Stranded

Stranded - A b-b tale

Chapter 1 - Escape into Space

My name is Tarl Exxator; I am thirteen years old, and I am an über-nerd. The unimaginable had happened! Our starship's fusion drive had not only failed, but exploded, simultaneously launching over fifteen hundred escape pods, flinging them out into space--off in every direction.

Our scientists had determined that there were seventeen `habitable' planets capable of supporting life in this strange system. That, oddly enough, did not mean that the atmosphere on every one would be breathable without special headgear. It did mean that the climate was not extremely hot or cold, and that there was water, and some sort of plant life that would provide sustenance. Our race did not eat the flesh of animals.

Every passenger had been outfitted with, and commanded to wear, a "Breathing Collar"--a rather small and unobtrusive device with a collapsible nose, mouth and ear cover, which provided the wearer with breathable air in the event that it was needed. The Collar also provided a wi-fi-like connection to the ship's communication system and recreation computer, which made it de rigeur for the younger set, to which we all belonged. It also allowed us to communicate with each other when, or if, separated.

Some of us were lucky; our pod, and three others that we observed during our descent, landed safely, if roughly, on a nearby planet in only nine days, well, two landed in nine days and two more in the next two days. Unfortunately, not one of the pods contained an adult. So, four pods, each with twelve mostly pre-pubescent individuals----intelligent, even brilliant, but inexperienced, and left to fend for themselves on a strange planet.

We had all been students at a government school for geeks. Our pod was all boys; and we were anxious to get free of confinement. Most everyone knew the routine.

We were to send a drone out to explore before exiting the craft. Naturally, that instruction was totally disregarded and the exit portal flung wide open. It became blatantly obvious that the air was not equal to that on NewTerra, the planet from whence we had come. In fact, the air was barely breathable; and after a few minutes, we were forced to use our breathing collars.

We formed three parties of four to explore our surroundings, which consisted of a series of "grass"-covered hills near to the shore of a large lake with unnaturally (to us) orange water. Tests showed that it was, indeed H2O, and the orange color was due to the strange, reflective sand on the bottom.

Growing all around the lake were weeping-willow-like trees, with branches growing lemon-sized yellow fruit underwater. In sand-filled clearings, at the base of the several small hills, grew heavy vines, with large dinner-plate-shaped, deep green leaves, and large "melons" in various stages of "ripeness" growing on them; and in the center of each clearing grew an enormous tree, with numerous bunches of "nuts" growing in clusters from the bark of its trunk. A brief venture into the hills revealed many of these vines and trees. Further exploration revealed that they extended for many kliks in all directions.

"Tarl? er... Captain, Sir?" Vax Norrtrin, our nutritionist called.

"Yes, Vax?" I answered.

"Your permission to take samples of these 'melons', 'nuts', and lemon-looking things back to the pod for testing, Sir," he said.

"You can drop all that `Sir' shit, Vax. We have known each other our entire lives; and yes, of course you may take those things for testing. Let me know what you find out about them."

"Right, Sir... er... Tarl," he replied.

We had been sent for military training before our initial flight; and some people had become sticklers for observing the correct military protocol. I didn't see how that would help to feed us; or how it could possibly serve as a help for anything else, either. Military rank meant nothing here; although somebody had to be the boss I supposed. I had been a squad leader for my age group; and all four of these pods were manned by former members of my group.

The other three guys had headed back to the pod, a short distance away; and I was taking a last look around, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of someone, or something, splash from the edge of the water where the "lemons" were growing. Whatever it was completely disappeared from sight before I could turn my head to look directly at it.

I walked to the spot, where I was able to see five or six small, but distinct, footprints, before the brisk wind completely covered them with sand. Should I tell the others? No, I would wait to see what happens.

When I got back to the ship, Vax was busily telling the others about the foodstuffs we had found. The melons, when fully ripe, were filled with a pudding like tapioca----thick, sweet, and filled with enough nutrients to support life all by themselves. The smaller, "green" ones, could be sliced, boiled, or fried like potatos or green papaya. The nuts were filled with nutrition, and very much like macadamia nuts. Although they were surrounded by an oily substance in their shells, they could be toasted and ground to make a coffee-like drink. The oil from the shells was chemically similar to soy oil, and could be collected for the purpose of frying the green melon slices. The lemon-like fruits, although not in any way toxic, had no flavor appeal, and were generally uninteresting.

