Freedom's Landing Read online

  “What were you back on good ol’ Terra?” Kris asked, to while the time.

  “Ahha, computer technician. So, of course, they had me digging, shoveling, and sweeping on Barevi. At least they weren’t prejudiced. Anyone big got that duty.” He made a muscle in his arm and pulled the coverall tight across it so she could admire the result. “Actually, it beats a sedentary life in front of a screen. I’ve never been this fit.” And he cast a critical eye on Patti’s frail body. “You’re sure…” he began for the third time since lunch.

  “I’m sure.”

  Patti Sue had either fallen asleep or retreated into a comatose state. The only thing that reassured Kris was that her skin was cool, not hot with fever. She soldiered on. However, she told herself that next time buddies were assigned, she was going to choose.

  The afternoon became one long struggle to keep upright and put one foot in front of the other. They had to make three climbs up rock faces…Kris did hope that Mitford had had accurate reports from his advance scouts, because she sure didn’t want to come back down the last one. They’d had to rig a blanket sling to get the limp Patti Sue up it. Kris ended up with scraped shins and lost some fingertip skin. The items that hadn’t been in the Catteni survival crates were legion. Decent gloves, pitons, rope, pickaxes, backpacks, a bar of chocolate were among those she dreamed of. Needles and thread! Band-Aids.

  There were three falls, one broken leg. The Deskis, for all their fragile looks, had almost glided up the rock face. That could be a useful skill, she thought, amazed that she could think of anything other than being able to continue walking.

  When her courage was beginning to peter out into utter despair, the word was passed back that their destination had been reached by the first elements.

  They’d had one? That amazed and heartened her.

  * * *

  WHEN SHE GOT THERE, SHE DIDN’T KNOW IT. ONE, she had stumbled and had to lean against the cliffside to steady herself. She’d had a terrifying, if brief, look at the drop she’d nearly plummeted down. Two, she was too exhausted even to care that she would now be able to stop walking.

  “I’ll take her,” a male voice said and the burden of Patti was lifted from her back.

  Someone put a hand on her arm and led her from the cliff, pushing her head down so she wouldn’t crack it on a low entryway. The darkness a few meters inside was suddenly alleviated by—of all things—fires. They didn’t smell like fires should but the rosy glow looked like the real thing. She later found out that Zainal had experimented with various types of wood, for lack of a proper description of the material he gathered from the vegetation, until he found a combustible substance. He found other things, which included dried dung, to augment what “wood” could be gathered as they marched. The dung smelled but it gave off heat and light, which were essential.

  Someone took her cup—she protested, but before she could get violent about the matter, the cup was returned to her, full of water.

  “Keep moving,” she was told and a hand gently guided her in the direction she was supposed to go…a narrow path through outstretched legs and boots. She went left, then right, then left again as guided and had her head pushed down to enter a smaller cave. There was a small fire, one that didn’t smell too badly, in a circle of glinting stones in the center. Smoke went straight up and she tilted her head, nearly falling over backward since her balance was as tired as the rest of her senses, and couldn’t see the ceiling.

  “Over here,” and she was guided to one side of the fire where there weren’t any legs or boots. “Sit.” A gentle hand pressed down on her shoulder and, quite willing to obey, she sat.

  When she felt someone fumbling with her blanket, she tried to push the hands away.

  “Sleep in blanket.”

  The odd phrasing caught her attention and she blinked to focus on the face in front of her. Zainal it was who was untying her blanket. No one else was that big. That was all right then. She owed him. Or did he owe her?

  “Lie down,” he said, an order that she was only too happy to obey.

  She worked her way down to a recumbent position and felt the blanket tucked around her. What odd behavior for a Cat…no, she must not shorten the name. Catteni. Maybe “Teni” would be less egregious than “Cat”?

  That was the last thing she remembered for a very long time.

