Rantëa : Chapter 1

“Zzzkktt. Zzzkktt. Zzzkktt.” The staticky and garbled radio transmission brought Kali slowly back to consciousness. “Zzzkktt. ZZkkktt any-zzzkktt there?” This time when the speakers in her helmet crackled to life Kali could make out a couple of words, somebody was manually calibrating the radio frequencies, though she still couldn’t make out who was speaking. The ringing in her ears made it hard for her to hear.

Groaning in pain, she reached for the buckle that held her to her seat, she found nothing. Opening her eyes slowly she found herself staring up at azure sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds. She rolled herself onto her side and slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees. Immediately the ground began to sway and shift, fighting the urge to vomit Kali managed to get into a seated position. She scooted herself backward until she was leaning against a tall, gnarled tree. The trunk was ugly to look at, black and twisted with giant knots protruding from the surface like giant boils. How long had she been laying sprawled on her back, vulnerable to the elements and any predator that might be lurking about? Kali had just begun pondering her current situation when the radio broke into her thoughts making her jump.

“Hello? Hello? Anybody there? This is Killian. If anybody can hear me, please respond.” He sounded close to panic, and on the verge of tears. Killian was Kali’s twin brother, and she knew she should respond before doing anything else.

“I hear you, Killian. This is Kali.” The silence was so long that Kali began to think that communications had shorted out when the radio fired up again.

“Kali?! My God, I thought you were dead!” She could hear the relief in his voice and judging by the way it broke on the last word she knew that he really had thought that she was dead.

“No. I’m pretty sure I’m alive. What happened? Have you been able to locate anybody else?” She instantly felt stupid for asking, given how he had been on the verge of panic believing he was only one alive.

“No. You’re the only one to answer. So far. As for what happened I’ll tell you when you get here. Can you walk? Where are you anyway?”

Groaning inwardly Kali took stock of her injuries. Despite feeling like she had been runover by a truck, her injuries appeared to be minor. Some scrapes and bruises, a concussion and possibly a sprained wrist were the only physical signs she had sustained any kind of trauma. Her environmental suit had taken a beating though. The suit was new, it had been a birthday gift from Killian and Cameron. They had been out to lunch when they had spotted her at a shop window practically drooling over it. It had cost them four months’ salary to purchase it. Every year they each spoiled each other with extravagant gifts on their birthday, she had purchased Killian a new scanner that was more compact. It had more memory, there was even a tool for taking holo-scans of new plants, animals, and minerals. It would even allow him to name them. The environmental suit was state of the art with built in jump pack, holographic displays, self-tinting face plate, augmented reality weapons interface, and three onboard weapon attachment points allowed her to carry a variety of weapons. It was all black with deep purple accents, though now it was scratched and dented, and in places whole chunks of the suit were gone, the missing face plate was among the most notable.

Good thing the air is breathable she thought wryly. How could the mission go so wrong? The twelve of them were only supposed to take a shuttle to the surface and locate a site suitable for colonization.

 “Kali? You there? Can you walk?” Killian said through the crackling radio

“Uh, yeah. I think so. I hit my head pretty hard, so I’m a bit woozy. It might take me some time to get to you.”

“Okay. I’m not going anywhere. Where are you?”

          Looking around Kali noticed for the first time that she had been laying sprawled in a green field on the side of a mountain. She didn’t see any animals around, not so much as a bee to pollinate the flowers. The flowers were gigantic, almost three feet high and they appeared to be in every hue imaginable. Reaching out and touching the flower nearest her. She noted that the flower petals were as thin as rice paper and each one had an ebony black center that was studded with bright yellow points. Each flower sat atop an emerald-green stem. The leaves were glossy and had sharp nettles along the edges that stuck in the gloves of her environmental suit. Bringing her gloved her hand to her face to inspect the nettles, she discovered that her face-plate wasn’t just missing, it had been shattered. She hadn’t noticed it before, but now that she was focusing on her fingers right in front of her face, she could make out the shattered remains of the tinted glass around the edges of her helmet. Using her other hand, she gently pulled the nettles out of her hand, they stuck like Velcro and pulled away with a gentle pop.

“Killi, it’s going to take me a bit longer than I thought. I’m in a field on the side of a mountain. I would jump, but given the current condition of my suit, I don’t trust the jets on the jump pack to work, let alone hold out. I’ll have to hoof it out of here, wherever here is. Where are you at, coordinates?”

“Umm. I don’t have coordinates. Navigation is out. I’ll send up a flare.”

