Kraken Orbital (6 page)

Chapter 4

Triassic World

I awake to a
grumbling, belching, ear splitting roar. My eyes spring open in
shock and I scramble undignified to my bare feet. The sun is barely
up behind us and a cold wind races through the unforgiving desert
in the early morning. Sand whips up from across the dunes and
blasts into my eyes unsympathetically. In the cold light of the
morning I can see further and more clearly than last
night.

I can see the
trees on the horizon sway, and I can even hear their branches and
trunks snap, but can’t make out the form of a bea
st. Something must be moving through the
tree-line.

I can only
assume that noise was from one of the resident dinosaurs. Kolt is
already up and is sat by the calm water with that bottle jammed
into his veins again. I can hear him breathe in time with the low,
gentle, lapping waves. I stretch my tight muscles to get rid of the
cramp
forming in the backs of my things
and at the base of my spine. I reach for that left over snake meat
and tear into it. Shame it’s gone cold but I can’t wait for the sun
to heat it back up again. It would just burn it to more of a crisp
anyway.

I eat fast
and it makes my stomach turn. I couldn’t care less though. I just
want to eat. I hope we even find another one it’s that nice.
But this is survival, different to any other
situation I’ve ever been in, and every day counts. So I doubt
realistically that we’ll find another.

The night was
cold like I thought it would be. I kept my
armor on right through the night though so I guess it could
have been worse. I looked at all of the stars again. I spent hours
laying on the cool sand, stubbornly awake, just staring at the
glimmering lights in the black sky above.

I remember
how I used to pick one in the distance.
Back when I was a kid. I remembered how I used to pick one
at random and dream about what might be there. What planets might
orbit it in a celestial dance. What creatures, or even men, used to
walk upon their surfaces and swim in their oceans. I imagined a
better world. I just wanted to spread my wings and break off the
chains that held me to one place. I just wanted to wriggle free of
the shackles that bound me to the one spot.

I used to use that feeling to remind myself
that there was always a way out. To remind myself that no matter
what, you just have to keep one eye on the door at all times. Even
when things seem ok. You never know when you might need that
desperate escape route. So that’s why I stole the rig and crashed
it into a sandy desert. I was buzzed with that thought all
night.

It was kind
of rock and roll, what I did. Never caring and just hitting the
open sky with a stolen ride. I felt elated and self satisfied.
I
had
been keeping an eye on the door the whole time. But that
wasn’t enough. Eventually, after staring at it for long enough and
hating your life for long enough, and coveting what might be on the
other side, you just have to open it. And step out into a bigger
world.

Right now I don’t even care if I die out
here. I don’t care if I get eaten alive by monsters that were
supposed to be long extinct. Because it will be my own damn fault.
And that sets me free.

Kolt sharply tugs the needle and tube away
from his arm. He stands un-phased by the sinewy noise it makes and
turns to me. I know I have a huge smile on my face. It’s just an
aftershock from the sudden and probably a little naïve energy burst
I have. I’m just pumped to get going. All those thoughts I had last
night about stretching out to distant stars and just seeing what
there was there. I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn’t just start
enjoying myself in the here and now.

I know it’s dangerous. I know all we are
doing is going off in search of rescue but it’s enough. Even though
I’ll probably just end up going back home to be brought up on
charges. And then likely shot in jail. At least the food will be
better there.

‘
Are you
prepared?’ Kolt asks me between
labored
breaths. I have already got my red, battle brushed, armor on since
I slept in it. I pull my boots on quickly and drink the last of the
water. We will have to find more once we reach the forest on the
other side of the expanse of water. Kolt hasn’t picked the backpack
up and I frankly see no need in dragging it along. I have equipment
slots in my utility belt and in the pockets of my basic armor. I
don’t want the bag to weigh me down on the swim. He just takes the
clear bottles that used to have water in and pins them to his
equipment belt underneath the muddy colored overalls.

‘
Let’s do
this?’ I almost shout. The trees upon the horizon have settled and
I hear no more monstrous growls. I am a little scared. My
ego has shrunk that to a niggling little voice
though and my eagerness is masking it, even from myself. I clap my
hands together and flail my arms around to get the blood back to my
fingers. I can feel my heart rate increase as I swing my limbs
around and jog on the spot. Kolt does nothing.

He enters the
water like a
specter and simply walks
until he can stand no longer. He then spreads out his arms and
begins to wade through the waves. The air still holds a cold sting
but I would rather we set off now that wait for the sun to reach
it’s full strength. That would sap our strength and the sun stroke
would probably drown us in a haze of confusion. I ride my energy
boost and throw myself into the water and splash like an excitable
child to catch up with Kolt. I slow my pace for his sake. But
saving my energy is probably the best option anyway.

I start to
wave my arms though the sickly and salty water. The waves get
stronger the further out we swim. I fight against the weight of
my
armor to keep my mouth above water
level. The salty taste makes me physically sick but I can hold it
together. The water tastes dangerously sweet but I still have to
fight that powerful urge to just take a long, briefly satisfying,
gulp. The waves toss us around like rag dolls in a bathtub but it’s
kind of fun. I’m a confident swimmer, I even enjoy it. Even though
I haven’t done it for a very long time.

Kolt is still keeping his same pace, his same
rhythm, and remains irritatingly calm throughout. I think we might
be making some progress until I turn around and see the land we
left is far closer to us than the land we left behind. I decide to
pass the time by quizzing Kolt on his odd theories. Maybe I can
even help him regain a few memories.

‘Why don’t you think you need to be rescued?’
I shout as another wave bounces me up with the force of the
hydraulic motion.

