Chapter 5
Doug was lying on the bunk opposite me. It was cramped metallic quarters. There was little floor space between us. He was fidgeting. Here in this military quarters underground, it made it hard to realize that we were down on the Mother Planet and no longer up in the space station. He was playing with his hands, whispering things under his breath.
“Hey, can’t sleep?”
He looked over, startled. “Yeah, I guess it’s contagious.”
“I don’t know if I caught it from you. I think we both got it from anticipation.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Don’t worry Doug. We’ve trained hard, not just this week, but for a couple of years on the space station too.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Do you think we’ll survive—the mission, I mean,” he said.
“Yeah of course. Don’t worry about that Doug.”
We were silent.
“Crap, man, I don’t know,” I said. “Who knows what will happen Doug, but one thing I know.”
“What’s that Tyler?”
“I got your back buddy.”
**
General Brad Jonz, my father, came in to the mess hall, once again startling the other soldiers. Maybe these surprise appearances were his way of keeping his soldiers on their toes.
“Follow me team,” he said.
Back in the training facility, he led us to the RMD-driven Covert vehicle. We strapped ourselves into the seats. Martina was beside me as navigator.
“Double-check the food provisions Doug,” I said.
He looked back into our limited storage space. There were thousands of military issue energy packs. Food sustenance for weeks with no taste whatsoever. It was brutal.
The podium started rising in the air, with us and the Covert lifted up high, ascending to the reality of the Earth surface above. I could see my father standing in the middle of the training facility floor, shrinking away as we rose; his shoulders square and his back straight. His face emotionless but watching intently, like a good soldier. Above us the circular dome opened; first just cracks of brilliant daylight shone in through the opening panels, then full blown brilliant sunlight beat on us as the Covert rose out the hatch and into the openness of Earth's atmosphere. Before us for the first time, we could clearly see the expanse of the high plateau where the Earth dome was constructed. At the back of us was the dome. In front of us was the vast expanse of mountains and God knows what else beyond that. I could feel my heart pumping, not really so much faster or harder than usual, but intensely. I felt as if I was just born, as if I was leaving the womb.
“You are now outside the protection of the dome,” the information system voice stated.
“Shields up,” I said a little too loud and everyone chuckled.
“Shields up Captain,” Martina said.
I flew the Covert manually, well above the mountains, but low enough to enjoy the breathtaking scenery. At first my crew was apprehensive but we became more and more confident as we realized how the simulations and real flight were virtually identical. In no time I found myself diving and climbing in the air to the tentative enjoyment of the crew. As excitement grew we started running drills of what we'd do in case of attack. We felt cohesive as a group and it built our confidence.
“What’s that over there?” Martina asked.
The mountains rose and fell across the horizon, jutting up to the heavens beyond the few wispy clouds of the day and dropping into beautiful valleys between peaks. It was all covered in an oxygen-producing green blanket of trees that stimulated the senses.
Martina was pointing to a particularly extreme drop from one of the highest mountaintops. No greenery grew on this cliff. For hundreds of feet until the valley below, bare rock proudly exposed itself. Cascading down the middle of this awesome sight was foaming and churning water hurtling violently and powerfully to a lake below. Surrounded by majestic trees the lake swirled and twisted, releasing its ever flowing water into the arms of a river that ran its way back and forth between the mountains in the distance. The mist from all this aquatic activity rose coolly in the air, floating off as if to bolster the wispy clouds that danced around the peaks. Doug and Andy craned their necks from the back seat to look over our shoulders.
I looked at Stoneman, and even the king of cynicism was blown away.
“Man, go down a bit over that,” he said.
I descended over the waterfall, with the cliff beside us. Beads of moisture formed on the Covert’s windshield from the mist, another detail to remind us we had left the world of simulation. From this angle you could see the river winding through the valleys, dropping off in some areas with the white-capped beauty of rapids.
“Wouldn’t you like to go for a boat ride down there?” Doug asked.
