Alone

by H.D. Weikle

  

                                                                        Illustration: H.D. Weikle - PS, NASA, D5 Render

With admiration to John W. Campbell

Part 1, Arrival

It rose dimly at first, just over the plane of the star’s horizon, faintly blue and clouded. It gave the impression of a living planet. Unlike so many others he had explored this one promised life, perhaps even intelligent life. 

“Not his kind,” he imagined, “but still.”

The ship began a series of subtle course corrections, all automated, to come in line with the orbital path of the planet, slowing to match trajectory and speed so that by the time he arrived there would be little to no need for him to take control of the final approach and landing. 

He had no way of telling how long he had been still, not sleeping for he could not sleep, just not moving. He knew the ship would take care of him, that’s what it was designed to do, become a lifeboat keeping his metabolism sustained and protecting him from harm, environmental or biological. The question was still, how long had he been immobile? His natural condition was movement, adjustment, adaptation, he was not comfortable without the changes his kind were constantly exercising. It is how they learned, how they explored, how they survived, alone. For countless eons his species had explored the universe touching endless worlds, absorbing the knowledge, tasting life in its myriad forms. It was their metabolism, how they survived as a species, not by reproduction which only led to genetic degradation and ultimately, extinction. 

He had not seen another of his kind in centuries, but then they were a long lived race and over millennia likely became scattered throughout the universe, it was hard to know. Besides, he thought, better to explore alone, without companionship rather than have to contend with the unpredictability of another will. 

He remained still, dreaming of his god form and listening for the telltale rhythms of his body as they reinitiated. He could tell it was cold here and dry, which he understood automatically to mean that this planet was alive, not dead, not lifeless just temporarily frozen. Perhaps  it had found a planet in a region of space too far from its star or its orbit had changed due to some exterior forces, maybe the local star was dying, perhaps… perhaps… maybe. One thing he was sure of though, there was life here and so he remained unconcerned as the ship slowly reanimated his body and he returned to full consciousness. 

Part 2, The journey begins

Outside the now half buried ship his senses began to signal, tracking, scent, hearing, tuning to this landscape: frozen, white, undisturbed and most importantly he sensed the magnetic flux in the environment, every direction was south, he had landed at the northernmost pole of the planet. There were mountains in the distance, he would head there, there would be open water and difficult terrain there which would be a draw for other species offering shelter, perhaps sustenance and certainly an elevated vantage point from which to survey this frozen world and begin his measurements, daylight intervals, season and meteorology. 

He maintained a steady pace toward the horizon aware that darkness was falling and it would soon be cold. Although his body could withstand extreme cold he was not impervious to metabolic changes that would slow him down, too slow and he would become torpid as his system closed in on itself to protect essential cellular activity, gene processing and brain function; he would lose a full cycle of dark light not to mention progress. He quickened his pace hoping to reach higher ground by daybreak.

Something moved in the darkness, preceded by a heavy wet mist, heat and a splintering tear in his skin then a crushing blow from the left. 

He could smell the hunger, there was no confusion in this. His body reacted instinctively tendriling his attacker, exploring its body, immobilizing and communicating. In an instant it was over. 

They would join.

He took a moment to scan the sight, there were no others, and continued his march not concerned with the tensioning cold, he had a warm white coat now.

The other, his companion now, was the first he had encountered, Roughly twice his own mass it possessed an impressive array of formidable weapons, claws, teeth, a set of four articulated limbs which he found were well adapted to this terrain. He would make better time now. Each limb was padded to grip the ice and the front two were webbed which would be useful in the liquid expanse ahead. Its senses were not as keen as his own but he left them intact on the chance that they met another of its kind, perhaps a chance to communicate.

There was a central nervous system transmitting low voltage electrical signals from a nexus in the skull to various muscles, organs and something he could not identify, a tightly convoluted mass of nerve tissue behind its eyes that seemed to have no function. He decided to save that and examine it more closely when he had a chance.

There was one other thing, it was female. He had seen this before on other worlds; it meant these creatures multiplied by cellular division not cellular assimilation. He would have to be careful.

By mid morning he had reached the summit of the nearest mountain. Immediately ahead lay a vast open body of liquid water filled with frozen shards of ice sloughed off the snow pack. As he examined the shore line in more detail he saw a thin column of smoke rising from some sort of artificial structure, a group of them in fact. It smelled of life.

He lay down on the snow and waited for the dark, letting his companion sleep. 

Part III Assimilation

As the planet’s rotation cycle neared completion and light and warmth slowly returned to this place he became aware that the other was returning to consciousness. It was confused, anxious, almost desperate to reawaken as it struggled against his grip. The obligate symbiosis of course meant that there was no place to go, no place outside that is, no place safe. Over time the other would lose any self awareness and join his matrix as had so many others. There was just one more task he would require of it.

