To The Stars

  Still, they were kind to her. They gave her food and were patient. They allowed their children to snuggle up to her and they gave her gifts. Kathleen looked at the spear the boy had given her. She would rather have her coveralls back. Out of modesty, she tied two pelts together and fashioned a brassiere top. It held her ample breasts securely and made her feel a little less exposed. The tribe laughed at her new clothing, but Kathleen didn't care, she felt better. After all, they had fur covering their bodies.

  After having food and while the sun slipped behind the mountains to the west, a large fire was built outside the cave. The boys sat behind two hollow logs and began to beat a rhythm. The children chanted in unison and started to dance. The women joined in, pulling Kathleen in among them. She stamped her feet, mimicking the others as they danced in a circle around both her and the fire. On cue, the drumming stopped and everyone stopped chanting. Kathleen was caught in mid-stride.

  The old man rose and stood with Kathleen beside the fire. Then he began to talk. None of it made sense to Kathleen, but she was pretty sure that all the pomp and ritual had something to do with her. She found some solace in the fact that a meal had just been consumed. But then again, maybe it was just an appetizer. Maybe she was still the main course.

  *

  The old Bedoran looked at his audience. They all stared back at him with rapt attention. He pointed his gnarled tail at Kathleen. "As you all know, we have a stranger among us. Through its actions, it has shown that it is not an animal and not an enemy. The law says that if this creature can show its worth to the tribe, it should be called Bedoran."

  Everyone shouted. Arai pounded on his drum. Grandfather waved his tail for quiet.

  "That is why we have the ritual of inclusion. If this she-creature can survive a night in the forest, and find its way back, she may remain with the tribe."

  Again, another shout went up.

  "If the spirits of the forest protect her, if she is fit enough, I ask you all, as the eldest Bedoran, do you accept her inclusion?"

  Arai spoke up first in the affirmative. A few others followed.

  "So be it," the old man said. He turned to Kretin and asked for the crystal. Kretin gave it to him and the old man fished it out of its leather pouch. As before, he put the crystal in a sling and dangled it over the fire. After a moment, he pulled the sling away and the crystal stayed where it was, spinning in the air, two feet over the fire. Light shot out as it spun. Everybody, including Kathleen, watched in amazement.

  "See the power," the old man said. "May the power go with the strange one and watch over her." He turned to the floating stone and scooped it up with a large wooden spoon. The end of the spoon burst into flame. He held it aloft for all to see. "Be happy with the forest spirits." He intoned.

  Everyone repeated the words of the old man. The drums started up again and the tribe began to dance once more. Their feet stamped the ground and shook the fire. Embers floated into the darkening sky like fireflies.

  Arai and Kretin in turn approached Kathleen and dressed her in the gifts they had given her. Kretin snuck his tail into Kathleen's hand and gently pulled her away from the fire toward the trail that led to the forest. The rest of the tribe stopped at the ledge. Kretin tugged Kathleen along the path.

  Well, Kathleen thought, whatever's the worst thing that can happen is about to happen. She gripped the spear she carried and pulled away from Kretin's grip. Kretin turned around and urged Kathleen to follow. Kathleen didn't quite know what to do, but she was definitely afraid to follow.

  She looked at the primitive in front of her. It was the same male who had brought her to this place. It was about the same height as herself whenever it rose from its habitual stoop. Probably weighed about the same too. She thought about using the spear on it but changed her mind when a voice suddenly barked from behind her.

  It was the old one.

  "Wait for me," he said to Kretin. "You can not do this correctly without me along." He walked by Kathleen and deftly took her spear as he passed. "I will walk in front, Kretin, you walk in back. These old eyes can still see in the dark."

  The old one led the way down the trail. Kretin stood behind Kathleen, so close it made her uncomfortable. Each time she started to slow or wander off the trail, he was right there. He never touched her. All he did was stand as close as he could without actually touching her. It was eerie how fast he could move.

