Fire and Ice

Crane stood in the open air, the dome behind him and he stared into the jungle contemplating the story he had just heard and trying to make sense of it. A noise alerted him to the approach of a figure, but he elected not to turn instead stared ahead at the trees and plants of the forest.

“Penny for them?” asked James as he stopped by the captain.

“Just trying to make sense of all of this” admitted Crane waving ahead of him. “May I seek counsel?”

“Go on” urged James softly.

“This should have been a routine mission, in and out” he said, still not meeting the Reverend’s gaze, “straight forward extraction” he shook his head as he put his hands behind his back, “but here I am stood in the middle of nowhere, with most of my crew dead, on a planet with a life expectancy of two days...” he looked at the Priest, “am I being punished?” he asked.

“God doesn’t work like that my son” said James, his mouth turning slightly as he spoke.

“But am I?” snapped Crane.

“No...I think not” said James carefully, “sometimes life does weigh against us and we feel as though everything is a battle, but it is how we deal with adversity that shapes who we are as people. This situation is unfortunate, but we are alive and you have your ship”

“I feel as though I will die here” admitted Crane softly.

“We cannot know when our end will come”

“But, I do feel like this” he lowered his head and stared at the floor, “I won’t see my family grow, I’ll never hear them call my name again”

“Captain, you cannot think this way” said James harshly, “you have responsibilities to the people in your care and they need you to be strong, not this quivering mass of pity!” he turned on his heels and walked toward the dome leaving Crane listening to the sound of his voice as he walked away, “you are a good man Captain, but until you realise that you cannot worry about what you cannot affect, you will only be a shadow of who you truly are. Grasp the day captain, this is here and now and people depend on you, but it is up to you whether you stand up or let them down. If you wish to join me inside, I shall be collecting data from the computer system”

Crane listened to his footsteps as they rescinded into the dome and stood alone with his thoughts staring out into the jungle. The trees stood silently staring back at him, their branches moving gently in the morning breeze. He frowned as the noise of the wind seemed to call his name as they waved. He sighed and turned to face the dome, he knew the Reverend was correct in his assumption and reluctantly followed.

The branches parted slightly as a solitary figure watched from the treetop at the exchange and nodded. “Interesting...”

Joanne Darby sat alone in a small annexe by the main control room. The gnawing in her stomach was growing and the voice in her head was making her uneasy. She kept glancing around the round room, studying the cracks in the wall and peering uneasily at the trails of ivy as they climbed the curve of the building. “Hungry...” she murmured under her breath and her arm covered her stomach. She couldn’t understand how she was still hungry, Kiefah had brought her fruit to eat and she had devoured it quickly, bringing odd glanced from her comrades. “Feed me” she said softly glancing around the room to make sure no-one was listening. She shook the feeling from her head and stood flexing her fingers on her hand and bringing them up before her eyes. “Hungry” she said again

“Would you like more fruit?” the soft voice of Kiefah came from the door. Darby turned suddenly and bounded across the room grasping his neck and pinning him up against the wall. “My apologises” he said desperately as he struggled under her grip.

“What...I...” she stammered as the fire in her stomach subsided and the glow in her eyes faded, “Kiefah” she whispered softly as she released her grip and allowed his body to slide down the wall. “I’m so sorry” she said as she stepped back from him, “you startled me”

Kiefah bowed before her, “again my apologises”

“No...no...no” said Darby, “it is me who should be sorry, what I did...”

“That does not matter” Kiefah waved away her apology, but looked closely at her, “do you feel alright?” he asked suddenly.

Darby felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny and shifted under his gaze, “of course I’m fine, it’s just this planet” she snapped looking past him and into the main dome. She pushed past him and moved into the dome seeing Aston James walking through the main door. She paused and looked back angrily at the young man, “were you watching me?” she asked quickly and smiled as he turned a slight shade of red. “Thought so” she added as she flounced from the room, “you know its rude to watch a lady” she laughed and crossed the room and peered at the monitor screen that was holding the interest of the Reverend.

“Cadet” nodded James as Darby approached, glancing briefly from the screen.

“Father” she acknowledged. James could see Kiefah hovering in the distance by a small outer room and searched for signs of his father. He couldn’t see any of the elderly man and returned his attention to the monitor. “What did you make of the story?” she asked as figures leapt from the screen.

“I think it more than a story” remarked James, “I believe the tale is a mixture local colour and scientific fact” his fingers crossed the computer keyboard as he spoke. “The question is...how much is the truth and how much was embellished”

“How do we find that?” she asked.

“I was hoping your captain would be of help there” he said straightening, “my skills on the computer is, let’s just say limited”

“I could try” she offered

“No need for that Cadet” boomed a loud voice from the entrance, “let’s see what we can discover” Crane strode confidently across the floor of the dome, kicking out at the scattered debris over the floor.

“Good to see you back captain” said James softly as the captain joined him at the terminal.

“Some of us have a job to do” he said curtly, then offered the Priest the smallest of smiles, “thank you” Darby glanced between them and wondered what had happened between them, but dismissed it as figures bounced across the monitor. “No doubt you have the necessary skills to configure the terminal access port cadet, but sometimes experience can identify certain areas...” his words trailed off as the screen explode into life, words and figures scrolling across the glass surface. Crane looked around the room, “we need a printer terminal” he pondered to himself.

“Sir” said Darby briskly pointing toward a pile of cloth and a tall piece of equipment beneath the dusty fabric.

“Very good Cadet, could you check to see if it’s operational” Darby stood and crossed to the other side of the room and pulled at the cloth, throwing a cloud of dust high into the air, “then re-align radar system to allow a broad band across a larger radius”

“Yes sir” affirmed Darby, “how far?”

