Star Bridge (Chaterre Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  Surely Colonel didn’t expect her to eat the filth. She shook her head and shoved it at him. Again, he pantomimed for her to eat.

  Her fingers covered her mouth to hold back the threatening nausea. He picked up the object, pantomimed eating, and handed it back.

  Nimri inched away from the persistent man and glared at the offensive package. If he ate such things, it was no wonder he smelled so bad.

  Colonel cocked his head and studied her as if he considered her the strange one.

  Nimri looked for a polite means of avoiding the nasty mess and noticed he hadn’t given Anthropoid any food. Feeling compassionate and wanting Anthropoid to know she did not want her man any more than she wanted the vile fare, Nimri thrust the package at the tiny woman.

  Anthropoid ignored her and stared at the sun with eyes as silvery and bright as the package.

  Nimri dropped to her knees, bruised forehead flat on the earth and fought not to vomit on the Guardian’s sacred shoes. When her respect was ignored, Nimri rose, laid the package on the ground in front of Anthropoid and inched backward.

  After her nausea passed, she carefully got up. Pleased to discover she could stand unaided, Nimri ventured to take a step. When she didn’t fall, she went to the spot where she’d left her backpack. She opened it, then found her water container and food. Turning back, she discovered Colonel directly behind her. Not knowing what else to do, she thrust a biscuit at him.

  He feinted to his left, as if she were stabbing him and grasped her hand in a crushing grip. She gasped in pain and fell to her knees. The pressure eased. Colonel’s eyes seemed to glitter as much as Anthropoid’s as he studied her. After a moment, he opened her fingers and sniffed her flattened offering. With a contrite grin, he indicated gratitude and took a nibble. His eyes widened in appreciation. He quickly took two large bites, then licked his palm.

  Colonel patted the boulder and looked expectantly at her. At least he seemed to be making an effort to be sociable. But what did he want? Sit on the rock to eat? How was she supposed to get up there when the fractures were newly repaired and still painful? Colonel uttered more gibberish, then he clamped his hands around her waist and lifted her. After gently placing her on top, he vaulted up next to her. “Thank you,” Nimri said. She smiled.

  He nodded.

  She offered him her water container, but he gave her a skeptical look. With difficulty, she removed the top and took a drink. She offered it a second time. He took it and after sniffing the contents, took a sip. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and he took a bigger swallow. She noticed that in the sunlight, his eyes were the color of chestnuts and his rough, short, matted hair reminded her of a mixture of golden wheat stubble and brown barley hulls. Unusual color, but nice. Too bad the texture and length were such an eyesore. She felt certain she’d never seen a grown man with so little hair. Even the few elders, who had gone bald, retained a fringe, which they allowed to grow to its customary length—halfway down their backs.

  None of them stank like a compost heap, either.

  Nimri glanced through the balata leaves at odorless Anthropoid, who still stared at the sun. How long had the poor woman been in that terrible hole? Did she realize that the sun’s light could blind? Had the sun already blinded her; was that why her eyes were silver? The Guardians stood still like that. Was Anthropoid a Guardian? Her hair was white and her skin was sallow, which denoted great age, but her body form was of a woman in her prime and she only had the size of a child. Nimri frowned at all the contradictions, then took another peek. Anthropoid wore her hair in a shoulder-length, which added to her childlike appearance … If Anthropoid stood there long enough, would her back become part of the mountain, as the golden-eyed pair had? Could that be her intention?

  Chapter Five

  Larwin contemplated the woman. Was Nimri the only anthropomorphic in this place? Was she even human? Despite GEA-4’s claims of the woman having broken bones, he knew how appearances could deceive.

  Discovering that the burned-out planetoid had a habitable interior still amazed him.

  And what an interior!

  If he didn’t know better, he’d believe he was on the actual surface of a planet instead of several miles underground in a huge cavern. He’d give anything to know how the scientists managed to get the ceiling to look like a real sky complete with shifting clouds and moving sun.

  And the breeze rustling through the leaves seemed like the most exotic thing he’d ever encountered. Of course, the distant moaning of the wind was eerie, particularly because Nimri tensed and looked toward the trees every time it whined or moaned. What did she know? Did the sound signify danger? Broken machinery? Something worse?

