Authors: Chris Hechtl
Kathy, Anne, and Janet convinced
Travis and Mitch to allow the kids out in a supervised outing a week later. A
nice meadow covered in flowers, perfectly safe they said. The kids must learn
about new environment the women argued, pointing out it would be an educational
experience. Travis and Gunny weren’t happy, nor was Mitch at unwarranted risk,
but gave in since the kids were tearing the place apart running around. He
reminded the AI to remind him to build a playground. ”Soon!” Brian piped up.
They took a convoy of five of the
hummers since Paul Fenn was in. He wanted to take his wife and kids as well
since they hadn't had an outing as a family since they had arrived. Mitch
insisted on bringing a bunch of robots and all of the adults and teens were
armed. The UAV’s circle over head, but no predators had been detected for
kilometers around. It was close to the time of migration, some may have already
left for the south and warmer climate.
At the edge of the meadow they
decided since it was hot out to instead eat under the shade of the trees
nearby. The robots trudged off to form a perimeter around the Terrans. Doc and
Mitch set up the picnic area. They shook out the blankets and laid them out.
Janet was there with them, having to want to get out of the warren for once.
She took charge of everything with military precision though, having them lay
everything out under her critical eye.
The kids charged off, running and
playing. Doc called after them to stay near. The Fenn parents took a giggling
moment aside to kiss.
Doc
looked envious, and then looked at Mitch who was busy watching the kids. Lisa
tugged Brian off behind a bush; Mitch pulled out a feed and checked a tablet,
spotted them through the robot's visual feed making out nearby. His eyebrows
rose in pleased surprise. “What are you looking at?” Doc asked as she sauntered
up, hands in her rear pockets.
“Oh
nothing!” He hastily shut the tablet off. She grabbed it, and then they
devolved into a wrestling and chase match. Eventually he caught her, making her
give it up as she giggled. He held her, and she held him. The kids came back
panting out of breath making him tense up, and then muttered about their
antics. Doc giggled some more.
Janet called the kids to order, and
then hollered to the wayward adults and teens to come eat while they could; the
bottomless pits were going to finish it all quick. Doc and Mitch set off, hand
in hand. The kids were sitting around, hands were blurring as people reached
for this and that. Mitch reached in and then got a sandwich, counted his
fingers when he withdrew his hand. Doc looked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure they are all still
there,” he said mockingly. She chuckled. He handed her the sandwich with a
slight bow, then reached for more. He tossed one to Brian, who surprised by it
fumbled it before Lisa caught it. Mitch tossed him another. “Guess you’ll never
make the football team?” Mitch said to Brian, who snorted.
“Yeah right, the opposing team’s
offensive line seems to have teeth and claws.”
Paul snorted at that as he
stepped around the tree, leading his blushing and slightly mussed wife by the
hand. Mitch tossed a pair of sandwiches to them. “It isn’t worth your life to
stick your hand in there, trust me.” He nodded his head to the madhouse of kids
as he opened the baggie of his sandwich. Paul laughingly agreed.
After lunch the adults laid out,
some watching the sky. The kids frolicked, running around and having a ball
playing games like tag and hide and seek. Brian checked the perimeter with
Lisa. One of the kids stumbled into something in the center of the meadow. She
came up crying a little because she skinned her knee. One of the older boys
came over to check her out. They looked for what she tripped on, he thought it
was just a rock but she insisted it was a ball.
They pulled the flowers back and
found a skull. The girl shrieked, and then ran screaming. Another girl nearby
began picking pretty flowers. After a few seconds the other flowers around her
began to shake back and forth. Suddenly it was a chain reaction with her at the
center, flowers began to shake and a gold mist began to float in the air. The
kids coughed and sneezed. One yipped, feeling something cross her foot.
The kids on the perimeter ran
back to the treeline. The girl who had found the skull got to Janet and Kathy,
crying. The adults looked up, suddenly concerned. They looked out into the
field to see the remaining kids coughing.
