The First Week

The Commonwealth Record                                    October 17, 3052 CE

Environmental Conditions of Rho Coronae Borealis V

Wrath, as RCB V was known, displays a rather harsh environment.  Various factors prompted the Colonization Ministry to declare RCB V off limits to colonization.  Captain R.S. Nathan of ES Galileo noted in his full report (regarding the area of deposition):

“Weather patterns are fairly stable planet wide.  However, these patterns swing from completely calm to typhoon strength winds and rain.  How the vast jungles of equatorial RCB V formed is a mystery.  By all rights, the trees should be uprooted by the strong winds of such storms, but the dense growth, coupled with the interlocked root networks, and strength of the plant material, combine to protect the jungle from such storms en masse.”

Captain Nathan states elsewhere in his report that the weather patterns are fixed in their latitudinal bands due to the minimal axial tilt of the planet resulting in minimal shifts of the trade wind belts.

More to the point, however, was the life on the planet itself.  Many never-before-seen microorganisms existed on the planet, the majority of which are capable of invading the human body and causing a fatal illness.  It is estimated that 30% of the people deposited on Wrath died of some disease caused by these microorganisms within the first Terran year of arrival.  Various parasites also posed a health problem, but to a lesser extent.

On a larger scale, wildlife teemed throughout the planet’s various ecosystems.  These creatures ranged widely in size and shape, the smallest being an insectoid, and the largest being the size of a Terran T. Rex.  Predators were plentiful, as were their prey.  Below is a description written by one of the planetary explorers assigned to ES Galileo, who’s name has been lost since the report was filed:

“Today I observed a pack predator attack a heard of ruminants.  These hunters were about the size of a Terran horse, but reminded me of a prehistoric Velociraptor.  It is covered in fur, has powerful hind legs and arms that would be useful in holding it’s prey.  It has powerful muscled in its neck, and a snout modified to be used as a lance to stab it’s prey once it has been captured.

“The Lancers had no problem isolating and bringing down several of the ruminants for their dining pleasure.”

“I observed another pack hunt a huge ruminant, similar to a Terran musk ox, but the size of a Terran elephant.  Once the attack began, it took the six ‘Lancers’ little time to bring the giant animal to the ground.  Very vicious creatures.”

As we can see from this small sample of the full report, the inhabitants of Wrath had their collective hands full.  Other predators mentioned are ‘Leapers’, which resemble 75 kilo Terran toads with fur and claws, as well as an avian nicknamed ‘Ravens’, which also hunts in flocks, appropriately called murders.  They dive into their prey, much as their namesakes, and literally peck their prey to death.

Almost all the animals on wrath are edible, provided the flesh is properly cooked.  Catching them was the problem.  Even the small animals have vicious teeth and claws, and a few have poisonous bites, making them difficult to handle and kill using the crude implements available to the castaways.

The flora of Wrath is no less daunting than the fauna.  Some of the plants are hunters, lying in wait for the unwary.  Other plants are poisonous to touch, and others deadly to eat.  Out of the thousands of species of plant life on Wrath, only a few dozen are edible.  Fortunately for the consignees, these were plentiful, and readily identifiable by their color. 

Wrath’s terrain varies, much like it does here on Terra, or any of the other planets that have been studied or colonized.  This served to aid the inhabitants of Wrath, because it gave them cover and defensible positions against the denizens of the hostile planet.  Without the odd terrain features of the jungle, such as the high mounds and giant tree growths with hollow centers, it is doubtful if any of Heaven’s castoffs would have survived.

For more information, address inquiries to this correspondent at The Commonwealth Record.

Chad P. Hawthorne

The Commonwealth Record

Correspondent-at-Large

After everyone had settled in on the hard ground, I finally relaxed a little bit.  I took watch for the first six hours of the night, as close as I could estimate it..  Bran would stand the last half until dawn.  To help me stay awake, I asked Jacen to join me.  He warily agreed. 

Jacen was a small boy, standing only sixteen decimeters or so.  His face was round, and his brown eyes appeared black in the night.  He was carrying a bit of baby fat, but he didn’t look like he was over weight.  The end result was he looked more like a little boy than a teenager.

Together we made the rounds, once more making sure there were no gaps in the fence, tending the fire, and continuing to make the spears we would need to survive.

“How old are you, Jacen?”

