Excelsior (26 page)

“He, she, it… whatever the gender, this thing’s no danger to us on land,” Alexander said. “We should get McAdams back here to examine it.”

“The whale could be dead by then. We need to find some way to save her,” Korbin said.

Alexander pursed his lips. “I don’t see how we can… it must weigh thousands of pounds.”

“Use the rover! We’ll make a harness.”

“It won’t get enough traction in the sand,” Stone said. “Besides, we can’t drive under water and pull it in after us.”

“Well, we have to do something!”

“We could put it out of its misery,” Alexander replied.

“Captain’s right,” Stone added.

Korbin glared at them. “If that were you, would you want to be put out of your misery?”

“That’s different,” Alexander said.

“How? Because we value human life more than animal life?”

“To be blunt, yes, and speaking of which, we’d better stop getting side-tracked. We’re supposed to be looking for Max.”

“Suddenly you’re a fan. I thought you didn’t like him.”

“I don’t have to like him to save his life. Let’s go.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Alexander spared a final glance at the whale before turning to Stone. “Go hop in the Cheetah. You have point.”

“Aye-aye, sir,” Stone replied.

Alexander mentally opened his comms and sent a message to the rest of the crew. “Everyone in the rover.”

 

Chapter 23

Alexander drove; Korbin sat beside him, and the rest of the crew filled the back seats. The rover jumped and skipped along at 20 kilometers an hour as he negotiated fallen trees, exposed rocks, and piles of vegetation. The going was so rough that it made Alexander feel sick. The sheer density of debris was almost too much for the eight-wheeled rover.

Up ahead Lieutenant Stone made much better progress in his Cheetah, stepping over glistening black logs or reaching down to pick them up and move them out of the way.

“Anything yet?” Alexander asked over the comms.

“No, sir,” Stone replied.

They were both using their sensor suites to the max, looking for footprints, metallic objects, movement. Sensors flagged movement constantly as surviving plants and trees writhed around them, slapping the sides of both the rover and the assault mech. Alexander watched as a giant branch of purple flowers swept down and smacked the windshield. Smaller branches danced over the glass like feelers while the flowers opened up to reveal big yellow circles with black dots in the center. Eyes?

The branch got caught under the wheels and sucked under. Alexander grimaced as he heard wood snapping and leaves rustling as the rover turned them to mulch.

“We need to get out of the rover,” Korbin said. “We’re doing too much damage here. What if those trees can feel? Don’t you think they’ve suffered enough?”

“I agree,” Cardinal said. “We came to explore, not demolish.”

“Are you crazy?” Alexander said. “What if the plants are carnivorous and they eat us?”

“Even if they are, they won’t smell us through our suits, and we do have weapons. We’re not exactly defenseless,” Korbin replied.

Alexander shook his head. “They can’t smell us in here, either, so what do they want with our rover?”

“Maybe they’re just curious.”

“Or maybe on Wonderland you don’t eat the salad, the salad eats you,” Alexander replied.

The comms crackled. “Hold up! I’ve got something…”

“What is it, Stone?” Alexander hauled back on the throttle. Tree branches came sweeping in from all sides, groping the rover and blocking all the windows. Fronds and branches writhed over the glass like snakes, making rustling noises that they heard clearly through both the rover and their helmets. Alexander turned to Korbin and pointed to the aggressive move from the jungle. See? he mouthed to her.

She pursed her lips and looked away.

“Looks like… footprints,” Stone said. “Yep, definitely footprints.”

Alexander’s heart pounded in his chest. “Human? Is it Max?”

“No… I don’t think so. Too big, wrong shape… four toes.”

Alexander sighed. “Let’s keep looking then.”

“Sure, but what if we run into this thing?”

“You’re in a Cheetah and we’re in a rover. So what if we run into it?”

“Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t step on us.”

Alexander blinked. “That big?”

“Maybe bigger.”

“We should go back,” Vasquez said.

“Not until we find out what happened to Max,” Alexander replied.

“Move out, Stone—and follow the footprints.”

“Follow them?”

“Something that big is bound to be hungry. Max is about the right size for a snack. I bet that thing can find him a whole lot faster than we can.”

“Yes, sir.”

They endured a half an hour of groping plants before Stone suddenly stopped in front of them. Alexander slammed on the brakes. Seat belts locked, heads whipped forward.

“Shit,” Alexander muttered. Keying the comms he said, “You almost caused the first traffic accident on Wonderland, Lieutenant! What’s going on?”

“The jungle’s too dense up ahead for us to get through. I think we’ve come to the end of the damage caused by the tsunami.”

“Where do the footprints lead?”

“Back the other way. Looks like our friendly giant turned around here, but he wasn’t happy about it. There’s a trampled area and some freshly-busted foliage. I think he tried to force his way in.”

“Did he?”

“No gaps big enough to suggest that, and his footprints reappear again going back the way he came.”

“Why was he so desperate to get into the jungle?”

“Chasing smaller prey would be my guess, sir. And there’s something else. I’ve got a reading on sensors that could be Max.”

“What? Why didn’t you say so sooner?” Alexander scanned his sensor display, but there was nothing flagged. “Where? I don’t see anything.” The Cheetah’s sensors were much more powerful than the rover’s, so that wasn’t too surprising.