On the other hand, I was certain that the lemons were the things the "whatever-I-had-seen" was after, and had been gathering.

At a general meeting that night, we discovered that the exploration groups from the other pods had also found edibles. Everyone had brought samples of their discoveries. We would not be short on victuals; even if they were totally different from anything we had eaten before arriving here. Now, if we only had something that would enable us to breathe without the collars. They wouldn't last forever; and, although we did have an ample supply of them. Some day, our supply would become exhausted. Then, what would we do?

I was brought out of my daydream by a strange odor. One peculiar thing was an eggplant-like fruit that was blue, and some said it smelled exactly like fish when it was frying. I had never smelled fish frying; but one of the others said he had eaten fish once; and that these blue things tasted exactly like a fish called a flounder.

So far, we had not seen one bird or animal of any kind whatsoever. I was extremely disappointed that one of my fields, the care and breeding of animals, would be totally useless here. We really had no real use for animals; but we did drink milk, and it was a necessary ingredient in many foods we were accustomed to eating.

It would be really nice to have fresh milk again; the flavor of so-called lactaide, one of the items in our food rations, was in no way a suitable milk substitute. In fact, it had a similar odor to the whitewash we had used on NewTerra to paint the trunks of fruit trees to repel insects.

Chapter 2 - First Contact

I awoke to a noisy commotion, and dressed hurriedly to see what was happening.

"What's going on, Serge?" I asked.

"What's going on? That's what we all would like to know. This morning, when Vax went outside to gather some of those nuts, these four containers were sitting in front of the door," he said.

I looked at the strange gourd-like containers. They were just about large enough to hold around four liters each. It looked as though the tops had been lopped off, then replaced and sealed with wax.

Against all protocol, they had brought all four of them inside our pod without proper inspection. It was too late to do anything about that.

"What is inside them?" I asked.

"What is inside? No one has checked; we were waiting for you," Vax replied, entering the room.

"Well, let's open one, they didn't set off any danger alarms when you brought them inside, obviously," I said, grabbing a knife to pry the lid off one.

Inside was a white liquid that smelled like... milk. Milk? Milk came from mammals, animals.

"This is milk," I asserted. Test it, but I am certain," I said, sticking my finger into it, and bringing it to my mouth. "Milk, and with a very high butter-fat content, like goat milk. Where did this come from, I wonder?"

"Better yet, who did it come from?" Vax asked.

That day Vax baked four cakes with buttercream icing. Two were left in containers outside along with the empty milk containers.

The next morning there were two containers left outside. One had what appeared to be yogurt and the other tofu.

Vax made two double-crust pies out of a plum-like fruit that one of the other pod-people, as we referred to ourselves, had found. He also had left a ripe melon into which he had mixed chocolate syrup, cocoa powder and extra sugar.

The next morning, we found a large gourd filled with clear gummy-bear-like squares, which appeared to be filled with the lemon-like fruit, all chopped up. On top of the squares was a crude drawing of our breathing collars with a large "X" drawn across it.

As soon as I saw the squares, which looked like the turkish-delight that my great-grandmother used to make. I took a bite of it. Something had been added to the bland taste of the lemon-fruit that gave it a mango-like flavor; and I popped the whole thing into my mouth. I grabbed another one.

"You're not going to just eat that stuff, are you?" Vax asked.

"Yes, I think, if we eat this, we will be able to breathe the air outside," I said. "You saw the drawing. I believe that is what it was meant to tell us."

"You can be the guinea pig!" three people said at once.

"Gladly," I replied, going outside.

I walked to the lake and sat on a large rock right at the shore's edge. I removed my breathing mask, and took a deep breath. At first nothing seemed to have changed, but in the few minutes that I would have been choking, I was still able to breathe comfortably. In fact, I took an extra large breath, and had no urge to cough----I COULD BREATHE THE AIR OUTSIDE!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small person approaching; but when I looked directly at their approach, I saw nothing. Again, I turned my head away, clearly seeing the boy with my peripheral vision.

