Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  Peter throws his enormous backpack over his shoulder, then as soon as John lands, he opens the ramp and quickly steps out. With his rifle at the ready, he scans the area for danger. He is about to speak, when Emma barges past him. She turns to him, puts her hands on her hips and says indignantly, “You can quit that gung-ho crap right now. This is not some war zone, it’s a woodland!”

  Seated in the cockpit, John grins widely, then shouts out, “Call me if you need saving, Peter.” He closes the ramp, then takes off before anyone can reply.

  Peter frowns, why would I need saving? He brings his attention from the departing shuttle, back to Emma, and meets her steady gaze. Oh, that’s why, he smiles sheepishly, “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Emma shakes her head, she knows he loves her, yet he seems unable to say the words. Men, she thinks, why did I have to fall for this one? She offers him a smile, then focuses her attention on the clearing they are standing in.

  Peter keeps an eye on the nearby tree line, but also watches Emma with fascination, as she takes samples, photos, and notes. She suddenly swings her camera toward the trees, then says, “Wow, did you see that?”

  Peter gulps, he missed it, but he can see that the trees still shake where something had disturbed them.

  Emma says excitedly, “I think that was one of those tree climbers.” She glances at the time on her tablet computer, then says, “Okay, let’s head to the lake. I want to check it out.”

  The pair walks into the woods. Peter, rifle in hand, is ready for anything, while Emma seems oblivious to any potential dangers. They only walk a short distance when she stops, and looks down at a creature twitching on the ground. It is about the size of a domestic cat, and covered in what appears to be either fur, or short feathers. Its two large talons shudder as the small creature goes through its death throes. Her sympathies are pushed to one side as her scientific mind ponders this new discovery.

  THUD

  Emma turns in alarm at the sound and finds another laying on the ground. She quickly looks up, and gasps at the sight. Hundreds of these strange creatures are flying amongst the treetops. The pair watches silently as two of these creatures collide, apparently in combat. Seconds later, one falls, while the other gains altitude. Far above the battle throng, is a solitary bird. It flies in a seemingly casual orbit over the rest. Emma lifts her binoculars and watches the spectacle with fascination.

  In a flash of insight, she understands what is happening and explains, “The males are proving their dominance and right to mate the female above.” She lowers her gaze to the creatures on the ground, then in turn, carefully examines them. She spots a small sheath under their bellies, “They have a poison system like those ten legged spiders. I wonder what the genetic relation is between these two species?”

  Peter frowns, then asks cautiously, “What ten legged spiders? And what poison system?”

  Emma, with her attention focused on the strange creature on the ground says absentmindedly, “Oh they live in trees and they’re a little smaller than this fella. Let me find one for you, once I’m done here.”

  He looks at the trees in alarm, “You can find one? Just like that?”

  “It’s what I do.” Emma retorts.

  “You didn’t tell me about these poisonous spiders!” he says, a little concerned.

  Emma looks at him and says bluntly, “And you don’t tell me everything you do either. Running off for days on end, leaving a girl to wonder.”

  Peter subconsciously looks at his radio. She catches his glance, and laughs. Between chuckles, she says, “You’d better call him!”

  Another flying creature falls from the sky and hits the ground near them with a solid thud. Emma gets back to the task of examining and recording all she can.

  Peter glances from the strange creatures on the ground to those in the air, “Hey, with this planet having a slightly heavier gravity, how do those things even fly with those tiny wings?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Emma replies.

  She wanders amongst the growing number of victims. Finally, she selects one, then after making sure it is actually dead, packs it into a thick, plastic, biohazard bag.

  The pair moves to the edge of the forest, where Emma starts scouring the trees. She easily finds what she is looking for, puts a finger to her mouth to tell Peter to be quiet, then points.

  Peter peers at a large hole in the tree, then spots the spider-like creature and shudders. They both step back when it begins to exit the hole. At fifteen paces away, he is not feeling very secure. Emma however, is taking photos and more notes.