“That wouldn’t be too safe Dimwit,” Andy said. “How do you think your head would feel if you smashed it against some of those rocks? ”
“Wouldn’t bother you Stoneman, your head is harder than those crumbly rocks,” I said.
Martina and Doug laughed, and even Stoneman had a half smile.
“Enough kidding around, let’s head to the destination coordinates,” Andy said.
“Destination coordinates straight ahead Captain, within view,” Martina said.
“I’ll go low and cruise around the area in slow circles,” I said. “Martina, you monitor the radar. Doug, Andy, bird’s eye view boys. Tell me if you see any disturbance in the landscape.”
I cruised in a slow circle around the area.
“Look, right there,” said Doug.
We saw on the ground an area where the trees had been violently blown away. In the middle was a crater with the charred remains of equipment, people, or both. Whatever was there lay in an unceremonious funeral plot of blackened indistinguishable remains.
“There’s a high concentration of these attack sights over on this mountain side, and look, it's perfect for direct launching to the Earth dome.” Martina said.
“I’m going to go hover near ground level,” I said.
I stopped the Covert directly over the sight, hovering; and slowly dropped the vehicle towards ground level. As we got closer the violence and carnage of this particular mountainside stood in stark contrast to the beauty around it.
“Well, those bastards certainly got what was coming to them,” Andy said.
The violence of the blasts had eradicated the form of whatever was hit in the various missile-ravaged sites; so you couldn't see any bodies or even the equipment they used—just charred remains—dormant piles of past aggressions. They lay ominously scattered throughout the mountainside.
I suddenly heard a loud explosion. Before any of us had a chance to say anything the side of the Covert was hit. I felt my whole body shake violently as the blast rocked the vehicle. I had trouble holding on to the controls. I held tight and pulled the joystick back quickly, hoping to climb quickly in to the sky towards safety, but right away I realized that the Covert was not reacting the same way. It did climb up away into safety but there was definitely something wrong—I could feel it.
“Crap, what the hell!” I said.
“Aren’t the shields up?” Andy said.
“Shields are up, we’re not dead!” Martina answered.
"I don't know," I said, shaking the joystick. "It's not reacting properly. There's a delay."
“Rapid Molecular Displacement system is malfunctioning,” the information system voice said.
“What?” Andy said. “What’s going on?”
The Covert started dipping and weaving on its own.
"It's getting worse," I said. "I'm losing control."
“What da hell are ya doing?” Andy said.
“Shut up!” I said.
“What can I do to help?” Martina said.
“Pull back on the controls as hard as you can,” I said.
We grunted and groaned as Martina and I both pulled back on our controls. We were slowing the descent, but we were fighting a losing battle. The Covert was dropping down the side of the mountainside. I could feel the underside of the vehicle brushing against the trees. I looked over at Martina and could see the veins in her hands as she strained with all her might. Briefly, I looked her straight in the eyes, determination written all over her face while I felt the Covert smashing into tree trunks. The trees were being severed and flying over the windshield, the branches rustling violently over the fuselage of the Covert. With each tree, our speed decreased with a violent jerk.
“Rapid Molecular Displacement system is malfunctioning,” the information system voice said.
We smashed one large tree in half, and its splinters showered all over the windshield—and we came to a stop, flopping awkwardly off the side of a newly created giant tree stump. We all fell on top of each other on the driver’s side of the Covert, then the vehicle slid off and started sliding backwards. Everyone was moaning and grunting in harmony as we slid down the mountainside. It must've been fifty feet before we stopped in the valley.
“Rapid Molecular Displacement system is malfunctioning,” the information system voice said.
“Shut da hell up!” Andy yelled.
I touched the de-activate sensor to turn off the RMD system and open the doors. When the doors opened, we all clamoured out.
“What the hell was that?” Andy said. “State of the god damn art—my ass!” he said, waving his arms and walking back and forth as if he had to pee. “State of the art, first attack, and what happens? The whole system goes belly up. Give me a god damn old-fashioned hover craft any day—at least we know what da hell it can do. What the god da—“
“Are you finished yet?” I asked.
