To The Stars

  A sound came from the thing and a panel slid open. To Arai's amazement, people stepped from the craft. He looked closer. Maybe they weren't people. First, they were oddly dressed, obviously from a distant place. Second, they had no tails. What strange looking creatures, Arai thought.

  One of the strange beings turned in Arai's direction and gazed at the trees. Further amazed, Arai saw that it had no fur upon its face. The young Bedoran wondered how they could balance themselves without the aid of a tail.

  There were three of them now. They made odd sounds and looked as if they had never seen trees and grass. Kretin exchanged a bewildered look with his brother.

  "Are they gods?" Arai asked Kretin.

  Kretin shrugged and watched as the beings pulled objects from the craft and placed them upon the ground.

  What were these odd creatures? Arai couldn't imagine. Perhaps they were aligned with the monsters that had killed his father. Without a word, Arai shimmied down the tree and dropped to the ground.

  "What are you doing?" Kretin whispered.

  "Going to take a closer look." He moved closer to the clearing.

  "Come back here," Kretin urged, but Arai ignored his brother's advice.

  Chapter 14

  Kathleen shielded her eyes from the brilliant rays of Miaplacidus. "It's so bright!"

  "Pull down your visor. Miaplacidus is bigger than Sol."

  Harry placed the motion detector on the ground and pulled a seismometer from the storage compartment. He passed the package to Kathleen. She hefted it in the crook of her arms. "Man, this is heavy; but it's nice to be on solid footing again, huh?"

  "It's not so bad." Harry's legs felt like rubber, but he was too embarrassed to admit it. "Edward says we'll adjust quickly," he added.

  "I don't know. I feel tired. This stuff," she looked at the equipment lying on the ground and a waved a hand at it, "it's so heavy."

  Wearing a backpack and bushman's hat, Parker stepped down from the hatch. He skipped the last step, misjudged the extra weight he carried, and stumbled. His hat fell off when he hit the ground. Harry saw he wasn't hurt and carried on, setting up gear.

  "Are you all right?" asked Kathleen.

  The doctor got to his feet and brushed himself off. "Yes. Quite all right. Feels like I'm carrying lead weights. Are you ready?"

  Kathleen motioned at Parker's headset.

  "What is it?" said Parker.

  "Your intercom," Kathleen said, "turn it on."

  "Of course. There. Is that better?"

  Both Kathleen and Harry winced. "Turn down your gain."

  "These damn things get in the way."

  "Fagen says we have to use them."

  "It's not Corporation policy."

  "Doesn't matter. It's Fagen's call."

  "All right. Let's go then."

  Kathleen and the doctor started toward the nearest tree which was, Harry reckoned, about fifty meters away. Keeping an eye on the pair, Harry continued to set up the gear. From inside, Harry heard the sound of a dropped wrench. He looked up into the hatch.

  "Edward? Commander? Do you need some help?"

  "No, dammit!"

  Well, all right. Harry turned away. He couldn't really blame the guy. There they were, first landing on a new planet, and the head man had to work on the vehicle.

  Parker and Kathleen collected samples under the branches of the great tree. To his delight, Parker first found an ant, then something that resembled a beetle. He shared each discovery with Kathleen. "Look at this," he said, "A magnificent specimen."

  "Looks like a poop beetle to me."

  Harry grinned at Kathleen's euphemism and looked at the towering conifer. Big just wasn't the right word. If there weren't so many others just like it, it would have been monumental. But this, this was awe-inspiring. He spied movement among the branches and saw a small creature scamper across a branch. He called to Parker and pointed.

  An animal the size of a housecat jumped from a branch onto the side of the tree and clung to the bark a hundred feet over their heads. It looked something like a opossum except for its two, large unblinking eyes. Harry wondered if it was nocturnal and if the roar of the shuttle's jets might have roused it from its daylight slumber. Clinging upside down, the creature remained where it was, staring at the humans.

  Then, as Harry watched, it changed colors, taking on the same reddish-brown shade as the tree.

  Parker saw it too. "I'm going to take a closer look."

