After Kala left the control room, I sat watching the events outside for a few hours more before I found myself nodding, and I decided to get some sleep.
The next morning when I went outside, armed this time, I found the desert looking as dead and barren as always. I located the dried empty shell of the trilobite animal that the muralam had killed and eaten the night before. There were a few small insect sized life forms scouring the last few morsels of flesh from the shell when I turned it over. Once exposed in the light, they quickly scurried away and buried themselves under the sand. After they were gone, I looked at the shell more closely. During my time in the Navy back on Earth, I was stationed in Norfolk Virginia for a period. While there I had seen a number of horseshoe crabs that had washed up on the beaches. These animals on Desolation reminded me of those horseshoe crabs, inasmuch as the shells were alike and had the same thin quality an appearance. Even the legs, or rather what was left of them, as the muralam had cracked and sucked the meat out of them, appeared to be very similar. However, unlike horseshoe crabs of Earth, these animals seemed to be able to live on land.
I looked around the area and was surprised to see that even though there had been numerous animals moving about, there was almost no sign of tracks this morning; even my tracks in the sand from the day before were gone. As I watched I could see my tracks from this morning disappearing, only in places where there was some dampness to the sand did the tracks remain. I took a small handful of sand and looked at it closely, and I realized why. Most sand that I had seen back on Earth had rough edges on it, but these grains of sand were rounded on the edges, meaning they would collapse easily and not hold the shapes of tracks for long, especially if dry. I had been able to track the woewe the day before because the sand was still damp from the earlier storms, but now the sands were rapidly drying out. I wondered just how often rains fell on this planet.
I walked over to the edge of the narrow canyon where the muralam had vanished the night before and looked over the edge. Just about a meter below the edge I noticed a small ledge sticking out that ran down a slope of the cliff face leading lower into the canyon. It was only about 300 millimeters wide, not big enough for the woewe but certainly ample for the muralam to have escaped safely. I wondered if the woewe had gone down through the gully I had discovered the prior day and into the canyon to find the muralam, or even if it was intelligent enough to realize that by going that route it would take it to where the muralam would reach the canyon floor. Somehow I suspected the woewe fully understood where the muralam was going and how to get there. It was possible that the muralam didn’t descend all the way to the canyon floor. Probably there were small caves or holes in the canyon walls where the muralam was hiding or even lived. Certainly that would make sense. It would provide protection from predators like the woewe and would shelter against the frequent solar flares, as well as moderate rains and flooding. Though, a storm like the one a few days earlier would have required seeking higher ground. If the muralam did live in caves or holes in the cliff face, how did they survive the flooding of the day before and just where did they go?
I really wanted to go use the furrow that went down into the canyon to explore, but I didn’t know where the woewe was. Perhaps it was sheltered in a crevasse in the rock walls someplace along the route from the canyon bottom just waiting for some poor animal trying to get down there for water. If I were to descend that route, I might well end up as its dinner.
That night we had another rain, but this time it was just a shower that lasted about two hours and then was gone. I was sitting in the control room observing some sort of mushroom like plants on the vid screen, growing quickly from the soil after the rain, when Kala entered the control room. “Tibby, have you looked at this reading on the fusion reactor’s power output lately?”
“It’s been low ever since our crash, but its sufficient for life support and the replicators,” I responded, guessing her concerned tone was regarding only a fraction of the normal output.
“It’s dropped since the crash,” Kala answered. “It must be down at least another eighth, Tibby; we’re going to be without power before we get rescued.”
“Are you sure?” I asked as I checked out the readings, only to see she was right.
“”I’m afraid so. There must be some damage to the magnetic field inside the reactor. It’s nothing we can repair. We had better use the replicator now to make as many items as we might need for survival later. You’re going to have to find a water supply for us, and we will need to find things we can eat here on the planet.”
“I wonder how long we have?” I said.
“Why don’t you ask the ship’s computer to calculate it?” Once again, Kala caught me in one of those, 'Duh' Moments.
“Computer, how long will it be before the fusion reactor ceases to function?” I asked.
“At the current rate of power decrease, it will be 2,682 hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds.” The computer responded.
As I thought about it, I realized the problem was bigger than I assumed. Even though we could create food stockpiles in advance and other supplies like clothing and blankets, the replicator would not be able to produce anything metal, but it might be able to make components out of synthetic materials that I could use to make a crossbow. We were going to need shelter, and that would be a problem. Once the power failed we would literally be in the dark, as there was no way of lighting the interior of the ship, and it would be very impractical to hand crank the hatch open and close it when we entered or left, and leaving it open with the woewe prowling about would be unsafe.
