Alpha Rising (28 page)

The chief burned a long gaze at Jett from
across the distance and raised his lance horizontally over his head
in a confrontational stance.

Jett accepted the challenge, pointing his
spear at the crowd as he walked to the right. Maya grabbed Bach’s
and Star’s headgear from the ground and handed it to them, then
used her spear as a barrier to usher them around the arena’s
perimeter. “Stay behind us.”

Midway around the ceremonial circle, Jett
stopped, stepped forward, and faced the high chief with his left
fist pressed to his heart. Hundreds of stunned faces looked on.
Without waiting for reaction, Jett lunged and thrust his spear with
Herculean strength toward the man-shaped rock target. The weapon
sliced across the arena, the two target guards scattered, and
Jett’s bullseye in the red fabric heart set in motion a
ground-rattling thunder of yowls and stomps.

Maya whispered, “A bullseye has never been
achieved from this distance. A spear in the idol’s heart is the
final test in deciding who rules. Competition should take place
much closer to the target.”

The chief grew angry that Jett had bypassed
the preliminary competitions with marksmanship above any opponent’s
who might reach the deciding challenge. He thumped his feet on the
ground and let out a long, piercing cry. Silence followed.

Using Maya’s spear, Jett
struck the ground three times, then turned his back and walked
away—an indication he would battle the final victor
and
the chief.

A loud, continuous yodel rose from the
crowd.

Jett and Maya slowly led Bach and Star
toward the main pathway. Jett spoke in a half-whisper, “Now I have
time to plan a getaway.”

Bach pressed to Jett’s side. “Animals. We
need animals from Baalbek. How can we get them before the ritual
ends without your leaders knowing?”

Jett pushed him along. “Our two most perfect
of all breeds are nearby—held for sacrifice. I’ll remain here as if
awaiting the final challenge while Maya leads you there.”

Maya squeezed Jett’s hand and stared into
his eyes with concern. “Move swiftly to flee just before the next
event.”

“
Our ship is at the co-op
crews’ landing site,” Bach added.

Jett nodded. “I saw you land.”

*****

Bach, Star, Maya, and the animals made it to
the Alpha without incident. Star led Maya to the E-module, then
secured the animals while Bach readied for takeoff and watched the
monitor for Jett.

But when a worrisome length of time had
passed with no sign of Jett on the monitor, Bach feared something
had gone wrong. An adrenaline rush propelled him from his seat.
“Jett’s in trouble, Star. I’m going back for him.”

She grabbed his arm. “You don’t stand a
chance against all those natives. Enlarge the view area on the
monitor. He might be coming in a different way.”

Star was right. Jett had zigzagged through
the jungle, and now, like a track star with angry competitors on
his heels, neared Alpha on a different footpath. Jett bellowed
Bach’s and Star’s names from an eighth of a mile away, and a minute
later let out a war cry as he raced up the ramp.

Star fired the thrusters and pointed to a
wall alcove. “Strap down there, Jett.”

Spears and arrows glanced off of Alpha’s
hull as Bach lifted her off.

*****

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

With Alpha flying on auto, Bach added Maya’s
and Jett’s names to the roster. Obbo and Ivy, the short statured
couple from mystical planet Gihon, came to the flight deck just as
they said they would. Obbo paced with excitement. “Can’t wait to
watch and learn. Can’t wait. We’ve been in the E-pod too long and
have explored everything and welcomed the newest arrivals.”

Bach helped the two onto the bench seat.
“There’s not much we can show you right now. The ship’s programmed
to fly itself.” He got up and stood behind them. “Slide over here
into the pilot’s seat and see what it’s like to fly the ship. Just
don’t touch anything.”

The huge control panel loomed like a
mountain in front of Ivy and Obbo. Unable to see out, they sat up
as high as they could and watched the viewscreens. The two
questioned Bach on the function of dozens of devices, then
pretended to fly the ship.

“
Where to go? Where to go?”
said Obbo.

“
Somewhere from never
before. Never before,” Ivy replied, enthralled.

