Chapter 6
The Most Dangerous
“Fools and wise-folk are alike harmless. It is the half-wise, and the half-foolish, who are the most dangerous.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections
Their progress slowed by two additional tremors, the rescuers finally crossed the second chasm late in the day. Decker asked if she should leave the sling-bridge up, knowing that the Aurora crew was just over the next ridge. After a short debate, Kennedy declared, “Better safe than sorry,” and issued the order to take it with them.
When they reached the stranded company, Vania Betang, a dark-haired, sturdy-looking woman, greeted them with open arms. Literally. After hugging Croker, Kapoor, and Quan, she approached Decker and Kennedy but each of them extended an arm to indicate their preference for a handshake. Deck was relieved when Betang took the hint.
In the fading light, Naiche studied the remaining six people, who had gathered around Kay, exclaiming over the sight of a creature that to them was as rare as the fabled unicorn. “Were any of your team hurt in the Featay attack?” she asked Betang. “Any wounds I need to tend to? I’m a medic.”
“No, fortunately their projectile weapons are inaccurate – all escaped unharmed. But there was a disastrous impact.” She pointed back to the bubble-like tent. “We were only able to save one shelter when the Featay attacked. All of us crowding into that one has been most uncomfortable. We are sorry to have to spend another night like this.”
Kennedy gestured at the caves a short distance up the hill. “Are those caves unsuitable as shelter?”
Betang looked over her shoulder, to where Con was pointing. “We could not sleep there.”
“Why – what’s living in them?” Kapoor asked.
“I don’t know that anything is,” Betang answered. “We’ve detected no creatures nearby. But they are not fit as habitation for humans. We cannot sleep on the ground; it would be most unsanitary.”
“That’s not true,” Con said. “A little dirt never hurt anyone; caves can do just fine as human shelter in a pinch.” He looked at his team, proclaiming, “In fact, that’s probably where we’ll bunk tonight.”
“In a pinch of what?” Croker asked.
Exhaling a quiet huff of exasperation, Kennedy explained, “In an emergency. We used caves as shelter plenty of times during the war.”
“Is that so?” Croker mused. “It sounds as if this war produced much hardship.”
After a sideways glance at Con, Decker stated, “Yeah – they usually do.” Before Croker could respond, she suggested he and Quan distribute the supplies they’d brought so everyone could have something to eat before bedding down for the night. When she saw that Croker had pulled out what appeared to be several large, transparent tubes of gray putty, Deck was compelled to ask what it was.
“It is meat, of course.” When she asked what kind, he said, “I’m not sure what you’re asking – have you now developed more than one kind of meat?”
While Naiche was gaping at him, Con jumped in to ask, “What animal did it come from? Originally?”
“Our meat is grown synthetically,” Betang volunteered. “There are no animals sacrificed as in ancient times.”
Kennedy sighed and tried again. “Yes, of course, most of ours is, too. But the cells to generate the synthetic process had to come from some animal. Otherwise it’s not really meat, is it?”
Croker said, “But it is meat – and very tasty.” He used a small knife to slice off a portion and offered it to the Lovelace crew, “Would you like to try some? It’s as good cold as it is warmed.”
Staring doubtfully at the gray substance, Kapoor said, “We have meal bars we can eat, thanks all the same.”
Deck decided to go check out the caves’ suitability for shelter and Kennedy offered to accompany her. On the way she nudged him with her shoulder. “I’ve never been so glad to have bison jerky in my pack. Who knew there was some food in this universe worse than UDC meal bars?”
Con burst out laughing before retorting, “See how educational this mission is turning out to be?”
Her answering laugh was abruptly cut off when she noticed a flicker of white high in the sky. By the time she’d been able to retrieve her oculiscope and check it out, the object was gone. Decker dismissed it as mere imagination – until she noticed Kayatennae gazing up at the same spot.
“What was it?”
