Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga (17 page)

“And the hostiles,” said Gideon.

She shrugged. “It’s a risk we have to take. We need to regroup if we want to survive.”

Gideon stood staring at the black box in his hands. “What makes you think any of us are going to survive anyway?”

“Don’t be stupid, Gid.”

“Seriously, Takomi, look at us. We’re marooned on a planet full of monsters, and don’t forget the aliens that came down after the Luzariai. They’re down here somewhere and probably pissed that we blew up their mother ship. We’re doing okay now because we’ve got supplies and Sentinel Armor, but the supplies will run out and the armor’s batteries will eventually run down.”

She dropped down from the SF and glared up at Gideon. “Our parents have survived worse than this. We’re literally built to survive. So I’m not going to let you give up, and if you start talking like that again, I’ll break your nose.”

Feeling ashamed, Gideon gave her a weak smile. “Sorry, Takomi. I’m not used to all this.”

Takomi laughed. “We just crashed on an alien planet. No one’s used to all this.”

He looked over at the wrecked starfighter with the two aionian bodies inside. “So how do we do this?”

Pulling out her knife, Takomi walked up the SF and sawed at a hose until fuel spilled out of it. “For starters, we stand way back when we light this.”

T
HEY
SET
UP
camp six hundred meters away on a ridge overlooking the crash site. The orange glow from the massive blaze lit up the valley below them as twilight faded into darkness. Two of Valkyrie’s moons hovered overhead, while the third hid somewhere behind the planet. On the hill opposite them, the transponder was set up on a pile of rocks broadcasting its position. If hostiles came looking for it, Gideon or Takomi would spot them from a long way off. If any aionians came looking, they would find a note Takomi scrawled across the black box with grease from the wreckage. “Hide until daylight. Meet you in the morning. Takomi Tsukamoto and Gideon Killdeer.”

Gideon took first watch while Takomi curled up on the ground next to him. He would have loved to have taken off his Sentinel Armor, but they both decided it would be unwise at this point. Instead, they allowed themselves to open their visors so that they could eat some solid food instead of sucking liquefied goop out of the feed tube.

At first, the air seemed too thick somehow, heavy with a thousand alien smells lingering on the wind. Gideon gagged when he took his first breath of Valkyrian air, but soon learned to tolerate it, and after fifteen minutes, he found he rather enjoyed it. It smelled of decay and life at the same time, something he was not used to. The only word he could think of to describe it was earthy. The irony made him smile.

He breathed deeply, surprised at how cold the air was. Now that he had time to think, he pondered on the novelty of his situation. He was sitting on an alien planet, breathing alien air, listening to the sounds of alien creatures in the forest around them. He had encountered dozens of alien life forms, he had even fought and killed one, possibly two of them. Not quite how he’d expected his first day on Valkyrie to play out.

The more relaxed he became, the more he wished his parents were there with him. So much had happened that he wanted to share with them, and he had to admit he would like to hear some words of encouragement from them right about now. Thoughts of his mother made his chest tighten up, and when he tried to think of something else, his mind immediately turned to his father.
 

Gideon tried not to think about the odds that had been stacked against the admiral in his last moments aboard the
Leviathan
. Even more disturbing was the thought that maybe the admiral had known it was a suicide mission, and only told Gideon he would attempt a halo jump to give his son hope.

Movement below him caught his eye, and he looked down to find a herd of large creatures had entered the clearing to examine the fire. Digging through his backpack, Gideon found a set of binoculars and looked down at the newcomers. The creatures resembled flat-faced rhinoceroses with duckbill mouths and a varying number of horns protruding from frills around their necks. They had lean bodies, and despite their size they jumped through the grass like six-legged deer.

The smaller ones cuddled up in the grass close to the fire. The larger ones bedded down in a protective circle facing outward. It seemed like a comfortable place to sleep, and he found himself envying the young creatures in the middle, with a warm fire behind them and the adults protecting them from danger. For a moment, he considered waking up Takomi, but decided she needed her sleep. The creatures were bedding down for the night anyway, so she would see them when it was her watch.

