Walking an Endless Path Pt. 03

Roger gestured for Karl and Clara to follow him. "Hang on where you are, Joe. I'm going to trace your location. Your phone should have reconnected to the satellite network immediately when you got back. I'm not sure why that failed, but you're probably linked through a local cell network now. Give me a second."

The three grabbed their jackets and rushed outside to run toward the communications trailer. Bannon flagged down a Soldier and told him to inform the General to meet them there. He sent a second Soldier to the lab trailer to get Rachel. Then, they continued to their destination.

"I need a fix on the caller's location," he said to the tech sitting at the terminal behind a wall of monitors. The man looked at Bannon's phone and flipped the main display to show Bannon's connection. He pulled up a map, and they watched the trace race across the world to link up with a cell tower near Alice Springs, Australia.

General MacAvoy burst through the door. "What's happened? Did Rusty and Burnie come back?"

"It's Joseph! He's in Australia!" Roger explained.

"Australia?" they heard Joe yelp.

Karl and Clara laughed in relief hearing their son.

The General smiled widely. He was thrilled to have the boy back. The question was how. "Joseph! Great to hear your voice! How did you get back?"

"General MacAvoy! It's great to be back, sir! I have a set of portable Gate Generators with me and the coordinates for hundreds of planets. Better than that, though, I've brought help. The lead engineer who built the Gate Network and his daughter, a Kel-Fahr council member. They're not doing so well here in the outback, so the sooner we can get picked up, the better," Joe said.

"We'll arrange that immediately. I'll see what assets we can bring to bear. Hang in there," the General said as he rushed out of the trailer to get the ball rolling.

Rachel came in with a puzzled look, but when she saw Karl's and Clara's smiles and Roger holding his phone, she clued in. Her face burst into a huge smile. She looked up at the display. "Australia?" she exclaimed.

"Agent White, I never thought I'd say this, but it's great to hear your voice. I took some pictures with my phone you'll definitely want to see!" Joseph said.

Rachel's smile grew larger, and she looked at Roger. "When can we get him back?" she asked.

"The General is looking to see who we have in the neighborhood. May need to call in some local assistance," he replied. "Joseph brought back two Kel-Fahr. The engineer who built the Gate Network and his daughter, a member of their government. Apparently, they need medical attention."

Rachel sent off a quick text. "Joseph, can you tell me what is wrong with the Kel-Fahr?"

"I think it's our gravity. It is too high for them, and it's putting a strain on their bodies," he guessed.

Safa burst into the trailer. She'd received Rachel's text. "Joseph!" she called out.

"Safa! It's wonderful to hear your voice again," he gasped.

The woman blushed ferociously, and Rachel brought her up to speed on Joe's companion's condition.

"Joseph, if you can find a safe body of water, let them wade in up to their necks. Buoyancy might take some of the load off their bodies. Elevation might also help to reduce atmospheric pressure, but there isn't anywhere nearby with sufficient altitude," Safa suggested as she looked at his approximate location on the map.

"Uh, I'm getting that feeling like I'm being watched. I'm putting the phone away for a bit. Get here as quick as you can, please! Call me back when you have news."

Roger grinned at the happy parents and saw smiles on the others.

Joseph was back!

-=-

Joe tucked the phone back into his back pocket. He knew they could still listen in, which felt comforting.

He looked back at the two Kel-Fahr and ensured the broad leaves he'd tied to the top of the augmentation suit still shielded its occupant from the blazing sun. Currently, Kennt was enjoying the air-conditioned interior of the Mediator suit. Rensley was panting slightly in the open augmentation suit. Both units picked up extra charge from the sunlight, which beat down on their surfaces, so thankfully, power wasn't an issue.

Joe had the feeling of being watched off and on all day. The feeling had gone away for a few hours, but now it was back. He could sense two watchers now. He didn't want to spook his companions. He turned to face Rensley.

"We're being watched, so I will call out to see if I can speak with them. See what they want," he said.

Rensley just nodded weakly. Joe was worried about the woman.

He closed his eyes and let his senses pick up the sensation of the watchers. They were together, up the trail to the left. He opened his eyes and turned to face them. There were some shadows under a tree next to a boulder up ahead that probably hid the two watchers.

