by Vicky L Holt
But she is mine.
I stood at once, the thought causing my heart and heart-home to tremble against one another, as if I were an adolescent.
My brethren watched me as I retreated to the ship with no explanation. I hid in my quarters and scowled. I must tell them. I must tell them now. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the stale air in my ship. If I put my trust in the Goddesses, would they catch me once I fell?
25
The beacon’s ready-light flashed in tandem with its invisible pulse. Strange to think it sent waves out into the reaches of space just sitting there. I gazed into the permanently tangerine-tinted sky, as if I could see anything—the Lucidity in orbit, for example. Nothing up there but wispy gray clouds and distant flying creatures. Still, the silence of this planet gave me the shivers.
I hiked back down to the tree line and found the game trail that opened up to the mud-slide. Hands on hips, I regarded the opening. Deep breaths. I bent over and pushed aside some foliage that hadn’t been thrashed by my earlier panic. Sunlight didn’t pass through much of the canopy. Layers of deep-green and a variety of possible deaths lay ahead of me. The jade serpent and the hungry plant could be the least of them. I swallowed, but it proved difficult. It felt like my throat was sticking to itself it was so dry. I didn’t want to, but I needed to do this. I needed a fresh water source, and I preferred one not populated by giant flesh-eating reptiles. The cave was my best bet.
My heart in my throat, I squatted to a sitting position. It was time for the mud luge. This time, I was going down on purpose. Taking predator planet on my terms was how I would survive.
I grimaced. Refusing to tumble down like before, I used my boots for leverage in a controlled skid. I was lucky it wasn’t raining, because the rust-colored slop was viscous enough. I held my machete-swatter with both hands, ready to impale the first beast that tried to eat me, as I made my way down in short bursts. I expected to find Fred and Mabel in their usual spot, but as I came closer to the bottom I swallowed hard and prayed I didn’t run into anything else.
When I arrived, I was slathered in almost as much muck as the two large mammalians. I trudged my way around the bog, side-stepping Mabel. Fred turned and measured me in a way that made my skin prickle. I hated feeling like prey. I gulped, gripped my weapon tightly, but lowered it as I raised my free hand in a gesture I used to approach a spooked horse back on Earth.
“Easy there, big boy,” I cooed, trying to reassure him. “I’m not after your girl.”
He huffed out a heavy snort, reared back and lowered his head with his four eyes locked on me. I could feel the bottom of the pit quake from his movement. Copious amounts of sweat poured off me in waves. I laser-focused on him, watching for any sign he was about to charge.
“Shh,” I hushed him. “I’m backing off now…” I inched away from Mabel, but Fred kept eyeballing me. I made it around to the mouth of my cave after a solid ten minutes. I breathed a heavy sigh and relaxed my muscles when Fred’s disquieting stare returned to the studied indifference I had come to know. I turned toward my cave and crawled in.
I gave a humorless laugh. My planet. My cave.
Once inside, I made my way through the tunnel and came to the cavern where the dead spider was. Something was off. It still looked as fresh as the day it was killed. The wound cloven into its head glistened like new and the tissue and meat inside was still … juicy. I wanted more light.
I fished the torch out of one of my pockets and hit the high beam. Shining it around the walls, I felt like smacking myself in the head. Of course.
The beam caught crystalline sparkles everywhere. White walls, bumpy stalactite ceilings, dried rivulets of salt crystals covering the floor in a classic rimstone dam. This was a salt cavern. It was antibacterial, so this spider body would never decompose. I stepped away and took it all in again, shutting off my flashlight and pocketing it once more.
“Wooow,” I whispered as I made my way further in. My helmet light shone all around. I could see the ash from the little fire. The walls were pristine, webs of white sillimanite crystals glittering like diamonds under my helmet light. If I was hoping for signs of ancient alien hieroglyphs, I was disappointed, but the untouched beauty of this place was a jewel in and of itself. “VELMA, can you do an echolocation and create maps of all the tunnels? Maybe find a water pool?”
“Scanning.”