“
Never been anywhere
before. Never before,” he said, chuckling.

Bach spoke from behind the mock pilots,
“Earlier, when we took the long way around, we lost time. We’re
farther from Shushan than we should be … have some catching up to
do, but it gives me time for a little nap.” He leaned over Star’s
shoulder. “The ship’s on inertial guidance. I’ll be in a
hammock.”

“
You’ll sleep better in a
privacy room.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, but in there I’d
probably never wake up. Better stay out here in a hammock.”

Star enjoyed Ivy and Obbo’s playful banter
as they monitored the flight data indicators and rattled off
statistics to each other. She commented over her shoulder, “You
certainly caught on fast.”

“
Love it, love it.” Obbo
chortled with glee.

“
Just remember,” Star
added, “the Kingship is programmed to fly by itself, so don’t touch
anything.”

The passageway door slid open and Urich and
Rain entered the main cabin, giggling and holding hands like
typical newlyweds. Urich headed to the cockpit. “Star, is there
anything we can help with on this mission?”

“
Thanks for asking,” she
said, “but our plans keep changing as we go.” She hoisted the
travel journal from its slot, “Let’s see what our next planet,
Shushan, has in store.”

“
Oh, let me read it,” Rain
said. “There wasn’t much to read on my planet and I love to read
and learn.”

“
Great. I’ll take a little
break.” Star handed the journal to Rain, then settled into a
hammock near Bach at mid ship.

Rain caressed the book’s pages with her
hands. Just touching the written words seemed to bring her
pleasure. With Urich at her side, she began reading about Shushan.
In a few minutes, the story of cold weather and inhabitants with
similar characteristics intrigued Obbo and Ivy and they stepped
away from the flight deck to hear more. Rain’s deep, full voice
pouring over the words held everyone’s interest.

Obbo touched Rain’s arm. “You just read
something about similar characteristics of Shushan’s people. What
does that mean?”

She looked back at the page. “It doesn’t
say.”

“
And you read about cold.”
Urich added. “I don’t understand what cold would be
like.”

“
One time I saw cold in my
crystal ball,” Ivy interjected. “A vision. Something solid falling
through the air, tiny white fluffs drifting down. Drifting,
drifting, more and more, piling higher, higher.” Her voice grew
dramatic and intense, and fluttering hands punctuated her speech.
“Turning vicious … swirling, blowing, pounding the land. Things
shriveled, animals froze, then….”

“
Then? Then what?” Urich
asked.

“
My globe
cleared.”

“
What’s a
globe?”

“
A crystal ball. I brought
one … want to see?”

“
Oh, no,” Urich said, as if
issuing a warning. “Sounds bad. I don’t want to see it.”

Rain interrupted, “Oh,
here. I found something in the log. It says, ‘Experimentation by
the Ultimate World altered their genetic code, creating similar
characteristics.’”
She looked over at Star,
who was slumped sideways, fast asleep. “Our leaders are getting
much-needed rest.”

Urich tapped on the journal to get Rain’s
attention. “What does Shushan contribute to the co-op exchange? If
it’s cold there all the time, what could survive?”

“
It says water is their
main product. ‘It’s purity and clarity is like no other.’ They also
provide fish and animals.” She read on, “‘Dura’s crews taught
Shushan’s residents to operate simple mechanical devices. They
continue to provide improved energy sources for power, light, and
heat.’” She closed the journal. “That’s it.”

Rain returned the log to the cockpit as Obbo
followed along. “Rain, Rain, an interesting name. Why is it Rain?”
he asked.

“
My name? My mother died on
the day of my birth and the sky opened up and wept, pouring forth
rain needed for twenty phases. It is said that my birth holds a
special connection to the Creator and his gift of rain. Our family
totem is a star embraced by a water droplet.”

At the mention of rain, something tapped
against the Kingship’s metal hull. The craft’s speed decreased
significantly, but no one was at the controls. Urich jumped up and
looked out the windows with Rain, Ivy, and Obbo alongside.