“Thirteen.  I’ll be fourteen in a couple months.”

“What did you do to be here with us?” 

He looked away, and didn’t answer for a moment.  When he looked back at me, the light from the fire made the tears in his eyes glow.  “I... I... I don’t have anything to live for.”

“You tried to kill yourself?”  He nodded, and pulled up the sleeves of his jumpsuit.  I could very clearly see fresh scars running lengthwise down his forearm.  “My mom found me and stopped the bleeding.”  He dropped his eyes to the ground.  “I didn’t cut deep enough.”

“Why would you want to kill yourself?  What reason?”

“Like I said.  I have nothing to live for.  And now that I’m here, I have even less.”

I asked again gently.  “What reasons?”

“My life was terrible.  I didn’t have any friends.  I hated school.  I got picked on a lot.  Mom and Dad hated me.  I was always in the way.  My brother and sister hated me, too.”

“They’re not here now.”

“I know that!  I still love them though, and now I’m here and I’ll never see them again and I’m scared.  Okay?  I’m scared!”  He realized how loud his voice was and fell into dejected silence.  I saw a tear fall from his eyes.

I put my arm around his slim shoulders, gently drawing him toward me.  He resisted at first, but then let me pull him to me.  “Now, look here, buddy,” I said quietly.  “Bran and I, we’re going to keep you alive, and teach you how to keep yourself alive.  There’s a lot to live for now.  We need you.”  He glanced at me incredulously.  “No, I mean it!  You’re an important part of our group, Jacen.”

“Yeah, right,” he said bitterly.  “What can I do to help?  Nothing.”

“No, you’re wrong.  You helped our fire.  You’re standing guard with me, and you’re helping to make a spear so we can eat and protect ourselves.  You’re the smallest person here, and that’s important, because you may fit into places that none of the rest of us can.”

He looked at me, searching my face for any hint of my mocking him.  “You’re not just saying that to try and make the little kid feel good, are you?

I paused a moment to consider my answer.  “Partly yes, partly no.  I want you to feel like you’re a part of this group, Jacen.  Darryn told you to stay out of the way, but I want you to help us.  Everything I told you was the truth, right?”  He nodded.  “Okay then.  There’s something else I have to tell you about our situation.  The more people we have, the safer we are.  More people means more work can get done, more weapons can be made, and more safety in general.  That’s why I want you to help us, Jacen.  You’re just as important as anyone else here.  Including Darryn.” I dropped my voice  conspiratorially, “As a matter of fact, I think you’re worth more than Darryn, because you want to help.”

His eyes widened and he whispered back, “Really?”

“Really.”  He stared at me for a few seconds, then grinned slightly and went back to work on his spear.  “Can Bran and I trust you?”

“Yeah, you can trust me.  I don’t like Darryn.”

“Good.  I’ll tell Bran when he comes on watch that you’re a friend, okay?”

His grin turned into a smile.  “Okay!”  I sighed to myself.  I hoped it would be this easy to get  the rest of the group to align themselves with us, but somehow, I doubted it.  I knew two people who were certain to be a problem, and another who might be.

We chatted quietly the rest of the night.  I told him about the Rangers and our training, and the more he heard, the more he wanted to learn.  He was hugely excited by the time it came for watch change.  I sent him to bed with a playful shove and told him to get some sleep.  Sleep was necessary for survival.  He grinned and laid down by the fire.

I woke Kryss next to stand the last two hours of my watch with me until I woke Bran to take over.  He woke at my touch and got up without complaint.  After a few moments of stretching, he joined me where I was sitting, working on a spear.  He picked up the shaft Jacen had worked on, and continued sharpening it without speaking.

“Kryss, right?”

“Yup.”

“I’m Justinian.  You can call me ‘Just,’ though.”  He didn’t respond.  “Kryss?  I have something I need to talk about.”

“So talk.”

I watched him for a few minutes in the dim firelight.  He was tall, the tallest in our group by half a decimeter.  His red hair shined in the light of the red moon.  He was really good looking.  I didn’t realize I was staring until he met my eyes.  “What do you think of Darryn?”

“Why?”  His voice was quiet but harsh.

For some reason, I responded in kind. “I’m trying to figure out how we’re going to survive.  If you want Darryn to lead the group, I need to know.  Then we can make the decision on whether to go on our own, or stay with the rest of you.”  He stared at me until I lost my patience.  “Darryn.  Yes or No.”