"Hello? My name's Joe, and I'm lost, and my companions need assistance. It's too hot for them. I don't mean any harm. I'm just trying to get home," he called out loudly. He stood facing the shadows behind the boulder until one moved into the light. She had very dark skin, and she wasn't very tall. She had a broad nose and full lips that weren't smiling. Her pale eyes were twitching between Joe and the two aliens behind him. Joe guessed she was aboriginal, but he'd never met one, so he wasn't sure. Her companion stepped out the other side of the rock. The first thing Joe saw was the rifle in her hands, which was roughly pointed in their direction.

When Joe could tear his eyes away from the gun, he noticed the woman carrying it was white, maybe in her thirties, with frizzy red hair tucked under a broad-brimmed hat. She had a stocky build, and freckles covered her face and arms. She wasn't smiling either, and her eyes were also twitching between Joe and the aliens.

Joe showed his palms to indicate he had no weapons. "Hi... like I said, my name is Joe, and I'm just trying to get home. That's in the US. Glennville, North Dakota, to be exact."

"Geezus! You're a long way from home! How'd you end up in my backyard? Crash a spaceship out there?" the woman with the rifle yelled nervously.

"No, we used a device to open a planet-to-planet doorway and just jumped through. I was abducted... I can't remember how long ago... weeks, months... anyway, I managed to escape back to Earth and brought my friends with me. Their planet doesn't have as strong a gravity field, and it's really wearing them out. You don't happen to have a pool, do you?"

The aboriginal woman began to laugh, and her companion snorted as well. "A pool? You're in the outback, mate. This ain't a fancy hotel!"

"A pond then. A body of water deep enough for them to wade into and float a little. It may reduce the load on their bodies," he asked earnestly.

"Don't those machines take care of them?" the redhead pointed with her rifle.

Joe closed his eyes and held his hands up beseechingly. "Could you please not point with your rifle?" He really didn't like guns.

"Sorry," the woman said, pointing the rifle toward the ground.

"To answer your question, yes, the machines help them move, and the big one is air-conditioned, so they take turns in it, but it doesn't lessen the drag on their bodies."

The aboriginal woman turned to her friend and said something. They spoke between themselves then the dark-skinned woman stepped back into the shadows and was gone. The other woman turned to Joe. "Okay, Joe. This is what we're going to do. We'll walk back to my ranch nice and slow. No funny business unless you and your friends want a few new holes. On the way, there is a lovely small spring-fed pond, but recently some local bastards put a nasty ol' croc in there, so your friends are out of luck. Once we get to the ranch, you can call for someone from the city to come get you. It will take two hours for them to get here and two hours for you to get back, but if you can get to Alice Springs, there's a nice selection of hotels with big pools to choose from."

Joe looked at the two Kel-Fahr and realized they might not make it to Alice Springs. "How big is the crocodile?"

The woman looked at Joe. "It looked to be about four meters. Why?"

"I'm worried my friends aren't going to last to make it to Alice Springs. Maybe we can deal with the crocodile, and they can use the pond. Would you mind if we killed the croc?" Joe asked gently.

"I thought you said you didn't have any weapons," she said as the rifle came up.

Seeing the barrel pointed his way, Joe closed his eyes and raised his hands again. "Please! We aren't here to cause trouble. I just need to take care of my friends, then we can all get home."

The redhead dropped the rifle barrel once more and looked at Joe. She saw he was trembling. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Joe opened his eyes and saw the weapon was no longer pointed at him. "Sorry, I had some bad experiences with guns. I'm not too comfortable around them."

"Well... behave, and you shouldn't have any reason to have mine pointed at you. Come on. Keep going down the trail until you get to the red-painted post. That's the turn-off to the pond."

The group moved on with the redhead at the back. Reaching the post, they took the side trail that led downhill. Joe felt the cool air coming from the pond before he saw it. After miles and miles of dry sand and scrub, to see the lush vegetation around the water's edge was a bit of a shock. They stopped, and Joe slipped his backpack off and put it down. Then he asked Kennt to switch with Rensley as the older Kel-Fahr was less comfortable operating the Mediator's suit. He assumed Rensley would be better able to use the suit's weapon systems to target the crocodile and take it out.

The suit opened as the woman watched with big eyes. Joe had to help Kennt step down from the machine. He sat down on the cool grass and took deep breaths of the cooler, moist air. His color began to look a little better. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment.

Joe stepped over to help Rensley out of her suit when he heard her gasp. Joe caught the movement in the corner of his eye and spun. The croc had slipped through the foliage and charged at Kennt, who remained unaware of his imminent demise.