“Maximum radius, let’s see how much power this equipment still has” James watched as the two troopers worked on their various tasks and felt slightly useless as he stood staring at the monitor screen, watching the figures scroll over the dark surface. The sound of the printer broke the silence of the dome as paper spewed from the machine and spilled across the floor. The Reverend walked toward the machinery and took the paper in his hands, his eyes scanning the figures.

“This is showing high seismic levels” he offered looking up from the paper.

“That would coincide with our findings” agreed Crane, “high volcanic activity in both Northern and Southern Polar regions”

“Could they be enough to destroy the planet?” asked Darby.

“That could be local colour” said James looking through the scroll in his hands, “I think we can dismiss that”

“Better not” warned Crane, “I do not think we should discount anything at this point”

“Very well” conceded James, “but until we have the facts, I do not think we can say for certain whether this volcanic activity could or could not destroy the planet”

“Whatever we decided, I think the best recourse is to head back to the Desire and check these readings” stated Crane as he joined James at the printer and let the paper fall over his hand. “The equipment on the ship will be more reliable than this” he looked around the dusty room.

“Mt father has been keeping the secrets!” snapped Kiefah from the edge of the room, “there is nothing wrong here”

“No” agreed Crane, “but the equipment I have back at my ship has a greater capacity and is designed to withstand the additional information we need”

“May I ask...” enquired James staring at the read-out in his hands and glancing toward Kiefah, “where is this area” he offered the paper toward the young man who moved into the dome and took it from the priest.

He looked at the paper and shook his head, “this means nothing to me” he admitted looking at the numbers on the page.

“Do you have a map?” asked James, again Kiefah shrugged his shoulders looking toward Darby for assistance, “you know...” he struggled to find the words.

“A picture...of the world” tried Darby.

“Ah, yes” smiled Kiefah, “the holy image of the land, my father has one”

“May we see it?” asked James. The young man nodded and crossed to the far door, waving them to follow. Crane folded the paper and placed it into his pocket before following Kiefah from the room and into a side building. On the wall of the building a large framed map of the colony and the surrounding area was joined with survey charts, geological graphs, crop growth flows and an aerial view of the planet. James stood before it clutching the set of figures he had retrieved from the printed and ran his finger across the ageing paper. “This is where we are...” he said pointing to a built-up area of circles on the map, “could you show me where the village is?” he asked.

“Yes” said Kiefah as he pointed into an area south of the main colony.

“Now captain” said James, “if this is where we are, and the village is here...” his finger trailed across the map as he spoke, “we travelled along this route from the east...making the landing position around this area. What do you think?”

Crane studied the map, “Your reasoning is sound, but I can you be sure”

“Please” said Kiefah, both men turned to face him as he spoke and pointed at the map. “the place of landfall is here” he said pointing in the opposite direction.

“How can you be sure” smirked Darby glancing at the two men.

“I saw the metal bird” he smiled, “I watched as you spilled from its stomach”. Crane and James looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to the map and studied the terrain.

“This is the ice volcano” said James running his finger to the edge of the paper and looking toward Kiefah who nodded smiling, “and this would be the fire volcano” dragging his finger over the page. He frowned at the words on the page, “what does this mean?” he leant close to the page, “the place of fire and ice?”

“The holiest of holy” offered Kiefah, “it is where the lords fight and the Gods watch”

“How far away is it?” James asked.

“By foot...many moons”

“We don’t have time for this Father” chided Crane, “we need to get back to the ship, once we’re in space we can get better readings”

“I need to see that place, I have the strangest feeling, that is where we will find our answers”

“Two days Father, two days. If that is many moons, we can assume it is too far to travel in that time. Our best course of action is to return to the ship”

“Please” said Kiefah again gaining their attention, “your magic rides”

“I don’t understand” said Crane.

“I think he means the ponies” interjected Darby

“Yes, yes...ponies” agreed Kiefah, “I know where they are”

“Excellent!” exclaimed James clapping his hands together, “that’s settled then” he grasped at the map on the wall and pulled it from its mountings, folding it neatly, “I’ll travel to the place of fire and ice and you head to your ship. All being well, you can pick me up from there in the morning”

“Now hold on a second Father!”

“No, captain. I am not part of your crew, and you cannot order me around. If we are to find out what is happening here, then one of us must travel there...and your place is at your ship with your crew”

“I hardly think it is safe”

“It may not be, but with the grace of God and a small offering of luck...”

“I cannot and will not allow it!” raged Crane

“You cannot stop me captain, and I would advise against it!” The two men stood eye to eye for a moment staring each other into submission before Crane eventually turned away.

“Very well” he sighed, “we travel immediately for the ponies, once their myself and Darby shall head toward the ship, while you head for the fire and ice. We shall meet tomorrow morning”

“How will we find him captain?” queried Darby

“The equipment on the ponies should still be operational, all short range transmissions should be within range”

“May I come with you?” asked Kiefah looking at the small group, “I can show you the way”

“I don’t know...” started Crane.

“Certainly!” clapped James, “you can accompany me, I will need a guide after all. Come on then!” he said hurriedly, “what are we waiting for?”

“My son, my son!” the cries echoed from the main dome, distracting the small group’s attention.

“Father” whispered Kiefah, jumping from the building and rushing across the jungle floor toward the dome.

Inside the old man was looking at the monitor that Darby had been working at. His eyes flicked over the instruments on the panel and he glanced worriedly at the sound of Kiefah rushing into the room. “Father, father!” he exclaimed as he came to a sudden stop by his chair, “what is it, what is it?”

“Something has entered the forest, something has entered the forest” his fingers trailed over the screen where three large marks were moving quickly toward their position.