I walked over to the spider beast again and inspected its carcass. Even dead and crumpled, this thing was the size of a small car. My mysterious god-mother would have to be over six feet tall to have the advantage. I rubbed my sternum, the pain returning to remind me of how close I had come to becoming its last meal. There was a long appendage draped over its bulky remains. I leaned down for a closer look. It had a glossy black spike on the end. Like a scorpion tail, fifty times bigger. Lovely.
I stared at it. Imagined it stiff. Imagined it propelling its way toward my chest.
“You dirty bastard,” I said. “You tried to stick me with that, didn’t you? Come here.” I held up the end, confident my gloves and suit were still protecting me from venom or poisons. I spied an orifice at the end of the spike. “VELMA, what’s he packing in there?”
“A cursory volatile emissions scan detects proteins consisting of seventy-five cross-linked amino acids,” the computer said. “For a more precise analysis, you would have to collect a sample and—”
“No, that’s okay,” I said. “Let’s just call it ‘instant death’ and be done with it.”
I tossed the spike away from me with a bad case of the jitters, and my gaze dropped to the cavern floor.
My heart stopped. My mouth dropped open, and a roiling in my stomach battled with a need to hyperventilate. I could see all my boot prints clear as day. Scuffs from when I’d crawled on my hands and knees searching for my helmet. And a boot track so big, both my feet would fit inside it.
I could feel my hands sweating inside my gloves.
I knelt and toggled the IGMC-issued camera. I placed my hand next to the boot print for reference. “VELMA, can you estimate the weight and height of this being based on the boot print?” My voice squeaked.
“My scan of the cave tunnels is complete. Do you wish to access it?”
“After,” I said, still staring.
“Scanning print. Based on the depth of the print, the being weighs one hundred fifty-eight kilograms, or three hundred fifty pounds. This is adjusted to the current planet’s gravitational pull. On Earth, the male would weigh one hundred eighty-one kilograms, or four hundred pounds. The male is two point thirteen meters, or seven feet tall.”
“How do you know it’s a male?” I said. “I mean, it could be a female, right?”
“There are scattered prints that match this one around the cave floor. I was able to judge its stride and weight distribution. It is ninety-eight percent probability it is a male.”
The prints and the dead spider told the story. I let my eyes roam all over the room again.
I had been lying on the floor, unconscious. I glanced over at the huge mandibles on the spider beast. And that huge alien I saw on the hill had come in here and slain the monster. He used that blade I saw him wield when the horde descended on him.
I unfastened my helmet with haste and placed it on the ground by my feet. The salty but dank air hit me with force. With trembling fingers, I unfastened my gloves. I ran my shaking hands through the braids in disbelief. He touched me. He checked my wounds; that’s why my suit was undone but my underwear unmolested. He braided my hair. My brows drew together.
I quaked on the inside as I let the silky braids slide between my fingers. I kept them because they made it easier to wash. One question tumbled around in my brain. Why?
“Esra Weaver, your heart rate has increased,” VELMA announced. “Are you in danger?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I really don’t know.”
I’d seen the emotionless glowing eyes when he spied me in the brush just before I fell
. I’d seen what he’d done to my beacon. Why would he go to the trouble to defend me? Why would he…show me mercy?
“Sinus tachycardia detected. Are you—”
“I’m fine, okay?” But I wasn’t. My eyes darted around the cave. The alien warrior could’ve been anywhere. The cold chill from glowing eyes flashed through my mind again, then him running me through with that massive blade. I felt a sudden coldness hit me in my core, and my mind screamed at me to flee. But to where?
His planet. His cave.
Then another notion crossed my mind. If he wanted to find me, I’d have been found. If he wanted to kill me, he could have done it ten times by now. Unless … he was toying with me. Was he playing with his prey? I swallowed in spite of my dry mouth. Was the hunt more fun for him than the kill?
I squeezed my eyes shut and took some calming breaths. I had to stop this. Panic wouldn’t get me anywhere. I placed my hand over my chest and tried to slow my pulse. I told myself if that giant, whatever he was, had plans for me, I’d find out soon enough. For now, I had a job to do. I needed water.
