Wandering Star

by Steven Anderson

  “Not a family trait, I hope.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look,” Alice pointed. “Your friends the Tarakana.”

  There were a dozen or more of them in the square, touching the bodies gently and exploring the remains of the courthouse.

  “You may want to go slow with them,” I advised. “Let them get close and bump up against you before letting them touch you.”

  Alice sat down in the street in front of the nearest one. When it approached she put her arms around it and nuzzled her face up against its head. The two tentacles wrapped around her and the tips caressed her back.

  “Or you could just do that.” I sat down next to her and she looked at me.

  “They will help us with the graves, help with food and water and power to keep us warm in the night. They understand what we want to do with the bodies, although I don’t think they understand why. After that, we—” More of the Tarakana were touching her and I could see her eyes starting to lose focus. After several minutes she started humming to herself.

  “OK, I think that might be enough for a first time.” I lifted her up, breaking physical contact.

  She looked at me, refocusing. “How could you have spent a week with them and not lost yourself, become part of their group mind?”

  “We’re too different. They don’t think the way we do.”

  She nodded. “They know you. They say your thoughts are… what is it? Like the horizon? No. Straight lines?” She smiled. “Like when the sun is just over the horizon and the desert air is so clear that it sparkles like looking through the purest glass and distant things look like you could touch them.”

  “You got all that from a few minutes of contact? Not that it makes any sense.”

  “It does make sense. They just don’t think like that. The Tarakana’s thoughts are all cross currents and tangled passageways. There are thousands of paths to get to any conclusion and they travel all of them all the time.”

  “You could get lost in that?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s beautiful. It’s the way I think but so much bigger.”

  “I’m not sure introducing you to them was a good idea.”

  She smiled. “I’m OK. I’m still me, still human. They wouldn’t want me in there for very long either. I may be a closer match but there are still things about them that we will never be able to understand. I think you’re right about them being a single organism. It’s like one soul shared across thousands of pieces, one body connected by thought instead of muscle and bone.”

  The Tarakana were moving the remains of the Hetman and his wives from the street.

  “Where are they taking them?”

  “There’s a small cemetery behind the old church. They’ll bury all of them there and let us know when it’s done. I’d like to pray over them.”

  We found a bench in the shade beside the town square and sat for a moment just listening to the silence.

  “I want to go back to my campsite sometime soon. It’s too late today, maybe tomorrow. I’d like to get the samples I collected and some of the supplies.”

  “Lost without your backpack and rock hammer, aren’t you?”

  I smiled at her. “You’re getting to know me.”

  “When the Tarakana are done we should get something to eat and drink.” Alice suggested. “I’m getting hungry.”

  “I think I’ll go help them. I can’t sit here thinking about how long we might be—”

  “—marooned.” Alice finished for me.

  “I wasn’t going to use that word.”

  “Stay here. Did you see the bodies when you came into town last night?”

  “Not really. I was in a hurry.”

  “Having the Tarakana here to bury them is a blessing. Let’s explore the other buildings for a while. We might find something useful.”

  I nodded. “I’d like to find the cache of packaged synthetics that Sipa located. We might need them and I’d like to see if any of them are more recent than two years ago. If the Bodens Gate government is dropping food off here on a regular basis we might be able to hitch a ride.”

  “I’m sure they are.”

  “Why would they do that? If this clan was challenging the government why not just kill them all?”

  She smiled. “Governments don’t think in straight lines. Making them disappear was much more effective in keeping the other clans in line. Dumping them out the airlock into empty space would’ve worked just as well but I imagine that wasn’t viable politically. No one wants to say they killed three-hundred fifty men, women and children in cold blood. So they made Cleavus into a prison using an abandoned old Union colony, and they never mentioned it to the new Union or anyone else.” She looked back at me before we entered the first building. “It’s what I would have done.”

  “You scare me sometimes.”

  “Good.”

  We spent the rest of the morning searching the buildings but not finding much of value. Plenty of clothes, furniture, a couple of packages of food and one small stuffed animal in the shape of a Tarakana that someone had made for their child.

  “We need to search the courthouse. The Hetman kept anything of value close to him.”

  “I know. Look at it, though.” I pointed. “The second story has mostly collapsed into the first floor and part of that is now in the basement. It’s not safe.”

  We walked up to where the front door used to be and looked down into the rubble leading into the basement.

  “I’m smaller and weigh less than you. I should be fine. Just help me down onto that big block there and I’ll take a look around.”

  “Alice, no.”

  She looked back at me and smiled, about to say something clever, then stopped. “It must be from being so near the Tarakana. For a second I didn’t just hear the concern in your voice, I felt it. I felt how you’re afraid for me.” She gave me a quick hug. “I’m going to be fine. Really. Now help me down. I need to know what’s there.”

  “You need to know.”

  “Exactly.”

