Eden (4 page)

Hesitating a fraction, she began to follow him again. She really had nothing to lose, and his presence offered some sort of security that she wasn’t about to turn down. Somehow, his hands around her throat were lost in the deepest part of memory as her survival instincts screamed she needed him, or at least the loan of a cabin in the decaying spaceship until Bodie and Matt rescued her.

He reached the spacecraft, and stepped inside. The poignant smell of his kill early this morning barely registered against the awareness of the human following him. He purposely left the door open; knowing the spaceship was her only safe shelter from the natives and for his own selfish reasons he felt he had to keep her safe.

He entered the cabin wearily, and sitting heavily on the bed, he began to pull off his boots. Pain, from his injured foot, shot up his leg and he grunted. Testing the toes he wriggled them, and all but one responded. He fell back on the bed snatching up the bottled alcohol. The bottle felt strangely light, and when he tipped it against his mouth, only a small drop reached his tongue.

He stared at it with growing confusion. Moving slightly, he noticed a single hair on his pillow. He picked it up. Red. His fingers crushed the bottle and he hurled it against the opposite wall.

“The last bottle!” he roared in his foreign tongue. “She
’s
drunk my last bottle!”

Jenny entered the navigation room. After a slight hesitation she picked up a chair and sat on it, her feet resting on another. She kept her eyes fixed to the dim passageway for his presence. After rescuing her, Jenny believed the alien wouldn’t harm her. But she wasn’t naive. Here were a man and a woman on a desolate planet. The man had brute strength, the woman only a brain.

And a body.

Jenny shivered and shook her head to dislodge the thought. Prostitute herself to an alien? If she weren’t so scared, she’d be disgusted.

Her gaze travelled around the large room. It was dim and smelly but very spacious compared to the winding corridors and tiny cabins. She noticed something lying on the ground, and bent towards it. She
recognized
it as the small grey, buzzing device that the alien had pointed at her. It was the size of a mobile phone with buttons and a small screen, but one end appeared hollow and thinned out until it was almost flat.

The screen on this small machine was cracked, and as her thoughts drifted, she noticed a couple more discarded around the room. Holding the machine tightly in both hands, she snapped it neatly in half. Inside there were
colored
metals and wires, which were the mechanics of the machine, and if she had hoped to discover what the device was, other than identify the human species to the alien, she was disappointed.

She started, her eyes flaring wide. The noise she had heard echoed up the corridor. With her nerve failing, she jumped to her feet allowing the broken appliance fall to the floor. She could already hear heavy footsteps pounding up the corridor as she dashed across to the lobby.

At the exit she slipped in a puddle of animal blood, and fell sprawling to the ground. Not bothering to stand, she scrambled out of the doorway on her stomach, but her ankles were seized and she was dragged back inside.

She was pulled, with force, across the floor, then abruptly released to roll violently until she hit the opposite wall. She lowered her hands, which had instinctively risen to shield her head against the impact, and peered fearfully at her attacker.

His feet, bare and soiled, were planted wide apart, and his naked chest was rising and falling rapidly. He threw something, and she covered her head again. The crushed bottle caught her on the back of the hand, and her knuckles stung from the pain. She stifled a shocked cry, and peered through her fingers at the alien, her stomach rolling and twisting like waves.

He reeled off a string of words, and she flinched at the tone. He bent towards her, and she tried to hide within the wall, but she was lifted by the front of her suit, and hung like a rag doll from his hands. Her chin began to tremble.

She was deflated - all fight fled her body.

“
I’m
sorry.” Tears over-spilled and fell in an endless rush. “I thought you’d gone. I thought you were on Taurus, th-that
’s
w-why I drank it.”

She was shaken roughly, her head rocking on her shoulders, and then dropped. The instant she hit the floor she curled herself into the
fetal
position, her arms covering her head.

Her senses were acute to sound, and her brain nagged her to flee, but she continued to lie still - the old, old trick: play dead. It was miraculous how prehistoric instincts had quickly reasserted their
position in her life.

Finally, the bare feet walked away. But she continued to lay in a curled ball, the dismembered animal her
neighbor
; and wondered if the quality of her life would be worth the struggle to survive.

SIX

Numb and shaken, and feeling strangely betrayed, Jenny left the spaceship. Even this one refuge was no longer safe. She felt vulnerable, alone and totally pathetic, and she couldn’t think straight long enough to be of any use to herself.

She began walking aimlessly, and unconsciously followed the tracks the buggy left yesterday. Was it only yesterday? She felt she’d been here years already. She looked upwards, the movement hopeful, but all she saw was an empty blue sky with a pale image of a sun and the bright, white star of its sister.

She looked back at the tracks and
realiz
ed, with hope clutching her heart, the buggy might not have been taken onboard after all. With a new purpose to her stride she hurried forwards, but the ground was hardening and the imprints faded with every new step she took. She noticed several flattened flower heads and looked around for further marks the buggy may have left behind.

She continued on, but there was no other evidence that the buggy had ever been there at all.

CRACK!

