1

Jorja was woken early by an unfamiliar phenomenon…sunshine! Once she’d struggled out of her tent, she could see the skies had cleared, and the familiar lilac bowl had replaced the choking grey pall of previous days. The temperature had risen and the girl finally felt able to make the trek to the pool Rai had found on the first day, to wash off the accumulated dirt… Once back at her camp she set the fire and heated up some rations…the sunshine had lifted her spirits, but she knew she was only putting off the inevitable…
Rai lay as before in his purple bower. His breathing was barely perceptible, and he felt strangely cool…The creature beside him was unchanged. It was only when she tried once more to rouse the boy, that she noticed it. A tendril identical to the one linking the pseudo-crustacean to the pod had clamped itself to Rai’s gut. Her first reaction was one of panic, she raced outside and grabbed the axe…still lying where Rai had dropped it, and returned to the grove intending to sever the ‘umbilical cord’… But indecision gripped her…what if cutting the cord harmed him…? What if that was what was keeping him alive…? In the end she couldn’t do it, and letting the axe fall she staggered outside…
Typically, with a sentry on duty and the security counter-measures in place, the pseudo-crustacean failed to show,
“I’ll bet it was watching us, ’though!” said Sal, who’d taken the last shift. While Sal grabbed some sleep, the girls prepared for their flight. First order of business was to prep the drone for its mission. After the tiny aircraft had taken to the air, the girls readied their ’plane. Finally they prepared breakfast and woke the reluctant Sal,
“Make sure you keep the rifle with you at all times…and don’t fall asleep,” said Priya,
“Yes dear…!” mocked the boy.
The first few kliks over the foothills took them through what was left of the plume, then with a suddenness that took their breath away they broke through into the light,
“Where’s the drone searching…?” asked Marta,
“Sal programmed it to head east, then loop around the cloud and head for the plateau…so it should be searching about twenty kliks north of us… Hopefully we’ll meet up sometime mid-afternoon…!”
The morning passed uneventfully, but the now almost perfect visibility and the aircraft’s enhanced sensors made the task much easier. The new radar programme enabled them to locate and search likely landing areas, but still no joy! The infra-red sensors were also a bust…there were apparently no heat anomalies anywhere within range, although the uniform heating of the ground in the sunshine would make these more difficult to detect. By mid-afternoon they were becoming dispirited again,
“There it is…!” Priya whose eyes were better than Marta’s had spotted the small dot against the sky,
“Right, I’ll prepare to download its data…” Marta was quiet for a while as her ’face displayed the data. Then she put her thumb up,
“It’s found the ’plane…!”
Priya fortunately had the presence of mind to engage the autopilot before she hugged her, but even so the tiny aircraft still rocked alarmingly,
“The data says it picked up their ’plane’s distress beacon about an hour ago…it homed in and found the aircraft hidden in a small canyon…”
“Did it make contact with Rai and Jorja…?”
“No…unfortunately…! They can’t have been in interface range…It’s not programmed to stick around, so it continued on its search pattern…”
“Stupid machine…” said Priya, “…but nevertheless wonderful machine, and you thought it was a waste of time, Marta…”
“I stand corrected…”
“What happens now…?” said the younger girl,
“Well, I’ve got the coordinates so I think we should go and take a look…I’ll send the drone back to base…”
The canyon was about thirty kliks away, right at the end the drone’s westward sweep, before it had turned back east… They could now hear the aircraft’s beacon intermittently on the radio, but it still took a while to locate the valley,
“I think we would have flown straight past this…” said Priya, and it was true, the valley lay between two low hills, and was virtually invisible until you were right on top of it,
“How the chod did they manage to get it in here…?” Marta rarely swore and her exasperation was clear,
“You’ll have to go into hover mode to get any closer…” said Priya, “…do you want me to take over…?”
“It would be better if you did…!” said Marta, whose confidence in her own flying abilities was not that great.
Under Priya’s more experienced hand the flying machine lowered itself gently into the canyon. Marta became increasingly nervous as the canyon walls rose above them. They were now so low that their propellers were beginning to kick up dust on the valley floor,
“There it is…I see it!” said Marta, “Look! Over there in the shadow…!”
“I don’t think I can land this thing in this tight space…” said Priya…
The problem was that Jorja and Rai’s aircraft took up most of the tiny shelf it was resting on,
“Perhaps we can try somewhere else…?” suggested Marta,
“Unfortunately, according to the radar programme this is the only flat area in the entire valley…” Priya looked at her friend, “Well, what do we do…?”
“I think we come back tomorrow…we know where they are, and they can’t go anywhere…!”