  The baseball sized, ten-legged spider slowly crawls the rest of the way out of its tree hole. It seems to stare at the couple for a second with a pair of large multifaceted eyes, then leisurely makes its way down the tree trunk. It crawls along the grass toward the fallen flying creatures. Peter is fascinated by its double thorax. The forward segment has four legs, while the rear has six. Every now and then it rears up, lifting its front section completely off the ground.

  Peter squints, then notices a forward-facing spike on its upper body in the rear segment. The spike retracts into a sheath and vanishes from sight. He looks at Emma and asks, “What is that thing?”

  She keeps a straight face, and quietly replies, “That’s a New Earth spider.”

  He blinks a few times in surprise, then says, “You’re kidding, right?”

  She stifles a laugh, “Yes. My team and I are still classifying much of the life here before we assign technical names, so spider will do for now.”

  Peter turns back to see the spider pick up a fallen flying creature with its front forelegs, and crawl back to its home.

  Emma takes numerous pictures, and updates her notes. Once she is finished, she says, “They hunt small prey, and use that spike to inject their victims with a neurotoxin. The paralyzing effects are almost instantaneous to the affected area. The poison spreads quickly through the bloodstream, and once it reaches the heart, stops it.”

  He looks down at the ground for more of them, “I wouldn’t want to step on one.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. That spike may be strong enough to penetrate the soles of the average person’s footwear. But on a positive note, we have seen signs that larger animals can survive the poison, though permanent muscle damage seems evident.”

  Peter stares at the hole in the tree, “So those things just wander around?”

  Emma frowns, “No. As far as we can tell, they’re territorial, and live in isolation until mating season. That’s when I expect things will get really interesting.”

  Peter stares at Emma, he would rather face a hundred enemy soldiers than those ten legged spiders. He smiles, “Any more surprises I should know about?”

  She scrunches up her face as she thinks seriously, “Well, we’ve discovered over one hundred species so far, but only a few that are really exciting.” She looks back at Peter, “I am really curious to see what we find near the lake. Let’s go.”

  The walk to the lake takes them less than half an hour. Emma takes in a deep breath as she walks along the water’s edge.

  A splash in the water catches their attention, Emma immediately swings her camera up. Peter is faster, and stares through the sights of his rifle at the expanding ripples in the water.

  Emma tilts her head at him, then rummages through her backpack, “Here, if you’re going to be that fast, at least take pictures.” She holds out a camera, one with a large lens, and numerous buttons. She adds, while pointing at it, “Just push that button there.”

  Peter scowls, then takes the offered camera. “You’re impossible,” he says, then asks, “Don’t your folks have samples of the water life yet?”

  “Yes,” Emma replies, “but none from this lake, yet. Since our colony is close, this lake seems like an obvious choice for any aspiring boaters and fishers. So, we probably should, eventually.” She adds it to the list in her mind.

  He stares at the wat
er, deep in thought, then he simply says, “Fair enough.”

  The terrain varies, forcing the pair away from the water’s edge. They make their way through knee high grass, past bushy shrubs, and tall trees as they try to stay close to the water. Twenty minutes later, the pair has managed to get to the far side of the lake, but due to its elongated shape, it will take a long time to walk all the way around. Another splash in the water catches their attention. Emma swings her camera up, but once again, she is too slow.

  Peter starts to quietly whistle a tune, then while looking skyward says, “Ahem,” he hands his camera to Emma.

  She frowns, then looks at the camera’s screen, “How the heck did you do that?” There before her, is a blurry image of what appears to be a large fish. Emma stares at Peter in disbelief, then makes some adjustments to the camera. She hands it back to him, “Nice. The river bank is more open up ahead, let’s see if we can get some clearer shots.”

