Episode Nine: The Natives

“I told you it was broken.” Zora stumbled beside her.

“It is not.” Murray leaned into her until she regained her balance.

“Does this look friendly to you?” Zora gestured with her bound hands.

“I assure you the unit is quite functional,” Rook said. He walked on the other side of Murray, his thick wrists loosely wound with leather cords. “We can’t be certain they qualify as hostile.”

“Well, what would you call a forced march at spear point?” Zora planted her feet and glared in an arc at the oiled muscles surrounding them. “Hey,” she shouted. “I’m tired here.”

“Zora,” Murray growled.

The natives ignored her protest. They marched along, a solid bronzed wall in all directions, the glint of spear points flashing as they moved.

“Perhaps we’re suffering from a language barrier,” Rook offered.

“You think they might be unregistered with our translators?”

“It’s possible. A few cultures still exist that haven’t been properly catalogued.”

“Hello?”

“Hang on, Zora.” Murray tried to focus on her footing and still turn enough to see Rook. “Are you saying that they might be a lost race?”

“Not likely,” Rook shrugged. “I’m only suggesting an explanation for our communication difficulties.”

“You two suck,” Zora said. “You know that, right?” She spun around and craned to see over the guards behind them.

“Why are you walking backwards?” Murray asked. “Zora, you’re going to fall flat on your face.”

“Do you think she’s following us?”

“Who?” Murray frowned as her sister stumbled and lurched into her side again. “Zora will you turn around, the grass is too lumpy…”

“I believe the creature is bringing up the rear,” Rook said.

Zora spun back to forward again. “Can you see her?”

“The slug? Oh my god, Zora.”

“I can’t see her,” Rook continued. “But the natives are nervous.”

“Why didn’t your mollusk do her little fire trick back there?” Murray asked. “It just sat there munching away while they tied us up.”

“It might only attack when threatened,” Rook suggested.

“Crantok wasn’t threatening Neela,” Zora said. “He attacked me.”

“So if it’s so protective of you,” Murray snapped. “Why are we still here?”

“I don’t believe we’re under any direct threat,” Rook said.

Murray stared at him. She forgot her feet, and tripped over an uprising of grass. She fell forward, but stopped suddenly in mid-air. One of Rook’s arms caught her at the waist, and she folded over it, hanging upside down. The tattered remains of a leather thong dangled from his wrist.

“Oops,” she said.

“Halt!”

“Hey,” Zora whispered from somewhere above Murray’s kicking feet. “They speak Gal-fed.”

Rook righted her and set her gently back on her feet. The natives pressed into a tight circle around them with their weapons pointing in.

“Right,” Rook said. He held out his arms, wrist together, and waited.

One of their captors detached himself from the group and approached the android. He moved sideways, each step ready to bolt back to the herd should Rook move too suddenly. When he was within reach, he flung another thong over the metal wrists and tried to tie a knot with one eye still fixed on Rook.

“Why bother?” Zora said. “He snapped that thing like it was paper.”

“I believe it will help our case,” Rook said. His voice sent the native into a trembling fit that only complicated his task. “If we cooperate.”

“I think you could take them,” Zora said. When the native cast her a furtive glance, she growled at him.

“I agree that their weapons would do little to damage this body,” Rook continued, his words soft and level. “But either of you might be damaged in the ensuing struggle.”

“Right,” Zora said. “Good thinking.”

“Excuse me,” Murray said. “Can you tell us why we’ve been…oh!”

The bronzed body turned from Rook and, emboldened now that the android’s arms were at least symbolically restrained, stepped in front of her. Broad shoulders and a chiseled chest filled her view. She looked up at a square jaw and a set of piercing blue eyes.

“I, um.”

“You may sit,” the man said in pristine Gal-fed. “We’re stopping.”

He immediately turned and headed back to his fellows. His narrow loincloth flapped as he walked. Next to Murray, Zora let out a low whistle.

“Zora, please.” Murray said. She sank into the grass, folding her knees and praying that her balance could keep her upright without the aid of her hands.