“Finished! Finished! That thing, that thing is useless.”
“Agreed.”
He stared at me dumbly, panting like some sort of lost Earth animal.
Martina looked up at the line of trees we had so seriously and raggedly pruned--leaving a scar across the pristine mountain valley. We were deep in a mountain valley with peaks rising above us on all sides. Evergreens filled the view--and provided the cushion we needed to break our fall.
Martina said, “Thank God for those trees guys. They slowed us down. We sliced them down one at a time and it slowed us down—saved our lives. Stoneman, count your lucky stars. We’re alive!”
“Count my, count my—what?”
“We’ve got to get this thing repaired quickly or get out of here,” Doug said.
“You’re right Doug,” I said. “We’re sitting ducks here. We traveled some distance since we were hit, but they’ve got to be looking for us—and from the looks of the carnage we created in the trees—they'll be able to find us--and now the vehicle’s in an open clearing. You’re right Doug.”
Martina was the first to get back in the Covert and see whether the information system was responding. I climbed in too.
“Try and call Earth base.”
The Covert's dash screen was black--no power.
"No response," Martina said as she tried tapping on the corners to activate some of the craft's modules.
"Tap the right corner--telecommunications" I said.
"I know, I know Jonz--whadaya think I'm doing?!"
Light taps turned into hard slaps as we tried to get some response from the dash controls.
"It's dead man!" I said.
"I can move the doors--some of the basic features," Martina said.
We were getting some limited response from the vehicle. We were able to open and close the doors. After slapping the screen controls for a while; we got some signs of life out of the information system. We were able to switch from defence to attack modes; but that was it. We could change modes yet do nothing within the modes. Of course, the basic dilemma was that the vehicle was just not moving at all. It was not responding to any attempts to get it to move, or even hover.
“The vehicle isn’t responding Captain. We better lock it up and get ourselves away from here. I’m sure the terrorists will find us soon—it’s broad Earth daylight, and the sun is shining clearly.”
“You’re right Martina,” I said. “Let’s get out of these RMD uniforms and into regular ones.”
We changed quickly, shoving energy packs into our knapsacks and taking the survival packs and guides. I fleetingly wondered whether the series of needles we received really would immunize us from dangers in our new environment, certainly not the human dangers. Hopefully the positioning system on the Covert was still operational, which meant that surely the Earth dome dispatch would be sending someone despite the fact that we hadn't been able to make a distress call.
“On the other side of this mountain, didn’t we have some attack sites? Did any of you notice while we were coming over?” I said.
“Ya gotta be kidding, right?” Andy said.
“Whataya mean?”
“I mean you expect me to notice what details were on the mountainside. Damn, I was just praying we wouldn’t smash into a million pieces running into it.”
“I think I saw something,” Martina said. “Why, what're you thinking?”
“The nearest mountain, the one the Covert had unceremoniously slid down, is dense with vegetation; huge trees all over except for where the vehicle had ripped a crease in the middle.” I turned to face the other direction. “There was that bomb site we hovered over. There were a lot of military items around the fringes of the destroyed area."
"The terrorists must have weapons there--good chance some are not destroyed," Martina said.
"Exactly!" I said, "If we could get some weapons--we need something. We’re too vulnerable out here."
"Tell me about it," Andy said, looking around.
"Here in this valley, look up there," I pointed up a cliff face towering over us, "This sheer cliff facing us, nearly devoid of any vegetation or trees. There are some areas that looked promising as cover. I saw one little plateau about one hundred feet up with some cracks in the cliff, hopefully some good place for shelter. Our new-fangled guns are ALL controlled by the RMD-driven information system. With it malfunctioning, we're defenceless.”
"You saying we should go try and get some weapons and come back?" Martina said.
"Don't they test this crap properly?!" Andy said, "Everything depends on it."
"Looks like we're testing it now," I said.
"Arrogant sons-of-bitches," Andy muttered.