Scanning her surroundings Kali watched for her brother’s flare signal. Within moments a bright red line blazed up and into the sky off to her right, it lit the sky with a bright red blaze when it exploded at its apex. Kali opened the scanner on the left arm of her environmental suit and a holographic display blinked to life, she was relieved to see that it still worked. Selecting the scanner option, she marked the general location of the flare.

“You got that, Kali? I can send up another one if you want?”

“No, I got it. Looks like you’re not too far away. If I had to guess, I’d say about a two-mile hike.”  If she needed it, she would have her brother send up another signal when she got closer.

“Well, get moving Kali.” There was a pause before he almost whispered, “I don’t like being alone.”

“On my way, stay on the radio, Killi. Your voice will help keep me awake.”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“I don’t know. Anything.”

Killian began chatting away about what life in the new colony would be like, he was even thinking that he would ask Cameron to move here, he had always been attracted to colony life. Kali smiled, her brother was a chatterbox, always had been, and she knew that keeping him talking would keep him occupied and calm.

Resigning herself to the task at hand and using the tree for support, she pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled slightly as a wave of dizziness and nausea threatened to knock her down again. Stretching her arms out to the sides and planting her feet firmly shoulder width apart, she steadied herself. Once she was confident the ground was not going to move out from under her, she braced her hand on the gnarled tree trunk and gained her bearings. Taking a deep breath, she took a tentative step away from the safety of the tree. Her hand still stretched out behind her, she took another step, her fingertips sliding off the trunk and her hand falling to her side, she took another step, then another. Now confident in her footing she set out across the field in the direction of the flare.

Striding across the field Kali looked around. To her left and right the brightly colored flowers covered the ground, their paper-thin tops nodding gently in a slight breeze. Here and there across the field, there was a gnarled, ugly tree with vibrant green leaves, there were even some large rocks that broke through the sea of color. The grass was soft, and muffled the sound of her footsteps, or at least it would have had she been able to hear over her brother’s ramblings. Killi was talking excitedly about some mineral that he had found as she approached the edge of the field. Fearing a drop off she edged cautiously forward. When she was near the edge she dropped to her knees, and placing her hands on the ground, she peered over the edge. The drop was steep, about a hundred feet to the verdant tree tops below. The cliff face was sheer with no sign of foot or hand holds. She crawled back slowly and sat back on her heels looking for another way down. Off to her left she noticed what appeared to be a game trail that ran up to a tree line and headed up the mountain. Carefully she made her way over to the trail, keeping an eye open for any indication of wildlife, Kali backtracked the trail to the tree line in the field. It definitely led up to higher elevations, not the way she wanted to go. Turning, she followed the trail back the way she had come; and sure enough, it wended its way down toward the forest below. Following the trail down from the field, Kali felt defenseless and more than a bit exposed, with any luck the trees would provide some much-needed cover. The trail was steep in places, and more than once Kali found herself slipping and sliding down the trail, or rolling a few feet from misplaced footing. After what seemed like hours, dusty and covered with minor scrapes and abrasions; she finally reached the cover of the trees, and the trail leveled out a bit. It still wound its way down, but it wasn’t nearly as steep. Killi was now arguing with a bird. He described it as a large bird with bright plumage and a vicious looking hooked bill. Apparently, it had stolen something from him and had flown out of reach. But the bird had since returned with the item, and had settled in a near-by tree to watch him make a fool of himself. She could see it now, Killian leaping about attempting to retrieve whatever it was the bird had taken. The bird sitting pompously up on a branch just out of reach, watching out of one eye with its head slightly cocked to one side, and its feathers slightly puffed up in an amused fashion. Smiling Kali walked deeper into the woods.

The atmosphere in the woods was different than that of the field above, up there, there had been a breeze and sunlight. It was open and offered freedom of movement. But here in the woods the trees were so close together that little to no sunlight filtered down though the canopy, there was no wind to move the leaves on the trees. Despite the expanse of the forest, it felt claustrophobic; she had expected to feel safer here, instead she felt more on edge. Climbing over fallen trees and skirting around rocks Kali continued down the game trail. More than once Kali could have sworn that she had seen something moving about in the trees off to the sides of trail, but when she turned to look nothing was there.

About an hour into her hike, she came across a small, fast-flowing river. It was too wide to jump across and she didn’t dare leave the trail. Not far up stream she located some large smooth rocks that she might be able to use as stepping stones to help her across. Testing the first rock with her foot and finding it secure, she stepped onto it. Using her arms to help her balance she tested the next rock, then the next, soon she was hopping from rock to rock with the confidence of a mountain goat. Within a few minutes she was at the other side, the final rock moved slightly under her weight but was secure enough. Balancing on the rock she moved to step onto the bank of the river, when her foot slipped and she fell in the water with a SPLASH! Cursing her luck, she crawled out of the river, thanks to her damaged environmental suit she was now soaked.