  I helped her down and she disappeared from view as she explored. I looked at what was left of the walls and prayed that they would go on being walls and not tons of rock and adobe covering the only other human within millions of kilometers.

  One of the Tarakana joined me, leaned against my knee and extended its tentacles out over the drop into the basement. “Yeah, I’m worried too,” I told it.

  Alice’s voice drifted up to me. “Found them. There’s a lot of debris on top but I think I can get a few of them.” She reemerged, her arms full. “Here, I’ll toss them up to you.”

  There was a rumble from where she had been as the building settled and dust floated up around her. She looked behind her. “It might be hard to get any more.”

  “Damn it, Alice. That wasn’t being careful.”

  I helped her back up after she had tossed me the last of the packages.

  “Why weren’t you afraid?”

  “I don’t know.” She sounded surprised. “I should have been. For some reason I’m feeling very brave today.” She looked at the Tarakana next to me. “I see the graves are done.”

  “Yes.” I was looking at the packages. “I don’t know what these dates mean. Do you know the Bodens Gate calendar?”

  Alice reached over and gently held the tip of the Tarakana’s tentacle. “There was a ship here about two months ago but they don’t keep a regular schedule.” She closed her eyes in concentration. “If they follow the same pattern the next one will come somewhere between twenty-three and fifty-six days from now.” She smiled at me. “I really love these guys.”

  I touched the tip of the other tentacle and immediately let go, jerking my arm away. Alice took a step back, dropped the tentacle she had been holding, and stared at her fingers.

  “I’m sorry,
Alice. I let go as quickly as I could.”

  She looked at me, looked at her hand, then back at me. “That was you in there. I could see you, just for an instant. When you touched the other tip, I could see you.”

  CHAPTER 11

  INTERLUDE

  “OK, NOW I AM SCARED.” Alice was still breathing hard while we walked to the cemetery.

  “These guys will do that to you. Everything seems all warm and friendly and then something happens and you realize the magnitude of how different, intelligent and powerful they really are.”

  “And how vulnerable we are right now.”

  “So, what did I look like in there?” I asked.

  “Kind of glowy.”

  “If I had reached out I think I would have heard every thought in your head and felt every emotion.”

  “Please don’t do that.”

  “I won’t. I have my own secrets to keep.”

  “Not like mine.” Alice kept her head down.

  I smiled at her but she wouldn’t look up. “You’re not as dark as you think you are, Alice Vandermeer. You glow. I’ve seen it.”

  She smiled at me, a sweet look in her eyes. “Thank you.” She took my hand while we walked. “I’m not as scared now.”

  Alice prayed for the dead, asking forgiveness for them. When she was done she and I stood together looking at the mounded dirt.

  “I wish I had a flower to put on Tirana’s grave for her and the child she was carrying. I think she was only fifteen. Maybe sixteen.” She sighed. “There’s nothing here but red dirt and rocks.”

  “Do you know which is hers?”

  Alice shook her head.

  I pulled the little stuffed Tarakana I had taken from one of the buildings out of my pocket and placed it on the nearest grave. “It’s not much.”

  Alice kissed my cheek. “It’s good.”

  There were Tarakana at the lab when we got back, working on installing a power source and making the lights work again. They were using a variety of shapes, some taller, some longer, some with multiple arms. We watched for a few minutes, Alice chewing on her lower lip. I heard her gasp. She turned away and put her hand up to her mouth.

  “Well, that would be convenient. If you need a couple of extra hands, just grow them like that out of your—”

  Alice walked away from me, out the door and didn’t stop until I caught up to her.

  “Are you all right?”

  “It’s too much.”

  I held her. “We should be out of here in a few weeks. Just hold on.” I smiled at her. “After this, just think how normal your work on Bodens Gate will seem.”

  “Yeah. I’ve never been homesick in my life but I think I understand the feeling now.”

  I could feel her starting to shake so I told her, “I’m going to go talk to them. You can stay here in the middle of the street if you want.”

  She looked up at me and I could see some of the fire come back into her eyes. “Are you taunting me?”

  “I wanted to make sure the woman that climbed into a collapsing building earlier today because she had to know what was down there isn’t getting lost.”

  She pushed away from me. “I’ll go talk to the damn Tarakana.”

  I smiled watching her walk away from me and back into the lab.

  She was nuzzled into one when I came in and actually kissed it when she let go.

  “I thanked them for what they’re doing and asked them not to come with us when we hike to your camp tomorrow. They seem to understand.” She stepped around them and started making lunch. “I also asked them why they’re helping us.”

  “What did they say?”

  “It’s because of you.”

  “Because of the one I saved from the Bovita clan?”

  “No, they appreciate that, but it’s more that they just like you. They like being inside your head.”

  “Wonderful. Do they like me as a friend or like a pet?”