  Harry walked along after him, to lend support, if necessary. The camouflage worked so well, neither Harry nor the doctor could see the animal anymore.

  While Parker started taking videos, Kathleen went to the trunk. "Looks like tree bark," as she pulled off a small piece and put it into a baggie, "except for this spiraling effect. It would be easy to climb." She stepped on one of the circling ridges and tested it to see if it would hold her weight.

  Parker spied another one of the opossums and excitedly turned his camera toward it.

  Harry watched until he was satisfied that the things didn't offer an immediate threat and went back to the shuttle. He pulled an antenna out of the motion sensor, connected a power feed from the shuttle and turned it on. When it came online, a set of coordinates appeared on its display.

  Harry frowned and re-ran the routine.

  Parker stopped his picture gathering for a moment. "What's the matter?"

  "Uh, just a minute." Harry punched at the keys. "I don't know if this thing's working right."

  Parker looked around. "Where's Kathleen?"

  "I don't know, she was beside you just a minute ago. Kathleen!" Kathleen answered as she stepped around the tree. "You don't have to yell. I'm right here."

  Harry relaxed. "Don't wander off like that."

  "I didn't. I was right there."

  Parker frowned and went back to his work. "Keep us posted."

  Kathleen stepped behind the tree again.

  The sensors emitted another alarm. The monitor correctly indicated a form behind the giant tree. For an instant, the display showed two forms, one slightly smaller than the first located up in the tree. Then the display scrambled and both forms disappeared altogether.

  Harry turned the motion sensor off. "Well, it's not working at all," he said to no one in particular.

  He couldn't see Kathleen, so he walked toward the tree and rounded the trunk to the opposite side.

  It was cool in the shade. The ground was soft, like a carpet, because it was covered with a build-up of pine needles that muted his steps. Kathleen stood with her back to him. She stooped to look at something while simultaneously scribbling notes onto an electronic pad.

  "What did you find?"

  She jumped and turned around. "You surprised me."

  "Sorry, didn't mean to. What are you looking at?"

  She pointed toward the base of the tree. "Fungus. Rather like a common tree fungus found on earth. Here, let me get a sample." She bent at the waist and picked a small portion of the growth.

  "There," she said, straightening, "that's plenty."

  "You know, it's not safe to walk off by yourself."

  "Harry, the shuttle is on the other side of this tree!"

  "I know, it's just that we shouldn't get out of one another's sight."

  She smiled. "Why Harry, that's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

  In that moment, Harry found her incredibly attractive. He stepped closer. "Before meeting you I thought all botanists were little old ladies. I'm sure glad I was wrong."

  She smiled and picked up a pine cone as large as her head. "Look at the size of this!"

  "Come on, we need to get back. Fagen will be concerned."

  "All right, but I want to take this with me."

  Harry looked at the huge pine cone and compared it to another lying on the ground a few feet away. "This one looks like it's in better shape."

  "You're right, I'll take that one instead. Thanks."

  *

  When the tw
o creatures left, Arai dropped to the ground and picked up the discarded pine cone. He sniffed it, smelling the scent left by the strangers, then with powerful hands, he broke it into two pieces. He picked the pine nut out, took a bite, and peeped around the tree.

  *

  Fagen waited for Harry and Kathleen in the shade beneath the shuttle. He didn't look happy. He watched them as they approached, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression unchanging. Parker looked up from his worktable. "There they are."

  "Never allow anyone to be alone," he started, expressing his points by jabbing his finger. "One person always accompanies another and we always tell each other what we're doing. We don't know what's here yet. Harry, you know better than that. And Kathleen, quit distracting Harry. You've both got plenty to do."

  He took off his standard-issue Corporation cap and rubbed his face, then noticed his hands were dirty from working on the hydraulic system.

  "Look," he said, "I don't like to chew anybody out. I'm not good at it, so make sure I don't have to do it again, okay?"

  Both Harry and Kathleen nodded.

  "I'm testing the system under pressure now. It'll take at least an hour. Harry, would you take soil samples? Kathleen, you can go as far as you want as long as it's not out of sight of the shuttle. Do you understand?"