“About one klick in. Something metallic—small but dense.”

“In the jungle?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It could just be a ferrous rock.”

“It could be, yes.”

“So what are our options?”

“We go out on foot and check the coordinates,” Stone replied.

“And if the jungle eats us?”

“We shouldn’t all go. Just one or two of us at a time.”

“I’m going,” Korbin said.

Alexander shot her a look. “Hold on. No one’s going anywhere yet.”

“Based on the size of the anomaly, we could be looking at Max’s helmet,” Stone said, “and if we find that, we’ll probably find out what happened to him.”

Alexander’s eyes narrowed to slits. “That, or a we’ll find a useless hunk of rock. Have you tried contacting him?”

“I’ve been broadcasting an automatic message since we set out. If he has a working comm suite he should have picked up our signal and replied by now.”

Alexander sighed and turned to Korbin. “You can’t go.”

“Why not? My purpose with the mission is to replace you if the need arises. Other than that all I do is manage the crew’s emotional well-being.”

“Because I’m going, and as you pointed out, you’re my replacement if something happens to me.”

Korbin opened her mouth to object, but Alexander raised a palm to silence her. “No arguments. Any other volunteers?” he asked, turning to the rest of the crew.

“I’ll go,” Cardinal said. “I know plants.”

“Not these ones.”

“Which is why I need to take samples.”

“All right.” Alexander keyed the comms. “Stone—”

“Sir?”

“Grab your rifle and dismount. You’re coming with us.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.”

*

The rover’s airlock hissed and squealed as it matched pressure with the air outside. Alexander waited, his eyes on the status light above the outer door. His right hand fell to his waist and he drew the high-powered laser pistol he’d strapped there. Projectile weapons were typically longer-ranged and more efficient at killing while in atmosphere, but when it came to fighting plants, the heat generated by a laser bolt, even at short ranges, would be much more useful. Bullets would probably just tickle a giant tree, but a searing bolt of light would set the whole thing on fire. If any trees tried to eat him he’d turn them into matchsticks.

The light above the door glowed green and a tone issued from the airlock just before the doors slid open. Hot, humid air swept in, and Alexander’s faceplate fogged up. He wiped it on his sleeve before following Cardinal out. Rather than carry a weapon of his own, the botanist had a large sample container open and at the ready ready, along with an entire pack full of matching containers for soil, rocks, and even insects or small animals.

Alexander jumped down onto a pile of shredded, water-logged black wood. He spied a spiky purple ball not far from where they stood and wondered if it was alive. It didn’t move.

“Stone?” Alexander commed.

“Coming… sir…” Stone replied, sounding distracted.

Alexander turned his gaze skyward to watch the tree canopy. Black tree branches and wide red leaves all but blotted out the dusty purple sky. Fat black mushroom caps rose high above all of that, creating holes in the sky. Between all of the foliage, sunlight streamed down in thin white beams, revealing clouds of rising vapor and something else… what looked like soap bubbles rising with the vapor. He saw one or two of the closer ones suddenly contract, distorting into an elliptical shape before making a spurt of movement. He was reminded of the balloon-shaped birds they’d seen on their way down. Were these the miniature versions?

“Wow…” Cardinal said. “No shortage of wonder on Wonderland.”

Leaves rustled in the breeze, drawing Alexander’s attention. The sound came to his ears via his helmet’s external audio pickups. Tree branches came snaking down to greet them, and Alexander realized the leaves weren’t rustling in a breeze, they were rustling with the trees’ movement.

“We’ve got incoming!” Alexander said, aiming his pistol at the nearest mass of branches.

“Hold your fire, Captain,” Stone said. “They already got to me. The trees are not hostile. Repeat, not hostile. They seem… curious, but they haven’t tried to hurt me. Can’t promise they’ll still be friendly after you shoot them, though.”

Alexander cringed as the nearest branch swooped down and slithered over him, feeling him up from head to toe. Then it withdrew and seemed to regard him with giant purple flowers with yellow and black centers. Now he was sure those flowers were some kind of eyes. Alexander stared back. The tree branch remained where it was, flower-eyes still watching, smaller branches writhing like worms while the larger ones undulated slowly.

“These trees sure the hell are creepy,” Alexander said.

“Literally creepy,” Cardinal said.

Stone walked up beside them, covered in blood.

Alexander flinched. “Medic!”

Stone shook his head. “It’s just tree sap,” he explained, reaching out to wipe a blotch of matching crimson gunk off Alexander’s suit.

“Actually…” Cardinal said, wiping more of the same off his own suit and studying it in his hands. “Since these trees move, the sap might actually be the trees’ blood. I’d need to study both the sap and one of the tree branches to know for sure.”

Alexander’s brow furrowed. “So they’re bleeding all over us? Are they dying or something?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, take some samples and let’s get moving,” Alexander said. “We have a crewmate to rescue.”

“Yes, sir.”

Turning to Stone, Alexander asked, “You have a fix on the sensor anomaly?”

“I’ve got a bearing on my direction finder,” he said, hefting the handheld device. “Two hundred and fifty five degrees.”

“Compasses work here?” Alexander asked while another branch busied itself wiping more sap on him.