by Chogan Swan
“Rich pasture; clean water,” responded her crew, her herd, her friends.
“Brace for landing,” Tiana said.
The Valishnu skimmed above the ocean then skipped across the tops of the long swells; clouds of steam sprayed skyward at each contact until she dove into the waves and ploughed to a halt. The hull and inertia dampeners had held, and though only five of the flotation pods deployed, the ship rose to a stable rest on top of the waves.
Amelie unclipped from her seat and rose from her chair, coming over to rest her minihooves on Tiana’s shoulder. “Tiana, you must sleep now. You need to be ready for your mission. You stayed awake much longer than is optimal for you. The herd has agreed on this. You must fulfill your promises to protect our world and the Confederation. We will make preparations and wake you at the next planetary dawn.”
Tiana stroked Amelie’s arm and rose to obey.
Once the dymba herd had spoken, little would make them change their convictions. They almost never agreed as a herd without overwhelming evidence, so Tiana did not even try. She went to her berth and fell asleep rocked by the ocean swells of a world that might now be her home for centuries…, if she was lucky.
Tiana woke when Amelie’s staccato galloping of minihooves rattled at the door, a dymba ‘time to move’ signal.
Tiana sat up and hit the release to open the door.
“Yes?”
“Darmien and I prepared a briefing for you in the command room,” Amelie said.
Tiana rose, snatched a water pouch from her locker and followed Amelie. Darmien was already working at a console. Tiana sat and pulled up the team’s reports. She looked them over then leaned back and considered.
They had followed the emergency designs for building sailboats using the ship’s internal walls and support materials and listed the items they had gathered for her to take with her.
“You built one outrigger for me and one for a support team of two,” she said. “but no one but me can sail. This would slow me down.”
“We were not sure how difficult the skill would be to master,” Amelie said.
“It would be difficult for a quadruped, even for your adaptable kind. A fully opposable thumb is required for any kind of mastery on a boat so primitive.” Tiana said. “Thank you for the offer. I acknowledge the level of sacrifice it represents to die away from your herd, but a team would not help me. I will need to survive alone for years on this planet, starting today.”
She shook her smooth head—as though she had a mane—to show her determination. “I will not take away the time you have left with your people. What will help me, is knowing I can give you time together for the celebrations that will begin your journey into the eternal. The food processors are beyond repair and you have rations for five days. Please tell me what you have planned for those so I can be with you in thought and spirit.”
They bowed their heads. Amelie tapped her console, sending the timetable of the herd’s celebrations to Tiana’s station.
Tiana read the details of five days of games, storytelling and celebration feasts then bowed her head too, fighting grief. The last event was a herd swim to the nearest island, an unreachable shore where the dymba had scheduled a party. No one would make it there, but the dymba wanted a destination. It was just how they were.
Darmien rattled on the console for her attention. “We only got a decent view of half of the planet’s surface,” he said and pulled up an image on their displays. “Here are the major land masses we had line of sight to. We’ve landed in the southern hemisphere just north of the southern polar ice pack. I estimate that the enemy’s pods were falling toward the isthmus between these two major landmasses to the west of us.”
He tapped the screen, setting a marker flashing on the display. “The Valishnu landed here, off the shore of this end of the southern landmass, so the southern continent separates you from the enemy. The closest area showing signs of civilization is this large double island off the nearside coast. It's only a small outpost of buildings with a harbor and a fortified structure. Still it would be a controlled place to begin your acquaintance with the inhabitants. Perhaps, they can help.”
Tiana rose from her seat. “I will inspect what you’ve put together for me. How rough might the waves and weather get?”
Darmien shivered across his scalp and shoulders: he was worried. “The planet's heat patterns and the size and position of its moon suggest that we landed during a calm period for this area. The seas and weather are likely to be more violent than your planet of origin, more like Omhault Three’s southern hemisphere.”
“I should check the boat construction. We may need to reinforce the stress points,” Tiana said and headed for the cargo hold.
Darmien signaled a high level of agreement with a short snort from his nose and followed her.
When she reached the cargo section, Tiana examined the two boats her crew had assembled. One was a standard catamaran, slavishly copied from the survival instructions and built from non-critical ship stores. The other was a more creative approach using parts that would not have been available if the Valishnu had not made its last landing. Now all materials were fair game.
The results were impressive: for a species that had never been seafaring, her dymba crew had put some serious thought into the design.
They had cut a metalfoam flotation pod—one that had failed to deploy—into three buoyant pontoons that would stand up well to the seawater of this planet. They had cut out a slot with a laser in the center pontoon for an adjustable daggerboard and welded angled foils to the outrigger pontoons to help minimize heeling.
The four crew members were trying to look busy, but were more intent on her reaction to the boats. She knew she would not disappoint them by picking their modified version. No doubt the first would end up in a dymba sailing competition. She wished she could be there to cheer for them.
