13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  The girl then stepped on the runners. “Um... mush?” she said uncertainly.

  The priestess turned to look over her shoulder. “Just don’t get carried away little one,” the priestess growled amused. She tugged on the harness then when the sled broke its grip on the ground and snow, began to lope faster and faster for the tree line. It was easier once the sled was moving, though turning turned out to be tricky. She'd have to make long wide turns or they both would overturn she realized. It took a few minutes of adjusting before she got the rhythm of the movement required.

  “Distance?” she panted, looking over her shoulder. Her daughter looked back and then sped up. “At least two clicks and closing. One in the lead. He's focusing on the ration packs like you planned. The other is focused on the wreckage,” Blizzard responded.

  The lead bear stopped, hesitating between them and the wreckage then turned, sniffing the air. It slowly turned toward them and stared. After a moment it made its' decision and went to the wreck.

  “That should keep it occupied for a little while,” Blizzard said in approval.

  The girls whimpered, the wolves focused on the children. Susan was choking back sobs. “What's the matter little one?” The priestess asked her.

  “Goddess, oh our brother. He... to be eaten... He deserved better,” she cried.

  The priestess panted for a moment before answering. “It's how the world works child, the chain of life, remember that. But your duty is to the living, remember that too. From your brothers actions he would have wanted this right?”

  “Yes,” the girl replied softly, biting her lip. She adjusted her scarf to cover her face then looked down. Her hands had a death grip on the handles to the sled.

  “Right then,” the priestess said continuing onward.

  “What's your name young one?” the priestess finally asked.

  “Cali,” the girl answered after a moment, “Cali Tuggle.”

  “And your sister is Susan, I will remember,” the priestess said, picking her way around a tree. “Be a good child and concentrate now. We will have to work together to survive,” she said as the wind howled.

  Chapter 2

  Fortunately the crash was only twenty-five kilometers from the cave of the elder mother. They managed to arrive in the foothills near it in the dying light. It would have been an exhausting run for any without the double burdens of carrying the furless one's weight as well as trying to avoid being tracked. The priestess had done the run on an empty stomach after a hunt and was now near the ragged edge of her energy reserves.

  The priestess flopped down groaning. “Oh my aching back,” she growled. One hand paw rubbed at a lower vertebra and abused muscle. She felt hands on her back. Small hands, not her daughters. She looked to see the young one Cali massaging her as her mate used to do. She closed her eyes and rested for the moment, enjoying the soothing massage. Mittens rubbed at her fur.

  “Thank you, thank you for saving us,” the girl murmured. They were sheltering in a copse of trees that served as a good wind break. It was great to be out of the wind, but the shade bode ill for the cool temperatures the dying light was about to bring.

  The priestess's eye opened slightly and rolled to look at the girl. “You're good with your hands,” she said with approval. She'd have to treat the cut on her left knuckle later she reminded herself.

  “You are so strong and valiant,” Cali said removing the harness. The priestess opened one eye to see Cali still rubbing at her. She snorted and shook her head in amusement, what little the little one could do she was doing.

  “Ben is a friend, we go to great lengths for friends and family, it is the way of the pack,” the priestess finally said.

  Cali paused, fists clenching. “Was,” Cali said looking tearful and forlorn again. Now that she was with the human her old experiences of reading them was coming back to her, her memories of Ben made it easier.

  “He's gone?” she asked a little taken aback. Ben was one of her few Terran contacts, a good man, one who didn't cheat the pack in their infrequent trades. He was well known for also giving them the occasional bit of wisdom or Terran hospitality if the weather turned bad. More than once she'd slept in his cabin when a storm had trapped her in the settlement.

  “He... He was in the port, it's gone,” Cali whispered, head down.

  The priestess froze at that news. “I can tell there's a story here,” the priestess said watching the girl. The girl trembled, not just from the cold she realized. The young one was bearing a terrible burden. The sounds of crunching snow made them all freeze warily. They looked up to see Blizzard had led the elder mother back to them. Cali stepped back at seeing the Neo. Unlike the others the elder walked on her hind feet alone, fully upright and seemingly proud of it. She was clutching a spear in one arm like a walking staff though and her shoulders were covered in a white shawl.

