Castaway Planet (22 page)

Despite the dull pain, she smiled.
Good! I can get this done!

It didn’t take long to seat the other two. The cracked one she did last, making sure she pushed as straight along the main shoehorn axis as possible. Whips should find his arms already feeling better when he woke up.

Another quick survey of the area reassured her that—as of yet—nothing significant was approaching them. She swept a bunch of crants from the stone and off of Whips’ body. She’d have to keep an eye on that. If they decided he was tasty, that could get very bad.

Tending to Whips’ injuries, though far from restful, was at least helping keep her awake and alert, so she spent another half-hour realigning as many of his arm-plates as she could. At least one of his arms should end up being functional soon.

With a start, she realized that she could now make out Caroline’s sleeping form, a few meters away, without enhancement. Dawn was finally approaching.

That meant it had been sixteen or seventeen hours since Sakura left. Akira must be well on his way. With Sakura’s data on the trip there and back, he could make good time even at night. Hitomi would slow him down a bit, but she was a good little trooper and wouldn’t complain or drag her feet. Neither would Mel, not knowing what was at stake. So they should be here soon.

She refused to think of the alternative.

Caroline stirred. “Mmmmm . . . Oh, ow. This sleeping pad needs to be thicker. I’m stiff all over. How’re you doing, Mom?”

“All right. I did some work on Whips while I was up.”

“He’s still asleep?”

“Bemmies don’t sleep like us nearly as often, but when they’re badly hurt or exhausted they will for quite a long time, until their body thinks they’ve recovered enough. Still, I think we should wake him soon. I want to see how he feels, get some food and water in him.”

“How are things down there?” Caroline nodded towards the vaguely discernible bulk in the black-ink water below.

“Plenty of somethings eating away. Seen them come up on shore a couple of times, but—”

The two of them caught sight of it at the same time: a huge shape, glowing with infrared in the enhanced vision, emerging from the water only a few scant meters from the carcass. It let loose with a rumbling bellow that vibrated Laura’s chest even at a range of over two hundred meters. They could see other creatures fleeing, retreating in all directions from the new arrival. It was of the same species as the dead one, though slightly smaller. Having announced its claim, the creature bit into the carcass and tore free a large chunk with a splintering, ripping sound.

Whips gave a whooping noise that Laura knew was a mild curse and exclamation of startlement. “What . . . oh. The big one’s arrived.”

“Yes, and it’s trying to scare all the competition away.”

Laura looked down, and a new chill went down her spine. “That could be very bad for us.”

Several of the rippling things—that the slowly growing dawnlight now showed to be glistening, gray creatures about a meter across, shaped something like a double-winged stingray—were now on the shore, and starting to move upward. One, in the lead, was zig-zagging from side to side. It halted abruptly, then turned and began heading straight up the hill towards Laura, giving vent to a hissing, bubbling cry. Immediately, the other creatures turned and started upward as well.

“Oh, no,” Caroline said softly, even as she unlimbered her bow. “They’ve found your blood trails.”

Laura nodded grimly. “Yes, they have.”

Chapter 34

Whips turned himself slowly to face the approaching creatures. He still hurt, but he could feel his arms responding better, much less sense of
wrongness
in the way they moved and turned. He realized that Laura must have done work on him while he was out.

Even so, he could tell that only one arm—the left one—was even close to really working, and even that one was badly hurt in areas. But it didn’t matter how much it hurt; if he had to, he’d fight. Nothing was getting Caroline or Laura while he could move!

“How’s the SurvivalShot, Laura?” he asked.

She glanced at the telltales. “About fifteen shots stored. I’ve got plenty of little pieces of metal wreckage in my pouch for ammo, so I can shoot it that many times. Now that the sun’s coming up . . .” She spread the solar panel on the stone nearby and connected it to the pistol. “Takes a while, but every little bit helps. I might get another shot or two, depending.”

She surveyed him. “How about you?”

“I’m better than I was. You fixed me up a bit, I can tell.” He reached out and grasped one of the curve-shafted spears he’d had in his equipment. “I can use the spear in this arm. Won’t be perfect, but it’s better than nothing. Shame I couldn’t get it out when I was swimming before.”

