“Great!” The he-bear kicked his suit's thrusters to full, pulling in his forearms to maximize his speed.
* * * * *
“Collector, Peggy Sue. Interrogative, your situation?”
“It looks like a large predator of some kind—different from the transparent creatures we were observing—made a high-speed attack and grabbed Ahnah. Umky is in pursuit. Over.”
“Roger that. Keep us apprised of the situation.”
“Aye, aye, Sir.”
Chapter 4
The Sunless Sea, Descending
The impact of the sea creature momentarily stunned Ahnah. The squid like creature's mantle was at least seven meters long and it carried twice the mass of the she-bear. In front of the beast's body proper, a forest of tentacles coiled around Ahnah's suited body, trying to pull her to the orifice buried among those suckered arms.
Each longer than the monster's body, the tentacles were arranged in a circle surrounding the animal's beak. Unlike Earth cephalopods, this monster's beak was a cone, formed by ten curved, pointed fangs. Ahnah could hear rasping against her suit as tentacles festooned with five centimeter suckers tightened their grip. The circumference of each sucker was lined with sharp, finely serrated rings of chitin. Normally, the sharpness of the chitin and the suction of the cups served to attach the squid to its prey, but they found little purchase on Ahnah's suit.
Polar bears are apex predators, meaning they don't take crap off of anything. The squid's position in the local food chain not withstanding, Ahnah fought back. For a few seconds, instinct caused her to try biting the tentacle arms that held her, but all that accomplished was to smear saliva on the inside of her transparent helmet. She soon recovered her wits and moved to a more effective counter attack.
A polar bear's natural fighting style is based on its claws and teeth. Years ago, Umky's father, the famous Lt. Bear, helped devised a system of retractable claws that could be mounted on suits of space armor. Though they never found a workable way of letting a bear in a space suit bite its opponents, the claws worked quite to Lt. Bear's satisfaction. Over time, suit claws became standard equipment for bear armor. Naturally, Peggy Sue's bears had insisted their pressure suits be fitted with claws, just like their armor.
Flexing her real claws within her gauntlets caused thirty centimeter long metal-ceramic blades to shoot out of their carriers on the backs of her wrists. There were three claws per paw, each knife edged and razor sharp. The claws of her right arm penetrated one of the squid's tentacles, driven with enough force for the tips to emerge on its far side.
“How do you like that, you overgrown piece of fish food!” Ahnah yelled, ripping the claws sideways nearly severing the tentacle.
This caused a violent reaction from the squid, which slowed its downward plunge and tried to reposition its remaining arms. Ahnah turned on the thrusters attached to her hind legs, deflecting the monster from its chosen course.
More flailing of tentacles ensued, giving Ahnah an opportunity to fully sever another of the beast's sucker covered arms. Unfortunately, this still left eight functional tentacles and Ahnah was soon immobilized.
* * * * *
Umky dove as fast as his thrusters could push his decidedly unstreamlined form. Not being able to close on the creature that had taken Ahnah, he was beginning to worry. Then the monster's downward plummet faltered.
Looks like Ahnah is fighting back, he thought with a sense of relief. He was finally gaining on the fleeing predator and its prize. As he drew nearer, a piece of tentacle drifted past.
Oh yeah, she's fighting back all right. He called out over the comm channel: “Ahnah! Keep it from going deeper, I'm closing on you!”
“It's about time blubber butt,” came the somewhat ungracious reply, accompanied by labored breathing and grunting sounds. “This bastard's got me so wrapped up I can hardly move.”
“Be right with you, sweet cheeks,” Umky replied, finally laying eyes on the object of his pursuit. Unlike the other aliens, this squid was not transparent and had a wide spade shaped fin, attached horizontally to the tail end of its mantle. It was thrashing mightily but Ahnah's thrusters kept it twisting and turning, unable to hold its intended course.
Hold still just a second or two, and you're my meat squiddy. Bear extended both sets of claws as he dove for the struggling creature. An instant before colliding with his target, Umky thrust both sets of claws into its broad back. Just behind the monster's eyes and to either side of its dorsal line, the he-bear's claws sunk deep into the squid's flesh.
Umky landed hard on the squid's back, braced himself with his hind legs and pulled his arms to his chest in an embrace that ripped a gaping wound in his victim. The incision severed the giant axon leading from the squid's brain, the fused bundle of nerves that controlled its mantle and jet propulsion mechanism.
The squid convulsed, throwing Umky off its back.
Shuddering violently, the monster lost control of its movements. Spasming tentacles coiled about in all directions, writhing like snakes on Medusa's head. Ahnah quickly hacked her way free. Several more sucker covered arms drifted away from the now desperate creature—its intended prey had turned into a predator.
Diving in from the side, Umky ended the fight by ramming a clawed forearm deep into one of the creature's thirty-five centimeter in diameter eyes. It shuddered once, twice and went limp.
Umky pulled his forearm from the creature's corpse. Dark fluid, presumably blood, mixed with the surrounding water. The lifeless carcass resumed its trip into the abyss at a much more leisurely pace.