They were both subdued on the way back. Priya broke the silence,
“Trust them to find somewhere really awkward to land…”
Jorja had been sitting with Rai in the grove and completely missed the visit of the drone. Eventually she could no longer bear the stifling atmosphere and headed for daylight… At first, she just believe what her eyes were telling her! About a klik down the valley she could see the other ’plane. It was rising steadily and just clearing the canyon walls. She started to run,
“HEY! OVER HERE…!”
She lost sight of the aircraft for a while as she was now in among the rocks that lay between her and their landing site… When she could see it again it was well above the canyon rim and beginning to move away… She tried her ’face, ‘no signal’ of course… She sat down on the nearest rock, wiped away a tear and started to think hard,
‘If they’ve found the ’plane they will come back,’ she reasoned.
Cursing herself for moving the camp site and cursing Rai for being…well, for being Rai, she tried to think logically,
‘They don’t know where we are, they must be thinking something’s happened to us…! I need to make some sort of sign to let them know we’re still alive…’
It took her twenty minutes to reach the downed aircraft… She checked inside, still not enough juice to fly…but it was getting there… She briefly considered S.O.S. but settled for a large arrow marked out in pebbles, pointing back up the valley to where the grove lay… It was too late to move the camp again even if she could have brought herself to leave Rai…she would have to come back tomorrow…
Sal was waiting for them rifle in hand when they landed,
“Anything up…?” said Priya, “you don’t look too good…!”
“I had another visit…from the crusty…!”
“In daylight…!” said Marta, “Where is it now…?”
“You look as if you need to sit down…” said Priya sensibly, “tell us what happened…!”
“I was sitting by the tent when I saw it coming from the south east…it crossed the security line and the charge went off…but that didn’t stop it! It froze for an instant then kept on coming…!”
‘He’s in shock!’ thought Marta,
“I had the rifle in my hand so I fired over its head…no effect…!” the boy paused as he relived the events, “so, I fired into the ground in front of it like you did…it stopped for a few seconds then it came on again…! And I’m thinking I’ve got four shots left, I’m gonna have to kill it…if I can…!”
The boy shuddered,
“Christ, Priya…! I was remembering before….when that thing grabbed me…” Sal had started to shake, “…and I’m thinking we’ve just no place being here in the first place…!”
The girl put her arm ’round him,
“We’ve found their ’plane…!” said Marta. This helped Sal, who seemed to pull himself together,
“Where…?”
“On the western edge of the plateau, in a sort of hidden valley…! The drone found it…!”
“Are they…?”
“We didn’t manage to find them…” said Priya, “…and it was too difficult to land… We’re going to have to go back tomorrow…!”
“What’s the point, if we can’t land…?”
“You’re the best pilot, apart from Han…maybe you can get the ‘plane down…” said Priya,
“I’m not sure if I’m capable of doing anything at the moment…”
“Calm down! It’s gone…!” said Priya,
“How did you get rid of it anyway…?” asked Marta,
“Well, just as I was preparing to shoot, the drone turns up…! This seemed to confuse the thing and it forgot about me and went off to investigate…”
“What did you do….?” the girls spoke simultaneously,
“Well, I went and found the box of charges…you know, the one’s we use for the perimeter and I taped a contact detonator to one of the charges…don’t worry, I was careful…! Then I crept up behind it and lobbed the charge at it…”
Sal paused to grin,
“The charge exploded underneath it…I think it was just stunned for a while, it just sort of wandered ‘round in a circle… Then it began to move, faster than I’ve ever seen one of those things move, and headed towards the horizon…”
He pointed off to the west, “…I sort of lost sight of it after a couple of kliks…”
“…hopefully it won’t come back in a hurry…” said Marta with more confidence than she felt,
“Yes, maybe the fact that we’ve hurt it will discourage it…” added Priya…
The children then re-set the perimeter with a couple of charges this time and prepared to eat,
“We need to decide on a plan for tomorrow…” said Priya,
Marta felt she needed to be decisive,
“Sal, I think you should fly out to the canyon tomorrow…check to see if anything’s different at the site… Hopefully, if they saw us they’ll leave a sign…! If you can land, do so…! Take a weapon with you, we don’t know what sort of threats they face…and one of them may be injured…”
They were both listening closely to her,
“What do I do if…” Sal corrected himself, “When I find them…?”
“I’ll leave that to your judgement, but if one of them is hurt or sick…best take them straight to the Dome… Don’t worry, we’ll be safe here…!”