“Like you weren’t looking.” Zora crossed her ankles and sat gracefully beside her.

“Looking at what?” Rook asked.

“Nothing,” Murray said. “Rook, if they speak Gal-fed, why aren’t they in the system?”

“I know,” Zora said.

“Not now, Zora.”

“What was Doctor Murray looking at?” Rook asked.

“Listen,” Murray growled. “We need to sort this out.”

“Mur, I know.”

“Fine. Okay, I looked.” Murray said. “You caught me, I checked out the hot native. Are you happy now?”

“No.” Rook said.

“That’s nice, Mur,” Zora said. “But I meant I know why your little scanner thingy didn’t tell you about the natives.”

“Oh you do?” Murray’s face heated. “Why don’t you enlighten us then, if you’re so clever?”

“They’re not natives.” Zora nodded toward the closest cluster of half-naked men. “They’re clones.”

“Come on, Zora, they’re…”

“They look exactly alike.”

“A lot of indigenous peoples have very narrow gene pools.”

“Yeah? Do they wear hyper-suede loin cloths?” Zora asked.

“What?” Murray couldn’t help glancing at the nearest loin cloth.

“And do they keep their nails perfectly manicured? Do they have hair that looks like it was done at Farah’s Frond and Feather?”

“What are you implying?” Rook asked.

“That your natives are better coiffed than I am.” She tossed her long swag of hair for effect. “And that’s saying a lot.”

“They do look…well-groomed,” Murray said.

“Nice, Mur. They look like they spend some time in the gym too…or at the steroid counter. I know what natives look like, they’re short and scrawny and have little pot bellies.”

“Not all natives look like that, Zora.”

“All the ones in Galactic Geographic do.”

“Since when do you read Galactic Geographic.”

“I used to steal yours to see the naked people.”

Murray stared at her sister. She blinked twice, but Zora didn’t go away. Her leg muscles had shifted from complaining to twitching, and she knew she’d eventually have to admit that Zora was probably right about the clone thing. She was starting to really hate this planet.

“I disagree,” Rook said.

“You don’t think they’re clones?” Murray said. Maybe there was hope for her pride, at least.

“They’re clones,” he said. “I analyzed their features extensively while you two bickered, but I find no evidence indicating they would be considered attractive.”

Murray gave up. She dropped her head into her hands and refused to look at either of them. Unfortunately she could still hear them.

“What?” Rook asked.

“Don’t worry, Stud. You’re prettier than they are.”

“Doctor Murray?”

She groaned. “Go away.”

“Uh, Mur, I think you’re gonna want to see this.”

She knew better than to look, but some sadistic reflex made her do it. She lifted her head and came face to points with the business end of a twin-tipped spear. The native, make that “clone” on the other end of the weapon, nodded to her and bobbed the spear up and down.

“You will restrain the creature,” he ordered.

In the distance, Murray heard raised voices. She sat back and pointed with both wrists directly at Zora.

“Talk to my sister,” she said. “It belongs to her.”

The spear swiveled in Zora’s direction.
“You will restrain…”

“No,” Zora said.

Murray ground her teeth together. She could see Zora’s face, and she knew that look.

“You will…”

“Make me.”

“Hey!” Murray jumped in. “I’ll tell you what, we’ll consider restraining it for you, if…”

“Shut up, Mur.”

“You just tell us how we’re supposed to go about doing that?”

She finished, and the man looked back and forth between Zora and her until she thought his neck would give out. He took a step away from them, started to say something, and then shut his mouth again.

“I think you broke him,” Zora whispered. The native looked back at her.

“The slug is yours?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not carrying a sonic emitter?”

“A what?”

As Murray watched, the man’s entire posture shifted. He slouched. He rolled his eyes in a terribly modern way and gave Zora a look that Murray would have loved to master. He put one hand up, palm facing them, and reached the other into the back of his loincloth.

“Whoa.” Zora said.

The hand reappeared with a slim metal rectangle in its grip.

“I do not want to know where you were keeping that.”