“You OK, Ahnah?”
“Yes, I'm fine. But I think I've lost my taste for seafood for a while.”
Umky chuckled.
“Let's get out of here before the remains attract more unwanted guests.”
“Yes, good idea.” Ahnah turned on her thrusters and started back to the well. “And thanks, by the way.”
“Not a problem. Tell the humans we're all right.”
As they ascended, Umky watched Ahnah's armored hindquarters from below. Oh yeah, he thought, baby's got back.
He turned up the music that Hitch had downloaded to his suit at the start of the mission. He grinned as Sir Mix-a-Lot rapped “I like big butts and I can not lie, You other brothers can't deny...”
CIC, Peggy Sue
“Collector, Peggy Sue. Interrogative the status of Ahnah and Umky?”
“Peggy Sue, Collector. They seem to have successfully dealt with the predator problem and are returning to the filter array.”
“Roger that, Collector.” Billy Ray glanced at his First Officer, relief evident on his face.
“They have been down there for hours, and it will take hours more to get them back to the surface,” said Beth, watching the forward display for sign of the returning bears. “If everything is working with the filter array it might be best if we withdraw the personnel from the collector.”
“I think you're right, Number One. I don't see what else they can do down there except attract more local predators. I'll call Arin about bringing them up, it's his show.”
“Of course, Captain.” Beth smiled an unseen smile at her husband. The Chief Engineer would treat a suggestion from the Captain as an order, of course, but it was the polite way to do things.
“Wellhead, Peggy Sue.”
“Go, Peggy Sue.”
“Mr. Baldursson, how is the collection system working?”
“The collection is proceeding well, Captain. Flow rates are 12 percent above projections.”
“How long until we have a full tank of deuterium?”
“We should have a full load in approximately thirty-six hours.”
“Excellent! You and your people have done a great job rigging this up. I was wondering if we still need people at the bottom of the well at this point?”
“I don't think so, we can have them start back up the shaft. The ascent is going to take several hours.”
“Will we need to send them back d
own to disassemble things when we're done?”
“Negative, Captain. We will reel in the laser drilling head and pump assembly, but the filter array can just be disconnected and left for the natives to wonder about.”
“Roger that, and again, great job Arin. Peggy Sue out.”
The Sunless Sea
As the Earth creatures began their long trip back to the surface inquisitive eyes watched them go. The eyes belonged to the same squid like creatures who had gathered earlier, prior to the attack by the giant predator. Within their transparent bodies ribbons of light flashed multihued messages to those nearby. The largest squid present was also the eldest. Its thoughts were conveyed by bioluminescent cells along its dorsal axon.
“Good. The odd creatures from out of the sky are leaving the world.”
“But where are they going?” asked one of the smaller creatures.
“Who cares? As long as they leave.”
“Are they really from beyond the dome of the sky? I thought there was nothing beyond the ice surrounding the world.” said another youngster.
“There is nothing beyond the ice of the sky,” snapped the elder.
“But where are they going if they don't come from beyond the sky?”
“They must live in the ice,” answered the elder. “Yes, they must be ice demons, like in the tales of olden times.”
“They sure fought like demons,” said another juvenile. “They ripped that big kraken to bits.”
“Another reason to be glad they are gone. Enough! We should not linger here, we will attract more hungry krakens.”
With that the large adult contracted its mantle, forcing a jet of water out of its forward facing siphon. It shot away into the darkness like a glass torpedo.
“I don't care what the old one says, those creatures must live somewhere beyond the ice of the sky,” the youngster said, “and someday I will go there and see for myself.”
“Why do you always doubt the words of the elders?”
“Because if you question nothing you will never discover anything new.”
Then she too jetted away into the darkness. But the seeds of curiosity had been planted, seeds that would eventually blossom into exploration of the wider universe.
Captain's Quarters, Peggy Sue
Billy Ray was settled in a comfortable chair, reading. His reading material was an actual book, not a pad or viewing screen. The Captain's cabin contained a sizable collection of books, most acquired by the ship's owner. The leather bound volumes were now all valuable antiques and the collection was worth a small fortune.
The Captain was a bit old fashioned, he favored real books: the heft of a volume held in the hand; the feel of paper between fingers when turning a page; the smell of ink, paper, and leather. Real books feed the senses as no pad or display screen can.
“What are you reading tonight, dear?” asked Beth, emerging from the bathroom. “Anything I would recognize?”
The text in question was a collection of poetry. Billy Ray had earned a Master of Arts in English literature after he got out of the Navy and before he joined the effort to build the Peggy Sue. His taste in poetry often tended to the obscure, but not tonight.
“Just a little Robert Frost, his Fire and Ice.” He began reading from the open book:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
“Well he was wrong all the way round. The world ended with falling rocks and tsunamis and then mud raining from the sky.”
“He wasn't a prophet, he was an American regional poet. Frost was a transitional figure between traditional 19th-century American poetry and modernism. He believed in the lyrical and realistic, the rural and natural in poetry. Besides, Earth is making a come back.”
