Under the Canopy (12 page)

I had mixed feelings about the whole affair.

On one hand, we won and liberated them from the conquest. A noble deed. I came closer to D'lem and looked into his face. The wound disfigured him, bending his features. Ort called him "that bonehead." Was he that? The man was brutish and huge for a native, fierce looking. Yet, he organized the people into an army. Made them steal metal for weapons. That's smart thinking. Maybe, he did all this in search of glory or out of natural violent tendencies. Or maybe it was something I as a human couldn't understand. I will never know.

On the other hand, all of this could have been avoided, if I hadn't let the rifle out of my sight that day. Prometheus took the thunderstick from a god and was punished for that. Stuff of legends, my ass. What awaited the people? I looked at R'lok talking to somebody. He was bowed to, treated with respect. They'd probably make him a chief, as Edlon predicted. I hoped he'd be a better one. He seemed to know the rules of the human universe.

I heard agitation to the left of me and turned. The warriors were crowded near the trees; they murmured between themselves and pointed at the bodies on the cold wet earth. Edlon was kneeling over one. What was he doing? Then it all came together in a second. Metal in his hand winked at me. The natives drew back in fear. I heard a smooching sound of flesh being separated from bone.

(I can give you an answer. They are animals.)

Edlon was scalping the dead. He broke the first rule — respect life and death. I could forgive him alienist tendencies, but not mutilating the corpses. That was beyond my comprehension. I ran at him.

Edlon held the dead native by his red hair, lifting the head, and was sawing off the scalp. He must have heard the thumping because he turned. There was a strip of skin with hair in his hand, dripping blood. The moment he looked at me, his face met my boot, and he tumbled backwards over the dead body.

'The fuck are you doing?!' I shouted at him.

Edlon pushed himself up on the hands and looked at me. His face was a grimace of incomprehension and pain. I put the rifle butt into it. There was a crunch, and red blood flowed out of the broken nose. Edlon hit the ground again.

'Wealder, stop!' I heard Ort running to me, but I paid no attention. Edlon lay at my feet, dripping blood and still holding the smeared knife in his hand.

'Do you have no respect? Why would you do that?' I leaned closer and kicked him again, but he was ready.

Edlon evaded my boot, grabbed it and jerked to him. Now I fell down, landing on the dead native. The fucker pounced on me like a cat and held me by the collar of the raincoat. His face was pure madness with blood creating a glistening muzzle instead of the mouth. With the goggles on, he didn't look human at all. Edlon started to punch me.

'You see, roomie,' he said, puffing. 'Their shit sells well, and scalps even better. I just wanted to earn some cash, you know.'

His punches threw my head backward, but I didn't feel the pain, only the push of the fist against my face. My head was swimming with rage. I kneed him in the back, but he only hissed. Then I put my gloved hand to his face and tried to gouge the right eye. I pushed the goggles off and wormed the thumb inside, touching the wetness underneath the glass. He veered his head, escaping my thumb, and lifted his body off me. That was my chance, and I pushed at him.

Edlon began to tumble backward and fastened his grip on my raincoat. Something glistened near me. The knife. I'd completely forgotten about it. He had it in his hand the whole time. I saw the yellow stained blade fly in front of my face and rise skyward. I looked into the face of my roomie. He was ready to plunge the weapon handle deep into my neck and fuck the consequences, he was that far gone.

A massive shape appeared over us. A hand grabbed Edlon's wrist just below the knife and jerked the fucker off me.

'STOP IT!' Ort shouted. 'We're rangers! We're civilized!'

Edlon was hanging from the big man's hand like a doll. He twitched, like a snake with its tail trapped, unable to escape. The fucker spat in Ort's face.

'You bearded fuck! You —' I didn't know what Edlon had to say next because Ort hit him in the face with the other hand. The smaller man went limp at once; the knife fell out of his hand and stuck in the earth.

I got up, adjusting my raincoat and touching the neck. No blood. 'The fuck is wrong with him?!' I hissed.

Ort put him on the ground and wiped the blood off his face with a handkerchief. A white one. The scene looked so touchy-feely and absurd in the wilderness. Ort threw me a glance and returned to Edlon. 'Leave him be.'

My head was spinning. 'Why are you defending him? What, do you two have an operation going? Scalps and pelts?'