She spun round. A tall tree was rocking crazily in the air, singing as it swung.

The coiled trees!

She was near! She was oh so near where they had brought Taurus into land. She hoped the buggy hadn’t been taken onboard. With her fingers childishly crossed, she hurried forward, not bothering with prints or squashed flowers. She knew just beyond the trees she would see evidence of Taurus
’s
presence, and hopefully the buggy.

The homicidal plant confirmed it, and as Jenny neared, she saw Bodie
’s
wrist communicator still lying on the ground next to it.

Jenny sensibly left it where it was, and hurried onwards.

She stopped, her mouth parting in delight. Then she ran, laughing like a mad woman. The doors of the buggy were open; Bodie and Matt had been in a hurry. Unfortunately, the power hadn’t been turned off and the engine still hummed, but jubilant, she climbed in and closed the door. She pressed a button and the roof of the buggy swept over her head and sealed itself tightly. She felt instantly protected.

“Oh, thank God, thank God.” She laughed out loud and bounced up and down on the seat. Beside her, on the passenger seat, was the other torch and telescope. She opened the dashboard and found a sharp pocket knife, a small digital camera and an instruction book for the buggy.

Sudden tears of gratitude blurred her vision, and her hands unexpectedly began to shake, then she was crying; blubbering like a baby. It was as though her body had forced itself to be strong until now.

The engine spluttered. Jenny rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and told herself to concentrate. In their haste and eagerness to explore the planet, the solar reflectors were still their protective covering on Taurus. The battery had worn low; she’d have to be careful. She should choose her location, somewhere near water, park the buggy, and then maybe erect some sort of shelter for herself.

As thoughts and ideas spun around, she remembered the
two-way
transmitter. With trembling fingers she began to turn the dial. The static crackled fiercely.

“Taurus?” she asked, her heart in her throat.

“Taurus XI receiving.” the pause was long. “Jen?”

“That
’s
right,
Commander.
Jennifer Daykin reporting back to Taurus XI.”

“Are you all right?”

“What d’you think - w-what d’
you c-care?” her voice shook. “We thought you were behind us,” came Matt
’s
voice.

“Of course you did,” she replied. “That
’s
why you took off without me. How could you! “

Bodie
’s
voice became gruff with guilt. “
I’m
sorry, love, I really am. Kate made Taurus airborne as soon as were through the inner portal.” He sighed. “The override
’s
corrupted, and I think it
’s
fogged her brain somehow. She assured us you’d entered via the loading bay with the buggy. We turned around as soon as we
realiz
ed her mistake.”

“Then why aren’t you here?”

“We were hit by the asteroids again, but this time they hit us bad. There
’s
no power, and we
’re
just orbiting.”

Jenny closed her eyes. But simply hearing his voice was a comfort, it told her she wasn’t totally deserted.

“How did you manage to escape from the alien? You must completely hide away until we can come back for you.”

Jenny replied with a
humorless
laugh. “Oh,
I’m
hiding all right! We aren’t exactly the best of friends. He didn’t take too kindly to me drinking all his whisky. “

“
What?

Jenny laughed again, this time a small amount of hysteria edged it. “I thought he had followed you back to Taurus, and was using it to fly himself home. I went back to the ship and found a type of alcoholic drink and, well, I drank it. It was very nice.”

“Was that wise?”

She imagined Bodie raking his hair, which he often did when he thought somebody had done something particularly silly, and she almost giggled, but then she was plunged into a depressive mood as her imagination took her back to Taurus and warmth, and where there was safety in numbers.

*

As they were talking over the airwaves, the alien was sitting on the pebbly beach watching the waves, crackling with ice, roll lazily in and back out again. He finished a green fruit, and threw the stone moodily into the ocean.

He hadn’t wanted to be hard on her; hadn’t really meant to hurt her. But she didn’t know what it was like to be the only person left alive while all around were the graves of his kind whom he would never see again... the alcohol had been a poor source of comfort.

But loneliness had taught him an invaluable lesson, and he was determined not to destroy this great gift by taking her presence for granted.

He took out the small computer. The tiny screen flashed and he chose a mode, then settled against a tall, shiny tree, its trunk so smooth it shone. The computer
’s
voice spoke several sentences, and the alien copied each one, his voice deliberately slow.

Jenny stopped the vehicle on the bank of the black running river. She opened the door, and after carefully looking around for the wolf creatures, she stepped out.

Kneeling at the edge of the river she dipped in her hand and shivered as the icy water touched her skin. After washing her hands, and splashing water over her face, she cupped her hands in the river and raised the water to her mouth. It tasted sweet and pure.

Drying her hands on her trousers she went round to the boot of the buggy. Inside were a tool- and first-aid kit, and a thick blanket, which she instantly took out.

She opened the toolkit, and gave a shout of glee when she saw matches. In a plastic bag were pouches of coffee and tea granules. Jenny could have wept with gratitude. She rummaged in the boot for anything that would be useful for cooking. Both kits were plastic, and not suitable as cooking utensils over an open fire. Her excitement changed to frustration.