:Why can't I see you when I look directly toward you?: I thought.

:It is our way,: the boy answered, becoming visible. :My name is Oestl [WES-til]. My people are called the Xoghfral [JHOH-frahl]. Why have you come here?: he asked.

:Our world, Terra-Nova, was in the path of an approaching comet; and we had to evacuate. On the way to our destination in the Alpha Centauri system, our starship exploded and scattered our escape pods. Four of the pods landed here on this world. There are forty-eight people about my age and under, and no adults,: I answered. :Oh, and my name is Tarl.:

:Some things I do not understand, Tarl; but most I do. My people live underground here; you will have to do the same before a long time,: he informed me. :Time of big storm soon. In what you call hill is an opening. You must make your home to underground. Wind will take all you have here. Even now, we prepare to take lake, and food plants underground before lake fills with blowing sand. If you are, how you say, agreeable, your pod home can be lowered also underground. You must warn others!:

And he was gone. I hurried back to the pod.

I immediately sounded the All Alert, and began broadcasting to all four Pods.

"I have learned who has been bringing the foodstuffs," I said. "A boy, who said his name is Oestl, approached me at the lake. He has warned that soon an enormous storm will come and wipe the surface clean, including our pods. He said that his people, the Xoghfral, are going to take the lake, and the food plants underground before everything is covered with sand; and moreover, they can move our pods underground if we will agree. This is the reason there is no living animal on the surface of the planet. I didn't ask him how often the storm comes."

"You have met a resident of this planet?" Azel asked. "Why haven't we seen them?"

"He said it is their way, I, too, was only able to see him with my peripheral vision at first; which explains why I couldn't see him clearly the first time I saw him, on our first day here," I said.

"But you said nothing about having seen someone," Vax barked.

"I know, I even saw his footprints in the sand, before the wind blew them away. I didn't think you would believe me. But after our foodstuff exchanges, you certainly must realize I did not imagine him," I replied.

"We will have to tell the others. They really had a hard time believing that that milk and those gummy squares came from these unseen people," Vax said.

"Hard time believing, or not, I am the captain of this pod; and it is going underground if his people will help," I said.

The words had scarcely left my mouth when all the outside windows went dark.

"Pod 1022 calling Pod 1271, calling Pod 1271, where are you?" the radio called.

"Pod 901 calling Pod 1271, calling Pod 1271, where are you?" the radio called.

"Pod 796 calling Pod 1271, calling Pod 1271, where are you?" the radio called.

I went to the microphone.

"Attention all pods. Our pod has been taken underground by the Xoghfral, the residents of the planet, who have been exchanging foodstuffs with us. There is an enormous storm coming that will blow everything on the surface away. That is why there are no animals on the surface. If you agree, they will also take your pods underground for protection from the wind," I said.

"Agreed, Pod 1022, and out.

"Agreed, Pod 796, and out.

"Agreed, Pod 901, and out.

We opened our door to find that our pod was sitting in a huge natural cavern; and we could see the other pods more or less the same distances from us that they had been before. Everyone had come out to examine the cavern. Miraculously the lake was in the same place it had been on the surface, as were the trees, that were around it. There were beds of dirt with the melon vines and the nut trees, just as they had been on the surface.

Where the hills had been that separated us, were thick columns of rock reaching from floor to ceiling. Noticing a door in the side of one of them, I walked toward it, and looked inside. There was a spiral stairway to the surface, which appeared to be more than one hundred or so steps up. How could our pods have travelled through solid rock to get here?

Chapter 3 - An Unexpected Visitor

When I got back to my room in the pod, I was astonished to find Oestl sitting on my bunk.

:I'm sorry to come without asking,: he said. :I have been looking for your mate.:

:My mate? Why, I have no mate, I am not old enough to have a mate. I only am beginning what we call puberty,: I explained.

:Does that mean that your man-tool does not yet function?: he asked, innocently enough.