“A very slow come back. Things might get back to normal in another 100,000 years, after another Ice Age.”
“Glacial period,” he corrected, “and for the past several million years ice age conditions have been the norm, honey bunch.”
Beth um-hummed a noncommittal reply.
“You know,” he said, closing the book and changing the subject. “I don't think we are being inventive enough in looking at trade opportunities. Take this place for instance.”
“This frozen ice ball?”
“Sure. Do you know that there used to be a thriving trade in ice back on Earth during the 19th century?”
“You're joking. Ice? Really?”
“You bet, sweetheart. The ice trade, also known as the frozen water trade, was started by an American businessman named Frederic Tudor at the beginning of the 19th century. Tudor began by shipping ice from Boston to the Caribbean island of Martinique, where he sold it to wealthy members of the European elite who ran the place. The enterprise was called a 'slippery speculation' by Tudor's critics.”
“I shouldn't wonder,” Beth observed, but Billy Ray was on a roll. Sometimes she thought that her husband was really just a frustrated school teacher.
“Centered in the New England states, on the east coast of the U.S., the business grew to involve the large-scale harvesting, transport and sale of natural ice. During winter, ice was cut from the surface of ponds and streams, then stored in ice houses. Eventually it was sent by ship to its final destination.”
“You're saying that ice merchants shipped frozen water all over the world and made a profit doing it?”
“Yep. Eventually, the ice trade spread around the globe where it revolutionized the meat, vegetable and fruit industries, and enabled significant growth of the fishing industry. This was all before refrigeration, you know. It even encouraged the introduction of new types of food and drink. During the 1830s and 1840s the trade expanded to include England, India, South America, China and Australia. Tudor—the so-called 'Ice King of the World'—made a fortune; not that his company was an instant success.”
“And why was that?”
“At first no one knew what to do with the stuff. Tudor had to create a need so he could fill it.”
“You're not suggesting we should hack up this ice ball and tow part of it back home, are you?” Beth peered closely at her husband as one might examine an inmate in a sanitarium.
“Of course not. Transporting any type of bulk commodity over interstellar distances is economic folly. You need something that's compact, rare, and impossible to get locally.”
“So no ice?”
“No ice. Even those giant jewels Hitch and Jacobs found are really not worth the transport expense. The deuterium we are loading is worth ten times those gemstones. I'm just sayin' we need to think outside the box more, is all. The only thing that really makes sense is information—new science and technology—or antimatter.”
“Thank goodness, sweetheart,” Beth said, moving behind his chair and putting her arms around his neck. “I was beginning to thing you had gone barking mad.”
“If I have, it's from boredom.”
“Maybe we can come up with something to keep the boredom at bay.” Beth nibbled at his neck. “Besides, we will be back in space in a couple of days and it will be back to standing different watches on the bridge.”
“Why do you think I was reading you poetry? I was just trying to establish a romantic mood.”
“With a poem about destroying the world? What kind of girl do you think I am?” Beth pulled Billy Ray from his chair and toward the bedroom. “Still, I guess it's better than that Xanadu poem from the other day.”
“Actually, that poem always reminds me of you, honey bunch.” Without waiting for a response he began to recite from memory:
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on he
r dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!
Beth silenced him with a kiss. “Like I thought, totally barking mad.”
“Come into my pleasure dome, my Abyssinian maid,” he replied, slipping his arms around her trim waste, “and I'll show you just how mad I am.”
Chapter 5
Surface, Icy Moon
White shapes moved stealthily across the frozen wastes, gliding from pressure ridge to pressure ridge. Points of green light, elongated by persistence of vision, lept from hiding places to strike ice spires standing on the surface ahead of the ghostly figures' advance. Orange fire blossomed briefly, noiselessly, as the spires disintegrated.
“Squad cease fire,” ordered GySgt. Acuna. Since they had a day left before departure, the Gunny decided to take advantage of the open local terrain and get in a little live fire exercise. She stood erect, switching off her suit's adaptive camouflage. White faded to dark graphite, the normal coloration of the Marines' battle armor.
“All right, unload and show clear.”
The tactical display on the Gunny's HUD showed the squad members' status as they secured their weapons. This was old hat for most of the Marines but there were a couple of newbies and she didn't want anyone hit by friendly fire.
“Sgt. Kwan, LCpl. DeSilva, converge on the target.”
“Aye, aye, Gunny.” Kato had half the squad on the left flank—Bosco, the two swabbies, and himself. Umky was in the center, next to the Gunny, with the Jumbo twins to her right and Vinny DeSilva on the far right flank.
“I think we got 'em,” observed Vinny, emerging from behind a buckled ridge to view the shattered ice pinnacles the Marines had targeted. A combination of 15mm explosive shells and a torrent of 5mm flechettes, sent down range at high velocity by the Earthlings' railguns, had blasted the ice spires apart.
As the squad converged on their former targets, Hitch, always looking to stir things up, questioned Umky about his adventure beneath the ice.
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 5
