Terraformer Page 8

  “Without words, then, can I hold you closer to me while we sleep? I want to help.”

  A little smile formed as she gave a quick nod, “Wordless sympathy or help like that will always be appreciated and accepted. Yes, that’s how you can help.”

  I took a bite of my sandwich, finding it to be cooled down sufficiently. I chewed as I watched her take a bite of her sandwich.

  “So, what’s the verdict then?” I asked, “Stay here or go down to the surface?”

  She set down her sandwich, then wiped her mouth with a napkin, “You… we are on our honeymoon for all intents and purposes, so I completely understand your position. And I’m really enjoying life up here as well. Heck, we haven’t even gotten past game one of the Steelers much less made any headway on the third Wrecker’s Quest. So I’m with you on this, Cuttar. But, since you’re not dead-set against a landing attempt and since your conditions are reasonable and sensible, I’m thinking we need to educate ourselves on ship operations and plan a landing attempt sometime soon.”

  I watched her for a moment as she seemed to examine me as well. It was clear that she was trying to gauge my response to the fact that we were going to mount a possible suicide mission.

  “Well, before we actually break orbit and head down, I’d like to request an intense make-out session if not… well, you know, something more exciting,” I said.

  She chuckled, “Really? The price for a suicide mission is sex?”

  “Uh… was it not awesome?”

  She fully laughed this time, “Yes, I certainly can’t argue that one.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  I hung the drawing Sydney had requested in her room while she wandered off to the bridge to educate herself more on the overall operations. After I finished hanging that near the sofa, I gathered up my pencils and my drawing pad and sat down on her bed. I decided to work some more on that drawing of the peace-filled Sydney seated on the sofa during the football game.

  I sat there in the silence of the room, shading her jersey while my mind drifted off to those people living inside that beautiful enormous cave. Not since the city of Petra in Southern Jordan had I seen such a beautiful place created with mere chisels and the stone of a mountain. I could understand how she might have been more willing to go down there after seeing such a place. I was still pondering this thought when I suddenly heard screaming.

  “No! Noooo!” she screamed while I leapt from the bed and darted from the room.

  “Sydney!” I cried out as I ran toward the bridge.

  She appeared in the bridge doorway, frantically waving me toward her as the tears flowed down her face. My heart was racing while my mind attempted to explain that look of terror on her face. Once I made it to the bridge, I followed her direction over to her control panel.

  “I can’t stop it! I tried everything!” she pleaded as she pointed to the screen.

  “Oh no!” I sat down in her seat and hit the usual keys that typically stopped an unwanted computer program.

  I kept hitting various functions, praying the whole time that the phrase on the screen would change. And the whole time I looked at it, it simply read: “AUTOMATED LANDING PROCEDURES ENGAGED: SECURE ALL LOOSE ITEMS”

  “I was trying to see if there were any hidden instructions in the automated system that we could learn from or mimic. Then I somehow engaged it!” she continued to cry, “And I already tried those same things you’re doing.”

  “Oh no,” I breathed as the screen suddenly changed.

  It now read, “NOT ENOUGH FUEL REMAINING TO CANCEL AND SEEK HIGH ORBIT AGAIN. FUEL RESERVES ARE JUST ENOUGH FOR APPROPRIATE BRAKING AND SOFT LANDING”

  “No! Look!” she pointed at an altimeter that revealed we were already descending through the upper atmosphere, “I’m sorry, Cuttar! I’m so sorry!”

  I looked past her to see the planet now encompassing almost the whole windshield. Then my eyes settled back onto Sydney. I took her hand and tugged her onto my lap. I pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “Whatever happens, I want to be holding you at the time,” I said.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry,” she continued to sob, her face against my shoulder.

  “This is what we agreed upon anyway, so no need to apologize. It’s just happening far sooner than we had intended,” I said, doing my best to hide the immense fear that was welling up inside of me.

  She drew back and looked at me with those heartbreaking tear-filled eyes, “I swear I didn’t do this on purpose, Cuttar. I’m not ready for this and I’m not ready to die.”

  “I believe you,” I said, “I know you wouldn’t do that.”

  “But deep down – if there’s any doubt, please know I wouldn’t do this.”

  “I know!” I found myself crying now merely due to the heartbreak over seeing her own pained expression.

  “Cuttar, baby,” she whined as she wrapped me in her arms.

  “I love you, Sydney,” I croaked.

  “I love you too. More than you’ll ever know,” she cried.

  And that’s where we remained during the next frightening fifteen minutes while we painted a fiery streak across the Inglenook sky.

  TWENTY-SIX

  An alarm chimed, causing us to break free from our tight huddle on the chair. We both looked over at her screen to discover a request. It read: “LOCATED TWO REMAINING AIRSTRIPS. SELECT ONE:” Just below those words were two landing strips highlighted on an old map of the past cities. It was evident that this wasn’t a current map or it would have shown ruins.

  “Those people are living inside a mountain and they referred to the airstrip as being near the western entrance,” Sydney said, still seated in my lap, “Remember?”

  “Yes, so that would be the one over there on the right,” I said, pointing toward the screen, “The one on the left isn’t anywhere near mountains.”