Some big birds cried loudly as they flapped their wings and took off in unison from the meadow. We all stared in awe. It was a beautiful sight. A chill went up my spine as I wondered what other wildlife was waiting for us deep in the woods. We had all heard stories of the animals down on Earth, but they seemed more like legend than any biological fact. We stood at the side of the Covert.
Martina clapped her hands. “Let’s get going then. This ain't no sight-seeing tour."
**
“That’s the continuation of the river we saw starting with that amazing waterfall,” Martina said.
We were all trying to orient ourselves with what we had seen from the air--but it wasn't easy.
We had other priorities up there.
We had trekked over a small ridge and were looking down at a new valley which was wider than the one where we had crashed. This entire valley was dense with vegetation. It looked like the trees continued unbroken, virgin forest spreading off to the distance just below a long slowly dropping mountain. You could see open space and hear the dull roar of the river flowing beyond the visible mountainside and off into the distance. From our vantage point upon the ridge we could see across the valley we had just left, and the one in front of us. Beyond that in all directions were high peaks that we couldn't see beyond.
“I wonder how far it goes?”
“Farther than you’ve ever been in your life, Tyler,” Martina said.
"From here we can see across the valley at least," Doug said.
"Can you see that?" Martina said, looking across the valley ahead and towards the mountainside climbing ahead of us. Martina was pointing out an area which looked like it had been hit.
"That's definitely unnatural," I said.
"Gotta be the attack site we noticed overhead--looks like a missile attack," Andy said.
"Good, we're headed in the right direction. If they were firing there," Martina said, "there must of been something important there."
We stood a few more minutes staring back where we came from and forwards towards the crater we saw. Everyone was panting and wide-eyed.
"Whataya doin'?! Catchin' flies? Let's go!" Andy said and we headed down the ridge and towards the crater.
What more discussion did we need? It was the only sign of life.
Heading across the valley was not too easy. The ground was soft and wet.
"Man, my goddamned boot came off," I cursed as the bog sucked my boot right off my foot.
Stoneman laughed.
"Glad I can cheer you up," I said.
We had to take a couple of breaks across the valley. Obviously, none of us were used to travelling across distances or surfaces like that. Stoneman kept muttering "Un-be-liev-able" over and over again.
"At least the ground is solid," Doug said as we finally got across the valley and started up the mountainside towards the crater.
"Yeah, it might be steep on the mountainside, but at least it's dry," I said.
"Finally, there it is!" Martina said as we approached the gaping hole in the mountain.
"None too soon," I panted, "it's just getting steeper and steeper.
Our enthusiasm was slightly abated when we arrived at the clearing.
"Look at the size of it!" I marvelled as we arrived at the crater.
It was large and round, devoid of trees apart from charred remains. The crater was surrounded by a circular ridge which spoke to the violence of the aerial attack.
"I guess we got' em good here," Andy said.
Sure enough, it was an entrenched spot where the terrorists had been launching from, or it sure looked like it. There was a sizable crater in the middle with charred wreckage strewn everywhere.
"It must've been a while ago," Martina said, feeling some new foliage which was growing out of the carnage.
"Life always continues, I suppose, no matter how much we try and stop it," Doug said.
"Always the philosopher," Andy said, shaking his head.
We walked slowly over the area. It was hard to distinguish what we were looking at; everything was just a pile of black charcoal with new growth pushing out of it. A large barrel lay in the middle of the blackness. It was probably the artillery that was used to fire at the Earth dome or some target in the safe zone. Whatever it was, it was useless to us now. Other forms were there, maybe the body of artillery, maybe the body of one of the terrorists, it was hard to tell. I did not want to look too closely anyway. Around the edges we found exactly what we were looking for; not one, but actually two rifles. We held them proudly as we picked them up, excited about this archaic technology. The day before, it would have been quite depressing to be stuck with an old-style gun like that, but at that particular moment we were thrilled to find it.
“Do you think they’re operational?” I said.
“Only one way to find out,” Martina said.
She pointed up in the sky and clicked several times with no response.
“Damn it! Wait, where’s the safety on this old thing?”
