Interstellar Ruse

by Gregoire, Cil;

  The pain in her head had diminished down to a dull ache. Over her body’s resistance, she forced herself up into a sitting position, then paused to rest. When the dizziness subsided, she swung her legs off the pallet that served as a bed so her feet rested on the floor of the cave, then rolled onto her knees. Ready to try standing, Caleeza gingerly pushed herself upright. She wobbled dizzily at first, but became more stable in time. Once she felt firm on her feet, she moved about searching the small chamber for the shaft she had fallen through, but could find no evidence of it. That’s strange; I thought it was right here. Chitter couldn’t have moved her far.

  Then she remembered she couldn’t find the star stone. Reaching into a pouch of her tunic she searched for it again. It wasn’t there; she really must have lost it in the fall. She then began searching the rough stone floor, but found nothing.

  Caleeza left the little chamber following the curvature of the cavern walls and soon found bright sunlight streaming in from the cave entrance. Her violet eyes squinting, she stepped unhindered out into the warm sunshine. What she saw before her was a jungle wilderness in flower. She sniffed the perfumed air, detecting a whiff of wood smoke among the scented blossoms. There was no movement, no sound. Where was Chitter and those like her? Looking around there seemed to be no evidence of habitation in the area.

  Caleeza made her way to the nearest massive tree seeking shade. The distance was short, but the excursion drained her of energy and she dropped down on a conveniently located spongy soft mound of vegetation. Angry chittering erupted loudly above her. Looking up into the wide-spreading branches of the tree, Caleeza spotter Chitter high above her. She watched amazed as Chitter looped down an astonishing network of woven vines, finally landing gracefully on the ground beside her. She still wore the unusual sash. Seeing it in the bright light of day, Caleeza realized the sash was actually a tool belt of sorts with pouches to carry implements. It was made of crystal floss, aged from wear and use. The pouches appeared to be empty.

  Chitter! Chitter! Chitter!

  The creature seemed agitated about something, but she could make no sense of it. Caleeza was sure she was getting a thorough chewing out. Finally after much gesturing and chittering, there may have been some variations in the sounds, Caleeza realized that she was sitting on a table laden with harvested food. No wonder the creature was so upset. She got up from her comfortable seat as quickly as her weakened condition would let her and tried to apologize. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. I’m not thinking straight.”

  Chitter! Chitter! Chitter!

  Then the creature pulled out what looked like a sharp stone knife. So there are things in those pouches after all. Was she about to be attacked? Her senses on heightened alert, she took a step back, but Chitter diverted her attention from Caleeza and began cutting up the squashed produce.

  Caleeza took a couple of calming deep breathes to ease her heart rate. I have to find a way to communicate.

  Circling around to the other side of the work area, Caleeza sat down on the ground opposite her hostess. The table was low, more suited for Chitter’s height, especially when she sat on her haunches. When she managed to make eye contact, Chitter gave her a questioning look. Seizing the moment, Caleeza pointed to herself and said, “Caleeza.”

  Chitter. Chitter.

  She said her name again. “Caleeza.”

  “Cha-lit-ta.”

  Maybe she came a little closer to producing the sounds; Caleeza couldn’t really tell. So she tried something else.

  “I … Caleeza,” she said pointing first to herself and then to her companion “…you …?”

  “Chittere,” she said softly to Caleeza’s surprise. It sounded so much like “Chitter,” but when she tried to reproduce it, the response from her companion was negative. After several tries Caleeza finally gave up.

  “I will just have to call you Chitter and you can call me whatever you like.”

  That seemed to be agreeable to Chitter for she nodded her head and returned to her task of chopping vegetables. Were the vegetables to be cooked, Caleeza wondered? The sleeping broth she had been given had been heated. She glanced around looking for a fire place.

  As though reading her mind, Chitter returned the knife to its pouch, gathered up the corners of the woven mat the vegetables had been chopped on, and tied it up with a piece of cord she pulled from another pouch of her sash. Then she motioned for Caleeza to follow her.

