Far Space (32 page)

Unwrapping a nutrition bar, Jennifer leaned back against the cave and drew her knees to her chest. As she ate, she took in the rest of the crew. Tom was still slouching around the storage containers tucked along the far wall. The packing containers had held everything which had been salvaged from the camp and shuttled down here. It had been difficult to navigate the tunnels but at least they had shelter and easy access to the Soo. The decision to transfer the camp down here had shown the first true schisms among the survivors. Three wanted to stay and wait on the wind-blasted surface. Jennifer and Mason convinced them shelter was preferable to waiting in the open for another ship. Their transponder would be interrogated by any ship approaching the planet and would be able to pinpoint their position should anyone come looking for them. Jennifer smiled to herself at the thought of the ‘HELP’ sign Kalil had proposed to create using rocks. That might work on an island in Earth’s Pacific Ocean, but she doubted it would do much good here.

Finishing the energy bar, Jennifer decided it would be enough for tonight. She had eaten a little of some raw fish Sue had offered her for lunch. Surprisingly, it was quite good, certainly better than the processed glop coming from the tiny human kitchen. She thanked God again the food on this world was at least marginally compatible with human physiology. Still, it was a good idea not to forget the vitamin and mineral supplements which ensured she received the minimum daily recommended allowance to keep her body functioning properly. She searched the waterproof section of her pack and pulled out the large bottle holding the tablets. Her heart sank a little as she realized there were only enough for three more weeks. After that, how long would they be able to survive off the local food supply?

Jennifer shook out two vitamins, the normal dose. After a moment’s thought, she put one of the vitamins back and popped the single remaining pill in her mouth and washed it down with water from her self-filtering bottle. She stowed the tablets and the bottle back in their allotted places in her pack. She laid the pack close to the wad of padding she used for a pillow. Jennifer felt better having everything she needed, including the rebreather built into the pack, nearby for several reasons. First, if the water began to rise for some reason, the quickest way out was through the watery tunnel nearly two hundred
meters long, way too far of a swim to hold her breath. Second, she feared Tom might sabotage her equipment. Her pack offered her some modest means of controlling her situation. It, along with her vest, contained just about everything she needed to survive in the short term.

Maybe she should talk to Kalvin Mason about her fears.

Mason, the default leader of the group, sat huddled over his makeshift table near their small generator. His thin silver hair was now matched by a stubbly beard. The concerns of the past few days weighed heavily on Mason as evidenced by his stooped shoulders and sunken eyes. As his energy levels dropped, Tom and Quade had become emboldened to push for their own agenda. They insisted Jennifer find a way off the island using whatever negotiating tactics possible.

Jennifer snorted at the thought. What did they expect her to do; find the closest dealer and bring them the keys to a shiny new spaceship? She looked at Mason once more and shook her head. He would be of no help deterring Tom or Quade.

At least Rider Thuros seemed unfazed by their predicament. For him, this was merely a chance to perform a thorough survey of the caverns which riddled the island above and below the waterline. Jennifer kept telling him there were probably more interesting geological features below the surface but the older man simply smiled and told her to record everything. He insisted the veins she was finding were very similar to the ones he had uncovered, explaining the entire island had been uplifted from below the water by titanic geologic pressures. Thuros tried to be the source of reason during many of the arguments which flared up in the camp. His main problem was his good-natured way; he could not imagine the others doing anything wrong or out of social bounds. Jennifer smiled to herself at the thought of his naive view of their new world. Jennifer had held off telling him of her suspicions of Tom and Quade, fearing to put him in danger as well. He was an innocent and Jennifer felt the need to protect him. She looked over and saw watched Rider as he examined his latest samples while absently spooning the grey glop provided by the human’s food processor into his mouth. She smiled and hoped she would be able to get him back to earth where he could share his discoveries.

Luckily, one of the pieces of equipment was a neat bit of technology which was supposed to render the local food sources safe to eat. Meant as a back-up for the meager food supply that was to be left behind when a team worked out of the surface camp while the ship performed periodic surveys, it now became their lifeline. Jennifer had sampled a wide range of the local fare to no ill effect. Her favorite Soo food was an underwater fruit called pipinu which was very similar to a pomegranate. Sue had shown Jennifer how to crack open the tough outer skin to get to the smaller seeds inside which exploded when she bit down on them. Mason and the others believed the crew would not be able to survive on the planet’s food due to many technical reasons. Still, they lacked the basic equipment and had not even begun that portion of the survey prior to the loss of the ship and its more robust analysis suites and computer programs. So, they really had nothing but Jennifer’s experience to go on.

Jennifer laid back and tried to take her mind off the food supply and her growing fear for her personal safety, Jennifer ran through the list of Soo words she knew, wondering if she would ever be able to speak directly to Sue without the translator. She drifted off to sleep wondering if she had got the definition for feti’i mixed up with taio. One seemed to be a reference to family while the other seemed to be used to indicate someone with whom you shared a deep friendship. Jennifer had a smile on her face, thinking of the laugh she and Sue would have trying to sort it out, especially since she had heard the terms used to describe several groups which shared intimate relations and had also been used to describe her. Did they consider her more than just a stranger?

Jennifer dozed off only to awaken to a dark cave. She laid still in the darkness, listening. The only sounds which reached her ears were the dripping of water out over the pool and the light snore of one of the others. No one else was moving. She checked her watch; four AM. She tried to go back to sleep for nearly an hour before giving up. Quietly, she slipped over to the latrine set up by the food processor – an arrangement she tried very hard not to think about. She made sure she had the knife in her vest. The precautions proved to be unnecessary as she finished her preparations for another day with the Soo without waking anyone else.

