NanoSymbionts

by Joseph Philbrook

  “I'd like to thank you again for donating your sonic gun to the hunt Yolonda,” Wilber said as they walked along. “It does a fairly good job of knocking squirrels out of the trees. And unlike my pellet gun, It's not likely to run out of ammunition. Just so long as we continue to recharge the power supply kits.”

  “That's precisely why I volunteered it Wilber,” Yolonda replied. “I mean I doubt you've got much more than a hundred pellets left. And what, probably three of those compressed air cartridges?”

  “Almost three hundred pellets actually,” he corrected. “But your right about the air packs. Which unfortunately are only good for a maximum of fifty shots apiece. So your not far wrong.”

  At this point Yolonda noticed that they had walked far enough to be out of sight from the cave entrance. She stopped suddenly and turned to face the captain.

  “Actually Wilber,” she began. “I've got a couple of things I've been meaning to talk to you about, privately.”

  “Oh Yolonda,” Wilber chided. “There's no point in coming way out here for that. We've, neither of us, done a very good job of hiding our feelings from the others.”

  “No we haven't,” Yolonda agreed. “That's not the only thing I want to talk to you about however... Oh Wilber, I don't know what to do about the feelings that have formed between us. But the reason I brought you out here is because I've come to a conclusion about our cave that you should know about. I don't know if your aware that my estranged husband had a doctorate in geology. Or that I used to be his best field assistant. But I assure you I'm speaking from experience when I tell you that there's something very strange about the cave.” She silenced the reply Wilber had been about to make by gently placing her hand over his mouth.

  “No Wilber,” she continued. “Let me finish. I realized that it was a strange cave when we first explored it by torch light. I didn't say anything because I didn't understand how strange. So I pushed it out of my mind. But when we found out about the fish. Something just didn't add up. So I started looking a lot closer. About the only thing I can tell you for certain is that our cave wasn't formed by any natural process. It's like some high powered asteroid mining equipment began to process the rock mass. And then stopped in mid-process. Only this would have had to have happened at least several thousand years ago. Though frankly the caves structure isn't sound enough to have lasted that long. That is, unless there's something like a structural force field holding it all together. But that doesn't make any sense at all.”

  “Maybe not,” Wilber agreed. “But it might have something to do with why there's no sign that any predator ever used it for a den. Perhaps the dogs know something we don't.” He was silent for a couple of subcyclets before he continued. “Thank you for telling me this Yolonda. I'm not sure what to do about it though. If we moved out of the cave, the dogs would likely do for us the very first night.”

  Then he spent a few subcyclets pondering the problem.

  “Now about the other thing Yolonda,” he said at last. “What's on your mind?”

  Yolonda blushed.

  “Well you see Wilber,” she began. “I'm not quite at peace with my feelings. You used to be a valuable employee with a profile that tickled my fancy. I'd never have dreamed that the reality of you could eclipse the fantasy image that I'm ashamed to admit I actually had. Then I met you in person. I was soon somewhat disillusioned. I thought it was just as well that I hadn't already chartered the Starskewer. It wasn't that I thought you and your crew wouldn't fit the job mind you. But I wasn't ready to deal with the constant reminder of how far off the mark my fantasy image of how you'd be was from the truth.

  That all changed when we were attacked and you lived up to every single bit of reckless ‘daring do’ that my fantasy image would have foisted on you. Only for you, the universe didn't graciously let you save everyone. With my knowledge of the design of this ship. It wasn't hard for me to figure out what you had to have done and what you'd been up to that made it possible. To be honest, if by some miracle the warp field had formed in a viable enough pattern for you to stabilize it so that we got away clean, without casualties. I'd have had you fired for having disengaged the safety protocols in the first place.” Wilber started to open his mouth to protest but Yolonda put up her hand over his mouth. “No Wilber, let me finish. I was that angry because I understood the risk you were taking in the name of profit or perhaps the Starskewer's reputation of being on schedule.