Becoming resigned to her fate, she pursed her lips and looked around. The ground was rocky with stones and boulders. She sought a large one, cleaned it, then sat in the buggy and began to scrape away the middle with the knife to make a depression in order for the stone to become suitable for cooking in over an open fire.

After time her fingers, wrist and hand became tired, and felt almost as heavy as the stone in her lap.

She sat back massaging her aching wrists, and looked out of the window and was surprised to see one of the suns had set. Looking down at the stone, she scowled. She had hardly made any impression at all, and had merely scratched the surface. Sighing, she picked up the knife in her left hand to continue the work, but yelped and cursed loudly when the knife slipped and almost sliced into her palm. For safety
’s
sake she swapped hands and began again with fraught concentration.

Later, when the second sun was about to disappear over the horizon Jenny collected more stones to make a small, knee-high, circular wall.

In the
center
she put twigs and dry foliage, and on the top balanced the now concaved stone. She filled the stone with water and added the coffee granules, and stirred until the smell made her mouth water.

With the corner of the blanket beneath the stone Jenny poured the brown
colored
liquid into the emptied first-aid kit, and raised it to her lips. It included ash and stone debris, but it was warm and therefore delicious, and worth all her hard effort.

Feeling safe with the fire on one side, and the buggy on the other, Jenny felt an enveloping shroud of peace. There was no sound, other than distant animal chatter. She sipped her drink and leaned back against the buggy, the blanket around her shoulders.

Bodie and Matt, exhausted with space walks, had signed off to catch up on some sleep, and as far as she guessed, base control believed her to be safe on Taurus with them.

She spent the night on the back seat of the buggy, huddled beneath the blanket. It still wasn’t warm enough but at least she was no longer freezing.

The howling woke her. The noise penetrated her brain until her ears sang. She seemed to be surrounded by the wolf creatures. She sat up, her heart thumping, her eyes seeking their shapes in the dimness, but there was nothing. Only the ghoulish twilight - and that hellish wailing that caused her scalp to freeze over and tighten.

She scrambled over the seats to the front. Uncaring whether she woke them or not, she contacted Taurus XI.

“What the hell
’s
that noise?” Bodie asked at once.

“The wolves. Sorry for waking you, but I n-n-need...”

“I know,” his voice was kind. “Keep low on the back seat, and keep your voice down. “

“Bodie?”

“What?”

“Talk to me. Say anything, but just keep talking.”

The alien ran, his breathing controlled, his legs pumping the ground until they blurred. In the distance his quarry galloped ahead, scissoring sharply, but unable to lose the pursuer.

Out of nowhere sprang one of the forest
’s
indigenous creatures, its gaping mouth full of sharp teeth. The alien never slowed his pace, but instead spat, and venom from a tiny duct beneath his tongue disappeared in the creature
’s
matted, hairy body and it fell, instantly dead, in his path. The alien jumped over the corpse like a hurdler, before leaping onto the hoofed animal in front. His claws made contact with its hindquarters as he brought it down. The animal struggled, and quickly the alien slit its throat. He rose and watched the twitching animal as life flowed from its body.

He wiped sweat off his forehead with a bloody hand, and kneeling again, he began to prepare the animal to be eaten.

It was morning. Jenny smiled. She’d survived another night! She rubbed her eyes and stretched the best she could in the confined space of the vehicle. Her back ached, and her neck felt as though it had spent the entire night in the stocks.

She drank water from the plastic box the tool kit had been in, and wondered if it was safe to leave the buggy for a pee. She was hungry too, and the taste of the large alien fruit had lingered in her mouth. Taking the buggy into the forest could prove difficult because of the density of the trees, so gathering fruit was something she had to do on foot.

She wondered, with a jealous scowl, what the alien would be eating today. Her brow wrinkled, and she pursed her lips as a thought came to her. Then she tossed off the blanket, smiling broadly.

She drove to valley of the immobile spaceship, and sat in the buggy watching it while being aware she was losing courage. Taking deep breaths like an athlete before a big race she began to step out.

The radio crackled. “Jenny?”

Conscious of the reprieve, she climbed back in and closed the
door.

“Good morning, Bodie. And Matt, if you
’re
there.”

“Here.”

“We were right,” Bodie said. “The asteroids are responsible for the damage to Taurus. It can be repaired but we
’re
rapidly losing fuel. “

“You sure?”

“Yep,” his tone was flat. “If we don’t repair her soon we
’ll
orbit Eden for evermore.”

Jenny fell silent as thoughts of rescue slipped away. She shook herself, feeling ashamed, as least she stood a chance unlike Bodie and Matt - but oh, didn’t she wish she were with them right now.

“What are you doing?” Bodie asked.

“
I’m
hungry, and I need food. I found a few pouches of coffee and tea in one of the survival kits, and I thought I’d offer them as a sort of peace-offering to the alien. Maybe he
’ll
help me find food.”

She heard Bodie
’s
intake of breath.

“Is that wise?”

“Probably not, but
I’m
hungry, and I can’t see what other options I have.”

“Stay away from him. Stay right away! “