“I should have told you to stop swimming entirely.” Laura’s voice held sharp self-recrimination. “With all the—”

“Laura . . . Mom,” he said, deliberately, which got her attention and a startled smile, “if I hadn’t, maybe one of those things would’ve ambushed us as we came by. Who knows? Don’t beat yourself up over it, as Sakura would say.”

She gave him a quick hug to the base of his arms. “Thank you, Harratrer. And calling me ‘Mom’ almost made me cry.”

“I don’t think my mother would complain.”

“No, she wouldn’t. Any more than I would.” Her voice was affectionate, and that just strengthened Whips’ resolve.

“Oh, crap,” Caroline said. “Mom, Whips, there’s a
lot
of these things.”

More were emerging from the water, following the liquid-bubbling calls of their kindred. Whips counted nine already. “Do you think we could throw them off?”

“Off the trail, you mean?” Laura shrugged. “I don’t know how.”

Caroline looked down apprehensively. “They’re not that fast, but they’re going to be here pretty soon. I don’t know if it would make any difference; but I think those glints at the front are eyes, so if we don’t move out of their way quick, they’ll know we’re what they’re trailing anyway.”

“Then we’re going to have to try to hold them off. Caroline, how many arrows do you have?”

“Twenty-two, Mom. Sakura was carrying some for me and she left those here.” She glanced down. “The crants are starting to gather, too.”

“Whips, take the barkcloth wrapping stuff we have and sweep the crants off. Can you do that?”

“On it.” The little armored creatures were large enough for that to be effective. Fortunately; it wasn’t like brushing away the smaller Earth ants he’d seen pictures of, or trying to shoo away
tinnak
, very small plankton pests native to Europa, which were about the same size. A few of the crants tried to bite or pinch him but couldn’t get a grip on his tough skin, and his actual cuts were covered by barkcloth-toughened dressings. So he thought he was safe from them, at least for the present.

“Caroline, maybe if we kill one of them they’ll back off.”

“Or eat their own fallen comrade, if they’re like sharks. It might slow them down, anyway.”

Caroline stood, nocked an arrow, and drew back, sighting carefully. The bow made a clear, sharp
twang!
as she loosed the arrow, and the shaft streaked true.

The lead creature gave a choked howl and writhed in a circle, tendrils extending out from beneath and yanking futilely at the arrow’s shaft. It was unable to move forward or backward, the arrow having gone all the way through and into the ground beneath.

The other animals had scattered away with surprising speed and nimbleness, flowing with eerie and smooth precision to a considerable distance from their comrade. When nothing more happened, they slowly closed in, and circled, poking at it, flowing over it, bumping cautiously into the arrow shaft.

Then the first creature gave another howl, as the others grasped it with their tendrils and pulled. Slowly, with a sucking hiss, the creature’s flesh parted around the arrow, and it popped free.

The things turned slowly and resumed their rippling approach up the hill. The injured one moved more slowly, but it continued up the hill, trailing darker fluid.

Whips shuddered. “What in the Sky was that?”

“They helped their . . . pack-mate, or whatever . . . move. And he’s still alive.” Caroline looked nauseated. “Ripped a quarter across him, but he’s alive and moving.”

“We don’t know how they’re built,” Laura said tensely. “So wherever you hit didn’t do it lethal damage. Or at least not right away. We need to hit them somewhere vital.”

“Maybe they don’t
have
vital spots,” Caroline said, looking at the glistening, oozing approach.

“Anything moving like that has to have some kind of vital spots—lungs or gills, brain, whatever,” said Whips. “Try between those points that look like eyes.”

Caroline drew, aimed, and let fly again.

This arrow drilled almost precisely between the eyes of the new lead creature, and the result was spectacular. It gave a single, high-pitched shriek, and flipped over in convulsions. This arrow had gone more parallel to the ground and hadn’t stuck in. In flipping over, the thing also exposed an underbody with multiple gray tendrils and a sucking mouth with hints of ripping structures inside. That was a scavenger’s design, primarily, but the creatures were obviously willing to act as predators also.

The others once more scattered—though, Whips noted with concern, not nearly so far—and then returned.

They poked at the victim, which was now subsiding into quivers, and flowed over it. The tearing, ripping sounds that followed showed that this time, they were not trying to help. Laura’s eyes were narrowed, and Whips could see her shiver.
If they get to us . . .