  Her mane was long and flowing behind her, part of it was bundled up in beads and a leather thong. She was white, snow white like Blizzard. She had a buckskin leather belt around her waist, and a long bush knife belted to it on the left side. Rheumy but intelligent eyes turned on her, there was a sparkle there, a lively sparkle.

  “Grandmother you shouldn’t be out in this, it isn’t spring yet, we were coming to you,” the priestess said dismayed and concerned. Her pack would never forgive her for risking the grandmother.

  “Nonsense child, though we do need to get these pups into shelter soon, the elder said. “You're exhausted my granddaughter and these two Terran children won't last the night now that the sun is down. Let's get you inside where it's warm,” she said. Her voice as well as her wisdom was gentle but filled with warmth and humor. It felt good, the priestess wearily thought as the biting breeze cut at her ears.

  Grandmother helped the priestess to her feet and then had Blizzard change places with her. Blizzard was resentful, not at the idea of pulling the Terrans but in the expectation to do so. But she took to the job without voicing a complaint. Cali hesitantly put the harness on her, adjusting it to Blizzard's smaller frame as she did so. When she was done she murmured a thank you and rubbed Blizzard's shoulder as she hugged her, Blizzard felt a little mollified by that. At least the human was appreciating the effort.

  They made their way to a snow cave. Cali shivered at the thought of spending the night in such a dark dismal place. They needed a fire she realized. But for now any shelter in the biting wind and darkness was good, she just wished she had a fire.

  The elder went into the cave ahead of them. As the girl's eyes adjusted to the darkness she noted the elder put her hand to the back wall and then pushed on something. She kicked at something, the outline of a door Cali's tired mind realized. “It figures, frozen again,” the elder muttered. “Ah, that did it,” she growled in triumph. “When all else fails hit it!” She said amused. A metal door opened, bright light spilled out, blinding their night senses momentarily until they turned away and their eyes adjusted.

  Blizzard shucked the harness right away, staring. Cali dragged the sled inside, following the two older wolves.

  Blizzard came in behind them, wrinkling her nose, eyes wide at all the new scents, sounds, and smells. The door shut behind her. Its' shutting made her whirl in surprise. Suddenly she felt the feeling of being contained, of being trapped and she didn't like it.

  “Is... is this a shuttle?” Cali asked as they took little Susan off the sled.

  “Yes, of course, little one. Assault shuttle actually,” the elder said looking back. “You've seen one before?”

  “Oh!” Cali was amazed. She looked around again. “I've... I've always wanted to be in one. It's big,” she murmured.

  “It has to be,” the elder chuckled. “It carried a platoon of powered combat armor or a couple vehicles from orbit into battle, complete with gear and ordinance. That's a lot of material to haul around.” The elder said.

  Cali whistled appreciatively, then her thoughts of Bobby and how he'd kick himself for missing this made her paus
e with a sudden intense pang of grief.

  “I had heard that such things still existed,” Blizzard whispered as she reverently touched a console.

  “Of course. Not many left though, I admit,” the elder sighed. “Damn thing was always a touch sluggish in foul weather,” she sighed. She picked the smaller child up and set her down in a pod. Cali froze, shocked.

  “What are you doing?” Cali asked startled.

  “Checking her vitals. Ah yes, hypothermia, frostbite too. We can take care of that easily enough,” the elder said, studying the controls with a practiced eye.

  Blizzard watched from near the hatch door. She was troubled, she had visions of when she was a pup, of being here, being in that pod. She looked around. She sniffed, curious. There was a hint of something. Yes, it was strangely familiar. It wasn't that long ago. She looked at her mother in confusion.

  Her mother smiled back at her tiredly. The elder chuckled noticing the looks, “Yes, you were here, when you were a pup. All pups of the packs are checked by me when they are born. Also you come here if you're ever injured,” the elder mother said.

  “Oh.” Blizzard said.