“I’m fine,” I repeated, expelling a breath. “I’ll study those tunnels now.”
A map of the tunnels appeared in my screen. VELMA marked two areas that had water. I chose the closest one and trekked through the caves. The walls sparkled with minerals. I used my multi-tool to scrape some off into a small vial. It was magnetite or hematite. A streak test would confirm.
A hundred-sixty-five feet into the cave, I rounded a bend and stopped dead in my tracks.
Glowing bluish orbs floated in a small pool of water. The glowing balls revealed the edges of the pool. It bubbled gently.
“VELMA, check for noxious gases.”
“The air is composed of twenty-one percent oxygen and seventy-eight percent nitrogen with harmless gases making up the residue. It is safe.”
“VELMA, run that subsonic scan and a, uh, the Geiger Counter.”
I wasn’t taking any chances in here. This was too good to be true. The glowing lights had to be bio-luminescent life-forms. It further asserted my theory this was a salt cave. At least on Earth, there were no fresh water luminescent animals. But there were plenty in the salty oceans. This pool was super-saturated with salts. I examined the room, noticing several elaborate salt crystal shelves and stalagmites. If the orbs weren’t poisonous “jellyfish” then this little spot was a paradise on death planet. I stepped closer.
“VELMA, what is the temperature of the water?”
I crossed my fingers.
“My scans did not indicate the presence of any vertebrates in the vicinity. I also took the liberty of scanning for excrements. The area is clear. The temperature of the water varies from 38 Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius.”
I did the mental math. Holy halite. It was a freaking hot tub.
“VELMA, can you determine if the glowing orbs in the water are life-forms and if they are poisonous?”
I wasn’t about to luxuriate with radioactive jellyfish. But it was tempting to take my chances.
“The spheres are invertebrates. I need a sample to determine the molecular structure of any excretions from the life-forms.”
Oh my gosh with the excretions. VELMA was obsessed with feces.
I deliberated for six stinking minutes. Yes, it was unwise. Okay, it was tactically insane, considering every new environment produced something horrifying and deadly. But I was up to my eyeballs in all kinds of smelly filth from the moment I was dropped into this green and rusted hell, and I was sick and tired of sponging it off with my own pisswater! I wanted—correction—needed a hot bath, and it would’ve taken way too long to harvest a sample of the orbs and then hump them all the way back to the EEP! I stood there another six minutes, staring at the hypnotic pulsing orbs in that bubbling bath that called my name. What about the spiders?
I had VELMA run yet another scan. “No other lifeforms detected.”
I had taken a lot of twists and turns since the spot where I lay dying. I filled my lungs. And I stripped, leaving my helmet with its opening to the side so I could hear VELMA. The cavern’s air was much chillier than on the surface. Goosebumps prickled every inch of my sticky skin.
“It is inadvisable to enter the water under these conditions.”
“Do you have a nose, VELMA?” I asked, gathering my undies in a bundle. I planned on scrubbing them on the rocks.
“I can detect some chemical compounds using the mass spectrometer, but I do not smell as you do.”
“Exactly my point,” I said with a dry smile. “Enable your sensors and alert me if something’s coming. If I don’t hear from you in the next twenty minutes, we’ll call this mission accomplished, and if you don’t hear from me, I hereby bequeath my effects to ...” My voice trailed off. To whoever found me first.
Maybe it was fear, more likely shock, but I was shivering from the inside out, a chill so deep in my bones I felt like I would never be warm—or clean—again. With shaking limbs, I dipped a naked toe in the water, my ears tuned to the slightest rustle of noise. Still utter silence. The spheres floated away from me at first, but I didn’t care. I had the machete-swatter close in case they tried to start something. I also kept my ears open for any warnings from VELMA, and shuffling or sneaking, and loose pebbles scraping. Any sound that didn’t come from me or VELMA resulted in me streaking out of the bath and swinging my weapon like a crazy woman. As much as I wanted to enjoy this little taste of home, I couldn’t allow myself to relax. I knew if I did, something would appear out of nowhere and try to swallow me whole. Still, the water felt amazing and was as clean as it could’ve been on this planet, though a bar of soap would’ve been nice. I tilted my head back against the basin’s edge and allowed my eyes to close. I had some soap in the EEP. If this ended well, next time I’d bring it.
