Arrival (18 page)

“Hey, what’s this black shit all over the blade?” Mac demanded.

* * *

After finishing her meal, Lynn cleared her dishes and handed them to Adia, who had cleaning duty for the night. Back on the Icarus, they had all fended for themselves, since zero gravity didn’t lend itself to group meals. But it had been decided they would all take turns doing the housekeeping and galley chores. Maria had even made up a rotation schedule.

Just as she had done every evening after dinner during their journey here, Sara was on the exer-cycle. Maria was finishing up her lab work in the med-lab, and Laura was looking for something interesting to watch on video. In their infinite wisdom, someone had loaded an impressive variety of old Earth movies into the library’s digital database, and Laura was determined to watch every one of them during this mission.

“What are you going to watch tonight?” Lynn asked as she plopped herself down in one of the lounge chairs to let her dinner settle.

“I don’t know yet. Any preferences?” Laura asked.

“Doesn’t really matter to me. I’m probably going to go back up to the flight deck and wait for word from Frank and the boys.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re fine,” Laura lied. She was also worried about them. The sun had set over two hours ago, and the rain was coming down as hard as the night before.

“Yeah, that’s what Maria said.”

“What did I say?” Maria asked as she entered the room.

“Lynn wants to go back up and wait for the guys.”

“And miss out on girl’s night?” Maria said.

Suddenly, the comm-set speaker in the wardroom started crackling, catching all of their attention. Before the others could react, Lynn was out of her seat and on her way forward, with Maria and Laura hot on her heels.

“
L…… thi…… Fra…… do you… py?
” the speaker spouted as Lynn bounded up the ladder and jumped into the engineering seat at the back of the flight deck.

“Frank! Is that you?” Lynn asked even before she had her headset on.

“
Ly……, can you…… me?
It’s Frank! We’re……… pod!
”

“Is it them?” Laura asked.

“Quiet!” Lynn barked.

“Who else would it be?” Maria whispered.

“Frank! I copy you! But you’re breaking up! Did you say you were still at the pod?”

“
We had to…… back, couldn’t…… it to… ship!
” he explained. The transmission was still scratchy, but clear enough to understand. “
We’re go…a stay……night in the cargo …od! We’ll fin… up in the m…ing and come …ack in the …UV!
”

“Copy that! We’ll come out first thing in the morning and give you a hand!”

“
Cop……at!
”

“Ask them if they’re alright,” Maria insisted.

“Are you alright? Do you need us to bring anything?” Lynn asked.

“
M…be some …ry cl…s?
”

“
An… so… br…kfast!
” Mac added.

“They’re fine!” Laura decided.

“Copy that! We’ll head out at first light!”

“
Cop……at!
”

“Keep warm!” Lynn warned. “LRV, out!” Lynn leaned back in her seat as the static disappeared, relieved that they were safe for the night, and not lost somewhere out in the storm.

“Well, that’s good news!” Maria exclaimed. “Now, come and join us, Lynn.”

Maria made it sound more like a command than an invitation, so Lynn decided to oblige her, figuring that she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

* * *

After adding wood to the fire, Jack climbed inside the capsule to go to sleep, while Will remained outside by the fire. He watched the occasional embers floating upwards, their orange glow dying out after they left the heat of the fire. Once he was satisfied that Jack was bedded down for the night, Will pulled out a plain, black, hard-backed journal from his bag along with one of three ball-point pens he had brought with him. He had another box of pens in his quarters on the Daedalus—the last of his great grandfather’s supply. There were no pens in their little space-faring group, as there was no paper. So Will guarded his supply carefully.

Opening his journal to the small string marking where he left off, Will put his pen to the blank page and began to write.

Tau Ceti Five; Day 1;

By some cruel twist of fate, I have found myself stranded on this alien world, with only Jack, a man as completely dissimilar from myself as any man could be, as my only companion. Now I find myself having to survive, and despite my better judgment, follow this man on a cross-country trek in search of the other members of our crew, and hopefully, safety. I can only hope the others are alive and well, waiting for us where we expect them to be. If not, I cannot imagine what the following months will bring.

Our commander remains an enigma. Obviously a brave, well-trained, and well-intentioned man, but his decisions sometimes leave me baffled. He seems to care more about the completion of the mission, no matter how impossible it may seem, than with his own safety. He is either selfless and dedicated, or obsessive; I have yet to decide which.

