Chapter 4 - The Debris Field

Mk23 -IRJ Droplet - Class 7 - Carpe Victoria (Wrecked)

Sector - Unknown

Planet - Unknown

2nd May 2341 (BSST)

When day breaks I am still dozing lightly on my perch up in the cliffs. The light rays caress and warm me to full wakefulness before the cold ground down below even begins to feel their loving embrace. Before even the sun is visible on the horizon the light arcs round the curve of the planet in a cosmic race glinting off of the ocean like glitter.

I await the sunrise with baited breath and when the sun breaches the horizon, it opens like a flower, gifting its petals to the world. Once open the world responds with utter respect. The freshly formed dew glistens and dances in the wind in a superior ballet. The birds chirped along in unison providing a beautiful background tune.

Gazing towards the wispy, candy floss esc clouds illuminated in an ethereal glow that daintily paints the ocean with scarlet blooms. I feel serene and at peace with the world at least for a single perfect moment.

A planet seemingly untouched by civilisation, it is both overgrown and disordered whilst also being an untouchable, pre-eminent paradise of which I have no doubt. The entropic nature of the planet has its own beauty disguised in pretentious clothes and two-faced natures that misguide and disillusion you to the true danger the world presents.

At face value though is the difficulty of the climb. Up or down? Up ... or ... down? Hmmm. If I go down its going to be a harder climb as climbing down is always harder. Humans are not biomechanically as adapted to tension control compared to raw power. In addition, it's harder to see footholds and trust what you can't see. But it might be worth climbing down as I know what's down there and I might be able to work my way around the cliff face to find were the wreckage to the fighter is.

On the other hand, climbing up will be much easier. I'm nearly there already and I will have good vantage over my surroundings. A good vantage point will also make it potentially easier to locate the debris. But I don't know what's up there.

I sat up and climbed to my feet as gracefully as a cat. Or at least I thought so. In reality it probably wasn't quite like I imagined. But no one is here to tell me otherwise so that's how I'm going to describe it.

Once on my feet I grasp the thin tree in one hand and push forwards hard. It shakes but doesn't pry loose. Good. It can support my weight. I lean back out over the edge of the cliff, using one hand to hold my weight. My feet are locked onto the cliff edge. The actual edge tucked in the arched bridge of the foot. Looking up I can see only about fifteen metres to climb before it starts to flatten out into walking, or mountain hiking terrain. Down looks just as scary as it did yesterday in the fading light. But this time I have to go down.

I take a quick look to make sure the creature is gone. It is but remembering the sheer size and power it exuded makes my mind up fairly quickly. Up, up it is. Pulling back, I right myself onto the ledge and shuffle out along the ever-narrowing outcrop to the taper of the chimney I had climbed up last night.

Reaching across I brace myself against the rock opposite with my hands. Aware of how slippery the metal is especially because of the dew on the rock. I'm more careful that usual. It's not like it's a shiny metal, but it is more slippery than the human hand. And of course, I weigh more in this suit and with the increased gravity, so I had better be sure of where I place my hands and feet.

Once I climb out of the chimney I'm on a rocky slope that extends up another few metres. Picking my way up the slope I nearly fall as my feet land on a brittle rock. Under my weight it disintegrates as I crush it leaving a loose fine powder that slides as I push of on my right leg.

Standing on top of the mountain, well to me it's a mountain, it took monumental effort to climb it in the increased gravity that's for sure. I look out over the land. The beach borders an ocean that extends farther than I can see. But then again, I'm only up above the sea by about two hundred metres. The forest extends down from my position dropping down the cliff and marching steadily away from me where it borders the charcoal field and touches the beach.

The charcoal fields wrap around this hill that I am standing on and head north towards a monstrous shape that looms in the fog. I'm sure it's the mountain I had seen yesterday but this morning it is hotter than when I arrived, and the steam has clouded up the distance in a thick roiling fog that all but blinds my long-distance view. The shape of the burnt trees looming in the thick fog seem ominous and overwhelming. Intellectually I know what they are, but it doesn't really help. If I was on earth I think it would but since this is all alien to me who knows what could be hiding on this planet.

On the other side of the charcoal forest is a grass plain I think. It's not really very clear so I can only hazard a guess at what Is over there. The forest to the east is too vast for me to determine what is on the other side so that remains a mystery for me. As will the other side of the mountain as birth its sheer size and the thick fog obscure it from view.

Dragging my gaze back from the distance I look up at my HUD to locate where the debris field should be. Spinning around I look further north east to the thick forest. It should be around three hundred metres. I had travelled along the path which hadn't taken me too much closer to the location of the crash.

The thick canopy of leafy green blends together in a blur, like a painting the individualism of the trees hides in the masses. Like a pickpocket in a crowd what I'm looking for eludes me. With the aid of the computer projecting roughly where, I finally see evidence of the crash. A slight thinning in the trees where the craft must have cut some down. And the faintest mirage due to the increased heat from some burning wreckage presumably. Mirages form when tarmac, sand or presumably the burning wreckage are hotter than the air above it. This creates an updraft of hotter air that has a different temperature to the air surrounding it. When heated the air molecules are moving with more kinetic energy and therefore more velocity. This means the density of the air is different from its surroundings. The different densities mean that light refracts by different degrees when passing through that patch. This leads to the heat shimmer or the inferior mirage that I can see.

The shimmer highlights where my fighter went down. Computer must have force ejected me from it as we were falling. As I couldn't have been thrown through the trees that far.