“Not sure – but it could have been a peerazu.” She rubbed at her right temple, saying, “Croker can have my bedroll. I’m not going to be getting much sleep tonight.”
Kennedy squinted at the patch of sky which Kay was still focused on and then back at Naiche. “Yeah, me neither.”
They spent a restless night, Con getting little sleep, Naiche none, as they watched the sky for any signs of peerazu – all the while feeling the ground shake every couple of hours. At daybreak, Decker had the Lovelace crew up and readying for the trek back to the Aurora.
The Aurora scouting party, as nervous about the sling-bridge as Croker had been, made such painfully slow progress that their crossing was interrupted by another quake. The youngest member of the group, a girl named Moira Finnegan, had taken a few steps onto the bridge when the tremor hit. She immediately started screaming in alarm. Quan, who was right behind her, advised the frightened girl to drop down onto the floor of the bridge until the motion passed. But Moira was near hysteria and simply clung to the netting, wailing, and screeching so loudly that the sound echoed up and down the canyon.
As soon as the tremor ended, Betang hurried over and attempted to calm the panic-stricken girl. She ended up practically dragging Moira across. Suddenly, Kay scented the air and started growling nonstop. Con and Naiche swiftly checked their hand scanners for any sign of approaching danger. The news was not good.
“Everybody off the bridge,” Kennedy ordered. “Get to this side. Now!”
From the reaction of their COs, Kapoor and Quan didn’t need to ask what threat was on the way – they immediately got to work clearing the remaining three people off the bridge.
“What? What is it?” Croker yelled.
There was no time to answer and by the time the four Tactical personnel had readied their particle rifles, the peerazu was in sight.
The animal headed right for the largest group of humans, diving towards them, murderous intent plain in its yellow eyes. Moira started screaming again and was joined at a slightly lower volume by several other members of her team.
The Lovelace crew formed a small knot in front of and away from the others. When the mammoth creature was within thirty-feet, Kennedy gave the signal and all four particle rifles blasted away, aiming directly at its head. As was their goal, this drew the peerazu’s full attention onto them. They adeptly split into two factions so one group could keep firing, while the other was dodging the deadly fluid the peerazu periodically spewed at them. After ten minutes of pitched battle, Decker made a direct hit on one monstrous eye; the peerazu shrieked out an ear-splitting scream of pain and soared upward but continued to circle them malevolently. Breathing heavily, all four kept their rifles trained on the creature and, after a few minutes’ impasse, it finally flew away.
It took about ten minutes until the Aurora crew were all calm enough to continue on their way. Croker caught up with Decker and Kennedy to explain that he had been using his own weapon to guard the others or would have joined them in battle.
While Deck was choking down her instinctive response that guarding and shaking with fear were apparently indistinguishable with him, Betang said, “I thank you for your brave defense of us all, but I must know – what if the creature returns while we’re crossing the next chasm? It’s much wider and we may not be able to get off of the bridge in time.”
Con responded, “In that unlikely event, everyone should drop down immediately.” More loudly, he announced, “If it looks like you can’t get off the bridge in time, stay low and we’ll fight if off again.”
When they broke for lun
ch, Deck quietly asked Con, “So what happens if we’ve got people on the bridge at the next canyon and that thing comes back, spewing acid at them? Even if it misses, that stuff will eat right into the bridge.”
“Well, in that case,” Kennedy said, “we’re fucked.”
Though Decker thought she’d spotted the peerazu high in the sky several times, they made it to the next crevasse without further incident. Quan and Kapoor quickly deployed the bridge, anxious to get this last crossing over with. The group’s progress was interrupted by a quake and the four people on the bridge at the time had no choice but to hang on and ride it out. Deck and Kay were waiting with the last few people, as she was intending to cross last, when Naiche noticed Moira kept hanging back, insisting everyone else go before her.
Firmly, but not unkindly, Decker advised, “You’re gonna have to cross sooner or later – might as well just get it over with."