  Who do you think wrote the company procedures you were violating anyway?” Yolonda didn't pause long enough for the captain to answer with more than his eyes. “When I woke up on board that ridiculous life boat you and George slapped together. I saw the reality of a man who was half dead with grief for the lives that had been lost. I saw then how hard you worked to keep your despair from showing. Then I realized that the only thing keeping you alive was because you refused to let the few you had been able to save down. Then for the first time, you became more real to me than the fantasy that nobody could have lived up to. I realized that you had probably done all the tinkering yourself. Not because George wouldn't have. That man would do anything for you and I mean anything. As would Linda. I also saw that same fierce loyalty in Randy. When I understood that, I had to wonder why. Then I knew that the reason you did it yourself was because you wouldn't share the blame with anyone if you'd have been caught.

  That's when I knew how loyal you were to your crew. I'd bet you even officially gave George something else to do. So the records would cast reasonable doubt on the fact that he knew what you were up to. That's when I changed my mind and decided to like you. It wasn't long after that, that Mathieu's rage caught you off guard. For a while there I thought we were going to lose you. And it scared me so silly, I began to realize that I was falling for the imperfect reality of you. Harder than I ever could have for my fantasy version. It wasn't fair. I'm already in my twilight years you know. It wouldn't be fair to you if I found a way to touch your heart. Then when I first saw the way you'd begun to look at me. I thought you had simply become infatuated with your nurse. But now I've come to think that it might really be more than that. Which makes me afraid that I'm the one who's infatuate...”

  Wilber silenced Yolonda by covering her mouth but not with his hand.

  “Didn't that feel like reality Yolonda?” Wilber asked when the kiss ended. Then without waiting for an answer he continued. “Yes I was grateful for the nursing that no doubt saved my life. But that wasn't what made me look at you that way. You may remember I said something about being ‘able to do worse’ when you first warned me how others might view our sudden use of familiar names for each other. I meant it. And that was before I really got to know you. If I still had my ship, I'd have been able to resist the feelings that have grown within my heart. But I don't, so I can't.

  The only thing that's kept me from pressing the point with you. Is that I'm afraid that if Mr. Naville sees me getting to have someone to love. He might decide to revenge his wife upon me by harming you.”

  Suddenly the Captain stepped back and produced both the sonic stunner in one hand and his pellet gun in the other. As he did so he slightly defocused the stunner with his thumb and discharged it blindly over his shoulder as he simultaneously fired a half dozen pellets, in rapid succession over Yolonda's shoulder. The ‘yelp’ of pain he heard behind him told him he'd made the right move as he saw two dogs fall dead before they could reach Yolonda from behind. Without hesitation he spun on his heel and put a pellet in the eye socket of the disoriented dog that had been sneaking up on him. As he did this he reached back with the hand holding the stunner, handing it to Yolonda.

  “It's got less than half a charge left,” was all he said.

  Even as she took it he performed a pirouette that would have made any ballerino proud, firing 3 more of his precious pellets into another attacking dog. As he did this he used his now empty hand to pull an antique whistle, he'd inherited from his father, out from under his shirt where it hung on a chain. He p
roceeded to blow an extremely piercing rendition of a truly ancient navel call, while firing yet another 3 pellets at a fifth dog.

  When George arrived on the scene, lugging the plasma cutter at a dead run, he found his captain standing back to back with Miss Heroner. While a dozen wary dogs circled at a respectful distance. But even as he started to take aim with the plasma cutter, all the dogs suddenly turned tail and disappeared into the terrain.

  “Are you alright captain?” George Bellowed as he continued to approach.

  “We are now,” captain Rivermon replied. “Thanks! I think those mutts have begun to recognize the plasma cutter.”

  “And I thought those dogs only liked to hunt at night,” George interrupted. “What set them off?”

  “My Stupidity,” his captain replied. “I'm afraid we let our guard down and I guess they noticed. Still, it is broad daylight. Judging from their earlier behavior patterns that must mean they are getting so hungry that their becoming less cautious. I think we may need to be extra careful from now on...”

