Arrival (29 page)

Suddenly, Will froze, staring across the wide river at the opposite shore. He hadn’t seen it at first, the color of its fur nearly identical to the blue-tinted bushes behind it. But there it was, staring back at him with a strangely intelligent gaze. It was at least two meters tall, bipedal and humanoid in form, with long arms and legs that, although slender in overall appearance, looked to be quite muscular. Its blue fur glistened in the sunlight, its head resting atop a short, meaty neck, and was covered with long hair of similar coloring.

They both stood there for nearly half a minute, each studying the other in amazement. Each trying to decide what the other one was, if they posed a threat to one another, and how they should react. Then, as if it had made its decision, the creature squatted low, assuming what looked to be an aggressive posture to Will, who chose to back away slowly to avoid provoking it. Even though it was on the other side of the river, Will hardly felt protected by the vast, rushing body of water running between them.

He continued his careful retreat, not turning his back to the creature until he was well within the tree line, at which point he turned and broke into a dead run. Will quickly wove his way through the jungle, jumping over obstacles and ducking under low-hanging branches with a grace and skill he hadn’t realized he possessed. His breathing became rapid and shallow, both out of fear and exertion, as he made his way back to camp. It wasn’t until he was nearly within visual range of their campsite that he remembered the weapon he carried on his hip.

“Jack!” he yelled as he approached the camp. “Jack!” There was no answer. A few moments later, he arrived at the campsite, but Jack was nowhere to be found. “Jack!” he repeated at the top of his lungs, spinning around to holler in all directions.

* * *

By lunchtime, Frank felt a little better. The uncomfortable sensation was still with him, but he had gotten used to ignoring it. He attributed his subsequent headache to the hours he had spent studying aerial recon images of the valley and terrain scans Tony photographed using the remotely-operated drone. A small, remotely-operated quad-copter less than half a meter long, outfitted with a digital camera and several sensors that gave them the ability to accurately chart the area without having to survey it from the ground. The task at hand was to develop enough of an understanding about the area to choose the best colonization site. And although a computer algorithm recommended potential sites, the final decision was left to human reasoning and thus required detailed analysis of all the images.

After lunch, Frank decided to see Maria about his ailment. As expected, she collected blood and urine samples for analysis and conducted a full physical examination just to be safe, promising to get back to him. In the meantime, she gave him something to ease his symptoms.

* * *

Will heard something in the distance… Something moving. “Jack?” Will called out as he heard something approach. This time, he drew his weapon, unsure of who, or
what
was coming. “Is that you?”

“Of course it is!” Jack answered as he arrived at camp to find Will, pale and out of breath. Even more surprising was the fact that Will had his pistol drawn. “Were you expecting someone else?”

“You’re not going to believe what I just saw!” he exclaimed as he re-holstered his weapon. “It was it least two meters tall, Jack! It was covered with blue hair, with long arms, and it was looking right at me, like it was trying to figure out what I was!”

“What are you talking about? What did you see?” Jack couldn’t understand why Will was so panicked. It was not the first creature they had seen during their journey, although by Will’s description, it might very well be the largest.

“You don’t understand,” Will insisted as he sat down to rest. “It was bipedal, Jack! It was humanoid!”

Now Jack was confused as well. “Was it intelligent?”

“I don’t know! It’s not like I had a conversation with it!” Will thought about it for a second. “But now that you mention it, I’m not sure. Maybe there
was
something…”

“Something?” Jack interrupted. “Like what?”

“Something in its eyes. Not like an animal’s eyes. At least not like any of the animals in pictures and movies. I don’t know.”

“And it saw you?”

“Oh yes.”

“And it didn’t do anything?”

“No… Well, it
was
on the other side of the river. It just looked at me, like it was trying to figure me out. Then, after a few moments, it looked like it was angry or something. That’s when I decided to leave.”

“Can you show me where you saw it?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” The last thing on Will’s mind was going back to see it again.

“Let’s go.”