On the brighter side, in my first day on this planet I have seen wonders I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams. I have seen examples of nature in old Earth movies, documentaries and photographs. But there is no equal to experiencing it firsthand. Everything here is bathed in life. From the underside of rocks that have gone undisturbed for millennia, to the tips of towering trees that reach for the sky. If Earth had once been anything like this place, then our forefathers were fools to allow its gradual destruction. I can only hope, now that we have been delivered to this majestic place, that we are able to overcome this genetic defect and live up to the edicts of our mission.

Will’s writing was interrupted by a noise nearby, a rustling sound in the bushes just beyond the trees. He picked up his flashlight and pointed it in the direction of the mysterious noise, illuminating the trees with white light. He searched the area for several moments, but saw nothing but foliage. He went back to his writing, but continued to glance up every now and then, worried that something was hiding in the darkness.

Of course, now that night has fallen, this world takes on a different persona: dark and mysterious, quiet and foreboding. Our firelight seems to hold any potentially dangerous creatures at bay, the danger of the burning wood undoubtedly causing them to fear for their very lives.

If I indeed came here to become a braver man, then I came to the right place. For only a brave man could survive in such a wilderness. I hope, as always, that you and the children are safe and sound, and are not worrying over my fate. If I could send a message, I would send you all my love and devotion, and ask you to hold good thoughts for our eventual reunion.

Will replaced the string to mark his place, then put away his pen and journal. After tossing another log onto the fire, he picked up his pack and went into the capsule to sleep.

CHAPTER SIX

After completing their breakfast of energy bars and dried fruit, and dousing the last embers of their fire, Jack and Will set out to explore the immediate area. Carrying day-packs with food, water, test kits and first-aid supplies, they headed down the hill using Jack’s data pad to track their course and find their way back to camp before sundown. Will was reluctant to carry a rifle, but agreed to a side arm after Jack gave him a little training. Jack carried a rifle and a side arm, not wanting to take any chances.

As they reached the bottom of the hill and entered the forest, their environment changed drastically. Gone were the open skies and rolling hills, instead replaced by canopies of blue-green leaves and reddish-tan tree trunks. There were more birds here, flittering from treetop to treetop, squawking madly at the intruders. With every step there was something new to see, and the men’s heads were constantly turning from side-to-side as each new discovery caught their attention. The forest was teeming with life, with a variety that was overwhelming at first. And on more than one occasion, Jack and Will heard the sounds of much larger creatures in the distance.

Jack’s data pad was operating in dual modes, both
scan
and
track
. The scanner showed movement everywhere, but everything seemed to maintain a safe distance from them. After a while, Jack’s fears of being attacked subsided and their pace became more constant.

Will, on the other hand, tended to lag behind, fascinated by each new plant and animal he saw. It quickly became apparent to Jack that Will was knowledgeable in far more areas than the planetary sciences for which he was formally educated. But as much as Will wanted to stop and sample every plant and rock, Jack had to caution him against it. They had limited testing resources available to them, and he intended to save them to test potential food and water sources they would need to survive until they could reach the LRV.

More than anything, Jack wanted to find a source of potable water. Although they had enough water on board the escape pod to last a few months, he had no desire to lug large amounts of water with them when they set out to find the others.

Following Will’s recommendation, they headed down the slope of the valley to its lowest point, assuming that groundwater would collect there. Less than an hour after entering the forest, Jack heard the sound of running water in the distance. Soon after, the forest broke open into a long, narrow meadow of tall, blue-green grass. Through the middle ran a river, winding through the narrow meadow all the way to its far end, about three hundred meters south of them.

They stood at the river’s edge, amazed at the sight of so much water. It was a wide river, flat and shallow in most places, with a few large rocks protruding from its surface. Where the larger rocks broke the surface, the water turned white from the force of impact. Along the river’s edge, calm, green-tinted water pooled in silent, slow-moving circles, creating separate aquatic environments. Across the tops of these pools, small insects skittered about in search of something, perhaps food. Occasionally, a blue-gray fish-like creature would jump up out of the water to catch one of the insects before splashing back down into the water.

As Will collected samples of the water to test, Jack noticed a brown-furred creature farther down the river on the opposite shore. Just under one meter in height, the creature was standing in the shallow waters, snatching up fish with surprising speed and expertise.
The food chain
, Jack thought, as he watched the animal dine.
The brown-furred creature eats the fish, the fish eat the bugs.
“Hey, Will. What do you suppose the bugs eat?”