They called them in, getting to
their own feet in haste. The kids started to come, but one by one they
faltered, stumbled and then fall. Doc became alarmed and rushed to them but
Mitch grabbed her. He clamped an arm around her, pushing her back from the
sparkling gold cloud's spreading edges. “Brian! SECURITY ALERT!” he bellowed.
The robots turned and stood at attention. Mitch pointed his free hand to Ed
three. “ED get in there and get those kids out now!” Mitch roared. The robot
stomped into the meadow and began pulling at the kids.
Vines creeped up. “Enemy action
detected,” The robot’s deep artificial voice reported.
“Use your fingers to pinch the
vines off,” Mitch ordered, then pushed Doc back as vines began to swim out from
under the flowers towards their feet. Paul bellowed as one wrapped around his
ankle and pulled him off his feet. Mitch lunged over and chopped with his belt
knife. The vine spurted liquid, and then all of the vines retreated as fast as
they appeared.
The ED pulled two of the kids
out, and then went back for more. Doc got her med kit when she noted their limp
bodies in the robots arms. She pushed Paul aside, hollering for Lisa to get the
water to wash them off. Golden dust clung to the kids and their clothes. Doc
put on gloves, and then began stripping the kid’s clothes off and performing
CPR. Janet watched for a moment and then put on a set of gloves and imitated
her with the other child.
In pairs Ed brought the fallen
kids to the parents. Lisa came up loaded down with canteens; she dumped them
near Doc and then grabbed the empties and rushed off. Doc had one of the
available kids help her wash the pollen off carefully starting with the girl's
face.
A few moments later Lisa returned
from the nearby pond with more water, scooped up the empties and repeated the
run. The other kids were afraid, milling around. Mitch put on gloves and helped
with the resuscitation. Doc noted that they were barely breathing. They
stripped the kids, and then hustled to the cars. “Decontamination protocols.”
Mitch sneezed suddenly and felt a little dizzy. “We are in trouble here; the
wind is shifting hustle people!” He called.
He pushed the child into the car,
then turned and pulled another from Paul, piled him in on top. When all the
kids were in the adults loaded and rushed off. The five robots and gear
forgotten in the heat of the moment. Mitch cranked up the AC, telling the
others to point the fans at the kids and keep the windows down.
They radioed in; Doc told Dora
what was going on. In the infirmary she ordered the kids washed, and the adults
to strip and wash. There were a few commented by Brian, but Paul angrily cut him
off. “This is no time for jokes.”
Anne brought them towels and
clothes in a rush, eyes wide in fright. “Oh lord oh lord.” Doc, Dora, Maggie,
and Cassie checked the kids, but found they were all breathing.
In an hour one by one the kids
began to enter a more normal sleep pattern, after two hours one of them woke
up. She was a bit sleepy. Doc had the kids spend the night in the infirmary
however, with the anxious parents with them or outside. “Dodged a bullet,” she
said, upset over the close call.
“Yeah we did. Not your fault, how
could you have known?” Mitch replied and nodded.
Hejira came in, they consulted
with her. When they described what happened she speculated it was a defensive
action, but when they explained to her about the aggressive vines she modified
her theory. She told them about some plants that lure insects or animals to
them with smells, and then trap them. “Like Venus fly traps?” Brian asked
intrigued.
Hejira nodded. “Yes, but there
are other types of carnivorous plants as well. It seems these plants have
evolved their defensive pollen into a stun mechanism, then the vines to secure
the victim to absorb.” Janet and Anne shuddered.
Doc looked up and gave Hejira a
long look. “So you don’t think it is a poison?”
“I am not sure. But remember, if
the animal is drugged, then wrapped with vines?” Hejira asked.
Doc nodded. “Yeah some of the
kids still bear marks from those vines, they really clutched at them.”
Hejira nodded. “Yes, they could
strangle something. Many Terran vines are known to kill other plants or destroy
stone if they can wrap around or find a crevice to burrow into,” she replied
thoughtfully. Doc nodded.