It was possible that I might be able to make some sort of door or barricade that would be easier to open, close and to secure, but the solid and airtight construction of the ship would make using flame sources for lighting complicated, as the deeper you went into the ship, the less airflow there would be. All the interior doors in the ship would have to be left open and smoke would accumulate inside, making the place next to impossible to live in. Our shelter would need to be someplace unaffected by the radiation from solar flares and the elements. It would need to be near water and secure from predators. It would need ventilation and sources of fuel for fires and lighting. After having seen the flooding that took place during the one storm, I realized any caves that might exist in the canyon were out of the question. I would have to look at the mountains and mesas that surrounded the valley and hope I could find one with a cave, and stream nearby. Fortunately, we had some time to prepare before the reactor stopped functioning. I contemplated all these things as I helped Kala bathe the twins and spent time playing and talking to them on the bed after they were cleaned and dressed. Once they had been fed and had gone to sleep between Kala and me on the bed, I brought the topic up with Kala.
“I think tomorrow I am going to have to range out scouting for a secure place for us to live once the reactor ceases to function. We won’t be able to stay here.” I explained the reasons why as Kala sat silently listening. When I finished she said, “You’re right. The synthesizer will be able to make us foods we can preserve and take with us; the same with clothing. The med unit can make nano-biotics we can take with us as well. How far will we need to go, and how will rescuers find us if we leave the ship?”
“I have no idea how far we will have to go, but we can leave some sort of message here as to where we are. It’s going to take many trips to move any supplies we have, regardless of where we go, and even though we have several months, it's best we start now.” I answered. “I may be gone a few days. I'll take a backpack and water and some food. I’ll try following the canyon upstream into the mountains and be back in four days.”
“But what about solar flares?” Kala asked with concern.
“The ship's computer isn’t predicting any for the next week, so I should be safe. I also noticed there are some radiation blankets in the emergency locker. I have no idea how effective they are, but I’ll take one to and hope it’s adequate. I plan to travel mostly
at night, seeking shelter and I’ll sleep during the day, just in case there is a solar flare. With the light from the Sisoma trees and the two moons, along with the help of night-vision goggles, I should be okay. We still have fully charged laser rifles and impulse guns, and those should last for quite a while. What I am worried about is you and the twins.”
“Tibby, we’ll be safe here in the ship. I don’t feel good about you going out there alone with flares, and that woewe thing prowling about. You can’t be alert all the time. How will you protect yourself when you sleep?”
“Everything appears to be nocturnal here, so I’ll sleep during the day when it’s safe, and nothing is moving about, and I’ll travel at night being on guard and alert,” I replied. “There isn’t much in the way of vegetation to block views, so I should be able to see anything trying to sneak up on me. I’m going to take along one of those little devices you used back on Megelleon when we ate at the TEZU LAGONG to test the food for poisons, that way I can check any life forms I may find for edibility.”
“What will we do if you can’t find anywhere for us to go?” Kala asked.
“We’ll have to make that decision, if and when we face that challenge,” I answered, “right now, this is what we must do. I’ll have my com link with me, and I’ll be in communication with you, so you will be able to talk to me anytime while I am gone. I’m going to rest up tonight and tomorrow; I’ll leave about sunset and follow the canyon upstream and into the mountains as far as I can. Two days out and two back.”
“Where will you seek shelter if we get another of those rain or dust storms?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find someplace to seek refuge.” I replied. Kala was asking far too many questions about things I didn’t want to think about, but I was glad she was, because I knew the more possibilities we thought about, the better prepared I would be.
That night, for the first time since the birth of the babies, Kala and I made love. I was amazed by her passion and the sweetness of her kisses. Her skin felt warmer than usual, and had an exotic smell to it that thrilled me. Afterwards, she fell asleep in my arms as I lay there staring at the ceiling. Both Reidecor and Lunnie slept soundly, and I was tickled when I looked at them to see that Lunnie had somehow managed to get a grip of Reidecor’s hand and was holding it. I wondered what they would be like as they got older. I wished in that moment I had a camera to take a picture of them when I realized I could use the vid sensor I had set up outside.
I slowly disengaged my arm from under Kala, dressed, and headed out to retrieve the vid unit. I had opened the hatch and was about to step outside when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and without realizing why I was doing it, I jumped back hitting the button to close the hatch. That action saved my life because just before the door closed, I saw the giant clawed feet and the opened toothed jaw of the woewe sailing through the air toward the hatch. I heard the thud as the animal hit the door almost about the same instant it closed. The woewe had apparently been waiting outside for my exit. I quickly went to the control room and checked the vid screen. I could see the monster outside pacing back and forth beneath the hatch. It didn’t appear to have been injured by its impact with the ship. I found I was trembling as I looked at this brute as it paced back and forth examining the hatch. There was an intelligence there, a cunning, and I shivered thinking that tomorrow night I would be out there somewhere in the desert with that animal no doubt stalking me. I wondered what instinct had made me react without having seen the woewe. Had I smelled something? I didn’t recall any unusual scents on the air. Did I see something without realizing it? I couldn’t be sure, but whatever it was it had saved me.
“Tibby, are you all right?” Kala said, and I looked to see her standing in the door to the control room. “You’re shaking!”