Joe had no time to dig in his pack for a knife. He snatched the tooth strapped to the pack's side and leapt at the crocodile. Before it could reach Kennt, Joe landed on it and drove the tooth straight through the top of its skull into the ground, pinning it in place. It thrashed as Joe held it down. Finally, it stopped moving, and Joe was able to roll off. He lay on his back, looking at the sky, gasping for breath.

"Was that... the crocodile... you were talking about?" he asked the redhead.

She stood frozen, looking at the dead creature with the large, curved tooth sticking out of its skull.

"Is that a tooth?" she gasped.

Joe rolled his head over to look at his handy work. "Yes. Now I'm really glad I kept it," he said. He sat up and looked over at Kennt, who seemed to be dozing, completely unaware of his narrowly avoided death. Joe frowned with concern. He knew the gravity would be too much for the old Kel-Fahr before too much longer. Rensley staggered over to her father and checked on him.

Joe stood up and looked at the woman. "Do you have a name I could use?"

"What? Oh, sorry! My name's Viv. Viv Taylor."

"Joe Neumann," he said and shook her hand. She was no longer pointing her gun at any of them. She could see the aliens were suffering and looked frail. Joe had just killed a croc with nothing but a big tooth. The gun seemed frivolous.

Suddenly, the aboriginal woman burst through the bush. She gasped when she saw the dead croc.

"What happened here?"

"Adina! Joe here just caught us some new shoes and purses." Viv grinned at the woman.

"Is that a tooth?" Adina said in surprise. Viv was nodding with a big grin on her face.

Joe placed his foot on the head of the croc and pulled the tooth free. Outside of a little dirt and blood, it looked no worse for wear. "I wonder if whoever dropped the croc here thought about how hungry it would get. I suppose there isn't too much other wildlife around these parts using the watering hole. For it to attack a group of people, it must have been starving!"

"I bet it was that bastard Dan Nealson and his blokes. They're always getting into shit! Poking their nose where it doesn't belong," Viv said excitedly to Adina, who just nodded.

Joe was looking at the water, and he felt his anxiety beginning to build. He looked back at the two Kel-Fahr and didn't know how he would get them into the pond. Neither looked up to the task of walking down there.

"Is there anything else dangerous in the pond?" Joe asked.

"Croc ate everything else," Viv grinned.

"I can carry my friends down to the shore, but... I can't go in," Joe said.

The two women looked at Joe like he was nuts. "You can kill a four-meter croc with just a big ol' tooth, but you're afraid of a little bitty pond?" Viv blurted.

Joe tried to keep his annoyance from his voice as his face blushed. "Yes, I know it sounds silly, but the last time I entered the water, my muscles locked up, and I almost drowned. My friends had to drag me out. Could I ask you two to help these two into the water just up to their shoulders?"

Viv looked at Adina, who just shrugged. "All right, since you got rid of the croc," Viv answered.

Joe thanked them, bent down, and carefully lifted Rensley and Kennt against his chest. He walked down to the shore with the two women following. Viv braced her rifle against a tree while Adina shucked off her dress. She seemed comfortable being naked and came over to Joe to take Kennt from him. Viv saw her friend and pulled her dress off, too. She was a little more self-conscious in front of Joe, who was trying to hide his blush. Viv came over to Joe to help Rensley into the water. Adina already had Kennt up to his waist. She seemed fascinated by the tentacle-like hands where Viv looked a little uncomfortable. Once the Kel-Fahr were in the water, they both perked up.

Joe bent down, swished his fingers in the water, and noticed how cool it was. It would be refreshing, but he couldn't convince his muscles to walk him into the water.

"Joe! This is wonderful!" Kennt sighed.

"GEEZUS! It just spoke in my HEAD!" Viv gasped.

"You heard him?" Joe said, puzzled.

"That shouldn't be possible," Rensley said.

"CHRIST! This one, too!" Viv looked at Rensley in shock.

"The Kel-Fahr speak to each other telepathically and can only communicate with other Kel-Fahr or... me," Joe finished.

"You're not human?" Adina spoke to him for the first time. "I knew it! He's too good-looking," she said, nodding at Viv.

"I was born human... I just have some... augmentation. It allows me to hear and speak with the Kel-Fahr."

"You mean you can read our minds?" Viv squeaked.

Joe concentrated but heard nothing. "No, thank god! It's embarrassing enough picking up what's going on in a Kel-Fahr mind."