  * * *

  MITFORD WOKE SUDDENLY, HIS WELL-DEVELOPED internal clock rousing him after his customary six hours’ sleep. It was dark as the inside of a pocket and it took him a moment to establish where he was. He rose cautiously to one elbow, identifying the sleeping forms around him: Taglione, Murphy, Dowdall, and yes, the dark mass of the big-shouldered Catteni.

  Fit as Mitford tried to keep himself, apart from that enforced sleep on the prison ship, he felt some twinges of yesterday’s exertions. Well, today would be another bitch and he’d better start it, what with all he had to do.

  He berated himself once again for setting himself up in command of this chickenshit outfit, but who the hell else in this misassorted herd of humanity, and aliens, would have organized anything? It had made his blood boil to see them quibbling over how many knives they should get, and who’d have the blanket concession. Just chance that he’d known a couple of the looters from being in the same barracks with them on Barevi so he’d been able to inveigle their support with a hint and bit of verbal persuasion. No need for anyone to get greedy over the goodies. There looked to be more than enough to go round. He couldn’t stand greed and he hated bullying. Some might not believe that, but it was the truth. So he’d waded in and got the supply situation organized to his satisfaction and doled out the hardware in an orderly fashion. He should have known one thing would lead to another. But no one had contested his authority. Or them that had, had taken themselves off.

  And hell’s bells, after twenty-seven years in the Marines, he knew how to get a motley crew to act as a unit. He trained up enough raw recruits into good fighting men. Even women. Then he had a couple of advantages, too. For starters, everyone here had been taking orders they couldn’t buck so he’d just continue the practice, gradually easing them back into a more democratic government when he had everything suitably organized and independence was feasible. Right now, they’d better stick together, and keep the useful aliens handy. He was glad to be rid of the Turs, sullen argumentative bastards, and the Ilginish had always been difficult to deal with in the barracks at Barevi. They’d taken themselves off, most of them, and that was fine by him. Humans he could handle any day of the week.

  So they were in a defensible position, even if he still didn’t know what he might have to defend against. They had a good source of underground water in that cave lake his scouts had found. The Cat—Mitford reproved himself—how he treated Zainal, the Catteni, would go a long way to establishing how most of the others would regard the alien. And, if he wanted to make contact with the Catteni at a later date, he’d need someone in his ballpark to hit the homers. Right now the only one available was Zainal. At any rate, Zainal had found time to hunt as he scouted ahead with Tag and Murph and had clubbed some local fauna. He proved it was edible by eating a hunk of it raw. Mitford preferred his meat cooked but, to him, the gob which he had chewed and swallowed had tasted just like raw meat usually did. The critters just squatted on the rocks in droves or herds, didn’t move when humans approached—which suggested to Mitford that they hadn’t seen any humans to know to fear them—so they were dead easy to bring down.

  So there was one source of protein to augment the ration bars. Water, shelter, food. Not bad going for two days on a new world. Mitford was optimistic, even though he rarely allowed himself that option.

  He’d had a chance to talk to nearly a hundred or so men and women yesterday on the march and was much encouraged by the fact that quite a few had specialties that would be damned useful. Automatically, his hands went to pockets where he usually kept pencil and pad. Once again he cursed under his breath. A cup, a blanket, a knife,
and a hatchet were not much to work with. He’d had less when set loose on a survival course but he was accustomed to privations. This lot weren’t. He missed paper and pencil. He was a visual man and committed facts to memory when he could first write them down. Gerry Capstan had been a surveyor in the Colorado Park Service: he was sure they could find something to write with and he’d already seen slate along the rocky way. Helluva way to write orders of the day, Mitford thought, but what the hell? The old granary foreman in Lubbock still used chalk and a slate as a notice board for his drivers.

  Murphy had been a machinist, knew welding, and he’d assured Mitford that all he needed was a decent hot fire to reshape some of those extra knives into a bevy of useful tools.

  A woman near Murphy in the line of march perked up a bit when she heard the two men talking.

