Part Four

For Disclaimers See Part One

 

Chapter Sixteen

"So what do we do?" Serious concern coloured Lisa’s voice.

Rachel rubbed her forehead. "First thing we do is let Sue and the town know what’s going on. Until we are sure that there is no risk of her carrying some form of plague that she might pass on to us, or for that matter that we might pass on to her, we cant go back to town. At least it will give us time to study her."

"I take it there isn’t any point in isolating ourselves now, is there?"

Rachel smiled. "None whatsoever. But honestly, Lisa, if she has been built by genetics then we are much more of a risk to her than she is to us."

"How so?" Lisa asked disbelievingly.

"Playing with genetics has inherent risks and dangers. It’s not like building bricks; you can’t just slap them together. Absolutely anything can affect the building process. Most constructs need to be produced in a totally sterile environment. Which is fine if you're building nanomachines rather than something organic. With organic material you eventually have to expose it to the outside world and all its pollutants, artificial as well as biological. Organic material mutates and you can't predict the outcome."

"You're saying that we have a mutated experiment that some race threw away?"

"Potentially, yes." Rachel didn’t seem fazed in the least.

"Oh, that’s just great."

**********

Sue Rodgers sat quietly at her desk.  Paperwork had become the bane of her life since she had taken command of the Kingdom.  Now that she was the senior military commander left she had that much more to worry about.  On the whole, the three remaining council members seemed to have their heads screwed on right and apart from a few minor disagreements they had managed to work together well.  Decisions that had to be made were made; those that didn’t need immediate attention were shelved for a later date. 

Recently they came to agreement on the use of the ore that was becoming available from the mining modules.  Planetary defences were being built and the orbiting construction ships were starting to layout new frames for the construction of a new fleet. They were looking at a long road.  The first ships wouldn’t be complete for six months, first modules of the planetary defence net not for another month or so after that.  Providing that the bad guys didn’t discover their hideaway before then, they might actually have a chance to survive.  A small chime from her console caught her attention.  Pressing the comms button, she opened the channel.

“Ma’am, we have an incoming transmission from the planet.”

“Okay, put it through,” she replied.  Wonder what they want now?

“It will be visual and audio transmission, ma’am.”

“Roger that; put it through.” She turned toward the screen and waited for the transmission. The screen turned fuzzy, full of white noise, before clearing and showing the face of Dr. Rachel Bradley.

**********

Jodia Rider walked quickly into the meeting room followed by Aston and Kent.  “No, Kent, I don’t know what Dr. Bradley and her team want, but I’m sure that they wouldn’t have called if they didn’t have something significant to tell us.”  They took their places at the table and Kent switched on the view screen. Two faces came up: Sue Rodgers and Dr. Rachel Bradley.

“Now that we have everybody I’ll get started.” Dr. Bradley’s voice came over the speakers.  Kent settled back into his seat with a barely suppressed sigh.  He hadn’t been a supporter of this little expedition in the first place; he couldn’t understand why people and resources that could be put to better use were out in the jungle searching for the mythical equivalent of Edgar Rice Burrows' character, Tarzan.  He’d been outvoted on the outside chance that intelligent life might turn out to be an ally.

Rachel looked at the small view screen that was split, showing the council members and Sue. “We have succeeded in our mission to find the person we thought might reside on the planet.”  She paused, allowing the startled reaction to her announcement to settle.  “It is a humanoid female.”

“That’s excellent news, Rachel. Well done,” Sue Rodgers enthused.  “Have we found allies?”

“I don’t believe we should be thinking that fast about allies, Captain Rodgers.  We don’t know anything about them yet,” injected Aston.

“Actually,” Rachel carried on quickly, not wanting them to get into an argument when there was nothing to argue about just yet, “I don’t think that is relevant right now. She hasn’t shown any aggression toward us.  In fact she saved my butt today.  What I really wanted to talk to you about is some interesting test results we have.  As far as we have been able to discern she is the only resident on the planet and the test results may indicate why.”

Jodia Rider leant forward and spoke.  “Maybe you should just tell us what you have found?”

“Right, I was getting to that,” Rachel replied. “I’ll send the rundown on the samples to the med centre for them to check; but as far as I can see this woman is a genetic construct.”

“What?” was the united response.

“The test results indicate that this woman is the result of genetic engineering.  In other words she has been designed and built from the chromosomes upwards…”

 
**********

The first thing she noticed was the lack of sound. Gone was the constant buzz of the forest, the drip of water falling from the trees. Even behind the closed lids of her eyes she could tell that the light was wrong, too bright. She was more used to the muted tones beneath the canopy. Her body ached and it was painful to move. Some areas of her body were tightly bound with material she hadn’t felt before. She flexed her hands to see how much movement she had and was surprised to find that, although she was bound in places, she was in no way restrained. She opened her eyes but immediately closed them again, the bright, artificial lights causing her pain.

Tasha turned the next page in her book. In some circles she was considered eccentric because of her like for the old-fashioned paperbacks that were no longer produced. Literature was sold on disc or downloadable from the Internets for a price. Still, Tasha thought, if you were going to read something that someone had put so much time and effort into then it should be done properly. There was something to be said about being able to put a book down and then pick it up again rather than asking a computer to find your place. She found the texture of the paper and the rustle of the page relaxing and even more importantly, she could tuck a paperback in her combat suit and take it with her wherever she went. Her computer gave off a telltale electronic signature, which meant it couldn’t always go with her.

Her latest book was old. Written in the nineteenth century, it was a romance, which surprised people when they found out. But action and adventure were her daily life and she preferred to sink into a world so different from her own that it didn’t remind her of where she was and what she was doing. The idea that there was someone out there who was her perfect match, the blanket that would keep her warm no matter how cold life got, didn’t hurt either. Of course, knowing that and finding it were something else, but that was what dreams were for.

Catching movement in the corner of her eye, she put her book down and slowly turned so that she was facing their guest. Her heartbeat picked up as she saw the woman flexing her hands. Without making too much movement, she kicked Carrie, who sat across from her, studying something on one of her data pads. Carrie looked up and followed Tasha’s gaze across the room, fingers creeping to her keyboard as she saw the woman was awake.

 **********

Rachel and Lisa had just finished informing everybody why it wasn’t such a good idea to bring their find back to town. They were explaining that nobody should be sent to or from the site until they were sure that there was no risk of disease between them and the woman. A persistent high-pitched beep intruded and they turned to each other as Tasha’s voice came over the speakers.

"She’s awake!"

With barely perceptible hesitation they bolted from the shuttle, heading for the mess hall. Lisa grabbed Rachel just as they reached the doors, pulling the doctor to a halt.

"Slowly," she panted. "We don’t want to steam in there and scare the life out of her." Rachel nodded, carefully pushed the door open and entered.

Tasha and Carrie had moved from the table where they were sitting and were gradually making their way back toward the door. Rachel looked over to the table where the woman lay and saw that her hands were moving but little else.

"What’s up?" she whispered into Tasha’s ear, startling the corporal.

"Rachel," she hissed, "did you have to do that?" Tasha turned to the new arrivals. "She opened her eyes but closed them pretty rapidly. I think the lights are hurting her."

Rachel nodded and reached her hand back, taking hold of Lisa’s wrist and dragging her forward. Rachel leaned toward her and whispered, "Tone the lights down." She waited for Lisa to move to the controls before she stepped forward.

Carrie stopped her from advancing any further. "Where are you going?"

