Gliese Chronicles - Sakcore Explored Ch. 03

Gliese Chronicles: Exploration of Sakcore Ch. 3

By Rachel Anne Wallace

They walked into the ship and the first order of business was to treat the sting Hianne had suffered. She had attempted to grasp the small dragon in her hand and the air movement had sent it onto her arm where it had stung her. They were amazed they were so light and wondered why they seemed to simply float in the air. Perhaps their scans and inspection under a scope would reveal details they hadn't discovered yet. Cela was thinking this was an example of the groups' diversification over time into different habitats with different species selecting different sized prey and niches.

Hianne looked at her with a frown, "It looked so pretty and harmless, guess I should have remembered sharp bright patterns and colors are often a warning to stay away."

Cela looked at her sympathetically, "When I found this dead one I didn't think of it myself, then I saw one stun a smaller Eusectoid on the ground and it gave me a hint as to what it might be."

They moved over to the dissecting microscope and placed the dead dragon under it in a shallow plastic dish, with its venter upward. As she moved it on the stage of the scope details became apparent they hadn't seen in the video or still pictures taken of the larger dragons they had first encountered. The animal actually had another eye, making for a total of three, located on the midline of the body towards the posterior of the body. This eye, combined with the eyes widely spaced at the front of the animal, provided a means of triangulation and perhaps of determining height above the substrate. After shooting the large dragon it had been so large they hadn't been able to see the underside as it lay on the ground so this smaller specimen was showing them details previously unseen.

The proboscis was located between two appendages apparently used to grasp prey, she assumed after it was rendered harmless after having been stung. There was another set of small appendages at the very end of the body she assumed functioned during reproduction. If dragons were sexually dimorphic, that is male and female, these appendages may be different in structure and size.

"Let's get a scan so we can see its internal anatomy," Kira suggested.

They moved to the smaller MRI machine and she was using a metal probe to position the dragon. She hadn't thought about static electricity, there didn't seem to be a good reason to expect there would be a problem as they hadn't turned the machine on yet, otherwise, I would have used a plastic probe. She had barely touched the surface of the wing when there was a squeaky popping sound and flash of light. Kira and Hianne both jumped back.

"What the hell just happened?" Kira asked.

"I don't know," as she leaned down to get a closer look.

When she did, she discovered that the wing she had touched had gone flat, it was deflated, with a small dark spot. The other wing remained fully inflated.

"This is strange, it looks as if we had a static electrical discharge that ignited whatever gas is in the wing." As she looked at Hianne.

"Kind of like aquatic animals that have an inflated bag or sail that allows them to float and move with the wind," Kira offered.

"Okay, that sounds good, but why would the gas burn?"

Hianne grew a smile. These animals seem to float in the air, what if the wings are filled with a flammable gas? That would explain what we observe as they fly, as they seem to kite on the air currents."

I looked at her, "Hydrogen! I'll bet it's hydrogen inside."

"Of course! It's just like making hydrogen in a test tube, add a source of energy, expose it to air, and you get a pop." Kira said excitedly.

She set about preparing the MRI, picked up a plastic probe, and took precautions to dissipate static electricity in the work area. In a way, having one wing deflated and one inflated while they did a scan would reveal more information. Strange things happen in science in terms of making discoveries; accident or mistakes can sometimes be a good thing.

She set the MRI into scanning mode and walked away as it did its work. They decided to go to the hangar bay to see if Robb and Jason had prepared the ACV for their first trip onto the inland sea. Kira in particular was more than ready to see what lie on and below the surface. This first foray would concentrate on making observations of surface conditions and in obtaining bathymetric readings to compare with the sensor readings taken from orbit. They were also going to place some underwater cameras to get a sense of what life might be present. This was really Kira's time more than the rest of them and she felt it was long overdue. She had sampled the shallow pools of water at the inland sites they had visited, but this would be the first deep water she would explore.

Jason saw them as they walked down into the hangar bay, "I suppose you're anxious to get going?"

"You better hurry, Kira is about ready to walk down and jump in with no clothes on," Hianne joked.