“No.  You and Bran are the two who know what you’re doing.  We have the best chance of making it out here with you two calling the shots.”

“Are you willing to work with us?”

“You mean, take orders?”

“Not as such.  Here’s our situation.  We have no food, no water, no weapons except the spear Bran made, and these we’re working on.  Darryn doesn’t like me because I took away his power.  Dierdra won’t cooperate.  Michael is too wrapped up in his religion to be any help right now.  That leaves Bran and I pretty much alone, unless we can convince the rest of you to help us.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to train you, and anyone else who agrees, to survive.  We’ll teach you as much as we can, and then you can decide what you want to do.  Right now, we need the group to survive.  There’s too much to do, and not enough time.  Can I count on you?”

“I won’t take orders.”

“That won’t work, Kryss.  Sometimes we’ll need you to do things, and there won’t be time for us to explain or convince you it’s necessary.”  I paused, letting him think about what I just said.  “Do you realize we’re being hunted?  We’re food for those things out there?”  He said nothing, staring into the night.  “Look.  I don’t want an answer right now, but I’ll need one soon.  Just think about it, okay?”

“I will.”

“That’s all I ask.” 

It seemed like I had just closed my eyes when an earsplitting roar startled us awake.  I was up in a flash, and caught the spear Bran tossed to me.  Without waiting to see who else received the spears, I sprinted to the wall, peering into the moonlit darkness to find the creature.  I couldn’t be certain, but it had sounded like a lot like that leaper we had seen kill that woman.

Bran joined me, followed quickly by the rest of our group.  “Do you see it?”

“No.  It could be down the slope.  Spread these guys out.  I don’t want everyone killed if that thing jumps in here.”  Bran nodded and spaced them out, while I tried again to locate it.  I saw some movement at the edge of the slope, but I couldn’t make out what it was.  Adrenaline coursed through my veins as my heartbeat raced in my ears.

Another roar, closer this time.  It came from the creature I was watching.  It was only twenty meters away.  Finally it crested the hill, and I could see it.  It was a leaper, and it was larger than the one we’d seen the previous day.  It was obviously sniffing the air, trying to find us.  Another roar, and the creature turned in a slow semi-circle, stopping when it was facing directly at us.

“It’s a leaper!  Be ready!”  Another roar, and the thing launched into the air.  “Here it comes!”

It landed in the middle of our group, unable to reach anyone.  Bran and I darted in to stab the thing with our spears, but Matthew, Kryss, and Michael stood there, rooted to the spot, just holding their weapons..

“Attack!  We need to kill it!”  Michael and Kryss regained their wits and attacked at the same time, stabbing it in the ribcage from opposite sides.  “No!  Go for the throat!”  Suiting actions to words, I stabbed and missed as it clawed at Bran.  Michael stabbed it in the side again, causing it to spin back toward me.

I darted in and sunk my spear deeply in to the creature’s neck, with Bran just a split second behind me.  It roared again, nearly deafening me, and spun, trapping me between Bran’s spear and my own.  When it spun, I spun with it.  It roared again, and I got a whiff of fetid breath.  Then it leapt toward the fire.

As it jumped, my head snapped back, the spears caught me under the arms, lifting me with the leaper.  It landed near the fire, one spear drove into the ground, the other drove into my shoulder.  I screamed in pain, drawing myself to the leaper’s attention.  The leaper tried to bite me, but the two spears which had lifted me were planted in the ground and on my shoulder, and prevented it’s teeth from ripping me to shreds.  It couldn’t, or wouldn’t, move it’s claws in to attack me either, because to do so would drive the spears deeper into the things throat.  Nevertheless, I was trapped under it’s weight and couldn’t move, depending on the dubious protection of two thin spears.  Blood was pouring out of the spear wounds in it’s neck, soaking my jumpsuit in crimson wetness. 

When it landed, my head hit the ground, not hard enough to knock me senseless, but hard enough to do some damage.   In my semi-conscious haze, I heard yelling, and the creature tried to spin, but one of the spears dug into the ground, driving the spear point deeper into it’s throat.  It roared again, spraying me with blood and saliva.  It’s slavering jaws snapped centimeters from my nose.  Blood dripped into my mouth, and my stomach revolted.  It seemed those moments lasted an eternity.

The leaper’s movements were becoming sluggish as the loss of blood took it’s toll.  With a few more attempts to reach me, it leaned heavily into the spears, and with a resounding crack, they broke in half.    I watched in mute horror as it’s jaws fell, engulfing my head.  I could smell it’s putrid breath and feel it’s razor sharp teeth against my neck, ready to end my life.   

It took me a long moment to realize that the thing was dead, and I wasn’t.  My head throbbed painfully, and my shoulder ached abominably.  Suddenly, I was terrified.  I screamed and screamed until the creatures head was lifted off of me, the teeth scratching  my skin as it passed, the salty blood stinging dreadfully.

“Get it off get it off get it off gedidoff gedidoff!”  The creature was shoved aside, and I scrambled to my feet, only to  collapse again as my head swam.  Bran caught me and supported me from behind, but I pulled away and stumbled a few steps before falling on my knees and vomiting. 

My sight cleared and I looked around, taking in the scene.  I was covered in blood.  The animal lay lifeless, no more than five meters from the fire, a growing patch of wet ground underneath it.  Eight people stood around the beast, their eyes flicking from the carcass, to me, and back again.  In several of those faces, I saw something approaching awe as they watched me.  It made me uncomfortable.

I awoke sometime later.  It was daylight, and I was laying under a shelter built with sticks and covered in broad leaves.  There was a palette under me, made of the same broad leaves.  It was hot and humid.   My head still ached, but not nearly as bad as it had been.  Reaching back, I found the hair on the back of my head matted with dried blood.  I must have been cut as I fell.  My shoulder was stiff and hurt as well.

Raising my head slightly to look around, I saw Jacen and Kryss sitting around the fire pit about ten meters away, talking quietly as they worked on making spears.  No one else was in sight other than those two. 

I tried to sit up, but found my left shoulder weak and throbbing.  I managed to roll into a sitting position, and was dizzy for a moment while my body adjusted.

The camp looked much the same as it had the day before, and the leaper was gone.  To my right, a meter away, was the shell of some kind of big coconut looking thing with a hole in the top.  I reached over and picked it up, smelling the contents.  Other than the shell itself, there was no odor.  I set it aside. In spite of my great thirst, I wasn’t going to drink it until I knew what it was.

Jacen noticed I was awake as I crawled out of the low makeshift shelter.  I stood carefully, leaning against the roof for support.  Again, dizziness came and passed.

Jacen approached and stopped a few steps away.  “Are you okay?”

“I think so.  My head hurts, and my shoulder, too.”  I looked down and saw my jumpsuit that had been stained with blood was relatively clean.  It had been ripped in a few places by the beasts claws though.  Shuddering, I realized how close I had come to being killed.  “Where is everyone?”

Kryss said, “They’re out gathering food and firewood.  We have water!  We found it at the base of the hill on the other side, a spring or something.  It’s pure.  No one has gotten sick, anyway.”  He handed me a shell like the one I’d set aside in the shelter.  “You have to be thirsty.”

“Yeah, I am.  Thank you.”  I tilted back the improvised canteen and took a mouthful of water.  It tasted sweet and was cool on my parched throat.  A groan escaped as I swallowed.  “G-... Man that tastes good.”

“It should,” said Kryss.  “It’s the first thing you’ve had to drink in three days.”  I stared at him, not comprehending the import of his statement.

“What do you mean?”

Jacen looked at me, confused.  “You’ve been asleep for two days.”

“And you didn’t have anything to drink the first day...” Kryss continued.  I took another swallow.

Thinking back, I realized they were right.  The only thing that kept me alive this long was the fact that I gorged myself on water before I was dropped onto this hellhole of a planet.  I took another swallow, and had to remind myself not to gulp it all down, or I’d puke it up again.

I walked gingerly to the fire pit and sat down on one of the logs placed near it.  Jacen and Kryss sat back down and continued working on the spears.  Across the way, I spied a bunch of spears leaning against a large rock.

“How many spears do we have now?”

“About twenty,” Jacen said. 

“When that thing attacked us,” Kryss added, “people decided this wasn’t a camping trip.”

“Darryn?”