Rachel looked into the concerned face of her medic and then gently removed her hand. "I’m going to go say hello. We brought her back, so we might as well introduce ourselves properly, don’t you think? It’s okay, I’ll be fine." Rachel resisted the urge to pat Carrie’s hand and settled for what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

The bright light that had hurt her eyes earlier faltered, then dimmed, almost going out. There was movement in the room with her; she could feel it. But she also felt the familiar presence she had come to associate with the blonde woman with whom she shared her early mornings. She opened her eyes again, a sense of relief rushing through her that the pain that had accompanied her first attempt was no longer there. It was time to find out just what worked and what didn’t. She turned her head, trying to ease the ache that had developed in her neck, and crystal-blue eyes connected with emerald green.

Rachel's heartbeat pounded in her chest. All she could hear was the roaring of her blood as it raced around her body. She had fixed her eyes on the awaking patient and froze as the sky-blue eyes found hers. She immediately drowned in their depths, fighting to keep her breathing even. This wasn't the first time she had seen the woman, or even been close, but this was the first time she'd looked into those eyes. Now she truly appreciated that they weren't dealing with evolution gone wild or a throwback. This woman was built not only for strength, but for intelligence as well. She could see the thoughts flashing through the eyes before her.

For several seconds the dark-haired woman's world stopped as she looked into the green pools before her. She had known her voice was lovely but hadn't really taken much notice of her features before; she was startlingly beautiful. With a last flex to her hands she cautiously sat up, stifling the groan that her battered body demanded she vocalise. She couldn't remember having hurt this much before.

Tasha felt every muscle in her body clench as their guest forced herself into a sitting position. On the one hand, she knew that her reaction was normal to a possibly threatening situation, but on the other, her head kept asking why would someone who'd shown such courage and passion defending Rachel earlier do her any harm now. It worried her that she knew so little about the woman and what motivated her. She felt a little better when she saw that everybody else had become as tense as she was on the woman's movement.

Now that the woman was upright, she was able to study her confines more closely. The blonde was standing just a few feet away from her, almost within touching distance. Behind her, near the door, stood the three other women she had come to associate with the blonde. She eyed them wearily, before studying the rest of room. Then her eyes flitted back, darkening slightly as she realised that they stood between her and the only exit from the room. The room started to close in on her and her mind rapidly began calculating the ways she could make her escape if it were necessary.

Rachel immediately sensed the woman's unease and slowly looked over her shoulder, seeing that her friends had crowded around the door. She raised her eyebrow as her eyes locked with Lisa's and jerked her head to the side. Lisa frowned, not comprehending what the doctor wanted until she mouthed, "move." Understanding brightened her face and she ushered Tasha and Carrie away from the door.

Rachel returned her attention to her patient. The woman had moved into a crouched position on her powerful legs. Her arms dangled by her sides, lightly clutching hold of the table she perched upon. Rachel took a deep breath and stepped closer, a small smile crossing her face as she saw the woman relax slightly, her head cocking in curiosity. How could anybody leave such a beautiful woman alone here?

The woman felt her anxiety lower as the three others moved away from the exit. At least she knew now that they weren't trying to keep her here. The blonde moved closer now and smiled, and she felt her face instinctively responding to her. The woman in front of her raised her hand to her own chest, tapped it and spoke. "Rachel." She had always loved the sound of the woman's voice but for the first time she was now close enough to her that she could touch her. Her golden hair fascinated her, and carefully she raised her hand until she was just touching it. She had never felt anything like it before. It was soft and reminded her of the downy fur of the newborn animals she had held. A brilliant smile crossed her face as she gazed into the emerald eyes.

Rachel almost stepped backward when the woman reached out to touch her, but something in the woman’s eyes had stopped her. The look reminded her of that of a child receiving the greatest gift it could ever imagine. It was one of total wonder and joy. She smiled back as the woman’s face lit up as she caressed her hair. Carefully, Rachel reached up and took the woman’s hand. Her skin was rough but not hard; her fingers were long and easily wrapped around Rachel’s hand. Slowly, Rachel lowered the woman’s hand and placed it over her chest holding it to her. "Rachel," she said again, emphasising her name by tapping the woman’s hand against her chest. She then placed her own against the woman’s chest and waited. Rachel held her breath hoping against hope that the woman would be able to understand what she was trying to say.

The raven-haired woman clutched tightly at the hand that the blonde had placed on her chest. Her head tilted to one side, listening as Rachel once again repeated her name. She opened her mouth and tried to repeat Rachel’s words but couldn’t seem to formulate the sounds. She tried again. "Achl."

"Yes! That’s it! Rachel, my name is Rachel." Rachel turned her head and grinned at the three standing behind her, beckoning them. "Come on over, I want to introduce you."

Lisa, Carrie and Tasha slowly walked up to Rachel’s side. One at a time Rachel took the woman’s hand and placed it on the chest of the person she was introducing, repeating the name until the woman attempted to say it. Once that had been done, Rachel once again put the woman’s hand on her own chest and raised an eyebrow.

"What’s your name? Do you have one?" Rachel asked. The woman frowned and shook her head. The doctor sighed and released the woman’s hand so that she could brush a strand of dark hair away from her face. "I guess that means you don’t have one," she said quietly. She turned to Tasha. "You think we could get her something to eat and some water?" Tasha nodded and went into the kitchen.

She sat and watched as the blonde-haired lady spoke to the others. She must be important to them because they did everything that she asked. Her voice, though kind and gentle, also held the tone of authority that the others responded to. She had understood that the woman was telling her their names. She even understood that she wanted to know hers, but as far as she knew she had never been called anything. It was curious to watch the interaction among this group. This blonde lady was their leader and they obeyed her commands yet she turned to them and listened when they spoke, nodding occasionally in agreement with something they had said.

She let her eyes explore the room again, still relishing the touch of the woman’s hand on her head, the feel of it brushing against her hair as she turned to follow one of others as she left the room. A gentle tap brought her attention back to the blonde lady she now realised was called Rachel. The woman was smiling at her and gesturing for her to follow. She peered over Rachel’s shoulder to see what the other two women were doing, but they were in the same place as before, watching her. She eased herself off of the table, wincing slightly as some of her wounds pulled, then Rachel took hold of her hand once again and tugged at her to follow.

 

************************

Aston forcefully pushed the council room door open, it still didn’t make a loud enough bang to satisfy him.  Sixty years old, a millionaire how many times over? Until this blasted war I ran a business empire and managed a planet.  Now I have to get every tiny thing Okayed by this archaic council.  I can’t remember when I last had to attend one of the damned things.  At least I managed to convince them that we really ought to study Dr Bradley’s find.

Trotting up the stairs with a speed that belied his age, his hand lightly touching the wooden banister.  The corridor only stretched about fifty feet but housed several of the main administration offices including Aston’s domain.  He opened the first door in the right that he came to and walked in.  Considering that they hadn’t landed that long ago, the room was lushly decorated, most of the furniture taken from his personal space onboard the ship.  “Agatha get hold of Captain Stuart Watts for me will you?  I’ll be in my office just put him straight through.”

“Yes Mr Aston.” Replied the grey haired woman sat behind the desk.

He pulled off his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair, then sat down and pulled a buff coloured folder toward his.  He grabbed hold of a black stone pen from its stand on the front of the desk and began to read, scribbling notes on the margins of the text.  His comms pad bleeped several minutes later.

“Yes Agatha?”  He raised his head, his right hand resting on the comms panel in front of him.

“Captain Watts for you sir.”

“Thank you Agatha, could you bring me a hot tea in?”

“Yes sir I’ll be right in.” 