“Shut up, Zora.” Murray watched wide-eyed as the clone-native-turned-techno magician flipped open the phone and pressed an activation control.

“Hey, this is Bob,” he said. “Yeah, I know. Listen, we’re gonna need a sonic emitter up here, stat.”

Next Episode ◦

Episode Nine: The Natives

Episode Eight: The Search

The vine refused to release her. Murray twisted, and its sticky tendrils only gripped her hair all the tighter.

“Hold still,” Rook said. He unwound the green wire encircling her thigh.

“It’s trying to eat me.”

“If you stop moving, I think I can get you out.”

“There’s some in her hair,” Zora added helpfully from her perch on a nearby stump.

Murray growled, but stopped fidgeting and let Rook sort out the tangle. His cool fingers plucked a creeping tendril from her cheek and went to work on the ones in her hair.

“I think we’ve almost got it,” he said.

A few more fumbles around her head, and the plant’s grip went slack. Murray fell forward and took three quick steps away from the foliage. She reached down and rubbed at her thigh.

“That’s better.” Rook said.

“Right. Thank you.” Murray lifted her hand-held and punched the scan button. She’d managed to pluck a small sample before the plant attacked her. “Carnivorous plants?” She watched the scanner screen blink it’s “working” message and tapped one foot. The results flashed a bright green: negative. “Nope,” she said. “Though I beg to differ where that one’s concerned.”

“You just got too close,” Zora said. “If you’d stop fiddling with that thing and stay in the center of the track…”

“I’ve already got enough slime on my shoes, thank you.”

“We need to find Neela.”

“Doctor Murray,” Rook interjected quickly. “Perhaps I could carry you.”

“What?”

“It might save time if we stayed away from the plants. If you’re concerned about your shoes…”

“I, no. Thank you. I’ll just deal with the goo.”

“Very well.”

“Great,” Zora said. “Can we go now?”

Zora led the way. She strode along the swath of slug debris without a speck of dirt on her. Every fifty feet she’d stop, scan the jungle to either side and call to her mollusk. Murray followed behind her, keeping equidistant from the thick jungle to either side of the trail. She held the computer unit in front of her and waved it slowly back and forth. “Quicksand,” she said and hit the scan button. “No.”

“Do you have to do that? You’re freaking me out?”

“Zora, we need to know as much as we can about this place.”

“Fine. Try snakes.”

“What?” Murray froze and stared at the branches over her head. “Why?”

“It just seems like a great place to be a snake.”

“Funny.” She continued, but whispered to the unit, “Snakes.”

Rook made a noise behind her. He’d suggested bringing up the rear in case anything happened to be following them. The idea had been unanimously agreed upon.

“Nope,” she said. Another idea struck her. “Venomous animals,” she said and waited. “No.”

“I think its opening up ahead,” Zora called back.

“Giant insects.” Murray looked up and tried to see an end to the jungle. The hand-held beeped. “No.”

“Doctor Murray?” Rook hurried up beside her. “I believe your sister may be correct.”

They walked together, Murray watching the mesh of branches overhead intently, and Rook’s heavy feet making gentle splishing sounds as he trod through Neela’s wake. A few paces further and Murray could see larger patches of sky breaking through the canopy. A glance to her left supported Zora’s claim. The flora had definitely thinned considerably, though it still looked hostile.

“There’s water,” Zora called. “I can see a lake.” She broke into an overly sultry jog.

“Wait, Zor!” Murray walked faster, but her sister flashed in and out of view as the trail wandered serpentine style. “Crap.”

“Come on.” Before she could protest, Rook scooped her up. He held her cradled to his metal chest and broke into a run.

Murray clutched her computer in one hand and quickly wrapped the other around Rook’s neck. Her legs dangled over his arm and she bounced along in mid-air. “Hey,” she said. The jungle blurred into a green smear and she closed her eyes against a flutter of nausea.

They caught Zora at the edge of an open expanse. A slope of thick gray grass fell away from the jungle’s edge to meet the flat surface of the lake. Beside it, a gigantic pink slug quivered and munched on a mouthful of shiny leaves.

