James Scotson - Planets Falling

“It’ll never happen Bets. I know you fancy him and he’s not responding. What can I do about that?”

Bets picks up her sack. “Come on. We’re losing daylight.”

Theo and Bets have beaten an impressive trail down to the shuttle. Travel goes easily, although it’s spent in sullen silence. The shuttle’s barely visible under a gargantuan drift — a small tunnel carved by Theo and Bets leads to the hatch. Bets pauses before crawling in. “Be careful. That tree’s still overhead and may fall.”

“Thanks Bets.” I say cautiously. It would be awful to freeze to death, trapped in that cramped, artificial space.

The interior of the shuttle’s nearly unrecognizable. Some animal used it as a nest — leaves, twigs, fur, and scat are littered everywhere. A musky, cloying funk clings to us. “You don’t get used to the smell, Amy. I think something died here, but I can’t find it. Let’s gather the goods and get out.”

I think of the magnificent cities of our ancestors, overtaken by nature. I imagined it’d take years for decay to set in. The shuttle’s dilapidated condition shows me that earth can consume even the most foreign and formidable things in no time at all.

We gather the explosives from small crates in the back half of the broken vessel. I’m careful about sticking my hands into the dark recesses without shining a light there first. There’s no telling what might bite off a chunk of my finger. I wonder whether the shuttle harbors pests from other worlds — not just from earth.

With our packs brimming with deadly munitions, we crawl out into the bitter night, dark moths emerging from a white cocoon. We illuminate our path with tiny head lamps. Even with the bright bluish-white light, the path’s difficult to differentiate from the pale snow and ice reflecting back at us. I slip and Bets stoops down to help me. “Thanks” I say. “About earlier—”

“You’re right Marksman. It’s my problem and I’ve no business dragging you into it. Theo saved me many years ago. At first, it was loyalty and then it turned into something else. I’m a strong girl — way past time for me to shake it off. I respect your position.”

We struggle up the path, our breath escaping in billows of steam. Sweat sops my skin under my cloak. I want to shed my wrap, but know that I’d freeze for certain. We’ve only a mile to go when I sense a caribou watching us from the trees. I’m most certainly conscious, but I see us from its vantage. “That’s odd,” I huff.

“What?” Bets stops and sets down her pack. She’s exhausted.

“See that caribou over in the distance?”

She squints and then shines her light into the forest. “Barely.” The beast doesn’t move, but the light blinds me.

“Ow, stop shining that light at us.”

“Are you telling me that you can occupy that buck?”

“Yes, and this may be helpful.” I coax the creature to us. He stops, calm as the winter air. The heat and musk radiating from his body’s intoxicating. “Here, put your sack on him.”

“Gladly.”

I do the same and the three of us make good time up the remainder of the path.

As we crest the ridge, our lights are no longer needed. Two lamps glow on the sign outside the lodge. A few of the building’s windows burn with cold, artificial light. “Looks as if Gorian’s tapped into the power source,” Bets says.

Neither of us is overjoyed.

Gorian’s belly seems to have expanded in the last few hours. “Welcome back ladies. What do you have for me?”

We unload our sacks to Gorian’s mounting joy. The building’s warm, with hot air blowing out of holes in the floor. Iggy’s sitting in the corner, very still. His skin’s slicker than usual. Gorian notices our concerned looks. “Iggy’s gone into a torpor — a deep sleep. I wore him out today. We just need to keep him moist and he’ll survive. Iggy doesn’t need to eat in that condition. However, he’s quite worthless to us, except maybe as a footstool.”

Theo appears from the lodge’s kitchen. “Hey you two. You seem hearty — what’s your secret?”

Bets and I exchange knowing glances. We’ll tell him tomorrow. My bond with the buck is different than that with the magpie. I feel him constantly — the sensation is not one of dominance but of collaboration. He’s willing to help us and I am grateful.

Morning arrives too quickly. Theo wakes me with a shove. I dread the trip, although the buck will help us. I have but to search for a moment with my mind and find the beast in the woods nearby chewing happily on leaves. Gorian and Bets are still sleeping as Theo and I tumble outside. The temperature’s dropped since last night. My joints ache in protest.

The caribou appears out of the woods. Theo grabs his rifle and aims.

“No,” I shout.

“Amy?” He lowers the weapon, staring in disbelief as the animal walks to me.

“Add caribou to my list of creatures I can live in.” I rub the buck’s snout and feel a wave of pleasure. The caribou lowers his head, his considerable antlers nearly whacking me in the face.

The walk to the shuttle’s mercifully short. As we approach the wreckage, the caribou snorts and goes no further. Theo sniffs the air and lowers his rifle. He motions for me to be silent. We crawl through the snow and see a large, furry mass near the entrance of the shuttle. A massive bear roots silently through the underbrush — strange given that it should be sleeping deep in its den. I try to penetrate its mind like I can do so easily with the buck, with no success.

“Amy, look at its fur. Have you ever seen anything like it?”

The brown fur seems wet, dripping with thick mucilage. My stomach turns — the animal’s dead and its been turned by the alien fog. Apparently, humans are not the only creatures that can be animated by Thresh’s maligned power.

I whisper, “Theo, its the fog. This is how Thresh found us. She’s using dead forest creatures as advanced scouts. The bear probably found the shuttle weeks ago and tipped her off.”

He mouths a profanity and takes aim at the beast. He fires and it turns, apparently unscathed, but very angry. I lower my weapon and we both begin firing rapidly. The animal tries to rush at us, but our volleys are too much. It falls back, torn to twitching shreds by shrapnel. Brown muck stains the snow — no blood.

“Holy hell,” Theo exclaims. “How many you suppose she’s got out here?”

“No telling. I’m guessing very few, given that we’ve not been attacked before. Still, we need to be careful. We know all too well that the human corpses are on their way.”

The interior of the shuttle’s particularly oppressive as the sunlight warms it. I fight to suppress my gags. We gather all the rifles and small arms. Etch seems like a peaceful being, but he made sure to load his shuttle to the gunnels with firepower. We’ve fashioned saddlebags to the caribou and load him up. With his help, we’ll only have one more trip to make. Once we’re back in fresh air, Theo breathes deeply. “Do you think the bear’s responsible for the stink in there?”

“Of course. I just realized that Thresh probably had the thing take inventory of all the weapons. I sure hope she isn’t smart enough to anticipate all of our actions.”

“We’ve got to accept the risk.” Theo stares at the path and motions me forward, smiling optimistically as usual. “Lasses first.”

The trip up the hill’s uneventful. That afternoon, Bets, Theo, the buck, and I complete the final scavenge run in record time and we’re done. I never want to see the ravaged shuttle or the dead bear again. We spend the evening warming our frozen feet by the fire. Gorian’s working on her computer intently. She shouts in triumph as a gentle hum vibrates the room.