Roan looked among those assembled. Fat Bauxens, tired and thin humans, and a Nyden. These were not the kind of people you could expect to embark on a hunt.
“Nicholas Roan,” Duvurn said, somewhat jovial. “All you ate was a few pieces of bread. Are you not hungry?” He indicated a package of nutrition crackers, designed to provide a boost of energy. “You can have these. I think I am full.”
The glutton was lying, but Roan didn’t want the crackers anyway. “No thanks, I’m not hungry.” The very thought of food made his stomach churn. To eat food meant to stop and think. It meant dwelling on the events of the past two months and, more importantly, on what had happened in orbit. More important to Roan was focusing on his hate for the Kotarans. On waiting for them to come at him so he could kill as many as possible.
“You need to eat, Roan,” Moira said. Roan looked at her, and an image of Kel assaulted his mind. Moira did look a bit like her. She even had dark hair, though much longer. Roan nodded at Moira’s words but he didn’t take any of the rations. Instead, he looked away at Sundar.
Moira continued, “I’m serious. All the stress you went through is going to sap your energy. You’ll be an easy target for the Kotarans.”
“Good,” Roan said. He picked the energy rifle up off the cave floor. Just then he realized that if the battery pack died, there was no way to recharge it. This planet was a month away from anything electronic. Any shot he made was going to have to count.
It was fortuitous they’d found the cave. A slanted tunnel formed the entrance to the cave, shielding them from direct outside view. The main area was circular, with jagged edges, indicating it had probably been formed by rain and erosion. Interestingly, a pillar sat in the middle of the cave with ash on its top. David had said it was probably a place to make fire. There was a breeze from the ceiling, and though the ceiling was shrouded in dark, Roan assumed there was a hole there acting as a chimney. A family, or a small community, could have sheltered here.
Too bad they would have to abandon it soon.
Roan slung the rifle strap over his shoulder and paced. There was enough waiting around. As far as he was concerned, all assembled were civilians and he was the only one who knew how to use a weapon. He didn’t trust the Bauxen guard. They needed to find food, and a more secure place to hide.
“There’s gotta be game on this planet,” Roan said. High on the sugar and salt they were eating, the gathered survivors barely looked up. “I’m going to hunt. Keep the com line open in case I get ambushed or killed. If I do, get out of here, fast.” He was awfully blunt, but that’s the kind of language that was needed now.
“You’re just going to walk out there?” Moira said. “You’re in no shape for that!”
“We’re not on the Colobus, doctor. You don’t have power over me.”
“Roan, it’s not about that. It’s just common sense.”
“Here’s the thing: none of you look like you’ve hunted in your life. Well, neither have I, but I do know how to use a goddamn rifle. So excuse me if I want to try and keep us alive instead of stuffing my face!” When he said this, he was looking squarely at Duvurn. The Prince scrunched his face in a frown, but Roan didn’t care.
“I know you’re upset about Kel,” Moira said, setting her food down and bolting straight up. “I get that. So are we, Nick. But you can’t do anything about that now. We’re in a life or death situation and you need to think about what’s going on here!” She was met with the barrel of the weapon in her face, Roan’s finger on the trigger, his arm shaking. Kel was sacrosanct. Kel was not to be sullied by her lips. The nerve of Moira, to try and use her to calm him down.
“Nicholas,” said a voice beside Roan. It was David’s. “Why don’t you and me go outside? We should talk.” The alien didn’t move or approach Roan, which was probably for the best, because if he had tried to grab the gun Roan might’ve fired it. Roan’s finger slipped from the trigger, and he aimed the rifle down, leaving Moira shocked and mouth agape, eyes as big as eggs. All the eyes in the cave were on Roan now. No matter; they counted little in his mind. He nodded to David.
David followed behind. Roan was first out of the cave, exiting on the white, knaggy slope that made up the edge of the cliff face. He jumped a few feet down onto the level terrain beyond the slope. Gracefully, David landed beside him, brushing dust off his tunic and then glancing from side to side at the forest.