Edlon was coming to his senses, mumbling. He looked pathetic.

Ort stood up, towering over me. 'Don't be a fool. Behave. That's the way it's done here. Edlon killed them, so he owns everything that was theirs, including their bodies. It's the law of the wild. Use everything.' He paused for a moment. 'We need to re-establish our status.'

Thundergods. I was sick of this stupid cult. We were no better or even worse than them. I took a deep breath and raised my hands. 'O-okay. We live by forest laws.' I looked over the gathered natives watching us, R'lok, Ort, Edlon on the ground. My gaze lingered on the latter. 'The fourth rule — respect the territory. When he comes to his senses, tell him that if I see him on my land, I'll shoot him on the spot.' I even nodded to hammer down my point.

Ort looked lost for a moment. 'Where are you getting these rules? Is it your puttering thing again?'

It was, in some sense, and it rekindled my fury. At Edlon, at me and at the whole stupid thing. Ort kept staring at me, the inarticulate giant. He wanted an answer, but I couldn't give one. So I turned and strolled away. The scooter was waiting for me like a loyal dog. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of eyes watched me walk over the bank, over D'lem on the ground, and approach the scooter. I jumped onto it and went home without a single glance back.

Foolish me. I thought that I was at the lowest point of my ranger career. As I said earlier, that was just the beginning of my real problems.

I spent the next few weeks in solitude and half of that time with a cold from bathing in the river. Even the nature gave me a rotten egg!

I dove headfirst into the job. I drew up a new inventory, took apart and cleaned the drowned rifle. It had so much dirt in it that it I doubted it would work again. As for the lost one, in my haste I abandoned it in the river. I bet my "colleagues" picked it up. Well, even if they didn't, it didn't matter. It was just a piece of junk now.

Every morning I shoveled snow on the roof and then sat at the computer. When I got bored, I would patrol my sector. I tried not to think about them. I never came close to the border of Edlon's sector afraid that I'd have to live up to my threat. My bile had went down by then, and I didn't want to shoot anyone.

I didn't hear from anyone the whole time. To my astonishment, I found the lack of Edlon and his calls daunting. Who would have guessed? I strongly doubted he would break the silence first. As for myself, I was bound by my own principles. I remembered Ort's words about puttering. A lot. Was I overthinking it all as he said? I was confused and abandoned. The strange thing was, I had signed this contract to get away from people. I considered myself a loner; society was nothing but an annoyance. Yet, now I craved contact. Maybe, the crucial difference was that this time
I
was ostracized. Even nature, my beloved forest, had become somehow distant. At times, I would stand on the roof and look into it, and I'd see nothing but coldness and some unspoken reproach in it. I remembered Dad's words that nature was the mirror of our inner self. Maybe, I was looking at myself…

My surroundings started to suffocate me. The cabin became my prison. I wanted to break out of the rut and see somebody. Since the human company was out of the question, I decided to check on R'lok.

That was easier said than done. I combed the woods of my sector and the surrounding area and found zilch. The aliens had withdrawn somewhere, and I didn't know the coordinates of their villages. The computer had old data, back from the times of the initial colonization. When I visited the sites, they were long abandoned and overgrown. Despite myself, I felt betrayed by R'lok.

I went to the river and looked at the place of the battle. Nothing reminded of it. The river was there, the woods too, but no sign of the natives. The rifle… I had to make sure, after all the trouble. Also, I had to somehow justify coming there.

I landed on the bank where R'lok and I dragged D'lem on shore and went to the water. The weather was turning for the spring, so there was less ice. It was paper thin and transparent and broke like glass when I stepped onto it. The water was still cold. I went out and headed for the woods. I chose the biggest twig I could find and mounted the scooter. I drove the machine to that spot where D'lem died. At least, I thought it was it. Prodding with an improvised gaff, I searched the bottom. The twig moved here and there, but didn't bump over anything rifle-like. I hemmed and moved to the left. The search continued.

I was so concentrated on moving my gaff and not falling in the cold river that a sudden voice made me jump.

'Hello, Wealder.'

I bit my lip to restrain a yelp of terror and dropped the twig. It hurried away from me, the lousy ranger. I turned to the bank and saw no one else but R'lok. He stood there dressed in what looked like tikili jacket and had a walking stick in his hand. It looked like he went out for an idle walk in the woods.

