“Did you find it?” the captain yelled out the hatchway.
“I’ve found something, but I don’t know what it’s going to gain me. Even if I can grasp on with my hands, I can’t go up anywhere from here.”
“Feel around for another tie-off, and then do this all over again. That should get you high enough to get your fingers on another finger hold and the angle should be such by then that you could crawl up to where it’s level and you can stand up.”
Caleb felt around for another tie-off and had almost given up on it when he felt its edge all but out of reach. The tubercles were so aerodynamic that they were difficult to hold onto without slipping. By this time, his fingers were cramping up and his muscles were starting to shake. He retreated momentarily to where he could rest his fingers and found the end of the rope that he needed to thread through the tie-off. He clamped it in his teeth allowing almost a meter of rope to dangle and fingered his way back out to where he had felt the tie-off. Again, he felt just the corner of it, and carefully took the end of the rope still clamped in his teeth and tried to thread it through the hole. Time seemed to stand still for him as he repeatedly attempted to thread the rope through the tie-off. On his fourth attempt, he felt it catch and began to twist and shove the rope through. He watched as it slowly came out the other side and finally was hanging down (just out of reach) on the other side. He retreated to where he could rest his fingers. He could hear Tim and the captain speaking but could not hear what they were saying.
He yelled down to them, “Captain, you’re going to owe me big time when this is over.”
“How’s it coming?” asked the captain.
“I’ll tell you in two ticks when I’m either up on the top or neck-deep in the muck down there,” he yelled back.
Tim poked his head out of the hatch just in time to watch Caleb throw himself over to where the rope was hanging down and just barely managed to grasp the rope. Each hand held the rope on a different side of the tie-off.
Caleb slowly brought the two together and wrapped them around his right forearm. He wrapped his leg around the portion linked to the previous tie-off before half collapsing against the alloyed side of the shuttle.
Tim yelled up at him, “What are you waiting for ‘Spiderman’?”
Caleb considered several possible retorts, but he could barely think other than to take one breath after the other and try to regain some strength while still firmly grasping the rope. Knowing he was not getting any stronger while he dangled there, he began to slowly work his way up the rope as he had the other. That turned out to be quite the trick since he had not yet pulled enough rope through the tie-off. He was almost able to count off the ticks by how many times Ram’s cold torch blinded him as Ram did his circles and figure eights in the muck far below striving to not get stuck in the process.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he was high enough that the curvature of the shuttle worked in his favor and the miniscule finger holds were sufficient for him to scramble up to the very top. He found one last tie-off and threaded the rope through it before walking with the rope as an anchor down to the extreme front of the shuttle.
After waving Ram over, and several attempts to communicate with him while he drove by, Ram lobbed a radio to him as he passed. He could barely make it out as it flew through the dark sky. Were it not for the large glowing planet overhead against which the radio was silhouetted just before he caught it, it would have knocked him completely off the shuttle rather than just bruising his chest as he caught it.
“Ram, I can’t wait until my feet are on solid ground again.”
“What’s the plan, Caleb?” Ram replied.
“I think you’ll be able to pull right up onto the shuttle here because it’s all the way down into the muck now. I can try to loop the rope around the bumper to keep you from sliding back into the muck once you’re up here, and then we’ll have time to load. The captain’s hurting, and I don’t want to make him do any gymnastics just to get into the vehicle.”
“Well, I guess that’ll work. But if we can’t get this turned around before we head back, I’ll have to drive backward the whole way. I’m not looking forward to doing that at night.”
“You could try to spin out or pull on so you’re sideways, but I don’t know if we’ve got the room or if it would work. There’s not that much flat area at the front here.”
“Stand back a bit Caleb, but be ready with that rope. It may be what gets you home tonight.”
Caleb stood back up higher on the shuttle and watched as Ram made several passes each a little closer and driving as slowly as he dared. On his third pass, he swerved up onto the shuttle and spun the vehicle around. He slammed it into reverse and tried to keep it up on the shuttle, but the spinning wheels seemed to help it “walk” towards the side where it curved back down towards the muck. Caleb dashed down from where he waited and slammed into the back of the vehicle much harder than he had hoped to but managed to retain enough presence of mind to sling the rope around its rear bumper. He wrapped the tail end of the rope around itself hoping that it would help him hold it until he could knot it securely. He shouted loudly and Ram stopped trying to accelerate. As the tracks stopped spinning, the vehicle slowed its sideways motion.
“Give me a hand here, Ram,” Caleb yelled as the weight of the vehicle trying to slide off the shuttle began very slowly to pull the rope out of his hands. Seconds later, Ram’s head popped out the back of the vehicle and he grabbed onto the twisted ropes holding them together and effectively breaking their slide towards the muck.
“I’ve got it for now, tie it off quick, cause I can’t hold it for long,” said Ram as he felt the rope start to slide through his hands.
Caleb looped the rope around the bumper and itself and said, “O.K., Ram let go. It should hold.”
When he let go the vehicle slid another pace down before the new knot bunched up tight enough to keep it from unraveling.
“We need to see if we can move it away from the edge of the shuttle,” Ram said rubbing his hands together.
