Sunday 24 February 2008

Third random story in progress...

She never would have thought they'd come so far inland, to such a small place as Elba. She knew the bots sometimes used infrared to find the humans. She had no protection; nowhere to run. The water level in the irrigation ditch was low. The water was run-off from the snow farther up the mountain, and it would have been cold enough to disguise her from the heat-seekers, but there hadn't been enough snow in years; it wouldn't cover her. She couldn't breathe underwater anyway...it would have been a foolish plan.

Then Jessie remembered the old potato cellar at the abandoned house across the street. With vaulted brick ceiling, covered in earth, it may be enough to hide the warmth of a human body. At least buy her some time. If she could get through this particular raid, the bots would leave again, not patrolling this area again for several hours. Staying low to the ground, she ran across the dirt road, climbed through the ancient, rusty barbed wire, avoiding getting caught on the sharp barbs. There weren't any trees just on the other side, but the grass was long and yellow; she could crawl through it to the potato cellar and hopefully not be spotted.

She crept forward to the old hand pump in the yard, all the while staying very low in the long June grass just on the verge of turning red despite the fact that July was nearly over. It had been a cold spring, too cold, and all the plants were behind their usual schedule. Fortunately, there had been a great deal of snow falling further up the mountains and the spring run-off from Mount Harrison had been cool and plentiful. Jessie pumped the handle vigorously a few times and water began to splutter out, spitting and gushing a rust-colored liquid first, and then gradually evening out to a crystal clear, steady flow. Thrusting her face directly into the water, she took a huge gulp, coughed a bit, surprised at the coldness, and drank deeply again.

A soft moaning sound behind her made her stiffen in fear...

-----Much later with something needed in the middle-----

Jessie came through the door and in the dim light, she saw a familiar face; handsome, blonde and tall, but she could not quite place him. Then the others closed in behind her, grasping and dragging her down so her back was on the floor. The handsome man appeared above her and knelt down.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I-I...My name is..." She couldn't quite get her words out. Thoughts were coming too fast. Why did this man look so familiar? Who were all these people? How could all this underground space be here for so long with no one knowing about it?

One of the others held Jessie's head and pried her left eye open, squirting in a few drops of some stinging liquid. Jessie struggled but could not move her head from the clamp-like hands. After a moment she felt calmer and decided the liquid must have been some kind of truth-relaxant. The man questioned her again, more gently this time.

"Who are you?"

"Jessica McFarlane. I used to live across the street. You're all here under my potato cellar." The drug was beginning to make her babble.

"Why are you here?"

"I was trying to stay away from the bots. I thought the potato cellar would hide me from their heat-seekers. Then I found the portal down here in the corner. How is this even possible?" Jessie began to cry, and felt stupid. The drug, the stress, the unlikelihood of it all had been weighing her down, and now she just couldn't stop herself.

The handsome man nodded curtly to the others and they let her go. He helped her sit up and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jessie. I had to be sure it was really you. Please forgive me." And then leaning in closer, he kissed the corner of her mouth.

Saturday 23 February 2008

'Nother random story in progress...

Constance stepped out of the temp-controlled air of the burping, steaming hypertrain onto the platform and the baking air wrapped itself around her head like cotton wool. She gasped at the sudden heat and the taste of hot dust filled her mouth and dried her lungs. Putting a hand up to shade her eyes, she peered at the world around her. The desert even looked hot. But a dry heat, which many claimed was more bearable, though Constance wasn't sure about that as she felt all her energy sapped away just standing here. The sun was low in the sky, now, however, and the temperature was gradually cooling for the evening, but the sand still sent up ripples of heat distorting the two pale moons in the sky.

She felt the first beads of sweat roll down the small of her back and fidgeted with her blouse. Sighing, she took her suitcase from the porter and proceeded through the station to the horse-drawn cabs that waited on the other side. She wasn't looking forward to this.

Just as expected, she was greeted by a short, local man in a thick, woolen sweater holding a sign with her name.

"No sweat on his brow," she thought, as she sighed again and walked up to the carriage.

"Ms. Heart?" the small man asked politely with a warm smile.

"Yes. Pleased to meet you." She smiled dutifully but wearily.

"My name is Ahmad and I'll be your escort. Let me get that for you." He gestured to her bag and Constance was too tired to argue. He opened the door for her to step in, before hefting the large suitcase onto the carriage roof.

Inside the carriage, Constance plopped down into the seat a bit less graciously than she would have liked, but smiled in relief as the cool air massaged the back of her neck and her forehead. She began to perk up again and reminded herself of the planet's greater gravity and that she needed to be more cautious. She opened her purse and retrieved her datapad. Might as well read up a bit on the way to the dig.

* * *

The city on Hurghada Prime had grown up around a large, natural oasis, nomadic tents gradually being replaced by mudbrick huts, and then two or three-storied adobe houses made from the clay found deep beneath the sand. The first builders had always been cautious to replant vegetation even as they used it, and in so doing, the oasis had actually grown.

When the United Delegation had first arrived from Earth, the small city was already well-established, though hopelessly primitive according to the new arrivals. But, they found a few reasons to stay; the curative effects of the lothan blossom, the beautiful women, and the excellent gin that could be made from the seedpods of the jinzo palm that spread its roots right out into the waters of the oasis.

After some exploration, the colonizers also found that the distant moon, Malo, was rich with a strange mineral that was malleable and easily mined, but hardened incredibly when mixed with the clay of the planet. With this discovery, skyscrapers sprang up, rails were laid for the steam trains, and channels were dug to bring the coastal waters in.

The Delegation was less concerned about preserving nature, and more adept at manipulating it. And not without a great deal of success. The meteorologists constantly monitored the atmosphere, helping the scientists to make use of every bit of information, such as finding distant clouds so they could be seeded in order to collect the rainfall for use in the city.

The extra water required huge cisterns which were placed some distance from the city, and dug deep into the clay, which both helped to keep the water cooler and kept the surface landscape from being scarred by eyesores. Once there was a group of five or more cisterns together, a new location around the perimeter of the city was chosen. It was during the excavation of a new cistern location that the ruins were discovered. And the bodies within those ruins.

* * *

Friday 22 February 2008

Random story in progress

The sleeves of her shirt got all wet as she pushed the plastic cage with the cat down into the bathtub. The shrill cries from the animal ceased as the water drowned all sounds.

She saw the horrified look on Mitchell's face as he realized what she was doing, and he made a move to stop her but something made him decide not to. Maybe it was easier for him, not having to make the decision. Easier just to leave the hard choices to someone else.
Tears ran down her cheeks and she bit hard on her lip to keep from making any sobbing noises. They waited.

The footsteps could once again be heard, moving slowly, carefully away. Time dragged while they waited for the footsteps to completely disappear. Jenna's hands shook violently as she, inch by inch, lifted the cage out of the water, trying her hardest not to cause the water to make a sound as it drained from the cage.

Mitchell finally moved in and looked into the cage.