“Maybe we should talk about Kel,” David said.
“No.” His rejection was firm, absolute. Roan could tell David understood this.
“Very well.” Silence for a few moments. “Do you know I have hunted before?”
Roan laughed. It wasn’t because he didn’t believe it, but because it fit perfectly with David’s character. Just when Roan thought he’d had the Nyden figured out, the guy revealed something surprising.
David continued, “As long as you don’t waste an animal’s parts, and hunt only to survive, there is nothing wrong with killing an animal. At least that’s what I believe.”
“And you’ve killed an animal before?”
“No. But I have partaken in a hunt.” David said something in his language, something that sounded like three temtoto, but Roan did not quite make out the sounds. Without another word, David set off to the right, beyond the edge of the cliff face. He was heading into the woods. Figuring the Nyden knew what he was doing, Roan slung the rifle over his shoulder and followed the man.
***
“Something’s coming!” a warrior shouted. Two Mountains and his two helpful carriers put down All Roar’s body and lay low in the grass. Ahead of them, there were footsteps and the sound of crashing branches. Two Mountains angled his head above a log to catch a glimpse of the approaching figures, and his right hand reached for the spear strapped to his back.
***
David was like an animal himself, tearing through the woods with cheetah-like speed. If he hadn’t been a blue blob in an otherwise colorless forest, Roan might’ve lost the guy. The Nyden halted in his forward trek at a log up ahead, putting his appendages on his sides and scanning the forest. Roan caught up, gasping for air, and slung his rifle off his back. He was prepared for a beast to come running out of the woods.
“I just had this image of you as a Golden Retriever, David,” Roan said.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s almost like you’re following your nose. Like a dog.” David didn’t respond and Roan let it drop. Those alien senses of David probably did pick up the scent of some beast moving through the woods, though. Roan salivated at the thought of them picking up a deer or other such creature. Oh, how delicious it would taste roasted over a fire. David better not have sensed a skinny rabbit or he was going to empty the rifle into the sky.
“Seriously, David, is there an animal around here?”
“Most likely there is a pack animal nearby.”
“Well, which direction? We need dinner.”
“I don’t think we need to worry about that at the moment.” David was staring at something. At first, Roan thought David was just standing rigid after hearing a sound, but when Roan heard a snap in front of him, he darted his eyes to the foliage and suddenly everything was illuminated.
“Oh shit.”
Chapter 39
A gathering of camouflaged warriors was barely two yards in front of Roan, most flat on their stomachs but with the whites of their eyes plainly visible. Their brownish fur could have been patches of dirt and Roan would not have noticed, and many of them seemed to carry green knapsacks that passed easily for leaves and plants. And that was just what Roan had time to notice in the few seconds before he saw the spears and bows sticking out from the grass. Everything unfolded before Roan could even get a proper look at the natives.
Grasping David’s shoulder, Roan slowly moved back. But the further back he moved, the quicker the warriors moved from their prone position to an upright one. Arrows were extended toward them. Spears waved menacingly in the air. Even with
his rifle Roan didn’t feel safe. He stopped walking, thinking it best to avoid any sudden moves.
Once all the warriors were out from their camouflage, Roan could get a better sense of their bodies. They were vaguely canine-like, about as tall as an average human but skinnier, and seemed to be covered in both fur and a scaly membrane. Forget what he said about David being a dog.
“David, what should we do?”
“Mr. Roan, I have no experience in this situation. Standing here is probably the safest option, unless they intend to kill us.”
“Do you think they want to do that?”
“After what happened when they met the Kotarans, it would be an understandable opinion. Do not make any threatening moves.”
Why did first contact always have to come at the point of spear?
Roan kept his rifle aimed the natives, just to be sure. There were six of them standing around facing the outsiders. None appeared frightened. These things had the full confidence of hunters who were safe in their own terrain. And who had safety in numbers.