  Emma is about to step into the small clearing when she suddenly stops, and lifts her hand up. Peter’s first reaction is to step in front of her, and even though every fiber of his being wants him to act, he stays exactly where he is. Ever so slowly and quietly, she lifts her camera. At the very first click, the gazelle-like animal stops drinking from the water’s edge. It lifts its head quickly, and looks around, the animal’s long ears are twitching. Peter stares, fascinated. It seems so out of place in the woods between a mountain range and a river. Its thin brown fur looks more like a camouflage outfit, than hide, and seems much more suited for the hills than the forest. The animal’s short snout sniffs the air, then it takes off. Its four long legs propel it speedily through the woods, while its slender body seems to flex as it bounds around trees and over shrubs. In seconds, it is gone.

  Peter gazes at the small clearing and immediately notices the many game trails that head off into the forest, “Is seems like this is a popular spot to come and drink.”

  Emma nods in agreement, “I haven’t seen one of those before.”

  He glances down at his camera guiltily, then gulps, “I didn’t take any pictures.”

  “That’s okay, it obviously has exceptional hearing and smell,” Emma responds.

  “Yeah, I noticed that. It was upwind of us and it still seemed to sense our presence,” Peter adds.

  Emma walks down to the water’s edge, takes a sample of the water, then looks around. She puts the container away, and asks curiously, “Did you bring a tent?”

  Peter is looking at how many samples she has already, and is caught completely off guard by her question. After a few seconds of her staring at him, the question sinks in, “Oh, yes. Yes, I have tent. Why?”

  Emma shakes her head, “Because, silly, we’re not going to make it all the way the around the lake at this pace. Besides, I want to see what night life comes down here to drink.”

  Peter’s face twitches, “You mean, stay here... tonight... to see what comes wandering by?” He glances at the nearby trees, nervously.

  Emma nods excitedly, “Yes, but we will need to find just the right place.” Her shoulders sag in feigned disappointment, “You wuss! Those spiders don’t drink much, they tend to get all the moisture they need from their prey,” she teases.

  “Oh, that’s comforting,” he says, and walks off to find a suitable place for them to camp. He mutters quietly to himself, then imagines her saying, ‘what’s that?’ along with his reply of ‘oh, nothing dear.’

  Oblivious to Peter’s distress, Emma meanders along the lake’s edge. She examines a multitude of animal footprints in the mud, along with a half dozen different kinds of flying insects. She gazes around, then notices a string of fishing line caught in some tree branches nearby. She shakes her head in disapproval, we had better not start polluting this world with our junk. I will have to have a word with the colonists about this. She dismisses the thin line, and continues walking.

  Emma stops and stares down at the ground, then examines some tree roots, so much like Earth’s, she thinks. She is about to move on when something catches her eye, “What the blazes is that?” She asks herself out loud. Crouching down, she stares intently at a rusty nail that is embedded into one of the tree roots. The hairs on the back of her neck lift, the tree has grown over much of the nail.

  She glances around looking for Peter, then gulps when her eyes fall upon a mound of collapsed timbers in the forest. Her heart races as her imagination takes off on its own, “Peter,” she says a little nervously.”

  Peter immediately lifts his weapon and pans the area. “Where,” he says with a determined single-mindedness. Not seeing anything, he drops to one knee and relentlessly scans the area, searching for whatever dangers may be lurking.

  She takes a deep breath, rusty nail, old wood, this stuff has been here for a long time. She gathers her wits, then walks to Peter, “It’s okay. I scared myself, that’s all.”

  He does not lower his rifle, but instead replies, “Okay, what did you see then?”

  Emma points into the woods at the fallen logs. Peter swings his rifle around and studies them through the telescopic sight. He stands and lowers his gun, “Fallen timber... so?”

  “I am not so sure that’s all it is, it doesn’t look normal to me.” Emma’s voice sounds a little unsure.

  They walk to the wood pile, then spend considerable time debating whether or not it is naturally occurring, or something else. The side of Emma’s face twitches as she glances from the wood pile to the nail. She lifts an old log, but it falls apart in her hands. Not wanting to damage the discovery any more, she stops and steps back.