‘From what do I require rescue?’ He shouts
back. I can barely make it out through his breathing apparatus.
Maybe he is having trouble keeping water out of it. I secretly hope
we find a way to get that thing off for him. It would be nice to
see his face I guess. I’m finding it hard enough to read him
without being able to pick up on his subtle facial expressions.

‘
Just to get
away from this planet I guess. No family back home? Will they be
worried that you’re lost?
’ I shout again.
The conversation is fragmented. I’m starting to run out of steam
and I’m out of breath. I’m also battling the waves with fierce
swings of my arms.

‘I was lost at home.’ He yells back in that
irritating cryptic way of his.

‘What?’ I wished I could have hollered
something more intelligent back but nothing comes to my tired
mind.

‘What are
your thoughts on
being lost?’ I don’t
even have the energy to reply. I can see the shore of the other
mass of land come slowly into view. Another few more powerful
minutes of aggressive swimming and we can make it.

I pull myself
by my elbows away from the foaming water and onto the warm beach of
the next isla
nd. The sand here is
grainier and scrapes audibly over my plastic coated armor. I cough
uncontrollably and churn up a few mouths of salty water. I can’t
move. I hadn’t even noticed how hard that swim had been on my arms.
I thought I was stronger than that. Maybe my arms were just too
used to chiseling at stone.

Kolt, I see over my shoulder as I lie face
down in the gravel like sand, walks out of the water on two feet.
The ocean spills over his brown apron and over his heaving
shoulders. He isn’t even out of breath.

‘Even though
I called it home, and enjoyed the comfort of having one, my heart
felt unsettled. My soul was lost to me. I ask you, Parker, how can
a man find his soul without first becoming irreconcilably
lost
himself?’ He sends shivers down my spine.

‘
I do not
require rescue because I no longer feel
lost
. Even though
I am
lost.
If I am “rescued” I return to a home that I no longer crave.
Somewhere I do not belong.’ He passes me by and doesn’t help me to
my feet as I was oddly expecting him to. He peers into the tree
line that sweeps the beach for as far as the eye stretches in both
directions.

The greenery is thick and I can’t see a lot
through the choking veil of vegetation.

‘Where next?’ I ask him enthusiastically,
still riding the emotional energy I seem to have stumbled
across.

‘When I
finally made it down the mountain, where my ship had crashed, I
found a system of caves that led me into the forest we see before
us. I hope that I can find my way back.’ I shrug. I could argue
with him and complain that we might never find it but why bother?
He has seen me right, even put me to shame, in terms of my physical
ability so far on this trek. I trust him. I know I didn’t before. I
know that I was scared of him and I found him aggressive. But he
has won me over I guess.

He slipped past the first palm branch and
disappeared into the thick tropical shrubbery. I followed with a
smile and I’m looking forward to the change in terrain and
hopefully temperature too.

The jungle is
a dense and claustrophobic place to be in. The thick branches of
the various plants and trees form thick symbiotic knots around one
another. I have to remain constantly aware of what is around me and
what is under my feet. Sometimes I can’t even see the muddy earth
below. I have to climb through overgrown branches and coiled up
vegetation just to make any ground. Progress is painfully slow and
I’m starting to sweat already. I don’t dare take my
armor off though. I know what is in the jungle,
hiding, and to add to it I keep snagging my shoulders and chest on
knotted branches and twisted trees that I don’t even
see.

I’m sure the
jungle is beautiful to look at it but all I can see is my own feet
and the bugs that crawl over them endlessly. The vibrant
green
colors, as I see them briefly pass
over my eyes as the next large leaf slaps me around my cheek, are a
good change from the bland sand and billowing dunes of the desert
we just crossed. I was lucky, I suppose, to crash where I did. Had
it been deeper in the desert, that I can only assume spreads over
miles and miles, then getting out of it would have probably killed
me dead.

The physical exertion of pulling my weight
over branches and squeezing through tight winding trees saps the
power from my already tired muscles. Even Kolt has been slowed
down. He moves through the thick vegetation with ease and does so
with artistic precision. He doesn’t trip like I am and he doesn’t
get his arms snagged on tree trunks like I am. But moving that
eight foot muscular frame around takes time. I can still hear his
breathing apparatus but, even though its irritating and constant,
it comforts me a little.

It has become like a constant companion to
the disorientating silence. Like him, I suppose. I’m determined not
to fall behind today though. I’m still annoyed with myself that I
had to stop yesterday and drink when Kolt could have just powered
on. I needed food like my stomach was going to implode if I didn’t
eat. But Kolt can’t even eat at all. I have no idea how he keeps
going. But I’m seriously envious of him for it.

We keep on going like that for a long time.
Just pulling our way through the dense jungle without saying
anything to one another. We sure could use a knife or sword to tear
through the thick, enormous leaves and hack our way through the
smaller, younger trees. But we don’t. So no point moaning.

At first I
thought it was just my beating heart heaving through my aching
chest. I thought it was just the physical demands of powering
through the horrible jungle and my muscles were just shaking. I
didn’t even hear it at all. I was too focused on his breathing. I
was entranced by it and I was u
sing it to
time my day and keep my sleep deprived mind alert.

But as we
drew closer I could feel the intense vibration thunder through the
cavity of my chest. I could hear the monolithic rhythmic stomping
of a large, two legged, beast of a dinosaur. I froze to the spot
but Kolt kept going. Suddenly my breathing became deep and
labored and my stomach began churning. It felt
like it was tipping over and over again in my belly.

I shook my head hard, tried to look around
and met nothing but more trees and more hanging vines. I had no
idea where the monster was.

‘Follow me.’ Kolt said as gently as he could
and so that I could still hear him through the muffling affect of
his mask. He knelt down in the mud by a long vine that stretched up
a jagged, but soaking wet, exposed rock face. I hadn’t even seen
the stones through the trees.