Gently, with the precision of all its trained crewmen, the Hanyek set down in the grove of trees, knocking some down in the process. Red dust spewed into the air and bits of rocks could be heard impacting against the hull. It didn’t matter; they were pebbles to the vessel’s armor. One minute later, the thrusters died, and so did the dust, and through the viewscreen the bridge stared at the landscape of this new world.
Grinek raised his chin in triumph. “We are farther from Kotara than anyone before us. And yet we are also closer to our species than any other Kotaran.” He’d chosen his first words on this planet carefully. A number of recording devices on the bridge were already in place to capture the sentence.
“Prepare for departure to the surface!”
The outside air had already been determined to be oxygen rich and suitable for habitation, so space suits were not needed. In fact, the air was purer than Kotaran air, possibly because no industrialization had been detected. Grinek hoped the smell would not be too revolting. He and his entourage, made up of Specialist Roh and a few select crew, snaked their way to the bowels of the ship, where a landing ramp was already extended to the savannah below. A cameraman had special permission to tail Grinek, saving his every move and utterance for history.
“Over here!” Grinek said, motioning to the door. Just another corridor to go through and they would be to the ramp. From the right, out of an intersecting corridor, a political aide bounded forth, hands clasped in front of him. Grinek gritted his teeth, as this was normally a sign that a question was about to be asked.
“Commander,” began the aide, “Observer Vorjos wishes to witness the landing on the surface.”
“Vorjos!” Grinek turned to the camera, and made a horizontal chop in the air. The cameraman happily obliged by shutting his machine off, and Grinek returned to the aide. “What did the Observer say, exactly?”
“He said it was his duty to report to the Council on what exactly happened when you reached the planet. He said they needed to know, for posterity.”
“Posterity? We are a thousand light years from posterity.” He motioned to the door, beyond which was the exit ramp. “If Vorjos wants to know what happened when I step foot on this planet, he can review the recording we are making as we speak! That is all those drooling idiots in the Council will ever see anyway, so I don’t see why Vorjos should be any different. Tell him he will stay in his quarters until told otherwise.” Grinek had managed to avoid the man for many weeks by keeping him confined to his room. If there was justice in life, Grinek could kill him, but Vorjos wasn’t like Sisal. The fact he was a politician had to be considered.
The aide bowed in approval and went away. Grinek gestured to the door and the cameraman turned his device back on. With a click of the release lever, the hatch opened, and the first whiff of outside wind roared through the corridor. Sand and dust blew inside, but when the wind died down Grinek dared to think it was actually pleasant. The air was warm; indeed, too warm for their uniforms and fur. But they didn’t have to stay long. This was only a symbolic landing, after all.
“The breath of the truth, blowing onto the ship,” Grinek said of the wind, which was clearly visible on camera. He moved to the side of the doorway to allow the cameraman to film the outside scenery, somewhat obscured by the hull of the ship overhead. “Many of you might be familiar with the saying, ‘The future arrives walking, not running.’ You could say that I am about to step into the future. Let it be known that what I am to do, I do for the glory of Kotara and all that we symbolize.”
That should impress everyone back home.
Now to walk on the surface.
Everything was going to plan. Grinek kept his hands at his sides and not on the railings, as that would make him appear weak. He calmly descended the ramp to the surface below. To do this with no mistakes was too good to be true.
“Commander! Commander!” It was a sensor crewman, running down the corridor and to the ramp, pushing the assembled entourage out of the way. Grinek pivoted and looked up to face this interruption, with an absolute anger known well on the ship. This man was surely about to be the first Kotaran murdered on this planet.
“This is urgent, Commander!” the officer shouted, before Grinek could even inquire as to what the matter was. “There was a shuttle, sir! A shuttle from the Earth ship!”
“What?”
“We reviewed the sensor logs of the time of the Colobus’ destruction, sir! It appears a small shuttle escaped from the explosion. We thought it was debris, but later analysis proved otherwise.”
Grinek slammed the sides of the ramp and it shook. “This is outrageous! Why wasn’t this detected earlier?” Someone would surely die for this oversight.
“I’m sorry, sir, but it appeared that everything was debris!” The crewman soon cowered and all eyes judged him for interrupting the event. Grinek slowly made his way up the ramp, each step pounding and shaking the platform. Once he reached the top to face the assembled entourage in the doorway, he realized the camera was still on and recording his face. He snarled at it, and the cameraman hastily turned it off.
“Where did the shuttle land?” Grinek said quietly, as if it were a threat.
“We believe on the nightside, sir,” the technician responded, barely audible.
All his ferocity being repressed inward, Grinek sighed. “Then set course for their location immediately. We will do this recording there.”
The cameraman sputtered. “Commander, if we record on the nightside, the lighting will—”
“I. Do Not. Care. About lighting! We have to finish what we started.”
All wiggled their ears. The sensor crewman was the first to run away, under the auspices that he needed to tell the bridge quickly to change their course. The rest of the entourage packed up their things, including the cameraman, who stowed his device at his side. If he was needed, he would be beckoned again. Roh stood at the ready before Grinek, and the Commander shot him a prayerful glance. Please, the glance begged to Roh, finish these Earthmen off quickly.
