Humans Still
by Atlas
Copyright 2016 Atlas
English translation 2016 Ingrid Wolf
Cover art & illustrations 2016 Natalia Nismianova
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Humans Still
Once the wind tore apart the clouds, the local sun peeped out dimly. The southern slope of the crater blazed up, reflecting the light, hoarfrost sparkled on hairy stems. The scattered shadows formed into a distinct shape, betraying a cryotropus lurking in the thicket. Amazing camouflage, Toivo thought. A moment ago it was completely indiscernible, and now all out here.
Smoothly and slowly, he pulled the sling of the freezer hanging muzzle-down on his back. As his palm touched the ribbed jacket, he jerked the weapon into his armpit and froze, keeping his eyes on the animal. The cryotropus slammed its jaws shut and cocked its head in a birdlike way. Small hairs on its skin gleamed. Now that the whole of it came out, Toivo’s gloved palms became a bit sweaty. He had time to think he was too conspicuous in his thermal insulating spacesuit before the cryotropus jumped.
A shot, a roll, a heavy blow to the ground nearby. So fast! Spurt to the side, turn around, fire and fire. A hit? A jump, another jump. Fast! Don’t let it press you down. Don’t get your feet tangled… Hey, what’s that?
Both froze as if on command, appraising the new threat. Dashing down the slope was a cargo platform, its engine howling like hell. Sweeping off the brittle shrubs, it rushed straight at them. Boom! A signal rocket was up, opening a sparkling dome overhead. The small fountains of falling pieces of ice went dancing around, the ringing shower pattered on his helmet and shoulders. The cryotropus leapt over the rocky crest in a single move. Toivo fell prone, squeezing his body under the narrow stone ledge.
When he got out of the slit, the platform stood nearby. The icy rain stopped, the stirred hoarfrost was settling. A light veil of vapor swayed over the thickets. The newcomers stood in the open cockpit, glancing around watchfully. In their snow-covered spacesuits, they looked like two businesslike snowmen.
Toivo smirked at their bellicose poses. The pass into the cavern was right beneath them, filled by the fresh talus. They could hardly notice his smile through the blind visor, though. That was the downside of thermal insulation.
Crunching on the thin ice that strewed all around, he came up to the platform. Its upper edge was as tall as his chest. “Toivo. Patrol Service,” he introduced himself, sweeping the hoarfrost off his chest badge.
“Morgan,” the driver replied briefly.
Did he really hear a female voice? The inter-helmet signal was terrible in hollows.
“Loktev. Land surveyor.” The other one saluted with a flare gun. “Bad hunt?”
“Not really,” Toivo replied absent-mindedly, looking over their cargo compartment. A few standard boxes with equipment, food containers… some large thing covered with thermal insulating cloth.
“Not really?” the land surveyor asked. “Hey, what if it comes back?”
“Local wildlife avoids humans.”
“Oh yes,” Morgan said sarcastically. “We saw it.” The voice was definitely female.
“I just scared it off,” Toivo explained patiently but she already turned away and sat down to the control levers.
“Get on.” Loktev lent him a hand. Moving a couple of boxes, he made space near the board, then checked himself. “Wait. Did you come on foot? The base is twenty miles away.”
“My platform’s over there. In the next hollow. Got its wheel into a crack.”
“May we pull it out?”
It would be good to drive it back, Toivo thought. No surprised and scared eyes meeting him, no chasing the orderly officer all day long begging for the prime mover. No joking in the cafeteria either. The base technicians were ill-famous for their love for gibing. But these novices were unlikely to cope. He’d have to do everything by himself, and goodness knows how much time it would take. “No. Not worth the trouble. You are loaded, and the soil is… unstable there. And we have no time.”
“Oh, forget it! We’ll get it out in a flash. You hear, Morgan? The hollow on the left.”
“I hear,” she replied briefly as before. “Hold on.”
Driving onto the saddle, they stopped. The planetoid was curving up towards the horizon. Pitted with lots of craters, it struck the imagination. Glimmering over large chasms were the glassy columns of vapor; a random ray making its way through the clouds painted them in fascinating colors. Here and there, as far as the eye could reach, were those flashing rainbow cones.