“Neela!” Zora squeaked and took off at a run.

“Neep.”

“We found the beast,” Rook said.

“Oh joy.” Murray shifted in his arms, and he set her back on her feet. She smoothed at her pants and watched Zora patting the slug while pale green splatters of drool rained to either side of her. “Yuck.”

“Shall we?”

They walked down to the lake, and Murray eliminated sea monsters and acidic hot springs from her list of the planet’s potential dangers. Zora grinned at them and took two steps toward the lake.“Wait,” Murray said.

“What?”

“You don’t know what that is!”

“It’s a lake.”

“Zora.”

“Fine. What is it?”

Murray stood up straighter and marched to the edge of the grass. She aimed the scanner at the lake’s surface and pushed a few buttons. The lights flashed. She waited. The machine beeped.

“Well,” Zora said. “What is it?”

Murray tucked the hand-held into her jacked pocket and set her shoulders back firmly. “It’s water,” she announced.

“God, Mur.” Zora knelt at the shore and scooped up a handful of water. She drank it, then eyed Murray critically. “You should bathe,” she said. “You’re filthy.”

Murray slid out of her ruined lab coat and glared at her sister. She rolled her eyes sideways and raised her eyebrows to indicate Rook.

“I don’t think he’d mind,” Zora said.

She did have mud caked along her arms. She turned to the android. He had his back to them, scanned the sky and the jungle edges intently.

“He’s just an android, right, Mur?”

“Shut up.” She shed her boots and rolled her pants legs up above her knees. Wading a few steps into the water, she rubbed at the dried mud on her calves and splashed the chilly liquid over her arms and face. Not exactly a bath, but it would have to do. The cold felt amazing on her scratched and bruised skin, and without the thick canopy, warm sunlight fell around them.

When she’d finished, Murray stepped back across the grass to where Zora lounged on her side. The slug had finished its snack and seemed content and unlikely to bolt again. Murray turned to her coat. The arms gaped in spots where the wreckage had torn through them, but she ignored the damage and beat as much of the mud as possible from the garment.

“Doctor Murray?” Rook joined them and sat down on the grass. “Perhaps we should consider setting up camp.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” she said. “I’m exhausted. There’s water here, and we could use some of the friendlier branches to construct shelter.”

“Mur.”

“What?”

“I don’t think it’s safe here.” Zora stood and sidled up to her.

“Why? Rook’s…”

“Hostile natives.”

“No,” Murray said. “That’s one of the first things I checked.”

“Check again.”

She started to argue, but Rook jumped to his feet. Zora was staring at the jungle over Murray’s shoulder, and a creepy feeling wandered down her spine. “No,” she said. “I checked.”

She didn’t want to turn around, but they both fixed their gazes on a point somewhere behind her, and she couldn’t stand the pressure. Sure enough, hostile natives. They’d stepped from the jungle without sound and now they formed a wall of half naked, tanned flesh. Murray did a quick count and sighed. Each of the loincloth clad figures held a spear tipped with twin points that glistened more like steel than stone. Not that it mattered. They were vastly outnumbered.

She shook her head. “It’s one of the first things I checked,” she said.

“Maybe they’re not hostile,” Rook offered. He stepped forward and the spears shifted in unison to pinpoint his position.

“And maybe that gadget’s broken,” Zora said.

Murray touched the pocket holding her scanner. She looked from Zora to Rook to the tight faces of the men crouching behind the spears. “Right,” she said. What the hell? She stiffened her spine and marched directly for the closest natives. The spears diverted to target her. Rook and Zora called in unison.

“Mur!”

“Doctor Murray!”

She stopped and spread her arms wide. “I mean you no harm,” she shouted. “I’m a doctor!”

Next Episode ◦

Episode Eight: The Search

Episode Seven: The Crash

“Doctor Murray?”

“Is she okay?”

“Shhh. Doctor Murray?”

“Don’t shush me, Stud. That’s my sister.” Zora’s voice trembled in an un-Zora like manner.

“Doctor Murray? Can you hear me?”