Will jumped up from his seat, still full of adrenaline from his encounter, and headed quickly back into the jungle.

“Whoa! Slow down!” Jack advised. Let’s not run right into its arms, Will!”

“Sorry,” Will apologized, slowing his stride. He noticed that Jack had drawn his weapon, and decided to draw his again. For once, he was actually glad that Jack had required him to carry the damned thing.

His hurried trek back to camp after the encounter was far more direct than the wandering course he had taken during his gathering expedition. In a short time, they found themselves at the same tree line near the riverbank, staring anxiously across the wide river, scanning the area for any sign of the creature.

“I don’t see anything, Will.”

“It was right there, by those rocks.”

Jack used his visual scanner to get a better look, carefully examining everything in the area. “Well, whatever it was, it’s not there now.”

“It was there, Jack, I swear!”

“I believe you, Will. Look, there’s a broken branch and water marks on the shore from where it probably exited the river. And there are tracks higher up on the bank, like footprints.” Jack put the scanner down, using his naked eyes to scan the overall area again. “It looks like it went up the bank to the left and into the trees.” Jack surmised, handing the scanner over to Will.

Will scanned the area. He never would have thought to look for such indications, despite his scientific training and education. “So, what do we do now?” Will asked as he handed the scanner back to Jack.

“There’s not much we can do.” Jack rose from their hidden observation point in the bushes to return to camp. “I’ll tell you one thing, though, I’m certainly going to build a bigger fire from now on.”

* * *

The medication Maria gave Frank had helped, reducing the sensation to only an occasional discomfort. She found no abnormalities in his blood or urine, and his physical examination had proven unremarkable. Still, Maria was concerned, and ordered him to return for repeat labs every day until the situation was resolved, just to be safe.

That night, Frank slept fitfully, thrashing enough to awaken Maria in the berth across from him. Startled by the noise, she climbed out of her bed and rushed to Frank.

“Frank?” she whispered at the curtain to his berth, not wanting to wake the others. “Are you alright?” She could hear him tossing and turning, moaning incoherently, and eased his curtain open, peeking in as she slid it aside.

She watched for a moment as Frank’s head thrashed back and forth, his hands occasionally flailing from side to side while his legs and torso shifted under the covers. Suddenly, Frank sat bolt upright, startling her and causing a short, muffled scream to leave her lips before she could cover them with her hands.

“Jesus, Frank, you scared me!” she said in surprise.

Frank was so dazed and confused, he didn’t notice Maria standing at the foot of his bed.

Maria’s hands dropped from her mouth. “Frank?” She noticed that he was covered with sweat. His face was pale, and his eyes were full of a fear that she had never seen before. He was panting and his eyes darted about frantically as if he was trying to understand where he was and what was happening to him. “Frank, you’re soaked,” she whispered. Maria looked around to see if anyone else was awake to help her. But everyone was still asleep, exhausted from a hard day of work.

Frank continued to look around nervously, trying to get his bearings. His pulse was racing, his mind spinning. He could hear someone speaking, but he couldn’t understand what was being said. His mind struggled to focus on the sound of the voice, to try to determine where it was coming from. He was seeing, but the images didn’t make any sense to him. Finally, he managed to focus his attention on the voice. It was coming from right in front of him. There was someone there, someone standing at his feet, someone with dark hair, someone with a soothing voice. It was a woman, Frank realized, someone he knew. Then the image began to solidify. Grey-green eyes, tan skin…

Maria reached out her hand, seeing a spark of coherence in Frank’s eyes. “It’s okay, Frank. You’re all right.”

The woman was calling to him, telling him something, but he still couldn’t make out what she was saying. He could hear the words, they just didn’t make any sense…but he felt like he could trust her, and put his trembling hand into hers where it hovered in front of him. He could feel her gentle grip, tugging at him with encouragement, urging him to follow her.