  “I’m a potter…Sandy Areson. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking,” and she grinned at the dubious expression on Mitford’s face, “arty-farty stuff you’d call what I used to produce. But I know how to make up pitchers, mugs, plates, and useful things. That is, if this planet has produced clay.”

  “We’ll keep that in mind,” Mitford said, knowing that something as simple as pitchers and plates could be a morale booster.

  Now, in the cool predawn, Mitford began to plan the day’s activities. A good hot meal in everyone’s belly would make them optimistic, too. So hunting was the first order of the day. A detailed search of the immediate area and the rest of the cave system was next. And torches to light the corridors that had already been explored.

  That herbal guy could see what he could find edible in the vegetable line. There might even be berries.

  There were two miners and they could go look for ore deposits.

  He’d send out patrols, keep everyone busy, and Arnie could do latrines. That made him smile. And anyone who complained about anything would join Arnie in that duty. With so many people, proper hygiene was of prime necessity.

  One of the few pluses was that they were all healthy: the ones who weren’t had been left on the field.

  He set about waking up men he had tagged the day before as those with some hunting experience back on Earth. He’d have them look out for any wood that could be made into bows, arrows, and spears. And slingshots. Mitford grinned as he pulled on his boots. He’d been a crack shot as a kid: could stun a jackrabbit at forty yards.

  And what was the name of that paramedic? Ah, Matt Dargle. Damn, he’d be glad to have writing materials.

  Mitford shook Taglione, Murphy, and Zainal awake and started handing out the orders of the day.

  * * *

  IT WAS THE STINK THAT WOKE HER. SHE STARTED coughing and couldn’t stop. She wasn’t the only one coughing, either. Everyone around her was. Then a whiff of cool, clean air wafted across her face and she tried to go back to sleep again. It was much too soon to wake up. It was still dark outside.

  Outside of where? That question did it: she pushed herself to a sitting position to find out “where” she was.

  Inside a cave. The fire in the center was down to embers although someone was trying to revive it by putting lumps—smell-producing lumps—on it.

  “I think I’d prefer the dark to the smell,” she murmured, realizing that folks were still sleeping around her. In fact, she recognized Patti Sue’s frail body next to her. Kris was chagrined. She hadn’t even made sure she still had her trek buddy when she’d gone to sleep. Zainal? Zainal. Hmmm. She looked around but she couldn’t find his body among those in here with her. She considered going back to sleep and then realized that first she’d better find the latrine.

  “Where’s the latrine?” she asked the figure feeding the fire.

  “From here?” The man paused briefly. “Hmmm. Go left, take the third right-hand opening.”

  “Can I see where I’m going?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Although torches had been spaced out along the walls, she found the right cave as much by a certain smell as by following the directions. She was amazed at what had been accomplished. Or, how long had she slept? A toothbrush! When she thought of those handy little pouches handed out by airlines if you went Business Class, she wished she’d had one to hand: toothbrush, comb, and nail file, not to mention toothpaste, breath neutralizer, and facecloth would be very comforting right now. And something to eat. She passed by “her” cave on her return because she smelled something scrumptious—well, by comparison with what she’d lately had to eat.

  She followed her nose, passing other side passages and peering into caves, filled with sleeping bodies. She took a wrong turning and ended up in a cul-de-sac which smelled not at all appetizing, but nasty, old-moldy, dead.

  Her nose led her to the source, and the largest of the caves. It was a-bustle with activity, men, women, and aliens—Kris was glad to see the resurgence of whimsy in herself—coming and going. Though what they were going to and coming from she wasn’t sure until she saw a group of men, each triumphantly brandishing their spoils. They’d been hunting and, although the creatures resembled oversized rats without tails, if they were what was being grilled over the fires, she’d forget the resemblance.

  She went over to the nearest griller and paused by the rock on which two cooked fragments had been laid.

  “How do I get in line?” she asked the dark-skinned cook.