“Mmmmm yeah.” Murray opened her eyes and found two faces staring at her. Rook’s angular mouth folded down into a frown. Zora looked too worried for Murray’s comfort. She must be pretty bad off. There should be more pain. She grinned at her sister. “Frowning causes wrinkles,” she said.

“Right,” Zora said. She attempted a half-hearted smile that told Murray she’d really been concerned. “Can’t have that.”

“So,” Murray wiggled her fingers and toes with a sigh of relief. “Not dead, then. But how bad is it?”

“You’re such a pessimist, Mur.” Zora stood and smoothed her skirt. She patted at her immaculate hair and looked back down over one shoulder. “You’re just banged up a bit.”

“You suffered some minor lacerations,” Rook’s face blocked out the image of Zora primping. “We were concerned when you remained unconscious for so long after the crash.” So they had crashed.

“The ship?” she asked hopefully. Rook shook his head. “We’re on the planet?” He nodded. “Well, at least it seems to have a proper atmosphere.”

She sat up, and her “lacerations” sent stabs of pain through both her arms and one leg. “Ow, crap.” Bruises made purple smudges along her limbs, criss-crossed by scratches that puckered with dried blood. “I’m a mess,” she said.

Truly, her sleeveless shirt had been painted with grease marks and heavy splotches of what had to be mud. Her lab coat lay in a heap beside her, but if her arms were any indication, it was shredded. She sighed, then eyed her two companions. Zora looked like she’d just had a shower and a trip to the day spa. Murray frowned. Rook bore a few traces of dried mud, but appeared completely undamaged. What the hell?

“So, did you two just happen to land on me?”

“This body is extremely resistant to damage.”

“Neela saved me.” Zora shrugged and then scanned around to either side. “Where did she get to?”

“The slug saved her?” She turned to find Rook watching her.

“It seems that the creature enveloped her seconds before impact.”

“Enveloped? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” She shifted her weight to the other hip and toyed with the idea of standing. Rook left her, and she took a moment to survey her immediate surroundings. She wished she hadn’t.

The wreckage of their stolen ship still encased her, twisted and obviously beyond repair. A slash in the cabin over her head let in the dim light and allowed her a view of thick, shiny foliage. Not a great view; it screamed jungle.

“Mur,” Zora stepped over the ruined doorway and knelt beside her. Her voice carried the hush of conspiracy. “I have to talk to you.”

“I’m all right, Zor. Just sore and…”

“Not that.” Zora flipped her hair back. “It’s that robot.”

“Not now, Zor.”

“Listen, there’s something wonky about …”

“Doctor Murray?”

“Yes, Rook?” Murray leaned around her sister.

The android stood just outside the wreckage. “I’ve managed to salvage a hand-held. If any of the systems survived the crash, I might be able to download some functions to the portable.”

“That’s excellent,” Murray said. She arched an eyebrow at her sister and smiled. “Thank you, Rook.”

“If you’re feeling up to it, I believe our next move should be to secure…”

“Food, shelter, water?” Murray put a hand on Zora’s shoulder and pulled herself into a standing position. “Good idea.”

“Mur,” Zora hissed in her ear.

“Have you two scouted around at all?” Murray leaned against Zora, but ignored her whispers for attention. “If you can possibly download a scanning program, basic medical database, any data on the location...”

She let go of Zora and heaved a leg over the ships’ hull. It felt good to be discussing the situation rationally, logically. Her foot came down on the other side, and she felt it sink into something soft. Mud, she thought, right. She looked down at the splatter of wet, reddish soil marking her pants and pressed her lips tightly. How was it that Zora…she examined her sister again. Had Rook said, engulfed?

“Why aren’t you all sticky?” Murray demanded.

“Huh?”

“I’m serious. Rook said that thing enveloped you. Why aren’t you covered in slime?”

“Murray, we’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

“Why aren’t you dirty? Your hair isn’t mussed. Your clothes have no wrinkles.” The more she thought about it, the weirder is seemed. And Zora looked guilty—even more so than usual.

