Destiny's Choice (The Wandering Engineer) (35 page)

“You
have no concept of...”

“I'm
from your time as well bub,” Irons growled. “My name is Fleet Admiral John
Henry Irons of the Federation Navy.”

The
sentient plant quivered in rage. Tentacles lashed out to strike around them.
Irons dodged a few. He let one hit the shield and bounce back. It flicked the
tentacle in obvious pain.

“You
done? Yes I know you're an adult. And no, you are not the last of your kind. In
fact there are four of your kind on the ship I came in. They are in orbit. The
ship is about to leave.”

“You...
you lie!”

“Why
would I?” Irons asked, shaking his head. He glared at the tiny light sensors
embedded in the flesh of the plant. “I wanted to make sure you were real before
I told them. I didn't want to get their hopes up. They had decided to pass on
this planet since it isn't as warm as they would like. I can tell them you are
here however. But if you would prefer to remain here feeling sorry for
yourself, wallowing in your own self pity, that is your choice after all.”

“Where
would I go?” the tree laughed. “Where?”

“Well,
you are a bit big for a starship,” Irons admitted. “At least the current ones.
I believe your people had larger ships for your people? Colony ships?”

“All
gone. I came here as a child. Centuries ago.”

“I
kinda figured. Before the war?”

“Yes.
I and the others were hired to monitor the biota on this cold miserable excuse
for a world... the others that survived died in the long hard winters or the
floods that came after the world was bombed ... Only I survived here. Alone in
my grief.”

“Well,
you can continue to wallow in it or begin to rebuild. Your people need your
wisdom. We need it as well,” Irons said, brushing his thighs off. He cocked his
head.

“What
would you have me do?” the plant asked after a long quiet moment of
contemplation.

“Help.
I will see if we can get the others on the ship to come down and meet you.
Perhaps you can work together with the others on this world to rebuild it. You
have abilities the others lack. Knowledge of this land spanning centuries.” He
spread his hands indicating the surrounding area. “They can do things with
technology that you lack. Together, you may find a brighter tomorrow.”

“Make
your call. And Admiral...”

Irons
turned. “Yes?”

“Thanks.”
He felt a wave of relief in that simple world. It felt good.

Irons
called the ship. He told the captain about the giant Vesuvian. The purser
called them in their cabin. They responded with great agitation about the
Admiral's involvement, then became intrigued about the old one. They came down
to the the planet on the next available shuttle an hour later.

Irons
waited, talking a little with the guide and the Vesuvian until they arrived.
When they did they reached out tentacles toward the giant plant. It twined
giant hand tentacles out to touch them. Their conversation became so complex
Sprite couldn't follow it. He could see the plants trading chemicals through
the skin contact. Light, subsonic sound, and chemicals. Fascinating really. At
least to a xenobotanist or linguist. Which of course he wasn’t. He turned to
the lad. The boy seemed enraptured. Good.

“We'll
leave you to discuss whatever.. catch up,” Irons waved. “You've got a comm
link, call us.”

“We
will. Admiral, our eternal gratitude. Our species may become whole once more.”

“Keep
reaching to the light,” Irons said bowing a little then raising both hands in a
Vesuvian salute. They raised their arm tentacles in response.

“Good
day,” he returned with the guide.

“I
can't...” The lad danced around him, excited and awed by all that had
transpired in just a couple of hours. “Are they...”

The
Admiral looked at him closely. “They are a plant alien. Yes they are sentient.
You can read about them if you want.”

“I...we
lost a lot. I can't wait to tell all my friends! Mara's going to flip!”

“Don't
treat them as a tourist trap son, they are sentient after all and may want some
privacy. But if you are eager to help them you could ask.”

“How?”
The boy asked.

“I'll
find you a vocoder you can use,” Irons replied amused.

He
heard later that the Vesuvians had chosen to remain on the colony to help
rebuild. The Admiral managed to convince the captain to give them a few more
days so he could help them.

He
gave them a hydrogen generator. It generated energy by splitting water from the
stream to store in fuel cells... He had to set up a filtration system to keep
the system from getting clogged, but they should be able to keep that running
with routine maintenance.

It
was good that it needed regular maintenance. That would force them to remain in
the here and now, to remain functional and sentient. To also cooperate with the
other sentient people in the community around them.

He
created orchard heaters for them for the long winter. He also gave them solar
panels and UV lights for the winter. The boy had eagerly helped load the truck
and run the supplies back and forth for him. He had to admire the lad, so
flexible and alive. Youth had it's advantages.

Finally
he arranged a trade with the human survivors in the cave system nearby. In
exchange for the rare metals the giant Vesuvian had drawn from the ground and
stockpiled, they would maintain the equipment and provide them with food
rations during the winter.

Some
refugees also chose to stay on the planet. Most of them were originally from
the colony but a few were from other planets not on their itinerary. With the
planet scorched, the new matriarch of Leo's pride  passed on remaining behind.

The
rest of the refugees decided to remain on board and if the other planets didn't
work out they hoped to be dropped off on the return flight. The planet's
current settlements wouldn't be able to support them and it was perilously
close to the planet's winter. The winter would last five long cold months. More
than one person was shivering at the idea of being buried alive in snow and
ice.

“So
they're staying on board?” Cheetahra asked, packing her bags. Long limbs
allowed her to grab things easily. She wasn't very strong, but nimble fingers
packed her meager belongings quickly. She had a lot to pack, and not a lot of
time. She'd left it until the last minute, unsure if the other Neo's were going
to stay or not. The last time she'd listened to the ship's grapevine they had
decided to go.