  They came to the stream and crossed it in the light of the rising moon. Kathleen wondered again if she was about to be killed. A sacrifice to a god by a primitive race of creatures nobody ever heard of. What a way to go.

  The trees loomed ahead. The path continued up a slope and into the forest. As the small group entered the redwoods, another figure, unseen and smaller than the others, darted up the hill behind them.

  *

  From Blane's perspective, the confines of his compartment had grown from a fuzzy background to a hard, real space that had quickly become too small. The straitjacket was not uncomfortable. His mind was intact and clearer than it had been in years. He listened to his receiver implants and heard Nadine hailing the alien vessel. There were no other signals.

  He briefly wondered what was happening elsewhere and remembered that Kathleen was gone. Immediately, the hunger for data rose within him. He shut his eyes and attempted to shut his mind as well. He was partially successful. Enough so that he began to think about how to get loose so he could find a terminal and break into the ship's computer. That would give him some relief. The immediate problem was the straitjacket.

  His arms were crossed over his chest and bound by means of a strap that secured one arm to the other. The strap could only be reached from the back. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was an adequate device for tying up a man.

  Blane lay on his back. He raised his knees to his chest and worked the strap down his back to his hips. It was tight, but he managed to get it over his buttocks. Dragging it over his feet was even easier. After that, he simply pulled the jacket over his head.

  He tossed the garment aside and it floated into a corner. The hunger rose again and he glanced at the data terminal. He didn't have to try it to know he was locked out. The only way was to approach Fagen and talk his way back in. It wouldn't be easy. Blane had never had to ask for anything in his life.

  *

  On the bridge, Harry tensely watched the approach of the alien shuttle. It closed to within a thousand meters, then 500, then 200. At 50 meters it stopped and parked beside the Magellan. It was a small craft with navigation lights fore and aft as well as above and below. The nose, which Harry assumed housed the cockpit, was streamlined with airfoils spreading out from the tip all the way to the tail. There were no windows. At least nothing that he could see. A hump on top of the nose was large enough to house either an array of antennas or an observation post. If it wasn't for the greenish glow to the exhaust, the drive systems looked almost conventional.

  "What are they doing?" Nadine wondered aloud.

  "Checking us out," said Bonner.

  "Hail it again," ordered Fagen.

  "I just did."

  "Again, please."

  Nadine gave another radio call. As before, there was no response. Nadine shrugged. "Told you so."

  "Shouldn't we move away?" Bonner suggested.

  "No," Fagen replied, "let's let them have a good look at us."

  The ship remained where it was, silent and unmoving. There was no indication of life. Harry tried to make something of the craft design. Perhaps it was an unmanned robotic vehicle. Harry suggested the possibility to Bonner.

  "Could be, but it's pretty large for a drone. It's certainly big enough to house anything short of an elephant."

  Their conversation was cut short when a beam of light sprang from the hump on the nose of the alien craft. It cut across the short expanse of space and played across the hull of the Magellan pausing as it ran across the Magellan's complex of antennas. A sudden burst of static caused Nadine to tear her headset
from her ears.

  "Wow! Static burst nearly put my ears offline!"

  The beam of light moved away from the antennas and played across the cockpit, sending rays of light through the ports. The light searched and probed. It would rest for a moment at a particular place and then move on as if in search of something. Quite suddenly, it went out.

  "What now?" Nadine asked.

  Nobody said anything and the alien shuttle showed no indication of moving off. Something snaked its way out of the side of the spacecraft and drifted toward the Magellan. It appeared to be a thin line, a wire or cable that stretched out and wormed its way across the empty space between the two craft.

  "Whatever it is, it's getting closer." Bonner said in an alarmed voice.

  Harry watched. It wasn't his duty to make suggestions concerning the ship, so he had to stop himself from asking Fagen why they didn't avoid the thing that moved toward them. Fagen calmly sat at his position and watched the line stretch ever closer to the Magellan.

  Bonner was just about to ask how close they were going to allow it to get when the thing shot forward the last few feet and attached itself to the hull with an audible clank.