  "I said I did."

  When Fagen went back inside, Parker grinned, openly amused. Kathleen was non-plussed; she laughed and commented on everything she saw as she scribbled her notes. In less than two minutes, she was back at the edge of the forest.

  Parker studied his instrument readings. "Hmm. Lots of residual radiation here."

  Harry didn't say anything. Instead, he inserted a length of piping into the mini-rig and jacked an open-ended, durasteel pipe into the ground. By the time he was ready to pull the sample out, Fagen had returned. To everyone's relief, he announced that the shuttle would fly again.

  "Minor repairs. Let's get on with it. Let's get that soil sample."

  Fagen and Harry watched the jack pull the pipe from the ground in rhythmic strokes. The air from the pneumatic pump circulated and was released with each stroke, exhaling with a sigh on each cycle. Kathleen said something to Fagen.

  "What? Didn't hear you."

  "I said, I want to go a hundred feet into the forest, just right over there." She pointed.

  Fagen didn't bother to look. "No." he said.

  "Why not? It's just over there..."

  "No. Not without someone else."

  "All right, then, let Harry go with me."

  Fagen's arms crossed as he faced the young woman. "This isn't a picnic. Harry's busy. I'm busy."

  "Well," Kathleen looked at Parker, "how about if Doc goes with me?"

  Parker looked up from his specimens.

  "Doctor, you want to accompany Ms. Casey on a field trip?"

  "Well, I suppose so."

  "So there," Kathleen said, "that's settled."

  "Not quite. Fifteen minutes. Remember to keep an open channel."

  "Lighten up, Edward. This place is like a park. We've been here, what? An hour? Take a break, have a sandwich."

  "Fifteen minutes," Fagen repeated.

  "Oh, all right." She turned and faced Parker. "Come on Doc, let's take a walk." To please Fagen, they tested their radio comms before walking into the forest. Fagen turned away to help Harry lift the core sample and store it in the shuttle.

  *

  Leading the way around the trunk of a particularly large tree, Kathleen walked ahead of Parker. She was relaxed but filled with the wonder of being the first to set eyes on the virgin planet.

  The doctor started to say something but Kathleen shushed him. "Listen," she whispered. In the distance, a bird called, or at least what Kathleen guessed was a bird. "Let's stop here," she suggested.

  She ducked and walked under a mammoth branch which sagged under its own weight. Parker followed. On the opposite side, she spotted a patch of yellow flowers.

  "Oh, incredible!" She ran to the blossoms and went down on all fours to take a closer look. She took pictures while Parker busied himself making his own collections.

  He looked to the tree and turned his head up. A beam of sunlight briefly blinded him. In the branches the light shined around something, something that appeared to be woven, and then it dropped on him, surrounding him and clinging to him until he stumbled to the ground.

  Kathleen saw it all. She took a step closer as Edward thrashed about on the ground. "Get this off me!" he said with alarm.

  Kathleen's initial concern subsided when she saw he was all right. She kneeled and began to pull the woven vines from the doctor. "Hang on, let me help you."

  Before he could answer, a humanoid creature dropped to the ground not two meters away. It was small, a good foot shorter than Kathleen and it looked simian, bipedal with two arms. A loincloth girdled its waist. Most importantly, it held a spear like it knew how to use it. Its long tail curled up behind, and as the thing looked at Kathleen, it opened its mouth showing strong, white teeth, and large canine incisors.

  Kathleen backed away and whispered into her headset. "Fagen? Can you hear me? We've got trouble here."

  The creature took a step toward her. Kathleen dropped her camera and ran.

  *

  Back at the shuttle, Harry and Fagen pushed the airjeep out of storage. Fagen was about to check out the flight controls when both of them heard Kathleen's call for help. Simultaneously, both men rushed into the forest.

  By the time they reached Parker, Kathleen was nowhere in sight. Fagen helped the doctor extricate himself from the net.

  "What happened?"