Aston smiled and tapped another button.   “Captain Watts I have a little job for you…”

 

Lisa and Carrie stood to one side, marvelling at the scene before them. The woman from the forest was totally enamoured of the doctor. Her crystal-blue eyes rarely left Rachel. Lisa was dumbfounded at the progress Rachel had already made. Normally the build-up of trust took a long time; any animal or person had its own worries and fears that it had to overcome before it reached the stage of actual communication. She had expected the woman to bolt as soon as the door was cleared, but her obvious fascination with the doc had overcome any urge she may have had to do that. Lisa knew that there had been some connection between the two on their previous visit to the rainforest; otherwise the woman would never have helped them when disaster struck the expedition group.

As she watched them interact, Lisa could see the childlike innocence of the woman. Lisa now had no doubt that she was on this planet alone, starved of any sort of affection. The woman followed the doc around, hardly taking her eyes off of her, copying her every move and listening intently, though she probably understood very little of what was being said. Lisa could already see how this relationship would develop. Rachel was just about to have a crash course in motherhood.

Rachel walked across to the table they had all been sitting at earlier and pulled out a chair, urging her friend to sit. The woman just stood there, not comprehending what Rachel wanted until she demonstrated it herself. So now they were sitting side by side, each unable to take her eyes off the other. Rachel started slightly as Tasha put a plate of sandwiches in front of her. She smiled her thanks and then pushed it towards her friend. I’m really going to have to think of a name for you, I cant keep going around thinking of you as her, or it. She came out of her thoughts and frowned, realising that the woman hadn’t made any attempt to eat.

"Rachel." Lisa’s voice drifted over her shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"She doesn’t know what a sandwich is; you’ll have to show her."

Rachel blushed. "Thanks, Lisa. I should have guessed that." She picked up half of one of the sandwiches and tore a piece off, showing the woman exactly what she was doing, then popped it in her mouth and began to chew. She tore off another chunk and offered it to the woman who tentatively reached out and took it. She put it in her mouth and carefully began to chew, a cautious smile crossing her face as she tasted the sweet jam. A couple pieces of fruit also appeared and were soon gone as the woman feasted on the food before her.

The next few hours were a blur for Rachel. She explained to Carrie and Tasha what the blood results had shown, then told them that the council had grudgingly agreed to give them more time to study the woman.

Everywhere she went, so did her erstwhile watcher. Rachel enjoyed showing the woman things that she had never seen before. When she showed her a picture of herself she was mesmerised and stared at it for a long time, trying it at different angles to see whether it would make a difference. She was also fascinated with the clothing that Rachel provided for her. In Rachel's humble opinion, a simple T-shirt and pair of shorts had never brought such a dazzling smile to a face before.

As dusk began to fall, Rachel noticed that their visitor started to become distracted, her eyes frequently darting towards the welcoming cover of the forest. Although Rachel had shown the woman where they slept, and a place she herself could stay, she doubted the woman would remain with them. Her fears were confirmed when the woman began slowly walking towards the forest. Rachel didn't attempt to stop her and before she disappeared into the trees she turned and looked back for one long moment.

Rachel lifted her hand and waved at the departing figure. A wave of depression fell over her as the woman disappeared. Lisa strolled up to Rachel's side. "Cheer up, she'll be back."

"Just how do you know that?" Rachel looked over to her friend.

"You kidding me? That woman couldn't keep her eyes off of you. Besides, I think she enjoyed the company."

She ran from tree to tree as light as the wind despite her injuries. They pained her but it was nothing that she hadn't lived through before. Her mind was in overdrive, thinking about what she'd seen, what she'd tasted, what she'd felt. More importantly, whom she'd been with. Her laughter rang out amongst the trees she ran through. She arrived at her destination just before full dark and dropped from the trees to the ground.

She had found this hollow outcropping of rock many years before and over time it became her permanent home. Unless you knew where it was, the entrance was incredibly hard to find. It was midway up the face, hidden by a layer of vegetation and rock. The small, dark tunnel led to a ten-foot drop-off, and you reached the ground by using a series of steps that had been carved into the rock.

The cave was pitch black; no light leaked in from the outside. She navigated her way down the steps, grabbing her flint and striker so that she could set fire to the kindling and wood in the pit she had built to provide her with light, cooking and heat for the night time chill. Within minutes, she had a flickering blaze and she busied herself tidying and placing wood near it for use later. Food she wouldn't need tonight. She had eaten her fill with what the blonde-haired Rachel had provided for her, so she deviated from her normal routine and went straight over to her wall.

The wall was massive and extremely smooth. At its base, a small archway led to a smaller chamber, but she rarely went through it.

A long time ago she had learnt that things were forgotten if she didn't remember them in some way. With experimentation she discovered how to create designs of different colours by using the fruits of the forest and the dirt from the ground that she found in the various places she visited. She started out using her fingers to create the patterns and eventually pictures, then she found various rushes and plants that created finer lines and allowed her more detail. Now it was her daily ritual to paint what she had seen. On this night she had a lot more that usual to depict.

**********

Rachel stared at the ceiling of her sleeping quarters. I touched her. I spoke to her. Wow! Who would have thought that once we met things would be so easy. Hell, with a little more time we could teach her to talk our language. She certainly caught on to our names quickly enough. Lisa reckons she'll be back and I hope she's not wrong. I could really enjoy learning about our mysterious woman, and teaching her could be fun, too.

Rachel sighed and turned onto her side, pulling up the sheet even though she didn't really need it to keep warm. Nights here really were too warm to need coverings of any sort but Rachel needed the security of having something over her, caressing her skin, keeping the shadows at bay. It was stupid, she knew, but she really did find it uncomfortable to sleep without something covering her. Was it due to some incident in her childhood? Some forgotten trauma that had scarred her for life? Not that she could remember, it wasn't. Still, every night she went to bed and wrapped herself in a sheet or blanket.

Tonight was no different, except for the fact that she was unable to find a comfortable position to stay in for more than a few minutes and her sheet was becoming more entrenched about her body. Every time she moved she told herself that this was it, she was going to sleep. But her mind kept replaying blue eyes, dark hair, raw power and energy, and enchanting innocence that didn't seem right when applied to the woman who had saved her life. With a final twist she felt the sheet pull tight around her increasingly sweaty body. With an inarticulate cry of frustration she began to untangle herself from the cloth, barely preventing herself from falling from the bed.

Eventually she kicked the sheet from her body and sat up, glaring accusingly at the green illuminated timekeeper by her bed. 0400. God, I don't think I've slept for more than a few minutes. You'd think after yesterday's excitement I'd be exhausted but here I am obsessing about tall, dark and beautiful.

Deciding that maybe sleep was now an unobtainable wish, Rachel stood up and plodded into the wash closet, switching on the shower facility and turning it to cold. Stripping damp vest and shorts from her body, she stepped beneath the freezing cascade and forced her head into the running stream, trying to push the vestiges of what little sleep she had had from her mind.

Rachel turned off the shower and let the water run from her small, compact body. Then she pushed her hands through her blonde hair, squeezing the excess moisture from her golden locks. Padding back to her sleeping quarters, she donned a clean T-shirt and new pair of shorts. Then she turned and made to leave, stopping as she caught her reflection in the mirror near the door. That's me; that's who I am.

She studied herself, seeing the creeping addition of lines that hadn't been there before when she had walked the same paths she was about to traverse this morning. It's right what they say about worry and stress; it marks you in the most obvious of ways. Five years ago would I have even thought about what I would experience? What I would have to see and deal with? And now that I'm back here, will anything change? Are we safe here, or is this just a resting place from which we'll have to move? And if it is decided to leave this place, will I be going? Come on, let's get out of here before you over-analyse yourself. Besides, if you go for your walk maybe a certain someone will be waiting for you.

