The Cold Dead Earth (The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Book 3) Read online

  “We need fuel for heat,” said Jolo.

  “Well, shite on that. Let’s go git some,” he said. “Barring any success on that venture, I propose we freeze-dry fat boy here and use him as fuel.” Greeley rubbed Barth’s shoulders. “Yeah, plenty of good fuel right here.”

  Just then Katy’s voice came over the comm. “Greeley, don’t eat the ice. It hasn’t been tested yet.”

  Greeley took another long lick and then bit off the end for good measure. “Tastes fine to me,” he said.

  “You think you and George can get the Argossy upright again?” Jolo said to Barth.

  “Sure,” Barth said. “But I’d rather be out hunting for a fuel source.”

  “Naw. Greeley and I will go.”

  Greeley’s eyes lit up. “Field trip!” He ran off to get his gear.

  “Pack light!” Jolo yelled after him. “Two days of fed green and all the warm weather gear you got. And don’t get too excited, we ain’t leavin’ just yet.”

  Barth and George righted the ship by removing the other landing pad. The rear pad had conveniently sunk deeper in to the ice so the ship was almost on level ground. Jolo had George scan the surface and it appeared solid enough. Below them was about three meters of ice and beneath that shale, rock and lime.

  Katy eyed the scan and frowned.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Two things. One, I can’t scan much more than a hundred meters in any direction. We’re on solid ground here but I don’t know what’s out there. They both stared at the main screen into the gray mist. And there’s also some sort of odd biological deposits here,” she said, pointing at the screen, “here, and here.” Jolo couldn’t make much out of it, just two slightly darker sections.

  “Hmmm. Will it burn?” said Jolo.

  “Good idea.”

  “Okay, while Greeley and I are checking things out topside, see if you can get a sample of the bio stuff. If we can burn it or eat it, that’d be huge.”

  “Captain, I suggest you wait until morning before departing. It’s getting colder by the minute,” said George.

  “Do we have a solid idea about what time it is and where we are on the planet?” said Jolo.

  “Given our entry point and trajectory, and factoring in the random nature of the hyper—gravity vacuum on the way down, I’d say we did pretty well. We are only about eighteen kilometers from our intended target point: 33.247876 degrees latitude and -83.441163 degrees longitude,” said George. “North America, in a sector of land formerly referred to as, uh…” He smiled and looked up at Jolo. “They called this place Georgia.”

  “Nice.”

  “I’d say it’s about one hour until dark.”

  Jolo plugged the numbers into his internal computer. The remote wrist comm fed the data to his processor and he generated a simple map with two points: home and destination.

  “You aren’t going for the target tomorrow, are you?” said Katy.

  “No, I’m just going to get a lay of the land.” He didn’t mention the fuel issue.

  That night Jolo shared his quarters with Katy, Barth and Greeley. George, Koba and Hurley stayed in Koba’s quarters. Heating just two sections of the ship would save fuel. It was Koba’s idea but by the grumbling down the hall Jolo wondered how long this arrangement would last.

  Katy and Jolo shared a bunk, her head resting on his chest.

  “That’s against Fed regs,” said Barth.

  “We’re just doing our part to conserve energy and keep warm,” said Katy. “You and Greeley should snuggle.”

  “Come on, Big Boy,” said Greeley, laying on a makeshift bunk.

  “What’s the status, Barth?” said Jolo.

  “Maybe we should talk later?” Barth nodded towards Katy, nearly asleep with her eyes closed.

  “Tell me,” Jolo said.

  “Well, there’s the fuel thing.”

  “Yeah, an’ we’re gone fix that tomorrow,” said Greeley.

  “Keep it down over there and let the adults talk,” said Jolo. “Ok, let’s assume we figure out the heat issue, from what you’ve seen so far, you think we’ll be able to find another fuel cell on a dead ship?”

  “What heat issue?” said Katy, sitting up a little.

  “We all gone die soon on account of the cold,” said Greeley.

  “No we’re not,” said Jolo. “So you think we can find another cell?”

  “I hope so,” said Barth. “And that’s still our best option. Too many boats get sucked down. There’s got to be some cells somewhere.”

