the Runner Read online

CHAPTER 2

  Capture

  As usual, Gry was the first to awaken. He poured his coffee, chewed a green foodstick and stared blankly into the jungle, repeatedly parting his hair and pulling at his rings. Pink beams of light from the rising sun streamed thinly through the brush. The wind was only a warm breeze this early in the morning and the jungle seemed to shimmer in the weak light.

  Then he saw it. His cup stopped just short of his mouth. There was a dark, misty shadow ... moving slowly.

  "Kevn, wake up," he whispered, still staring at the black apparition. The coffee dribbled slowly from his cup onto the cold ground.

  Kevn stirred and slid out of his bag. He saw Gry staring into the jungle, and looked in the same direction. He wiped his eyes, bent forward and stared more intently.

  "The runner!"

  Kevn leaped to his feet and started in pursuit of the black shadow. Gry groaned, dropped his cup and followed reluctantly. They crashed noisily through the bush, leaping awkwardly over fallen trees and stumbling on twisted roots. The black creature disappeared into the dark of the jungle. Kevn and Gry continued, Gry complaining bitterly at each step. When they got their first clear view of the giant, grotesque beast they stopped and looked at each other. Gry muttered in a low voice.

  "Good Earth ... uh, look at the size of that thing!" Then he and Kevn turned, and ran.

  The beast stopped and spun around. Never did it have any reason to be afraid. Nothing on the planet could harm it. It was the master of the jungle. Only the boy was safe from its fearsome jaws - yet, the boy had told it to run before these strangers. The boy had been worried, nervous. But the boy was wrong. The strangers were small, insignificant animals. They were no threat.

  The great black giant lurched in the direction of the retreating animals, howling, gnashing its teeth, grunting. They were heading for the clearing but the beast would catch them and bring them, in pieces. The boy was certainly wrong. These animals were weak, afraid.

  Kevn and Gry could hear the beast howling behind them. Gry kept up a continuous complaint, each sentence punctuating his frantic rush to the camp.

  "We'll never make it ... uh, it'll get us for sure." "Why didn't we just go Home?" "It's gonna get us ... sure enough."

  They reached the camp and clambered onto the ground-car just as the beast emerged from the bush into the small clearing. Even on all fours it was gargantuan. The ashes from the fire burst into a grey cloud as it rushed forward. It reared on its hind legs, shook its enormous head and roared, towering over the g-car. With a resonant whine the car rose several meters into the air. The beast shook its shoulders then raised its huge paws above its head, its claws glinting in the morning sun. The autoarm of the g-car unfolded from its cradle and reached high into the air, claws extended. The beast backed away, whining, confused and cocked its head to each side.

  Where were the small and insignificant animals?

  ______________________________________________________

  "TOM?" said LIZ.

  "Yes?" TOM answered.

  "Another star has vanished. It has been lost for nearly twenty hours and although I have checked the long-range sensors for malfunction and have considered the possibility of spacial interference -"

  "LIZ, please concentrate on the problem at hand."

  "But don't you think that is strange? Several stars, gone, and they all lie in the Phrinene sector."

  TOM walked to the console and tapped lightly at the computer tabs. The screen remained blank. Kevn and Gry had not reported in for over 10 hours and he was worried - or at least as worried as an android could be.

  "LIZ, have you heard anyth-thing from Kevn or Gry?"

  The ship computer answered in a lilting voice. "No TOM, I haven't."

  "Scan the planet surface and tell me where they are and what th-they're doing, please."

  It seemed strange, he thought, to make a request of the ship computer and terminate the request with the word "please", but Kevn had insisted upon extensive use of the words "please" and "thank you". Although his phonarite circuits contained a wealth of data and the ability to mimic analytical thought and make rapid decisions based upon that data, TOM understood that Kevn had a knack for knowing what was right, even in the absence of hard data. That seemed, somehow, to be a common human talent: decisions based upon null data. It was quite remarkable how much insight Kevn could gain from so little information. If Kevn thought that "please" and "thank you" were correct appendages to every phrase, then TOM would not debate the issue.

  The blue lights on the console blinked and a map of the planet surface appeared on the video monitor. Two lights winked at the edge of the jungle; one red and one green.

  "All right LIZ, thank you. Now what are th-they doing, please."