Weapons were pointed every which way. It was turning into a Bauxen standoff.
***
The creatures were talking, Two Mountains noticed, and they were much more hesitant to act than the ones they noticed near the grassa. He kept his arrow trained on them just in case. Oddly, these creatures were very different than the violent ones they encountered in the clearing. The one on the left was the color of sunlight and the much taller one was the color of the daytime sky. The sunlight’s one’s skin appeared smooth, while the skyskin’s one appeared feathery, like a bird. Could he have been the one that flew over the party during the night? Possibly, yet Two Mountains saw no wings.
A lightning club was in the hands of the shorter one. While not as big as the killers’ clubs, it was recognizable as the same kind of weapon. This was the reason Two Mountains kept his arrow on the two. There wasn’t going to be any repeat of the slayings. He called for his warriors to continue standing their ground, and to wait for his command.
“Do they understand us?” one warrior asked.
Two Mountains decided to find out. “Strangers! Tell us who you are!” While appearing surprised at this command, the two outsiders did not respond, only talked in quieter tones. “Answer! Do you wish to be killed?” Again, nothing but a silence from the two.
“It appears not,” observed the warrior. “Two Mountains, we should kill them.”
“I agree,” said another warrior. “Who cares where they came from? They were with the creatures that killed our warriors. Killing is the least of what they deserve.”
Two Mountains wasn’t so sure. True, the men had lightning clubs. And true, they were outsiders, appearing on the same day as the ones who slaughtered his party. But why did they look different? And why were they traveling apart from the violent creatures, coming from a different direction? Either he could listen to his reactionary warriors, or he could try and figure out from where these strangers hailed.
He wasn’t letting down his guard, of course. Two Mountains motioned to the ground. “Weapons down!” he yelled. “Put down the lightning club!”
***
“He wants you to put down your rifle,” David said. Focused on the lead warrior making the commands, Roan could only reply to the comment with a “huh?” His finger had made its way to the trigger and was ready to spasm at any time. The lead warrior did not appear concerned by this, as his eyes had narrowed to intense, greenish slits, and his tail was stiff in the air behind him.
“Nick Roan, put down your gun!” David said, almost screaming it. Roan did as he was told, finally comprehending the instruction. The arrow of the warrior tracked him to the ground as he bent and placed the rifle on the grass. Always thinking ahead, David had his hands up in the air, and Roan thought that was a sensible move. Palms outward, Roan mimicked the Nyden and hoped the meaning of this sign transcended planets and cultures.
***
Both strangers had their hands up in the air. Since the pale man had left his club on the ground, this gesture was probably intended as a signal of surrender rather than a greeting of some kind. Two Mountains took a chance and inched forward, his arrow leading the way.
“If they make a quick move, kill them!” Two Mountains screamed. When he got close enough to the short man to poke him with the arrow, he studied the stranger’s face. Hair was growing around his mouth, much like the whiskers of their tribe. On the other man, whom Two Mountains cast a quick glance, he noticed a smaller nose and the same feathers that covered the rest of his body. Strange that these people would appear similar enough to Two Mountain’s people, but that was probably the way of God.
“Who are you?” Two Mountains roared. Pants and heavy breathing could be heard from the short man, while the taller one’s head was shining the color of night. Truly, these were mystifying and fascinating beings.
***
Roan got the gist of the alien’s bark. “I think he’s asking us who we are!”
“Wouldn’t you, Nick?” The alien became agitated and repeated his saying again, which sounded like mesun’to! Obviously, he didn’t like the two of them talking amongst themselves and not to him.
“I guess we should tell him.” Roan cleared his throat, which startled the warrior. He jabbed the tip of his arrow into Roan’s chest again, which made the human back up ever so slightly. “Roan,” he said, firmly. “Nicholas Roan. I am a human. From Earth.”
David said something in his language, of which Roan caught the word “David.” Then, in English: “I am David. From Nydaya.”