  “Ok. Then we are good to go for tomorrow.” Jolo started to close his eyes.

  “One more thing,” said Barth.

  And Jolo could tell by the sound of his voice he wasn’t going to like it.

  “Remember when we lost power right before crash landing?”

  “You mean the controlled high-speed descent?” said Katy.

  “Yeah, that,” said Barth. “Well, Hurley’s been down in engineering going over the engines, the logic boards, the fuel cell connections and…”

  “And what?” Jolo said.

  “Well, he can’t get the Argossy’s engines to wind up.”

  “The engines won’t spin up?” said Katy, gripping Jolo’s arm so tight he could feel her nails clawing into him.

  “No. But everything else looks fine,” Barth said, trying to soften the blow. “He just can’t get them to turn over.”

  Jolo let out a deep breath of air. “Ok. I want you, Hurley and George to get on that first thing tomorrow. Katy, you and Koba work on the bio shite.”

  “What’s bio shite?” said Greeley.

  “It’s what we’re gonna eat when the Fed green runs out,” said Katy. “If we ain’t froze to death first.”

  “No heat. No fuel. Engines don’t work. Sounds like a typical farked up situation,” said Greeley, his eyes closed and face calm.

  Jolo let out a sigh.

  Katy put her hand on Jolo’s chest and looked him in the eye. “Other people came here out of greed or stupidity. We came because we’re trying to save the Federation.”

  “You’re right,” said Jolo, wishing he and Katy were alone. “We’ll make it.” He pulled her close. “We always do.”

  Ice

  Two hundred meters out onto the hard pack and Jolo couldn’t see the Argossy anymore. He and Greeley trudged along, flat, gray cold all around as far as the eye could see. The only thing pinning them to home was the little comm unit and the readout on Jolo’s internal computer. The Argossy was a small green triangle and he and Greely a tiny blue blip slowly moving in a southerly direction. Koba and George figured they had a good ten kilometer range.

  That morning, Jolo and the crew had eaten a spartan breakfast of fed green and a few hundreds mils each of the good remaining water. “Take the battle suits to keep you warm,” Katy had said. They had four Fed issue suits fully charged.

  “No can do,” said Jolo. “Might need them later. If it gets too cold then we’ll come back.” But now, trudging over the ice, wearing every bit of clothing he had and even Barth’s extra large Fed issue winter coat he never wore, Jolo still felt the chill air creeping in. He wished he had Merthon’s special suit he used when he rescued Barth on the ice harvester. But that, along with almost everything they all owned, had burned up with Duval. He could hear Katy’s voice in his head right then: “But we’ve got each other.” She was right.

  Greeley had started out jovial and confident. But had started to grow silent with each passing kilometer. Soon he was grumbling about having to leave the hover bike behind to make room for the extra fuel cells. Jolo reminded him they’d be stranded out in space with no fuel if they’d have kept the bike.

  Jolo scanned the horizon sure he’d spot something: a tree, a downed ship, or even a bit of earth not covered in ice. But his handheld scanner continued to show nothing underneath them or around them. Just ice and rock. In some sections the ice was deep beneath them and Jolo would go on ahead first, but it was alw
ays solid. By midday, just before the sky started to turn orange, Jolo knew it was time to turn back. The computer calculated they were 13.4 kilometers from the Argossy and the comm unit signal was getting weaker with each step they took.

  Greeley’s face was grim and determined. Betsy hung from its strap on his back, and out there in the cold it seemed utterly useless. There was nothing to see, nothing to burn, nothing to eat. Nothing to shoot.

  Greeley sat down on the ice and took a sip of water, his eyes still glued to the horizon line. Jolo sat down, too. They’d been going for 3 hours 42 minutes and a few minutes rest would be good before they turned back for home. Jolo bit off a piece of dry brown protein bar and handed the rest to Greeley. They both chewed slowly, their jaw muscles cold and numb. Jolo stared out into the gray and saw nothing. And with each minute that passed, his eyes watery and his limbs frozen, he started to think maybe Trant was right. No one returns from Earth. Who was he to think he was any different?