“After you passed out, he tried to convince everyone that the attack was exactly what he had warned us about, and it was time to leave.  Bran asked him what he would have done if that thing had attacked us in the open, down in the forest, without weapons.  Darryn couldn’t really answer; he said some stuff that didn’t make sense.  Then Matthew speaks up and says ‘Shut up, Darryn!  You don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about, and you don’t have any idea how to keep us alive.  I’m following Just and Bran, not you, so sit down!’  He didn’t stutter once!  And then this guy,”  Kryss jerked his thumb at Jacen, “lays into Darryn, too.”

“You did that, Jacen?”  He nodded.  “What did you say?”

“I told him, ‘If you don’t like it, then you can go.  But if you stay and make trouble, maybe we’ll feed you to a leaper.’”  My jaw hit the ground.

“Yeah, it was funny,” said Kryss.  “And he said it while holding a spear, fingering the point!  Darryn turned red, and then white as snow.  He looked around and saw no support, except for Dierdra.  I think she likes him. 

“Anyway,  Jacen just stands there with a spear, staring Darryn down.  Darryn stands up and walks toward Jacen, and Jacen levels the spear at him.  He says, ‘You’re putting all of us in danger, Darryn.’”

“Yeah, and then Michael comes over and stands by me, and tells him to accept it, and to follow orders, or Michael will kill him.  Michael didn’t even bat an eye.  Darryn ran when that thing jumped in, you know.  Michael called him a coward.”

Jacen and Kryss continued their animated conversation, oblivious to the fact I was no longer listening.  This new development made me even more uneasy.  Not only was Darryn forced into accepting my leadership,  he was shamed in the process.  Jacen and Michael, and possibly Matthew were on Darryn’s hit list now.  I’m certain I was, and probably Bran.  Was Darryn capable of killing one or all of us?  I was forced to believe he could.  And Michael?  I’d have to ask Bran.  If he made his threat as coolly as he had, we could have another potential killer on our hands.

After draining another shell of water, I picked up a rock and started working on a spear while we waited for the others to return.  My head still hurt, and my left shoulder, but since I was right handed, working on the point wasn’t a big problem.

When the sun was half way down in the west, Bran appeared over the crest of the hill, leading the rest of the group.  He was carrying a couple spears and several slings made from what looked like vines or tree bark.  In the sling were several of the crude canteens.  I noticed everyone else had a sling as well.  Some carried two.  They each carried a spear or two as well.

They deposited their burdens in two piles:  One they stacked neatly, and the other they just threw together.  Bran came right over to me and knelt down.

“How are you feeling, Jus?”

“Like I’ve been chewed up and spit out.”

“You should have seen it from my side.  It looked like you were chewed up.”  Tears formed in his eyes.  “I thought I’d lost you.”

Trying to break the tension and bring Bran back to his senses before he gave us away, I laughed and said, “Almost!  I remember seeing it’s teeth close just above my nose.  And when the thing finally died, and it’s head fell on me, I thought I was done.”  Tears suddenly filled my eyes, as I remembered the horror of being under that thing.  Bran pulled me to him in a hug, and I lost it.  I couldn’t stop myself from crying, and then the crying turned into bawling.  I clutched at Bran as my fear was released.

When I had regained my composure, I pulled back to look at Bran, and saw his tearstained cheeks below those expressive blue eyes.  It broke my heart that I couldn’t kiss him right there, but I didn’t dare.  I hugged him tightly instead, and released him.  He sensed what I was thinking, and stood up.  Looking around, I saw that no one was looking directly at me, except Darryn, who wore a smirk.  Suddenly I was furious.

I jumped to my feet and  screamed, “Darryn, next time it’ll be you underneath that thing!  We’ll see how you like it!”  His smirk was replaced by anger.  He stood to face me, then noticed I was holding a half finished spear.  He turned and walked away, fuming.

Jacen stood and hugged me, saying, “Thank you, Just.”  He was followed Michael, who shook my hand, Matthew, Kryss, and Moira, who kissed my cheek.  I glance to Bran and saw he wore an amused smile.

I followed Bran to the rock I had used to separate myself from the group that first night.  We sat quietly for a minute, neither knowing what to say.  At last, Bran spoke.

“Don’t do that to me again, Jus.  I can’t take it.  I thought you were dead until you started screaming.  And all that blood... I thought it was coming from you.”

“No.  It was all the monster’s, except for my head.”

“I figured that out when I stripped you to check for injuries.”