  “Oh, and look,” she pointed, “It’s blinking. That’s an Alpha Beacon like they promised.”

  She leaned forward and tapped that location. The screen suddenly zoomed in while “ZENFIELD AIRPORT SELECTED” appeared at the top of the screen. I wondered for a moment why the automated systems on the ship would have been programmed to assume that those maps from over a hundred years ago would still be correct. Even on Earth, there were significant changes in maps from a hundred years ago at any locale.

  A red target symbol appeared overtop of the airstrip, then the screen informed us that landing procedures were initiated. Out of the front windshield, we could see several gray clouds littering the teal-colored sky above us. And beneath us, the world was nothing more than a brown desert with the shattered remains of structures, bridges, and partial buildings.

  “This breaks my heart beyond all measure,” Sydney muttered as we both sat there gaping out the front window.

  I held her at the waist from behind, tugging her back to me. She turned in my lap and then raked her fingers through my hair while she looked at me.

  “It looks like we survived, baby,” she said, “Sorry we didn’t have that make-out session you had asked for.”

  “Who says I can’t have that now? We just faced death while we held each other in absolute terror. I think that calls for a little celebration,” I said, lifting her in my arms as I stood up.

  “Oh, do you now?” she cocked an eyebrow.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  We lie there together in her bed, having spent the past half hour doing all the amazing things I’d hoped to do prior to landing. We had felt the subtle vibration of the ship settling onto the airstrip several minutes ago but neither of us felt need or desire to get out from under the covers. As a matter of fact, neither of us really knew how to proceed in regards to our subterranean neighbors.

  “Well, I guess this means the mission is completed since the ship has finally landed,” I said, holding her to my chest while I stared up at the ceiling.

  “Yeah, and like I said before, I don’t even care if we never leave this ship. We’ve got everything we need right her
e,” she breathed.

  “Definitely”

  We lay there in silence for a moment longer before she sat up and scooted toward the edge of the bed. She grabbed the crumpled football jersey off the nightstand and quickly slipped it back on. Today’s jersey displayed a different number than the one she wore in my drawing. She then retrieved her panties and shorts from the foot of the bed and put those on while I lay on my side and watched. She glanced over at me and noticed the smile on my face as I lie there with my head propped on my hand.

  “You shouldn’t look when someone’s getting dressed, you know,” she said.

  “Every inch of you is beautiful, Sydney. I thought you’d have realized that considering that I’ve literally kissed every inch of you,” I said.

  “Well, under the covers is one thing. I’m self-conscious when I’m out in the open like this,” she said, crawling toward me on the bed and planting a quick kiss on my lips, “And yes, those kisses make me feel loved by my baby.”

  I could feel her grinning against my lips as she breathed those words. Then she kissed me again and rolled out of the bed.

  “I’m going to see what it looks like out there,” she said, “Come find me if I start screaming all over again.”

  “Hey, that scared me to death!” I laughed as I sat up and watched her leave the room.

  “That makes two of us,” she hollered back to me.

  I got dressed, then I proceeded to fluff the pillows and make the bed. Then I caught sight of my colored pencils and the drawing pad with the half-finished picture of her. I contemplated returning to my drawing, but curiosity ultimately got the best of me. I wanted to see our new home world up close through the front windshield as well.

  I made my way back to the bridge where I found Sydney exactly where I expected her to be. She was not at one of the control terminals, but instead I found her standing before the giant rain-speckled windshield gaping out at the dreary world beyond. I was somewhat surprised by the presence of rain in a world that appeared to be a desert from miles above. I stood next to her and looked out at the stormy scene beneath the foreboding gray clouds.

  A skinny steel tower with randomly lit windows jutted upward from the ground about a half mile in the distance. Centered on the top, perhaps four stories above the ground, was a slowly spinning yellow beacon. That beacon created a visible beam of light as it reflected off the falling raindrops in the distance, giving it the appearance of an old-fashioned lighthouse. A mountain range to our right served to block off any of the world that existed on that side of the ship. However, even from our low vantage point, it was clear enough to see hundreds of manmade structures situated all over that mountain range at various levels.

  The sun peeked out through a break in the clouds, sending down a wonderfully bright trio of beams toward the mountainside. There were some bright reflections shimmering as the sun reflected off the glass of a few of those greenhouses. I realized just then that I should stop calling it the sun. It was, after all, Tau Ceti that offered its light to this world. But then again, our star back home was named Sol, yet we called it the sun. This was something for me to ponder at another time.

  “It can be salvaged. There’s precipitation, there’s sunlight, and there’s still an oxygen-rich atmosphere,” she breathed, “It’s not hopeless after all.”

  “So, you’re telling me that my wife isn’t retiring after all?” I asked.

  She turned to me and smiled, “Your wife might be working some long and strenuous hours if we have some people here willing to work. You might want to reconsider your matrimonial choices.”

  “Not in a million years,” I grinned.

  She returned her attention to the rainy world out there where the sun was now making more of its presence known. The rain continued to blur our view as it formed tiny rivers flowing down the windshield. The gray clouds were parting more and more, causing a colorful and vibrant rainbow to appear over near the mountainside.