Chapter 34
As it turned out, many had seen what Two Mountains reported. Most had only witnessed the red flash and the falling to the ground of the light, but that was enough to convince the Chiefs that a momentous event was afoot. A planting of corn had been planned for later in the night, but this was postponed for a few days to allow for an investigation of what had been seen.
A hunting party was called. After the prime meal, the party gathered around the school area, where the log seats were normally full with children. Being a new moon, however, school was off and all the seats were filled with those over twenty years of age. Two Mountains found a stump and waited as his fellow tribesmen appeared. Members of both sexes arrived, some wearing the light fabrics of warriors, others wearing nothing but having their fur decorated with red and black war colors. When all the warriors were assembled, bows and arrows at their backs and spears thrust into the ground with their tips in the air, Talks With the Wind addressed them.
“Brothers and sisters gathered before me—some of your have witnessed visions that can only be described as baffling. Lights and flashes in the sky, falling stars, all indicative of powers beyond which we can understand. Something has fallen in those hills in the Sun Valley—whether it’s benevolent or malevolent, I cannot say. None of us can say, despite what we have deduced in the past about signs. If this is an omen, it is one we can only interpret through the realities of our own eyes and ears.
“You have all been selected because you are the settlement’s warriors, and the task of discovering what has fallen comes to you. Do not take this task lightly. As I have made clear, we do not know what forces we are dealing with. God? The Devil? Something else? You must be prepared for any eventuality. I feel this is the beginning of a new way of things for the Hedda Nation.”
Talks With the Wind sniffed and remained standing on the teacher’s stump. She had the unfortunate habit of not indicating precisely when she finished a speech, a
nd it was forbidden interrupt an Elder Mother while speaking. When the rest of Chiefs gave a clap above their heads in approval, all the warriors followed suit—lifting their spears in the air as they did so—and it was clear those were Talks With the Wind’s official instructions. Not much, Two Mountains thought, but it was a start.
It was time for questions. Such things were always treated with respect.
One young warrior raised her hand. “Chief, if the star landed in the Sun Valley, does it belong to the Gohorma Nation?”
Violet Sky, at ready by his colleague’s side, fielded the question. “The Gohorma Nation has moved on from the Valley, as far as we know. You can thank the overflowing rivers for that. As we saw last year, they will not return until after this winter’s snow has melted, so we have several months before we have to deal with them again.”
There were murmurs of excitement. The Gohorma Nation was considered Hedda’s fiercest rival.
Another warrior spoke: “What should we do if the force is malevolent? Should we fight it? What I mean is, is it wise for all our warriors to go at once?” What remained unspoken was the warrior’s fear that they all might die in a confrontation, and the settlement might be left defenseless.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Talks With the Wind said. “If the force is evil, I would want all of my best warriors fighting it, wouldn’t I?” More murmurs of approval.
“And what if it was good?” This time Two Mountains was asking the question. He looked squarely at Talks With the Wind, sensing a connection with her, something that lasted beyond their chat by the fireside. Neither knew each other much before the encounter, but Two Mountains had a feeling these events would bring them closer than ever before. Perhaps it was a connection blessed by God. There was so much Two Mountains had yet to understand.
“If the force is benevolent, and thus good, you should see where it came from, and what it wants. That is, assuming it is even a force, a soldier of God. Perhaps it is simply a light that fell out of the sky.” Talks With the Wind made a motion as she said this, imitating a lantern that had fallen out of its hook in its tent. She got a laugh from that one. “Be sure to be fair emissaries of this settlement if, in fact, you are to meet messengers from God. Remember that such an honor would be remembered and passed to your children and their children, into infinity.”
Two Mountains nodded, and there being no more questions, Talks With the Wind appeared about to dismiss them. But then she lifted up his hand and held it out to Two Mountains, gesturing toward the young hunter. “Because Two Mountains brought the incident to my attention, and because I believe he can prove himself an able hunter, I am making him the smallchief of this party. You will all find him most able, I imagine.”
Two Mountains thought his ears must have been deceiving him, but his body parts were not in revolt today. He bared his palms in thanks at being bestowed with such a great honor, for being a smallchief made him the leader of the hunting party. Talks With the Wind had spoken; there wouldn’t be any dissent to her face. The other warriors gave a half-bow in honor of their commander, then stood at the ready.
They were about to embark on a great mission, a journey that perhaps would eclipse all others in Heddan history. Two Mountains didn’t even know whether to consider himself on a hunting party or a divine party—and he realized that now he would have to consider himself a leader. He ordered the men and women to prepare to march into battle. They formed divisions, some chosen arbitrarily and some based on familial or friendly relations.
A half hour later, they all departed the camp in a line, moving out the bamboo-thatched fence that constituted the main gate of their settlement. There were about thirty of them, and they marched toward the twin hills that gave Two Mountains his name.
Their journey was to take one awakened period, and they would have to be sure to rest along the way. Tents were carried on the backs of some of the warriors, mostly the female ones, who were along because they had not yet attracted mates. Perhaps this quest would indeed garner them husbands. Provisions such as water and qiba were distributed to each man so that the burden of their essentials could be distributed amongst the group. Two Mountains himself lugged twin sacks of water on his back, making sure the ropes were tight along his shoulders. No one was going to accuse him of taking light his responsibility on this mission.