“Nice work, everyone. Can you help me put them in the water so I can take test runs with them? This one first, I think.”
The crew stopped pretending to work and, with a muffled thumping of elastomer-coated hooves, hurried to lift the boat onto the cargo ramp. One of them opened the bay door, giving Tiana her first open-air look at the planet.
Red and orange, the sun hovered just above the horizon throwing its light through a few puffy clouds and scattering a pink glow along on their bottoms. Salt air poured into the cargo hold along with thousands of odors that crashed across her olfactory receptors in a riot of unfiltered alien tones.
Darmien stepped up behind her. “We scanned several large sea-dwelling predators in the area: three cold-blooded and four warm-blooded. Amelie will be on the particle cannon to cover you, but none have been aggressive yet.”
“Thank you, Darmien. I will stay close to the ship for the shakedown runs.”
“That would be wise,” Darmien said. “You will find the temperature of the water and air is within your tolerance levels. The only parts of this planet you would find too cold, without protective gear, would be at the polar ice caps, but you will be more comfortable with a shelter or protective clothing. The ultra-violet radiation is also high, even for your kind, and you will need external protection until you can adapt yourself to it. We are finished preparing your briefing of the local environment, but that can wait until you have finished choosing a watercraft. I should also mention you can drink the seawater, though it is salty.”
Tiana stroked his shoulder in thanks and strode down the ramp to where the boat bobbed on its tether. She gauged the ship’s movement as she climbed on then she seated herself in front of the tiller and trimmed the sail.
The wind was coming from the port side, so she hauled in the sheet, pulling away from the ship in a graceful arc to bring her craft as near the wind as it would go. She took it through its paces then docked again at the cargo hatch. Dymeaon, one of the crewmembers, was waiting to grab the line. She tossed it to him, and he pulled her in and lashed it to the float pod.
Tiana
moved to the tiller of the other craft and took it out along the same course. This boat was superior in every way. It held closer to the wind and slipped to the leeward much less with its daggerboard and foils. When a series of strong gusts came along, it held its course with only minimal heeling over. She spent longer testing it than she had the first, enjoying the exhilaration of skimming across the waves and the salty spray on her body while part of her mourned her coming departure from her friends. It was hard to fight the sense that she was abandoning them to their deaths, even though she knew there was nothing she could do.
Tiana didn't want to shame them by grieving where they could see her, so she spent longer on the water to allow herself time.
The dymba did not consider a meaningful death a sad event. Sadness in front of them would only call into question whether she felt their deaths were worthy when in fact she considered them heroic in the highest sense. She also knew that they considered her role to be the much more difficult. That she would have to face long years alone fighting her way through a strange, hostile world hunting a deadly foe might be the stuff of the songs they would sing in their coming celebrations, but none of them would choose it if they had an honorable option.
They would consider it much better to spend their last moments with the herd than to continue alone.
She lost herself in the waves and water until the sun was two hands above the horizon then headed the catamaran back to the woundedValishnu.
She docked at the cargo hatch and tossed the line to Dymeaon. “This one is much superior to the other,” she said as she stepped off the boat. “Can you have it loaded for me? I’ll be departing after a final all-hands meeting.”
“Of course. There is a list of optional items on the console inside. Would you mind putting your hoofprint on the ones you want to take with you?”
She patted his shoulder and walked up the ramp.
Amelie and Darmien were waiting for her in the control room. She took her seat and opened her console and reviewed the agenda for the briefing then signaled her readiness to begin by finger-drumming on the console.
Her officers walked her through a detailed analysis of the data the ship’s sensors had gathered about the planet and its ecosystem. Darmien had raised his estimate of Tiana’s chances of long-term survival to ninety-eight percent, but had lowered the dymba herd’s to nil. The biochemistry of the sea plants confirmed the dymba’s incompatibility with the variety of chlorophyll that had developed on the flora of this world. It would also apply to land plants.
Introducing plants compatible with their needs would cause catastrophic damage to the ecosystem. The dymba would never consider such a thing. It was the thing she liked most about them.
Darmien concluded his summary, wiggling his minihooves in the air in frustration. “We have seen so little of this planet it is impossible to prepare you well for what you might be facing.”
“Understood, Darmien. I'll just have to learn as I go. Give me time to scan the data. I can review it later and take a minicomp along for more analysis. The sun here will charge it.”
Darmien bowed his head and stood. “If you have questions about the data, I will be in the cargo hold helping with the preparations.” He left, but Amelie remained in her seat, operating the scanner hardware to collect more data and monitor for any potential threats.
Tiana worked her way through the data the Valishnu’s scanners had collected then walked over to stroke Amelie’s glossy coat for a while before following Darmien to the cargo hold. Amelie would not come to see her off: she would not abandon her post while it would serve the herd’s mission. Tiana would never see her again.