  “You probably don't remember much of it, you were very young,” the elder said.

  “I gathered that,” Blizzard replied with some dignity. She looked over to her mother who was resting as comfortably as she could, drinking in the sudden warmth.

  Cali pulled her mittens off as the heat registered. Her hands tingled as warmth returned. She had pulled her jacket open as the door had closed. She was wearing a yellow sweater underneath. “Wwwwarm, oh it's so good to be warm,” she said hugging herself.

  “Yes,” the priestess agreed. She was by the door, curling up in a ball. She was exhausted and hungry, but had no intention of begging for food from the elder. Such was simply not done, she could wait.

  Blizzard sat, watching the elder intently. Her avid eyes drank in the sight of the short stubby fingers flashing about the controls of the pod and shuttle. The priestess watched her daughter and snorted. “You've been to the trading post with me often enough daughter,” she said.

  “Yes but this... this is different, one of us is doing it,” Blizzard replied, briefly looking at her mother and then back to the elder.

  The elder snorted softly but continued her work. It was a sad thing that her people had fallen this far. She hadn't wanted it. She'd wanted... she shook herself off the familiar mental rant and focused on the here and now. “What happened?” the elder asked. She looked up and over to the human, “Got lost?”

  Cali's eyelids were heavy, the effort of getting here, the cold, the stress and then the sudden warmth and safety were all pressing down on her but she struggled valiantly to keep awake. “No, we ah... crashed,” Cali said, sitting down in a chair.

  “I... Bobby was driving. He...” she flung her head in her hands and cried.

  “I take it Bobby didn’t live?” the elder asked softly. She turned and stroked the girl's curly brown hair.

  “No,” the girl sobbed shaking her head.

  “Polar bears cleaned up the mess,” Blizzard replied and then sneezed.

  “Oh. Ah. Yes. That will do it,” the elder sighed stroking the girl. “Most of the bears are naturals, not Neo's like us. They don’t respect humans,” she said.

  “The feeling is mutual,” the priestess snorted then closed her eyes.

  “True,” Blizzard agreed and flicked her ears.

  “What made you crash young one?” The elder asked, fitting furs over Susan and then going to a place on the wall and tapping at the controls. She looked at the girl, her teeth were chattering and she was nearly out. Unfortunately she needed answers so she'd have to stay awake. After a moment a cup of steaming brew appeared in the slot. Blizzard and the priestess sniffed the air at the sudden smell of water and something else.

  She handed it to the girl. The girl looked up, taking comfort in the warmth in her hands. They still shook, not from as much the cold as the stress the elder realized. “Drink it, it's fortified tea,” she said.

  “Oh. Thank you,” the girl gulped. She took a sip, “wow, this is strong,” she said, eyes wide.

  “It's elderberry tea. I ran out of my favorites centuries ago I'm afraid,” the elder said shaking her head. Fat chance she'd ever get more of anything else. Tea was something the pack was not big on trading for, and it didn't grow on this world anyway. The pack did get what they could from the Terrans, grudgingly because of her vice though.

  “You're that old? Really?” Cali asked, eyes wide.

  Blizzard wanted to protest, such insolence. She wrinkled her muzzle in annoyance but the elder flicked her ears at her. “Really, really that old,” the elder chuckled. Blizzard blinked at her ancestor's ready humor.

  “She has been here since the snows first fell, long, long ago,” Blizzard said. “So be respectful,” she warned.

  “Well, it wasn’t always like this,” the old one sighed. The elder got a cup of tea for herself then a bowl of meat and put it down in front of the priestess, then another bowl in front of Blizzard. The priestess's eyes opened at the heady scent of meat, they nodded their thanks.

  “You said you piloted this ship?” Cali asked, “you're a sleeper?”

  The elder glanced at her and flicked her ears. “I did? Oh yes, that,” she chuckled. “I had forgotten. Forgive me, I'm old and my memory slips now and again.” She shrugged then sat, drinking her tea.