"Not a good idea, once those native life forms see a naked alien they're going to flee," Jason dead-panned.

"Only if they see you naked first. If they see me they'll come swimming as fast as they can." We all laughed as Kira made a face at him.

"Okay, Robb will stay here to button up the ship so small critters don't get inside. He'll monitor our progress as I placed another transmitter onboard just in case we get into trouble. I have life vests for each of you to put on before we reach the water."

"Who made you captain?" she asked in a mocking tone.

Jason looked at her with a smile. "No one, that's why you're going to drive."

"I'm what! I don't know how to drive this," she exclaimed.

She looked at Kira and Hianne. They both had their hands over their mouths trying to hide their smirks. No help there, "Jason, I was just kidding, really."

"I know you were, but you really should learn how to operate this as we'll be using it quite a bit at this location. I'll sit next to you and help you at first. Come on, it won't take you long to learn, I have faith in you."

She cursed herself silently—she should have kept her mouth shut. Hianne and Kira still had broad smiles. They were enjoying this far too much. Jason must have thought so too. "Hianne, you can drive on the way back, then tomorrow Kira can take us out. No good reason that all of you shouldn't be proficient operating this vehicle."

The electric fans soon lifted the ACV above the ground and Jason took the controls as they picked their way through the scattered vegetation and were soon cruising above the water throwing spray behind them. The water was calm as there was no breeze. This surprised Cela as she expected there to be a steady breeze over the open water. She looked up and noticed the sky was a clear blue color with Tricore and our star clearly visible. It was a beautiful day—peaceful she thought.

Jason conducted a communications check with Robb to make sure their signal was being received, something she would not have thought of doing. It was this kind of attention to detail that she appreciated in him. Minutes later Jason guided her in the use of the control stick that operated the ACV along with the foot pedals used change direction. She gained confidence quickly as it really was fairly simple to operate. A thumb wheel on top of the stick controlled the speed of the large fans under the craft and its height above the surface. The two foot pedals activated smaller fans than allowed for tighter turns. In fact, if you used them all in the right combination you could turn the ACV one hundred eighty degrees from a standing stop. Jason had her practice just off-shore before they headed farther into the lake. After twenty minutes she was actually having fun.

"Getting a little cocky aren't you?" Hianne called out as she completed her third one eighty, sending spray high into the air.

She laughed and then Jason pointed indicating it was time to head out. She had the ACV skimming over the calm water while watching the navigation screen showing where they were going to place the underwater cameras to capture activity remotely. They hoped this approach would give them some idea as to what to expect when they went into the water themselves the next day. Thus far, they hadn't seen much other than a few Eusectoids flying over the water and a little disturbance of the water's surface suggesting movement below. They arrived at the first camera sample site and she brought the craft to rest on the inflated floats with the fans set to station-keep the ACV steady in one location.

Jason pulled the small inflatable raft from its lashing on the side of the ACV and pushed it into the water. Then they placed an underwater camera setup consisting of an anchor on a length of plastic cord, the camera, and then a cord with a float that held the antenna and small solar array to receive commands and transmit images to the ship when ordered; though they could watch in real-time too if they chose to.

Jason climbed into the raft and paddled a short distance away and dropped the anchor over the side. When it hit the bottom he pulled it back up using the meter marks to determine the attachment point for the camera. After attaching the camera, he attached the float with the antenna and solar collector and let everything go into the clear water. They completed the process three more times for a total of four sample points with each camera set at different depth to provide a vertical activity profile.

Kira had used her tablet and tested each camera before they left to make sure they were receiving a clear image. It was while watching an image on the last camera as Jason rowed back to the ACV that she thought she saw a large creature on the screen. The three of them were watching the screen, hoping to get a look—thinking it would be fantastic to see a large aquatic animal even before they got back to the ship. It would be a sign life was abundant enough to support a large creature of some kind.

She looked up expecting to see Jason approaching and saw the raft was empty! She didn't see him swimming and her heart stopped as she saw turbulence on the water's surface behind the raft twenty meters away.