The others began to get up before Jennifer was able to slip into the water and away from the cave. She was double-checking her gear when an argument between Mason and Tom peaked in intensity and caught her attention. She turned to find Tom pressing forward over Mason.

“I’m telling you she’s not trying hard enough!” MacGregor growled.

Mason leaned his thin frame back from the larger man’s presence. “Tom, we’ve talked about this, Jennifer is trying her best to understand the Soo. They have told us there are no ships. Perhaps if Quade were to help…”

“All we’ve got is her word for that,” MacGregor spat. He pointed at Jennifer now. “How do we know she’s not just dragging this thing out? She’s the one getting all friendly with the sushi.” He turned to face Jennifer. “She probably doesn’t even want to leave.”

“MacGregor,” Jennifer called, “I didn’t think it was possible, but you have just proven you’re a bigger idiot than I had ever imagined.”

“You stinkin’…” MacGregor stepped away from Mason toward Jennifer. “It’s about time someone taught you some manners.”

“Whoa, guys,” Rider Thuros stepped in front of MacGregor. “What’s the problem?”

Jennifer fingered the handle of her dive knife tucked beneath a flap on her equipment vest. Was Thuros really that out of touch with reality?

“Stay out of this, Rider,” MacGregor snarled. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.”

Thuros pushed the brim of his hat back on his head and placed his hands on his hips. Meeting MacGregor’s gaze, he used a hard tone of voice Jennifer had never heard before. “No, Tom, I think you need to deal with me right now.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. Maybe Rider was more in touch than she realized. MacGregor’s eye twitched as the sturdy little geologist turned to granite between him and his prey. “Have it your way.” MacGregor took a step back and pulled a large handgun from his a deep pocket of his encounter suit. Pointing the weapon at Thuros, he said, “Get over there with Mason.”

Seeing their time had come, Quade pulled out a weapon of his own from a storage box near him – a long spear gun. He used his free hand to lift a large automatic rifle from the same box and tossed it to Kalil Mahir. Kalil caught the weapon clumsily. Quade turned to cover Mason and Thuros.

“Here’s how this is going to play out,” MacGregor said in a low voice, advancing on Jennifer. “You’re going to go out there,” he motioned at the dark pool, “and you’re coming back with a way to get off this rock. A way to get us back to Earth.”

Jennifer had dropped her hands to her sides. Tom did not seem to realize she had the knife hidden in her vest. She did not want to tip him off about its presence. As calmly and with as much courage as Jennifer could manage, she asked, “And if I don’t?”

“If you don’t, one of them dies,” MacGregor said, waving the gun lazily at Mason and Thuros.

“This is absurd!” Mason sputtered.

MacGregor extended his arm, taking firm aim at the Senior Researcher’s chest. “We don’t have to wait until later, Doc.”

Mason opened his mouth to protest again.

MacGregor raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. When Mason clamped his mouth shut, MacGregor muttered, “Smart.”

Quade Pierce gave a soft laugh in the background.

Jennifer looked over at Kalil. The younger man held his weapon awkwardly, unused to its feel and weight. She wondered how dedicated he would be to the other two mutineers if things came to a shooting match.

Turning his attention back to Jennifer, MacGregor said, “Get one of their ships and get it quick.”

Her mind racing, Jennifer could see no way out of the situation. After a few seconds, she nodded. “I’ll try my best. But, as I’ve…”

MacGregor stepped forward and grabbed Jennifer’s pony tail, pulling her head back with a hard yank.

Jennifer gasped in shock.

“Do it.” MacGregor said, his tone flat and dangerous. He flung Jennifer back so that she stumbled and landed next to her pack on the floor. Checking his wrist display, MacGregor said, “You have six hours.”

Jennifer got to her knees and zipped up her wet suit with a jerk. She grabbed her pack with its built-in rebreather and snapped it onto the back and sides of her vest. Jennifer made sure she had both of the data pads in her vest pocket, her primary and the back-up she had found in the salvaged equipment.
With a glance back at Tom, she started for the entrance pool, pulling out her gloves as she went. At the edge of the water, she glanced back to see Mason looking concerned, Thuros trying his best to appear resolute and Kalil bewildered. Both MacGregor and Quade had satisfied grins on their faces and a dark, dangerous look in their eyes.

Jennifer suppressed a shudder of revulsion. She knew whether she came back successful or not, her personal safety would be forfeit – they would rape her and then most likely kill her and the others anyway to cover up their actions. She sealed her face mask and stepped off the rock shelf into the murky water.

There were several Soo waiting for her under the water, as was their custom. Jennifer crossed her arms across her chest in the best imitation of a Soo greeting. She recognized Sue along with an older female named Myrna and a male named Rosh. Rosh seemed to be something akin to a tribal chief or ra’atiri in Sue’s clan. Sue gave the proper greeting of entwined tentacles across her thorax and turned to lead the group out of the grotto.

Jennifer gladly followed. She would try to explain to Sue what was happening when they stopped to talk. Perhaps, by some miracle, the Soo would have a suggestion.

The sessions with Sue usually took place in what Jennifer understood to be a common gathering area used by her clan. While she swam behind the Soo, Jennifer wracked her brain for something she had missed – something she could use to save Mason and Thuros, not to mention herself. One thing was nearly certain at this point, there was no ship available to take her or any of the other humans back to Earth. She had asked as soon as she knew enough terms to describe space travel and home. Lost in her thoughts, it took a few minutes to realize the two Soo accompanying Sue had slowed until they were following at some distance, leaving Sue and Jennifer some privacy in an unfamiliar passage.

Sue had shown her many different chambers used by the Soo but today she obviously had something special in mind as they turned down a wide corridor with glittering sunshine streaming down from a fissure near the water’s surface. Jennifer’s interest was tweaked, despite the danger presented by Tom’s ultimatum.