“What else did you find?”  I didn’t feel any other injuries than my head and shoulder.

“Besides your shoulder?  Minor scrapes and scratches is all.  How you didn’t get mauled is a mystery.”

“The spears.  They kept it’s head from getting to me, and it couldn’t get it’s claws in without leaning on them.  That’s the only thing I can think of.  You cleaned my jumpsuit?”  He nodded.  “Thank you.”  We were quiet for a few moments, then it was down to business.  “Bring me up to speed.”

“We’ve got twenty-three spears.  Food isn’t a problem.  We found something like a big coconut, and they’re all over.  It’s edible; at least, no one is sick from it.  It also works as a container.  Water isn’t a problem for the moment.  There’s a spring at the bottom of the hill on the north side.”

“Good.  What about the group?”

“Darryn and Dierdra are holdouts.  Michael is going along with us for now.  Everyone else is with us.  Kryss too.”

“Problems?”

“Other than Darryn hating everyone?  Michael and Kryss don’t like each other at all. It seems Kryss attacked a priest, and Michael is doing ‘God’s work’ here on Wrath.  The two of them got in an argument over religion.  I had to stop it.”

“Oh, wonderful.  Will they work together?”

“It’s best to keep them separated, and keep Dierdra and Darryn separated, too, so they can’t plan anything.”

“So, we have four camps here, huh?  Darryn and Dierdra, Kryss, Michael, and everyone else.”

“Looks that way.  What can we do about it?”

“I’m gonna have to talk to Michael and Kryss.  They need to put their differences aside for the good of the rest of us.  If they can’t... well, the group may have to split.”

“That could be good and bad.”

“I know.  For now, we’re all going to go in the same direction; toward the mountains.  Until we get there, I don’t see splitting up as an option.”

He sighed.  “You’re right.  But we need to keep an eye on them.  Especially Darryn.”

“Nothing has changed.” 

I unzipped my jumpsuit and took it off down to the waist.  I didn’t believe what I saw.  My shoulder was an unrecognizable mass of angry red, blue, and purple bruises, swollen to nearly twice its normal size.  The bruising spread down into my chest and just past my sternum, covering my whole pectoral area.  I had no idea what the bruising looked like in the back, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“Jus, you’re lucky that spear didn’t go through your shoulder. And you could have cracked your skull too, you know that?  Less than a decimeter to the right, and you would have.”

“That close?  Wow.”  I shuddered at the thought. If it wasn’t some animal’s sharp teeth and claws, it was hitting my head on a rock.  I was beginning to hate this place.

 “You should lay back down, Jus.  I’m sure you have a concussion.”

“Okay.  Help me?”  He stood with me, supporting me by my good arm, and walked me to my shelter.  I noticed the others were building similar shelters for themselves.  “We’re going to stay here for a while?”

“Three or four more days, depending on you.”

“Why depending on me?" 

I awoke the next morning to the balmy humidity.  The temperature didn’t drop much at night, which was good, or we’d have a problem with exposure.  A small breeze stirred the heavy air, but did nothing to abate the heat.

I rolled out of my little hovel and stood.  My head felt much better, but there was still some small amount of dizziness.  My shoulder was very stiff, and painful to move.

As I walked to the water stash, I looked around the camp.  There were nine shelters spread out around the fire pit.  Michael and Matthew had some strips of something and were weaving it into a rope.  There were more spears in the stack than there had been, and there was even what looked like a bow without a string, and some arrows.  Bran had been very busy.

“G-g-good m-morning, J-j-justinian.”

“Good morning, Matthew.  You can call me Just, okay?”

“Thanks, J-just.  I’m M-m-matt.”  I nodded in acknowledgement.

“Morning, Michael.”  He grunted his reply, continuing to weave the rope.  Now that I was closer, I could see it was made of a combination of tree bark and small vines.  It would serve.  “How much rope do we have so far?”

“You’re looking at it,” Michael said in a scathing tone.  “We just started this morning.”

I was quiet for a moment, then said, “You have a problem, Michael?”

His tone unchanged, he said, “No, no problem.”

“Whatever.  Just keep the attitude to yourself.  There’s too much to do for your attitude to get in the way.”

He raised his head and glared at me.  “You want to know what my problem is?  My problem is I’m stuck here with a bunch of heathens, and I have no choice but to work with you, because I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own!”