She tried not to panic, but her heartbeat was pounding in her ears. "Jason's not in the raft, I don't see him!" she said loudly as they all turned towards the raft.

There was a wild splash in the water just behind the raft a second later, Jason's face broke the surface, then quickly disappeared again. The water was clear enough to see something was below him and they was certain it had pulled him down. She heard Kira and Hianne yelling but didn't understand what they were saying. She told herself to stay calm—it was the only way to be of help. She turned and saw Hianne leap into the water without her life vest, something in her hand, and start swimming towards the raft that was now moving. Then Hianne disappeared beneath the surface with a hard kick of her feet.

She jumped into the cockpit and started the powerful electric motors and swung the ACV around slowly, Kira had pulled the raft towards the ACV. Later, she found out that was what Kira and Hianne had been yelling—telling her Hianne was going in and the raft was coming in. She moved in slowly to where Kira was pointing and watched as she too jumped into the water, yelling, "Cela here, just stay here!"

She felt helpless now, she couldn't see over the edge of ACV, she stopped the large fans and let the ACV rest fully upon its floats again as she feared for the worse. She heard splashing on the surface, then Hianne yelled, "Help us get Jason onboard!"

She moved towards the voice and found Jason sandwiched between them, Jason limp in his life vest. Before she reached for him Kira was giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation. She was amazed at how calm she was, her training and experience in being in the water came to the fore. She reached for Jason as Hianne and Kira heaved him upward. She pulled hard backward as he slipped onto the deck coughing, gasping for breath. Then he heaved up water and continued coughing. Kira was next to him and quickly rolled him onto his side as more water came up.

Hianne looked at me, "Get this thing moving, I'm going to call Robb and tell him we have an emergency and to expect us."

Seconds later she had the ACV moving towards the island at full speed. She wanted to look behind her to check on Jason but knew she had keep her eye on the landing point. She didn't want to miss the shortest route back to the ship. She had noticed several red marks on Jason's legs and knew something had grabbed him. When she reached the shoreline she could see the ship and proceeded to basically run over anything not large enough to stop the ACV from moving forward.

She pulled up directly into the hangar bay and saw Robb waiting for them. She shut the fans down and before they had stopped turning Kira and Hianne were half-carrying and dragging Jason into Robb's arms. They all quickly followed Robb inside to the sick bay where he lay him onto the bed. Jason was barely responsive, and she felt herself shiver with the thought he may not make it. It was then she noticed Hianne had gone back to the ACV and brought what appeared to be a portion of a tentacle with her.

Hianne looked at her with a worried expression. "We should dissect this, it looks as if there are spines inside a few of the suckers that could inject a toxin. We should get a sample and run a tox screen."

They ran to the lab and got right to work on getting a sample knowing it was probably the best thing they could do to help Jason at the moment. Before she left sickbay she saw Kira helping Robb clean the wounds on Jason's legs and arms. The good news was he was breathing on his own, but it was definitely labored, his eyes closed. Robb was placing a tube inside his nostrils to supply oxygen as they left.

Ten minutes later they had an answer, the sac at the base of the spine contained a neurotoxin similar to the jellyfish and a species of octopus on Earth—it was also found in several aquatic species on Ettera. If investigations of the Gliese system had shown humans anything it was that carbon based organisms organized in a similar fashion in regards to the organization of their biochemistry. The molecules may not be exactly the same, but similar enough to affect a human the same way.

"Jelly type neurotoxin," Cela screamed down the corridor.

"Got it," Mira yelled back.

She cleaned up the equipment as quickly as she could knowing she would just be in the way if she walked into the sickbay now. She wanted so badly to run, to hold Jason's hand, and talk to him so he might hear her voice. She finished and walked to sick bay and saw Jason barely moving as Robb administered an injection of an antitoxin as Kira held his hand, her eyes glued to the monitor hooked to him.

When Kira looked at her she had tears in her eyes. "I think he's going to be alright, we got to him in time. He was almost drowned when Hianne cut the tentacle and the animal fled. She got him to the surface just in time and I started mouth to mouth resuscitation," she explained half sobbing.