We looked over the guns.
“I think I have it,” I said, clicking off the safety and firing up in the air. The gunshot echoed throughout the mountains, loud at first, and fading as it bounced off into the distance. The two of us immediately shared a panicked look.
“Man, this is our lucky day,” as I pointed to a cache of bullets on the ground away from the main blast site.
“That may be an exaggeration; we came over here cause of the signs of life. No great surprise that the signs are remnants of terrorists and their weapons.”
"Well, we were lucky none of them survived to carry away the guns," I said, "and you've gotta admit--the day's getting a bit better.
"Yeah--a bit better,” Martina admitted.
“It can’t get worse, right?”
“Hey, we’re still alive. I can tell by how sore I am.”
"So, our treasure hunt was fruitful," Doug said, "what do we do now?"
"Back to the Covert," Martina said.
"What?!" Andy said, "Forget it!"
"No, she's right," I said, "it's another trek, but we got what we wanted here. We've got weapons. Wandering away from the Covert is only going to make it harder for military dispatch to track us down."
"What about the damn terrorists!" Andy said, "They can find us too."
"Sure," I said, "I'm not suggesting we pic-nic on top of the friggin' craft!"
"Yeah," Doug said, "there looked to be a lot of plateaus and maybe even caves or things on the mountains on the other side. We could find a good hiding spot and wait."
"Exactly,” I said, "why didn't you pay attention when I said this before Stoneman!"
"Aw shut up and let's head back," Andy said, starting to head down the mountainside already.
On the way back we didn’t talk much. We knew how much energy the trek took the first time.
"Damn friggin' bugs!" Martina said.
"This is one thing I like less than the fresh air," I added.
Through the boggy valley the insects were irritating. It made a tough trek even tougher.
We concentrated on the mountains beyond the ridge; beyond the claustrophobic mass of trees we had to trudge through. We didn’t want to lose perspective of where we were and where we were headed. I saw a little animal leaping over my head. It was tiny with a bushy tail and its agility was amazing. It leapt from one tree branch to another, traversing the expanse of trees nearly as quickly as if it were flying—chirping all the way.
"Look at that stupid thing," Andy said, "laughing at us."
“I wouldn’t mind being as agile as that thing,” I said.
“Well, you’re not; so let’s get going,” Martina said. She was focused and had a good head of steam going, in no mood for idle musings. She continued around the mountainside, setting the pace, and led the way across the valley and up the ridge where we had been able to look at the area.
"It doesn't seem nearly as far from here," Doug said, looking back to the crater and forward to the next valley where we had crash-landed. He was panting heavily; stopping and bending over.
"You're in crappy shape for a young recruit," Andy said.
Our pace became slower and more cautious as we crossed over the ridge and traversed the valley back towards the meadow where we crash-landed the Covert.
“I hope we don’t have any unwelcome visitors,” I whispered.
“Maybe the cavalry is here,” Martina said.
"It's not far at all now," Doug said, looking in all directions.
We were upon the meadow and could see the Covert just across it.
Martina grabbed my arm and said quietly:
"Wait, wait--we're covered by trees here."
Just ahead of us was open marsh with no more tree cover. There were rocks where we could cross over but we'd be clearly visible from the air.
Everyone stopped and listened for any sounds.
There was nothing, just a gentle wind and the flowing water.
Martina was scouring the cliff beyond the meadow.
"There must be someplace."
"How about that?" I said, pointing to the distance. Up the mountainside there was a plateau which looked promising.
"Good vantage spot," Andy said, "and good hiding spot."
"We're gonna have to find a way to make our way around the meadow, to the cliff on the other side," I said.
"It's not that far," Doug said.
"Without getting shot jackass!" Andy said.
"Can ya shut up Stoneman!" Martina said. "If we stay along the right here; along the edge of the trees in the valley--out of the opening of the marshy areas--it'll be a bit longer but--"
"--a lot safer." I said. "I agree."