“There’s not much traction up here,” Caleb replied. “Do you still have a rope we can use? There are a lot of tie-offs that should help us if you do.”
“Hold on.” A moment later Ram thrust a bundle of rope out the window. “Here take this.”
“What’s up with this?”
“It’s rope. It’s a little dirty from the difficulties we ran into today, but it ought to work.”
“A little! We’ll never get a grip on that. Is that all you have?”
“Be thankful I even kept it, Caleb. That’s the only rope I have. It will have to do.”
Together they managed to tug the vehicle back onto the flat of the shuttle and after a short rest, they worked their way up the rope to where the others waited below. They made a semblance of a harness out of the rope and let it down the side of the shuttle.
Caleb shouted down to them as they let the harness slide down. “Captain? Tim? Are you guys ready?”
“What took you so long Caleb?” Tim yelled back up. “I was thinking we’d be here all night.”
“I’ll tell you about it later, Tim, right now if you want to get off this tin can, I suggest you grab the harness we let down and help the captain into it. If you’re nice we might even let it back down for you.”
“Where is it?” Tim asked.
Ram panned his cold torch over the harness dangling to the side of the hatch. “It would have bitten ya if it was a snake.”
Tim grabbed it and pulled it back inside. A couple of ticks later, his head popped out the hatch again. “I don’t know how that harness is supposed to work, but I’ve got the Captain all trussed up and ready to go. Take out the slack in the line and I’ll help him out.”
Ram and Caleb pulled the slack out of the line and then braced themselves to haul the captain up the side. They had looped the rope through a tie-off to help arrest his fall if they couldn’t hold on to the rope or if they slipped on the smo
oth surface of the shuttle. Caleb braced himself in front of the tie-off. Ram braced himself on the back together and in sync; they managed to drag the captain to safety without a hitch.
“Sorry I couldn’t help you more gentlemen,” Captain Gaston said. “I’ve passed out a couple of times and can’t do much of anything.”
“It’s not a problem, Captain.” Then Ram added much louder for Tim’s benefit. “But we expect Tim to do his fair share of the climbing or he’ll be on his own.”
“You just worry about getting that harness down here, (just in case) and I’ll climb up the rope you used the first time around.”
Together Ram and Caleb untangled the captain from the harness and lowered it back down to Tim. True to his word, after fastening the harness on himself, he climbed up the rope that Caleb had threaded through the tie-offs on his way up, and they just kept the tension on the harness rope in case he fell. He didn’t.
Together now, they all made their way down the shuttle using the rope tied to the terrain rover as a banister of sorts. They took turns helping the captain, and in short order, they had arrived at the waiting vehicle.
“Ram, you can drive. It looks like you were doing a fine job previously,” Caleb said helping the captain into the vehicle. Tim, you stay at the back and get ready to cut the rope. Don’t cut it until Ram gives you the go-ahead or we’ll be sunk—literally!”
Ram picked his way down the side of the vehicle and climbed in. Behind him, Caleb secured the captain before climbing up into the passenger’s seat, and Tim began fumbling in the dark at the knot on the bumper.
“I’m ready when you are, Tim,” Ram said revving up the motor.
“I can’t get the knot undone so I’m cutting through the rope instead,” he said sawing away at the rope with his F.L.E.N. issue survival knife.
They all felt the last few strands separate and pop and then they were off the shuttle and wallowing through the muck. They had just enough momentum to stay on top and were soon clipping along at a nice pace headed eastward towards the new settlement.
Captain Gaston watched the landscape shift by in a blur of soft colorless shades of night. Strange shapes came and went past his window and the weight of the day’s activities settled hard on his shoulders before ebbing away with the rhythm of their travel. Exhaustion finally took him in its hands and sleep claimed him.
CHAPTER SIX:
Survival
Captain McNally stood outside the Outpost’s decontamination chamber where the survey crew had just finished decontaminating themselves and were standing and waiting for the walls to squeegee themselves off and the air to finish purifying. The door would not release until the sensors deemed the air quality to be normal once again (normal as compared to the air inside the shuttle anyways). Moments later, the green “all’s well” light blinked on, and the door opened with a hiss.
Peter was first to step through. His square jaw and compact frame were always marveled at by the rest of the crew. “Captain, this has got to be one of the richest places I’ve ever seen. I’ve already seen signs of gold and iron ore and even copper. That’s all on the surface too.”
“And it’s teeming with a wide variety of both plant and animal life,” Michael added. “Nothing too large that we’ve seen yet either. I mean I’m sure there is larger wildlife out there, but it’s definitely not out of control as we were worried it would be. The air is hot but not too humid considering the amount of surface water, and oxygen levels are actually higher than on earth, but not at a dangerous level, just slightly.”
“This is going to be great,” Rex said over Michael’s shoulder. “I say let’s go for it, Captain.”
“Yes, well, what do the rest of you think? Do you need more time to collect samples and run tests?”
The captain looked pointedly at both Michael and the security guards.
Michael spoke up first. “Captain, we are all but committed already, and the initial survey has turned up no red flags or any reasons to not continue as planned.”