“The navigation’s pinging,” Morgan complained. Indifferent to the landscape, she bent over the console, tapping her space glove impatiently.
“The ground marker’s signal disappeared,” Toivo sighed. “As did the marker.”
“That’s a miracle!” Loktev admired. “Go on, Morgan. I can lay the return course from memory if needed. We can’t get lost.”
Without answering, she looked around and drove the platform ahead, along the crest. A bit faster than it was reasonable. Toivo fastened his grip on the board.
“Follow my tracks”, he stirred anxiously before the slope. Morgan drove straight as if she didn’t hear.
Loktev gave a soft hem, tried to show something with gestures, but then a violent lurch came to the platform, almost sending him out over the board.
“Here,” Morgan declared.
Toivo eyed the slope and gave a mental whistle. His contract was long enough to get him out of the habit of being reckless, but each new reinforcement brought one or two daredevils. They had to be instructed on the spot. “You should never do it again,” he said, looking in the mirror of her helmet. “We do not risk in vain here.”
“Stop commanding!” Morgan snapped back furiously. “We are helping you, not the other way round.”
Women usually reacted calmer than men, but the three years’ flight did strange things to some people. Toivo glanced at Loktev – he was a silent statue, no move to step in. She’s not his girlfriend, a warming thought flashed. Angry with himself for this sudden feeling, he tried to explain. “You are new here. So I ask you to follow my command.”
Morgan did not move. “Or what?” she asked with defiance.
Toivo shrugged and took at the towline. Loktev turned away, muttered, and went dragging another tow to hook it. “Hey,” he asked a bit later, sitting down for a brief rest, “could it be that monster that stole your marker?”
Toivo imagined a cryotropus dragging the heavy orange cube. How could it take hold? What with? “Are you asleep?” Morgan asked venomously from the speakers. Toivo tried to guess what a woman with such a voice could look like, then remembered himself, checked the towline fastening once again and commanded the start, waving his hand. Morgan – what a wonder! – waved back at him and ran the engine. The tow stretched. The platform shuddered but stayed in place.
“Look out!”
Morgan drove a bit ahead and engaged the reverse gear, speeding up rapidly. A lurch! The tow endured, but the stuck platform suddenly sank and tilted to the side, raising its front rollers clumsily. The ground around it went rough, rising in waves and falling into an invisible chasm. The dense curtain of dust hid the crater.
“Hold!” they yelled as one. The engine roared, the stretched tow stopped the machine’s sliding down.
Toivo took a few wary steps towards the platform, watching them closely. Gaining confidence, he came up to the board and peered from the side, trying to see the chasm edge. Hesitating for a while, Loktev joined him, trampling the ground down with suspicion. Morgan stopped the
engine, jumped down easily and strolled at them along the stretched tow, carefree and kicking small pebbles in her way. “What’s there?” she asked composedly, with no hint of embarrassment.
Toivo clenched his teeth. The surface under their feet revived again. The platform rocked, he and Loktev gripped simultaneously at the board. Morgan lost her footing with surprise, gave a brief scream. Everything vanished in the noise and dust of another landslide.
“Morgan!” Loktev shouted. “Morgan, respond!”
He twitched, releasing his grip, but Toivo kneed him and yelled “Hold on!”
The machine jerked, gave a sway and stopped in the shaky balance. “To your platform!” Toivo croaked. “Fast! Get a couple of boxes down. Put one beneath your rollers and drag another here.”
He kept his hands on, moaning with tension, until he saw Loktev nearby. “Put it beneath when I count three”, he commanded and applied the whole of himself, rocking the platform. “One, two, three!”
Gee, it seemed to hold. The packaging container gave a crunch but endured. There was something familiar inside. Toivo wished he could lie down, relax and take a breath. “Stop!” he grabbed the land surveyor who was about to step straight.
Skirting the crater around, they stopped at the edge. Toivo aimed and clapped the safety cable to Loktev’s spacesuit. “Now,” he said harshly. “I don’t know how you got on in the flight, but no more unauthorized activities here.”
Loktev gave a silent