Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation

by Dale C. Musser

  “I’m impressed, even though you told me about your family, I guess I just assumed that with all the scientific marvels of the Federation that things like basket weaving and other manual methods of doing things would have become lost arts.” I replied.

  “Not so, Tibby, for a while major manufacturing did take away a lot of talents and skills, and in many areas they still do. However, people became disenchanted with the look-alike manufactured furniture and household items, and artisans began making goods. Many people started buying these things because they wanted something unique and handmade and decorative at the same time. Oh, there still are plenty of factory assembled goods around, but today there are far more craftsmen making items by hand than there were 400 years ago.”

  “That’s interesting to know, so if we ever get back to civilization, and for some reason, we lose all our wealth, it’s good to know you will be able to support us weaving baskets.” I said jokingly.

  “Oh Tib!” Kala said as she took a fake swing at me.

  “Well, here we are,” I said as we reached our underground home. I had sealed the opening over the dirt ramp that sloped down into the chamber with one of the self-sealing tarps, like the one I used down in the desert, and I needed to peel it back so we could enter. Kala looked about and nodded.

  “I know it's not much Kala, but its shelter, and behind that stone door, there are several other rooms. There also is a hole back in one chamber where water seeps in, and we can get fresh water. We’ll have to illuminate the place with solar lights, and we will have to take them outside to recharge in the mornings. Unfortunately, the place doesn’t come furnished, so we’ll be sitting on the floor a lot. I figure that during the day we can keep the door between rooms open and when we sleep, we’ll use that second room and seal this one off to protect against stray animals and solar flares. We should be safe from flares in there, but I’m not sure about out here as some radiation might come through the opening in the top, and even if we’re not directly under the opening could still affect us. If we had real trees with wood trunks, I would have been able to make us some sort of furniture, but as it is, I’m afraid we will have to do without.”

  “Maybe I can weave some sort of wicker type seats,” Kala said. I tried to conceive in my mind how she would do that and what it might look like but was unable to do so.

  By chance, the ship's computer had all sorts of information that we had been able to get before the reactor died. We had discovered that the synthesizer could produce a mattress much like an air mattress. It was created with some chemicals pouched inside and once unfolded, and about a liter of water added, and then by crushing the chemical pack inside using external pressure, a chemical foam was produced that would fill the mattress. After a short period, it solidified the foam inside making a nice soft, reusable mattress that would last a long time. We had been able to synthesize two of these and I had put them in the underground room on a previous trip. We had pushed the two mattresses together making one larger bed so the babies could sleep between us and we would prevent their rolling out, which Lunnie was prone to do. It seemed Lunnie was always active, and if she were lying next to me in bed, I was constantly being kicked and slapped by flying limbs, while Reidecor usually lay contentedly on his stomach drooling on the mattress.

  Over the next couple of days, or perhaps I should say nights, Kala had me collecting grass. The grass grew in clumps about 650 millimeters tall that were spaced several meters apart. I would gather big arms full which I would carry back to our shelter and deposit in a large pile in one end of the outer room. I tried to understand just how Kala gathered the grass together and placed sections so that by twisting them with her hands, she somehow turned them into a cord, which she then wove into baskets. It seemed almost like magic to me, and much as I tried to copy her technique, my strands simply fell apart.

  One thing that concerned Kala was that from the second room, there was nothing to stop the twins from crawling down the hall to the small room with the hole in the floor where the water seeped in. If they were to get into that hall without being seen, they could fall down the shaft. So on my second day at our new home, Kala convinced me I needed to return to the half way station and collect the tarp with the sealing edges and bring it back, so we could close off the door leading to the corridor. I was not particularly happy about having to make the journey, but I could see her logic and could not fault her thinking.

  When I got back with the tarp, I was met by a distraught Kala. “Tibby the twins are running fevers and aren’t feeling well. Neither one of them wants to eat, and they both are lethargic.”

  “They haven’t been chewing on anything in here, like a mouth full of dirt or something?” I asked?

  “Not that I am aware of, unless they might have chewed on some of the grass that I am weaving into baskets and mats.”

  “Do you think there may be something toxic in the grass?” I inquired.

  “The records in the ship's computer didn’t reveal anything that I read before we left. However, the studies were never completed. Do you think that there may be some pathogen left behind from the woewe that you said was living in here?” Kala asked.

  “I would think after all this time that anything that would have been left behind would be gone. It’s over three months ago I killed that thing. Have you given them any medication yet?”

  “No, I decided to wait until you returned, they don’t seem to be getting worse, but if they had I would have given them something.”

  I went into the room where both the twins lay on the mattress and put my hand to their foreheads, both were warmer than usual. I thought they were asleep but when I touched Lunnie’s head her little hand came up and grasped my thumb and her little eyes opened, and she looked at me. Usually, Lunnie was excited when she saw me, but this time she just lay there holding on to my thumb.

  “It’s okay baby; daddy is here,” I said.

  “Have you tried to put a damp cloth on their heads to bring their temperatures down? “ I asked Kala.

  “No, I haven’t.” She said, “Let me get some.”

