Pax Galactica - A Space Opera

Chapter 10 - The Land Beyond The North Winds (II)

The trees, or whatever they were, began to thin out and the canopy opened up as the forest transitioned into savanna. Here there was more than enough room to build a shelter. Decker immediately set to work.

Out of the shade of the canopy Decker started to really feel the heat of the place. His hair was getting matted with sweat. It was a good thing he had a chance to get a long drink from the river earlier.

He was feeling weak from blood loss and the heat but Decker was able to find himself a number of long, sturdy branches to serve as poles. Two of the poles were forked at the top allowing Decker to use three of them to create a tripod.

Tiny green stinging insect-like organisms buzzed around Decker while he worked, taking opportunistic bites out of him. He killed as many as he could but for the most part had to ignore them in order to get anything done. Their dead bodies smelled like chlorophyll.

Adding the other poles one by one Decker was able to turn the tripod into a frame. Finally he filled in all the gaps in the frame with vegetation and mud. He made sure to pack it as tightly as he could and fill all the gaps except for a single small entrance.

Decker made sure to use wet-looking vegetation for the roof to make it more fire resistant. He might want to risk lighting a fire later and he didn't want to burn himself alive in his sleep if he could help it.

The section of the orbital he was on had entered its night cycle by the time Decker finished his shelter. It was something of a tipi made of branches and alien foliage. It would make a good base of operations. Decker was quite proud of it. He slapped another bug that landed on his arm.

Even thought it was dark he decided to walk back to the river to get another drink before bed. His night vision was far superior to anything he was used to so he didn't think it was an unnecessary risk to move around at night.

What a miserable orbital. Decker was sick of the place already. Everything here wanted to suck his blood. He was picturing more excitement and less drudgery when the Lodge Mistress had described this whole trial business.

He sighed to himself. Well, one day down. 59 to go.

First thing in the morning he was going to look for food. Fire could wait. He didn't see what was so great about fire this place was hot enough. He needed energy so he could make more blood. He had a feeling his body would need to constantly regenerate blood the entire time he was here.

Decker made it to the river and drank deeply from his hands. His body immediately identified and neutralized any harmful micro-organisms. This was something even his old civilian body could do. The worst he could do to himself drinking even the foulest water was an evening of unfriendly bowel movements.

While he was drinking he noticed something minute in the scent bouquet of the forest. Decker still wasn't used to getting this kind of detailed information from smells so he had difficulty placing it for a moment, then he zeroed in on the source.

Decker looked up. Fruit. A cluster of lush, red, apple-sized fruits that vaguely resembled nectarines. They were growing in the middle of a giant flower with silky pink petals accented by tiny yellow interior petals. The flower seemed to be sprouting out of a tall stem made of something slick and almost skin-like. Surrounding the plant were large fat gourde-like things a little taller and a good deal wider than Decker.

This plant, like most plants in the forest, was surrounded and intertwined with a dozen other plants into a complex interdependent system. Decker could only just vaguely make out the shape of the fruiting plant itself for all the other growth around it.

This was perfect. Fruit was exactly the kind of food he needed.

The fruit was high up in the plant, far higher than he could reach, but there were hand-like 'trees' everywhere. Decker didn't like the looks of the stem too much to he figured he'd climb a nearby tree and reach over to grab the fruit. He already saw one with a promising looking branch.

Decker turned the pain of his healing wounds back on so that he wouldn't accidentally tear them back open with his climb. Carefully, gingerly, he pulled himself up into the tree. He was careful to stop any action that hurt too much. Most things hurt too much.

Finally Decker made it to the branch he had spotted. He tested it and it seemed like it would easily bear his weight. Climbing along upside down like a sloth, so that he would be as close as possible to the fruit to pick it, Decker made his way along to the edge of the branch.

A muscly, snake-like appendage that resembled a cross between a vine and a tentacle lashed out at Decker. He sensed it coming a dozen different ways but clinging to the branch there wasn't much he could do about it. It grabbed him by the midsection and yanked him free of the branch.

Below him the tops of the gourdes began to open and gape like hungry mouths. Decker could see they were filled to the top with a viscous liquid. It definitely wasn't water.

Decker tried to reach his pistol but his arms were pinned to his sides hard. The appendage deposited him directly into one of the waiting mouths which immediately sealed shut.

Decker could feel the acidic liquid he was in burning his skin. There was no space inside the gourde for air. He had only seconds to act, maybe less. He drew his pistol and fired at the side of the gourde. There was an ear-splitting thunderclap and the gourde exploded open, belching forth Decker along with all of the acid.

Decker scrambled to his feet in a pool of acid and jumped into the water of the nearby river. He began to scrub desperately at his skin trying to remove the acid. After a good twenty minutes he was finally satisfied he was clean.

Decker stood in the water, soaking wet, his skin scrubbed raw and covered in mild acid burns, staring up at the fruit still taunting him from the center of the flower. Then he looked down at the six remaining gourdes.

He figured if he aimed well enough he could shoot down the top of the plant without hurting the fruit too much. He also knew that he had just used one of his six shots and it was only the first day.

Defeated, Decker got out of the river and made his way back to his shelter. He would get some sleep and start fresh in the morning.

Decker was dead tired by the time he made it back to his shelter. Even the augmented endurance of this new body had been pushed hard by the events since he arrived on Hyperborea. He crouched down at the entrance ready to crawl inside and just collapse.

As soon as his head was level with the opening to his shelter he could hear a low humming noise. He could smell a hot, wet, fish-breath. Skeletal-looking spider-like legs began to extend from the opening like the fingers of grasping hands.

Decker was in no shape to fight, so he got up and ran. There was enough space between the trees here for him to get up to a decent speed and he took advantage of this.

Decker sensed it a second before it caught him but he didn't have enough time to dodge. He was yanked upward as a snare anchored to a nearby tree closed around his ankle. Decker was unceremoniously flung up into the air and then back down again.

Decker hung upside down from the snare. His face was contorted in exasperation.

"Sprell," he said.