Gingerly she eased off on the lever, allowing the rack to lower until it rested on the equipment box. Her legs remained unpinned. Removing the angle iron, Mizuki quickly slid the box that had served as the lever's fulcrum under the other side of the heavy rack, securing its new position. The now freed scientist fell back, exhausted.
After an unmeasured number of minutes, Mizuki returned to full consciousness. Wriggling on her back, being careful not to dislodge the supporting boxes, she fully extracted her legs from their former trap. Clear of the rack, she sat up and delicately probed her lower extremities, checking for serious damage.
Ouch! The right knee is badly swollen, but I don't think anything is broken. Not too bad, both will be bruised but the left leg seems undamaged.
Gently massaging life back into her abused legs, Mizuki looked around what was left of the shuttle. The cabin forward was crushed, with no space to even crawl under. In fact, the racks of sensor equipment had probably saved her life, holding up part of the roof.
Nigel and Kate! The realization struck her like a physical blow. There was no way anyone in the front of the shuttle could have survived—she called out their names anyway, receiving no reply.
They're both dead!
Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. It was not that they were close to her, but there was something about shared calamity that bonded people together. Then another realization struck her: I'm alone!
HQ, Fakkaa Expeditionary Force
“Yes Admiral, I understand the importance of verifying the destruction of the alien lander, but by the time I can get troops to the site it will already be dark,” the ground commander opined. “Might I propose we send a squad to the area in the early morning, to arrive at the crash site around sunrise?”
“I'm being pressured by our allies, Commander,” came the Admiral's reply. “For some reason they are highly agitated by the presence of these aliens, who ever they are.”
“I understand, Sir, but we might not be able to even find the crash site in the dark. The vegetation cover down here is unbelievable.” Their home world was cold and arid, with persistent gusting winds. What vegetation there was clung closely to the ground in a forlorn bid for survival. This world's luxuriant jungle vegetation was overwhelming to the Fakkaa.
“All right we'll compromise. Send one of the attack craft to fly recon over the area tonight. If the pilot can spot the wreck fine, otherwise the troop carrier can search in the morning. Either way, I can truthfully tell the 'Wise Ones' that we are actively searching for the crash site.”
“Yes, Admiral. I understand.” I understand we are not masters of our own fate in this endeavor.
In truth, the Commander was not sure that the alien craft had been destroyed. After viewing the attack craft gunsight footage it looked like the aliens were hit by two of the three interceptor missiles launched at them. He would have expected the target to have been blown to bits, or at least knocked out of the sky. Yet the recordings plainly showed that it kept on flying in a more or less controlled descent.
What type of craft can take hits from two nukes and stay in the air? The attack craft pilot's report of the intruder crashing into the jungle and being destroyed seemed a tad premature. The Commander wasn't sure he wanted to meet these aliens, particularly in the deep jungle after dark. Whatever, ours is not to reason why.
“Lieutenant! We have orders from on high. Call the aviation unit commander and tell him he needs to lay on a reconnaissance flight over the area we think the alien landing craft crashed in.”
“Yes, Sir!”
“And inform second squad they are to go look over the remains in the morning. I want them on site by sunrise.”
Captain's Quarters, Peggy Sue
After the stress of the ambush and close escape, both Beth and Billy Ray were overdue for some down time. As usual, Beth had grabbed the shower first and was now sitting at the vanity doing those post-bathing things that women find essential and men find mystifying. Billy Ray emerged from the shower draped in a towel, padded bare foot across the carpet and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“I don't know about you, love, but it's good to have the deck gravity back on,” she said, “even if it's only a tenth of a G.”
“I never did get the hang of sleepin' in zero G, honey bunch, and I definitely need some rack time.”
“Too tired even for a little fooling around?” his wife asked with a smile.
“Well, maybe not quite that tired.” Billy Ray grinned back. After almost four years together they still were as frisky as a couple of newlyweds. Different officers dealt with the strain of duty in different ways—for Beth and Billy Ray sex was the best treatment for job related stress ever devised.
“How is Bobby dealing with the situation?”
“He's doin' better than I though he would. I guess he has matured a bunch over the years. There was a time something like this would have sent him into an all out panic.”
“I would hate to be faced with the same situation. I wouldn't rest until I found you.”
“I think that's why Bobby has been working so hard on the repairs, he was wearing himself to a frazzle. I finally had to order him to get some rest.”
“Hopefully he'll realize that he will need to be at his best when we confront our attackers.”
“Oh I think he'll be ready to take on those bushwhackers. And even more ready to go planetside looking for what happened to the survey crew.”
“You think letting him lead the ground search is wise?”
“If our positions were reversed and you were missing, do you think anyone could stop me from headin' up the search party?”
“I should hope not, love. But I worry about the fallout if they didn't make it. It's one thing to confront the possibility, another to face the fact.”
“Sweetheart, I know just what type of pain such a loss can cause.” A look spread over Billy Ray's face, a look filled with great sadness. “But I also know that people can live through it, and even live to love again.”