  In a flash of insight, Emma recalls the line, which causes a fresh wave of uncertainty to wash over her. She looks at Peter and says, “No one has been fishing here, someone at the settlement would have said something.”

  Peter feels a strange sensation creep up his spine, “Right.” He gazes around, “So, if not us, who then?”

  Emma rushes back to where she found the line, then attempts to cut off a piece, “My blade is dull, can you cut this please?”

  “Sure,” Peter replies as he walks over to her, then as his knife slides uselessly over the fishing line, he adds, “ugh, maybe?”

  They both stare at Peter’s blade as it glides back and forth over the thread, and yet does not cut it. Peter stares at his knife in shock, “Now that’s some special line.”

  With a single slash, he cuts down the branch the fishing line is entwined with, “Hey the tree has grown over this stuff,” he says, as he examines it.

  Emma looks, and sure enough, the line runs through the branch. She follows it, and says, “It looks as though the whole tree has grown around it.”

  Peter smiles as an idea comes to mind, “We can get a rough idea how long this has been here.”

  She frowns, “How?”

  “Well,” he says, “we use the condition of the wood at our original base camp as a guide.”

  Emma nods then says, “Yes, this stuff is just so out of place here,” her eyes dart from the nail to the wood pile, then back to the thread.

  “Natives?” Peter asks, already sure of the answer.

  She shakes her head doubtfully. “No. If this planet were populated, we would have observed some signs of it by now.”

  Peter gazes at the sky in wonder, “So, someone just dropped in to do a bit of fishing,” he shrugs his shoulders and adds, “then left?”

  Emma also looks skyward, “I don’t know what to think right now.”

  Peter nods his head, “But we’re in agreement, that whoever was here, is long gone.”

  Emma looks around, “Let’s keep this quiet for a while. I would like to examine the thread properly, before I come to any conclusions.”

  Peter’s eyebrows raise, “We will be informing Cindy of this as soon as we get back, though?”

  Emma says vacantly, “Yes of course we will. But I don’t want to cause a panic, this could all be nothing.”

  The two of them spend a long time finding just the righ
t place for their tent. Once it is erected, Peter works on cutting off a piece of the fishing line they found. Finally, he is successful, and puts the hard-earned sample into his backpack. With nightfall still a long way off, they walk through the forest and follow game trails all the way the forest’s edge. Standing at the base of the mountains, the pair sees more of the gazelle-like animals. Their patchy brown fur allows them to blend in almost perfectly with the landscape.

  Emma smiles, “Mountain goats,” she says as she points them out.

  Peter’s own smile fades when he notices the long shadows on the ground, “We’d better head back to the campsite.”

  “Sure. Love the color scheme of those animals, great camouflage. No wonder we haven’t spotted them before.” She looks all around, I wonder what keeps their numbers down?

  Peter takes out his radio, “Come in, John.”

  The speaker crackles, then clears up, “John here, you guys ready?”

  “Not quite, in fact we are spending the night in the wood.” Peter replies.

  Emma leans in to talk, “Can you meet us at the clearing? I have some samples I want my team to work on.”

  A few seconds go by, then John responds, “I will land and wait for you.”

  John waits in the clearing and watches the shadows get longer by the minute. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the pair arrives.

  Emma rushes to John, her backpack in hand, “Okay I need you to give these samples to my team.” She opens her backpack, then hands over a half dozen sealed bio hazard bags.

  John takes the samples and says, “I will be back in the morning then,” he gives Peter a long look, then leaves.

  Emma and Peter hurry through the woods, trying to beat the approaching sunset. Meanwhile, John flies back to Hawking, but contrary to what he said, he does not stay long. Instead, he returns to the clearing, where he spends the night. He and Peter had agreed previously, that the shuttle should be as close as possible, just in case.

  The pair arrives at their tent just as the sun sets behind the mountains. Under the fast fading light, the two of them set up Emma’s main camera on a small tripod, then retire for the night. Neither of them sleeps well, as strange sounds assault their ears.