  Caleeza’s bruises protested as she slowly rose to do so.

  Chitter led her down a shaded jungle path through trees and blossoming foliage to a small open meadow where a ring of hot coals encircled a center cooking stone in a stone pit. Placing her bundle down, she picked up a long stout stick with a blackened tip and slipped it through the tied corners of the fiber mat. Using the stick as an extension of her arms, she carefully placed the bundle of chopped vegetables onto the cooking stone, woven mat and all. A large gourd filled with water stood near the fireplace. Chitter picked up a small gourd attached to a long stick and used it as a dipper to sprinkle water over the woven mat of plant fibers, creating steam. Soon the aroma of steaming herbs and vegetables seasoned the air. Dinner was on.

  Caleeza indicated the water and dipper. “May I have a drink?”

  Chitter chattered what came across as an affirmative in intonation and inflection and even served up a dipper of water to her. After drinking her fill, Caleeza handed the dipper back.

  “Thank you,” Caleeza said, using the English vernacular for expediency …after all, Chitter wouldn’t know the difference. After months spent on Earth she had been thrilled to hear her native language again when Sarus returned her to the Crystalline Landscape and Rojaire and this team found her in the interior of the continent. More recently, she and Theon conversed in English from time to time to enjoy its vivid “color.” Theon had spent most of his longevity on Earth and was a master of centuries of its many subtleties.

  After steaming dinner one more time, Chitter led her into the shade of the trees where a moss covered stump invitingly served for a chair. This time Caleeza checked carefully to confirm it was what it appeared to be before sitting down. Chitter didn’t require a chair, preferring to sit on her own haunches.

  Having quenched her thirst, it wasn’t long before Caleeza’s stomach began to growl. Chitter heard it and loped off a short distance on all fours to a tall, broad-leaf purple and orange shrub and plucked off two large pieces of fruit covered with bright orange shaggy husks. Chitter walked back upright and handed Caleeza one. The outer husk dented easily in her hand indicating a soft interior. Following Chitter’s example, she peeled back the husk revealing a creamy white fruit with the consistency of vanilla pudding and a citrus smell. Chitter showed her how to tear off a sliver of the harder outer husk near the stem and utilize it like a spoon. It was delicious and tasted like yogurt, a food she had experienced on Earth. The worse of her hunger was quickly abated.

  “Where are the others?” Caleeza asked looking around, still confused by Chitter’s seemingly solitary existence. Chitter’s almost human facial expression became sadly pensive, but she didn’t respond. Caleeza chalked it up to an inability to communicate, although at times Chitter seemed to telepathically understand. A long silence ensued. She had to try again.

  “Where did you find me?” she asked next, just to dispel the quiet. Once again, Chitter reacted as though she understood the question. Beckoning for her to follow, she led Caleeza back down the jungle path to the small cavern covered in iridescent plant life. Caleeza’s heart swelled with hope. She had to find her way back to the others. That hope was dashed when Chitter led her back to the small cave with the pallet bed and the iridescently glowing plants.

  “You found me here?” Once again her eyes scanned the walls and ceiling. “But how did I get here?” she asked exasperated. She had already searched the place. There was no long tunnel or shaft emptying into the cave that she could see. Unless the plant growth concealed it.

  Wit
hout offering any explanation, Caleeza hurried off to retrieve the long cooking pole from their picnic site and returned with heart pounding. Lifting the pole straight up overhead, Caleeza began tapping the ceiling and walls of the cave. Over and over again she pushed the end of the pole up, inadvertently breaking off clumps of the luminous growth. Over and over again the tip of the pole met with solid rock. Chitter chattered at her questioningly, apparently thinking she had lost her mind. With growing frustration and despair she tapped on until there was no place left to explore.

  There was no opening to be found; no pathway back to Ollen, Theon, Tassyn and Edty. Her energy reserve now exhausted, she slumped down to the gravel floor in exhaustion.