  “I was a lieutenant in the marine corps, pilot,” she said indicating the shuttle. “This world was hit. We were sent to help with the evac, but well, my ship had an intermittent power failure in the storm. It got banged up good coming down,” she explained.

  “Ouch,” the girl winced in shared pain. They'd crashed in the little air flitter. Crashing in something as big as this, as high as it went? In a storm? They were lucky to have survived.

  “Yes, I'd say you have some understanding in that regard,” she said amused. She looked over to see Susan’s eyes. Her eyelids fluttered and then opened, blinking a bit in the light. She checked the child's vital signs on the monitor. Core temp was creeping upward, up to 92 now. Good, she was at least a little alert, a touch of shock but she was assimilating well.

  “The planet was fortunate, the Navy managed to stop the planet buster, but it well...” she indicated the door. “It's remains and the lack of the Terraformers caused an ice age, a nasty one,” she said with grim humor.

  Cali gulped at the tea, Blizzard gulped at the meat. “Oh, ouch,” Cali said to fill in the silence.

  Blizzard looked up and then to her mother. Her mother nodded, eyes still on her meal. She was eating slowly, as was her daughter. Normally they would wolf down a meal quickly but she'd set the example of going slow and listening.

  “I was tasked with repairing my shuttle since the evac ships were overloaded. I offered to stay behind. I had felt guilty about the crash,” the elder said. She shook her head, “I've been here ever since, they never came back for me. I can't say I blame them,” she said.

  “How... how could you stay alive that long?” Cali asked, brow wrinkled. She ran a hand over her face. Most of the feeling was coming back to her skin. It felt like jagged needles stabbing into her face and hands. Not a pleasant sensation but better then the burning numbness. Hopefully the frost bite wouldn't be too bad, her face all black wouldn't be good.

  “Oh that?” The elder chuckled, she pointed to the pod. “The pack always wonders that but none have had the balls to ask until now. That pod over there is also a stasis pod. Each shuttle has got four of them in case of casualties, my shuttle was spared from getting stripped. I help the Neos in the area and they in turn supply me with news and food. I sleep in stasis most of the time.” she explained.

  “Oh,” Cali said.

  “I set the computer to wake me if someone is near. I usually don't wake until spring has fully sprung,” the elder said. She had yet to fully identify herself.

  “The winter is overlong grandmother
,” the priestess said, pushing the now empty bowl away. “New pups have been born, but the hunting has been bad, the herds are still south,” she said.

  “Ah. That's bad,” the elder sighed. After a moment she returned her attention to Cali. “So... Back to you young one. You were going home and got lost?” She asked, turning to the humans.

  “No, we were running,” Susan mumbled. She coughed and tried to rub her eyes. Cali got up and gave her a sip of the tea, she coughed again. Cali helped her to sit up, rubbing her back to help her get over the fit.

  “Running? Running away?” Blizzard asked confused, “from your home and family?” She asked questioningly.

  “No, from the pirates,” Susan mumbled. Her eyelids fluttered, she was incredibly tired. After a moment her eyes closed once more and she laid back, relaxing.

  Cali stroked her hair gently for a moment. She looked at the readouts. She could puzzle out temperature and heartbeat. It looked like her sister was recovering.

  Cali looked up when the elder snuffled. Her eyes locked on the elder who was sitting stiff in shock, hand paws in her lap. “Pirates hit the port and then the outer towns. We were waiting in the car when they hit the trading post. Dad, mom, and Uncle Ben were listening to the radio when this thing came out of the sky and the...” she choked back a sob, hand going to her mouth.

  “It strafed the post?” The elder asked quietly. Cali nodded. “No survivors?” The elder asked.

  “We didn’t stop to look. When... when it blew up the fuel depot Bobby hit drive and we ran into the tree line. The pirates shot it up then circled back, Bobby said they were chasing us.”, she explained.

  “Oh,” the elder said.

  Blizzard's eyes were wide. Such a story! She wasn't sure about it but it sounded scary and exciting.

  “We just ran and ran. We tried to get him to stop but he just...” she shook her head helplessly rubbing at her eyes.