  A few more minutes and then we turn for home he thought. He could go farther than Greeley, and if he was hurting, the big man must be really in pain. But if he was he didn’t show it.

  Suddenly Greeley stood up, pointing out into the distance. “Glint!” he yelled.

  “Huh?”

  “GLINT! Eleven o’clock!” Greeley was smiling again, suddenly energized.

  Jolo stood, staring through the binoculars into the southern horizon. They both scanned in the direction Greeley was pointing to. But nothing.

  Greeley stumbled forward, and fell into the ice. “I seen it, Cap’n. A glint!” A little less energized than before. “I seen it, Cap’n.”

  “Well. It ain’t there now and we got to go back or we’ll die in the cold.”

  “We’ll die if’n we don’t find something to eat or burn.” He paused a moment, and licked his dry, wind-burned lips. “Or burn then eat. But right now after seeing nothin’ for going on half a day I’ll take the glint.” He grabbed his pack, slung it over his back. “I’m headin’ thataway.” He pointed roughly towards their eleven o’clock.

  Jolo watched the big man stomp off into the nothingness. He wanted to believe Greeley had seen something, but didn’t want to die for nothing. Greeley started to get smaller. Jolo wasn’t going to force him back, didn’t think he had the strength right then.

  “Come on, Greeley,” Jolo yelled. “Git your ass back here!”

  Greeley stopped and turned around. “I ain’t goin’ back no more,” he yelled. “Not after my brother died. Not after Duval. Not after living on that rat-infested Fed boat. I’m disobeyin’ orders so you got full rights to shoot me. So you do what you gotta do. Just make sure its a good kill shot so I don’t have to linger on the doorstep too long.” Greeley started walking again.

  Jolo was torn. If Greeley died because he was a fool then the crew could still live. But he couldn’t bear the thought of dying to save a fool and leaving Katy and the rest to fend for themselves. This was his stupid idea. He kicked at the ice.

  Then he looked up and right over Greeley’s shoulder he saw something. A spark. Blue, maybe greenish. It flashed on, and was gone again.

  “I seen it again, Cap’n!” Greeley yelled.

  Jolo took a few steps towards the spot where he’d seen the flash.

  “More of a spark, now!” yelled Greeley.

  “Yeah. I saw it!” yelled Jolo. Then it flashed again, and Jolo started running with all of his speed. Soon he caught up to Greeley and the blue flashes had become more solid, more real, the closer they got. Jolo was nearly running full out but noticed Greeley falling behind. There was something out there and he was going to find it. Was it humanity? All those trapped by the force that pulled them in from the atmosphere. There must be others here.

  But suddenly the flashes stopped and Jolo slowed down. He looked back and at first couldn’t see Greeley at all. Then slowly but surely the shape of the big man came into view. He was walking, one heavy foot in front of the other. Determined.

  “It stopped,” he said, a few minutes later when he’d made it up to Jolo. He was breathing heavy and parts of his beard were frozen.

  Jolo checked his internal computer for the first time since they started running. The map was there but the marker for the Argossy was gone. They were out of range. Jolo knew they’d been out too long but if they turned for home now they could get back inside the comm’s range and find their way back to the ship before dark. He turned towards the north and held his wrist comm in the air, but nothing. Still no readout.

  “Let’s go back,” he said to Greeley. But Greeley was gone. Still heading south. Greeley was walking so slow and labored it scared Jolo. He didn’t think he could carry the big man home but he’d try if it came down to it.

  “Come on, Greeley!” Jolo yelled. But Greeley didn’t stop. “I’m ‘onna leave you!” Jolo just watched him go. “You gone die out here for what? Bein’ dumb and stubborn gone get you killed. I’m really gonna leave you.” Jolo turned and walked back north a few steps then stopped. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t leave him.

  “Captain!” came a yell. Greeley was about fifty meters off by then. “Captain! I found… I found something.”

  Jolo ran up, and there, face down and half buried in the ice, a blaster a meter or so away from his outstretched arm, was a man.

  Jolo knelt down and tried to turn him over but he was frozen in place. “Don’t fret none, Captain. That man is officially gone gone,” said Greeley.