Watching the strange creatures from the hilltop, it was easy to imagine he was on a scientific mission, researching Valkyrian animal behavior, and not marooned with little hope of survival. The illusion kept his mind from darker thoughts, so he passed the time by trying to think up names for the different animals they had observed thus far.
 

With his visor down, he had Pauline bring up data for all the organisms they had come across. The sheer number of plants and animals they had discovered in less than a day was staggering. Whole generations of biologists would have been green with envy at this cornucopia of scientific discovery before him.

Coming up with a name for each plant and animal proved incredibly hard. He decided to leave the name of the creature he had killed as rocodile, but for the rest of the animals, he came up with entirely original names. He named the snake-like creature he’d fought a rasp. The animals sleeping near the fire he called gruffles. The giraffe creature that plucked fruit out of the spiny trees he called tobolos. The spiny trees he named jumbada trees.
 

Takomi would make fun of him when he told her the names he came up with, but right now he didn’t care. Someone would have to do it eventually, so he might as well get started.

Time flew by as he documented all this on his AI, along with any other data he could think of. He included level of hostility, warm or cold blood, size and color. Pauline filled in the gaps where he couldn’t remember or had not paid attention. It was a nice distraction, and he was actually having fun. Maybe when this was all over, he would become a zoologist after all. The prospect of exploring an entire planet ignited his imagination.

A small noise behind him brought him back to reality, and he spun around, groping for his sidearm. Once he’d located his weapon, he held perfectly still, trying to pinpoint the noise again. A moment later, he heard it, coming from somewhere near where Takomi lay. He crept toward her, holding the pistol out in front of him. When he heard it again, he realized that it was Takomi that was making the noise. She was crying and trying to keep it quiet.

He leaned over and put a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around to look at him, and before she could hide her face again, he saw a red nose and wet puffy eyes.
 

“What is it, Takomi?” It was a stupid thing to say. Their parents were lost, their ship destroyed, and they were alone on a planet full of unknown monsters. And all he could think to say was, “what is it.”

She dropped her face down into her chest, covered her head, and made a muffled reply.

“What did you say?” asked Gideon.

“I said I’m fine, Gid. Leave me alone.”

He sat next to her and patted her arm. Something told him that it would be a bad idea to leave her alone now. “There are some pretty cool animals down by the bonfire,” he said, remembering how they had distracted him from his own thoughts. “You should take a look.”

Takomi didn’t move. Gideon chewed on his lip, trying to think of the right thing to say. “Look, your mom and dad have Sentinel Armor, remember? They’ll be fine. We’ll find them soon and then...”

“And then what?” said Takomi, sitting up and turning to glare at him. “You said so yourself, Gid. None of us are going to survive this. We’re trapped here and no one’s coming to the rescue. We’re only alive because of dumb luck and these stupid suits, and neither of those are going to keep us alive for much longer. Look down in that valley, Gid. We just torched the bodies of two warriors. They couldn’t make it. What makes you think a couple sixteen-year-old kids can make it?”

Gideon looked away from her piercing glare. “I wasn’t really thinking when I said that. We can still make it. Our parents are out there somewhere, thinking up something. My dad’s a pretty smart guy, Takomi. He basically built the starships by himself.”

“Gideon,” said Takomi, her face softening, “you have to accept the possibility that your dad might be dead. He saved us, but....”

“You don’t know that,” he said, trying not to raise his voice. “Like I said, he’s a smart guy. He could have figured something out.”

“I hope so, Gid. But even if he survived, that still doesn’t change the fact that the
Leviathan
is gone and we’re trapped here with a bunch of angry aliens with ships that shoot lightning.”

“Don’t forget we blew up their ship, too,” he said. “They probably weren’t expecting that we’d put up much of a fight, but now they’re stranded here with us. At least, I think they are.”

Takomi nodded. “I still don’t see a way out of this.”

“Let’s focus on finding the others for now,” said Gideon. “We’ll worry about the aliens after that.”