“First off, keep your religion to yourself.  No one here wants to hear it.  Secondly, look at it as a challenge given to you by your god.  Maybe he’s testing you.  I don’t care.  Just keep it to yourself.”  He glared daggers at me for the longest time, then went back to the rope.

Matt had remained studiously silent during the exchange.  After Michael fell to his work, he said, “J-just, are you hungry?  There’s f-f-f-food over there t-too.”

“Yeah, I’m famished.  Thanks, Matt.” 

“I’m n-not s-s-surprised.  You s-slept all d-day yesterday.”

“Really?”

He hummed an affirmative as we approached the pile.

He picked up a large pod, and said, “You have to p-p-peel it, then c-c-c-crack it open.”  Grabbing a sharp rock, he hammered at the pod, cutting through the tough rind.  Once he’d scored it on all four sides, he began to peel it away, revealing a large coconut.  “N-now we have to d-drill a hole in it t-to g-g-get the m-m-milk.”  Taking a sharp, pointed rock, Matt started to drill away at the shell.  A short while later, he handed me the coconut with a smile, pride on his face.

“Thank you, Matt.  I couldn’t have done that on my own.”  I tipped back the coconut and greedily drank the sweet liquid inside, spitting out an occasional piece of shell that had fallen in during the drilling. 

When I had finished, he took the shell from me and neatly cracked it open on a nearby rock, then split the halves into quarters.  “Eat the m-m-meat too.  B-Bran t-told m-me to m-m-m-make sure you d-d-did.”  He blushed in frustration.  He was trying hard, I could tell, but the stuttering still came.

I took a bite of the soft flesh.  It was moderately sweet with a slight tang to it.  “This is good!”  I took another bite.  “Thanks again.”

“Sure.”  He retreated to his task, sitting a small but noticeable distance from Michael. 

As I ate, I watched Michael thoughtfully.  He was on Wrath for some reason.  They wouldn’t just send him without reason.  I doubted it would be something relatively minor, given how pious he was.  That meant it was something big.  But what?

A few hours later, Bran and the rest of the group returned, laden with more rope material.  They dumped it near the fire pit, and set to braiding more rope.  Bran saw me up and around, and came to me.

“How’re you feeling, Jus?  Your head hurt? Any dizziness?  Can you move your shoulder?”

“Good, a little, a little, and not much,” I said, grinning at him.  “I think I’ll be okay tomorrow or the next day.  My shoulder still aches, but not as much as it did yester-  I mean, the day before yesterday.”

He nodded.  “We’re getting ready to go to the next mound, Jus.  We have water, we have spears, and we don’t need to carry food.  I’m going to have everyone eat the night before we leave, get some energy.”

“Good.  You’ve been busy, Bran.  Thanks for taking over.”

“You asshole!”  He cuffed me very gently on the side of the head  “You left me no choice, did you?  If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you did it on purpose!” 

“Would I do something like that?”

“Yes, you would!  Okay, okay, so now I know I can survive being put in charge.”

“Yep.”  He just shook his head and smiled.

“Tomorrow, the dizziness should be gone.  If you can use your arm well enough by tomorrow afternoon, we’ll leave the next morning at sun up.  If not, then we’ll wait and lounge around for a day, and rest up.”

“Sounds good, mon Capitan.”  I leaned closer to him, and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.  I just wish we could get away, even for a few minutes.  I could use a hug.  And a kiss.”

“Me too.  C’mon.  Let’s get some work done.”

That night, we were all awakened by animal sounds.  A roar in the distance, and some scrabbling at the wall.  Although we were all awake and armed, nothing decided to visit.

It wasn’t the next day, but the day after we left that first mound.  After being up most of the previous night, it was agreed to take the next day and rest.

That morning was just like any other since we’d been here on Wrath.  The sun was hot, and the air humid.  My shoulder was much better.  It still hurt, but I could use it.  The dizziness was gone, and my head didn’t ache anymore.

We gathered up the things we were taking with us: everyone took three of our makeshift canteens, two or three spears, and Bran , Kryss, and I each carried a thirty meter length of homemade rope.  We also took the two rocks Matt had used to peel and drill the coconuts.  We might not find others so easily.

With admonitions to keep talking to a minimum and to keep in line, down the hill we went, into the jungle beyond.

Copyright Notice - Copyright ©2004 by Dewey.

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