The Blind Gods
Copyright© 2025 by Wau
Chapter 78: The Robinson
The four explorers advanced across the soft grass of Destination, helmets under their arms. It was psychological, but “fresh air” was still something. Like washing after a long period of filth.
Destination was green with grasses and short trees. In the streams, cyclopean six-legged amphibians, in the grass, curious cat-headed snakes that reared up to scrutinize the travelers from another world.
The capsule had fallen right there, and the crater of the impact, then the rut, had been reconquered by vegetation. Up close, it was almost invisible, and they relied on the Konrad 2 interface, connected to an orbital probe, to guide them. Pallas detected no sentient species. In the distance, a few unidentified roars froze the team in place. Andreï ordered that two sailors, armed with a blaster and a FAM, join them at the double.
At the end of the rut stood the remains of the exile capsule; almost nothing left: a heavy metal base that had crashed against a tree, which, over the decades, had wrapped it in its roots. Andreï ran his gloved hand over the piece of steel and showed something to Pallas. He opened communications:
- “Expedition One on Destination. We have found the exile capsule used by Garen Antor. Only the metal base remains. The removable parts were carefully taken away with a tool. Two possibilities: a sentient civilization intervened, or, more likely, Garen used these elements to build himself a shelter elsewhere.”
The two soldiers arrived, barely out of breath. Pallas recognized Margret, the ship’s wrestling champion, short-haired and flat-nosed, and Momoko, the finest trigger finger of theAlecto, in whose mind she had once glimpsed the dream of becoming a planetary guardian on one of those lost worlds beyond Ariel.
Andreï had climbed into the tree and was scanning the horizon with binoculars. He spotted a rocky outcrop and ordered the team to move there.
Apart from small knolls, the ground was flat. The wind, gentle, bent the grasses in a smooth, swaying motion. Small vibrations. Momoko shouldered the FAM and declared:
- “Two targets at four hundred meters. Big game. They’re coming.”
- “Sentient, Pallas?” asked Andreï.
- “Not at all. Sensitive. Animals. Excited by the hunt. Their main sense is vibration.”
- “I have a one-hundred-percent lock on the target, Captain, awaiting your order.”
- “Oh, we’re not going to kill poor beasts,” said Andreï, shaking his head. “How close are they?”
- “Two hundred meters,” said Margret, squinting. “Hell of a speed.”
- “Pallas, could you calm them?”
- “If they get within ten meters they’re dead,” affirmed Momoko.
- “Relax, Momoko. Pallas?”
Pallas concentrated. Andreï knew it was an almost painful effort for her, perhaps for an objective not worth it, but he felt it was important not to kill, in these first hours on the planet.
The beasts’ run slowed, became a heavy and sluggish walk, until they presented themselves, dazed and vaguely curious, before their would-be prey. They were the size of elephants and stocky. Two great legs capable of crushing anything, and a great walrus-like tail that modulated or sensed vibrations in the ground. The most intriguing thing was their color, which absorbed the visible light spectrum until their outlines blurred.
Geneva was taking photos, videos, even a sample, and Pallas drove them away. Andreï nodded to his psi officer. She didn’t look tired. What an exceptional asset.
They reached the rocky outcrop. A brick-colored peak, as tall as a three-story building, itself set into the beginnings of a mountain chain. Konrad pointed to the ground: steps had been cut into the rock, to the measure of a human stride. Margret wanted to go first, but Andreï took her place, smiling.
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