“Yes, of course you do, how insensitive of me,” she apologized, caressing the side of his face with her hand. Billy Ray had lost a previous lover, Peggy Sue, the woman the ship was named after. The pain in her husbands eyes faded quickly, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“No sense borrowin' trouble, honey bunch. Now I think we need to work on easing our own stress a bit, don't you?”
Bobby & Mizuki's Quarters, Peggy Sue
Bobby had worked on shield repair and sensor renovation for sixteen hours straight, until he couldn't focus anymore and the Captain ordered him to get some rack time. It wasn't that the work was so urgent, they had obviously made good their escape and the course he put them on would not arc back down to the planet for almost two weeks. He had stayed at his console to avoid coming back to their cabin, having to face the fact that Mizuki was not there, maybe would never be there again.
They had cohabited for more than a year back on Farside and when they signed on for the current voyage most people on board assumed that they were husband and wife. That was not the case—though not from lack of asking on Bobby's part. Though Bobby had no doubt that Mizuki loved him she simply refused to entertain the idea of marriage. His repeated proposals so agitated her that he eventually gave up, willing to accept her on her own terms. Once he stopped asking for her hand things settled into a state of unwedded bliss. The past year had been a good one—up until now.
Bobby sat on the bed, eyes shut, his clenched fists on his knees. What will I do if they didn't make it? What if she's dead? No, I won't believe that until I see her body.
At best they are down there, on the surface of a hostile planet, with no armor or weapons. Just her katana, a Medieval weapon to face God knows what. While he wrestled with his emotions the room filled with fluttering wings, the aoi chō—Mizuki's blue butterflies.
The butterflies had adopted Mizuki during the trek across the ring station, when the crew of the M't
ak Ka'fek was desperately searching for a supply of antimatter to refuel their ship. Why they chose Mizuki out of all those on that journey remained a mystery, but since they helped the crew escape the station with the needed fuel, Captain Sutton had them brought along. Since then they were Mizuki's pets and protectors—they may look like harmless butterflies but they were, in fact, a form of communal alien intelligence that was quite capable of killing a man or other attacker. Fortunately for Bobby they accepted him as Mizuki's mate and companion.
The butterflies were not their normal sky blue color, but rather darker somber shades of purple and indigo, some almost black. They gently fluttered down to alight on Bobby's rigid frame. It was as though they sought to comfort him over the loss of the woman they both loved. Bobby opened his eyes and unclenched his fists. Seeing the flock perched all around him, many on him, he smiled.
“Don't worry little guys, if she is alive I will find her and bring her back.” Saying it out loud helped bolster his hopes.
The butterflies became more animated, almost as if they understood his words. With a single finger he gently lifted one of the delicate looking creatures, which opened and closed its wings and then took flight. Before him the flock gathered in a fluttering, swirling cloud, their wings beating a complex, syncopated pattern.
In the quiet room a whispered voice could be heard: “We know you will rescue our goddess, we will help you.”
Chapter 17
Shuttle Crash Site
After salvaging what she could from the wrecked shuttle, Mizuki managed to exit the craft through the partially deployed rear airstair. Whether Nigel had opened it just prior to the crash or it sprung on impact, had it not opened Mizuki would have been trapped inside. All she managed to salvage from on board was her katana and a basic survival kit. The kit contained an emergency beacon, a knife, a first aid kit, some survival rations, a camouflaged poncho, a water purification straw, and a small computer that could also function as a simple translator.
As dusk approached, she found herself standing outside the almost unrecognizable wreckage of the shuttle with her pitiful clutch of possessions. The wreck was almost covered by fallen rock from the cliff. In a way that was a good thing—the rubble would make the crash site harder to identify from the air. Nigel had said they were under attack, so Mizuki had to assume that she was in hostile territory and that those who shot them down would be looking for any survivors.
Unfortunately, for other reasons the site would be hard to miss, at least in the daylight. The racing shuttle had cut a swath through the dense vegetation that was like a kilometers long arrow pointing straight at the impact point. There was even a notch visible on the crest of the last ridge they had bounced off.
If someone is looking for us I had best be moving, she thought. While she still ached all over, her legs seemed functional; another benefit of having a blood stream filled with T'aafhal medical nanites. She was both stronger and faster than a normal human being, and healed more quickly as well.
Securing the survival kit to her back, along with her sword, she set off into the jungle on a path roughly bisecting the angle between the rock wall and the shuttle's last heading. The red sun was setting and ahead the forest waited, dark and menacing.
Princess Timushi's Party
Traveling the winding pathway through the lowlands near the great river, progress was frustratingly slow. Bellowing calls by the reptiles that lurked in the murky waters had everyone's nerves on edge, though the threat of attack by wolf spiders, thousand-legs, and other forest predators was greater. The great lizards did not stray far from the river's banks and the road had been constructed far enough inland to escape their attentions.
“How much farther, Castellan?” Timushi asked for the tenth time that day.
“About as far as the last time you asked, Highness. A day to the river crossing and then another to the grazing fields of the capital. From there only four more days march.”
“So half our journey remains ahead of us, how I long to be at its end.”