They had a plan, but now came the waiting…

---

2

Jorja was dreaming…in her dream her and Rai were together in the Garden…but the Garden now seemed to cover the whole planet… She couldn’t tell if any the others were there, but she did know that they were all happy… Reality came slowly with the grey dawn light…routine kept her going…light the fire, food, tasteless though it was…wash yourself in the pool…then time to check to check on Rai…! Nothing much had changed, but the skin around the tendril seemed to have become puckered and discoloured…she tried not to think about it… Time to go to the old camp site,
“Be safe, my love…” she whispered.
She’d just reached the landing site when salvation came…! The other ’plane swooped over the canyon rim and came in fast,
‘Must be Sal or Han….’ she thought, ‘no-one else could fly like that…’
It was Sal…she rushed to hug him, and found she couldn’t let him go,
“I knew someone would come…” she found herself saying over and over…the boy looked embarrassed, so she released him from her grip,
“Sorry…!” she said somewhat self consciously, “…but it’s been so long since I spoke to anyone…”
“I saw your sign…! Where’s Rai…?” Sal looked grave, as if fearing the worst…
“It’s hard to explain…I’ll have to show you…!”
“How far is it…?” asked the boy, “Is he hurt…?”
Jorja found she was beginning to panic again and forced herself to be calm,
“It’s about a klik…and yes, he is hurt…” she stopped there, how could she explain…?
“I’ll bring the first aid kit…how’s the other ’plane…?”
“I’m not sure…I don’t think it’s got enough power to fly…”
“I better take a look…!”
While he was away, Jorja bit her arm to stop from screaming,
‘Stop it!’ she told herself, ‘He’s just being sensible…you’ve got to get a grip…’
Sal had now returned from the ‘plane,
“Looks OK…in about an hour it should be ready to fly….!”
“He’s this way…!” she said and headed off up the valley leaving Sal to follow…
It took the boy a few minutes to catch up…and once he had he slowed her down encumbered as he was by the first aid kit and the rifle…also, he didn’t know the route like she did and everything took longer,
“So what happened…?”
“It’s too hard to explain…when he’s safe…!”
“OK..!”
Once they reached the pods, the boy took in the new camp…and looked with bafflement at the dried sap clinging to the scarred pseudo-plant stems,
“We have to go in here…!” said Jorja, “I’ll take the first aid kit…!”
She led him into the grove and squeezed through the narrow gap. Sal made to follow her but then stopped dead,
“It’s alright!” she said, “It’s unconscious…!”
Again she had to catch herself. She’d grown used to not regarding the sleeping creature as a threat, but this was new to Sal,
“It’s really all right!” she said, “It hasn’t moved while we’ve been here… ! Rai’s through this way…
Sal squeezed in behind her and let out a muffled gasp as he saw the sleeping boy,
“What’s the matter with him…?” he couldn’t keep the amazement out of his voice,
“He’s in some sort of coma, and he’s attached to this plant,”
She showed Sal the tendril,
“We’ve got to get him free, and then get him to the ’plane… We’re going to have to carry him, somehow…” A feeling of hopelessness came over her as she said this,
‘It was over a kilometre, across rough terrain… How were they going to carry him…?’
Fortunately Sal had a solution,
“I’ve been looking at your campsite…I think if we move the tent, the fire and the gear, I can just about land my ’plane…then I can take him straight to the Dome…”
Jorja found she was crying,
‘Maybe, just maybe…there was a way out of this…!’
It took her half an hour to move everything… Sal helped her move the heavier boxes and kicked out the the fire, before setting off back to the ’plane,
“Are you sure you know the way…?”
“My ’face can guide me…don’t worry…!”
She had just about finished clearing the site when Sal appeared in the other aircraft… It took three attempts to get his ’plane down, and in the end Jorja just couldn’t watch so anxious was she…but he did it!
They headed back inside…Sal picked up the axe, still lying where she’d dropped it,
“We’ve got to try and get thing off him….” said Jorja,
“I don’t think you’re thinking clearly, Jorja…!” said Sal urgently, “What if it has tapped into an artery, he could bleed to death…”
‘Of course…what are you thinking, you silly cow? You’re supposed to be the trainee doctor…!’ she berated herself.
Sal was speaking again,
“I think we should tie off the tendril, and then cut it with this…” Sal hefted the axe.
In couple of minutes they were prepared,
“Ready…!” said the boy.
She nodded mutely. He swung the axe…Rai twitched and moaned quietly but nothing worse than that…there was a small flow of a pinkish liquid from the severed end of the tendril…but nothing else,
“I think I can breathe again,” said the boy. Jorja felt like she’d been holding her breath forever,
‘He hasn’t gone into shock, and he’s not bleeding to death…’ she thought,
“We better get him to the ‘plane…” said Sal.