No matter. I could feel the water detoxing my pores. I dipped my head and scrubbed my scalp. The water sluiced off my braids. After a few minutes, the orbs floated near me. I reached for my weapon and watched as they approached, almost like curious puppies. They “sniffed” me out, determined I was not a threat I guess, and joined me in companionable silence.
When I was convinced they weren’t trying to hypnotize me with their pulsating light, or merge into some kind of gooey blob to smother and digest me, or lull me into a false sense of security with their cuteness, I placed the machete-swatter aside and scrubbed my underthings before laying them out on the flat ground. In this cave, they would dry in no time.
I gave some thought to my alien neighbor, wondered what his motivations were. I couldn’t figure him out. He was a savage beast-slayer. He could have carved my liver out and ate it, but instead he tended to my wounds, and braided my hair better than Jheri back home. All I could do was shake my head in wonderment and trepidation.
With regret, I eased out of my hot tub. Okay, so it wasn’t fresh water for drinking. But that was what my auto-filter canister was for. I retrieved it from its large pocket and filled it halfway. I didn’t want to inundate the filtration system with the salt content. In every other way, this waterhole was near perfect. I’d call this mission accomplished, though it may have felt far more successful if I had had a towel, a virgin mojito, and didn’t have an overriding fear for my life.
I dripped dry, wrung out my underwear and slipped everything back on, all the while cocking my head or turning an ear to detect sounds or movement.
“VELMA, what’s the quickest route back to the EEP?”
“Inserting map now.”
“Thank you.” I collected some glowing remnants into another vial I had. It was too late if they were deadly, but it might be nice to know what did me in.
Honestly? I hadn’t felt this good since before I “landed.” I had a semi-positive outlook, and it had nothing to do with the fact a certain gigantic alien maybe didn’t want to kill me.
26
I was unfamiliar with the emotion swirling around inside my entrails. I was Iktheka Raxthe. I did not fear. Yet the feel
ing in my gut seemed to be a close relative. I did not fear for myself. I had battled an entire pack of rokhura. I considered the hunters gathered in the clearing. I thought of those bright, frightened eyes, and then the broken body, so small, on the cave floor. No, I did not fear for myself.
“I have a story to tell,” I announced. They all peered at me, curiosity blazing in their yellow-ringed red eyes. “It goes no further than your ears.”
Hivelt leaned forward. Raxthezana scratched his chin. Natheka cocked his head. Raxkarax gestured with his hand for me to continue.
“When I awoke from beneath the pile of dead rokhura bodies, I caught the reflection of suns’ light off metal. It wasn’t my ship.”
Their attention was mine.
I told them of the boot print, no bigger than a child’s. I told them of the beacon I destroyed. And finally, I told them of the female wrapped in a powerful suit that protected her from almost every foe on this planet.
“But where is this female now? Did you not kill the spy?” Raxthezana asked.
I met his eye. “She hid in a cave of the agothe-faxl. Even the one you have suggested we enter the tunnel system by.” They nodded as if it were the end of the story. What weak creature could survive an encounter with the agothe-faxl? And yet … “I believe she lived.”
Raxthezana jumped up. “What? Nothing smaller than Theraxl lives after confronting the agothe-faxl.”
“I know. I followed her in the cave. I found her just as the agothe-fax struck her chest,” I said, replaying the image in my mind, that moment she collapsed to the ground before I could see her eyes one last time. “I slew the agothe-fax. Then I tried to revive her.”
Natheka frowned. “You didn’t use the Waters of Shegoshel?”
I pressed my lips together. Their faces contorted in anger. “I did not,” I said. “But if she had been envenomated, I would have.”