“The true sun is setting and this day is almost behind us, Princess. The day of your arrival will come in the fullness of time. Best to remember that there may be other dangers lurking along the path.”
“So you have counseled me before, my Lord. At least we have only lost a handful of servants thus far.”
“Normal for such a journey, Highness, the jungle demands its toll of those who would pass through it. I am more worried about the river crossing, it is a natural place to stage an ambush.”
“Ambush? How would my sister get a party of soldiers ahead of us on the road? Her retinue must be struggling along the northern road, much as we are here in the south.”
“It is not her I am concern about, it is those who assist her. You heard the roar of those dragons in the distance, as they destroyed your palace. If they could strike there surly they could attack the bridge to prevent our crossing, or worse, wait until we are on the bridge and vulnerable.”
“How truly wonderful! I am sure to rest easy tonight knowing what may lie in store for us tomorrow.”
“Your pardon, Princess, but it is my duty to advise you, even when the advice is not comforting.”
“I did not mean to criticize you, my Lord.” Timushi's antennae dipped in apology. “I am cranky and out of sorts and in need of a meal. I am sure that tomorrow will see us safely to the north side of the river.”
“Your warriors and I shall endeavor to make it so, Your Highness.”
Mizuki In The Jungle
Light was fading rapidly, as it does near planetary equators. Mizuki was carefully picking her way through the undergrowth, trying to stay on the thick, corded roots that splayed out in all directions from the sixty meter tall trees. This was proving tricky enough without the failing light. Retrieving a headlamp from the survival kit, she adjusted it to shed only ultraviolet light.
The lens of a human eye ordinarily filters out UV rays, but the photoreceptor cells of the retina are sensitive to near ultraviolet light. People lacking a lens—a condition known as aphakia—can see near ultraviolet light as whitish blue or violet. One of the “enhancements” made by Mizuki's T'aafhal nanites was the ability to see these wavelengths with her lenses intact.
Using the lamp was a risk worth taking, since the alternative was stumbling around in near complete darkness. She reasoned that on a planet lit by a red M type star most creatures vision would not extend into the near ultraviolet frequencies. Moving from one large runner to another she caught movement out of the corner of her eye.
Mizuki pivoted to face the movement, drawing her sword over her head at the same time. Something large and black with too many legs flew directly at her. Years of training had taught Mizuki's body to react almost instinctively, without conscious thought—an ability that saved her life.
Turning the drawing motion into a downward stroke, the katana split the creature's nightmare of a face in two. Despite the power of the two handed blow, the creature still collided with the swordswoman, knocking her off the root and into the detritus on the jungle floor. Drawing her legs up beneath her as she fell, Mizuki rolled onto her back and thrust upward with all of her strength.
On this low gravity world, the musculature of any normal human being would seem brutally strong. Mizuki's enhanced physique combined with years of conditioning resulted in power that was literally out of this world. Her legs thrust the hairy black body five meters through the air where it struck the trunk of a nearby tree.
It hit the tree with a meaty thud. Seeing her attacker clearly for the first time, Mizuki realized that it was a giant spider like creature. As it slid down the trunk, several smaller, multi-armed shapes attacked the now dead monster. The body was torn apart before it reached the ground.
Hearing more movement in the darkness, Mizuki rose on crossed legs, pivoting 180 degrees as she stood. In front of her was another monstrous creature, reaching for her with a pair of meter long claws. She hopped up, out of the way, a
s the monster's claws snapped shut on empty air.
Nimbly landing back on top of the root placed her above the attacking beast. Rearing up the creature reached out with its claws, but it was only a ruse. The creature struck out with its real weapon, a curved multisegmented tail as long as its two meter body, topped with a wicked looking stinger.
Mizuki took the stinger first, with a diagonal slash to her left. The return stroke to the right sent the creature's left claw flying, the third followup cleaved through part of the scorpion thing's face and separated the right claw at its base. The creature pulled away but was already dying. As it thrashed in the fallen leaves more scuttling arthropods emerged and began devouring the scorpion alive.
I have got to get out of here!
Mizuki looked around in alarm, her only thought to escape this ravenous menagerie. Her sword work had undoubtedly saved her life, but it was as though she had rung the dinner bell for every creepy crawly in the area. Before anything else could try claiming her for diner, Mizuki turned and fled, bounding from one large root to another.
In front of her was a junction formed where two buttress roots joined a gigantic main trunk at nearly a right angle. The result was a vertical inside corner reaching ten meters up the tree. Like a Hollywood ninja scaling a building by bouncing from wall to wall, she ran up the cleft between the massive buttresses until she was well above the feeding frenzy on the forest floor.
Clinging to the tree's wrinkled trunk single handed, Mizuki re-sheathed her weapon. Free to use both hands, she climbed higher up the tree, headed for someplace, any place, safer than the ground. Eventually she came to a spot where several branches split from the main trunk, forming a sheltered fork. Above, branches reached skyward, bifurcating again and again before ending in leafy profusion at the forest canopy. Trying to make herself as small as possible, Mizuki nestled into the fork, back against the main trunk.
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 14