  For the next two days Kala and I spent time caring for the babies. Neither of them wanted to eat and both just lay there sort of pathetically. While they both had fevers, neither of them displayed alarmingly high fevers, then on the fourth day both twins broke out in a sweat and were ravenously hungry. By the end of the day, they were back to their normal disposition and afterwards appeared to be fine. Whatever had ailed them now was passed.

  I had been bringing home various shelled boilatee creatures for us to eat, and I think Kala was getting tired of them. One day she finally suggested I tried using the crossbow I had made to kill one of the bat like creatures. We had learned from the computer back on the ship that the early scientists to the planet found them to be rather delicious and had even considered them as a potential food source to export, should they have decided the planet was worthy of colonization for its resources. I wasn’t sure how well that would work, as trying to hit a flying target with a crossbow seemed like a daunting challenge, but that evening, I was situated near a Sisoma tree and waited for one to come by.

  I didn’t have to wait long before one swooped down to grab an exposed glowing frond that had emerged from its shell. I missed on my first shot, and it frightened the animal off before it could gain its prize. I reloaded and waited. It took some time for the frond on the Sisoma to re-emerge from its shell, but it wasn’t long after it did that the creature swooped in. This time the bolt from my crossbow hit the animal squarely midsection and it fell to the ground. When I got to it, I was surprised to find it was larger than I had thought. The ones I had seen down on the desert floor had bodies about softball sized. This one was twice that size and had a wing span of nearly 2 meters. I was astonished by its weight, as I anticipated it would be light of weight, but it actually was much heavier than I thought, and the membrane of its wings was thicker than I thought, though the leathery wings were very soft and pliable
.

  When I got the animal back to our underground shelter Kala insisted I skin and clean it and to be sure to keep and dry the skin. She said she had an idea and needed the hide but would not tell me what for. The animal proved easy to skin and the hide peeled easily from the body, but gutting it was most unpleasant. As I mentioned before the Sisoma trees emitted a foul odor like rotting flesh, and these bat creatures ate those smelly fronds from the Sisoma. Once I opened one up, it was all I could do to keep from vomiting. I was beginning to have my doubts about trying to eat one of these animals.

  We had no refrigeration capabilities or means of preserving the meat, so we had to wait until sunrise, so we could use the solar stove. Fortunately, dawn was close and we were blessed that it was a sunny and not overcast day as well. Kala had the stove working in no time and had the meat in the pot and boiling away. Into the pot also went some of the mushroom-shaped life forms that came up at night. I was uncertain as to what it was going to taste like but the aroma that came from the pot was enticing. By now the twins were old enough that they were eating more solid foods, and once the stew was completed and both Kala, and I had sampled it and found it edible we sliced the meat up into the tiniest pieces we could and spoon fed it to Lunnie and Reidecor.

  I was not sure how they would react to it, but they both seemed to love it and wanted more and more. Before we knew it, the four of us had eaten it all. Lunnie sat back after her last spoonful and looked around with a satisfied look just as Reidecor let out a loud belch. It sounded really funny coming from so small a child and immediately Lunnie started to giggle as she peered at her brother, who sat there with an astonished look on his face. It was so comical that both Kala, and I started laughing as well. Lunnie squealed and waved her arms in the air, clearly she wanted Reidecor to do it again but the mechanics of what had happened escaped him and all he did was wave his arms mimicking Lunnie.

  Later, that day as the twins slept Kala, and I lay on our bed talking. “You know what I miss the most?” Kala questioned.

  “Swimming in one of our pools?” I responded.

  “No! But you're close. I miss the shower. You do realize we are not the most pleasant-smelling individuals these days.”

  “Speak for yourself,” I said jokingly. “I’ll have you know you are the only one complaining about my smell.”

  Kala laughed, “Oh really? I’ll have you know that at least half the women on this planet find you smelly, and the one that doesn’t is too young to know better.”

  I had to laugh, but then I got an idea, one that I hoped Kala might like. When next the sun set I headed down to the stream that flowed across the plateau. I found a location with a basin that was about 300 millimeters deep with the normal level water flow and at the end of the basin the banks of the stream were higher than most places. I began gathering rocks and piling them in the stream and in a few hours, I had constructed a small dam and raised the water level to just a little over a meter. Satisfied that I had done a good job I disrobed and took my first bath since leaving the ship. I took my outfit and washed it as well, knowing that the fibers would dry quickly because of their unique composition. I was about to don the clothing again, and then I changed my mind and walked back to our underground house and entered nude, carrying my outfit over my arm.

  “Tib! Why are you naked and…? You’re all wet! What happened?" Kala exclaimed when she saw me.

  “I decided to take a bath,” I answered smugly. “Unlike others I know who choose to remain smelly!”

  “Well if you kindly point me in the direction of the bath, I shall remedy that situation,” she said grinning.

  “I dammed the water up at the foot of the hill. There is a pond there with just a little over a meter deep water. If you want to go take a plunge, I’ll watch the twins.”

  “Oh, Tib, you're my hero!” Kala began as she came to give me a kiss and hug.