“I nearly became the dinner of the woewe,” I said as I pointed toward the screen. “I was going out to retrieve the vid sensor to make some vids of Lunnie and Reidecor sleeping. When I opened the hatch, it was waiting and attacked. I barely got the hatch closed in time.” I set the recordings of the vid sensor back to just before I opened the hatch and saw the woewe sitting crouched on the ground staring intently at the hatch. As soon as the hatch began to open, the woewe stiffened in preparation for the leap; before the hatch was completely open, it was sailing through the air. Even though I had not seen the woewe from my position inside the ship, I can be seen hitting the button to close the hatch and it shutting before it had entirely opened, and the woewe crashing into it and falling to the ground.
“It looks like that creature was waiting for someone to open the hatch.” Kala exclaimed.
“That’s exactly what it was doing. It obviously has been watching us even though we didn’t know it and it was waiting for us tonight.”
“What are you going to do? You can’t go out there exploring if it’s waiting for you.” Kala said.
“Maybe I can,” I answered. “We have personal cloaking devices with us. I can put one on and go out there and shoot that thing tonight and then tomorrow I’ll be safe to leave.”
“But what if there are more of them out there? If there is one there must be more somewhere." Kala said.
“Most likely, but this doesn’t strike me as a social animal that lives in packs. It acts more like a lone hunter, and it probably has a territory that it ranges in and defends. I doubt there are more in the immediate vicinity.”
“That’s a mighty big speculation on so little evidence.” Kala said.
“Nevertheless, it’s all I have to go on, and this trek is necessary.” I said as I donned a cloaking device and got a laser rifle from the arms locker.
“Tibby, do be careful. That animal is still sitting out there.” Kala said as she pointed at the vid screen. I looked to see that the woewe had indeed taken up a position where it could easily pounce from once the hatch was opened again. That gave me an idea. I reached over and pressed a button on the control panel that would open the outer hatch.
“What are you doing, Tib?” Kala practically screamed.
“I want to see what it does when confronted with an empty hatch. The inner airlock door is closed so it can’t get in.” I answered.
On the screen, you could see the woewe twitch and stiffen in anticipation as the hatch began to open, it was ready to leap when abruptly it saw no one was in the hatch. Slowly, it approached the ship and then hopped up inside the hatch. I got up from the control console and walked to the airlock. I could see the woewe through the small window that looked out into the hatch. The woewe was only inches away and when it saw me, it attacked the window first with its claws, and then it tried biting it, both to no avail. I was frightened by the immense size of its head and jaws. This thing was a brute. I could see, but not hear, it snarling and growling outside. Its ears lay back, and it attacked the door in anger and fury. Then unexpectedly it jumped out the hatch and retreated away from the ship and sat down on the sand.
I went back to the control room and closed the outer hatch again.
“Now what?” Kala prodded.
“Now I’ll go out into the airlock and cloak, then I will open the outer hatch again. I suspect the woewe will not be so quick to attack or approach this time but will be waiting to see if I am there or not. When it can’t see me, it will stay there waiting and I can get a shot off at it.”
“What if it does attack right away?”
“Then I am going to have to shoot quickly.” I replied.
“Maybe you should just put your exploration off a few more days, and in that time the woewe may give up and go hunting elsewhere.” Kala suggested.
“But it would still be out there, and how do I know I would not run into it again? I might end up going in the same direction it went and walk right into its lair.”
Kala sighed but offered no further protest as I entered the airlock.
Once I was in the airlock, and I had closed the interior door, I checked my rifle, I then realized I would not be able to sight
with it after I was cloaked as both the gun, and I would be invisible, so I would be shooting by feel and aiming in the general direction with hopes of hitting my target. It made me recall how when I was a boy, my granddad had taken me duck hunting for the first time. I was about 14 and was familiar with shooting both a .22 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, but in the excitement of the ducks flying in, I reacted, not by bringing the gun up to my shoulder but instead, revolving the shotgun up from a hip position and shooting. Oddly enough I hit the ducks, but my granddad never let me live it down and from that day on called me Wyatt Earp, a famous character from the old west back on my home planet Earth. I was hoping that this time I would be as lucky with my shots as I was then. I readied myself and pressed the button to open the outer hatch and immediately brought the rifle to my shoulder. The door slid open, and I looked out intently and saw... nothing! The woewe wasn’t anywhere to be seen. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I peered about, and then Kala’s warning voice came over the intercom system in the airlock. “It’s hiding under the ship at the hatch, don’t go out.” I was about to answer “Okay,” but had barely made a sound when the creature abruptly sprung up into the hatch.
I think if I had been visible I would have been a goner. It was that fast that I would not have been able to get a shot off. As it was, when the creature saw nothing, it paused just long enough for me to get a quick shot off. At that range I should not have missed, and I didn’t, but my hit was not a fatal one, and I only wounded the woewe in the shoulder. Thankfully, it was enough pain to cause the animal to jump back out. I quickly tried again as it ran off, this time missing it completely. I cursed and uncloaked so I could take a proper aim. By now the woewe was about 70 meters away, and even though limping, it was moving rapidly. I took aim and fired one last shot as I heard it scream a horrifying animal sound, and it dropped over the rim of the canyon.
Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation Page 9