'Hello, R'lok,' I said. 'How is it going?'

He nodded. 'Good. I chosen guide now. We live beyond river. Safer here.'

From whom, other natives or us, thundergods? 'I'm glad for you.'

He looked at the floating scooter and then pointed somewhere to the right. 'If you look for thunderstick, it fell over there. Ort took it after you left.'

I thanked the cold air for reddening my cheeks, so the alien couldn't see me blush. 'Just checking. And what about you?'

'I go to swamp on other side. People sick, need medicine. Grows only there.'

I saw the detail I didn't pay attention to — he had an empty bag over his shoulder. 'What's with them? Maybe I can help. I have a lot of drugs in the cabin.'

R'lok shook his head. 'Thanks, generous thundergod, but your medicine no good for us. We too different. Need our own.' He pointed to the side with the stick. 'Boat over there. I wanted to cross.'

That was the very thing I wanted to break my rut. And I hadn't been in the swamp, really. 'Listen, I can give you a lift there and back. No problem. What do you say?'

R'lok pursed his lips and bowed his head. 'You very kind, but I must decline.' He turned and went in the direction of the alleged boat.

I couldn't believe my ears. He declined my help. I flew up to him and blocked the way. 'Now, don't be a fool. Swamp can be a dangerous place. I can at least make sure that you won't drown.'

R'lok tried to walk around me. 'I guide, I must do it by myself. My duty to serve people. No help from others.'

I grabbed him by the shoulder, it felt rock hard. 'Alright. But divine intervention doesn't count. After all, fate brought us together on this day.'

His face was puzzled for a moment, and then he got my drift and smiled. 'Thundergod swept me up on his whim.' He nodded. 'I could do nothing about it.'

I grinned and waved my head at the basket behind me. 'No room for two here. You'll have to grab by the basket and hold on.'

'I can do that.' He went behind me and stepped on the back wings. His staff went over the basket and held him in place in a lock.

I turned back and said over my shoulder, 'Holding fast?'

'Yes.'

I rotated the handles, and the scooter rose into the air, soaring into the gray sky.

The metal mount with two riders rose above the river and the forest. I heard a yelp from behind and looked over my shoulder. R'lok clenched his staff so tight that his muscles stood through the jacket. He gawked around, and his face had this expression of a child who is startled and amazed at the same time. He looked different.

I laughed. 'Do you like the view?'

'So high. Trees small, feels wrong.' He shifted his gaze over the tree tops swaying in the mild wind. 'I like it. Land beautiful.'

I smirked. 'Yes, it is.' I remembered our first conversation. 'Look over there, that's the horizon.' I pointed to the north.

Out there, far in the distance, the green woods turned darker and darker as they went. The river snaked through them, glistening in the sun. And even further, a blue haze enveloped the land, merging the forest and the sky into one. However, right in the middle, a streak of light shone through, the curvature of Safun.

I checked R'lok again. His expression was frozen. This must have been an eye-opening experience for him. 'World so big…' That was all he said.

We headed to the west, across the bottle neck. The forest rolled past beneath us and then broke into the bare strip of the swamp. The vast green blanket greeted us with its deadly stillness.

'Where is your medicine?' I asked.

'Deep in swamp. Where trees grow out of islands.'

I saw what he meant. The outskirts of the bog were bare and resembled a lawn, but in the heart of it I saw black trunks of small trees. Well, small by local standards. I dropped the machine down and headed for them. We flew over the green carpet, and I could smell the mixed aroma of stale water and pickled grass. A weird cocktail.

The scooter approached a group of trees. Their bark was almost coal black, the branches were twisted and barely had any leaves on them. The place looked sinister and resembled a burial ground.

'Descend between them, ground solid there,' a voice said from behind me, and I obeyed.

The machine hung for a moment above traitorous grass and then dropped. We didn't fall through. I dismounted and felt the land. It was soft but thick enough to hold the machine and us. R'lok came off too and went to the trees. I looked around — we were on a desert oasis with nowhere to go. I noticed that there were no animals in sight, not even bugs. A true death land.

I turned to the alien. 'How were you planning to come here on your own?'

R'lok raised his staff and shook it in the air. 'Most useful in swamp. Only way to find path.' He gestured to the trees. 'Medicine grows there.'

