Memoirs of Kitty Siam – Trees.
There is unrest in the forest and the creatures all have fled! - Rush
We departed Qualor Station and made our way through the asteroid field then set course for a planet called Pitzal. It was unusual that there was no star associated with this planet. I rummaged through the Annunaki star charts and data bases to find more information on our destination but there was nothing listed other than planetary landing coordinates. Before engaging the FTL drive both Megyn and I took a few shots with the newly install projectile spitting cannon. We blew up a few small asteroids and discovered that the targeting system was slightly off. It was not much of a problem and a few minor software adjustments had the rounds hitting our next targets dead center. For obvious reasons we did not test fire any of the Mentok missiles, but we did a few simulated runs to ensure that there were no targeting issues.
It took a little under fourteen hours for us to arrive in orbit around Pitzal. We circled the planet twice trying to locate our designated landing zone. When we approached Dushambi and Qualor a beacon activated that guided us toward our landing zone. We expected the same here but there was no signal to guide the Koloth in. We went in manually to the coordinates that were listed on our flight plan but when we found ourselves over the proposed landing zone we found the area covered with red and black flowing magma. I contacted Sheba to confirm we were on the right planet and she replied that she was in contact with the facility and that maintenance bots were standing by to service our ship. That short conversation told me that the facility was under ground like the ones on Galora, Angkor, and Anora Prime but the lava flow had sealed the landing bay doors rendering the facility below useless to us as a rest stop.
We made one more low level orbit of the planet looking for a safe place for us to camp out for a few hours, but Megyn's sensors told her that due to planet wide volcanic activity the atmosphere was unable to support human life due to the toxic volcanic gasses that were circulating around the planet. We decided at that point to find another location to spend our rest period.
There were three other planets in the system but none of them were capable of sustaining human life. Megyn adjusted her scanners to search for habitable planets instead of hostile vessels and after about an hour of cruising about aimlessly she found an uninhabited planet capable of supporting human life that was close by. I set course and engaged the FTL drive. In a few minutes we settled into a low orbit. Megyn scanned the planet as we made our first full trip around the globe and confirmed the existence of life, but no life signs that could be considered humanoid or intelligent. Megyn found us a landing zone in a grassy field near a large fresh water lake on one of the southern continents and that is where we made our landing.
Together we set up a two-person tent that we found in the compartment marked "Survival Gear." Included with the tent were two lightweight sleeping bags, which we also made use of. We set up camp and built a small area for a fire pit near the tent. We really did not need a fire, but it was a nice touch and it made us feel a bit like pioneers. We also did not need the fire to keep away the predators since we planned on extending the Koloth's shields around our little camp while we slept. I suppose we just wanted to enjoy the pioneer experience for a few hours. Megyn made a few jokes about a guy named "John Wayne" but the reference was lost on me. I think she was doing an imitation of him when she deepened her voice and told me, "Ya better find us some firewood pilgrim!"
I changed out of my flight suit and into my comfy lightweight cargos, t-shirt and hiking boots combination. It seemed like a pretty good combination to go traipsing through the brush while foraging for firewood. Megyn changed clothing also before she began arranging rocks for a small fire pit. From her duffle bag she pulled out a cut off pair of cammo shorts and an OD green t-shirt to wear. Once a Marine, always a Marine I hear people say. I bring this up because she was the driving force behind setting up this camp. I would have been just as happy to stretch out on the wing of the Koloth, but Megyn was into this so I went along with it to keep my back back-seater happy.
I came back with my arms full of wood that I picked up from the ground just beyond the tree line. There was no need to climb a tree to hack off a few limbs when there was plenty of dead wood for the taking. While I was off foraging my feline sense of smell detected a whiff of something that smelled like prey. Since we went through all this trouble collecting firewood and building a fire pit, we might as well have something to roast over that fire. Before I set off on my hunt I looked around for Megyn and found her shorts and t-shirt laying on a rock beside the lake. Figuring that she was taking a swim or a quick bath I transformed into feline form and went after a small snack for the two of us.
About fifty yards or so into the woods I was hot on the trail of whatever it was I was hunting. To me it sort of smelled like bacon so that was a good enough reason for me to keep going. I came to a small clearing and there was my snack grazing on the grasses and weeds that grew there. I set off on a dead run and I had covered about half the distance between the tree line and my prey before it noticed me charging towards it. The small pig-like creature let out a loud squeal of fright before it turned and tried to out run me. Silly piggy...
I returned to our campsite with a fully dressed and cleaned pig just waiting to be roasted, but Megyn was nowhere to be seen. Her clothing was still on the rock by the lake and I could hear some noises in the brush behind a grove of saplings. To me the noises sounded like a human relieving herself in one of many degrees of constipation. I thought about making a few jokes as my partner took care of her private business but I really was not impressed with the "poop" jokes that I was coming up with so I just let it go and let her do what she was doing in peace.
I fashioned a crude spit out of a few sticks that I picked out of the firewood pile and placed the pig over the fire to begin cooking. My arms and cheeks were smeared with the blood of the creature that I had killed so while the meat was cooking I decided to head down to the lake and clean myself up. I did not have to worry about the blood on my clothing as the wardrobe device automatically cleans and sanitizes each outfit when it is removed.
I waded slowly into the water until I was in a little more than knee deep. I started splashing myself with water as I called out for Megyn to join me. I told her that the water is fine and there is a beautiful view of the moon reflecting off the water that she is missing out on. I did not hear a reply from her as I slipped into the lake a bit more. As I stared at the moon's reflection as it danced on the water between three old dead tree trunks jutting out of the lake I felt a sudden stinging sensation in my right thigh. When I looked down I saw a long thin barbed quill sticking out of my upper thigh. There was a thin trickle of blood running from the wound caused. I tried to pull it free from my leg but that only intensified the pain as the barbs were digging deeper into my flesh and excreting some sort of toxin.
A numbing sensation was beginning to radiate outwards from the wound and I could feel myself going numb from the waist down. I tried harder to pull out the quill, and as I pulled I felt a similar stabbing sensation in on my left side between underarm and breast, and another just below my left shoulder on my back.
I tried to move my legs to get back to solid ground but my legs would not move. As much as I exerted my will upon them, they would not cooperate. As the toxin began to spread through my upper my skeletal muscles began to atrophy. Panic set in and the last thing I wanted to do was to end up face down in the water with useless arms and legs. With the last vestige of mobility that I had left I pitched my body forward by shifting my weight and tried to lunge for solid ground. I fell forward but my momentum was interrupted as a cold wet appendage wrapped around my slender waist and circled around me three times. The thick sucker covered tentacle covered my abdomen from my hips to just below my ribs.
I attempted to scream but as I did I felt something snake its way into my open mouth and press quickly against the back of my throat. This appendage was much thinner than the one that was wrapped around me and was now jerking my naked body out of the water. The tip of the protrusion that was lodged in my mouth tried hard to push its self in deeper while I was doing my best to keep my throat off limits to this invader. In an act of desperation I closed my mouth around it quickly and sunk my teeth into the slimy tendril.