“I will! Don’t rush me,” Finnegan wailed. When her turn came, she made several false starts before falling to the ground crying, “I can’t, I can’t do it. I simply can’t!”
Decker urged her to get up and onto the bridge but when Moira weepily refused, she decided it was time to take the expedient measure of picking the recalcitrant girl up and carrying her across. This plan was interrupted when Kay started growling as furiously as before; Deck immediately commed Kennedy with the report that the same trouble was likely headed their way. Moira’s cries swelled to shrieks upon overhearing that news. Decker grabbed her by the waist and pulled her over to a stone outcropping. She left her huddled there with Kay and went to see if she could assist the others in fighting off the peerazu.
By that time, the creature was dive-bombing the group on the other side of the chasm – there was little Decker could do but watch. She was weighing the option of risking a run across the bridge to join the fight when Kapoor blasted the animal in the wing tip, drawing blood. The peerazu retreated to the upper atmosphere, seeming ready to concede defeat.
Abruptly the creature circled back and flew straight at Decker. She instantly calculated there being exactly one chance of surviving the imminent attack – and that was to hit the peerazu in the identical spot where Kapoor had drawn blood. Everything else retreated from her notice as Naiche inhaled deeply, concentrating intently on her target. Her entire body vibrated with the strain of waiting until the animal was close enough for a sure shot but still too far away to gush acid at her. To maintain her calm focus, Deck whispered to herself the continuous chant, “Wait for it, wait for it….” Finally, she fully exhaled, held her breath – and pulled the trigger. For one heart-stopping moment the peerazu maintained its deadly trajectory, signaling to Decker that she had missed the mark.
The reprieve came a second later when a spout of purple blood drenched the formerly white wing. She gasped aloud in relief, watching the animal wheel away, screeching in pain. The peerazu stayed visible in the sky above them, circling the area, while Decker prayed there was no fight left in it. Upon seeing the animal suddenly soaring back down towards them, she snarled, “Son of a bitch!” and readied her weapon again.
When the peerazu headed neither for her nor for the group on the opposite side, but instead plummeted towards the canyon, she whispered a brief prayer of thankfulness. The respite was short-lived – the animal abruptly pulled up while ejecting a gushing stream of its acidic saliva at the bridge. With that parting shot, it finally flew away. Decker watched helplessly as the bridge began to buckle, the entire mid-section finally crumpling into the chasm, ending up not too far from the natural land bridge it had been subbing for.
Finnegan ran over and looked down into the crevasse. When she demanded, “How are we to get across now?” Decker had to remind herself that smacking this kid was not an option open to her. She was still fighting the urge, when Con commed Deck to ask the same, though decidedly less irritating, question.
After studying a map of the area on her hand scanner, Decker said, “We’ll have to backtrack to the path that leads down to the valley. We can hike through the forest there and meet up with you at that little waterfall not far from the Aurora. It’s actually a more direct route for us, so we should all get there about the same time.”
“But, Deck, that takes you right through the heart of Featay land.”
“I know, but I don’t see that we have any other choice – do you?”
Heaving a concerned sigh, Kennedy said, “No, I guess not. But I sure don’t like it. Let’s check in with each other on a regular basis – okay?”
“Okay, but don’t worry too much – I have Kay with me and besides, the Featay can’t be worse than fighting off a peerazu, right?” When Con conceded her point, Naiche added, with a glance at Moira, “I don’t even think they’re gonna be my biggest problem. Decker out.”
***
Once they had made it to the forested area, Naiche and Kay were on high-alert for any signs of Featay. Meanwhile, Moira continued the steady stream of complaints that had served as the background music for the entire trip. The tremor they’d experienced along the way had been cause for additional frenzies and now the local fauna was her source of discontent.
“These insects are still bothering me,” she whined, swatting away the gnat-like bugs the forest was thick with.
Swallowing down her irritation, Deck forced out a reassuring answer. “I scanned them thoroughly – they’re no more harmful than those rabbit-like things you were screaming about.”