“Kali, what happened, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” irritation edged into her voice, “I just fell into a damn river.”

 There was a brief silence, then a snort and Killi’s cacophony of laughter flooded her ears. His raucous laughter making her even more aggravated, she was wet and cold, and now he was laughing at her. She was fuming, but the longer she sat there listening to him laugh, it wasn’t long before she was smiling and laughing right along with him. Laughing at how ridiculous her predicament was, lost and stranded on an alien planet, covered in dirt and scrapes, and now she was soaked to the bone. All because she was clumsy and fell into a river. That was the thing about Killi, his smile, personality, and laughter were all contagious.

Laughing, Kali pushed herself to her feet and began her hike again. Eventually Killi’s laughter died down to the occasional snort or hiccup. She was so focused on the fact that she was soaking wet and her brother snickering in her ears, that a loud SNAP off to her right made her jump and brought her sharply back to her whereabouts.

“Killi, SHHHH!!!” She hissed, “there is something here.”

 Killi instantly fell silent. Kali strained her eyes and ears, searching the dense forest for the source of the sound. Then she saw it, something moved off to her right, a shadow and a slight rustle of debris. Stooping slightly, she crept closer. She could hear growls, chirps, and snorting coming from some brush about thirty feet ahead. She crept closer still, the hair on her arms and neck were standing straight up, her skin was crawling with anticipation. Crouching now she crept even closer, she could hear what sounded like sniffing followed by a chittering growl. She paused; the brush was the only thing separating her from whatever was there. Mustering all her nerve she sprang forward with a yell. There was a flurry of activity and screeches as several animals bolted in all directions, and disappeared into the woods like cockroaches in the light. Kali didn’t see what type animal scattered, but she did notice what had brought them together, it was a body. She crept closer, keeping an eye out for any animals that may try to reclaim it. As she got closer, she could see a blue and white standard issue environmental suit that had been badly damaged, but she couldn’t see who was inside it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know, yet she continued forward as if she was compelled by some unseen force. Her hand trembling, she reached out and touched the button on the side of her dead crewmates helmet. A slight hissing sound, like a puff of air escaping from an air nozzle, and the faceplate retracted revealing the face beneath it.

Gasping, Kali’s hand flew to her mouth, “oh my God, no” she muttered.

“Kali, what is it?”

“It’s Cameron. He’s dead. I’m so sorry Killi.” An agonizing, gut-wrenching scream tore through Kali’s head, making her ears ring and her heart feel as if it was melting in her chest. Killian and his husband had met several years before on Setti Prime; Killian was the chief science officer and Cameron was the chief environmental engineer. They were working on an interspecies project to transform an old cargo ship into a lush garden. It was supposed to provide a source of fresh fruit and vegetables to interspecies crews while they were setting up new colonies. Cameron and Killi had chemistry from the moment they met. It had been a whirlwind romance; in three months they had moved in together and within six they were married. Cameron was not supposed to be on this mission, as it wasn’t the practice of headquarters to send married couples or families on the same mission. But the environmental engineer that had originally been assigned had taken ill the night before the mission began. Cameron had been substituted at the last moment after all other options had been exhausted. Now he lay motionless on the ground, his eyes staring blankly up at her, a white film covering his pupilless sky-blue eyes. Parts of Cameron’s environmental suit had been damaged by the fall from the shuttle, but there were other parts of the suit that had sustained a different type of damage. There was one such breach on the torso of Cameron’s suit. On closer inspection Kali noted that the immediate area appeared to be melted, not torn away. There were tendrils of melted polymer tracing down toward a ragged and bloody wound. The exposed parts of the body had been torn into by an animal, presumably the ones that had scattered into the woods. The skin had been ripped open and large chunks of the flesh had been removed haphazardly. The heavy iron scent of blood filled her nostrils as she the inspected the gaping wound, she gagged. Bits of tendon and bone were visible through the bloody mess, what was more, there was no evidence of a fight. Cameron’s weapon, a pulse rifle, was laying only two or three feet away, easily within reach of his long arms. Cameron was Benali, his people were tall, seven feet was the average. Though Cameron was on the shorter side, only six foot seven inches. Still the rifle would have been within reach, had he been alive to retrieve it. Killian could take solace in the knowledge that Cameron was dead before the animals began feasting.