“If we disembark and limit the travels of the crew until we have a chance to catalog the dangerous plant and animal life, then we should be just fine,” said the security officer. “We’ll set up a perimeter that can slowly be expanded to include what has been explored and categorized as safe.”
“And we’ll tell the folks not to eat any indigenous food yet,” added Michael.
They regarded the Captain silently. They could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He was responsible for their initial safety, but though he was concerned that they were being impetuous and careless by proceeding too rapidly, he too saw that they really had already committed themselves and really there was no turning back.
Captain Paul McNally strode over to the door back into the main corridor. “Follow me, gentlemen.” He led them to the very front of the shuttle where their All-Terrain Rovers were lined up and ready to go. After scanning his eyes at the main control console, he spoke into the microphone and was broadcast through the entire ship.
“Now hear this. Now hear this. This is Captain Paul McNally. Welcome to the Outpost settlement on the world of Magellan. Our initial physical survey has gone really well. We are satisfied with the location and the situation on the outside.
“It’s hot out there and I expect it to only get hotter as the day progresses. Take care to drink plenty of liquids to ward off possible heat exhaustion.
“Please remain within the security perimeter that will be in place around the shuttle. We must ease our way into this unfamiliar environment. Nothing indigenous is to be eaten until it has passed our health standards. For the moment, this also includes the water. The shuttle’s sanitary services will be available until we have set something up on land. As you are all well aware, we already have the plans for our initial settlement in place, and it should not take too long to have the rudimentary necessities completed. Please proceed with patience and caution.
“Allow the security team to exit first. After they have disembarked, we will allow the first level to exit, then the second level and so on. You have all been briefed on your initial zones and responsibilities. As each of us individually is responsible to do his own job, we also fulfill the support requirements for the others on our team. It’s been a pleasure working with you up to this point. May we have many months and years of continued cooperation still.
“Thank you and good luck.”
The captain turned to the two security guards that had been on the initial survey. “Let’s get you guys out there and have the perimeter marked off as quickly as you can so that we don’t have any wanderers.”
Two earth-hours later, Paul stood and picked up the tray that his reconstituted roast beef and mashed potatoes had covered. It was probably one of the last modern meals he would have for some time. He tossed the tray in the garbage compactor by the desk built into the corner of his office. He had already packed his personal effects and had just needed to finalize his logs before locking it up and heading out to his new life. He wondered if everyone felt so…so disconnected. No, probably not, if anyone did, it was probably just his immediate crew. Everybody else was probably now in their glory, especially Shorty, he thought, grimacing. “Well, let him go off and get obsessed with the mining, somebody would have to stay and organize the rest of the masses. What else could he do anyways?” He stretched again feeling the ever-present twinge that told him that he’d best not work that back too hard or he would be the first Outpost casualty. He stuffed a sheaf of printouts of the surrounding area into his backpack and set it on top of his wheeled trunk. He twisted the backpack’s shoulder straps through the trunks handle to keep it from falling off. He stepped through the door into the corridor, dragging his load behind him. As he made his way towards the elevator through the now empty corridor, he broke out into a sweat. He wasn’t even outside yet, but the air conditioning had been turned down to its minimum. He was really going to need to find someone to help him carry his stuff. Maybe there would be an A.T
.R. still free. “Fat chance,” he thought as the elevator dropped from under his feet. When he exited the elevator onto the first level, however, he found a couple of young men lounging in the corridor. They had probably thought to escape the work going on outside. He waved them over.
“Gentlemen,” he grinned, “nice of you to come in and volunteer to help an old cripple like me. Here, take my trunk to my new quarters. Keep it out of the dirt, mind you.”
They looked askance at each other and then grudgingly picked up the trunk between them and followed the captain down the corridor.
All the doors had been left ajar, and the heat pressed on them like a hot compress.
The pile of tents was down to the last of the ones discarded earlier and unwanted. Theoretically, they were all the same, just varying sizes and colors, what was left was anything that showed use or any visible external damage.
The captain selected one of the less used and plopped it on top of the trunk the boys were carrying. “Do you kids know how to erect one of these?”
“It’s not hard sir,” said the taller of the two. “You just…”
“Good,” the captain interrupted, “I’ll let you take care of that for me too then.” He smiled as they both groaned under their breath. He paused at the top of the ramp that exited the shuttle and took in the organized chaos taking place all around the new settlement. More than that though, he took in his new surroundings.
It felt great to be out of the shuttle, out of the confines of space, the long stark hallways, and the press of people at every turn. It was still semi-crowded, but as soon as the security perimeter was expanded or down, it would be all open sky and wide-open spaces.
He started down the ramp and over towards his allotted sector. It was hot in the sun, but he could tell as he passed under the shade of a small but widely spread tree that the humidity was low, and the only real reason he felt so hot was that he was accustomed to the much cooler temperature that was maintained on the spaceship. He wondered absently what season it was and even if they had seasons or if it was more like a tropical rainy season and dry season. He raised his eyebrow as a six-legged lizard scampered across the open ground where his crew had bush hogged the vegetation down to mere stubble. His standard issue boots crunched loudly on the top of the remaining stubble.
Solar Twins Page 10