Heading out, I kept looking up through the trees, half-hoping for a government search party--and half-dreading a terrorist attack. This valley was much smaller, and even though we took a roundabout way, we made it across fairly quickly. The cliff face was easy to climb. It took us little time to climb up. As we reached the plateau, I turned and noticed how we had a clear view of the meadow, and more importantly, the Covert. There were even some rocks in front of us to hide behind while we were keeping watch. It was perfect.
“Good spot, eh guys?” Doug said, beaming.
“Absolutely,” Martina said.
It was getting late in the day and the sun was disappearing beyond the mountains. Shadows grew and spread over the wilderness. We all hunkered down together, watching dusk unfold from our little clearing--in both awe and fear. The temperature cooled as we sat in a circle sucking on our tasteless energy packs. They were a functional but uninspiring bit of technology in this timeless, primitive landscape.
We took turns standing up, looking over the rocks at the Covert below, until the last rays of sunshine slowly disappeared, leaving the Covert, the meadow, and even the vast mountains under a blanket of darkness. The vast array of stars that decorate the night sky suddenly came out to play. I think it comforted all of us. Suddenly, the space station did not seem so far away. As the light gave way to the dark, strange sounds and cool winds made the night in the wilderness of Earth not nearly as inviting as the day.
“We better try and get some sleep,” I said.
“Easy to say, not so easy to do,” Martina said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty wound up,” Doug said.
“Tired too though,” Andy added. "Where the hell's the rescue party!"
**
I woke up before dawn. Martina and Andy were both still asleep. I looked over and saw Doug’s silhouette leaning against the rock, staring up at the stars. He saw me getting up, sore and tired, and put out his hand to help me up.
“Thanks buddy—can’t sleep,” I said.
“I slept a few hours, but rocks aren’t that comfortable.”
“No, they’re not.”
We stood there staring at the stars, mesmerized as the sky transformed, our first Earth dawn. The sounds of birds were echoing throughout the valley. The stars and darkness were fading away, replaced by golden hues of red and orange. The giant fiery ball, that we call the Sun, started shooting preliminary rays up over the back of the mountains. For the first time, I thought I felt its rays heating my environment. All the shadows that had owned the night retreated in submission. Chirping, cawing, and rustling could be heard from different directions. Signs of life were returning to the landscape, creatures of the day were coming alive. Soon enough, the sky was returning to the familiar blue we had been flying through the day before, and all the familiar sights were visible. The meadow and the Covert were clear to see, and the mountains stood in the same position as the day before, the same position as thousands, millions of days before.
It was soon after that when we heard voices. Doug and I hunched down, hiding behind the rocks. The guns were leaning against the rocks beside us and we each reached over to grab one; the security of the trigger felt good in my hands.
“Do you know how to shoot one of these things?” Doug said.
“Sure, police academy, history of guns,” I said.
The voices were growing louder. They sounded like they were trying to whisper, but they were too excited to keep their voices down.
“Look, there!” Doug said, pointing to the other side of the meadow. They were coming around the same mountainside that Martina and I were climbing the day before. I could not make out what they looked like. I could see more of the trees rustling than the actual people. They were just two figures tramping through the woods. Any thoughts they may have had about keeping quiet were disappearing as they caught sight of the Covert. They were coming to the clearing and we could see them a bit better now. They held their guns up as they made their way out to the clearing. One was pointing up at the devastation to the trees where the Covert had slid down the mountainside. The other was ignoring him and concentrating on the Covert. He crept up to the vehicle, his gun raised. Just then, Andy started stirring, talking loudly in his sleep. I went over quickly and put my hand on his mouth.
“Whad de hedd” he said, his voice muffled through my fingers.
He knocked my hand away, but I put one finger quickly to my mouth. He saw the gun in my hand, the urgency in my eyes, and he understood. He was silent and got up slowly. All the commotion had woken Martina too, but fortunately she woke up in a much quieter fashion.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
We waved her over and she followed us. We all heard the voices now; they were talking excitedly between themselves, waving their arms and looking around.
“That’s no World Government troops,” Doug said.