'What it looks like?'

R'lok turned away from me and searched for something on the ground, lifting the grass with his staff. He squatted, picked something and presented it to me. I took the thing in hand. It was a small blue mushroom.

'Best medicine,' R'lok said. 'Helps from most deadly disease. I must gather lots of it.'

'Alright then,' I said, rotating the mushroom between my fingers. The cap danced its dark dots before me. 'Let's get to it.'

He led me to the trees, stepping over the roots that came out of the ground and intertwined like cables. He looked around and then dropped his satchel on the ground and spread it open.

'I put shrooms here. You wait, thundergod.' He turned and stepped away.

'Wait. I want to help you. You didn't expect me to just idle around, yes?'

The alien looked confused, his eye darted here and there. 'Yes?' he said at last.

I raised my hand. 'Just do what you have to.' He nodded and went behind a tree. I looked at the small mushroom in my hand and sniffed it for some reason. It was awful, like rotting meat with cheap deodorant sprayed over it. Why does medicine always have to be awful like that? My pills were no better. I dropped it in the bag on the ground and went to work too.

I rounded the nearest tree and scanned the ground. All grass. I sat down and spread it with my hands. There they were, the blue mushrooms. I started to pick them like flowers and collect into the left hand. In the beginning, I hardly saw them, but as I went on, they popped in handfuls. Soon, I had so much that I couldn't hold them, so I returned and dropped them in the bag.

Returning to my place, I moved along the tree closer to the open ground, I mean, bog. I leaned under the coarse trunk and saw a whole batch of them, all big and meaty. I made another step towards them and fell down. My leg dropped through the ground into the thick water with a sucking slurp and was dragged down like a stone. I collapsed to one knee and grabbed the tree with both hands. I felt myself slipping into the swamp.

'R'lok! Help!' I shouted.

The alien jumped from behind the tree I was holding to and immediately understood what was happening. Without saying a word he hooked one foot in the roots and extended his staff to me. Its end dangled before my face, but I hesitated to grab it. I feared that the moment I let go of the tree, I'd be sucked down in an instant. My hand tore itself off the bark by itself and wrapped its fingers over the staff. When I felt the strong grip of the alien on the other end, I grabbed the stick with the other hand, and R'lok pulled me out of the trap in one mighty jerk.

I wiped my leg off the slimy water and weed and rose up to see the stone-faced alien.

‘Thanks,’ I said.

R'lok nodded, still with a deadpan expression, and we went back to work. Pretty soon the bag was filled with the alien medicine. I felt stuffy in the raincoat, unzipped it and sat on a root. R'lok dropped another handful in his satchel and looked it over.

'Have you had enough?' I asked, flapping the shirt over my chest. The sweat was drying.

'Maybe couple more.' He looked at the place where I fell into the bog. 'Did you find something there?'

'Yep,' I nodded. 'Shrooms that thick.' I made a ring with an index finger.

'Good.' R'lok went to that place and I got up.

'Do you need my assistance?'

'No,' he said, approaching the tree. 'I know this land.' I couldn't argue with that. After all, he was going to do it all alone initially.

R'lok leaned on the trunk and hugged it. After that, he shifted around it like a monkey and hung down, holding himself in the air by one hand. The alien picked the mushrooms and threw them over his shoulder towards the bag. They landed on the soft ground without breaking and bounced off like they were made of rubber. I picked the shrooms and put them in the bag. When the alien was finished, he climbed back on top and slid off the tree.

R'lok turned to me and beamed. 'See?'

I smiled and applauded his skill. However, my smile was immediately wiped off. I saw something move under the duckweed behind R'lok.

My eyes bulged, and I pointed at the thing. 'Behind you!' I was already moving towards the alien, but I was already too late.

R'lok turned, flinching away from that place, and in that moment some creature jumped out of the water, propelling itself upward. It got the alien by his leg, and he collapsed to the ground. A moment later I was on top of the struggling duo. I didn't know what the creature was, maybe a fish or a reptile. It had wet scales, round blank eyes and long jaws without gums and with uneven teeth sticking out of it. Some of them were sunk into R'lok's leg. The rifle flew into my hands, and its muzzle touched the creature's head. I had to fire four times for the beast to die and release its death grip. Either it was very lively, or its brain was too small to hit. Maybe both.