed.
“Look, Gid,” said Takomi, pointing over the creature’s body, to where it had been sitting before Gideon disturbed it. He strained to see what she was pointing at, then his face drooped and he let out a sigh. In a rough circle on the ground lay several perfectly round eggs.
“It wasn’t trying to eat you,” she said. “It was protecting its nest, you moron.”
“All right, I’m sorry,” he said with his hands in the air. “I panicked, okay? But it’s done now.”
“Don’t you ever think before you do something? What if this thing is a sentient creature and we just started a war with the only intelligent life form on this planet? What if we just made ourselves the targets of an advanced race that can make itself invisible? Did you ever think of that?”
“You’re right, I shouldn’t have killed it, but I seriously doubt this thing was part of an advanced race.”
“Well, you don’t know that for sure, do you? This is an alien planet, Gid. Normal rules don’t apply. For all we know, this whole boulder field is alive and really pissed off at us right now.”
“Actually,” said Gid, “you make a good point.”
He switched his visor to thermal imaging, and an outline of the creature glowed as brightly as Takomi and himself. He scanned the area, seeing nothing but cold rocks. “At least it’s warm blooded. Pauline, can you warn us if you see any more warm spots that might be a life form?” Pauline confirmed his request, and he turned back to Takomi.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I promise to be more careful with my trigger finger in the future. Pauline is going to warn us before we step on another rock monster.”
“It’s not a monster, Gid. She was trying to protect her babies.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I said I’m sorry, and I promise not to shoot stuff unless I have to. Can we keep moving, please? We’re burning daylight, and I’d rather not run into any angry mother rock lizard things in the dark.”
After giving him one last glare, Takomi walked past Gideon and up over the next boulder. Gideon jumped up to the top of the same boulder and looked down at her.
“Takomi, stop!” he shouted, but she ignored him. “Takomi,” he yelled again, leaping forward. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
“Geez, Gid. What’s wrong with you?”
“Turn on your infrared,” he said.
Takomi rolled her eyes but did as he said. She turned to continue but gasped and jumped back as she looked at the path she was about to take. Dozens of boulder-sized bodies blocked their path, glowing in the infrared light. Some were the same size as the one Gideon had stepped on, but many were more than twice that size. The closest one had been only about two meters away from Takomi.
“Whoa,” said Takomi. “I almost walked right into it. What do you think they’re doing?”
“Only one of two things,” said Gideon. “They’re either hiding, or they’re hunting.”
“What do you mean hunting? They’re just sitting there like...”
“Like rocks?” said Gideon. “Think about it. On earth, what kinds of animals use camouflage to hide in plain sight and sit perfectly still all day?”
“I don’t know,” said Takomi. “Lots of animals use camouflage.”
“Think about that thing’s teeth back there. What does it remind you of?”
“A shark?”
“Yeah, or maybe something like a crocodile. It makes sense. These things have evolved to hide in these huge boulder fields, holding perfectly still like crocodiles in a pond until some poor animal comes along. By the time they realize it’s not a rock, it’s too late.”
Takomi shuddered. “Okay, I get it, rock crocodiles equal dead. So now what do we do?”
“Rock crocodiles. I like it,” said Gideon. “We’ll call them rocodiles.” He smiled at her.
Takomi rolled her eyes again. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“You came up with it,” said Gideon. “Come on. We can go around. Switch back to normal vision and have your AI warn you of any warm spots.”
They started walking again, picking their way through the boulders carefully to avoid stumbling across any more animals. Soon the boulder field flattened out. Bluish-green shrubs clung to life between the rocks, and soon after that, the rocks gave way to a thin forest of spiky-leafed trees.
Now Gideon’s AI was warning him of an animal every few seconds, but most of them were no bigger than a squirrel. All of them seemed to have six legs and no fur, and Gideon wondered if the animals in this part of Valkyrie had evolved from insects.