  She smirked at me. “I didn’t ask but I can guess.”

  By nightfall we had lights and heat and a small flow of water from the pump. We could recharge the portable lights and the display pads and if we shut everything else down we could power one printer, but slowly.

  I covered the two shattered front windows with blankets and the lab and dormitory felt surprisingly snug and warm. Enough so that Alice was back down to a t-shirt and shorts when she went to bed that night. I sat on the end of her bunk talking to her before we shut down the lights.

  “We did well today. We buried our dead without too many tears, we have light and food and we know that rescue will come. That’s a lot to be thankful for.”

  “I am,” she answered. “We also have allies here that scare the crap out of me.”

  I turned the lights out and laid down in a bunk next to hers.

  “I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

  “Brave Ted. Who will you call for if you need something?”

  “You, of course.”

  I woke in the morning with her nestled against my back. She told me that I was calling for Jake in the middle of the night and I don’t doubt that I was. My dreams were troubled.

  We gathered food and water for our hike, including extra blankets if we decided to stay the night. And soap. The flow of water from the small pump was insufficient for the showers but there was a good sized lake at the bottom of one of the basins by my old camp.

  When we opened the front door there was a large German Shepherd dog lying on the sidewalk. He raised his head off his front paws and looked at us.

  “Did the Bovita have dogs?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “So not a dog then.” I knelt down and scratched him behind the ears. He closed his eyes and his tongue lolled out.

  “Tarakana dog. I can feel it but it’s muffled. It’s not like touching the ones yesterday. Try it.”

  Alice lightly touched his fur. “Soft. You’re right, there’s not a direct connection but I feel it in there.”

  I continued scratching his ears. “Have you ever owned a dog?”

  “Cat.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Most cats I’ve met think the way you do.”

  “So are we going hiking today or are you going to play with your new not-a-dog? And no, he’s not coming with us.”

  “But look at those eyes.”

  “Tarakana don’t have eyes.”

  “I think they can have whatever they want.” I stood. “Ok, I’m coming.” I resisted the urge to tell him to ‘stay’.

  “I’m going to name him Merrimac,” I told Alice while we walked out of town. “I had a dog that looked just like him named that when I was little. We always called him Mac.”

  “These things don’t scare you at all, do they?”

  “I accept them. If they meant us harm we’d be dead by now.” I looked at her walking next to me, her head down. “Giz told me that no one knows what the future holds, other than surprises. I guess I just try to enjoy the ride since I know I’m not the one in charge. You should know that too, Madam Chaplain.”

  We walked in silence for almost ten minutes before Alice looked up at me. “Merrimac is a good name. If he’s still a dog when we get back.”

  I nodded. “I’ve been thinking. Even without all the sensors and other electronics we normally use, we should be able to do a reasonable survey of this area. Do you feel like being a field geologist for a few weeks?”

  “Sure. Beats staying home all day with the dog.” She grinned at me.

  “We’re going to be OK, Alice. The time will go quickly.”

  A half hour later we reached the spot where the valley narrowed to a steep walled canyon, the spot where the Tarakana had hidden a bridge from us. There was no bridge. There was no sign ther
e had ever been a bridge.

  “It was here.” I tossed a rock at where the bridge used to be, half expecting it to bounce off a hidden structure. It took nearly two seconds for the rock to reach the bottom of the canyon.

  “You said Star had plotted a different path for you?”

  “About half a kilometer east.”

  Alice started walking.

  I caught up to her. “You’re not going to say anything?”

  “Nope. Just enjoying the ride.”

  “I deserved that.”

  “You did, but you’re also right.”

  We dropped into the valley and climbed back up the other side, arriving covered in sweat and with our skin scratched from climbing up along a scree slope.

  “I see why the Tarakana put in a bridge. Why do you think they removed it?” Alice asked while we rested at the top.

  “I’m not sure yet. I want to go by the overlook above their city. It’s not too far out of the way, maybe twenty minutes from here.”

  “What do you expect to see?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Let’s just go look.”

  The walls of the slot canyon where the city had been were covered in small openings that looked like the result of natural erosion. The canyon floor was empty and the valley beyond was a red sand wasteland.

  “It would be really easy for me to think that I had imagined the whole thing, the bridge, the city, even the Tarakana.” I sat down on a rock and looked out across the valley lit by the late morning sun. I laughed. “Alice, please tell me that you remember the Tarakana.”

  “Who?”

  I looked at her and she couldn’t keep from smiling. “If your camp isn’t there and all the caves are gone, then you and I are going to have a discussion.”

  “I thought they might do something like this, go back into hiding before the next ship arrives. They seem to prefer that no one knows that they exist.”

  “So Mac the dog may not be there when we get back.”

  I shrugged.

  We finished our hike and I was relieved to find everything where I had left it.

  “See?” Alice said. “I guess you’re not crazy yet.”