  “None of that!" I said as I backed away feigning repulsion, “not until you have had a bath.”

  “Grrrr,” Kala growled with a grin on her face as she headed toward the pond.

  One thing that I really missed was going outside in the light, but without instruments to know just when the solar flares were active and radiation levels were high it was just too dangerous. When we were on the ship, the computer and its sensors could tell us, and we had a day where we could be outside, but now we had no idea other than on nights where the solar flares were active on the sun, there would be vast auroras displayed in the sky, so we at least knew when they were going on, but we had no way to predict them. This meant our only exposure to light outside was at dawn and sunset. We did venture out but only for a few minutes when we were cooking to check the solar-powered stove, but that was it. Of course, we were always concerned that we might encounter one of the massive corona discharges that occurred every few hundred years, but the risk of those was much lower.

  Kala was gone so long I was starting to worry about her, and if she was safe. I was just about to step outside and look to see if I could see her when she entered carrying her clothing over her arm.

  “Tib, that was great. I feel like a new person now.”

  “Good, I’ll take that hug and kiss now.” I said as she came and wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a passionate kiss.”

  “You’re cold,” I said as she released me.

  “I would imagine so,” she answered. “The water was cool and the air chilled my skin even more on the way back up here. However, you’re nice and warm.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close once more.”

  “I think I know a way to warm you up even more.” I said as I nodded at our bed.

  “Hmmm,” she said as she glanced over to the other bed at the sleeping twins, “I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  The next few months were mostly uneventful. I hunted in the evenings for food and harvested grass for Kala to weave into mats and baskets. I was amazed at Kala’s talent at basket weaving and true to her word, she wove chairs, actually they were baskets lined with the skin of the bat creatures, and then filled with sand to make them solid and rigid enough to support our weight. They had no backs, so they were more like stools, but they were great to sit on. She tried to weave a table, but it was too large and would not hold the amount of sand needed and kept falling apart. However, she did weave some beautiful mats that she spread on the floor, and we sat on those to dine. We used the containers we had brought the synthesized food in from the ALI as dishes to hold our meals. The twins started crawling and seemed active and happy. Each morning as the sun was rising I would carry the solar-powered lights outside and set them at the edge of the entrance to our home so the batteries would recharge. On most days, Kala would use the solar stove to prepare any food I would find during the night hunts, unless there was a dust or rainstorm, or if we believed there was strong solar flare activity. We predicted the latter by observing the auroras at night, as the more intense the displays the greater the solar flare activity was at that time. At one point, it was over a week before we could use the stove because of the strong solar activity.

  We experienced another great rain, and the stream that ran across the plateau overflowed its banks, and the water came up the slopes of the hill where our home was located. But, since our location was on a mound, the water flowed around us to flow over the sides of the cliff, falling to the desert below. I wish I could have seen it from down in the valley, the massive waterfalls cascading over the side of the mountain. When the rains stopped, the water quickly receded and I discovered that the dam I had made to form the pool where we bathed was destroyed and I needed to rebuild it.

  Kala and I started a ritual of taking Lunnie and Reidecor down to the pond in the evening after the sun had set, but while it was still light, and taking them into the water to bathe them. The water tended to be only a tad on the cool side and was comfortable for bathing. At first the babies didn’t know what to make of the water. Reidecor fussed about it while Lunnie slapped the
water with her hands with glee, but soon both of them enjoyed playing in the water as we washed them. Kala insisted that she was going to teach the babies to swim. I was dubious of her success at their young age; however, I was amazed at how quickly she taught them how to hold their breaths and to roll over in the water and float so their heads were above water, so they could breathe. While I was not sure you could actually call it swimming, it certainly was lifesaving if one of them accidentally ever fell in the water. I had heard of babies being taught to swim back on Earth, but I had never witnessed it.

  We had been on Desolation nearly eight months when one day we heard sounds on the emergency radio. We had been keeping it on day and night and recharging it either by solar energy or by a crank on the side that would recharge the battery. Lunnie had discovered the radio and was always pushing buttons on it. She had accidentally changed the frequency so it was no longer on the emergency channel. This was not something new, as she did this quite often, since she had discovered the radio, and we always had to reset it to the emergency channel every time she took a nap. On this particular occasion, Kala was cleaning up after our last meal as I was topping off the sand that had leaked out of one of the basket chairs, when unexpectedly a man’s voice blared out over the radio.

  “...find them and make sure they are dead.” A second voice replied. “Wouldn’t it make more sense, if they are alive to take them as hostages? This guy is the richest in the universe, I am sure he would pay a huge ransom to save his life. We could buy as many ships as we need.”

  “Look, just find their ship and make sure they are dead… if they are alive, kill them! Roritat was quite emphatic about that.”

  By now, both Kala and I were at the radio listening intently. Kala picked up Lunnie, just as she was about to push another button that would have changed the frequency. The voices on the radio continued. “Listen,” the first voice said, “we don’t have a lot of time. The Federation is only a short way behind us, and they are racing to rescue Tibby, we need to be gone before they arrive.