Chapter 42 - The Kraken Gate
Millicent Onacar filled three small glass jars, stowing them in her backpack, then the two parties set off in opposite directions. Benjamin’s squad had to traverse a flat stretch of ground a hundred paces across before they could begin climbing up the other flank. We began to pick our way up the gentle slope on our side almost immediately. Although there was no path, the going was quite easy. A few times we had to go around thickets of stunted, muddy-yellow trees or boulders the size of small houses. We noticed insects, perhaps flies, or something similar, and now and then we were buzzed by things that looked like dragonflies. There were tufts of coarse, brown grass, some of which sprouted finger-width flower stalks that rose to a bloom of tiny, star-shaped, ice-blue flowers.
‘Oh, look!’ Millicent Onacar pointed at a tiny brown creature sunning itself on the rocks. ‘It looks a bit like a lizard.’ Mahkran was just behind us.
‘Stay away from its tail,’ he said. ‘It reminds me of a scorpion.’
‘Strange,’ I put in. ‘It’s got the body of a reptile, with four legs, but the curving tail of a scorpion. We should call it a scorpizard.’
‘It’s not that strange,’ said Millicent, as we resumed our climb. ‘There’s an emerging theory that creatures evolve to fill particular ecological gaps. This isn’t my field, Mr. Evershed will be able to tell you more, but from what I understand, if you were to start with two identical empty planets and populate one with goats and one with, say dogs, after ten million years, a whole range of different types of goats and dogs would exist on both planets, but would have very similar attributes depending on the niche they occupied.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, some would have taken to living along the sea shore, perhaps swimming to catch crabs or eat seaweed. Regardless of whether they were descendants of goats or dogs, to thrive and raise each successive generation, they would have to be better than their cousins and second cousins.’
‘That idea don’t sit well with me,’ Private Yates called back over his shoulder. He had moved up to take the lead. ‘We were all created by Draxil and Aripole. That’s what the Duallit Path teaches. Do you mean that these goats and dogs would grow gills, like fish?’
Millicent laughed. ‘Well, that’s a dramatic leap to make, and quite hard to imagine how something like that would come about. It would be easier to imagine that those with bigger, wider hooves or feet would be able to swim further and faster, or those with bigger lungs would be able to stay under water for longer. Those changes in physiognomy would be similar on both worlds, and importantly, different to changes the same animals would have undergone living in, say a forest environment.’
Mahkran was close behind and paying a keen interest. ‘So the goats would still look like goats but with big hooves and the dogs would still look like dogs but with large paws.’
‘Right,’ agreed Millicent. ‘But countless generations later, the changes would make them look more and more similar and less like their original dog or goat forebears.’
‘It sounds like dangerous nonsense to me,’ grumbled Yates.
We’d been going for about half a bell before we hit the steep escarpment that formed the ridge proper. From here, the way became more of a scramble and the effort made it hard to talk. I paused once to catch my breath. Millicent Onacar did likewise and looked back the way we’d come.
‘Hey, look! Clouds,’ she said, suddenly excited.
There was a thin band of purplish clouds on the horizon to the south.
No one had yet seen rain on Ganeton, but even this dry terrain had to get water sometimes. I tried to work out whether the clouds would catch us before we returned through the gate, but they were too far away to gauge their speed. I was far less enthusiastic about a soaking than the hydrologist was. Check them again later, Connie. Finding our way back to the portal through a downpour might be tricky.
Eventually we crested the scarp, blowing with the effort. Looking back down to where we’d come from, it was impossible to see the exact spot where Banks and Overstrand waited for us. Another valley, much wider than the one we’d come from stretched out over the other side. Its floor was a sizeable, ochre-coloured plain with a wooded area towards the middle. Some of the treetops swayed high above the rest of the canopy on impossibly spindly trunks.
‘The wind must be stronger down there,’ said Yates. ‘The tops of those trees are swaying.’
Mahkran peered for a moment and then swore in his native tongue.
‘What is it?’ I asked, trying not to get alarmed.
‘I don’t think they’re trees,’ replied Mahkran. ‘They’re not just swaying, they’re moving.’
My eyesight wasn’t as good as Mahkran’s. I got my telescope out again and sat down on a jutting rock. With my elbows stabilised on my knees I scanned the canopy then gasped in astonishment.
‘It’s a herd of animals, huge like mastodons, but four or five times larger, with wide, flat heads and no tusks or trunk. Each of them has a tree, or something sprouting from the centre of its back…a thin, thin trunk…more like a tether, two hundred hands long, and at the top…’ I struggled to describe what I was seeing. Millicent held out her hand so I passed the telescope to her.
‘Draxil be praised!’ she cried. ‘You are right Ms. Derringer. There are some young among them that only have a thin cord, fifty to a hundred hands long, with what looks like a simple ballon at the top, but the adults have a sack the size of an airship covered in pustules. Imagine a gigantic bunch of grapes floating in the air, covered thickly in long yellow grass.’
‘Could those things have been attached to them?’ asked Yates.
‘Could be, but it looks more like part of the animal to me, something that grows as the creature ages. I can’t see how the stalk or trunk could be strong enough to support the thing at the top.’ Millicent passed the scope back.
Yates looked thoughtful. ’Maybe Ms. Derringer was right. Perhaps the thing at the top really is floating and held down, tethered by the thing growing out of the creature’s back.’
‘What a shame Dr. Evershed isn’t here to give his opinion,’ remarked Millicent, caustically.
‘Yes,’ I grinned, snapping the telescope shut. ‘He hasn’t mentioned these before. We’d better keep moving though. We’ve got to negotiate a lot of ridge before we start back down the valley. Any sign of the Charg?’
Mahkran took the lead this time and I brought up the rear. I checked our surroundings again before I moved off and tried to imagine surviving in such an unpromising environment. How did you meet your end, Ty? Where are your bones mouldering, assuming they haven’t been devoured?
The traverse was heavy going. Private Yates joked that he’d write to the local council to complain about the lack of footpath or handrail. We spotted other creatures. A closer look at the birds wheeling overhead revealed they had a second, smaller pairs of wings where the birds on Illesin had a tail. On the slopes below us, we caught glimpses of rabbit-sized creatures hopping about the rocks. They might have been rabbits, but the experience with the lizard and the tree-backed mastodons had taught me to expect less obvious candidates.
We hadn’t spotted any Charg by the time we reached the head of the valley, and everyone was beginning to relax. Lieutenant Scott’s squad was nowhere in sight, but we were running out of time for Millicent Onacar to scout the watercourse, so we set off back towards the gate. The terrain was similar to what we’d scaled on the way up, but more jagged and with darker shadows. I didn’t like it much. Any number of nasty surprises could be hiding around the next jumble of boulders. I was pleased to see Mahkran felt the same way, because he was holding his crossbow loaded and at the ready. Private Yates was using his spear like a walking stick to help him over the rough terrain. The thought of Na-Su’s carefully designed weapon being used as a crutch made me unhappy, but at least it would be assembled if he needed.
‘Ms. Onacar, please take my crossbow.’
I had handed the quiver of bolts to her and was loading the weapon when Mahkran called out, his voice sharp and terse.
‘I see the others. They are in trouble.’ He was pointing down the crook of the valley. Benjamin’s party was picking its way back towards the portal, unaware that we were no more than a third of a league behind them. More importantly though, they were unaware that they were being stalked.
‘Charg,’ said Mahkran.
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