  Unable to discover the answer, he fingered a lacy magenta leaf until its sweet/sour aroma engulfed him. What a wonderful smell. It would be worth a fortune on Guerreterre.

  Again, the wind howled in the distance. Nimri turned toward the sound and shouted back, then she turned toward him, smiled and gestured that they needed to leave.

  So, there was danger.

  She leaped down, nimble as a gymnast. He followed her as best he could. Whoever had designed the ground had done a slipshod job. Rough seemed too kind a word for it. But he’d never complain. Larwin felt too happy to have found this place, especially after resigning himself to death by suffocation.

  Maybe he was still in the cave, surrounded by piles of debris and hallucinating because of oxygen deprivation.

  Maybe he lay dead.

  Maybe this paradise was the afterlife.

  Larwin seriously considered the possibility, but decided it was unlikely since robots shouldn’t achieve immortality; and big as life, the android least likely to enter paradise stood between the two eerie carvings soaking up energy. As GEA-4 shimmered in the light, Larwin wondered if the malfunctioning hunk of scrap could actually utilize an artificial light source to recharge.

  Nimri certainly had a strange home. Due to the odd leaves, Larwin had expected some sort of biosphere dwelling with attached arboretum. Only the very rich of Guerreterre could afford a tree, which they kept in a private arboretum, yet here were hundreds of beautiful trees. Maybe thousands. Being in the midst of such bounty made Larwin’s mouth dry.

  Due to the communication barrier, he’d hoped for more of Nimri’s kind. Not two mute carvings.

  Patience.

  Larwin touched Nimri’s uninjured arm. Instantly, her mysterious green eyes focused on him. He smiled and pointed to his chest. “Larwin.” Then he pointed at her. “Nimri.”

  She pointed at him. “Colonel.”

  He shook his head. “Larwin.”

  She frowned at GEA-4 and he realized how she’d mixed up his title with his name. He gave her a warm smile. “Larwin.”

  “Le Are Win.”

  He smiled and nodded. Next, he pointed at the rock they had sat on and looked at her expectantly.

  “Boulder,” she said.

  The word had a solid sound to it. He repeated the syllables. “BOWL-dar.” The corner of her mouth twitched and her eyes sparkled with laughter, which made him wonder if he’d gotten it wrong, but she nodded indicating agreement.

  The breeze gusted with a horrible howl.

  “Kazza, I’m fine,” Nimri shouted.

  Nimri’s voice command didn’t work and the wind howled again.

  She faced him and gestured awkwardly.

  “What does she want?” Larwin called to GEA-4.

  “Probabilities indicate she wishes us to follow her.”

  Good.

  Clumsily, she tried to fit the pack to her back. He slipped it over his own shoulder. She accepted his help. Much better. He swung his haversack over his other shoulder.

  “GEA-4, it’s time to leave.”

  She bent to pick up the boxes.

  “Leave those,” he said, unwilling to drag around space rations after having real water and heavenly manna.

  Several minutes later, after sliding down steep slopes, scrapping his knuckles on ro
cks and nearly ripping ligaments in the ankle he’d stressed in the crash, they came to the edge of the trees. Suddenly, he could see for miles. Larwin’s breath caught at the sight before him. Stretching his hand forward and closing his eyes, he waited for the infinitesimal tingle associated with a holograph.

  There was none. He looked at the incredible panorama and wondered about the technology. Wind gusted and the trees swayed. No one on Guerreterre had mastered the technique of adding wind to simulated scenery. This engineering was incredible.

  And what a panorama! They appeared to be high on a rugged mountain.

  Could the planetoid be some sort of gigantic geode? Nasty on the outside but filled with magnificence in its hollow core?

  Far off in the valley, he detected the glint of reflected sunlight—most likely a river in a valley. He hadn’t seen land this wild and desolate since he was three and his father had taken him camping on Callanda to catalogue the resources. When they returned, he’d been tested for future vocation and immediately accepted into the military academy.

  Of course, since then, Callanda’s riches had been harvested, and now it looked like most other Guerreterre holdings: barren of botanical life, heavy metals and water. Larwin swallowed, as he ignored the unpleasant thought of that world’s doom.

