Second Wave -- 25

Chapter 25

We collected our supplies and did our best to distribute the weight according to the relative strength of each person. Whistle couldn’t carry even as much as Erin. I loaded up a considerable weight of food and weapons, but Frank and Ted really packed it on. They each carried about twice what I felt was reasonable.

The sun was up and rapidly heating the veldt when we pushed through the hatch for the last time. There were huge depressions in the ground that I realized were the mystery creature’s footprints and a trail of dried blood along the path it had taken in its retreat. After looking the giant footprints over and speculating on the predatory nature of the beast and the likelihood of encountering another of its species, we got our bearings. We set out towards the site of the Pugs’ deserted station.

The route led over the veldt towards one of the rivers. We could see the wall of vegetation rising up in the distance. Judging from its height, there was plenty of water there. The veldt itself was hot and dry with brittle, sandy soil and sparse, grass-like plants that grew in clumps interspersed with a low, thorny shrub. Ted brushed against one of the thorns and exclaimed loudly.

“Those things are poisoned! It barely scratched my arm, and it burns like fury!” He rubbed the tiny scratch as it puffed up and turned red.

“Let me see it!” I commanded.

“What can you do? It’s a scratch, and it’s already swelling. What I want to do is to neutralize the poison that must be in there,” he stated querulously.

“Maybe there is something I can do. At least let me try,” I responded, grabbing his thick forearm.

He let me inspect the scratch, and then I tried something that popped into my head. I hadn’t previously thought about using my mental abilities to heal something, but it came to me that perhaps I could have some impact on the poison.

I took a deep breath and sank into a quick, trance-like state, still holding his arm. After a minute or so of visualizing my connectedness with the entire Universe, I focused on the little scratch. It was unclear initially, but then I sensed something in the scratch that didn’t belong. I concentrated and realized that it was the molecules of toxin from the thorn. A fine strand of material had been shed from the tip of the thorn, which was definitely antagonistic to Ted’s skin. It was slowly releasing a thin stream of molecules that his cells shrank from. I realized that was the poison and mentally visualized the molecules migrating to the surface of the scratch. In a little while, I could sense them moving out of his body. The wound was weeping lymph, and I wiped the thin fluid away a couple of times. By the time I’d wiped it off a third time, the swelling was noticeably smaller, and the inflamed area was returning to his normal skin color. I brought myself out of my meditative state and released his arm. His eyes were large as he looked at me, “It doesn’t hurt at all now! What in the Hell did you do? That was really spooky!”

Frank, who had been watching closely over my shoulder, snorted, “He put some voodoo on you! Now, you’d better be careful, or he’ll turn you into a zombie next!”

“Aw, come on, now!” Ted complained, waving his hand in the air. “It’s as good as new, and I don’t believe any of that zombie stuff anyhow.” He betrayed his concern and false bravado by looking at me and asking, “You’re not going to try and zombie me, are you, Dec?”

“No, I don’t need zombies. I need you with all your senses on full alert and ready to fight. I did a mental trick that I didn’t know I could do. It’s related to my ability to speak mentally, but I’m not sure how powerful it is. I probably couldn’t heal you of a serious injury.” I turned to the others, “Let’s be careful of the plants. Obviously, they can harm us, so steer clear of any thorns or sap. In fact, let’s try and not brush the things at all.” This last was a vain hope. The looming jungle in the near distance looked very thick.

We proceeded, walking carefully and also watching for animal life. It wasn’t long before we saw some deer-sized animals. They were browsing on the thorn bushes and their heads popped up as soon as they saw us. They weren’t as wary as a mule deer, probably because we were so strange to them, but they wouldn’t let us get close, either. They rapidly retreated as we walked nearer. We never did get close enough to make out fine details on them.

Eventually, we came to the edge of the veldt. It gradually transitioned from grasses and thorny scrub into a series of taller, palm-like cycads or something analogous and then into some true giant trees. These were similar to hardwoods on Earth, and they rose like columns for thirty feet or more before the first branches occurred. The shade under them was so dense that only the most hardy, under-story plants survived. Nevertheless, there was no easy pathway through.

We eventually found what was obviously an animal trail and followed it as it wound through and around the massive boles. It meandered in the general direction of the river, and I judged that it was a safe bet that it would lead to a watering place. As we rounded a corner in the dense undergrowth, we saw a sparkling glint ahead in the darkness. It was the blue sun flashing off the water as it rippled in the wind.

We all had our weapons out and ready as we approached the water. I cautioned the others that predators usually found watering places ideal for ambushing prey, and we didn’t want to be jumped without being ready to respond.

There was a muddy bank covered with animal prints as we came up to the water. The river was choppy from the wind and broader than I’d hoped. We weren’t going to get across easily at this location. I looked both ways up and down the current. There was a shadow downstream that looked sort of like a beaver dam. I figured if it were similar, it would be what was blocking the water’s flow so that it formed a wide pool in front of us. While I looked, Erin carefully stayed in the shade of the trees with Whistle. Frank stood beside me as Ted continued on, gingerly stepping across the mud flat, trying not to sink in. He was largely successful since the mud had dried in the brilliant sun and had formed a hard surface covered with cracks.