:Oh, it functions. It just doesn't produce semen yet,: I explained. I didn't quite know why I wasn't embarrassed to death.

:That will happen soon, tonight,: he said. :Will you have a mate then?:

:I don't know anyone well enough for that,: I said, :and we are only boys here.:

:Xoghfral are all boys,: he said.

:All, all? There are no girl Xoghfral?: I asked.

:Not for centuries,: he replied. :They were all destroyed in the first fierce storm after our arrival here. Their Queen refused to come underground with the males; and they all blew away. All males were slaves; and she would not live with slaves.:

:If you have no females, how do you reproduce?: I asked. How could this be?

:We have Magick. Once a moon, a lone male may pass an egg,: he explained. :We have, however, passed our fertility limits. Without new genes, there will be no more of us. When we are gone, there will be no more. Have you females of your kind with you?:

:No, there are no females of our kind here. If you have Magick, why can't you fix this problem with genes?: I asked.

:It is like this,: he said. :Once there were two races, the Amgrofrals and the Xoghfrals. The first, female and the other, male. At some point, they entered into a bargain, due to the same gene problem I have told you about; but the Xoghfrals were made to be slaves in the bargain. Centuries passed until the first great storm, many of the Xoghfral were also lost. Our Mages were able to restore our capability of reproducing ourselves, but not able to create new genes; and there has not been a baby born in over ten of your years.:

:I see,: I said.

:This is why I ask if you have a mate. If not, I would like to be your mate,: Oestl said.

Oestl looked human except for his pointed ears. His curly blond hair and his green cat-eyes were in no way unattractive. His rather muscular body, exposed except for a loin cloth, certainly was something that most boys would kill for. I was no virgin to what he was suggesting, but we were shooting blanks in those days. If indeed, as he said, I would be producing my first sperm tonight, it would mean I could produce sperm as he was actually requesting. I did not have to think about it any more, I would do it.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Oestl disparated (became invisible).

"Vax, what can I do for you?" I asked, opening the door wide enough to admit him.

"Tarl, what will we do here? There are forty-eight boys, no girls, and no adults. What will become of us? I am quite depressed, really, and I was recalling our younger days when we used to... er,..."

"Play around?" I finished.

"Yes!" he replied, quickly.

"I have a guest, Vax. Oestl is here, and he has been explaining to me a dire problem that his people are unable to solve without help," I said. "Oestl, please make yourself visible to my friend, Vax."

Oestl apparated (became visible).

"Oh!" Vat cried. "You are gorgeous!" he said.

:Thank you, if you can hear me,: Oestl said.

Obviously, Vat had heard nothing.

"He says `Thank you'," I told Vat.

"He didn't say anything," Vat said. "His lips didn't move."

"He is a telepath," I explained. "I don't know how I was able to hear him, myself."

:You were able because I wanted you to hear me. You, and you only,: Oestl said.

:I can hardly tell him that, can I? He will think you rude, or,... I don't know,: I replied.

:Tell him that I am very glad to meet him; and ask him to come back later,: Oestl said.

"He says he is very glad to meet you," I said. "Perhaps you should come back a little later?" I whispered.

"All right, I need to do some things before bedtime anyway. It will be late, so I'll see you in the morning," Vax said.

:He wants to be your mate!: Oestl charged. :You have been with him before?:

:When we were seven years old, Oestl. That was a long time ago; and I have no wish to do it again,: I said. :It would not be a good political move for the other members of the crew to find out that we were sleeping together.:

:Do not some of your `crew' sleep together?: he asked.

:I'm certain that they do; but I do not know who goes with whom and I don't want to know,: I replied.

He stepped toward me, and hugged me tightly. I can't deny that I liked it. But it took me by surprise when he kissed me. I was instantly erect.

:You want to be my mate!,: he said.

:Yes, I suppose I do,: I replied.

Since we had agreed on it, we didn't waste any time; and I had to admit to myself--I liked it! I like it a lot!

I was asleep when Oestl left my room, much later. I realized that he probably could teleport; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get into my room in the first place.