  The map of the surface changed to an enhanced video image of the edge of the jungle. The ground-car could be seen, its auto arm extended. Beside the g-car was a black smudge.

  "Enlarge the black ... the black object, please, LIZ."

  The black object was a gigantic and grotesque beast, much like a bear. It seemed about to engage in battle with the g-car. Each move of the black creature was echoed in a move by the g-car. Although the probability of inflicting significant damage on the g-car was minimal, it was not zero. TOM poked several comtabs on the console.

  "LIZ, I'll initiate the laser. You lock onto the coordinates of the black th-thing."

  Kevn, and especially Gry, were fond of the word "thing". It seemed to replace every word they could not recall from memory. It was a very handy word and TOM had become accustomed to its use in situations where his extensive vocabulary seemed inadequate.

  "I beg your pardon, TOM?" replied LIZ.

  "Sorry ... lock onto the coordinates of the black th-thing, please, LIZ," said TOM apologetically.

  "I wasn't speaking of your omission of the please-word. I just don't understand your reference to a black thing."

  "Ah ... the word thing," said TOM with delight. "It is a substitute for any noun in the human vocabulary. Its meaning is obtained from the context of the phrase in which it is embedded. For example, if I say -"

  "TOM! Do you intend to launch a laser beam or do you wish to impress me with your knowledge of the human tongue?" said LIZ, somewhat annoyed.

  "Oh, yes - to be sure, sorry. Please, lock the beam onto the coordinates of the black shape next to the g-car ... please, LIZ."

  TOM punched the lasertab then looked quickly at the monitor to note the result. A bush exploded next to the g-car, but the beast had already left. TOM was, somehow, pleased. He never relished the thought of destroying biological life forms.

  Although he never felt the physical need to sit, TOM sat on the chair in front of the console and stared at the monitor. The g-car was pulling onto the grassy field next to the jungle, heading toward the surface module. Soon they would load the g-car onto the module and leave the planet, returning to K-47, the huge transworld vessel circling the planet. TOM knew of the lack of phonarite. That had been in an earlier report. There was no need to remain on C-phon3. Soon they would be going Home.

  Lights flashed erratically on the console. "Why are you sitting in that chair, TOM," asked LIZ. "You look ridiculous."

  "Does master Kevn look ridiculous sitting here?" asked TOM.

  "Kevn is not a biophonarite android," said LIZ.

  ______________________________________________________

  The black boy stopped suddenly and dropped to his knees, placing both hands on the rocky ground. He closed his eyes. Blue pinpoints of light flashed briefly about him. He opened his eyes, jumped to his feet and turned back in the direction of the jungle. He hesitated for only a moment then ran faster than he remembered running before. It seemed impossible, but the beast was in danger and he must go to its assistance. His feet hardly touched the ground - he must not be late.

  The beast had been his constant companion and he could not imagine life without it. As he ran he w
ondered how he could help - how he could defeat the strangers - free the beast. The intruders were powerful. He had seen them destroy much of the awareness of the planet with the great arm which rose like a snake from their vehicle. The twinkling crystals had been torn from the sides of the cliff where they had rested, undisturbed, ever since he had come to the planet - and surely for millennia before that. Until he met the beast, the crystals had been his only friends. Now he could feel them getting weaker, the information they provided, somehow distorted.

  He stopped again and bent over to hold his hands against a rock, closing his eyes. Blue lights flashed about the rock. The beast was free. The intruders were leaving the planet. The boy smiled, his black face illuminated by his gleaming white teeth. He would find the beast and they would celebrate. He rose, hands held high over his head, and howled with delight - and the blue lights danced about his feet.

  ______________________________________________________

  The huge door slid into the wall and Kevn and Gry stepped out into the main corridor of K-47.

  "Hi TOM," said Kevn. "How're things on board?"

  "Everyth-thing is copesetic, master Kevn," answered TOM.

  "Welcome home master Kevn," said LIZ.

  "Well, this isn't Home yet - but soon," replied Kevn.

  Lights flashed on the console. "I didn't mean Home as in the Dome, I meant home, as in home-sweet-home," said LIZ.

  "Anything you say kid," said Kevn as he pulled off his monoclad and slipped into a pair of shorts, pulling a sweater over his head. The lights on the small console flashed, rapidly, insistently.