“It’s the Nanites,” Rook said. He stopped next to Murray without looking at either of them, his gaze held by the portable, hand-held unit he carried. “They’re constantly grooming her.”

Murray bounced a look back and forth between them. Rook continued to fiddle with the module, while Zora stared daggers at him.

“Nanites?” Murray’s hands rested on her hips. “When did you go cybernetic?”

“They’re not cybernetic.” Zora pouted and tapped her foot. “And they’re very rare proto-types, thank you very much.”

“Sounds expensive. How’d you do it? Or should I say who’d you…”

“Watch it.” Zora glared at Murray now, then nodded toward Rook and widened her eyes. “Say, stud,” she said, still staring meaningfully at Mur. “How’d you know about the Nanites?”

“I can hear them,” Rook said. Finally, he looked up at them. “I’ve managed to download the contents of the ships files, and most of the programs,” he said.

“That’s great,” Murray said.

“Yeah, great.” Zora stretched her eyes until they watered. “I’d even say it’s pretty amazing, wouldn’t you, Mur?”

“About as amazing as those micro groomers,” Murray said. “How’d you get ‘em, Zor?”

“Okay, fine. Let’s focus on Zora. I get it.”

“Doctor Murray, I’ve found the location information.”

“Thanks, Rook.” Murray turned away from Zora’s pout and leaned closer to the android and his hand-held. “You dated someone from I.R.C?”

“No,” Zora said. “Wait, the what?”

“The Institute for Robotics and Cybernetics,” Rook said.

“Oh.”

“I knew it,” Murray said. She didn’t look up, but let the silence build around them instead, and waited. Zora couldn’t stand quiet for long. In the meantime, Murray examined the planetary data that Rook had salvaged. Habitable, it said, but not Gal-fed. Population centers: unknown.

“If you must know,” Zora said. “I’m participating in a scientific study.”

“You’re what?” Murray couldn’t help but turn back to her. “A what?”

“She’s a test subject,” Rook said.

Both women spun on him. He didn’t look up, didn’t alter his facial mask in the slightest. His expression remained fixed—intense, focused. Murray looked at Zora, who made the wide-eyed face again and tilted her head in Rook’s direction. Murray sighed. It had sounded a little bit like humor. But the idea seemed ridiculous, even in her mind. She shrugged and went back to the data.

“Fine,” Zora said. “Fine. How about you two put all that brain power to use for once and help me find Neela.”

“The slug is missing?” Murray asked.

“She wandered off, Mur.” Zora’s eyes misted again, and Murray considered to odds that the emotion might be genuine. “She might have gotten lost, or something could have happened to her.”

“The slug? Zora, she’s a wild animal, an enormous wild animal. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“But what if she’s not?”

“All right, Zor.” Murray caved. They needed to get their bearings anyway. “We’ll look for her.” In the jungle, she thought--traipsing through an alien jungle looking for their lost space slug.

“It shouldn’t be difficult to locate,” Rook added. His gleaming arm pointed to the edge of the foliage across from the swath their impact had demolished. Murray narrowed her eyes and tried to see what he indicated. If she tilted her head just a little, a section of jungle shone in the wan light. The leaves of the plants in that area glistened with a thin layer of slime.

“So we just follow the sticky stuff?” Murray asked.

“It should lead us to the creature.”

“Yay!” Zora clapped her hands and danced in place. “Let’s go.”

Murray hesitated. An unknown jungle spread in all directions. It was dark in there, and full of who knew what.

“Doctor Murray,” Rook said. “I believe the portable unit is ready for use.” He held out the metal unit, offered it to her.

“Thanks.” She wrapped her fingers around it. He might have kept it; she’d thought he intended to. The gesture conveyed more than control over the unit, and Murray knew it. She knew he knew it too. She tapped the palm sized screen and pulled up the scanning function, pointed the forward sensors at the slime trail and heard a reassuring bleep. She had no idea what it meant.

“Well then,” she said, standing taller and pressing her shoulders back. “We go that way.”

Next Episode ◦

Episode Seven: The Crash