T
HE
REST
OF
the night went by without incident. Takomi woke Gideon before sunrise, and he stretched his aching muscles. Before now, sleeping in the meadows of the biosphere was the closest thing to camping he had ever experienced. The real thing was less comfortable.
 

They took a moment to appreciate their first Valkyrian sunrise. Golden rays danced through fingers of fog rising from the forest, making the trees glow. The low sun reflected pink light off the distant snow-capped peaks, and the chorus of animals added a haunting backdrop. For a moment, they forgot their dire situation.

Once the sun was above the horizon they descended into the valley. The gruffles had all cleared out, leaving behind large patches of flattened grass. The forest below was alive with the voices of alien wildlife.
 

“Gruffles?” said Takomi as they passed by the charred remains of the starfighter. “That’s the best name you could come up with?”

Gideon laughed. “I knew you’d make fun of me for that. It’s hard coming up with a name out of thin air. Besides, I was tired and it sounded better last night.”

Takomi laughed. “How about you let me name the next few animals?”

“Be my guest. I’ll be sure to be super supportive of whatever inspiring name you come up with.”

Even with her behind him, Gideon knew she had just rolled her eyes. Once they reached the top of the opposite hill, they found the beacon exactly where they had left it. Gideon climbed up on top of a boulder to look around while Takomi tried to reach someone over the common band. He was scanning the horizon when something hit him between his shoulder blades. He turned, seeing nothing at first, and then something small and black came flying at him. He narrowly dodged it, losing his balance in the process, and tumbled down to crash in the dirt.

A Spanish accent came over the radio. “And thus was the fall of the mighty Gideon Killdeer, slain by an old man and a pebble.” Gideon’s helmet com was filled with the sound of several voices laughing, including Takomi’s.

“Padre!” Gideon leapt to his feet, looking for his friend. The small priest materialized out of the forest, clad in his Sentinel Armor and followed by a giant that could only be Vincent Uritumbo. A third person followed them, also wearing armor with the visor down. Takomi ran forward and threw her arms around Padre, who warmly returned the embrace. She let go of him and immediately moved to hug Vincent.

Gideon shook Padre’s hand and they slapped each other’s backs. He turned to greet Vincent, pausing as Takomi gasped. She stared at the third man, and her hand came up to her mouth. Gideon moved a little closer to see who it was, then let out a sigh. “Oh no,” he breathed.

Connor Hallows looked back and forth at the two teenagers with a perplexed expression. “I didn’t realize I was such an eyesore,” he said with a crooked smile.

“Oh, Connor,” said Takomi, and she ran forward to hug him too. She buried her face in his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

Connor hugged her back, looking at the others with one eyebrow raised. “It’s okay,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to shout for joy when you saw me or anything.”

Takomi looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “It’s not that. It’s....” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“It’s Veronica,” said Gideon. “She... she didn’t make it.”

Connor went rigid, then the color drained from his face. He swallowed hard and let go of Takomi. For what seemed an eternity, he stared at Gideon with an inscrutable face. Gideon tried to meet his gaze, but eventually his eyes fell to the ground. Unable to bare the silence, he continued. “Her SF crashed on the other side of this hill. We found her and Sanjay Patel.”

He looked up to find Connor was still staring at him with the same expression. He glanced at Takomi, who looked as white as Connor. He looked down again and continued. “We found the transponder and some supplies, but the SF was already burning. It was pretty obvious that they had crashed hard and were killed on impact. It would have been quick, no pain.” His voice warbled as he said it. When they had first found Sanjay and Veronica, Gideon had felt no sorrow, but now, seeing how it effected Connor, the grief overtook him.

Padre stepped forward and grasped Connor’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, my friend. She was a wonderful person, and I know she and Sanjay are in God’s hands now.”
 

That pushed Connor over the edge, and he fell into Padre’s arms, sobbing. Connor fell to his knees, and Padre knelt down beside him. The group stood there for some time, surrounding Connor and Padre. Takomi and Gideon cried along with him, unable to hold it back. Even Vincent had a tear rolling down his cheek.