Into the Forest Shadows (37 page)

Published by: Star Catcher Publishing

http://starcatcherpub.com/

Copyright 2011 by J.A. Marlow. All Rights
Reserved.

J.A. Marlow:
http://www.jamarlow.com/

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J.A. Marlow. All rights reserved.

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This is a work of fiction. The characters,
events, and locations portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any
similarity or resemblance to actual events, locales or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the
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from any known world, or humans were harmed in the writing or
making of this book. This ebook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to
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To the author's knowledge no aliens, animals
from any known world, or humans were harmed in the writing or
making of this book.

Night of the
Aurora (Salmon Run - Book 1) Sample

Zach Callahan and his father, Hawk, arrive in
Alaska to begin a new life. Anxious to arrive at the lodge crazy
Uncle George left them, they find the first challenge is just
getting to Salmon Run.

While still in Cordova, an old prospector
declares the two greenhorns unprepared for the realities of an
Alaskan winter. Sasha, a young native girl, attaches herself to
Zach, much to his disgust. A failed sled-dog won't leave Hawk
alone, giving rise to an old phobia. They think they have it made
once they get to the Solar Express, the unique train that will take
them through a dark road-less wilderness to their new home.

The same night a massive display of the
Aurora Borealis lights up the sky.

The Solar Express shuts down, stranding its
passengers in the middle of nowhere. Hidden beneath the snow and
ice, and under the path of the rescuers, an alien spaceship also
feels the effects of the light show.

Cut off from the rescuers and trapped inside
the spaceship, Zach and Sasha must ally themselves with a pair of
aliens before either the malfunctioning security systems or the
native Alaskan wildlife kills them.

***

The big boots felt heavier and clunkier than
his hiking boots. He nearly tripped over his own feet walking down
the aisle. Coordinating stepping down out of the train was a
disaster.

With the left toe catching behind the right
foot he went rolling into the snow at the bottom of the stairs.
Darnit chased him down, barking at him while his father shouted
after the dog. A shout from McRoyal diverted Darnit just as Zach
came to a stop flat on his back.

Right into a perfect view of the sky. The
aurora was everywhere.

"Zach, are you okay?" His father shouted out
from the train.

"I'm fine, Dad," he managed to shout back,
unable to take his eyes off the spectacle.

Sasha plopped down next to him in the snow
and cradled her head in her arms as she looked up. "Isn't it great?
A rooftop of colors."

"You could have tourists here in the winter
just for this," Zach said. He pointed at a thick ribbon. "It gets
so dense you can barely see the stars behind it."

"There are tourists that come up for the
aurora, but they usually go to Fairbanks. That's where they are
really active all year round. The University of Alaska has a
science program up there to study them. I've thought about
attending when the time comes. I'm still thinking about it. How
about you?"

"Me?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
She said teasingly.

"I haven't decided yet. Something in
science."

"A programmer like your father?"

"Maybe on the side, but not in an office. I
like doing my own work for myself. Not making someone else
richer."

Sasha sat up and brushed the snow off the
arms of her parka, "Now that sounds like an independent Alaskan.
There is hope for you yet."

Hearing the sound of an engine, Zach pushed
himself to his feet. The blinding white headlight of a snow machine
swung over and past them as it crested a small incline up to the
tracks.

It stopped next to the train. The driver shut
down the engine and lifted up the visor of his helmet. A grinning
face asked, "Have a problem here?"

"Gus!" McRoyal shouted. "Are you our taxi
today?"

The man gestured to the snow machines coming
up behind him, "The Salmon Run flotilla is here to serve."

Several people cheered. Sasha waved at the
new arrivals. "Ever ridden a snow machine before?"

"No, but I've ridden a 4-wheeler."

"Good, that will help you in the summer. A
snow machine is easier, but you have to watch out for different
things." Sasha left him to run towards the approaching snow
machines.

He didn't even try to follow, not wanting to
embarrass himself with another fall into the snow.

His father carefully descended down out of
the train to join him. "We can't say our arrival has been
boring."

Zach gave a short laugh. "Nothing about
Alaska has been boring."

One by one the snow machines came to a stop
next to the train. With a bit of haggling and good-natured shouting
the passengers of the trains paired up with the drivers. Several of
the younger kids piled into a small sled on skis behind one of the
machines. Dogs jostled for position in another sled.

Zach shifted from foot to foot, warm in the
new clothes, but uncertain on what they should do. He looked in the
distance but didn't see any lights to indicate where Salmon Run
might be. How far away was the town?

"We'll have to split into three groups,"
Grandpa Neeley announced, pulling one of the kids off a snow
machine. "The elderly first. Jacob, get off there. You will wait
until I go."

Zach grinned as the passengers changed as
people volunteered for the trips. A few went back into the
train.

Sasha ran back towards them. "This is so
exciting. We'll be talking about this all winter."

"And this is your idea of excitement?" Zach
said with a grin.

His father looked at the train. "We should
head back in. It looks like the snow machines are full."

"Mr. Callahan, you go with this group,"
Grandpa Neeley shouted.

"What about you," Zach asked Sasha.