Between the two of them they managed to get Rai out of the grove and into the aircraft,
“Will you be OK…?” asked Sal,
“Yes, I’ve survived this long…” she found herself saying,
“Remember, you should be able to fly your ’plane by the time you get back to it… I can transfer a file to your ’face that will guide you to where Marta and Priya are camped, but I wouldn’t advise taking it over the mountains just yet…”
“OK…!” she heard herself say,
“Hang on…! I’m transferring it now…!”
After that he was gone and she was alone again…

---

3

Late afternoon the next day found them waiting anxiously. The crusty hadn’t reappeared, but neither had Sal,
“He must have found them…” said Priya, “…and one of them’s injured so he’s flown them back to the Dome…like you suggested…”
“I’m not missing the crusty ‘though…” added Marta,
“Maybe it’s hurt…Sal said the charge exploded right underneath it…”
“It’s not here, and that’s what counts…”
Conversation lapsed after that and Marta found herself looking off to mid-distance,
“Is that what I think it is…?” she said pointing off to the north west,
“Yes, that’s definitely the ‘plane…” said Priya, “…I guess he didn’t find anything…!”
Alph was now almost at the horizon and both girls had given up hope of anyone coming,
“It’s a bit late to be flying…” said Marta,
The aircraft was now very low,
“Power must be failing…” said Priya. The girls grabbed the rifle and headed off in the direction of the stricken aircraft…
It came down in a cloud of dust about a klik short of the camp. The girls raced towards it as the dust cleared,
“Hey, that’s not our ’plane…!” shouted Marta as they got nearer,
“It’s Jorja…for Christ’s sake…!” said Priya,
The girl seemed dazed as she climbed down from the cockpit,
“I’m sorry…I just couldn’t stay there any longer…” she seemed to notice the aircraft next to her, “…I hope I haven’t broken it…”
Priya had reached her by then and they hugged for a long time…Marta stood there rather embarrassed, not knowing what to do,
Eventually Jorja released her friend and turned to Marta. Awkwardly, clumsily they embraced…Jorja was crying,
“I’m so sorry…” she managed, “…for all the trouble we’ve caused…”
“It’s alright,” said Marta, “It’s just that we’re so few, we need each other…”
The last rays of their setting sun were slanting over the nearby bushes, it was growing dark,
“We better get inside the perimeter…” said Priya urgently, “Can you walk…?”
They felt much better once they were back at the camp and they’d set the security system. The aircraft would have to look after itself,
“Is Rai OK…?” asked Priya,
Jorja’s eyes filled with tears again,
“He’s not OK…but hopefully he’s safe…” was all they could get out if her,
“Best leave questions for later…” whispered Marta, “She’s exhausted…”
Priya made sure Jorja was comfortable in the tent and then joined Marta by the campfire,
“She’s asleep…”
“I’ll take first watch…” said Marta, “…she’ll need you there if she wakes…”
Marta ended up guarding the camp for the whole night…
“No visit from ‘crusty’…” she said when Priya joined her at first light, “…and the aircraft still seems to be OK…from what I can see…”
“I’m sorry,” said Priya, “I didn’t want to leave her…”
“It’s OK, but is it alright if I go and get some sleep…?”
When Marta awoke it was nearly 11.00 by her ’face. She could hear several voices, and by the time she emerged from her tent the camp was a hive of activity. Sal had returned and was setting off with Jorja towards the other ’plane,
“Sal’s going to check if the other ’plane is airworthy…” said Priya who’d appeared beside her, “…then he’s going to take Jorja back to the Dome…I’ll fly the other ’plane myself, assuming it’s good to go…”
Everything seemed to be happening very fast, for once,
“I sleep in, just once, and I miss everything…!” said Marta,
“We’re getting out of here today, Nurses’ orders…! Breakfast…?”
They flew back in formation. Marta could see Sal and Jorja in the second ’plane just off to the left. They waved. They were now crossing the Asimov range,
“Take a last look…!” said Priya, “Mission AI has declared the Equatorial zone off limits ’til further notice…”
“I can’t say I’m going to miss it…!” said Marta…
*******
Eventually, they had a briefing. Han and Rai were both missing of course… Han was sitting up in bed and talking, but Rai was still recovering from his operation. Nurse Gee was speaking,
“…you’ll want to know, of course, the latest news on our casualties…! Han is awake and on the mend…” Gee paused to smile, “Su-ying is with him, but I am sure he would appreciate a visit from the rest of you…!”