So, with enthusiasm for the coming day I set out to go find the wreck. It was slow going pushing through the foliage, but every step was one step closer. It was surprising how happy I was, but I've always been happy on my own. Introverted some said. Loner said others. Personally, I felt it was that I had very little patience for idiots. Well that and the slight repression on negative emotions that was subject to the military upgrades for the recon class troops. A class I was a part of.

About half way through my journey computer chimed up giving me unwanted news.

"Ronja, I have discovered a leak in the water tanks, and we have been losing pressure for a few minutes now I have managed to fix it using approximately one percent of the stored metals. In addition, we did not have much water to begin with and now the supply is virtually empty. It is my recommendation that we go and find water to refill on as soon as possible. I estimate that you have another thirty minutes of top shape hydration before we run out and you are running on your own body's supplies."

Bad news that was for sure. I was so close now it felt like a cop out to retreat to find water. Besides there was a water purifier and rations in the fighter that should be around somewhere. Banking on the fact we would be able to find water I decided to press on.

"Acknowledged computer, request denied. We will press on and find what we need at the crash site."

"Confirmed" he replied in what I assumed to be a sullen tone, if computers could have tone to their voice. A sulking computer for company. What could be better.

As I near the crash site I can see evidence of it. Small trees are bent over along the approach path and the smell of burning fills the air. Mixing with the traditional woodland smell. The mossy green scent, the sticky sap smells sweet and spicy to me. It smells different for each person and to me it mixes well with the woodland background. Though the burning doesn't quite fit. I don't know why. I think sassily to myself.

A few more metres and the forest opens up slightly over a large ditch. Maybe three metres deep and five across the ditch has no trees on its banks and has loose dirt that looks like hundreds of mole hills covering the banks.

I slide down the bank converting to a run as I reach the bottom. I manage to stop before the opposite side. Glancing up and down the ditch I see it curve off in both directions. It seems unnatural that this would form. A sinkhole maybe but a long straight sided ditch with even curves.

Taking a run at the steep ditch sides the first step I take on the loose earth gives way and I face plant into the earth. The world goes dark as my helmet digs into the earth. I let my knees bend and I slide out of the human shaped depression in the bank. I look around in embarrassment as you do to make sure no one saw despite knowing I'm alone. It's an instinct honed by societal influence and it might as well be genetic instinct since its impossible to not do it.

After a few more tries and subsequent fails I relocate to a part where a tree is growing close enough I might be able to grab it. I jump as high as I can and crawl up to the tree.

Once out of the ditch I brush the dirt off of my armour and shake my head in frustration. Its about lunch time and I'm getting hungry. I can't wait to get to the wreckage and get into my food rations.

I carry on walking and about five minutes later I come to a clearing. I feel my stomach drop. In my mind's eye, I would enter into a clearing where the wreckage was intact enough for a recover. The grasses and underbrush would be burning, and bits of metal and bolts would be strewn around. The cargo would be battered but the crates would be just about holding together and their contents intact and working. I should have scavenged my rations, some weapons, and most importantly the water purifier and extractor would be working. However, that was not to be.

When I burst into the clearing and the forest peeled back like a plaster opening up to the air. Nice to be out in the open but it came with a sharp sting. A very sharp sting. A little fire was the only correct assumption I had had. There was nothing left. My ship had gone. Completely gone. The only evidence of its presence was the indentation in the ground and the burnt patch of grass.

I felt sick to the core. Wallowing it down took a while and I found a little bit of metal that I collected in a pile. Grabbing it in handfuls I stored it in my containers above my hips in my lower back. To my surprise whatever had cleaned me out had missed one piece of tech. A nanotech reinforced fighting blade. It had a curved blade in a sharp hook. Like the Karambits of old it had a ring that slotted onto my finger. A toughened handle that had finger grooves and a forefinger stopper to stop my hand slipping onto the blade.

The blade was five inches and curved inwards so that the spine was longer than the blade. Narrowing to a point parallel to the knuckles when held in a fist. Along the spine there was a little serration. Not enough for practical use but it could clip a very small whet stone to it. There was not one attached unfortunately.

As I span it around my finger getting it comfortable I heard the most awe inspiring awful screech. It was absolutely terrifying, and it sent me into a flat out run. Panicking and rushing I didn't look where I went I just ran with a primordial terror. Relying on instincts alone I fled. Perhaps my most graceful run I skipped over fallen logs, jumped potholes and relying on a little luck manged not to trip. I didn't even dare to glance behind me, but I felt the presence getting closer and closer. Breathing down my neck, its moist breath consuming me. My heart beat races, pulse pounding to a level of extreme pain. My muscles begin to spasm as I exhaust their supply of glucose. Fatigue begins to set in. I stumble once, twice and slow down. With each footfall a jarring pain shoots up through my foot, ankle leg and lower back making me seize up despite trying to ignore the pain. Regulating my breathing helps ease it and I begin to pick up speed.

But its too little to late a huge thump slams into my shoulders whipping my neck back as my chest is pushed forward. I fly forwards and bounce off a rock. Out of the corner of my eye I see a tall pale skinned creature. Blurred in my dazed vision. Another hit comes, and I fly through the air again bouncing along the floor and sliding down a bank I hadn't seen coming.

After the slide comes a softness that reminds me of bed and in my dazed, disoriented state my mind swirls around and around before another impact jars my head knocking me into darkness.