Transmat World: Chapter 33, Episode 1
Section 27 on the Rim, 2:45 P.M., Wednesday, December 8, 2145 A.D.
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Hydraulic fluid burned off. Ragged power leads vaporized everything they touched until energy from the fusion reactor reached nothing else to destroy. With pops and tings the smoking pit containing what was left of Ernesto and Maxlux painted dark gray smudges against the blue-tinged ghosts of Spoke Seven and the Membrane hanging like gigantic, Daliesque moons in the daytime Harbinger sky.
“This looks like another,” said Maria as she tosses one end of a plastic hydraulic hose toward a piece of Ernesto’s Exoguard, snagging it with an elbow fitting and pulling it from the charred lip of the crater. So it went until they had all the pieces they could recover.
“If it’s any consolation, he was unconscious once he hit that gun,” Vince said to anyone and no one in particular.
They held the funeral ceremony under the unfiltered light of the star Betilon. Unfiltered because it was the Kolpak section, but that was just a label since Kolpak were only silver monuments scattered about the surface, and the small group of humans standing around a pile of dirt and rocks didn’t give a crap whose section it was just right now.
“What do we do now?” Enrique wanted to know after tears have dried, “Our one known friendly contact fried by an energy beam. Ernesto is dead, and Lord knows where the See Lurchin’ is.”
“Don’t forget Furboten,” said Julie as Ferdinand touched down on her shoulder to offer the furry tip of Furboten’s tail found where the See Lurchin’ disappeared.
“And one of our hedbots is missing with the ship,” noted Enrique.
“We wait right here,” said Vince. “It’s our best chance of rescue. Wundee is waking up in his backup body. He knows where to find us. The wrecked cruiser is a shiny beacon. We have food and water from the suit Transmats. We’re going to be okay. Given the size of this place, though, it could be days before he gets here.”
Maxlux had kicked the 3n46 to the edge of a precipice dropping a hundred feet to a gorge swelled with water hurrying between high banks of grey and brown rock to a shallow sea. Ransacking it uncovered a few things Chrome Dome and Lieutenant Circuit Breaker missed among the carnage of smashed and mangled robot bodies that may or may not be helpful.
“Here, use one of these,” Julie said as she proffered an empty stasis leg segment from Maxlux with its bottom covered by stasis scales from the torso.
Enrique, his arms full of artifacts from the cruiser, dumped them in. “Thanks. How are you?”
“I’m fine … not. I’m scared.”
Enrique gave her a hug, “It will be all right. Didn’t you hear Vince? Wundee will find us. He knows right where to look — the big shiny zeppelin thingy right there.”
“What I heard is ‘blah, blah, blah … days before he gets here,’” said Julie.
“Something is coming,” said Ferdinand from fifty feet above their heads.
“Looks big.”
“Real big,” said Ookie.
“It’s a stampede,” said Rousseau, “Haven’t you guys ever watched a western? That’s a herd of buffalo on the move.”
“They don’t have buffalo here,” Vince said as he squeezed into his suit. “Everybody suit up.”
Vince thrusted upwards toward the hedbots as soon as the clamshell suit had sucked shut. A cloud of dust like a giant, fuzzy amoeba moved across the Rim surface. It was headed straight for them. Using binocular vision built into the suit, Vince made out a sea of what looked like antelope but larger — much larger— and they looked scared.
What scares such large animals, thought Vince.
Mustoon, the antelope-analog prey of the Kolpak had used 800,000 years of evolution to get bigger and faster. The equivalent of a hundred freight trains with hooves approached the humans at forty miles per hour.
“We have to cross the river,” said Vince to the others. They were suited up and ready to go.
“What about me!” exclaimed Julie.
Enrique appeared on one side, Maria the other. Each grabbed one of Julie’s arms. They lifted her skyward and flew toward the far bank. Vince snatched the stasis segment full of alien equipment and followed them, turning to observe the swelling cloud of thunderous dust behind him. A laser check of the other bank showed it was 130 feet away; maybe enough to stop them. He landed next to the trio of Exoguards. They all turned to see what would happen.
The tan and grey striped beasts launched themselves over the cruiser in long, graceful arcs. Many of them made it more than halfway across before plunging into the water and paddling for the other side. They watched the cruiser tremble and move as the flow of animals forced it over the embankment, tumbling into the water. A river of flesh followed the wrecked cruiser in a pandemonium of fur, foam, hooves, and honks of complaint. Hesitators were rear-ended, resulting in awkward falls to a growing pile on the riverbank. Jumpers had a better chance of landing in water with room to swim.
Vince launched skyward for a better look and saw what was driving the animals to flee. Behind them was a pack of the scariest beasts Vince had ever seen. Short, black fur failed to soften the extraordinary musculature on these creatures. Mega-leopards with generations of steroid abuse behind them, they ran like black springs coiling and uncoiling. Not even stopping to kill prey, they eviscerated abdomens and slit throats as they ran past in an apparent quest to wipe out every single mustoon. Dervich, the cat-like prey of the Kolpak, had used that same 800,000 years of evolution to outdo the mustoon, getting even bigger, faster, and more ferocious. With Kolpak gone, they were kings of the jungle and everywhere else.
When the dervich arrived at the bank they roamed upstream and downstream, taking out hesitant jumpers. Still excited from the hunt and not ready to settle down and gorge for days, they spotted the humans on the other side. After what appeared to be a meeting, one of the alien monster cats moved away from the river, stopped, and charged the bank with Bugatti acceleration.
“Let’s go!” said Julie and they all become airborne. The beast landed ten feet from where they were standing. It’s next bound was into the air, aiming a powerful swipe at Julie’s legs when a metallic rainbow smashed into its nose. Ookie had reversed directions and activated the stun gun in his tail as he impacted. The dervich yowled and did aerial cartwheels while holding its nose but made a perfect four-point landing and folloed the humans, tracking their path with upward glances.
They gained altitude and fled the melee, passing over pseudo-Kolpakian landscape tended on a fitful basis by those machines still bound by protocols. Clouds and lightning marked floating weather machines dotting the distant sky. Upward curving landscape faded to a white veil of never-ending atmosphere. Vince looked back. The 3n46 was not to be seen — so much for a shining beacon to mark their location. The dervich was following, eyes intent on the cluster of strange flying prey. They flew faster, outpacing the beast. Twice they landed to rest only to be goaded forward when a hedbot spotted the creature approaching. The second time they fled out of his sight they changed directions 45 degrees.
“Just let me take care of him with the Atchisson,” said Enrique.
“We’re safe; he can’t know that we turned,” said Vince, “besides, he gave up a feeding opportunity to follow us. I think he was curious. I wouldn’t want to take that intelligence out of their gene pool.”
“That should be a pre-emptive starter move,” countered Julie, “Did you see the size of his teeth?”
“Perhaps it’s better than just curiosity. What if he is a leader of that pack of killers and knows his portion will be held for him until his return?” Maria ventured.
“The up and coming executive monster has made a killing in antelope futures and is looking for other markets to conquer?” said Rousseau.
“It’s getting dark. The suits will need recharging by the time it’s light again,” said Vince. “We should put distance between ourselves and super-cat in case he has a tracking sense we don’t know about. We should stay in the air tonight and find a safe place to sleep tomorrow. We’ll leave them basking in the sun tomorrow to charge up while we rest.”