  Jolo got one of his cold fingers out of his glove and tried to find a pulse but the man’s skin was cold. Together, he and Greeley turned him on his back, his whole body stiff, one hand still reaching out for the blaster that lay off to the side. Jolo picked up the gun. It was old. “Never seen one like that,” said Greeley. “Dang thing ain’t even got a safety or a bio-sensor.”

  “Been modified, too.” There were wires coming out of the handle that connected to a small black box glued to the side. “External power source.”

  Jolo tossed it back on the ground and a second later it flashed blue.

  “It’s a beacon,” said Jolo. Jolo pulled the power source off the handle. “Don’t want to attract any attention. We don’t know if he was lost or was looking for something.”

  “Or being hunted,” said Greeley. They both stood looking at the frozen man, his face full of fear, his eyes wide open.

  The dead man’s jacket was ragged and torn, but on the inside Greeley found an old insignia sewn in to an inner pocket. “Looks like Fed, but different.” It had the same triangular shape as the current Fed markings but this one had a blue circle behind it.

  Jolo pulled up all the Federation graphics on his computer. “We’ve never seen it because it’s before our time. The blue circle was an homage to humanity’s dead planet: Earth.”

  Greeley stood up and stretched his back. “Well. What we gone do with Frosty, here?”

  Jolo pulled out the scanner again and found nothing except a rock formation a few meters off, that, and more of the dark spots Katy had found earlier.

  Greeley sighed. “That was awful anti-climatic.”

  Jolo inspected the man’s clothing and found a small cloth pouch with some dark brown, almost black, rectangular-shaped blocks inside. Other than the jacket, the old blaster and the pouch, the man had nothing on him except old, torn clothes. His boots had been patched with a smooth leather.

  Jolo held up one of the black chunks. “I bet you can eat this or burn it. What you think?” He tossed one to Greeley.

  Greeley sniffed it. “Smells like three-legged arthrocant dung.”

  “You wish. One arthrocant could feed us all for a good long time.”

  “Well, only one way to find out.” Greeley bit off a big chunk and started chewing. His face squinched up a little at first, but then he settled in and swallowed. “Dang, Cap’n. I ain’t never had a bite of shite before, but that’s gotta be close.” He took another bite. “An’ I’m gettin’ a little warmer inside.” He finished the w
hole thing and took a swig from his water bottle.

  “So you think it’s food.”

  “I wouldn’t’ve eaten the whole thing had I thought otherwise. It’s bio, so I imagine you could burn it in a pinch. But I figure it’s some kind of food. Makes Fed brown dog taste like steak, but it goes down.”

  Jolo took a bite. It was almost like eating dirt, but there was something else. And just like Greeley, he felt warmer, too, after eating it.

  “Why didn’t we pick him up on the scanner?” said Greeley.

  “Too far off, can’t see. Then dead and cold, still can’t see.”

  “You wanna head home?”

  “Naw. We’d freeze in the dark before we got there. Somebody thought it’d be a good idea to run us right out of range.” Jolo looked up at the sky. It had turned a dirty orange, the ice around them brown now instead of gray like before.

  “Well. We dang sure as hell found a… found a…” he kicked the dead man with his boot. “A dead guy. Shite!”

  “That’s somethin’, Greeley. There’s people here. He ain’t the only one I imagine. We gotta camp. There’s a rock formation close by. Barth packed us some gear in case we had to overnight it.”

  “If we freeze in the night I imagine I’ll wake up in hell where it’s nice and warm,” said Greeley.

  Jolo pulled out the thin sheet and two alacyte rods that turned into a makeshift tent. The tent skin felt like the cold suit Merthon made for him when he rescued Barth on the ice harvester.

  Pretty soon they were both inside. Jolo had positioned them under a rock formation thinking there may be some residual heat. But laying there freezing in the tent next to a foul-breathed, grumbling mercenary, the rocks didn’t seem to help. Jolo tossed and turned, his body just cold enough so that sleep would not come.

  Finally he crawled out of the tent and was surprised to see that darkness had come on them quickly. He made his way over to the dead man, feeling with his hands because he couldn’t see a thing in the pitch black, and pulled off his frozen jacket. He shook it off and crept back into the tent.