  “I wouldn’t stand on no ceremony was I you,” he said with a grin. “Don’t mind what they look like: they taste good and that Cat said they wouldn’t kill us.”

  “He did,” and Kris tried to act casual as she reached for the meat? Food? It wasn’t too hot to handle and she brought it to her lips, inconspicuously licking the part nearest her to get a taste. The taste confirmed the notion that her stomach needed this no matter what else happened. She took a good bite, inhaling air to cool the morsel, hot against her teeth. But she chewed it good—she had to; the meat was tough. It chewed good and tasted great and fell into a grateful stomach.

  “Only one a customer,” the dark man said, carefully inserting his knife point to check the state of the portions on the spit.

  “Understandable. I’ve got ration bars to fill in the spaces, but this hot…” She paused, not only to take another bite to follow the first one, but also to give what she ate a proper designation.

  “We’re calling it meat,” he said, grinning.

  “Well, whatever it’s called, it hits the spot. Thanks…” And she left her voice on an upnote for him to supply his name.

  “Bart,” he said. “You’re Kris.”

  “How’d you know that?”

  “’Cos you carried that girl fer two days and you know the Cat.”

  “Oh!” Such glory was unexpected. She looked around, then, rather embarrassed. She saw neither Zainal nor Mitford. “Where’s the Sarge and the Cat?”

  “Out. Hunting, I think, and seeing if there’re more caves.” He wrinkled his nose. “This place isn’t really big enough for us all. Good idea to spread out anyhow, iffen you asked me. Only nobody did.” He spoke amiably.

  “Better if we had running water.”

  “Oh, we do, but the way down to it’s no picnic.”

  “Oh?”

  “Underground lake and river. Probably feeding some of the streams we passed.”

  Kris licked the thick bone that had been covered with meat.

  “Crack it open. Marrow makes good eating, too.”

  Kris scrutinized the bone with reluctance to take his advice.

  “Marrow’s got a lot of good in it, Kris,” Bart said solemnly. “Crunch down quick to break it open and then suck.”

  Rather than appear squeamish, she did so and the marrow was not at all unpleasant. She made sure she had cleaned both halves and then looked around her.

  “In the fire,” Bart said. “We burn everything we can find.”

  “So I’d…smelled,” she said with a grin.

  “Yeah, do get kinda rank, don’t it.”

  Depositing the bones on the fire and hearing the
m snap as the flame caught, she also got a whiff of the “burned bone” smell. She licked her fingers so she’d remember better the way the meat had tasted. Then she untied her cup from its place on her belt. “Where’s drinking water?”

  “Over there,” and Bart nodded his head toward the side, where she could recognize the symmetry of the water crates, stored against the cave wall.

  She had no sooner taken a drink than a woman, with her dark hair roughly chopped to a short length, tapped her on the arm. “You wouldn’t know how to skin and clean a dead animal, would you?”

  “Yup,” she said with considerably more willingness than she actually had for the task. But she’d skinned squirrels and rabbits on her practical for the survival qualification and now was a much better time to display her abilities.

  “I’m Sandy and I got put in charge without knowing doodly squat. I used to be”—and she gave a droll grin—“a potter.”

  “I’m Kris…”

  “Yeah, I know,” and the woman grinned at her. “You know the Cat and you carried your buddy for two days.”

  Did everyone know those two facts about her? Kris wondered as she followed Sandy outside the cave. She hadn’t noticed that the hunters had brought their catch outside again. Half a dozen people were busy skinning and gutting, using large stones as worktops. Two men and two women appeared to be dissecting entrails at another and arguing about anatomy.

  “Guts are guts and I don’t see why we can’t use these,” said the woman, holding up a long, stringy, gray rope. “Ought to be as tough as any cat’s.”

  “That’s what Indians used to use to make bowstrings, wasn’t it?”

  “Think so. They sure didn’t have nylon.”

  Kris was not squeamish but she didn’t want to lose her breakfast. It had tasted so good going down, but coming up? She’d rather not find out.