A funnel of hail swirled around the ship,
and the windows iced over before their eyes, plunging the cabin
into near darkness. Alarms bonged and lights flashed in the cockpit
as the four rushed to roust the dead-to-the-world pilots from their
sleep.

Ivy jostled Star.

Obbo tugged at Bach’s feet. “Up, up, doom is
near.”

Half awake, Bach’s
subconscious processed the machine-gun-like noise.
That’s not random tinks like when space debris
collides. This is coming hard, and faster by the second.

“
Hurry, Bach,” Urich pled,
“something terrible’s happening.”

With bells and buzzers sounding, Bach raced
to the controls. “An ice storm with hail; a comet’s tail!” he
snorted. “We’re not pre-programmed to handle anything this sudden
or fierce. Hurry everyone, back into the E-module.”

Star analyzed a glut of stats scrolling down
a laser screen. “What’s going on? We’re in airspace above planet
Shushan. How did we get here? We haven’t been airborne long enough
to have come this far.”

Bach focused on the electro-brain panel.
“This is crazy. It’s like we just cut the middle out of the
trip.”

Star shook her head as if trying to clear
cobwebs from her brain. “It’s not feasible!”

“
We’ll figure it out
later,” he said. “We gotta get through this ice storm. The whole
planet’s surrounded. Defrost system’s on full bore, but it’s coming
so fast it’s replacing what was defrosted.”

“
Data shows we’re right
where we should be to set down at the co-op crews’ site, and the
engine de-icing system’s working,” she said. “Let’s descend through
it and land.”

“
Not sure we should try
that,” Bach replied.

“
We don’t have enough time
or fuel to leave and come back.”

With his attention split between warning
lights and Star’s challenge to land in a whiteout, Bach said, “Let
her hover, I have an idea.” He grabbed a toolbox and climbed onto
the cockpit bench seat. Holding onto an overhead rack, he removed a
foot-square wall panel and, as if he had thought it all out
beforehand, gingerly pulled out a tray of electrical equipment. He
picked through a tangle of wires that looked like a serving of
spaghetti then, as tense as a bomb squad technician, loosened
several screws. Five minutes passed while he rearranged parts, but
to Bach every minute seemed an hour. Blinking nervous sweat from
his eyes, he left the strange conglomeration hanging outside the
original tray and hopped off the bench rubbing his hands together.
“Okay, Shushan, comin’ at ya!”

Star stared at the circuit boards and wires
dangling from the device. “What did you do to that component?”

“
Made a tactical adjustment
… and prayed.”

“
What kind of tactical
adjustment?”

“
Put the lasers on broad
beam and boosted voltage.”

“
So they’ll burn a path for
us?”

He pointed to the porthole. “Look out.”

“
I don’t see
anything.”

He turned on external running lights. “Look
again.”

“
I see it! A clearing.
We’re cutting a path straight through the ice storm.”

“
Yeah, and probably
terrifying everyone on the planet.”

*****

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

A gentle landing through the treacherous
storm calmed the Alphamates’ nerves, but when they stepped outside,
an ambush of blizzard-driven hail slammed against their spacesuits,
and gnawing winds tried to lift them from their feet. Even with the
E-suits and headgear it was plain that Shushan’s thermostat was set
at stun.

With brittle, knee-deep, ice-coated snow
crunching like broken glass beneath their boots, Bach grumbled and
swiped his glove across his visor. “I can’t keep my headgear clear
long enough to see where I’m going.”

Star held fast to her partner’s arm to
steady against the vicious wind. “Everything’s blanketed in ice.
Should we go back and wait until this lets up?”

“
Not yet.”

With visibility near zero, they walked
through the white-walled unknown for what seemed a half-mile
without knowing what lay ahead. Random glimpses of snow-covered
mounds and grotesque, ice-glazed rocks left plenty to the
imagination. Star looked into the raging blizzard, raised her
hands, and pled as if speaking to the Creator, “Help, we can’t find
our way.”

No sooner had she cried out than the brutal
wind tapered off and gave way to huge, lofty snowflakes floating
down like feathers from above.