  “Where did you plant my trees?” Captain Setas asked Rojaire after a lengthy discussion among the colonists ended in an agreed upon course of action. The plan was to transfer all the freight on the deck of the ferry to Ollen’s shelter in the Cremyn Valley which would be the encampment for the first leg of the journey to the valley hidden in the mountains. It would require several trips, but the effort would be worth it. Rojaire estimated the strongest among them; Kaylya, Traevus, Wessid, Thayla, Ilene, and himself could make a couple of return trips in the time it will take for Kiril to lead Captain Setas, Inventor Sulyan, Drak, and Zaloka to the shelter. Rojaire had a lot more on his mind than trees, but he remained patient. The food and supplies Captain Setas had supplied would maintain the colonists for some time. He owed her his gratitude.

  “The first planting isn’t far from here,” Rojaire said pointing toward the northeast. “Kiril should be able to pinpoint the area for you.”

  “What about my ship?”

  “We will anchor it more securely and hope it is still here if we should ever need it. There is no telling how long it will be before the High Council finds a way to come looking for us. Hopefully they won’t bother trying.”

  Rojaire moved off to join the pack team and secure the ferry as promised. The pack team would blaze the trail ahead, doubling back after a rest to bring in another load. Kiril, Drak, and Zaloka would also carry full packs even though they would be traveling with the slower group while Inventor Sulyan and Captain Setas were only required to carry their personal belongings and the food and water they would consume along the way.

  The pack team loaded up on food, tools, and some useful household items. Kiril wished to be with them. How did he get stuck with the slow ones and separated from Ilene? Led by Rojaire and Traevus, the pack team headed out right away and were soon out of sight, leaving Kiril to organize the second group into forward motion.

  “Are you sure you know where we’re going, Kiril?” his mother asked.

  “Let’s hope so,” Inventor Sulyan added.

  Drak answered for him. “Of course he knows where we’re going; he was part of the mapping expedition, remember?”

  “Is everyone ready?” Kiril asked hopefully, still wishing he were part of the pack team.

  “Lead on, boy,” Captain Setas croaked. “We will follow you.”

  They had only gone a short distance … a distance that took longer to cover than it should have in Kiril’s opinion … when Captain Setas asked again, “Where are my trees?” By now they all knew the story of the tree seeds Captain Setas had entrusted the mapping expedition to plant along the way.

  “A little further ahead, we’re almost there.” Kiril had participated in the actual planting of the tree seeds and wondered curiously what they would find.

  When they were near the site of the first planting, Kiril had them drop their packs and follow him. He led Captain Setas, already provided with a walking stick, up a low rise that quickly flattened out again overlooking the valley. Upon reaching the meadow, the colonists paused to catch their breaths and to admire the view. The Zayla River snaked through a broad valley of low gently rolling lavender hills under a gold white sky. Colorful foliage and shrubs of blue, blue-green, pinkish green, red, orange, and gold grew along the banks of the river, but this vegetation quickly became sparse on the hills and valleys further from the river and the coast. A few groves of Zaota trees could be seen in the distance.

  Zaloka noticed Captain Setas scratching at the ground through the sparse low growth with her stick and walked to her. “What exactly are we looking for?” she asked.

  “This,” Setas said beaming as she continued to cultivate around a little blue and orange tree seedling about a hand span high. With the discovery of one, a search for more began in earnest, and soon they had found dozens of the promising little trees.

  “We did it,” Kiril beamed as he located more of the little saplings. But they needed to move on. Setas didn’t really want to leave her little trees and would have stayed if the tree seedling could have provided her with some shade. With some effort Kiril got the group focused back to moving on their way. Finally with visions of a mature forest in Lynnara’s future, they headed back down the low rise to their packs.

  The sight of what may one day be a little patch of forest, inspired the group with a new surge of determination. After that, progress was steady despite frequent grazing on berries and ground nuts, but as the day progressed the vegetation grew sparser and the sun glared hotter, requiring frequent rests to cool down in the shade of the scant clumps of bushes along the way. They were scheduled to take their first prolonged rest when they reached the confluence of the Cremyn and Zayla rivers, but it was obvious to Kiril they wouldn’t make it that far before they would need some sleep. So when they came to a clump of zaota trees offering natural grass hut like shelters, Kiril called a halt.