Clearly, this was going nowhere, because the alien had never heard English and was not going to understand his words. His mouth stretched back, and if Roan had to guess he might say it was an expression of bewilderment. If these natives had any sort of reasoning or problem-solving skills, they would realize that interrogation under threat was useless. Come on, buddy, thought Roan, we’re answering your questions.
“Please, get that spear out of my face,” Roan said, but it was to no avail.
***
“What should we do?”
“I don’t know,” Two Mountains called back. Faced with the apparent surrender of these two men, he was honor-bound not to kill them. If an opponent showed willingness to end a fight, then he should be allowed to end it. But what if it was a trick? After all, the creatures he encountered earlier had done a similar tactic.
Two Mountains backed up several paces. He thought it best not to have his arrow sticking in to the chest of a surrendering opponent. And, surprising even himself, he lowered it. Murmurs of discontent could be heard behind him, but he silenced it with a quick hush. If he was chosen by the Chiefs to be a leader, then he was the leader. What he did was supposed to make sense. Anyone who didn’t follow that code was dishonorable.
“Two Mountains,” the warrior said, punctuating his name with a thump of his chest. These two were from a tribe he did not yet understand, from a land he did not know. On the rare occasions when this had happened before, it was common to greet another with your name. Grimly, Two Mountains recalled that in all those past occasions, those of different tribes had at least looked almost identical to himself.
The short one said something to the taller one, through which the blue man responded. The short man directed his attention back to Two Mountains, and the warrior assumed the tall feathery one was some kind of teacher.
“Nikrun,” the man said. His name, Two Mountains gathered. And then, the blue one: “David.” So, if everyone was assuming the correct interpretations of the other’s gestures, the short sunlight one was Nikrun and the tall one was David.
“We come from a land called Hedda, beyond the Valley,” Two Mountains said, pointing behind him, to the trees. “We walked here, after seeing a light in the sky.” He gestured to the sky with his thin hand, waving around as if to indicate the stars.
Nikrun seemed to know what was being discussed and he gestured into the sky as well, bringing his ha
nds down flat and making a noise like a great crash. Then he bobbed his head in a most unusual gesture. This seemed to be indicating Two Mountains was correct in assuming they came from the sky, but what did the bobbing head mean? David put his hand on Nikrun’s shoulder and said something in their language, before turning to Two Mountains and patting both Nikrun and his own body. Then, he gestured to the sky, and finally brought his hands down and patted himself and Nikrun again.
So, they were from the sky. This was actually leading somewhere.
***
“I think they saw us land,” Roan said. “They might’ve seen the shuttle, or maybe the battle in orbit, last night.” He thought of Kel, but repressed the thought.
“I think you’re right, Nick. Now we just need to show that we are in need.” David gestured to the cliffs, visible in the distance but still a good walk away. Through a series of gestures, indicating sleep and also the round entrance to the cave, he conveyed where they were staying. As he did so, he narrated, but in his Nyden language. The natives couldn’t tell the difference, anyway, and Roan already knew the gist of what he was discussing.
***
David gestured in an odd fashion, putting his head on his hands and pointing to the cliffs. Initially, Two Mountains was confused as to what he was signaling, but when he made a semi-circle around over his body, the warrior knew he meant they were sheltering in the caves of the yellow cliffs. During this translation, a few of the warriors had crept next to Two Mountains, though their weapons were still at the ready.
“What are they saying?” asked one.
“I believe they mean they are living in the caves,” Two Mountains said.
“There are no spirits or angels in the caves,” the warrior replied. “There was a hunting party out there last year. None were seen.”
“Perhaps they are new arrivals,” Two Mountains said. David was now gesturing to the caves. Two Mountains was wary of being led away, especially to an enclosed place, but it intrigued him why they were there. The caves were the only place of shelter nearby, and the warrior group needed to head there, anyway. Once these two and the hunting party were safe, it only made sense that Two Mountains could try and get answers to the questions he sought. If not, and their intentions were hostile, they would kill these strangers.
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