"You can hear more than our words?" Rensley gasped, deeply embarrassed.

"Not at first, but once I get familiar with the Kel-Fahr I'm speaking with, I start picking up their emotions. I try my best to limit the connection, but once I've spoken to a Kel-Fahr for a while, I can't seem to permanently close the link either. I'm sorry if that embarrasses you."

Kennt was pondering this new revelation. "Your mind must act like a repeater for ours, bouncing our thoughts to nearby human minds. But for humans, it's only one way. Transmit only. We hear what they say because you relay it back to us."

"Spoken like a true engineer, Father," Rensley said with a smile.

"That's your Dad, huh," Viv said, and Rensley bowed her head in affirmation. "Any more kids in the family?"

Joe made a choking sound and turned away. He walked over to a large, flat rock and sat down on it. He flopped back to sun himself with his arm over his eyes. This disguised the tears running from them. He felt Rensley's compassion and Kennt's guilt, which overwhelmed him again. He rolled over to face away from them and cried, his big body shaking with his silent sobs.

Viv looked at Rensley, who shook her head sadly. She didn't want to burden Joe's mind with translations at the moment.

Adina and Viv waded to shore when the two Kel-Fahr indicated they were okay.

They sat on the shore with their feet in the water and talked quietly with each other. Occasionally, they'd glance over to see if Joe was all right. They also watched the aliens soaking in the pond, who were looking everywhere, absorbing the strange new vegetation and scenery.

An hour passed, and Viv was ready to head back. She got up and walked over to Joe.

"Joe? We should be getting back to the ranch. Do you think your friends should stay here or come with us?"

Joe sat up and rubbed his face. His spirit seemed very subdued. "Yeah, sorry. We should go. All of us. I'll carry them back to their suits. Thanks for your help with them." He got to his feet, walked over to the pond's edge, and gestured for the two Kel-Fahr to come ashore. They showed a lot more energy when they exited the water. Joe scooped them up and carried them back up the slope to their suits. Kennt got back in the Mediator suit, and Rensley in her augmentation suit.

Viv and Adina arrived in their dresses. Joe tied the tooth to the side of the pack again and pulled it onto his back.

"How far to the ranch?" he asked.

"Not more than two kilometers due east," Viv said.

He bent down and lifted the croc to his shoulder with a mighty heave. Viv and Adina looked at him with wide eyes.

"Lead the way," he said.

Viv led off with Adina at her heels, followed by Rensley, then Kennt. Joe brought up the rear with the heavy load. He switched shoulders occasionally and kept the head facing back so any bleeding that happened fell behind him onto the dry, hard pack of the trail.

The ranch was a long single-level dwelling without air conditioning and limited amenities. They did have a large array of solar panels and a good number of batteries, so their refrigerator worked, and they had electric lights for night use. That said, the tour took all of ten seconds. There was a single moment of tension when Viv mentioned the master was for her and Adina. It turned out they were a couple. Viv looked defiantly at Joe.

Joe just smiled gently. "I travel with aliens. I'm part alien. I'm not about to start judging people."

That got amused snorts from the two ladies.

It was late afternoon, and they still had to think about dinner. Rensley and Kennt shared one of the meal bars from Joe's backpack as they were still unsure what was safe for them to eat. Adina proved to be a resourceful woman who knew a thing or two about butchering and tanning. She guided Joe to carry the croc to the far edge of the yard, where a firepit was surrounded by a ring of flat boulders. Joe laid the carcass across the rocks and used one of the knives from his backpack to slice the croc up, following Adina's directions to preserve the skin. The super sharp blade and Joe's strength made quick work of the croc. Adina fetched a large container from the house, and they put all the meat they could use into it. Most of this would go into their freezer.

Adina stretched the croc's hide out and scraped the flesh from the inside of the skin. She brought a box of salt from the ranch, rubbed it into the skin, then rolled it up.

They decided to make skewers of crocodile meat for dinner, and Adina would cook them on the barbeque. She promised Joe she'd make extra for him.

After their delicious dinner, they looked into the sleeping arrangements. There was a futon mattress in the spare room, which Rensley and Kennt could use, and Joe was welcome to the big hammock on the deck or the couch. Joe tested the hammock and found it comfortable and strong enough to support his large body. There was mosquito netting for the hammock to keep them away from his face, but they never bothered him before. They couldn't bite him and didn't seem attracted to him.