“That’s it, Frank. Come on out, you can do it.” Maria noticed that Frank’s feet were trying to walk, even though they were under the covers and not on the floor. She pulled the covers off of him to make it easier. He was still wearing his work clothes. She continued to tug at his hand, urging him to climb out of his berth, wanting to get him to the med-lab where she could take care of him properly. But his incoherent condition made it difficult. She continued to speak gentle, encouraging words to him, hoping to bring his mind back from wherever it had been before this moment.

Slowly, Frank seemed to regain some semblance of control over his body, managing to climb to his feet, and stumble toward her. She caught him before he fell, nearly losing her footing in the process.

Frank collapsed, draped across Maria’s right shoulder, his arms dangling down behind her back as he tried to stiffen up his legs to support his own weight.

“Come on, Frank, stand up,” she begged him. He was a big guy, not stocky and muscular like Mac, but much larger than her nonetheless. “That’s it,” she coerced as his knees locked and his torso tried to straighten. “There you go.”

Frank turned to his right at Maria’s urging, his left arm now hanging around her neck, dangling over her left shoulder, his hand bouncing against her as they stumbled forward toward the med-lab.

He was beginning to understand where he was again. He tried to speak, but could only mumble incoherently. “Jack?” he asked.

“Jack’s not here, Frank. It’s me, Maria.”

“Jack? Where’s Jack?”

“You’re on board the LRV, Frank. Do you understand?”

Frank looked around as they made their way forward. He recognized the habitat as they passed through it.

“What’s going on?” Lynn asked as she pulled the curtain of her berth back from the inside and peeked out. “Frank!” she exclaimed, noticing the awkward way he was hanging onto Maria for support.

“Help us!” Maria told her.

“Mac! Tony!” Lynn called as she climbed out of her berth. Within moments, both of them were out of their berths and full of questions as they flanked their friend and helped him to the med-lab.

Once in the lab, they eased Frank up onto the exam table. His breathing was still shallow and his skin was cold and clammy. “Tony, put him on high-flow,” she ordered as she began attaching various sensors to Frank’s body, flipping on the bio-monitor and adjusting the settings. His blood pressure was up, and his pulse rate was sky-high.

As Tony placed the oxygen mask on Frank’s face, she quickly drew another blood sample while Frank was still delirious. Maria wondered if he had experienced some sort of seizure, even though she suspected it was nothing more than a bad dream, probably coupled with a low blood glucose level, since he hadn’t eaten very well the previous day.

Frank’s eyes closed once he was supine again. But now they were beginning to open, fluttering at first. The light was low, but he could see Maria working in the corner of the lab.

“Oh, so you’re awake?” Maria commented, after turning around.

“How did I get here?” Frank whispered from behind the oxygen mask.

“We brought you here,” she explained as she stepped up to his bedside. “You were thrashing around so much, you woke us up. When I checked on you, you were incoherent, pale and sweaty… You scared me half to death.”

Frank closed his eyes again. “I guess I was having a bad dream.”

“I’ll say. Care to talk about it?” she asked, gesturing to the others to leave the compartment.

“It was about Jack,” he began, opening his eyes again and staring at the ceiling. “He was struggling to survive… Out in the wilderness…trying to find his way back to us. It was cold and windy, and he was weak…and hungry. He was calling out to me, begging me to help him.” Frank looked at her again. “It was
so
real
.”

She could see the pain in his eyes. He was battling the guilt within himself. “You know, Frank, there was nothing that you could’ve done when the Icarus went down. You know that.”

“Do I?”

“Jack chose his fate, Frank. He knew the risk he was taking, and he knew he had to do it. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

“I shouldn’t have let him go down there, Maria.”

“You couldn’t have stopped him. None of us could have. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can get over the guilt and get on with your life.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I’m not sure. It’s different for everyone. I do know that first you have to
want
to get over it.”

“You think I don’t?”

“You tell me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been watching you mope around, feeling sorry for yourself, like you’re the only one who’s suffered a loss. We all suffered a loss, Frank.”