When she entered the cargo hold, the crew had formed a line from the door to the watercraft so she could spend a moment with each of them. Each held a piece of her gear: armor, harness, sheaths, holsters, guns, knives. Darmien, held the place of honor at the end of the line. Tiana passed through them as they equipped her for war. From each she took hair and a sip of blood, a symbolic parting gift of life.
When she reached Darmien, he guided her head to his neck. “Drink deep, my captain,” he whispered into her ear. “May every drop take you closer to victory over the parasites.” Tiana stroked his muzzle then took his near-surface vein between her lips and pulled his warmth into her throat. He was a large male and everything she could take from him would not weaken him, but she only took a little more than usual. More would only slow her down without a need for the energy. When finished, she stroked his shoulder as he stepped backward to stand with the crew.
Tiana turned to them and held both fists together, arms half extended in front of her body, the dymba salute to the herd. As one, they all returned the Nii salute, spreading their arms wide to show peaceful intentions. Tiana bowed and turned to climb into the boat. Darmien tossed the line aboard and Tiana pushed the little craft away from its berth. She hauled in the line, pumped the tiller and pulled away from the Valishnu.
Her course north-northwest had the wind coming over the beam. She hauled in the sheet, letting the sail grab the wind until the little boat was leaping off the end of each swell like a young dymba galloping across the grasslands of the homeworld that was.
Chapter 2 (Pursuit)
The sun was four hand-widths from the western horizon when she spotted the pack ice blocking her course.
She had been dodging chunks of ice that had grown thicker and larger since solar noon, but now the way north looked impassable. She brought the monocular viewer to her eye and scanned for an opening.
Nothing!
She came about, changing course from north-northwest to northeast, broadening the reach, looking for a passage.
The sun was a handspan above the horizon when she saw that the ice pack was swinging further east, blocking her path again. She maintained her course; searching for openings until sure there were none.
She came about, to a far reach southwest. Now the sun was in her face, glaring off water and ice.
The gibbous moon was already above the horizon behind her. Its albedo would give her enough light to navigate on open water, but not for picking a path through the ice. She could only sail through a passage when running before the wind, if she came to a dead end, it meant paddling back with the wind in her face.
She kept going while the light held.
Just after sunset, she came to what might be a passage.
A large chunk of ice, sticking high out of the water, drifted nearby. There'd be a much clearer view from the top tomorrow. She dropped the sea anchor over the side to hold position, furled the sail and lay back on the tarpaulin covering her cargo. The rise-and-fall rocking of the ocean was more apparent now that she was at rest.
The sun dropped below the horizon leaving behind long streaks of red, purple and orange that faded as the moon became the greater light in the sky.
She pulled out a nutrition pack and sipped it while the stars came out. This world was beautiful. During the day, vivid pastel blues and greens drenched the sea and the sky. There were no close encounters with anything, except a few hand-sized fish jumping near the bow as she cut through the water, but shadowy forms in the deep, drifted by, glimpses of life far below the surface.
She settled in to wait and doze until morning.
When the eastern sky lightened, she pulled in the sea anchor. The wind was now a mere breath and the cloud cover a gray blanket above the western horizon, but the sky behind her was still clear and sunny. She unlashed the foamsteel paddle, balanced on the prow and sculled towards the tall chunk of ice.
About three boat-lengths away, she dropped the sea anchor to stand off from the big ice floe on her starboard side. She secured her monocular in a harness pocket and pulled out her knives. The jump to the ice should be easy; the daggerboard would keep the boat from kicking back, but sinking the knives into the floe at the correct angle would be tricky.
She could just swim over and climb up, but the logos only knew what alpha predator hid in the water.
Her knives came down, driving deep into the ice as she hit the side and stuck. She climbed up, spiking her way with the blades. It was good to move again. The mission had kept her cooped up in the Valishnu for so long she had almost forgotten the thrill.
At the top, she looked west. The narrow channel stretched into the distance. At the edge of her range of vision, something long and streamlined slid off the ice into the water, but when she looked with the monocular, it didn't reappear. Tiana considered. It was impossible to avoid everything that crossed her path. The way ahead was clear. The monocular went back in its pocket and she snapped the knives back into their sheaths.
She dug her toes into the ice and sprang out over the water, far enough to clear the ice and the boat. The stinging impact slapped her feet, and the thrill of the icy water and air bubbles from the plunge tracing their way up her body crashed across her senses. She vocalized her pleasure while drifting to the surface with the cloud of bubbles, but went silent as she noticed the sounds in her watery environment.
Music was everywhere: deep bass crooning; high chirring notes cascading from above the range of her hearing to end in bass chugging. The beauty and variety of the sounds was astounding. She spun around, but there was no sign of anything, except her boat, the nearby ice and the bubbles, illuminated by the light from above, as they shimmied to the surface.
She stirred her hands and feet to drift up, marveling in the music as she rose. Something so beautiful and complex must have meaning.