  The captains voice trailed off as he noticed the look on George's face.

  “You may be right about the dogs,” George said with a shake of his head. “Frankly sir, I'm more concerned about why you let your guard down in the first place.” Then as the Captain opened his mouth to speak he cut him off. “Let me finish sir! You don't have to tell me what distracted you two so much that the dogs noticed. There isn't one of us that don't already know, including that jerk, Naville. I've heard him muttering about it. There's no point in trying to keep it a secret. To tell you the truth, if you think it's the real thing, then I'm happy for both of you. But the next time you feel like your going to let your guard down, do it in the cave where both Linda and I can watch your back. Or if you need a bit more privacy than Linda & I bothered with a couple of nights ago. Then we'll guard Mr. Naville instead. Am I making myself clear sir?”

  “It's really that obvious?” Yolonda queried.

  “Yes!” George replied. “You've got both Linda and myself so worried about how Naville might react. That Linda even suggested last night, that she could offer to deal with his needs. To keep him from getting too jealous.”

  “And you'd be OK with that?” Wilber asked.

  “I told her that was her decision,” George replied. “It's not like we have the kind of thing that you two obviously do. She is a dear friend, as well as my shipmate but we don't own each other. Besides Linda likes men about the same way as I like women. My only objection is I'd like to be sure I was close enough to kill the man, if he tried to hurt her.”

  “Not if I got there first,” the captain advised.

  As they talked, both George and his captain made a pointed display of trying to spot the dogs that they knew must be watching them. Yolonda, who'd been mostly standing there with a horrified look on her face at the sacrifice Linda was thinking of making, suddenly interrupted the men.

  “Boys, I think maybe we should finish this conversation after we get back to the cave,” she suggested. “It's not dark yet but it won't be much longer you know.”

  “True enough,” the Captain said. Then with a quick look at the dead dogs he added, “I hate to waste all this meat. But I don't think Yolonda is strong enough to swing that plasma torch around convincingly enough for it to be safe for both of us to safely carry dog carcasses.”

  “Maybe not sir,” George replied. “But sunset's far enough away that I've enough time to cut all the best meat off them. I could cut strips from one of the pelts to tie it all into a bundle that I could manage while you carried the torch.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” Wilber agreed.

  “But any fatty tissue I might have salvaged for torch or candle would go to waste,” Yolonda protested. “Why not just skin and slaughter the leanest mutt and see if you can make two bundles instead of just one? I may be a far cry from a youngling. But if somebody will strap it on my back. Without making me bend over, I can haul the steaks and one of the dogs back to the cave.”

  “Do you realize how much dog blood you'd get on your clothes that way?” Wilber cautioned.

  “Good point,” She acknowledged. “There's no telling how long it will take to make half decent replacements. Wilber, would it interfere with your ability to wield that torch effectively if we found a way to put our cloths on your back until we get back to the cave? Then before the boys could protest she added, Don't worry, I've never been ashamed of my body. And we all know that George doesn't have any false modesty.”

  As soon as she'd said that Yolonda started to disrobe.

  “It'll save time if I tie our cloths into a sling sized loop,” she explained. “While you cut up the lean dog, George. So get out of those clothes.”

  George just looked at his captain, who shrugged.

  “It would be pointless to argue with her logic,” Wilber concluded.

  While George sliced up the carcass, the captain told him about Yolonda's theory about the cave. Then he asked him if they had the parts to convert one of the scanners into a ‘deep penetration’ tactical scanner.

  When they got back to the cave they found the gate lashed shut. As Yolonda quickly untied it, they noticed some distinctive noises coming from within. As soon as the gate was re-lashed they approached the fireplace chamber where by the light of the fire they had a clear view of the source of the noise. Mr. Naville's naked form was laying on it's back while Linda, who was also naked, was straddling him. The ‘couple’ were obviously busy enjoying the conclusion of their lewd performance.

