Project U.L.F. (14 page)

Portable craft finders such as this one, which could be pulled out of their console on the bridge and could then be carried, were normally stored on the bridge when they were not fitted into a console. Perhaps it was faulty? It may have been dumped here by an engineer who would rather order another one than go through the rigmarole of finding and filing the fault and then rectifying the problem. Many crews had reported finding faulty equipment in some of the strangest places. He flicked the switch on its top and the beacon receiver recorded a faint signal. Yeah, Wyatt thought, definitely faulty. He and his team should be the only people here. He switched the gadget off and put it back where he had found it, then secured the hatch.

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“That’s better,” Kate said as she fastened the last clip. “Thanks.” She turned, beaming at him.

Wyatt gave her a faint smile, a poor reflection of hers. He turned to the others, “Are we all happy now?” Sarcasm lined the words. No one replied. “Right, then, let’s see what this place has in store for us.”

He walked over to the nearby wall and lifted a panel to reveal a large red button which he pressed. There was a clang and then the floor began to drop.

The heat of the warm air that rushed in through the opening hit them like a wall and the brightness of the outside world seemed to grow in intensity, causing the crew to squint and raise hands to their eyes until they became accustomed to the light. With a second clang, the floor came to rest on the reddish-brown soil outside the ship.

Wyatt looked out the door and spoke, as if to nobody, “Okay, you know the drill. Make sure the area is secure and exercise extreme caution.” He turned to Bobby and pointed at Kate, “Keep her with you at all times. I don’t want her out of your sight.”

Bobby nodded. Kate snorted her disgust. After all, she’d earned the right to be here. The noise only earned her a long, hard stare from Wyatt.

Kit led the crew out of the ship, removing his gun from its holster as he walked, an action the others copied. When they reached the bottom and stepped off onto the dusty earth, the team fanned out, spreading out from the
Santa Maria
in a semi-circle. At a distance of about fifty yards from the ship, they stopped and surveyed the forest in front of them. Kate, who was standing next to Bobby, whispered, “This is all a bit serious, isn’t it?”

“It’s procedure.” Bobby stated.

What Kate couldn’t know was that to the rest of the crew, this was the real thing—a U.L.F. expedition to a remote, uncharted planet.

“Anything?” Wyatt shouted.

“No.”

“Nope!”

“Nothing here.”

The replies all came back in the negative.

“Okay. Par, Kit, Alex and Chris, I want you guys to check out the sides and the front of the ship. Two down each side, meet at the front end. Byron and I will get the portable living quarters from the ship. Meet back here when you’re happy everything is A-OK.” The others nodded and set off on their way.

“You stay here,” Wyatt said to Bobby and Kate. “Keep your eyes peeled, both of you, four eyes are better than two. If you see anything you’re not happy with then raise the alarm.”

Wyatt and Byron disappeared back into the gloom of the ship.

“So, you’re a biologist, huh?” Bobby said, trying to make polite conversation in the absence of the others.

“Yes.”

“Yeah, me too,” she confessed.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Bobby said, smiling, “Don’t sound so surprised.”

“But why here? Doing this? I mean—you’re a trapper, or whatever you call it, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I started out just in the animal acquirement department. Monitoring animals when they were brought in, before they went on exhibition. Then I got a break and was assigned to a ship, as a crewmember, essentially doing the same job, but monitoring the animals as they were caught and on the journey home. It was fun and challenging, but it’s a lonely job. No cryosleep for me then, I had to check on the animals daily. All I had was them and a computer for company, and that gets pretty tiresome. You can’t talk to a computer about what’s on your mind. Problems. You know what I mean? They make a poor substitute for people.”

“Mmmm,” Kate nodded vigorously to emphasize that Bobby had her full attention. She relished this chance at conversation but she found it hard to believe that Bobby, who demanded and got respect from the rest of the crew, could have problems. She seemed such a solid person, so sorted out up top. “So why did you become a trapper?” Kate asked.

“Natural progression, I guess. You can only do that stuff for so long. Like I said, it gets pretty tiresome having no one around, and once you’ve sorted out an animal’s needs and wants, that soon becomes a run-of-the-mill job. I wanted some action and I wanted some human contact. It seemed the logical step to make. As a biologist, it’s a great thrill to step out of the brush and come face-to-face with something…something that lives and breathes…and know that you’re the first person ever to lay eyes on it. That’s a real buzz.”

“It must be really exciting,” Kate mused.

There was a noise from the nearby trees and both women started. Looking toward the source of the sound, they could see nothing.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Bobby said, “Most of the things we encounter are more afraid of us then we are of them. The real danger comes when they’re cornered. Then they become unpredictable and you get to see what they’re really capable of.” She smiled, and the confidence in her face calmed Kate’s nerves.

“What about the rest of the team?” Kate asked, “What are they like?”