“I don’t know,” Will admitted as he unpacked the test kit. “Algae, maybe? Other bugs?”

“How long will those tests take?”

“A few minutes each. I’ll run several different tests on each sample, then repeat the same tests of several samples to ensure reliability of the results.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“It is,” Will assured him. One sample at a time, Will dropped small test strips into the sample trays. “We’ll probably need to take samples from the faster moving waters. There might be a difference in quality between these slow moving pools and that water.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know,” Will admitted as he continued with his tests. “Maybe there’s someplace where the fast moving water comes up next to the bank.”

“Doesn’t appear so,” Jack warned as he scanned the banks above and below their position. “I think we’re going to have to wade out there.”

“I don’t know how to swim,” Will confessed.

“Don’t worry,” Jack assured as he dropped his pack and removed his gun belt. “I’ll go.”

Will had no problem with that. There was no telling what lurked under those green waters. He watched as Jack waded out into the shallow water. Then it occurred to him, “Do
you
know how to swim?”

“Nope.” Jack took a few cautious steps out into the river. The riverbed was soft, allowing his feet to sink several centimeters with each step. “Damn, this water’s cold!”

The current here was mild, tugging gently at his pant legs. Keeping an eye on the depth of the water in front of him, Jack made his way across the gentle pool toward the middle of the river. His first goal was a medium-sized rock about five meters out. The water on the other side appeared swifter, and he suspected that the rock would make a good place to brace against the current. The water stayed about knee-deep across the pool, and within two minutes, Jack was leaning against the rock.

The river bottom further out appeared rockier, requiring much more careful footing than before. After a few steps, Jack was thigh-deep in the river, leaning into the current that now threatened to knock him over. With each subsequent step, the river grew deeper and deeper. Jack tried to make his way to the next rock, which was about twice the size of the first one. The higher the water was, the colder it seemed, and soon Jack was faced with a completely unfamiliar sensation: the shivering of his body and chattering of his teeth.

Finally, he made it to the next rock. The water was waist-deep here, and the river bottom was covered with large, loose rocks, requiring careful footing. The current nearly pinned him against the large rock he was leaning against to keep from being swept away.

“That should be far enough, Jack!” Will hollered from the shore.

“Damn right it is!” Jack placed the sample container on the rock and removed the lid. He scooped up some water from the far side of the rock, and quickly capped it. Then he felt something on his leg, something moving past him. He froze.

“What’s wrong?” Will yelled when he noticed that Jack hadn’t moved a muscle for several moments.

“There’s something moving,” Jack whispered, barely audible above the sound of the rushing water.

“What?”

“Something just moved past my leg!” Jack stared down at the water beneath him for several moments. Then he felt it again, between his legs this time. He saw a long, dark, snake-like creature slither out from between his legs. Suddenly, he wished he had his side arm with him. He watched as the creature wiggled past him and disappeared under the rock. He jumped back, nearly falling over as he began splashing his way madly back to shore, holding the water sample up above his head.

Will watched in fascination as Jack bounded through the shallow water of the pool, passing the smaller rock without so much as a pause. “What was it?” he asked.

“I have no idea!” Jack shouted as he made his way across the pool. “And I sure as hell wasn’t hanging around for a better look!” A few more steps and Jack was back to safety, collapsing onto the riverbank next to Will.

“Did you see it?” Will asked, his scientific curiosity overpowering his concern.

“Yeah… I saw it,” Jack panted. “It was long… a meter at least. Long and skinny… with little fins… sticking out of its sides.”

“Like a snake, maybe?”

“I don’t know… maybe. Whatever it was… it sure wasn’t afraid of me. It circled around twice… to look me over.” Jack handed the water sample to Will. “This better be enough.”

“It’ll do just fine, Jack. Thanks.” Will was fighting back a chuckle. He had never seen Jack afraid of anything, and found it a bit amusing. Of course, he would have been just as scared, if not more so. Still, it was entertaining, and it made Jack seem just a little bit more
human
to Will.

Ten minutes later, they had results. “As far as I can tell, this water
should
be safe to drink,” Will announced.

“You don’t sound very confident about that,” Jack commented.

“Well, these tests are not very conclusive, Jack. They were designed for testing water back on Earth. There could be something in the water here that these test kits were not designed to detect. We
are
on an alien world, here.”

“Well, would you drink it?”

“If I had no alternative.” Will decided. “I would boil it first, and then run it through a filter, just to be safe.”