  “Wow, you’ve got to draw that scene for us on paper, Cuttar,” she pointed toward the rainbow.

  “Beautiful! I committed it completely to memory already. I’ve got about a dozen images in my head ever since you and I woke up from the deep freeze,” I said.

  “That’s really so beauti-… whoa, what’s that?” she pointed down toward the metal tower in the distance.

  Only, it wasn’t actually the tower that she had been pointing at. There were two sets of headlights cutting through the steady raindrops as some vehicles apparently headed our way. And even from such a distance, it was easy to see that those vehicles were enormous.

  “I thought these people were pretty much stuck inside the mountain,” I muttered.

  “The oxygen levels are acceptable and the air is still somewhat breathable here most likely. And even if it’s not, there’s still no need for spacesuits. The temperature is warm enough for liquid precipitation and the ozone layer and atmosphere would still protect the world from any dangerous amounts of radiation,” she said, staring out at those mysterious vehicles, “Worst case scenario for these people is that they have to wear breathing masks outside of their subterranean world.”

  I had to wonder if she viewed everything scientifically. Her reply lacked any emotional response whatsoever. She merely evaluated those vehicles and the people inside from a scientific level.

  “Dear Lord!” she said before blurting an expletive, “Those are freaking Mountain Movers!”

  “What’s a Mountain Mover?”

  She backed away from the windshield as one of the vehicles moved into the light of the sun. I could now see the true magnitude of those vehicles. Those were building-sized dump trucks with front-loader scoops large enough to scoop up a whole city block. If one of those trucks chose to drive down a highway on Earth, a single tire tread would take up a full lane itself. The entire truck would probably encompass five or six lanes of traffic. I now understood why she was backing away from the windshield.

  “Terraforming often requires us to reform and mold the land to suit our purposes. We actually redirect rivers and quite literally move mountains. Mountain Movers are essential for any terraforming project,” she said, “If those people see us as an enemy, there’s nothing we could do to protect ourselves from that steel beast.”

  “Then message them!” I turned to her.

  “Oh my god! I didn’t tell them we were coming!” she rushed over to her terminal and switched it on.

  Although I had backed away from the windshield, I still remained standing there as I watched those enormous vehicles slowly approach. I could hear Sydney tapping at her keys while she blurted random expletives.

  “You’re better off without me, Cuttar! I’m the one who initiated the very plummet of my nightmares that should have certainly killed us. And now we’ve got Mountain Movers ready to plow us over! I’m no captain. I’m a stupid killer and when we die, you can blame me!” she growled, following it up with several obscenities.

  “They’re splitting up,” I said, watching as one of the vehicles appeared to head in another direction.

  “I sent a message telling them that we landed, but I’m getting no replies,” she sounded frantic now.

  “Sydney,” I turned toward her, “So far, we’ve seen no evidence that they are coming to kill us. Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks. Don’t you remember that they basically said they’d leave a light on for us should we decide to stop by? Well, we stopped by and the light was clearly left on!”

  Her eyes went wide as she stood up and looked at me. Then she pointed at me as she moved around the terminal and approached.

  “You’re absolutely right!” she said, attempting to look past me, “No! No! No, you’re wrong!”

  I turned quickly toward the windshield where I discovered what had caused her to scream those last words. The massive loader-scoop was now moving toward the actual windshield. That giant vehicle had clearly chosen to ram the ship!

  “Sydney!” I turned and ran to her, taking her into my
arms.

  “Baby, I’m sorry!” she cried.

  “I don’t blame you. I thank you for what we had. You made these last couple days nothing short of heaven,” I kissed the side of her head as I held her tightly.

  Suddenly, the entire ship rocked. The two of us fell to the floor as we felt ourselves being nudged toward the door. The floor continued to move beneath us, angling now most certainly toward the door. Then, before we started to slide along the floor, it started to level out again. The two of us looked at each other as we lie there on the floor.

  “What’s happening?” she wiped her tears as she looked to me for answers.

  I kept her in my arms as I turned my attention toward the windshield. It was completely obscured by the dirty insides of that giant metal scoop. That was when a thought occurred to me.

  “The scoop is lifting the ship. That’s the inside of the front-loader scoop,” I breathed.

  “But-”

  Suddenly the message chime sounded. We were getting a reply finally. Sydney quite violently escaped from my grasp, then she rushed over to her terminal. I was good at overlooking many of her unusual reactions to things, but the way she so hastily threw me aside like a useless hindrance just then actually hurt. I felt a real stab inside at the realization that I was a nice comfort when she needed me, but then I became a useless piece of garbage when something better came along. That was a deep enough cut to get me to rise up from the floor and leave the bridge altogether.

  I was almost to my room when I heard her talking in the distance. I had opened the door and entered my room by the time I heard her holler for me. The door closed behind me as I examined my suitcase still open on my bed. I realized just then that I had never unpacked yet. That suitcase was partially unpacked from the time when Sydney had started going through my belongings. Nothing had moved since that day.

  The door opened behind me and I heard a long drawn-out sigh. I was still facing that suitcase when I felt her move closer. Then I heard her breathing as those strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind.