Legs, she reflected, were a poor substitute for a power lifter. There was also the need to keep the components inside the open hatches protected from the occasional wind-driven spray. Having already slipped twice on the water-polished rocks underfoot, she was cold and wet.
In spite of the difficulties she managed to monitor orbit-to-surface communications as she worked. When despite several repeated calls to the Covenant nothing was forthcoming save bursts of static, she switched to ground comm.
“Captain Oram, I think they lost your signal,” she reported. “But if it’s any consolation, I’m reading you fine, darlin’. You happy campers still doin’ all right?”
“Understood, darlin’,” Oram replied, joking right back at her. The captain certainly had loosened up since their arrival, Faris decided. “All quiet here,” he continued. “Thick forest looks like regular woods back home. The woods that remain in protected areas, anyway. Some other familiar sights, too. It’ll all be in the report, and you can ask any of the team members about the details when we get back. Keep your comm open, and keep trying to re-establish with the ship.”
“Aye aye.” Glancing downward, she noted that the water was now lapping over the toes of her boots. Though they were waterproof and insulated, she could still feel the cold through the lightweight synthetic material. “But just to let you know, the tide’s coming in. Not much. Just a few centimeters so far. I imagine the two moons must be lining up.”
“Understood. Stay dry. Oram out.”
Soon the water was sloshing across her boots and threatening to rise toward her ankles.
“Yeah, stay dry. Thanks, fucker.”
With the climb ahead appearing even steeper than the slope they had already ascended, and worn out from both the enervating drop in the lander and the hike thus far, Karine found a reason to wave the proverbial white flag as she spoke to her husband.
“Christopher, I’d like to stay here,” she announced. “It’s been a hell of a day and I’m tired of walking. I’d like to stop and do some science for a change.” She indicated their present surroundings. “Not only is the stream good company, it might be a source for smaller specimens of local life-forms. Especially since we’re not seeing any big ones. Might be our best chance to do a full ecology workup before dark. I can’t do that effectively while I’m walking. You can pick me up on the way back, okay?”
He considered her request in light of the surrounding forest. Certainly nothing threatening had manifested itself. Actually, he mused, nothing at all had manifested itself. It would certainly be edifying if she could find animal life of any kind, even if it was only at the microscopic level.
He beckoned to Lopé.
“Sergeant? My wife wants to stay here and do some field work.”
That was enough said, as far as the security chief was concerned. He motioned to Ledward. Unslinging his heavy F90 rifle, the private jogged over to join them.
“Looks like the lady wants to do some actual science, Ledward. Stay with her and cover her back.” He checked a wrist readout. “Assuming the preliminary topo charting was accurate, and depending on what we find at our destination, we should be able to meet back here in four hours. Keep your comm and your eyes open.”
Ledward nodded briskly, looking delighted at the opportunity to be the one chosen to take a break from the interminable climb. As the team resumed the hike, Oram passed by and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
“Behave yourself with my wife.”
Uncertain how to respond—whether to smile, frown, or attempt to say something clever—Ledward settled for simply nodding.
As they continued to ascend, the forest grew denser, the trees more imposing. Pine and fir gave way to sequoia, Daniels observed as they climbed. The huge trees were massive, and much too familiar. Size alone indicated their age, suggesting they had been growing here for quite some time. Samples would have to be taken and compared with the relevant genomic database on the Covenant, but some of the trees looked as familiar as, if not downright identical to counterparts she had seen on Earth.
And still the woods were silent, save for an occasional gust of wind that disturbed the thinner branches. When a cone fell from one tree, it had the effect of a firecracker going off. Everyone spun to look, before resuming the march. At that moment she would have given a month’s pay for the sight of an alien squirrel.
The continuing hush made their encounter with the first damaged trunk all the more startling. As she looked up at it, wondering what had caused the destruction, the image was accompanied in her mind by a definite sound.
The broken bole was accompanied by another, and then another, all well above their heads as the expedition maintained its advance. An entire avenue of huge trees, shattered and broken, formed a straight line through the forest. In addition to the downed trunks, a number of growths flanking them on both sides showed signs of having been seared by tremendous heat. Others located deeper in the forest were blistered with knots and burls that had evidently emerged to heal over similar scarring. The further they advanced, the lower became the cuts on the tree trunks.
Something massive had descended from above, coming in at a sharp angle of descent, and cut the swath through the forest.
“An object passed overhead here.” Lopé ran a hand up the side of a massive, seared stump as he studied the uneven cut. “Sliced the tops right off the trees, then cut deeper and deeper as it descended.”
“Must have been a ship.” As she walked, careful to maintain her footing, Daniels’ gaze took in one broken trunk after another.
Ankor frowned. “Why did it have to be a ship? Why not a meteor, or a chunk of asteroid?”
She shook her head. “If that was the case, we’d be walking through a crater. The ground here is level.” She gestured ahead. “Even at the sloping angle of the object’s descent, it would have made a damn big hole when it finally hit. And there wouldn’t be any old growth forest still standing here. It would all be flattened, with the rest of the trees blown down in directions away from the path we’re following now.”
“A ship.” Oram looked over at her. “Had to be huge.”
Without fanfare, Lopé slipped the safety off his rifle. The action was sufficient to tell his troops to do likewise. A gesture was enough to move them into better defensive positions. Of course, there was nothing to defend against, except intermittent breezes and the occasional falling branch, but the sergeant didn’t like to take chances, didn’t like to assume. It was a major reason why he was still alive.
Now that the mountainside had leveled out somewhat, a relief to all concerned, Oram and Daniels allowed themselves to relax a little. Lopé did not. As for Walter—Walter looked upon relaxation as one of many human attributes he could conceptualize but not share.
There had to be something out there. Daniels felt it as she once again scanned their surroundings. This world was too accommodating, too fecund—at least in the botanical sense—to be so utterly devoid of animal life of any kind. For a wild moment she thought the local fauna might all be invisible, but quickly cast such craziness aside. Even invisible creatures, she told herself with a nervous laugh, would make sounds.
Well behind the rest of the expedition, Karine was happily filling sample bags and tubes with examples of soil, water, and plant life. Still awaiting her attention, the geology sample bags lay open on the bank of the stream. Yet to encounter any living thing large enough to be visible to the naked eye, she told Ledward she was anxious to get the samples back to the Covenant, and a proper lab where they could be studied in depth.