Shortly after he had settled in, Koale began to fiddle with clay bowls and some powder. He refused to detail what it was when Felix asked, merely saying, “You’ll see soon.”
It wasn’t until Felix overhead the Lisnoir muttering about fuses that he began to worry.
The end result was a bit of a frankenstein invention. Koale ended up taking two clay bowls, filling them with explosive powder before sealing it with more clay. A fuse was made using the new paper. Koale treated it with just a smidgen of nitrates, formed it into a tube and adhered it to a small opening left in the sphere.
Koale didn’t have enough explosive power to make more than three of his homemade bombs, and Felix thought it was probably for the best.
With all the progress, building and general success, there was one arena in which things did not go so well. Food was running short. Had long since ran short.
They had put out many more snares, but they were pulling in only a squirrel, sometimes a cobb. The extra meat from the two snuffle lizards ran out days ago. They tried supplementing with the red berries they found on fronds, but it violently disagreed with them.
Liz was still effective in her nightly hunts. She was getting larger and had a belly growing on her. Koale groused that he was about to eat the lizard. Felix knew he was kidding. Fairly sure he was kidding, anyway.
When the last of their meat turned, they were forced into a less than favorable choice. Would they favor a slow, but likely, death by starvation? Or, would they chance hunting and all the risks that entailed?
“You don’t know that we will starve for certain. And besides, you’ll recall the last time we set out on a merry little adventure, we returned to find a monster living in our home. Then, and I cannot stress this enough, I got eaten.”
“Which was tragic, and I cannot sufficiently apologize,” said Felix, “But, the trauma of that memory is gone. I can’t say that I think a long, lingering death wasting away will yield the same results.”
“I should have trauma, as terrible as that would be. They are messing with our minds.”
Felix sighed and took a seat. “I know man, I know. But if we want to figure out what’s going on, let alone get off this rock, we need to progress.”
Koale waved an arm at all the recent additions.
“We have implants in our necks that at the very least can affect what we see, our emotional ties to selective memories and interpret our mental intentions. I don’t think the finest tech of the stone age is going to cut it.”
Koale grunted. “I see what you are doing. You’re trying to bribe me to go hunting with a vague promise of research.”
“It is working?”
“Yes.” Koale held out a hand and helped Felix up. “Come on, we have progress to make.”
The set off clad in their new gear. Felix led them in the direction of the ruined hut he found weeks ago. It was where he found the research for the bioluminescent goo. Perhaps there might be other exotic finds in the area as well.
That and he didn’t know a good spot to hunt otherwise, so it was just as good a direction as anywhere else.
Even looking for it, they nearly missed what remained of the hut. It had been in rough shape last Felix saw it, but it was far worse than that as he approached again.
The roof that had collapsed before was nearly gone. All that remained was the main beams and rot. The walls were bowed under their own weight and riddled with holes. One wall had collapsed in on itself entirely.
Felix hadn’t expected anything useful from the hut itself, but still, the ruin was shocking. Why was it so bad here while his own tree house had no noticable decay? Why had the cave shown the same rapid decay when he had passed by in search of Koale?
The longer he was on this planet, the more questions he had, and answers seemed in short supply.
A short investigation returned nothing worth salvaging, and so they continued north.
It was several hours with little of note until they found a waterfruit tree. It still had several ripe fruit remaining. They took a break, picking and eating a few each. After a rest, they pocketed the rest of the fruit in easy reach.
The fruit was a good find, but not enough for either to be satisfied turning back. A handful of fruit wasn’t going to change the situation on either front.
The smoke they saw in the distance as they resumed, however, just might.
In hushed tones they quickly agreed to both find the source of the smoke, and to do it as cautiously as they could manage.
In short order, Felix had his throwing spear and atlatl out. Koale had one of his makeshift bombs on one hand and a torch in the other. Felix was so very glad Koale was in his side.
They crept through the underbrush towards the smoke. As they edged near, the crackle of a fire could be heard. Shortly after, the vegetation gave way to a beach. They settled into the last large fern and marveled.
There on the beach was a campfire. Vegetables roasted on a spit overtop. A hut was off to the side. All of it was identical to the system made structures they themselves had.
What they didn’t have was the small farm to the side. Long, narrow wooden troughs were filled with soil. Green leaves peeked out of the ground at even intervals.
There it was, the answer to the food problem and new tech rolled up in one. Add to that new people, and well, this was progress indeed.
There was a sharp crack and Koale lurched forward. Felix spun around. He was in time to see the man who had tried to strand them on The Raven. And the club he was swinging at Felix’s face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Felix's head ached. It felt like his nose might be broken. He tried to reach up and check, but he couldn’t move his hands.
He opened his eyes, careful not to move his head. His knees and ankles were tied together with roped vine. Felix assumed his wrists were bound the same way . He couldn’t see Koale, but he could feel someone pressed up against his back, and his elbows tied to theirs. That was probably Koale.
Tied was not good, but roped vine wouldn’t hold them for too long. Felix tried to pull his knife out of his inventory, but nothing appeared in his hand.
He looked down at his quick bar; everything was gray and zeroed out. He opened his inventory. Nothing but the boots on his feet.