  “While you were gone I had a little heart to heart with Mathieu,” Linda explained later. “He doesn't expect to have me to himself. Don't look at me like that Yolonda. I didn't do this only for you. It only makes sense that unless one of us is willing to take care of the needs of more than one man. Then sooner or later having more men than woman was going to lead to problems. Besides I've always hated the idea of having to be monogamous.”

  In the meantime, after he was done slaughtering the remaining dogs. George took his turn washing the gore off at the cave's spring. Then he began disassembling the scanners in preparation to turning their parts into a ‘deep scan’ tactical scanner. He had to be very careful. He couldn't afford to damage any of the parts.

  They soon settled into a new routine. Yolonda and the Captain slept in the small sandy floored chamber. The other three bunked near the fireplace in what they had begun to call the ‘Lodge’. Since neither George nor Linda were bashful and Mathieu actually enjoyed flaunting his nightly activity. It didn't matter that Wilber and Yolonda needed to cut through the ‘Lodge’ on their way in or out of what they'd begun calling the ‘honeymoon suite’. Whoever had the watch would need to tend the fire anyway. Whenever she wasn't sleeping, Yolonda's primary task, once George had cobbled together a deepscan device, was the tedious task of running a scan on each and every square arm of the wall, floor and ceiling in the entire cave.

  She started at the ‘spring’ and slowly worked her way forward. It took her three days to reach the ‘Lodge’ It was approaching midday of the fourth day that she began to scan a flat area of ‘wall’ between the ‘fireplace’ and the ‘Honeymoon Suite’. When she did however, several things happened at once.

  The scanner short circuited. It had an instantaneous total meltdown. The plasma torch, which wasn't even in use at the time simultaneously had a similar melt down. The heat was severe enough to reduce both devices to a liquid state. Yolonda became aware that somehow none of the heat had been conducted to her hand. Then there was a loud grinding noise of stone sliding on stone as the massive stone slab underneath the outer cave entrance raised up, sealing it off and reducing George's ‘gate’ to splinters. Linda, who had been washing herself at the ‘spring’ suddenly became aware that a small ‘geyser like’ up welling of water started to spray out of the ‘fishing hole’ that normally served as a drain for the spring.

  The passageway began filling with water. She wisely didn't take the time to get dre
ssed. But rather grabbed the light and her clothes. Then she ran naked up the passageway. The whole way through the long narrow passage she was screaming as loud as she could, “Get out! Get out. Grab the stuff quick and get get the zap out of the cave. Hurry! Get out! Get out...”

  When she reached the outer chamber and saw that the cave entrance was blocked, she thought they were all going to drown. But at that point, that flat section of cave wall that Yolonda had just started to scan, began to glow a soft shade of blue. A large bright red rectangular outline appeared in the center of it. Then with an audible click, the rectangular section suddenly recessed as it quickly sunk into the cave wall. Until it was recessed about eight arms deep. Then with another click, an interior corridor was suddenly revealed by virtue of being illuminated with a soft blue light. At this point the water filling the other passage began to spill into the Entrance chamber.

  “I think somebody wants us to go that way,” the captain said

  “Could be a trap of some kind,” warned George.

  “Could be,” the captain agreed. “But it doesn't look like we have much choice. Everybody grab an armload of provisions and get in there. George, you go first. See if you can find a control that looks like we might be able to close that door before the water reaches it.”

  Everyone was obviously frightened by the sudden change in the cave that they had thought of as a shelter. But the captain could see that Mr Naville was in a state of pure panic. When he grabbed an armful of emergency rations and ran inside. “Close it!” he screamed at George. “Close it before we drown. What are you waiting for, there's no time to wait for them, close it now!”

  While Mathieu was busy demanding that George slam the door on the others, Yolonda and Linda stepped through the open door. Then the captain tossed an armful of provisions through the door and grabbed another before he retreated into the illuminated corridor.

  “OK George,” he said as he stepped inside. “Better close it now, the water's almost here.”