It was still dark when she stepped from the door but she immediately knew that her new friend was close by. Just how close she wasn't sure until she nearly tripped over her, sitting by the door. She tried to glare down at the woman, but despite the thundering beat of her heart and the adrenaline racing round her system she just couldn't stoke her anger at the woman who was a picture of childhood innocence. Heck, Rachel, if she were two feet in height, rather than over six, she would be a child. Instead of anger brought about by shock, Rachel felt her face break into a smile, gratified to see the woman's face become animated in greeting.

"Hi," said Rachel, taking a step backward as the woman jumped to her feet and wiped at the dark-blue, mid-thigh shorts and T-shirt Rachel had given her the day before. The woman stood there smiling, and Rachel found herself holding out her hand. "Come on, let's go get something to eat." The tall Amazonian took her hand without hesitation and accompanied Rachel across to the mess hall.

 

Chapter Seventeen

Tasha was sitting with her feet up on one of the cases that had been the home to equipment they had brought with them to the camp. For three days now, they had done very little except watch. Lisa had set up the few video cameras they had with them in the compound. Since their mysterious guest had taken to showing up every morning at the crack of dawn, they didn't have to search for her; the cameras caught everything they needed to study her. Tasha looked up as Carrie sat down beside her and handed her a drink.

"Can you believe those three?" Carrie asked as she sipped her drink. She was referring to Rachel, Lisa and their guest. Earlier that day Lisa had produced a ball and said she wanted to find out how good the woman's hand-eye co-ordination was. She and Rachel proceeded to teach the woman how to play catch. She had proven to be such an excellent student that now Lisa was stuck in the middle of Rachel and her friend trying to get the ball back. No matter where Rachel threw the ball, the woman's incredible agility enabled her to catch it, leaving Lisa stranded in the middle.

"Looks like your girl is losing badly there, don't ya think?" said Tasha teasingly.

"Yep. That's gonna take some consoling tonight," Carrie replied, causing Tasha to almost choke on her drink.

"That's it. Time out!" yelled Lisa as she walked over to Carrie, leaving Rachel and her friend behind to continue their play. "Lord, I don't think I've seen anyone with that much energy," she said as she collapsed on the ground next to Carrie. Reaching up, she grabbed Carrie's drink and took a long gulp from the neck of the bottle. "Thanks, love."

"You're welcome." She looked down at her lover and smiled. "We'll have to bring the kids in soon, anyway. From the looks of those clouds, there is going to be a storm."

Lisa gazed up to the sky, seeing the dark cauldron boiling on the horizon. "Yeah, you might be right."

Rain stopped the play and fun thirty minutes later. Much to everybody's surprise, their guest didn't return to the trees but stayed with them as they rushed over to the mess hall to escape the downpour. She did, however, seem very nervous, staying at the door just out of the rain, watching the sky.

Rachel sat with Lisa, Carrie and Tasha, giving the woman as much space as she needed, not wanting to make her any more nervous by enforcing her presence on her. Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed brightly outside; the steady patter of rain echoed on the roof.

"Looks as though this is set in for a while," commented Tasha. "Anyone for cards?" She reached over to the counter and rummaged around until she came up with a deck. The pack was opened and soon the shuffle of cards could be heard.

They played for an hour or so, the rain hardly abating and occasionally getting heavier. Rachel paused in play and went over to their guest who sat at the door, peering out at the deluge. She noted with some concern that the camp had already become waterlogged, large puddles appearing and getting bigger. She couldn't remember it ever being this bad when they had been here before. She put her hand down on the woman's shoulder and smiled as she looked up. "You okay?" She knew that she probably didn't understand what she was saying but she also knew that her tone told the woman more than her words. The woman nodded to her and Rachel returned to the table and the cards.

"Everything okay?" asked Lisa as she sat down.

"Yeah, just very, very, very wet. We might have to swim back to bed this evening."

"It's really that bad?" Carrie leaned forward to get a better view out of the open door. "Yep, it is that bad." She answered her own question and sat back in her chair.

A loud, cracking roar of thunder made them all look up from their cards. Instead of abating, the storm was definitely growing in intensity. The woman, who had remained by the door, stood up and stepped out into the rain, quickly becoming soaked through. She walked several feet away from the building and stared intently around her. This is bad; the water comes down too quickly. She had seen this type of storm before but not for many, many years. Its power was destructive on a massive scale and uprooted or crushed anything in its way. It was time to leave this place.

She paused and looked back into the shelter she had left, to the four women still sitting there. If they stayed, they would be killed, but there was nowhere nearby that would be safe to take them to except for her home. They have been kind and I like them. Taking them back to the cave will keep them safe and if they turn out not to be what they seem, it is unlikely that they would be able to find the place again. Her decision made, she walked back into the building.

Rachel looked up as the woman came back into the mess hall. She thought that she had left. There was an odd look of determination to her face, as though she had made a decision that she wasn't sure of but that she wasn't going to take no as an answer for. She strode over to the table and took hold of Rachel's hand, pulling her to her feet. "Rachel, come," she said, tugging on her arm.

Rachel shrugged to the others and followed her to the door, hesitating as the woman stepped back out into the rain, but following when her grip remained solid. The woman stopped as they rounded the building. Rachel was hardly able to see a thing through the sheeting rain that still fell. The woman pointed into the distance and Rachel strained to see what she was pointing at. Then the woman turned and pointed to the trees.

Rachel suddenly thought that she understood. "You want to leave?" The woman nodded. "It's okay if you need to leave; we'll still be here tomorrow." The woman shook her head and pointed to herself then at Rachel and then to the trees. "You want me to leave with you?" This time a smile broke out on the woman's face as Rachel understood what she was asking. Another roar of thunder and crack of lightning split the sky nearby, sending a tree crashing to the ground. A small wave of water rushed across the compound, collecting debris and running from the camp.

Rachel looked about her, now catching onto the woman's concern. She could feel that the niggling fear that she had put down to the thunderstorm wasn't actually hers. "Are we in danger here?" The wind began to pick up and the storm visibly got angrier. The woman pointed to the trees again and tugged on Rachel's arm.

Okay, okay, what do I do? She is obviously scared about something. This storm is getting worse and doesn't look as though it is gonna stop anytime soon. She knows something is wrong. The thing is, do I trust her? Wouldn't we be safer here than out in the trees in this? Ah, I hate making these types of decisions but it is obvious that she is going, no matter what, and this might be our chance to find out where she goes at night. What's the worst that can happen? We get a little wet? Well, I'm soaked already so I don't see a problem with that. "Okay, I'll come with you but the others are going to have to come as well." Rachel felt relief cascade through the woman.

Carrie looked up as a very wet, bedraggled Rachel walked into the room. "Get whatever things you need for a trip into the woods. Something has our guest majorly spooked. She wants out of here and this time she's insisting we go with her."

"What?" asked the medic. "You want us to go for a jaunt in this?"

"Rachel, it is a little wet to play outside," said Lisa

"Nope, no way I'm going out in this stuff," said Tasha.

"Well, unfortunately it wasn't a request. Our guest knows this area better than we do and she's saved our asses on more than one occasion. So, we are going to give her the benefit of the doubt and do what she wants. Now get your gear together and let's get moving." Rachel waited a second before the girls got to their feet and started out of the mess hall, all bitterly complaining at Rachel's orders, but trusting her enough to follow them.