This was more of a problem.
Felix examined as much of his surroundings as he could while remaining still. He sat on a wooden floor. Ahead of him was a desk; it looked like one of the research desks, but made from another sort of tree.
To his right, part of a bed, and to his left-. To his left was the woman. She sat hunched over, her elbows on her knees, her arms crossed at the wrist. She held a spear lazily in her right hand
She was wearing clothing made of various animal hides, creating a patchwork appearance. She was, however, fully clothed and thus several steps above either Felix or Koale. She held a spear lazily in her right hand, its butt braced against her foot.
She smiled right at Felix. “You ready to stop pretending to be asleep there? I’ll wait if you aren’t.”
Felix shrugged and sat as upright as he could. He looked right at the woman. “Hi there, we didn’t seem to have a chance to properly introduce ourselves earlier. I’m Felix. I’m the man you left for dead on a hulled spaceship, and then later ambushed and captured. I’d shake your hand, but well.”
The woman chuckled. “I like you. Shame the crowd you’ve fallen into.”
She stood up and walked to the door. She opened it a crack and called out, “Trent, they’re awake.”
She walked back to the chair. “Yeah, you too, lizard boy. I can see you moving. And I know you can understand us.”
Koale sat up as well. “Had to try.”
The door opened. The man from the Raven, Trent presumably, who had hit Felix walked in.
He filled the doorway. He had been a large, solid man before the incident, but his time on Karlyke had done nothing but build on that frame. He wore the same patchwork leathers his wi
fe wore. He must have been working hard as sweat streaked his dirty face and plastered his hair to his head.
“So,” he said, “It wasn’t bad enough chasing us off the ship, huh? You had to go and become pirates too?”
Koale spoke up. “I believe you may have us confused with someone else. You two are the first people we’ve seen since we arrived on this accursed planet.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Of course we are. You are just so sweet and innocent.” He spat at Koale’s feet. “Where are the rest of them? How many this time?”
“Look, aside from some old ruined hut, you guys are all we’ve seen that hasn’t got too many teeth and a foul disposition in a while,” said Felix.
“Oh bulls-,” the man started, but he was interrupted by his wife’s hand on his arm. “Nessa?”
She just looked at Felix. “The hut. Tell me about it.”
“Sure thing. Nessa was it?”
“Renessa to you.”
“Renessa then. I’m afraid, there’s not much to say. We stumbled on a tiny half ruined hut in the middle of the jungle. It looked like it was system made, but it was falling apart when I first found it, let alone when we passed it today. There was furniture, but it was pretty far gone. The only thing worthwhile was a scrap of research for bioluminescent goo.”
Renessa looked at her husband meaningfully and inclined her head to the door.
“We’re going to talk. Don’t be dumbshits and make me beat you.”
Felix smiled his most disarming smile at the man. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Trent narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He followed his wife out the door.
The door, despite being system made was not the best insulator. They could hear a conversation on the other side, though not well enough to make out words. Felix strained trying to hear.
“Be quiet,” whispered Koale, “This may hurt.”
Felix was alarmed but stayed quiet. He could feel Koale moving his hands. Koale’s claws started picking at the rope. He winced at Koale’s claw slipped and nicked his wrist.
Outside the discussion seemed to be heating up. Felix could hear scattered phrases from Trent as he lost control of his volume.
“...risk it…raiding…”
Strands began to snap. Felix flexed, straining to get free. The rope dug into his wrists, but they started to snap more rapidly.
“...pirate lizard...”
The last of the binding gave way, and Felix had his hands free. He was still tied to Koale at the elbows, but he had some mobility. He shimmied and contorted the best he could, working his arms out of the elbow bindings.
“Shit! Lizard! Claws!”
The door slammed open.
Trent rushed in, Renessa at his heels.
Felix was half leaned over, supporting himself on one hand as he tried to pull the other free. He looked up at the scowling faces of his captures. “Back so soon?”
A spear was leveled at his face. Felix slunk back to a seated position and held his hands to the side in surrender.
“Don’t move,” said Renessa. “Trent is going to retie your hands. I won’t kill you if I don’t have to. You’ll prefer it if I did, though.”
Felix believed her, and he held very still as Trent grabbed his hands and re-tied them in front this time. Trent dug his thumb into the scratch Koale’s claw made. “Whoops,” he said, “So sorry.”
Felix grimaced. “I don’t suppose you have a bandage?”
Trent pulled the binding tight so it dug into Felix’s wrist, aggravating the wound. “You’ll heal.”
As Trent was retying Koale’s hands to the front, Renessa used the head of the spear to lift Felix’s face. “You won’t pull that stunt again, right?”
“Of course not.”
With Felix and Koale resecured, the couple headed out the door once more. The door shut behind them. The conversation renewed again.
“New plan?” said Felix.
“New plan,” said Koale. “First step is to get up. Plant your feet in the ground and push against my back. We’ll push each other upright. On three, ready? One, two, three.”
Felix and Koale pushed. They began to move upwards. Koale used his claws to hold on, but Felix’s boots slipped and they fell to the ground again with a thump.