She shrugged as she pulled them towards
Grandpa Neeley, "I'll come with the rest of my family. No big deal.
Won't be more than an hour or so for them to return."

"Doc, I'm giving one of our new arrivals to
you," Grandpa Neeley said to a man on a large black and red
machine.

"My pleasure," the man said. "Get on the
back. I'll have you in town in no time."

Grandpa Neeley frowned at the machines that
were left. "Wait, we need one more. Drat, why did Nicoli leave? We
weren't organized yet."

Gus leaned out the door of the locomotive.
"I'm staying the night with Avery. We'll bring the Solar Express
home once the aurora dies down a bit. Sasha, you know my machine.
You can take it into town. Have Buck bring it back in the next
batch. He couldn't get his started earlier."

"I get to drive the Zombie!" Sasha whooped,
jumping in the air. She vaulted onto a snow machine.

Grandpa Neeley took a long-suffering deep
breath while Zach looked at the big snow machine in question. Sasha
thought she could drive it? The size of it dwarfed her.

"Fine. Sasha, you can take Zach. And drive
carefully with him. This is his first time." Grandpa Neeley
said.

"Do we need to bring any of our things?" His
father asked, standing uncertainly next to the smaller snow machine
he would be riding.

"The train shouldn't be too much behind you.
Big auroras usually don't last long," McRoyal said, clapping him on
the back. "Look at it as a way to see the landscape."

"Come on, Zach. We don't want them to leave
us behind." Sasha twisted a key and with a yank of a cord the big
engine came to life.

Seeing his father get on the other snow
machine, Zach took the helmet Sasha handed to him and worked to
slip it on over his hat and hood.

"There is break water further down the
stream. We're taking the longer route near the plateau," the driver
of his father's snow machine shouted at Sasha.

"Got it!" Sasha shouted back.

"Is it safe to go off the regular paths?"
Zach asked as he adjusted the helmet.

"Regular paths? Are you serious?" Sasha
laughed. "Wide-open wilderness, the Little People are hibernating
so they can't cause mischief, an aurora to light our way? Get on
and enjoy the ride."

"Hold on tight, Zach," his father shouted
over the sounds of the engines.

Zach waved at him as he climbed up behind
Sasha. "What sort of things do you watch for while driving a snow
machine?"

"Snow covered logs, breaks in a river, stream
or lake, hidden drops." She gunned the engine, "And crazy
drivers!"

Zach grabbed the handles at the back of the
seat as the machine surged forward.

Zach held on for dear life, planting his feet
firmly on the sideboards railing running along each edge of the
snow machine to keep his balance. The snow machine turned off the
small knoll the train tracks sat on top of. When they hit the
pristine snow at the base he received a cloud full of the stuff in
the face.

He quickly lowered the visor of the helmet.
The engine of the snow machine filled his ears as Sasha seemed
determined to outrace the other drivers to town.

But as they reached the pack she slowed down.
After a few minutes he decided that she'd been having a bit of fun
at his expense.

She wasn't a crazy driver. She kept pace with
the other snow machines in the little pack, following their tracks
unless it proved too rough, and then she would veer off slightly to
make her own path through the soft snow. His father turned slightly
to look back at them before facing forward with a stiff back.
Compared to the relaxed postures of the other snow machiners, Zach
was sure he and his father stuck out like sore thumbs.

The snow machine bobbed up and down with the
bumps and depressions of the landscape. After a few anxious
moments, and vision of himself flying through the air when Sasha
hit one of the bumps, he relaxed his death grip on the handles just
below him on the side of the seat.

He pulled the helmet down a little bit,
annoyed it kept slipping backwards. If he was going to be doing
this a lot he needed to see about getting a helmet that fit him
properly.

Sasha slowed down to follow the others as
they wove in and out of a stand of trees. She reached back to push
at him, shouting, "Lean with me, not against."

Zach tried, but it didn't feel natural. It
would take so little for them to tip over. He liked it a lot better
when they came up over a hill and broke out into a big flat area
with only scattered clumps of trees. The snow machines opened up,
taking off across it at full speed.

Okay, he liked the speed. Nothing to run
into, nothing to worry about. Just pure speed. Maybe he could get
McRoyal to bring him out to someplace like this to teach him how to
drive a snow machine himself.

Feeling the first bits of cold seeping
through his snow pants, he thanked his father for not listening to
him about the money. He would have been frozen in his hiking boots,
jeans, and denim coat. Perhaps literally.

The aurora flared above them, making the
white of the snow around them reflect back brilliant red and green.
Zach had to squint against the sudden brightness. Next chance he
got, he was going to look up the aurora studies in Fairbanks that
Sasha mentioned. Maybe they had a long-distance college course he
could take.

Suddenly, through the snow pants and parka he
felt a flush of warm air. The visor of his helmet fogged up, only
allowing the glow of the aurora through, but not allowing him to
see any shapes around him. He heard the engine of the snow machine
slow down.

Where did the warmth come from? He hadn't
seen anything in the large clearing to indicate a home or cabin of
any kind.

The seat beneath him dropped out from under
him, along with the rest of the snow machine. Along with it, even
warmer air enveloped him as he fell in a kaleidoscope of lights and
darks and colored lights.

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