With a cold wind steadily rising off the sea as dawn returned to the frozen landscape a lone figure stood silhouetted, glowing white against the starlit void. The hunger returned to possess and direct the bear' instinct to explore. 

Moving cautiously the carnivore approached the objects along the shore. The smell of smoke and pungent animal activity sharpening its senses while at the same time driving it forward. There would be food here if he could only isolate it, a single blow and then to drag it away to a private place, to tear and consume. He became for this short time independent of his captor, unaware of the encounter he had experienced the day before or where he had slept that night. Now he was focused beyond himself to one end, he must eat to survive.

An unfamiliar wailing assaulted him carried by the wind, no, not the wind, it came on its own from the objects ahead, a clear animal wale punctuated by barking, an excited barking that was meant to alert. Now he could smell the rich smell of warm blood, the blood of an ancient enemy that hunted in packs and once terrorized his kind but no longer. This land was too cold for these hunters to survive without shelter. Now they became his salvation, food. He quickened his pace forgetting all-together that more than this prey he was himself prey, but prey to what. For a split second uncertainty crossed the hunter’s mind but just as quickly it passed and he knew what his goal was, his ancient enemy waited ahead.

Part IV The Battle

The bear found the wind and slowly began its approach, circling to adjust itself downwind of the nervous pack while being careful to maintain his position against the blue-white background of the dimly lit snow field.

The host was impressed, he had hunted all his life but never with such refinement  

of motion or degree of stealth. He had always relied on speed and irresistible force, quickly subduing his prey and then taking his time to learn its secrets, absorb it and make it part of him. This was different, he would remain invisible and outside the fray, disguised by his captive and witness how the bear fought this enemy. He would learn.

Forty yards out, he could cover that distance in under the time it would take the pack to circle a defensive stand, three running strides and he was among them fangs exposed, curled muzzles menacing, slashing tearing, muscles straining flesh rendered, the smell of hot red blood stained the fresh fallen snow crimson in the pale dawn light.

It was over as fast as it had begun. Two enemies would never rise again; three fell back whimpering mournfully, a sixth quivering desperately, gripped mercilessly in his powerful jaws. 

Lights, voices, a new sound, a new presence flooded the ground around him. A smell he understood instinctively. Immediately there was a change in the bear’s calculus. He had held that smell before and he knew it was to be avoided. He stood briefly, dropping the now dog to bear his teeth. Ten foot tall eyes menacing to snarl a  brief defiance at the men who were rushing forward. He dropped to all fours to run just as the first explosion erupted from one of the men’s rifles. He was dead instantly, before the other could grasp what had happened he was exposed to the full glare of this new creature’s lights and smells. He had no time to calculate the approaching threat. Tendriling the stricken animal he held he disappeared masking himself in the dog’s unconscious form and ran knowing instinctively what the dog knew, he could outrun this new creature if he had to. For now he would allow their approach, he must comprehend their existence, know them and as they bent to examine the bear he stirred slightly letting out a gurgled moan. One of the creatures picked him up as he resisted the impulse to absorb it; he was carried into a nearby structure. It was warmer here and the light much dimmer. He heard voices though he could not understand yet what they said. He became aware of the dog climbing out of its stupor and moved a tendril to control its mobility. The dog was of no consequence now, just a safe place from which to observe this new surrounding and the creatures who had so easily defeated the bear. 

He would keep the dog alive for now, he let it sleep.

Part V Survival

Over millennia and through vast regions of the galaxy he had learned that survival often depends as much on others as it does on self. This is why it was reasonable to surmise his kind chose the life they did, searching, studying for the most part alone but always seeking others, watching them, learning, sometimes taking them over, assuming their appearance, their responses but ultimately abandoning them. In all his sojourn he had never assumed another was superior to his kind and so his search continued…alone.

Laying still on the damp floor this was such a time. He was his captor, the dog, subdued and asleep while he explored this new environment and the two legged creatures that inhabited it. If he allowed the dog to roam beyond this enclosure perhaps he might have the opportunity to learn what the other creatures were, perhaps even tendril one and explore its sense, how it functioned. Still, he reasoned, he had seen one of them kill the bear with ease and he should proceed with caution. He let the dog wake up. It was calmer now, its wounds beginning to heal. He directed a plaintive whimpering sound as though it needed reassurance and soon one of the others arrived to check there were a series of touches, some vocalization and the dog responded. The new creature stood and the dog followed.

The environment was internal to this new structure, warm corridors led to other interior spaces each with a different atmosphere, smell and, he surmised, purpose. Eventually the dog took him to a room occupied by several of the new creatures, they acted surprised by the dog’s presence and he could detect in some a suspicion even fear. He decided to adopt a wait-and-see posture and let the dog take control of what happened next. The other who had responded to the dog initially returned him to the previous enclosure where now there were several of its species resting. 

 

He hadn’t much time.

Part VI Home - To be continued…