 Until now Killi had been silent, when he spoke it was barely above a whisper, and his voice was hoarse from crying, “h-h-how is he?”

Kali was confused, “I don’t understand. What do you mean how is he? He’s dead, Killi.”

“I know that Kali!” He said angrily and through clenched teeth he continued, “what I meant was,” he took a deep breath, and went on more calmly “how is he facing?”

“He is facing up, toward the sky. Why?”

“NO!” His words were strangled, “you mustn’t leave him like that. Please Kali, you have to turn him over. Otherwise, he won’t be able to access the afterlife. Please.”

“I’ll turn him over,” she had never heard Killi sound this desperate before, “do his eyes need to be open or closed?”

“Close them.”

Reaching out, Kali gently closed her brother-in-law’s eyes, then she stood and walked around to the other side of his body. Kneeling down, she pushed and rolled him onto his side, and then onto his stomach. She angled his face so he was face down, and laid his arms at his sides. Almost as an afterthought, she laid her hand on his shoulder and sent a prayer to the universe asking it accept his spirit to the afterlife.

Tears brimming, threatening to spill down her cheeks, she whispered, “swift journey, Cameron. May the universe accept your spirit in peace.”

She stood and walked over to the pulse rifle and picked it up. Instinctively she checked over the weapon, it appeared to be in good firing condition. She pulled the thermal clip, it was full, sixteen rounds. She clipped it back into place, a hiss followed by a click and mechanical beep indicated the weapon was fully charged and ready to fire. Reaching behind her she clipped the rifle to the clasps, designed to hold the weapon, located at the small of her back.

“Kali? Will you please get his dog-tags?”

She hadn’t even thought of that, returning to her brother-in-law’s body, she knelt down and located the chain that held his identification tags. She unclipped it and removed them. Standing, she re-engaged the clip so the tags wouldn’t fall off, then cupping them in her hand she opened a small compartment in the chest plate of her environmental suit. She dropped them in, and closed it. Returning to the trail, and using the holo-scanner she reoriented herself to the shuttle and resumed her trek. This time she was not following a trail, but rather cutting straight across toward the shuttle. She had been walking for the better part of an hour when she realized that Killian had been unusually silent.

“Killi? Are you still there?” He said nothing, “Killi, you don’t have to talk to me. Just let me know you are still there.” She was rewarded with a sniffle and a hiccup, it wasn’t much, but it would have to do, there would be time to talk later.

After another hour of tripping over hidden roots, crossing small streams, and climbing over fallen trees in relative silence, Kali emerged from the trees into a wide-open space. The air was fresh, the sky was a beautiful azure with white-gold streaks. The bright yellow sun reflecting off the fluffy white clouds made them appear as if they were glowing. As she walked, she looked around, she noticed the same paper-thin flowers that she had seen on the mountain side. Off in the distance she could see purple and blue snow-capped mountains. On her left there was a huge red rock, it was monumental in proportions, it was flat on the top, dotted with what looked like trees, there was what looked to be a crack that ran from the top of the giant red rock to bottom. But there was something else, smoke. She stopped, and turned toward the monolith. There was definitely a small tendril of grey smoke winding its way up toward the sky.

That must be where the shuttle crashed, “Killi, I’m almost there. I can see the smoke from the shuttle.” Killian still said nothing, she turned and began walking toward the crash site.

Ten minutes later she was almost knocked to the ground by a figure rushing toward her and crashing into her. It was Killian; as soon as he reached her, he threw his arms around her and began sobbing uncontrollably. Stumbling she managed to regain her balance and sunk to the ground. Hugging her brother close, she rocked him back and forth and whispered into his hair, “I’m so sorry Killian. I know how much you loved him.”

Sniffling and wiping his eyes he pulled away, his face was pained and stained with tears. He was only wearing a partial environmental suit; his helmet and gloves were missing. Killian was a handsome young man in his late twenties, his strawberry blonde hair was cropped short in military fashion. His green eyes usually sparkling with mischief were full of sadness and tears over the loss of his husband.

“Did you turn him over? Did you help make sure he would get to the afterlife?” Kali nodded and squeezed his shoulder, he looked down at the ground “I heard what you said to Cam, you know, about a swift journey. Thank you.”

Kali didn’t know what to say, she could only nod in acknowledgement, “Come on, let’s get back to the shuttle.” She said standing and pulling her brother to his feet. At six feet, he was six inches taller than Kali, he slipped his arm across her shoulders and slumping he leaned on her for support. Slinging her arm across his waist, and grasping his wrist they slowly made their way back to the burning wreck of the shuttle.