That
had been a bummer. She'd picked out a couple of nice spots she could set up
shop. The blue marble looked absolutely gorgeous from space. The greens... she
smiled wistfully. In a few more hours she'd be down there for the first time.
The first of her people. A trend setter, she thought with a hint of amusement
at her self.

“Yes
but honestly, I don't think you should stay. It's hell there in winter. You're
really not built for it,” Bryan said, shaking his head. He was deeply troubled,
divided on this. She was a cheetah, they were long limber sentients more suited
for African plains than frigid post ice age forest worlds.

It
wasn't because he was losing a fine medic. He got that. He understood, people
moved on with their lives, breaking off ties and establishing new ones over
time. Cheetahra was looking to set down roots though, and she was determined to
do it in as safe a place as she could find. A planet actually, some place with
plenty of room to grow without having to worry about food or air.

Well,
air anyway, food and heat would still be a problem for her, Bryan mused. She
didn't realize how difficult it woul dbe for her lean Neo frame to adapt to
such a cool climate. She had only a couple ounces of fat on her entire body,
most of them were in her breasts. When that cold wind hit her... he shivered
looking away.

Nimble 
fingers zipped up a bag and then tied it shut. She cinched the bindings and
then flitted her ears and tail. She looked around the spartan cabin. She would
be glad to be rid of this place, glad to see open spaces and feel the wind in
her fur. Oh how she had longed for that!

“Admit
it, you just don't want to have to fill the hole in graveyard I'll leave
behind,” she said, looking up and smiling at him. Her tail flirted with his
leg. He blushed.

“Yes,
no I mean, yeah that will be a headache, but I don't want anything to happen to
you. That would suck.”

“You
are sweet. If you had fur and spots you'd be cute,” she purred, folding a
towel. She added it to the next bag.

“Taking
the towels too?” Bryan asked amused. She flicked her ears in amusement, not
folding them flat in annoyance. Finally she shot him an amused but tight lipped
smile. Predators rarely showed their teeth unless it was for a threat or fear
display.

“And
the washcloths. You can make more. Where I am going everything is needed,” she
shrugged. She'd leased as much time as the Purser would allow to make as many
things as she could think of with the replicators. He'd made her do it at
night, in between drops or at odd times. It had been a pain, but worth it.
Hopefully it would be enough. She had a tent and some basic hand tools, as well
as a medical kit and plenty of e-books. She'd snagged every e-book she thought
would help her, all her favorites, and anything related to colonies and the
planet below. After seeing what the Admiral did with equipment she'd tossed in
every manual she could as well.

She'd
even thrown in some trade goods. She had quite a lot of food, most of it
protein e-rats she'd made off and on with the food replicators over the past
couple of weeks. It was all she had.

“Well,
if you're going, you're going,” He shook his head. “Let me go get what I can
spare from sickbay to help set up your practice.”

“You
don't have to do that,” she said, eying him. He smiled.

“What
are friends for?” he asked softly. He touched her cheek, stroked his thumb
against it for a moment. She rubbed back for a moment, eyes closed. He smiled
softly as she opened her eyes slowly. They stared into one another eyes for an
eternity of a moment. He nodded and then turned and left without another word.

She
sniffed then snuffled. She turned and blew her nose and shook off her sudden
sadness. She smelled someone coming and looked up. “Come.”

Irons
hand paused as he was about to knock. He shrugged then opened the cabin door. 
“Not you too,” she sighed.

“Me
too what?” he asked putting a couple of duffels down. There was a parka
sticking out of one of them.

“Trying
to talk me out of going. Unless you're coming as well?” she asked, looking at
the bags.

The
Admiral shook his head. “No. It's too close to Pyrax and it doesn't have what I
need to continue to rebuild the Federation. But you can do some of that,” he
said amused. He patted the bags. “Which is why I'm giving you these.”

He
pulled out a tablet from the duffel pouch of the top one and handed it to her.

“What
am I looking at?” she asked amused, taking the proffered device.

“The
equatorial region of the planet. It's got some spectacular storms, especially
on the coasts, but there are plains there like the ones Africa had on Earth.
They are colder than Africa though, more along the temperature ranges of the
plains in North America. Some snow on the high ground so watch out. There are
also a couple of small villages in that area that the pirates missed. Only a
handful of people in each, but I bet they'd be happy to have a medic.”

“Thank
you,” she said with an ear flick and smile, pressing the tablet to her chest.

“I've
got more clothes for you, since you've got ship and station issue. Winter
clothes. Your fur will most likely grow out in winter, but cheetah were never
built to handle hard winters like Agnosta has,” he told her a bit gruffly.

She
nodded mute. He pulled the second bag up. “This has some medical supplies. It's
a full paramedic trauma kit. I've also got a copy of medical texts in a dozen
flash chips and a copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica as well as a few other
things I thought you'd find handy. Sprite bookmarked the sections on Neo-feline
physiology and the most common problems that afflict frontier colonies.”

“Thank
you Admiral,” she smiled.

“You'll
get the rest of the gear on planet,” he smiled. She wrapped her tail around him
as he turned to go. He turned back. She enveloped him in a hug, purring.

“Thank
you,” she murmured, rubbing his cheek with her own.

“My
pleasure young lady,” he replied huskily as she released him. “You better get a
move on, the last shuttle leaves in thirty minutes.” A time blinked on his HUD.

“Oops,
make that twenty eight and counting down,” he corrected. He nodded backing away
as she hurriedly packed. With all this gear she was going to have to make
multiple trips just to get to the boat bay.