They froze and listened at the door, but the couple seemed not to have noticed.
Felix was able to rub his heels together and slowly scrape his boots off his feet. He hoped his bare feet would provide better traction. Felix counted it off and again they pushed. Up they went, but things got shaky pretty quick.
With their elbows bound together, Koale was forced to bend back. Koale’s tail dug into Felix’s back causing him to bow out as well. Which dropped his elbows and caused Koale to adjust again.
By the time they finished their awkward dance, they were both leaning back so far their heads were nearly resting on the other’s shoulder, and Koale was squatting.
“So, now what?”
“We hop together towards something sharp to cut our bindings.”
Felix blinked up at the ceiling, the only way he could face in this position. “Seriously?”
Koale paused. “It seemed like a better idea on the ground.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any better ideas. I didn’t see anything on the ground, so shoot for the research desk. On three?”
“If we must.”
They jumped. Felix slipped on the landing and started to fall. Koale tried to push the smaller man back up but over compensated. Felix went down, pulling Koale behind him. They landed in a pile on the floor with a huge crash.
Felix was pinned to the floor with Koale lying on top of him. His arms lay at an extreme angle and his shoulder screamed.
The door burst open behind them.
“In our defense,” said Felix, “This isn’t the same dumb stunt.”
A long silence followed.
Trent said, “Fine, they aren’t pirates. There’s no way they sent these two idiots as scouts.”
With a sigh, Renessa knelt down and cut Koale’s elbows free. “What are we going to do with you two?”
“Send them on their way,” said Trent. “They ain’t pets.”
Koale, now free, stood and stretched. “While I imagine I would not often agree with your husband, madame, I do agree. The hospitality has been somewhat less than ideal.”
Renessa rolled her eyes. “Shut up both of you. We’re going to give you two dinner for the inconvenience and you lot are going to tell us what you were doing sneaking about our camp.”
“We are?” Felix and Trent said in unison. They glared at each other.
Koale sniggered, “Suddenly, that sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Shortly they found themselves seated around the fire outside. Several logs had been laid in the sand, arranged in a circle for seating. Koale and Felix sat near each other with the couple opposite them. Both Koale and Renessa sat between Felix and Trent.
On the fire were several tubers, grown in Trent and Renessa’s farm.
Felix and Koale could hardly take their eyes off them. It didn’t take Renessa time to put two and two together. “Came looking for food, huh?”
Felix looked up at her words. “What? Oh, yes. We came out hunting. Our snares weren’t catching enough to keep us fed, and we figured it was best to come looking before we got too hungry.”
Trent pointed at them and looked at Renessa. “See, Nessa? I told you they’d come raiding. They’d have burned our fields if we didn’t get them first.”
“For the last time,” said Felix, “We didn’t know you were here. We were just looking for something to eat?”
“Hrumph, just incompetent then. Not able to keep yourselves fed in the middle of a bloody jungle.”
Renessa laid a hand on Trent’s arm. “Hun, you know we didn’t have the best of time out there either.”
Before he could object further, she began dishing out the cooked tubers. They were a purple, lumpy tube about the
size of two fists. They smelled delightful. Felix was drooling in anticipation.
Koale split his open with a claw, and steam billowed up. “So, that hut we ran into in the jungle was yours then?”
Renessa nodded as she cut her own open with a knife. “That’s right. After the raid, we decided to try and move off the beach. We didn’t have an issue with food, but it was much too dangerous. We wound up back here pretty quickly.”
Felix looked up, “Go back. Raid?”
“The pirates,” Renessa said. “They came, what,” she looked over at Trent, “Two weeks after we got here? Three?”
Trent nodded.
“They had that mechanic with them. I don’t remember her name. The one that was in the dining room before things hit the fan?”
“Kayla?” asked Felix.
“Yes,” said Renessa. “That’s her. She came walking up the beach. Alone. We were so excited to see someone else alive. We fed her, and we talked. And well, then it got worse.”
Trent put a hand on his wife’s knee. He looked at the fire and picked up the tale. “At sunset, she just told us she was sorry, and then yelled for the rest of them. They swarmed the place and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do.
They took everything of value and burned the rest. They knocked me silly just for shits and giggles and then swaggered off into the night, Kayla with them.”
As Trent’s words trailed off, the four sat listening to the crackle of the fire. It was nearly sunset.
Koale cleared his throat and Trent jumped at the sound. “Well,” he said, “I suppose that does explain a lot of how today went. And, if there are others out there- hostile others- then it seems to me that perhaps four would be better than two?”
***
“It seems things are starting to get interesting on the isle, doesn’t it? I am Daviron, your host here at GBK, and with me today is Jastin, retired military commander.”
The blue face beside Daviron smiles at the camera. “Glad to be back, Daviron.”
“As always, the pleasure is mine. So, tell me- what does this unlikely merger mean for the wider area?”
“They did double their manpower, which is not insignificant. However, they are still merely four, significantly primitive and resource poor. I imagine we’ll see them wiped a few times, being along the raiding lines as they are. Perhaps they’ll join with another faction if they are lucky.”
Fresh Blood Page 17