  “Warning.” GEA-4 emitted a shrieking alarm. “Intruder alert.”

  Larwin turned as a monstrous striped something hurdled down from a house-sized rock and charged, tongue lolling and teeth bared. Reflex action and years of training leaped to his aid. Larwin went down on one knee and had las-gun in hand before he exhaled. He’d have shot the beast between its hungry, amber eyes if Nimri hadn’t stepped in the way.

  Did she have a death wish?

  He moved to knock her aside.

  She stepped forward. His arm hit vacant air and he lost his balance.

  The monster leaped. Nimri did too. Nimri was protecting him. Larwin wasn’t sure what he thought about that.

  The enormous furry thing collided with Nimri, but didn’t knock her over or shred her with its huge teeth. She laughed and hugged it. Its shoulders were as high as GEA-4’s head, and its body was at least two yards long. Yet Nimri behaved with assurance and laughing disregard of the enormous, sharp teeth as the thing nuzzled her ear.

  Larwin sat down hard.

  She gave the monster another clumsy hug. The beast ran its muzzle from the tip of her chin to her ear and rested its neck on her shoulder. The gesture looked oddly affectionate. Could this be some sort of associate?

  Surely, not.

  Who but a planetary emperor could afford such a brute?

  Who but a goddess of war would want such a lethal beast?

  Cold sweat bathed his brow and a chill washed over him. Larwin squinted at the woman and mentally compared her to the sketches he’d seen of Kues, the God of War, but there didn’t appear to be any resemblance.

  The paw spanning Nimri’s waist moved infinitesimally. Larwin squinted and saw six claws emerge, each one long as his entire hand. He tried to scramble to his feet, but a rock beneath his boot rolled and he landed hard on his tailbone. Pain radiated. Involuntarily, he closed his eyes. When he looked, again, no sign of the ripped flesh or the lethal weapons remained. He looked upward. The beast winked at him. “Great Radzuk, what is that thing?”

  “Probabilities indicate it is a companion.”

  Companions were usually androids. Larwin narrowed his eyes and studied the strange thing from its tufted ears to its twitching tail. It was the oddest creature he’d ever seen—and the noisiest. He could hear gears humming. The thing must be an android that needed lubrication. Too bad he didn’t have any oil; he’d lube the gears.

  It was merely a machine. No wonder the woman appeared fearless. Granted it looked stranger than the wackiest Callanda contrivance he’d ever encountered.

  Nimri stroked the companion’s sleek gold, black, and white striped back. Watching her, yet keeping most of his attention focused on the furry thing, Larwin gingerly got to his feet. Realizing the device’s true size and hearing the gear rumble even louder, his relief wavered. Androids, which were improperly cared for, could develop programming faults as well as grinding gears. In the past, before maintenance had become regulated, their own companions had killed some owners. He frowned and wondered if anyone caressed androids. Nimri tickled the thing’s tufted ears and said, “Kazza, this is Larwin and Anthropoid.”

  The kazza made a mewling noise that didn’t sound the least bit mechanical and sounded a great deal like a recording of an enormous cat. Larwin tried to recall all the information he’d ever learned about cats. He was certain he’d never heard of one so large. As he recollected, members of this species were ferocious hunters. Larwin swallowed and reminded himself that shadow warriors did not flinch in the face of any foe. Larwin’s fingers tightened around his las-gun. He took a deep breath and inched his other hand toward the animal.

  The kazza became silent. Watchful.

  Larwin froze and glanced at Nimri. She smiled, took his hand, and placed it on top of the cat’s sun-warmed furry head. Still holding his hand, she tugged it down the glossy shoulder. It was a unique sensation. Nice. Obviously, Nimri touched the cat for pleasure. The cat started rumbling, again. Pleasant vibrations caressed his fingers. Larwin stroked the animal several more times on his own and with each stroke, the low rumble grew louder and his enjoyment increased.

  Larwin could have spent the remainder of the day repeating the remarkable experience, but Nimri tapped his arm. “That way is my home, but it’s very hard. Why am I telling you?” She smiled and made a funny face at the kazza. “The fall must have rattled my mind. I don’t need to tell them—they’re magic and know all.”