  "I don't know exactly. It was so fast. They threw a net on me..." He kicked at the net, now lying harmless on the ground.

  "Who threw a net on you?" Harry asked, looking around.

  "How should I know?"

  "Where did Kathleen go?"

  "That way, I think." Parker pointed in a direction that led deeper into the forest.

  Fagen grimaced and glanced at the ground. Things could go so wrong so quickly. "All right," he said, "it hasn't been but a minute or so. Let's see if we can find her."

  "Maybe I should go back to the shuttle and..."

  "No. You'll remain with us at all times. Everybody stay together. Now let's go find Kathleen."

  *

  She ran between the trees, occasionally tossing a glance behind to see if the creature was still following. She paused behind a tree to catch her breath. Her mouth was dry and her heart pounded wildly. With difficulty, she held her breath and listened. At first, there was nothing, then she heard the unmistakable sound of padded steps coming in her direction. She didn't wait. Taking a big breath, she ran in the opposite direction and didn't stop until she found a protected place between two oversized tree roots.

  Spying a broken tree branch, she grabbed it and broke off a length as long as her arm. Then she wedged herself between the roots and waited. A long minute passed and nothing happened. When Fagen's voice came through her headset, she jumped as if she'd been jabbed.

  "Kathleen? Can you hear me? Where are you?"

  She immediately responded. "I'm here! Something's after me! Help me!"

  "Where are you?"

  "I'm..." She didn't get to complete her sentence. Something tapped her on the back of the head and dislodged her headset. For a moment, she was stunned; stars appeared before her eyes. When the furry creature dropped in front of her it was a bit too much and she fainted.

  Chapter 15

  Harry held the net in his hands. It was woven from reeds that were pounded into long, flat strands, obviously the work of a primitive. For hours, they'd searched in vain for Kathleen. She'd vanished. It was as though the forest had opened up and taken the young woman without leaving a trace.

  As the truth sunk in, Harry felt a rush of frustration and anger. Everything was going so well, now this. Would they be able to locate Kathleen, and would she be all right when they found her?


  The three men silently walked back to the shuttle. Wearily, they gathered under the craft.

  "What are we going to do?" asked Harry.

  Fagen didn't answer, instead he walked to the rear of the craft and inspected the ground for leaking hydraulic fluid.

  Parker gave his opinion. "I think we should get out of here while we still can. We don't know what we're up against..."

  "We're up against aborigines," Harry snapped, "and from the looks of things, not very many at that."

  "They've got weapons."

  "Spears and nets. We've got rifles."

  "Well," Parker said, "what would you suggest? Blast them into submission? Maybe if we did, they'd return Kathleen's body. There's also the small matter of finding her first."

  Harry stood and stepped toward the doctor. "We don't know if she's dead or not. As a matter of fact, there's nothing to lead us to believe she is. So, until we know something for sure, you shut up!"

  "Oh really?" Parker stood and balled his hands into fists.

  "That's enough," said Fagen, stepping between the two men. Harry sat down. Parker glared at him.

  "We're going to take the airjeep up and conduct an orderly search. We'll go as far as the jeep will allow. That should be plenty."

  Parker pointed at the trees. "We won't be able to see through the trees."

  "We'll use the motion sensor. If anything larger than a mouse moves, we'll know it."

  "Can't use the motion sensor -- it's not working right."

  Fagen sighed. "All right. Parker, you stay here -- hole up inside the shuttle and keep your eyes open. Give Nadine a call and tell her what's happened. C'mon Harry." Harry and Fagen pushed the airjeep farther away from the shuttle and climbed inside.

  Fagen quickly went through his pre-flight checks and started the engine. The rotor beat the air and the small vehicle lifted up. The craft was easy to fly and under different circumstances, Harry would have been excited about taking an air tour. But not now.

  Where could she have gone? Even if she was overpowered by natives, how could they have gotten away so quickly? Either they had gone to ground, finding shelter beneath the soil, or they had taken to the trees. Perhaps the trees, that made more sense to Harry. The trees were the largest, most notable living things. The natives would naturally find many uses for the conifers.