As the women packed up the few things they were going to take with them their guest paced back and forth outside, frequently glancing north of the campsite where the weather system was coming from. Tasha finished first and went to the shuttle to get the portable computer and communications gear. Remembering previous visits into the undergrowth, she also grabbed the weapons and remaining ammunition. Rachel and Carrie both grabbed hold of additional medical equipment while Lisa made sure that she had all the data and results that they had collected over the last two weeks. Eventually they were all ready and the woman led them hurriedly into the trees.

She took them deeper into the trees than Rachel's' daily walk would have taken them and they all noted with some concern that the rainforest floor was beginning to flood.

"Rachel? Don't you think it would have been better for us to get out of here using the shuttle? I mean, if we are in danger and all, wouldn't that have been a better idea?" Tasha shook the water from her face as she spoke.

"Probably, but I doubt that we could have gotten our friend to get in and this gives us the chance to see where she disappears to."

"I don't think there is much danger to the camp anyway," said Lisa. "Though I do agree with Rachel that our friend has a second sense when it comes to this place."

The woman stopped next to a tree and pointed up. Rachel, Lisa, Carrie and Tasha looked at each other. Tasha stepped forward and began climbing, closely followed by Carrie.

Lisa leaned over as she passed Rachel. "I'm going to make you pay for this. You remember what happened last time we went climbing in the trees?" Rachel grinned and pushed her forward so that she could start climbing.

It took them a long time to ascend the tree, but the woman had at least chosen an easy one for them to climb. Plenty of handholds and places to put their feet. It also gave Rachel and Lisa a chance to observe the woman in her own environment. While they were struggling up the tree she had provided, she jumped to the lower branches of another and in seconds disappeared upward.

When Tasha had climbed as far as she could she moved nervously away from the trunk of the tree, wary of her foot placement. But she was pleasantly surprised to notice that her footing was pretty solid in spite of the rain. Carrie's head appeared, then she pulled herself up onto the same bough, and one after the other Lisa and Rachel emerged. They waited for the woman for several minutes and Tasha was just about to start cursing when she felt the bough bend under added weight and their guide reappeared from above them. How the hell did she get up there? And what the hell has she got in her hands?

Rachel and Lisa looked at each other as they watched the raven-haired woman, whose T-shirt and shorts were now plastered to her, climb down onto the bough, rope in hand. If they had any doubts that she had been watching them when they were traversing these heights before, they were quashed with the appearance of the rope. The woman skirted around Tasha and Carrie and handed the rope to Rachel, smiling through the rain. Rachel grinned back and took the rope, passing one end back to Lisa.

She turned to Tasha and Carrie who were looking on askance. "When the expedition got into trouble and we took to the trees, Lisa and I developed a system of moving between the trees, using a length of vine to prevent us from falling." Tasha and Carrie still looked slightly bemused. "She knows we'll move more easily if we have a way to secure ourselves." The four women quickly fastened themselves to the rope and Rachel handed one end back to their companion.

They moved quickly, much more quickly than Rachel or Lisa remembered being able to do previously. The woman picked their route seemingly without thought, yet they all knew that she would be able to move at a much faster pace had she not been searching for the easiest way possible for them. Within an hour Rachel estimated that they had gone almost six kilometres. The trees had become denser than she had seen, even when the expedition had walked toward the centre of the forest. They were packed closer together and the bark that covered the trunks had a rougher texture. Rachel looked back as she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

"We're in old growth trees here, at least they are a lot older than the trees that are near the camp," said Lisa, grabbing hold of a branch above her to keep her balance. "And the ground is higher here. It's been rising for the past half hour or so."

"You think we were in danger of being flooded out at the camp?" asked Rachel, now becoming slightly out of breath as they began to descend.

"Yep," replied Lisa. "I think we probably were. Can I ask you a stupid question?"

Rachel grinned. "You just did, didn't you?" She carefully stepped down to a lower bough.

"Yeah, I guess I did," she replied, following Rachel down. "Have you thought of a name for our friend, yet? I mean I have to think of her as something other than her or well, her," said Lisa matter-of-factly.

"Nothing has really sprung to mind till now but I rather think Storm fits her. What do you think?"

"Hmm. I guess it fits. She's definitely wild and unpredictable."

"I was thinking more of that raven hair, those sky blue eyes, her strength…"

"Oh you were, were you? Do I sense something other than scientific appreciation there, Doc?"

Through the coolness of the rain, Rachel could feel the heat of her blush rising from her chest to coat her face. "Lisa! Really."

"Well, it isn't as if she's ugly or anything, is it?"

"Even if I was interested, which I'm not," she said a little too forcefully, "it would be unethical. She may look like a woman, Lisa, but..."

"But she doesn't have the experience, she's innocent, naïve and she's a child in a woman's body," completed Lisa.

"You said it," replied Rachel as she wiped ineffectually at the water running down her face.

"Still…"

"Lisa, do we really have to have this conversation right now? I can think of many other places to chat besides a hundred feet up in the canopy of a rainforest."

"Okay, I'll wait till we reach the ground. Wouldn't want you falling now, would we? Well, not out of a tree, anyway."

A short time later the woman stopped, beckoning them forward onto a stronger bough so that she could point something out to them. Following the direction of her pointed finger, the women could see an outcropping of rock. The immediate surrounding area was bereft of foliage and no trees overhung the area.

"I think we're home," said Tasha as she peered down.

"Really? I can't see a cave or anything." Carrie leant a little further forward trying to see if Tasha could see something she couldn't. A slight tug on her shirt pulled her back.

"Don't want to fall off now, do we?" Lisa whispered in her ear, grinning.

Carrie slapped her hand. "Oop's, come on. Tall, dark and gorgeous is on the move," she said as she saw the woman disappear down the tree.

"Storm," said Lisa

"What?"

"Rachel wants to name her Storm."

Carrie raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

Lisa laughed. "Rachel and I already had this conversation. You ask her when we get to solid ground."

Tasha ignored the two lovers by her side and let her eyes follow the woman as she descended to another bough below. A cat, that is what she reminds me of. She moves with an efficiency of motion that has a feline grace. Her footing is too sure for it to be trained so that has to be natural balance. She's standing on a wet branch at least thirty feet above the forest floor, showing no concern for the possibility of losing her footing. Hell, I'd still be worried if I had an antigrav pack strapped to me. What the hell? Tasha tensed, her whole body going rigid, as she watched the woman beneath her step into nothing and turn her body into a lazy flip. Falling the remaining distance, she landed in a crouch, the surface water splashing up and splattering her legs with mud. "Oh, sweet mother, she better have an easier way of getting us down."

"What did you say?"

Tasha turned around and looked at Rachel. "You didn't see what she just did?"

"Nope, I was chatting with Lisa."

"Rachel, she just jumped at least thirty feet to the forest floor."

Rachel immediately leaned forward to look and saw her friend walking toward the rock formation. "Wow, hope she has something else planned for us."

"That's what I said."

The four women sat huddled together under the leaves of the tree, trying to keep the worst of the water off of them despite being soaked through to the skin. A sharp, piercing whistle from below sent Tasha to the edge to look over. She saw Storm, as the others had started calling her, standing below, waving to her.

"Er, guys, I think our friend wants us to move."

"Has she come up with something to get us down?" asked Carrie as she hitched her backpack on again.

"Not that I can see."

"Great," muttered Lisa. "So all we have to do is learn how to fly. Why do I not think I'm going to like this?"

Slowly, they made their way to the branch below and stared over the drop to the forest floor.