  He wished he could understand her.

  Nimri and the kazza began to walk away, then turned back and gestured for Larwin to come. He followed her toward a steep, thin trail, which was sheer rock on his right and bottomless on his left. And as barren as Guerreterre.

  Soon, Larwin realized the trek down the shaft had been fun.

  Hours later, when the four of them reached a small level area scattered with tufts of sparse grass. Nimri insisted on setting up camp. Before all was ready, the artificial sun sputtered out. She shared more of her wonderful food and water with him and the kazza. He could have eaten a mountain of the fabulous stuff, but didn’t ask for more. Until he knew who she was and if she was some unknown goddess, it would be unwise to anger her. Besides, she was beautiful and injured.

  She curled up on the rocky ground and seemed to instantly fall asleep.

  His exhaustion went so deep that his bones felt weak. Larwin followed her example and lay down. The kazza’s big eyes stared at him. He ordered GEA-4 to stand watch, then settled down near a clump of fragrant grass. Tentatively, he touched the fragile foliage, but instead of being soft, the texture felt wiry as twisted rope. He smiled at the leave’s inherent strength.

  The kazza began to rumble. Larwin rolled over and looked at it. The creature was not any sort of technology he’d ever encountered; most androids used solar, a few old fashioned ones operated on alternating current. He’d never heard of any utilizing food and water to refine power.

  The few occasions Larwin closed his eyes, he felt the kazza’s hungry eyes on him. Worse. the last time he’d trusted GEA-4 to guard him; he’d nearly been killed. He sat up, hoping to catch her being slack, but she remained alert. He lay back down and tried to relax, but Larwin neither slept, nor relaxed. Finally, he rolled onto his back and watched the star-filled holograph overhead, which brought back memories of his childhood, when he and his father had gone camping on primitive planets. He also kept the kazza under surveillance, even after it appeared to go into sleep-mode.

  The following morning, they continued their descent. The air grew thicker and more fragrant as a dense green covering of vegetation overtook the rock. The wealth of plant life boggled his mind: some lacy, some like the softest velvet, others stiff like plastoid. The pla
nts were worth more than the emperor’s treasury.

  When the path twisted around a crag, Larwin saw a tree large as a hill. Unable to believe such a thing existed, he blinked. Beyond the tree, there were hundreds more. His legs trembled so violently that he grabbed the sheer wall for support.

  The botanical fortune was unprecedented.

  Nimri pointed. “Sequoia.” She repeated it until he realized it was her word for tree.

  Dazed by his prospects for wealth and prominence, Larwin followed Nimri into the woods. Or was it a forest?

  Just before dusk, they emerged from under a sequoia’s boughs into a wide flat ledge, surrounded by trees on three quadrants and protected by a sheer drop-off on the other. The sudden profusion of colors seemed mind-boggling and the intermingled scents permeated his lungs with heady aroma. An unseen steady drumming sound reminded him of the kazza. The heavy rumble of machinery seemed out of place in this primordial place. He blinked and tried to make sense of his overwhelmed senses. Flowers bloomed everywhere. Tiny white ones, tall purple stalks, yellow trumpets, red ones large as platters.

  He had to be dead. Only Paradise could contain such abundance.

  Except for the mechanical thumping. Were they nearing the source of the planetoid’s power?

  Larwin would have asked, but just then, in the middle of the vibrant clearing, he saw a structure the likes of which he’d never imagined. He shaded his eyes and squinted.

  It appeared to spiral up the lone tree trunk at the clearing’s center. On Guerreterre, several wealthy families owned indoor gardens called arboretums. However, they kept small plants indoors away from the harmful effects of pollution and ultra-violet light. He’d never imagined a tree could utterly dwarf a house, assuming the coiling structure actually was a dwelling.

  The tree trunk looked at least twenty-five yards in diameter. In the fading light, he couldn’t be sure where its branches started, but the first was at least one hundred yards above ground and presided over the entire vista with regal splendor.

  This was a cosmos apart from anything on Guerreterre, except for the fanciful drawings in a child’s fairytale. The lowest level opened out into the garden and had smoke coming from a stone chimney. The roof looked like a huge slab of bark, and made the structure appear to be part of the tree.