Chapter 35
Grinek didn’t want to make the trek back to the bridge to issue commands, but he believed that if he didn’t, more incompetence would emerge. He decided not to show weakness by taking a seat, so he instead supervised each crew station as they went about their business. When he got to a new station, he peered over the shoulders of his crew, using his knowledge of their positions to make sure they were completing their tasks correctly. All appeared to be giving their maximum output. The ship had left the savannah and was heading now to a more southerly continent where it was still night. If the Earthmen had landed there, they would catch them.
The Hanyek shook violently as the gravity of the planet, combined with their speeds, put immense strain on the hull. Without question, they were creating a sonic boom over thousands of kilometers, frightening the inhabitants—if any—and perhaps leaving them cowering in terror. Grinek’s heart rate increased at the thought. His training at the academy had told him that harnessing the power of all senses, especially sound, was the key to making your subjects run for cover. And his crew wondered why he had the voice of a junkyard tik.
“We are coming to the continent now, sir.” The real-time display of what was happening outside appeared on the viewscreen. Like a time-lapse recording, the light snuffed out quicker and quicker as they traveled west: the sky started off blue, darkened to red, then finally snuffed out in black. In just minutes they had gone through one whole day of the planet. Grinek realized only then that he was hungry, it being late in the day according to the ship’s Kotaran calendar.
“I have a spot to set down, sir,” said one crewman. “It is near the suspected landing site of the shuttle.”
“Do so.” There were chirps and beeps of buttons in reply. “Any more signs of life?”
“We were going too fast to tell, sir, but our thermal detectors may have picked up some movement on this continent. Unless we investigate, it could just be animals.”
“Our priority is the Earthmen. Once we deal with them, we can deal with the natives, if there are any.” Grinek’s stomach growled again. “You know what? It is a fine day for hunting. Once we’ve dispatched the Earthmen, we should look for some animals to do likewise. Earthman meat is far too disgusting to be the first dinner I have on this planet.”
***
The warriors had been on the hunt for a few hours, lying low and moving through the semi-marked paths just outside the camp. Since they were traveling in such a large group, no kegars attacked, though they had to be wary of startling a large pack of sleeping duexi. If those behemoths stampeded, they wouldn’t even stop for their own kind. In the past, entire villages had been wiped out by those creatures.
Two Mountains, at the head of the group, scanned the woods up ahead. All appeared calm in the night. They were in the foothills of the first mountain, hours from the Sun Valley, and their feet stung like each step was a thorn. It wasn’t that they weren’t used to walking—long hunts happened almost every night, and Heddan feet had thick pads which allowed for greater endurance. But they were headed uphill on rocky terrain, and that was not a common way of traveling. Normally, these mountains were off limit for all but the bravest of traders with the Gohorma.
Someone tugged at Two Mountain’s shoulder. It was one of his seconds, a much older warrior named All Roar, who had a drooping face and red kegars tattooed on his cheeks. If Two Mountains had not been named smallchief, All Roar would likely have been assigned the honor.
“Two Mountains, you have not said a word since we went off. How do we know you are leading us in the right direction?”
“Truthfully, my second, I don’t.
”
“What?” All Roar looked hurt by this, bearing his fangs. He almost appeared as if he should spear his superior right then and there. Two Mountains regarded this look with concern and tried to explain to the man.
“All I know is what I saw. A star or light fell out of the sky and landed in this direction, close to the Sun Valley. I am simply leading us on this way because I believe we will come across it.” Or it will come across us, he thought.
The rest of the thirty warriors had stopped behind them to listen. A sense of weariness had hushed the group, who began to put down their sacks to relieve their spines. The discussion between Two Mountains and All Roar had been co-opted as a time to rest.
“So you are saying,” continued All Roar, “That you have no divine power.”
What a strange statement. “I never said so, second. I was simply chosen by the Chiefs to lead you. Where would you get such an impression?”
“The Chiefs do not choose someone for no reason,” another voice said. “They pick someone for a special task because God has told them to. Divine influence, or dreams, or perhaps a sudden intuition are the usual causes. But choosing a random, lowly warrior to lead a group—never.”
All Roar continued this line of reasoning. “You saw the image and reported it to the Chiefs. Then they chose you to lead. Don’t you believe this was for a reason?”
“I cannot tell you why,” Two Mountains said. “There is no special power imbued in me, I think. Perhaps it is simple, uh, luck, that I went to the Chiefs. Right now, I cannot claim to be guided by anything under that what I remember, and that is that the light came down near the Sun Valley.”
“If that is so,” replied the second, “Then why are you leading us, and not a more experienced warrior?” There were murmurs of dissension among the group. People banged their spears. Was this move some kind of tactic? All Roar’s ruse to rise up the warriors in mutiny? By questioning his divinity, these people had suddenly opened up Two Mountains for attack. Earlier in the night he considered himself something special, having been anointed by the Chiefs. Now he feared he might die with spears in his back, and worse, never learn what the omen in the sky foretold.
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