"Why don’t we just use the rope to lower ourselves down?" inquired Rachel.

"The rope?" Tasha said.

"Yeah, the rope. You know, the thing that has linked us together for the last couple of hours?"

"Sorry, just feeling like a bit of an idiot for not thinking of it before." She looked over the drop again. "Might be a little short but it shouldn't be too much of a drop."

Carefully, they untied themselves from the rope. Tasha secured the end to the branch and they watched as Carrie slowly climbed down. Tasha had been right; there was a bit of a drop at the end but not so far as to cause injury if someone fell.

Carrie reached the end of the rope and let go, expecting hard contact with the ground. Instead, she felt strong hands grasp her waist and lower her slowly to the ground. She turned and smiled up at Storm who was already looking up for the next of their group.

Rachel shook her arms, trying to ease the ache that had settled in them since she had climbed down the rope. Tasha was the last of their group to descend but Storm, it seemed, didn't want to leave the rope hanging. She provided them with a display of climbing ability by scaling the nearly perfectly smooth trunk of the tree, and retrieving the rope. Then they all witnessed the incredible jump that Tasha had seen.

Storm seemed oblivious to the astonishment in the eyes of her companions at the feat she had just accomplished. She hurried past and began to climb a well-defined route up the rocky outcrop. Giving a quick glance to the rest of the group, Rachel readjusted her bag and followed Storm, hands and feet scrabbling for holds that seemed to spring up under Storm's feet but remained elusive to hers. The others, not wanting to be left behind or miss out on any more of Storm's antics, quickly followed her lead.

Rachel paused halfway up, looking longingly to where Storm sat several feet above her. Her breath was coming in shortened gasps as she tried to get her breathing under control, her body beginning to feel the strains incurred from the exertion of the past few hours. She realised while Storm was prepared to stop them from making any fatal mistakes, she wasn't prepared to do everything for them. Brings a whole new meaning to survival of the fittest, though, doesn't it. We can't even hope to compete with her in any physical way but she's prepared to ensure we survive long enough to figure it out by ourselves.

A groan from close behind alerted her to Carrie's position and she wondered how her friend was getting on. It wasn't that long ago that her legs had been shattered and this was by far the most difficult test they had been put through since she had been passed fit for full duties. I'll have to remember to give Lisa some meds when we get to somewhere dry. Maybe she can convince Carrie to take them. That should prevent her from having any problems tomorrow.

She looked up again and started to climb once more until she reached the ledge that Storm was sitting on, watching them. "You don’t have to look so smug, you know?" she said as she slumped next to Storm.

Storm smiled at Rachel as she sat down next to her. The woman had held up pretty well today, as had her friends, and in just a few minutes more they'd be inside. She could get a fire going and they could all dry off. With one last check on the others as they slowly climbed up to the ledge, she stood and tapped Rachel on her shoulder, indicating she should follow her. She walked to the rock face and disappeared between the rocks.

Rachel pulled herself to her feet and looked down just as Carrie appeared below her. She crouched down and offered the medic her hand, and helped pull her up the last foot or so.

"You okay?" Rachel asked the obviously tired medic.

"Ask me tomorrow. You?" she panted, relieved to have reached the ledge.

"I think I'll sleep well tonight, let's put it that way. The entrance to wherever she's taking us is between those two rocks over there. Make sure everyone gets in."

"You got it, boss."

Rachel looked warily between the rock and the rock face. There wasn't a lot of room to squeeze through and it was too dark to be able to determine how far the tunnel went. She looked back at Carrie who was now helping her partner to the ledge and yelling down at the still ascending Tasha. Oh well, here goes nothing. She began to push herself through.

"Okay, sweetheart," said Lisa as Carrie helped Tasha up onto the ledge. "Where to next?"

"Over here," replied Carrie. She picked up her bag and walked over to where Rachel had pointed. "After you." She waved her hand in front of her, letting Lisa go first.

Lisa frowned at her lover, then poked her tongue out and disappeared into the opening, Carrie and Tasha following behind. It was eerily close in the tunnel they were travelling through. Lisa could hear her harsh breathing and the drag of clothing on the rock. One hand felt out in front of her, trying to pre-empt any drop-off or loss of the rock face. After a minute or so of total darkness, a golden glow began to show itself and Lisa knew they were near the end of the tunnel.

Lisa stumbled as the rock she had been pushing against disappeared. A hand grabbed her and prevented her from falling flat on her face. Lisa looked up in relief and smiled at Rachel.

"Thanks," she said then saw that Rachel was taking very little notice of her. She turned her gaze in the direction Rachel was looking and her breath caught, stunned at the scene before her.

“Wow.”  Lisa’s voice was hushed with the awe of what she saw around her. The rock formation outside belied the actual size of the cavern within.  It was massive; the ceiling could hardly be seen by the flickering pantomime of light that the fire below provided.  A tap on her arm had her turning to face her lover who had just made it through the tunnel. She realised that there wasn’t enough room on the ledge for all of them to stand.  “Rachel, we need to move. Tasha can’t get in.”

 

Rachel nodded and looked for a way down, seeing the steps that had been cut into the side of the wall.  Her hands traced the rough-hewn steps, wondering how they had been formed.  They were too regular to have been natural. All of the steps were a set distance apart, equal in depth and width. They weren't natural in any sense of the word, presenting another mystery to solve in the enigma that this woman was. 

 

Rachel walked down the steps, letting her eyes wander, confident that her feet would find their own way to the cavern floor. Storm had fire and was obviously unafraid of it. How she could have been so confident in its use puzzled Rachel.  She must have been taught about fire, which would mean that at some point she wasn’t alone on this planet. 

 

She also used a variety of tools, judging from the rough furnishings that were scattered around the cavern.  Racks for skins to be hung from bordered the area.  To one side a ledge was covered in furs and was obviously where Storm slept.  Bowls of various sizes sat near the fire and, on examination, Rachel was amazed to discover a few metal containers there also.  We always wondered where our stuff was disappearing to; I guess we’ve found out.

 

Storm stood by her painting wall and watched as the women filtered in.  She was proud of her home. It was nothing like the metal caves that they lived in, in their camp, but it was hers. As she watched Rachel look through the bowls at the fireside, Storm felt a little guilty that they would now know where all the trinkets had gone that she had acquired in their previous visit to her territory.  Rachel picked up a canister that Storm used for heating water and looked at her.  A warm blush spread up her face and she was glad the firelight would hide it, but she couldn’t prevent her head dropping, unable to meet Rachel’s gaze.

 

Rachel, suddenly realising she might have upset Storm, put the metal canister back where she found it and hurried over to the woman.  Her hand gently rubbed Storm's arm.  “Hey, no harm done,” she said, trying to let her tone convey her meaning once again.  “It was only a used fuel container.  I sure hope you cleaned it out well before you used it.”  Rachel smiled as Storm looked up sheepishly at her.  The dancing of shadows on the wall behind Storm caught Rachel’s attention.

 

Lisa hurried down the steps and dropped her bag, moving toward the fire. Though it wasn’t especially cold outside, now that they were in the cool interior of the cavern she was starting to feel the chill.  Two more thunks behind her told her that Carrie and Tasha had the same idea. 

 

The fire sat in a small depression in the floor of the cavern and like many of the features to be seen had been crafted in some fashion.  The black charring on the floor and the smoke coloration above attested to the fact that this place had been in use for some time.

 

“Cosy, wouldn’t you say?” said Tasha, holding her hands toward the fire.

 

“Yeah, has all the comforts of home,” replied Carrie.