As they continued to descend into lower elevations, the vegetation became thicker, and the animals were everywhere. Gideon and Takomi had to give their AIs instructions to only warn them of animals that seemed big enough to pose a threat. When they found a plant that looked especially odd or a creature that didn’t run away, they would stop to examine it and document it with their helmet cams.
Takomi took a video of a creature that hung upside down from the branches overhead. Several tentacles probed the area around it as it crept along the branch. It didn’t seem to have a mouth or eyes, or a head of any kind really.
“There’s so much... life,” said Takomi.
“I was thinking the same thing. Do you think this is what Earth was like?”
“Maybe.” She took several pictures of odd plants. “At least the places the humans didn’t destroy.”
Despite their curiosity, they knew they had to hurry. As they continued into the forest, they found flowers that moved like sea anemones and hovering creatures with heads like lizards but wings like dragonflies. In a meadow, they found a herd of animals that looked like six-legged giraffes with blue and purple skin. Their skinny heads sat on necks that wove through the spiky-leafed trees like serpents to find fruit.
Under different circumstances, they would have stayed for hours to watch the strange new life forms. But sooner or later, one of them would remind the other that they had to get going, and they would continue toward the signal.
As they got closer, Pauline picked up more signals farther down into the valley. They seemed to be spread out over many kilometers, which Gideon thought was logical, considering the chaos of the battle they had survived only just that morning.
His mind wandered back to the last minutes before the Leviathan was destroyed.
“Takomi?”
She looked back over her shoulder at him as she continued to walk through the trees. “Yeah?”
“Who do you think was on that shuttle that got destroyed?”
She looked down at the path. “I’m trying not to think about it.”
Gideon suddenly felt guilty. He’d been so caught up worrying about his dad that he forgot they had no idea what happened to Takomi’s parents. He wanted to say something, to ask if she was doing okay, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He shook those thoughts out of his head. There was nothing to be done about any of it right now, so he focused on the task at hand, remembering the smoke rising out of the trees. Every now and again they caught a glimpse of it through a gap in the canopy. He tried to tell himself someone lit it on purpose as a signal, but the black smudge rising into the sky seemed too ominous.
Gideon was about to say something about this when a glow up ahead caught his eye. “Takomi, what is that?”
She looked at where he was pointing and froze. “It’s a fire.”
Both of them stood still for a moment before Gideon moved again. Takomi followed right behind him.
Up ahead, part of the forest was blackened and smoldering. Here and there small fires still burned. They stopped at the edge of the burnt area. A long scar cut through the forest, leading to the smoking wreckage of a starfighter.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Creature
WITH THE AUGMENTED speed of their Sentinel Armor, Gideon and Takomi spr
inted to the wrecked SF in seconds. They slowed down a few meters from the ship. Repeated attempts to contact someone over the common band yielded no results.
“Why didn’t their chutes deploy?” asked Gideon.
Takomi made no reply. She was crouching down and looking at the clawed footprints of a large animal. She looked up at Gideon, and he swallowed hard.
As they crept toward the SF, something stirred from within the destroyed cockpit. They froze. Gideon slowly reached for the rifle slung over his shoulder and circled around to the left of the wreckage to get a better view of the interior.
“Can anybody hear me?” whispered Gideon over the common band.
Nothing but static answered back. Another movement rocked the starfighter. Whatever was in there was too big to be aionian. He glanced back to see that Takomi had taken up position behind a boulder with her rifle aimed at the cockpit.
He focused his attention again on the starfighter. Without taking his eyes off the cockpit, he slowly bent down and picked up a rock. Holding his rifle in his left hand, he tossed the rock at the cockpit. It sailed at least a hundred meters past his target.
“What was that?” whispered Takomi.
Gideon stooped to pick up another rock. “I forgot to compensate for the suit. I guess I’m a little jittery.”
Concentrating this time, he hefted the rock. It smacked against the top of the cockpit with a bang. The thing inside stopped moving. Gideon steadied his rifle and tried to control his breathing.
After a moment, he saw a shadow moving within the wreckage. The ruined starfighter shifted as something heavy came toward the front.