“Mom!”

Whips realized that Caroline was looking
behind
them.

Something—more than one something—was stalking into view from behind a ridge. These were sleek, six-legged things, moving in a way that reminded Whips strongly of a film he’d seen of a mountain lion or, perhaps, a wolf. They didn’t look to be as heavy as a mountain lion, though, or maybe even a wolf. The body was partially armored, with a dual spine ridge, and the head was clearly that of a predator.

“Fantastic,” muttered Laura. “The smells and sounds finally got the land animals in on the action.” She raised the SurvivalShot. “Time to see if a gun can scare them.”

Taking time to aim, Laura drew a careful bead on the approaching predator and fired.

The loud, flat blast of the pistol echoed across the land far and wide. At the same time, Laura’s target gave a rasping yelp and stumbled, falling, its face smashing into the ground.

That seemed to be more than convincing for the other three of the land creatures. They dashed off, disappearing behind the ridge. The first one managed to get up, but its flight was much slower and uneven. Whips didn’t think it was going to live long.

The echoing sound had not, however, deterred the oozing, glistening horde of amphibious . . . things. They were closer now, and more were now emerging from the water. The one that Caroline had shot first had slowed down, and when the second group caught up with it, they were not so helpful as the first had been.

“How many are there?” Laura asked in an unnaturally casual voice.

“I think . . . about a dozen and a half right now.” Caroline’s voice was shaky.

“Well, you still have twenty arrows. Not so bad.”

“If I’m Robin Hood, maybe,” Caroline said, taking a deep breath.

The nearest creatures were now about thirty-five meters away. The bodies of the two eaten ones were now visible; the remains seemed to include a radial structure of supports for the flattened bodies. “You definitely won’t do much shooting at most of the body. The area behind the eyes and just in the center of the body look like the only ones with vital structures.”

“He’s right,” Laura said.

“Great. Smaller targets are always easier to hit,” Caroline said sarcastically. She drew, sighted, and let loose again.

This arrow nicked the side of one, but struck nowhere vital. “I suppose if I could pin all of them down, that would be good enough.”

“You don’t have enough arrows for that,” Whips said dismally. “Look.”

Still more of the creatures were emerging, farther down each side of the shore, and converging on their location. Whips gave a whistling sigh. “This isn’t good.”

“No,” agreed Laura darkly. “And we’re starting to run out of tricks.”

Whips reached out and grabbed their packs. “Time to start a fire, I think.”

Laura nodded. “We’ll keep them back as long as we can. After that . . .”

“I know.”

The charcoal was easy to ignite with tinder and a metal-ceramic striker Whips had devised. He focused on building the fire, trying to ignore the twanging of the bow, the sharp reports of the SurvivalShot, and the shrieks and burbling cries of the creatures as they slowly closed in.

If this area was drier, like plains, they could set it all on fire and be safe on this flat area of rock. But none of this vegetation would burn well.

But they still did have fire. “It’s burning, Laura!” he said.

“Good! See how they react to something hot, then!”

He was shocked to see that the nearest ones were now only fifteen meters off. From what he’d seen, the things had enough speed that soon they’d be close enough to try a lunge. “All right!”

He took the cooking pan, scooped up some burning coals, and scattered them across the oozing horde.

The ones struck shrank back, with high keening noises, and the others stopped, flowed slowly backwards. “Oh, they don’t like
that
at all!”

He looked at the fire. “I can’t do that too many more times, though, Laura. And we don’t have much more that’s flammable.”

“Maybe we won’t have to. A few more times might discourage them.”

Laura’s voice didn’t carry conviction, and Whips said nothing. These things didn’t seem to care much about injuries. Even the ones hit had stopped moving away. They needed something that really could hurt them, a lot of them, to convince them to run.

He looked over. Caroline’s quiver was almost empty, and from the way Laura was looking at the SurvivalShot, she didn’t have many shots left. He gripped his spear tightly. It was going to come down to close-quarters combat, and they were heavily outnumbered. He glanced one eye towards the east.

The sun was coming up, shedding its brilliant light over the land, showing the brilliant greens and browns of the land.

It was ironic, Whips thought, turning back to face the oncoming creatures. Dawn would arrive in time to let them really see what was probably going to take them down into the deepest night.