“Oh they’re all okay. All except Kit—watch that one. He may try and boss you around, pretend like he’s in charge, but he’s not. The only thing you need to know is that Wyatt is in charge here. He’s the only one who has any right to tell you what to do, and when he tells you to do something, you do it. No questions asked. But Kit—just stay away from him. He’s a law unto himself. Byron’s an old boy, but with a wealth of experience. You could learn a lot from him. Par’s a nice guy too, he looks out for everyone and he’s a good solid member to have along on your crew.”

“And Alex and Chris?”

Bobby hesitated. What could she say about them? She didn’t even know them, but she couldn’t let Kate know that. “Yeah, they’re fine,” she lied, “They’ll learn a lot from these other guys on this expedition, too.” That was no lie.

Wyatt and Byron came back out of the ship, each of them pulling a massive container behind them that floated, seemingly of its own accord, three feet above the ground.

Bobby was grateful that the two men had returned. Kate’s questions were getting awkward.

“Anything?” Wyatt asked.

“No. Nothing worth reporting anyway.”

The others returned from their circuit of the ship. “It’s clear,” Par said. “There’s some movement in the trees but I don’t think anything we saw poses any kind of threat. Put it this way, there’s nothing big out there.”

“Okay, thanks, Par,” Wyatt said. “Right, then, we’ve got to get these living quarters erected pronto,” he said, turning and looking back at the two large containers. “I suggest we put them up on that ridge.” He pointed to a nearby outcrop. “Kit and Byron, you’re on watch until we get these things up. The rest of you know what we have to do. Let’s go.”

Wyatt and Par pulled the containers up to the ridge. For such massive caskets, they seemed to move very easily, a fact Kate verified herself when no one was watching. Giving the container a gentle shove with the tip of her index finger, she was surprised to see it move. She wondered at the technology that would allow her to do such things.

“Why do you live outside the ship?” she asked Wyatt, half-running to keep up with his pace. “Surely it would be easier just to sleep in the
Santa Maria
.”

“We learn from our mistakes,” Wyatt replied. “We used to sleep in the expedition craft until on one mission, one of the specimens escaped from its holding pen. With the ship closed up, it had nowhere to go. It took out most of the crew before the few left alive managed to isolate and destroy it. At least this way, when we enter the ship, one of the first things we pass is the holding pens. If we see that’s anything’s amiss…which is highly unlikely…then we can act accordingly.” Kate shivered at the thought.

Within half an hour the first of the portable living quarters was almost complete and Wyatt found himself putting the finishing touches to the roof, accompanied by Chris.

“Hey, kiddo,” Wyatt said, “How are you doing?”

“Oh, fine, just…fine,” Chris paused with the effort as he secured a bolt.

“So, how about you, then?” Wyatt asked, “What’s your role in this team?”

“Oh, I’m the medic,” Chris replied.

“So what’s your U.L.F. experience?”

Chris frowned at the question. “No, I don’t think you understand, sir. I’m the medic.”

“So you have no U.L.F. experience at all?” Wyatt asked, trying to keep the surprise and anxiety out of his voice.

“No, sir. I can’t be a trapper like you and the others. I failed the basic animal handling exams. I’m not qualified to do that job. But I am a qualified medic.”

“Great,” Wyatt said smiling, but there was no smile in his eyes.

“Is there something wrong, sir?”

“No. That’s just…great.” His voice tailed off. He attacked the few remaining bolts in silence.

Kate had assumed that the best thing for her to do was to stay well out of everyone’s way. She knew nothing about the construction of the cabins so she would probably be more of a hindrance than a help if she attempted anything. For a while she had sat on a nearby rock and watched as the structure took form but she soon grew bored and wandered off to do some exploring on her own. Bobby, who was helping with the building, had not seen her go.

“Hey!” Kate shouted, hoping Bobby would hear her. “Have you seen this?” She turned back to explain to Bobby what she had discovered and found all of the team looking at her. Most imposing of all was Wyatt, stood atop the makeshift shelter with his hands on his hips.

Kate swallowed nervously. “It’s…” her voice faltered. “It’s a real maroon fern,” she said quietly, “Until now, I’d only seen these in holograms.”

Wyatt jumped off the roof and strode purposefully towards her, the others all watching his march with undisguised foreboding. When he came close to her he stopped and flung his arm up to the sky. Kate flinched, thinking he was about to strike her, but he was pointing to the two suns high above.

“Do you know when they set?” he asked.

“No,” she said, puzzled.

“So you have no idea how much light we have left?”

“Well…er, no.”

“Do you know how cold it gets here when the suns go down?”

“No,” she replied again.

“No. Well we do, and we don’t want to be caught out in it just to experience it for real. So let’s get one thing straight right now, shall we? This isn’t some glorified college field trip, okay? This is the real thing, and you have a duty to those people up there.” Wyatt pointed back towards the rest of the team. “So instead of going off on your own little explorations at will, I suggest you muck in and help.”

Kate looked at him in shock.

“Well, go on, then!” he shouted, startling her into action.

Wyatt followed Kate back up the incline to where the others had just begun work on the second cabin. As he passed Bobby, he turned to her and said, “I told you to keep an eye on her.”