 

“Well, it is dry and this fire should soon heat the place up.  Think I’ll get changed and drag one of those racks over here so that we can dry these clothes,” Lisa said, tugging at her wet T-shirt.

 

“Yeah, then we can see about food.”  Tasha was already walking back to the bags.

 

“Hey guys!”  Rachel’s voice echoed slightly as she called over to them.  “Come have a look at this.”  Rachel stood next to Storm, gazing at the wall in front of her. 

 

“What?” inquired Lisa as she came alongside.  Rachel just pointed.  “Good lord.”  She felt Carrie’s arm go around her waist and looked over at her.

 

“Seems like our host has a few talents, doesn’t it?” said Carrie, gazing at the mural before her.

 

Tasha walked past them right up to the wall and reached out to touch the picture nearest to her.  Storm's hand shot out and caught hold before the marine could finish her movement, and she shook her head.  Tasha frowned at the strength of the grip that held her.

 

“I think it’s still wet,” said Rachel, noticing the glisten of the paint in the firelight.

 

“Sorry,” muttered Tasha, shaking her hand to restore the blood supply after Storm released it.  She turned her attention back to the wall. “This stuff is incredibly detailed.” She leaned back and looked up the wall, which must have stretched fifty feet above her. “You realise that nearly every inch of this wall is covered, from the top down?”  They all looked up.

 

“How the hell did she get up there?” said Lisa.

 

“Hey, Lisa, isn’t that you and Rach?”  Carrie was peering to one particular picture about halfway up the wall.  It portrayed two people on the bough of a tree, feet dangling over the edge as they looked down. The detail on the faces made it obvious who the two people were.  Right next to it was another. This one showed a small construction of branches and leaves and within it slept Lisa and Rachel.  Lisa had Rachel’s head cradled in her lap with her hands resting protectively on her shoulders.

 

“Well, if we had any doubts that she was looking out for us then I would say these pictures put paid to them.” 

 

“Yeah,” agreed Rachel.

 

“I’ll tell you something else, too,” said Tasha, standing back from the wall.  “This wall is man made; no way on earth it is natural.  There isn’t any water run off to have made it as smooth as it is.”  Each of the women took a step forward peering at the wall.

 

“Did anyone bring a lamp?” asked Rachel.

 

“Yeah, hold on.  I’ll get it.” Carrie ran off and got one from her bag. When the lamp was turned on the cavern lit perceptibly, allowing more to be seen.

 

Rachel stretched her head back so that she could see the top of the wall. Amazingly, there wasn’t an inch that wasn’t covered by a picture. There was visible improvement in the ability of the artist; details became more pronounced and stood out.  The colours became more vibrant as the painter became more adept at mixing them, or even found new sources and ways of creating them. 

 

Now that the top of the wall could be seen, Rachel could clearly tell that it was man made.  It was a block-like structure, most probably the outside wall to a building.  Scanning for other indications, she noticed the block archway that led to a smaller pitch-black tunnel; it was a doorway without the door.  “Carrie, can you shine that light over here?”

 

Carrie walked over to her side, bringing the light, and shone it in the direction Rachel wanted.  “Looks like a doorway to me.”

 

“Yeah, I think you're right,” replied Rachel.

 

“Cool! Does this mean we get to go exploring?” asked Tasha, delight tingeing her voice.

 

“Not tonight. We are all tired and we need to get dried out or we’ll catch our deaths.  We could also do with something hot to eat.”  Rachel grinned at the marine's pretended disappointment; she had to be just as tired and hungry as the rest.

 

While the rest of the group had been looking at the doorway Lisa had kept her eyes on Storm.  Once the woman realised that they weren’t going to touch her paintings she had been quite happy to let them explore it by themselves.  She was now over by the fire, pouring water from a holder into one of the stolen cans.  The metal shone dully but each golden glint rippled over her muscular arms.  Incredible that someone we thought of as a creature of below average intelligence could produce the pictures on the wall behind us, and create this home and its furnishings without any prior knowledge on how to do it. 

 

It was puzzling Lisa, and Lisa didn’t like mysteries. Several explanations came to mind.  Others may have lived here and taught Storm what she needed to know to survive, but people who had been in that situation tended to mark the passing of their companions.  Burial places were usually found and the survivors tended to have a strong emotional bond to the gravesites.  No graves or burial places had been found, and Storm's initial reluctance tended to suggest that there hadn’t been that contact or that it had been so long ago that it had faded into deepest memory.  Which, of course, meant that she couldn’t have been taught how to paint or build the furnishings. 

 

Another theory was that she was self-taught, but she didn’t seem to be that much older in appearance than either herself or Rachel.  Still, looks didn’t count for everything and could be deceiving. 

 

Leaving the others gazing at the gallery of art, Lisa walked over and sat down near the fire, relishing its warmth.  She smiled at Storm when the woman looked up and received a dazzling smile back.  When Storm held out a tall mug-like object, which had been carved from wood, Lisa took it and Storm poured in a generous amount of warm water from the container on the fire.  She dug into a small pouch by her side and put a pinch of dried leaves into it.  The aroma hit Lisa’s senses immediately; it was a mint fragrance and so strong that it made her eyes water. Another scent that she couldn’t quite put her finger on hovered beneath the surface. 

 

Lisa cradled the mug in her hands as she watched Storm pour her own and flavour it. Storm took a drink and indicated that Lisa should do the same.  Rather hesitantly, Lisa complied.  It was sweet, sweeter than she had thought it would be. She had imagined that it would be bitter, but the opposite was true.  Soothing as she swallowed, it warmed her as it slid down her throat.  Her shoulders relaxed and the tension of the day drained from her. 

 

A movement from across the fire pit caught her attention.  Storm was pulling thick large furs off of her sleeping ledge and dragging them toward the fire. Once she reached her destination, she dropped the furs and began to clear a space around the fire, arranging the furs into a comfortable sitting area.   No one can say she isn’t a generous hostess. 

 

One by one the others drifted away from the wall and came to sit on the furs by the fire.  Each received a mug of the sweet mint tea and Tasha and Carrie began to pull rations from their bags.  Soon the smell of cooking food and soup permeated the air.  Storm provided fruits and nuts to their meal and everybody settled down in comfort to eat.

 

Even as she sat and ate, Rachel couldn’t prevent her eyes from travelling back to the wall.  Something about it intrigued her; her eyes were naturally drawn to those pictures that showed the compound or the expedition team.  She uses this wall as a diary of sorts, records events that are important to her. Oh, my lord!  A sudden flash of inspiration alight behind her eyes, she leaned over and grabbed the lamp from where Carrie had placed it.  Narrowing the beam, she concentrated it on the first picture, then slowly moved it across to the next. 

 

“What is it?” asked Lisa.

 

Rachel was giddy with the revelation that had hit her.  “You wanted to know where Storm comes from and it just occurred to me that this is her history.  This is where she records things that are important to her. Because she hasn’t developed the use of language that far, we can’t ask her what happened.  But she can tell us through her pictures.  I really want to get up there and study the first ones; they could tell us so much about how she came to be here.”

 

Through Rachel’s unproductive search for a way up, Lisa closely watched Storm and noticed that the woman was amused by her friend’s antics. No doubt should Rachel have asked how to reach the top, rather than trying to figure it out by herself, she would have had the up close and personal view she wanted.  But that was not to be.

 

After Rachel discovered that there was no easy way for her to climb to the top of the picture wall, she gave up her fruitless search and they settled down to a reasonably comfortable night's sleep.