She saw Kira wipe a tear away, and felt the tears start to form in her eyes. Hianne had been standing quietly and as soon as Robb had finished with the injection she had covered Jason with a blanket, her face anguished.

Hianne turned to her. "That thing was large enough to eat him alive. If I hadn't been wearing my knife he would have been gone, I wouldn't have been able to free him." Hianne sat down and looked at her feet without saying anything more.

Robb had hooked Jason up to a monitor that showed his pulse rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen concentration, and temperature. It seemed to take forever before the readings started to go into the green zone from yellow where they had been next to the critical area in red. The medication was working and Robb elected to provide another dose of antitoxin. Within fifteen minutes his signs grew steadily better as Cela stood holding his hand knowing he was going to be alright—it had been a terrible half hour. It was when she felt his fingers move she looked at his face and saw his eyes flicker.

"Robb, thank you?"

"Cela, he's going to be alright. It will take a while yet before we can move him to his quarters as I want to keep monitoring his condition here until he's stable."

"I understand."

"Cela."

"Yes."

"All of you did what needed to be done. If you hadn't acted quickly he wouldn't have made it in all likelihood between the water he ingested and the venom. He swallowed some water, but hadn't taken in a breath that would have filled his lungs, those few seconds made all the difference."

"I know," she replied sullenly.

Cela looked at Hianne and Kira, "I'm going to make up a fresh bed in the empty quarters next to where we sleep. I think he'll get a better night's rest if he's in bed by himself tonight."

They nodded, then Kira said quietly, "I'll stay here with Robb while you do it."

"I'll come with you and help, that way I can tell you what I saw," Hianne offered as she got up from her seat.

"Good, I didn't see much other than an empty raft and that Jason was nowhere in sight."

They got the room ready Hianne told Cela she saw a large shape below the point at which Jason had disappeared. She swam down with her knife in hand and found a tentacle holding Jason in place as he struggled to free himself. It was drawing Jason towards its head, a shorter tentacle was reaching for him as she cut at the one already holding him. The animal released Jason immediately and his life vest shot him to the surface. She followed him up, drew a deep breath, and started pulling him towards the ACV. When Kira reached them, she started to assist his breathing as they swam as he seemed to have stopped taking in air."

"Did you see anything more? I mean can you describe the animal?"

"No, I was focused on Jason and trying not to get caught myself. I don't even know how many tentacles it had."

They finished making up the quarters and walked back down to sickbay to join Robb and Kira. It appeared Jason's breathing was steady and his color seemed to have gotten better. Cela felt a huge surge of relief wash over her and saw Kira's eyes were still a little red, but there were no tears—the worst was over it appeared.

"He's doing better. Robb thinks once he wakes up we can move him to quarters. His eyes keep flickering so I think it won't be too much longer, Kira offered, trying to sound upbeat.

She could see their expressions and was sure hers reflected the same feeling. This incident represented an unprecedented level of danger none of had ever encountered before. Once again, they had done everything right in terms of taking precautions and had come up short. Perhaps, it was simply the odds catching up with them after all these years of not having had a major incident. All of them had seen only a part of what happened, now, only Jason could fill in all that they had missed.

She walked over to stand beside Jason and took his hand in hers. It was warm, and when she looked into his face saw his facial expression change, his brow furrowed, then slowly his eyes opened.

"Jason, can you see me?" she asked.

Kira and Hianne jumped up and stood on either side of her as if shot from a cannon. Jason's eyes slowly focused, then he looked at each of them, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, squeezed her hand, and opened his eyes, his gaze going to each of them in turn.

"I didn't expect to see any of you again," as he closed his eyes yet again.

They looked at each other and I could see Kira's eyes starting to tear up. That was enough to make her eyes follow suit, and Hianne placed her hand on his bared leg and caressed it while the other hand dabbed at her eyes. They traded looks, but didn't say anything. What could we say? It had been t close, it really had been that close. She felt her stomach knot up—they could have lost him. She would have lost her husband and they would have lost...what...a colleague, a friend?