Nurse Gee surveyed the room,
“Rai is stable…and as far as we know, in no immediate danger…! We were able to remove the section of pseudo-plant that had attached itself to him. He will have a nice scar, but the operation was a success… We are keeping him sedated for the time being, he is in a very deep form of sleep…unfamiliar to us….”
Marta noticed the nursemaid avoided the word coma,
“…this appears to be related in some way to the substance he ingested, but also to the link he had with the organism. The behaviour we observed in this particular pseudo-plant , the narcotic effects of its sap, the observed relationship with the pseudo-crustacean, these are all completely new phenomena… They merit further study, but also necessary and prudent precautions…”
Again Nurse Gee paused, and seemed to look directly at each child in turn,
“So from now on, all flights across the barrier range are suspended. All aerial Missions will now consist of both aircraft flying in tandem… In addition, all visits to, and work on any form of pseudo-vegetation will be undertaken in pairs…! That is all…!”
Nurse Gee then swept out with all of her considerable dignity. It occurred to Marta that Nurse Gee, and by extension Mission AI were using the crisis to re-assert their authority. An authority badly damaged by the affair of the newborns…
Priya was talking to Jorja. Always lighter skinned than Marta, the girl appeared particularly pale today. Marta noticed the dark shadows under her eyes, and how thin she was…the girl had also forsworn all make-up since returning from the plateau,
“…so what sort of tests have they been doing…?”
“Blood tests…MRI scans…..you name it…!”, said Jorja, “They’ve also been asking me endless questions about the sap, what it felt like…how it affected me etc…”
“It makes sense…” said Priya, “You’re the only person, apart from Rai, who’s been exposed to it, and they need to understand more about it…if they going to…” the girl trailed off at this point,
“It’s alright! You can say it… If they’re going to cure him…”
Marta thought Jorja was putting on a brave face…but she could see how red her eyes were…
She considered joining the conversation, but despite their emotional reunion, she still felt wary around Jorja. So instead she went across to join Jorge, who was speaking to Sal,
“So, what happens to my second flight, then…?” Jorge was asking as she joined them, all new flights had been cancelled since the end of the Equatorial rescue mission,
“My understanding is that we’re going to concentrate on exploring the areas north of here…” said Sal, “…up towards the Polar barrier…”
Marta was aware, as they all were, of the broad geography of the planet, as this had been thoroughly scanned from space. The Dome stood near the southern edge of the temperate region. Around three thousand kilometres of territory, a mixture of uplands, mountain ranges, and plateaux lay between them and the beginning of the ice….ice which, if you added both Polar Regions, covered almost half the planet’s surface…
“Don’t worry, Jorge…” said Marta, “You’ll get your chance, I have it on good authority that we’ll be flying north soon, next week, in fact…!
She knew it rankled with Jorge that apart from Raj, he was the only member of the crew yet to undertake his second flight…and because his first had been such a disaster, it was beginning to prey on his mind,
“I still don’t get it…” said Sal, “Why is it any safer to send out both aircraft together…surely they could both be overwhelmed by the same disaster…”
“A bit dramatic, but true…” said Marta, “I think it’s got more to do with the Nurses keeping an eye on us, via our interfaces, of course…! I think they were a bit shaken by the fact that Rai and Jorja managed to plan and implement their escape plan right under their noses…”
“But, I still get to do my flight, right…!” Jorge was smiling but there was an edge to his voice. Marta knew that he had felt excluded during the whole rescue drama, and needed to feel part of things again,
“Come on, you…” she said to him, “I’m sure there are some good equations that need cracking…”
*******
They did their flight the following week. Aircraft one had been modified so that it could take Jorge in his chair, and boy felt much more secure in this familiar environment,
“What can you see up ahead…?” he asked
“I can see the Polar Barrier, straight up ahead…!” said Marta who was piloting.
They were still more than five hundred kliks from the barrier, but the great white wall, rearing up from the plateau, was clearly visible as a dazzling line on the horizon… The land below them was heavily scarred by erosion, a testament to the fact that the barrier had in former times covered this landscape, that it was now in retreat…
Climate change had done this…the change that had started hundreds of thousands of years ago with the return of the Light… Marta couldn’t help being thrilled by the drama of the landscape…by the drama of this world…this world that was their home…
There was news when they returned, Jorja was waiting for them,
“Rai is awake…” she said simply,
“Is he OK?” asked Priya, “Does he remember anything…?”
“He says he dreamed…” the other girl replied, “…he said the pod talked to him…”

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Chapter 12. The Truman Show >>