  Zaloka, Sulyan, and Drak had never seen a zaota tree before. To Zaloka, zaota trees looked more like giant leafy domes than trees. But Captain Setas understood their significance and without a word to the others, parted one of the tree’s long thick blue-green and gold skirts enough to pass through and disappear within. No one dared challenge the captain’s privacy.

  “Where did she go?” Sulyan asked a bit puzzled.

  “To her private sleeping chamber,” Kiril explained.

  There were three trees in the small zaota grove growing several long paces apart for five people. Drak and Inventor Sulyan, having already forged an unexpected friendship on the ferry crossing, decided to share a shelter. Kiril led his mother to the other.

  “We will be comfortable in here,” he said, parting the long billowing growth to reveal the invitingly dark interior.

  “How fascinating,” Zaloka said, grateful for a retreat from the hot sun. Upon entering the cool, roomy shade under the zaota tree, she immediately dropped her pack and settled down onto a cushiony bed of dry shriveled leaves. “Yes, this is nice; I will sleep comfortably here; and I’m so tired.”

  “Would you like something to eat?” he asked although they had been foraging all day. “No, I’m too tired to eat. I can only imagine how Captain Setas and Inventor Sulyan must feel.” Following his mother’s example, Kiril also got comfortable.

  For some time mother and son lay quietly, separated only by the tree’s sturdy trunk. Kiril could not sleep. He tried to bring up the topic of coming to Lynnara, but he didn’t know what to say. Should he apologize, ask forgiveness, plead his case, try to win her over? Her life has changed forever, and it is all his fault. He was still grappling with the fact that Zaloka and Wessid had joined the quest and assumed Zaloka was already asleep when she broke the silence.

  “I understand,” she said simply.

  The words were heartfelt and Kiril understood he was forgiven. Salty tears burned his eyes.

  “But why … why did you come? Won’t you miss all your friends, everyone you know, life in the community?” he asked.

  Zaloka gave herself some time to think before answering. Was it just because of Kiril? Her life had been comfortable, if not especially adventurous. She did what she was told, made her pottery, and never lacked for anything; at least she had all the High Council felt she needed. When she and Wessid were chosen to produce a new person, she had been elated. I
t was an honor bestowed on few.

  “I want to be free to think on my own,” she said finally. “I want to feel what it is like to be totally free.”

  “How did you know…?” he asked, his voice gargled with emotion.

  “How did I know you would defy me, your chosen father, the Academy, the High Council, and common sense?” Instead of sounding angry she almost sounded proud. There was a pause before she answered.

  “Because you are my son, and you are destined for greatness.”

  After their period of sleep and prolonged rest, they continued to follow the Zayla River northeast, the valley narrowing as they drew nearer to the mouth of the Cremyn River. Captain Setas demanded to see every tree planting. To her delight, they found many more promising tree seedlings along the way.

  Things went smoother as time progressed. It was still slower going than Kiril would have liked, but he no longer complained. He could now see the positive side of things and felt content. He was back on Lynnara and had family with him. Drak fell in that category along with his parents. He was headed back to the valley where Theon and the others waited; it was just going to take a while to get there. Furthermore, Theon’s daughter was with them. And the best part, he was finally free of the Academy. He just had to learn patience.

  The sun had begun its descent toward the west when Kiril’s group reached the confluence of the two rivers, making it obvious they would not reach the shelter before the period of darkness as he had hoped. At the rate they were going, Kiril doubted they would even make it to the canyon. Then would come the hard part. The steep rocky canyon would force them to leave the Cremyn River and trek across high country to reach the Cremyn Valley and Ollen’s shelter on the other side. They can follow the Cremyn River to the canyon, but then they will have to cross the highlands to circumvent the impassable canyon. Having traveled with his group this far, he now understood their strengths and weaknesses. Going uphill was going to be difficult. How was he going to get Captain Setas and Inventor Sulyan across?