Ted was a couple of yards from the water’s edge when it happened. There was something in the water that I only became mentally aware of at the last second. Its mind was so still that it seemed like a frog. I’d sensed frogs before, and they had next to no mental activity. This was the same. I sensed a sudden intention in the mental currents and shouted, “Get back!”

Ted turned and started back to me, but he wasn’t fast enough. There was a massive eruption as the pool exploded outwards, and a hideous creature that seemed to be all shark-like jaws lunged out and snapped its mouth closed on him. He had time for an agonized shriek as it shook its head. The violence of the shake and the sharp teeth shredded his body. His shoulder and arm came flying past us, along with a heavy spray of blood.

I tried to bring my gun up to shoot, but before I could stop shaking and get it aligned, the creature popped back into the water, carrying the remains of our friend. Frank and I looked at each other in agony and then dashed back to the tree line. I stopped and searched for Ted’s mind, but nothing was there. He was dead, and it had only taken a couple of seconds.

We hid behind one of the forest giants and tried to pull ourselves together. Erin was crying, and I ended up holding her as she cried herself out. “He was one of my only two friends in the world,” she sobbed. “I hate this place! Why, oh why did you bring us here?” She paused in her crying and looked at me with the beginnings of anger in her gaze.

Frank stepped up and put his hand on my shoulder, “It was too fast. None of us saw it coming, Erin. It was just Ted’s time, I guess. We’ve faced death many times, protecting you and in battle. This was so fast. It was a good way to go. I don’t think he had time to suffer.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t sense the thing,” I said. “It had next to no mental presence. It was just like a frog or maybe a crocodile and so fast! We can’t cross the river here. We’ve got to find somewhere shallow and not very wide.” Whistle nodded in agreement at this last thought.

It took us some time to regain our composure. When we did, we moved downstream toward what I thought was a dam. It was rough going, and it wasn’t helped by the sadness we all felt at the loss of Ted. Even Whistle seemed depressed. His naturally buoyant nature usually made him the best of companions, but now he was downcast and quiet. After he’d processed the event for a while, he told us, “I sad. You humans are my friends, and I liked Ted. Dis is a bad place for us all. We got to get off dis planet as soon as we can.” He paused, then added, “I want Ted back.”

Erin had recovered enough to comfort him a little, putting her hand on his shoulder while she said, “We all want him back, but his spirit has gone on now. Maybe he’ll watch over us from wherever he is.”

The little Sunny seemed to take some comfort in her words and livened up enough that we started to make better time. He’d been so down that his steps had slowed until he was barely moving, and we hadn’t the heart to try and speed him up.

We finally came to a clearing where there were a large number of stumps. They looked for all the world like a beaver had felled the trees, and that strengthened my belief that we were approaching a dam. I didn’t know if the trees had been dropped by the creature that had taken Ted or something else, but I kept my anti-matter rifle ready just in case. However, nothing bothered us as we threaded through the field of stumps and passed through a narrow lane between some larger trees. At the end of the lane was the dam.

It extended across the water and had a well-defined animal trail across the top of the structure. We set out across and made good time crossing. As we walked, I noticed a slight ripple in the water, paralleling us, but I didn’t mention it to the others. I just kept my rifle in the ready position, with the muzzle pointing roughly at the ripple. Nothing came of it, and we weren’t attacked. We reached the end of the dam, climbed down a steep jumble of logs, and re-entered the forest on the far side of the river, following the same game trail.

In a mile or so, we came out of the trees onto a long, sloping veldt that climbed towards a high range of hills or small mountains that were probably twenty miles away. We kept up a quick pace, and by the time the sun went down, we’d approached them closely enough to become entangled in a welter of hills and rocks. We continued walking in the long twilight towards an apparent pass over the mountains.

Erin finally moaned and said, “I can’t walk another step. I’ve got to stop here and rest, or I’m just going to collapse.”

I mentally reprimanded myself for forcing her to walk the last couple of miles. I’d been subliminally aware that she was exhausted, but my mind kept dwelling on things that I might have done differently so that we wouldn’t have lost Ted.

The same hot wind was still blowing as we made a camp, sheltered between two huge boulders that rested on each other. The crack we were in was deep, and I judged that the mystery beast of last night might not be able to reach us if it or one of its relatives showed up. I figured that the one from last night was probably too injured to travel much, but there still might be more of them around or other dangers that we were completely unaware of.

It was a long and restless night. Several times, I was awakened by my wards being probed. I’d set up the same type of wards that I used around our cabin back on Earth, and they seemed to work, but some of the local creatures kept coming around and moving closer to our location than I appreciated. I guessed they were just curious, but they might have been trying for an easy meal, too. They moved into the warded area and then retreated as the sense of unease from the wards hit them. The constant