“So are they going to be okay?”
Paul asked, anxious. Mitch noted the anxiety of a father asking the experts.
Doc sighed. “I got the pollen
under the microscope, but I have never seen anything like it. Hejira could you
take a look?” She nodded and Doc ushered her to the waiting microscope with a
sample.
Another of the kid’s woke rubbed
his eyes and asked what was going on. They told him the plants knocked him out.
He looked around and then decided it wasn't worth all the fuss the big people
were making over it so he went back to sleep. A little girl woke bawling, and
peed herself. Doc comforted her and cleaned her up. Some of the other kids
woke, wondering what was going on. “Well, there is your answer Doc,” Dora said,
feeling intense relief.
“Yeah. Okay it must be some sort
of sophoric. I am still going to keep the kids here under observation over
night,” Doc said. Mitch nodded.
“One way to get some peace and
quiet,” Mitch wryly commented.
“Glad it didn’t last though,”
Lisa said and then blushed when she realized she responded.
He nodded. “Good work out there.
You did good,” he said, praising her. She blushed. Brian sneaked his hand around
hers and gave it a squeeze.
“My hero,” he teased.
“That’s heroine,” she murmured,
embracing him.
“Now we get to go back and get
the robots,” Brain said. Lisa made a face.
Travis nodded. “I’ll take care of
it.” The Gunny came in and he waved him to the garage. “I’ll explain on the
way,” Travis said on his way out.
Janet came to Travis and Mitch a
day later and told them she was a bit worried and downright scared of Akira. He
was ferocious, snarling and smashing the scorpions. Travis told them Akira lost
his lady to animals and was a bit bitter. “Yeah, well he kicked a dog too.”
Eyes darkened at that news. “I’ll
talk to him,” Travis said quietly.
“Okay.”
Maggie came in later that day, a
bit despondent. “The last turkey died,” she announced. She looked tearful.
Mitch sighed. “We knew it was
only a matter of time Mags.”
Doc patted her hand. “I know you
did your best.” The others nodded and patted her shoulder. Sean came in,
obviously upset. Maggie gave him a hug.
Janet sighed. “Guess you're going
to have to build that giant oven now that we are stuck with those overgrown
birds for turkey dinners,” she said to Mitch. He shrugged.
The plan was that most of the
metal mined, or materials set aside for recycling would be dealt with during
the long winter. The endothermic smelting process would be energy intensive, so
most of it would have to be done in the early month before the top of the river
froze, shutting down the small portable generators.
Pete came in excited, jumping, Jolene
as well. Janet, Anne, Doc, and Mitch tried to make sense of them. Finally they
get the gist; Jolene had received a ham signal from another village. Not seeing
what the big deal was, Janet said exactly that. Doc looked confused, until
Cassie came in excited. ”Another village?” Hyper, Jolie nodded ecstatically.
Finally catching on Janet and Doc
smiled and then got into the moment, hugging everyone. Pete disappeared,
moments later they heard over the intercom: “Folks, we just got word from
another village south east of here!” Muted cheers from the day care center
could be heard down the hall. Mitch smiled.
Pete reported to the council
after dinner that the eastern village was sitting on a pretty good deposit of
what looked like tin, and had plenty of fruit trees around. They had had problems
with the sharks since they were near a river; Shark hounds had swum up the
river to attack them all summer.
“Based off of their descriptions
they were outside the explored territory, at least five hundred kilometers
south east of base, perhaps further. “They are offering tin and lead for trade,
they said they could use just about anything.” Pete summed up his report.
Doc nodded in approval and gave
the boy a hug. “You did good.”
Travis nodded as well, knowing
when to give encouragement. “Good report son.” He turned to Mitch, “Think we
can get an expedition out there? They sound like they are further down the
coast then we were.”
Mitch had a thoughtful expression
as he thought that idea out. “It is autumn, I am not too keen about sending out
a survey party an unknown distance and have them get caught out of support
range,” Mitch finally replied. Travis gave a wary nod.