“But they’re in my face and I think one even flew up my nose! I can’t stand this; there are no insects on Jileesa.” Her voice increased in shrillness as she commanded, “Aren’t you going to do something about it?”
“What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know – something!”
Her patience tank empty at this point, Deck snarked, “Sorry – I left my magic wand back on the Lovelace.”
“You have a magic wand? My, I did not realize Earth’s technology had such—”
Deck paused to stare back at the girl. “Do you people actually not understand sarcasm?”
Finnegan put her hands on her hips and glared. “Polite people do not engage in it.” Her tone grew haughty as she instructed, “We consider it to be extremely rude.”
“Yeah?” Shaking her head, Deck resumed progress through the forest, while asking, “Is whining non-stop for an hour considered rude? Or how about endangering others through your extreme histrionics – is that rude?”
“I suppose such a thing would be worse than rude. Why? Who did that? Someone on the Aurora?” With a sharp intake of breath, she asked, “What did I miss?”
Decker was later grateful that Kennedy checking in at that moment preempted her acerbic response. She reported that their progress was slow but steady and they’d seen no sign of Featay.
As soon as Naiche signed off, Moira, who had hurried to catch up and listen in on the conversation, said, “Commander Kennedy is highly concerned about our safety – is he not?”
“Yes, he is.”
“He seems a most skillful leader – and quite kind-hearted.” Archly, Moira observed, “He’s also an extremely attractive man….”
“He sure is. He’s also a very happily married man.”
“Oh.” Moira’s pause was thick with disappointment. In a somewhat defensive tone she said, “It’s just as well, I will most likely be coupled soon myself. To a very handsome, high-ranking man. Someone on this very mission.” After a moment of silence, she demanded, “Don’t you want to know who it is?”
With a resigned sigh, Deck said, “No, but you’re gonna tell me anyway.”
Proving she was only half listening, Finnegan proudly announced, “It’s First Mate Prince Croker.”
That concerning news caught Decker’s attention. She didn’t believe even this annoying, oblivious girl deserved such a calamitous fate. “Really? Why him?”
“Why?! Because he’s a most desirable match, of course. The Lignatians designated us as a good genetic fit and h
e’s well thought of. Didn’t you see how many people were vying for his attention last night at dinner?”
“Yeah – because he had the supplies. How many people vie for his attention when he isn’t handing out the only food they’ve had in days?”
“Lots of people,” Finnegan insisted. “He’s very good-looking. Do you not think so?”
“I suppose so. He’s not really my type – but that’s not my issue with him. He’s also a…umm….” She struggled for a nice way to say ‘buffoon’ but came up empty-handed. Instead she glanced down at the girl, urging, “Let’s just say, you can do better.” She wanted to add that she could hardly do worse but didn’t want to antagonize Moira and ruin any chance she had of carrying her point. “Wait until you get to Uniterrae and have a look around first.”
Moira’s eyes grew wide and her mouth parted slightly. “You mean Earth, right? Is that where we’re going?”
“Ultimately, yes.”
“Oh, I’m glad we’re not staying here, on Tolu. It’s a dreadful place – with those awful peerazu and all these quakes.”
“Yeah, I’m sure the people who are already living here on this world – and have been for millennia – are glad we’re leaving, too.”
Moira ignored that detail to ask, “Why is Earth called Uniterrae now?”
“Because that’s what they named it when most of the people united under one government.”
“Why do you say ‘most’?”
“Because some communities – like mine – chose to remain independent.”
With a wistful sigh, Moira said, “I don’t know why you’d do that. It sounds rather nice to me – all of Earth’s people being as one.”
“Because when N’daa say ‘we’ll all be as one,’ what they really mean is, we’ll all be as them.”
“What is undah?”
“I said, ‘N’daa’ – it’s a word from my native language, Chiricahua Apache, meaning someone who is not an Apache.”
The Risks of Dead Reckoning Page 7