  Nadine turned to Fagen and railed at him. "We could've moved away while we had the chance! But no, we had to sit here because of your scientific curiosity!"

  "Take it easy," commanded Fagen, "check your instruments." Nadine huffed and turned back to her board.

  "We have aberrant electro-magnetic signals pulsing through the hull. They're coming from that ship, there's no doubt about it. What are we going to do about it?"

  "For the present, nothing."

  Nadine had reached the limit of what she could take. "Are you crazy?" She looked at Fagen with contempt. "If you want to risk your life, go right ahead, but don't take the rest of us down with you! Kathleen's gone, Doris is dead. What's it going to take?"

  Nonplussed, Fagen retorted, "I'll take your comments under consideration."

  "That's just not good enough," Nadine said as she rose from her position.

  "Sit down, Nadine," said Bonner. "This isn't doing us any good."

  "Neither is just sitting here."

  "What would you have us do?" Fagen asked.

  "Get the hell out of here. We've done our job, we've earned our bonuses, now let's just leave!"

  Harry squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Nadine, we have actual contact with an advanced race for the first time in human history. Don't you see the opportunity here?"

  "We've got enough data already," she argued. "We can't sift through it fast enough. Let's take what we've got and go!"

  "Perhaps you need rest, Nadine. Would you prefer spending the rest of your shift in your quarters?"

  Nadine glared at Fagen. Without another word, she angrily settled back into her seat and strapped herself down. She stared at her monitor in silence.

  A voice came from the control room hatchway.

  "What's going on?"

  They all turned away from their monitors and looked at Blane.

  "What are you doing here?" asked Bonner.

  "Well," said Blane, sounding in control of himself, "I thought you might need some help."

  Fagen eyed the wirehead suspiciously. "How are you feeling, Bart?"

  Blane drifted over to a vacant position. "Not too bad. Sure would like to plug into the ship's computer."

  "Can you stay calm enough? We've got a touchy situation here. I don't need any more static at the moment." Fagen shot Nadine a glance.

  "I'm okay, just let me into the computer. Okay? Please?"

  As smart as Blane was, his emotional development lagged far behind his intellectual abilities. Harry didn't know what Fagen would do. Could they depend on the young genius? One thing was sure, Blane could soak up information at a rate far faster than any other crewmember. That was why Fagen had recruited him in the first place. If Blane didn't start raving again, the team could use him.

  "Sit down," said Fagen. Harry got up and let the wirehead take the co-commander's seat.

  "Where's Doris?" asked Blane as he strapped himself down and plugged himself into the ship's computer. "Ah, that's better," he said.

  Harry began to tell Blane about the events that had transpired, but Nadine snapped at him, interrupting him.

  "Don't tell him that. You'll just set him off again."

  "Don't tell me what?"

  Nadine glared. Harry shrugged. "Doris is dead. Killed on an EVA to the alien ship. An alien shuttle has attached itself to our hull..."

  Blane shut his eyes and completed the sentence for Harry. "...and we are now being probed by electro-pulses."

  "What else, Blane?" Fagen asked. "What else can you tell me?"

  "Ah, the pulses have avoided the life support routines. They've located our databases and are browsing through the libraries."

  "Don't let 'em do that," said Bonner.

  "Too late. They're out of there. Now they've moved on to our sensory systems."

  "Can you communicate with them?"

  "I don't know. I'll try." Blane did nothing noticeable. His eyes remained closed and his expression was unchanged."

  "Uh, got something here."

  "What is it?"

  Blane didn't answer immediately. Tension grew on the bridge as the others waited.

  "Strange," he whispered. "Their computers control the probe. Something odd about their network. I don't know. They're probing, exploring the Magellan."

  "What do they want?"

  "I don't know. Just a minute." Blane gripped the arm rests on his chair and opened his eyes. "Contact broken," he declared.

  "Detect any hostility?" Fagen asked.

  "No, they're exploring. Trying to figure us out."

  "Why don't they answer our radio signals then?"