“How about if we take a couple liters back to camp, boil and filter it, and then re-test it?”

“That’s not a bad idea. We could compare the results to see if there are any changes,” Will decided.

“Very well,” Jack agreed as he pulled two empty bottles from his pack. “But I’ll fill them from the shore, if that’s alright with you.”

* * *

“Man, I’m starving!” Mac exclaimed as he dropped the last container of electronics on the ground next to the rest of the ATUV parts. “Where the hell are they with our breakfast?”

“Let’s just get this thing built so we can go home,” Frank complained. “My back is killing me.”

“These instructions still don’t make any sense to me,” Tony admitted. “How about we just ignore them and figure it out for ourselves?”

“Sounds good to me,” Mac agreed.

“I don’t know, guys.”

“Come on, Frank. We sure didn’t get very far using the instructions yesterday.”

“That’s right, they just slowed us down,” Tony agreed.

“We spent more time trying to figure the instructions out than we did assembling anything.”

“Alright, alright,” Frank resigned. “You’re the mechanic, Mac. Whatever you say. Let’s just get to it.”

“Okay,” Mac announced, happy to be in his element once again. “We’ll start with the frame, then the drive train and power plant. Then we’ll fit the control electronics. That should give us an operational vehicle. Then all we have to do is fit-out the cockpit and body and we’re done.”

“It should be so easy!” Frank laughed as he picked up the first section of frame.

* * *

Lynn paused at the bottom of the ramp, scanning the area in every direction. Satisfied that the surroundings were clear, she circled around to the starboard side of the LRV to start her morning exterior inspection before they headed out to meet the guys.

As she approached the tail of the ship, Lynn noticed something on the ground. Footprints… Longer and more narrow than human footprints, with pointed, claw-like toes. There were two prints, side by side, a little more than shoulder width apart, facing the ship. They were several centimeters in the ground, deeper than the rest of the prints that led away, most of which had faded in the rain.

Lynn stood there for several moments, staring at the imprints. “Maria?” she called over her comm-set.

“
Yes?
”

“Tell Sara and Laura to wear their side arms.”

* * *

A little over an hour into their work, Frank spotted the women coming up the hill. “Looks like help has arrived,” he announced, dropping his wrench to go meet them.

“Finally!” Mac exclaimed. He dropped the drive train he was installing and ran off to meet them, with Frank and Tony walking behind him.

They met halfway up the hill, embracing one another. Lynn gave Frank a big hug, which caught him by surprise. Laura threw her arms eagerly around Tony, giving him the warmest greeting he could remember receiving. Mac took the opportunity to grab Sara, lifting her up off the ground and spinning her around in the air, a look of shock on her face.

“Put me down, you big oaf!” Sara squealed, trying to hide her enjoyment from such an enthusiastic greeting, even if it was from Mac.

“God, you don’t know how good it is to see all of you again,” Laura said happily.

“We were so worried about you!” Lynn added.

“About us?” Tony responded, shocked.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Frank teased.

“Enough with all this nonsense,” Mac protested as he let Sara back down. “Where’s the food?”

“So much for the warm welcome,” Sara retorted.

“Sorry, babe. But I’m wasting away here!” Mac whined. Occasionally, it seemed, there were things more important to Mac than women.

“Don’t worry, Mac. We brought plenty,” Laura assured him as she removed her pack and knelt to open it up. Removing a small, covered plastic tray, she handed it to Mac who immediately popped the lid off and began stuffing the food into his mouth.

“Jeez, Mac!” Sara teased. “You want a fork or something?” Mac just waved her off, his mouth too full to speak.

The others sat down as Laura passed out the food trays and utensils. Soon, they were enjoying a cold breakfast on the side of the grassy hill. The men shared their experiences from the previous night, and Lynn shared her discovery of the footprints near the ship. Despite their concern that whatever had made the footprints had not been detected by the perimeter sensors, Tony felt vindicated, positive that the same creature must have been the cause of the noise he had heard their first night.

After breakfast, they returned to their assembly of the ATUV. The women joined in to help, the new sense of camaraderie apparent after a night of separation. With full stomachs, a few extra pairs of hands, and a recharged sense of purpose, assembly went quickly. Soon they were attaching the towing rig to the cargo pod to haul it back to camp. By mid-afternoon, the cargo pod was hooked up to the ATUV, and with everyone aboard, they drove off slowly, but triumphantly, toward home.

* * *