  "Master Kevn, I think LIZ dislikes your calling her a kid. She is neither a small human nor a small goat. She is, after all, the most advanced phonarite automaton available to transworld vessels. You designed her yourself. Th-therefore, should you wish -"

  "TOM, you're quite right. LIZ, I'm sorry. You're not a kid, and I apologize for calling you that. Now, LIZ, sweetheart - take us Home, or, if you prefer, take us home, please."

  The lights on the console flashed again, this time slowly, in measured cadence. The huge door slid out of the wall and closed with a thud, the lights of the docking bay still illuminating the landing module. Kevn walked down the corridor to the command room and collapsed into the chair by the console and punched the permission tabs. LIZ now had control of the ship. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the console, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. Gry had left to return to his room. Kevn grinned, his eyes still closed. Gry would soon be listening to his rock music and gulping coffee, perhaps eating greenstew. The android stood stiffly beside Kevn, scanning the console. The hum of the ship engines increased slightly.

  Suddenly, TOM leaned forward and stared at the monitor. It still displayed the area by the edge of the jungle, but now there was something else in the video picture. A black thing , but much smaller than before.

  "Master Kevn," whispered TOM. "Please awaken and inspect the video image on the monitor."

  Kevn opened one eye, then quickly dropped his feet to the floor and bent forward, peering intently at the monitor.

  "That's the runner! LIZ, stay in orbit! TOM, get Gry!"

  Kevn stood up and put his hands on his hips, leaning forwards, his eyes pinned to the monitor. Gry entered the room through the portal, holding a mug of coffee and stared at the video picture.

  "See that Gry?" said Kevn. "That's the runner!"

  "Oh no - don't tell me - we're not ... uh, going back down to that miserable planet," groaned Gry.

  "Hmmm ... not necessary," said Kevn, now grinning with delight. "I have a better idea." He turned to the android. "TOM, you're going down."

  The android stepped backward quickly, bumping into Gry.

  "LIZ, please prepare the ejection capsule," said Kevn. "Set the trajectory for impact at the coordinates displayed on the monitor. TOM, take a dropnet and stunmist and man the ejection capsule. When you arrive, don't waste any time. That little guy is fast. Just catch him, okay?"

  "Master Kevn, why do you insist upon the please-word when we speak to LIZ but never when I am being spoken to? And why do you say man the capsule? Since I am, after all, an android -"

  "TOM! Go!" shouted Kevn.

  TOM spun on his heels, bumped into Gry once more, and retreated through the portal. Kevn sat uneasily in the chair, staring at the small figure on the screen. It looked like a boy and it was running back and forth and seemed to be looking for something. If it would only stay there, for just a few more minutes.

  Kevn and Gry could hear the whine of the capsule and saw it through the port, hurtling from the ship. The whine soon faded and they saw the vehicle receding, but it was quickly lost amid the stars in the blackness of the sky. Both turned to watch the monitor. The small black boy was inspecting the ashes of the fire, tasting something which appeared to be a discarded foodstick, and he seemed to be calling. The jungle shone with strange pinpoints of light. Suddenly the boy looked up and saw the capsule descending and turned to run, but it was too late. While the capsule was still above the trees a large polymer net was ejected and fell about the youth. He struggled to free himself but became more entangled. The capsule dropped quickly to the ground and they saw TOM leap from the vehicle and point a silver cylinder in the direction of the boy. The boy fell in a cloud of mist and TOM gathered the net and hauled the boy into the capsule. Kevn leaned back in his seat, pleased.

  "TOM is very good, isn't he?" asked LIZ, her voice seeming to lilt just a little more than usual.

  "Yes LIZ, he is indeed," answered Kevn with a smile. "Do you know how long I've been trying to catch that little fellow? TOM made it look easy. I didn't even know it was a young kid." He glanced at the console and grinned. "Correction. A young boy."

  "What do we do with this runner when ... uh, TOM gets back?" grumbled Gry.

  "We talk to him," answered Kevn, leaning back in his chair, grinning. "We ask him lots of questions. We find out how he got on C-phon3. We ask where his people are."

  "Which language will you employ?" asked LIZ.

  Kevn looked at the lights dancing on the console. LIZ had a good point.