  "I don't know." Blane looked thoughtful. It was obvious he had come across something he didn't understand. A rare event for the young genius. "Their neural nets are fascinating. So fast. Infinite feedback, practically simultaneous."

  "How can that be? That would defy the laws of physics."

  "As far as we know," added Bart. "Apparently not, as far as they know."

  "The thing's moving off," Bonner reported.

  The commander turned back to his monitor. "Nadine, begin checking data integrity."

  "That's gonna take..."

  "I don't want to hear it, Nadine. Just do it." The navigator turned back to her console in a huff. Fagen didn't seem to notice. "Bart, if you can keep your wits about you, I'd like an analysis from you on the alien probe. Bill, back us off another 5000 meters."

  Harry again looked down at the partially deciphered message. The few words he had managed to translate did little to reveal the remainder of the message. It bothered Harry. It was something he should have been able to guess, but so far all his attempts had failed. Then, quite suddenly, it came to him. Although there were still plenty of words missing, he knew what the message said: like a sign telling intruders to beware, it was a warning to stay away. No trespassing, it said.

  *

  The soft forest floor muffled Kathleen's footsteps. It was dark and quiet, like walking through a cathedral. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and she almost lost sight of the old man. Kathleen was scared. Not of the forest and all the strange things that dwelt there, but of what she feared might happen to her there. She thought about breaking away and making a run for it. Where would she go? The way the younger Bedoran moved, she knew escape was impossible. Besides, this was their home. Kathleen, on the other hand, had been there something short of three days. If they wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have a chance.

  Dejected, she followed the old man. They walked for a long time. Kathleen's blistered feet began bothering her and she slowed a little. Kretin was right there at her shoulder so close Kathleen could feel his breath on her back. Seeing that Kretin had never set eyes on a toothbrush and, according to Bedoran custom, washed only once a month, he didn't smell very good. Kathleen continued along and
tried to ignore her feet and the primitive's odor.

  The old man finally slowed, then stopped and took a good look around. Kretin followed suit. Satisfied there was no immediate danger lurking in the shadows, the old man turned and faced Kathleen. Kretin moved to his side.

  "Well," said Kathleen, "I guess this is it."

  The old man looked at her for a long, questioning second, then said to Kretin. "I do believe the creature thinks we are going to kill it."

  "And waste the meat?"

  "Never mind." Facing Kathleen, he said, "I give you this staff..." He handed the spear to the woman. "...to protect against the terrors of the night. I pass the strength of the Bedorans to you and pray that the forest spirits grant you safe passage back to haven."

  With that, both Bedorans took a step backward. The old man raised his hand. In his palm he held the crystal. As Kathleen watched, the stone began to glow. It flashed briefly and temporarily blinded her. By the time she recovered, both males were gone.

  She frantically looked around. No sign, no sound of anything. It was as if the two aborigines had never been there.

  Chapter 22

  Out of all the scenarios she had imagined, being stranded in a dark forest wasn't one of them. Kathleen sat down and rubbed her feet. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. She was alive but she didn't know where she was or which way to go. Stranded on an uncharted planet and forced to wear Monte Carlo swimwear by stone-age primates.

  The forest was dark and quiet. The natural sounds of the woods played havoc with Kathleen's imagination. She peered into the darkness. What to do? She considered building a fire, then thought maybe it would attract wild animals. There was nothing to build a fire with anyway. For a brief moment, panic welled up within the young woman. She took a deep breath and brought herself under control. At this point, her options were few. She could stay where she was and become the next meal for a hungry alien carnivore, or she could do something for herself. She got to her feet and headed in what she hoped was a southerly direction.

  Kathleen reasoned that the team would return to the same area, probably to the same clearing, to look for her. That was where she decided to go. The problem was the forest floor was so dark it was impossible to guess which direction to go. Ten minutes of wandering and stumbling in the dark got her nowhere. Somehow, she needed to get her bearings. If she could see the sky, she might be able to figure out which way to go.