 

The cavern was heated by the fire to such an extent that covers were not strictly needed.  Still that did not stop Lisa from lying in the comfort of her lover's arms, or Tasha from snuggling beneath the furs Storm had provided. Lying down with the fire in view and the silhouette of Storm behind it, Rachel dropped off to sleep quickly, too exhausted to worry about her usual need for a constant covering. The last thing that Lisa remembered seeing was Storm covering the doctor with another of her furs.

 

Rachel awoke the next morning after an excellent night’s sleep. The cavern was in darkness, the fire having burnt out during the night.  With eyes open to the darkness she lay for some time, absorbing the quiet atmosphere.  To either side, she could hear the gentle breathing of her friends, deep and regular, unhurried by wakefulness.  The stealthy sound of light footsteps brought her upright, eyes straining through the inky blackness of the cavern.  She was, it seemed, not the only one to have woken early; Storm was not lying on the other side of the fire as she had been last night. 

 

A high-pitched crack of flint on rock and a shower of sparks made her jump, heartbeat trebling in her chest, breath caught in her throat.  The tight band that prevented her breathing eased as the flicker of new fire showed a dripping wet Storm crouched over the slowly gathering fire.  The water trickling down the chiselled features didn’t bother the woman who was staring into the small flames, not acknowledging Rachel's wakefulness. 

 

From a small pile beside her, Storm was feeding the hungry flames. Last night, it hadn’t occurred to Rachel to question where Storm got her fuel from, after all they were in the middle of a forest. But, seeing the bedraggled state of the woman, Rachel realised it wasn’t just a matter of stepping outside and collecting tree parts. It would need to be dried, even cured, before it was ready to burn.  Which meant that Storm must have other hiding holes nearby.

 

Rachel was frankly amazed at Storm's resourcefulness. She didn’t just live off of the land, but bent it to suit her needs.  It took more than one lifetime to acquire such ways; in man’s evolution it had taken hundreds, it not thousands, of years for the transformation from using crude tools to crafting their own.  There was just no other explanation; someone must have taught Storm to use these things.

 

Rachel’s train of thought derailed as crystal-blue eyes looked up at her. A sweet smile of joy swept across Storm's face and Rachel responded in kind.  Rachel lay  back down, head propped on her hand, so that she could watch as Storm went about preparing another batch of the tea she had provided last night.  By her side sat a wealth of fruit that Rachel had not noticed earlier; Storm had obviously been out gathering food as well. 

 

Little evidence remained of the ripped flesh she had received when saving Rachel from the cats a mere six days ago; her body's healing capabilities were formidable.  A few areas still showed the redness of new scar tissue but most had disappeared completely. 

 

Storm's demeanour had changed since she had started to associate with their small group. She no longer showed the wariness that had prevented her earlier approach. Even though Rachel knew that the only people on the planet were those from the ships, she was still worried that Storm's now trusting nature could be dangerous for her.  There were still many people who, given the chance, would take advantage of her. 

 

Storm had proved incredibly capable of defending herself, but Rachel doubted she would know whom to defend herself against.  I’ll have to discuss this with Lisa; it never occurred to me that introducing ourselves to her might put her in danger.  Once we return and word of her origin gets out then everyone is going to want to get the chance to examine her. A pall of depression threatened to fall over her as she considered the implications of actually finding her watcher.

 

Storm was enjoying herself immensely; last night she had taken great pleasure in showing her new friends her home.  They had all been impressed with her pictures, and she had found it funny how Rachel had searched for a way to get higher to see the ones at the top. I’ll have to take her up and show her later. 

 

When she had awoken this morning the women had still been asleep, each of them deep in their own worlds--except maybe the two that slept tangled around one another like vines.  Her eyes were used to the darkness of the cavern, and she had not required light from the fire to find her way out. 

 

She hadn’t expected the rains to come this early, though she knew from her vast experience that it was possible. Because she had spent much of her time at her friend’s camp, instead of preparing, there were things that had needed to be done.  On rising, she had crept from the cavern, careful not to waken her guests.

 

The rain was still heavy and she stood for several minutes, letting the downpour wash the grime of sleep from her body.  Her hands ran through her hair, trying to get rid of the knots that had tied amongst the strands. 

 

Over the years, she had found many areas of the forest in which to store various articles required to exist within the steamy ecosystem.  At first, when she had discovered how to make the fire she had seen the bolts from the sky create, she had kept a constant fuel supply in the cavern. Time had taught her that the fire needn’t be kept going all the time and that less smoke was created if the wood were bone dry, so she had taken to storing her fuel in a small cave not so far away.  The floor of this cave was heated from below by hot springs that were accessible if you didn’t mind crawling through several very small tunnels.  Still, the heat in the upper cave was dry and perfect for keeping her wood in.

 

Normally she would have had a good supply at the cavern, but because of her time at the camp it was low.  Her first job of the day would be to collect more to replace that which she took from the cave today.  The next order of business would be to forage for food and set some traps.

 

While Storm was perfectly content to survive on fruits, nuts and root plants, she much preferred to substitute with meat occasionally.  Even in the rain the animals needed to move about and Storm had been around long enough to know where to place her traps to ensure that they would eat well tonight. 

 

Quickly assessing the ground below, she decided that taking the higher route through the trees would take less time than a trek through the soup of the forest floor.  She climbed to the top of the rocks and took a small run, before launching herself into the air.  Her powerful legs pushed her far, allowing her to grab the outermost branches of one of the trees.  Her strong arms pulled her into its safety and she was gone in a flurry of falling leaves. 

 

Her return to the cavern was as stealthy as her departure from it. Within still held the darkness and her guests for the most part were still asleep, though she could sense that Rachel was awake. She crept quietly to the fire pit, still hesitant to wake the rest.  Gently, she put down the bundle of wood she had procured from the cave, and found her flint and striking stone.  A short, sharp impact of the two stones lit the kindling she had placed earlier. When Rachel jumped at her sudden appearance, she couldn’t help the ripple of amusement that ran through her body. 

 

At first she hadn’t understood why her new friends had been unable to detect her presence.  She knew Rachel could, but the others just seemed oblivious unless she appeared to them directly within their line of sight.  After spending several days with them she realised that their hearing, eyesight and sense of smell were vastly different from hers.  What she assumed was shouting was their normal level of speech; what she could see some distance away they couldn’t unless they used one of their weird tools.  So now she took great amusement in startling them, and even Rachel could be caught out if her mind was on other things. 

 

She made tea and, smiling at Rachel, handed it over to her.  Then she went about preparing the fruit.  Most of it could be eaten without peeling but some of them were home to grubs and insects that needed to be removed before they were edible.  Storm was conscious of Rachel’s change in mood even as it occurred, and she paused in her work to look over at the woman.

 

Her face was beautiful but held an air of sadness that Storm could little understand.  A sudden need to be close to Rachel washed over her and she put her utensils down and quickly crossed to her, sitting down abruptly by her side.  Her hand automatically reached out and took hold of Rachel’s, trying to provide comfort and reassurance to the woman who captivated her thoughts.

 

Rachel looked down wonderingly at the hand that clasped hers.  She felt the same need to be close as did Storm, and she also felt Storm's confusion at her sudden melancholy.  That she could even think to provide such comfort was a marvel and, curiously enough, all it took for Rachel’s mood to lift was the comforting presence of Storm at her side. 

 

“Thanks,” she said quietly, her day becoming significantly brighter as Storm smiled at her.  Their eyes connected, neither one wanting to break the silent communication between them.  A loud and painful groan broke into their mutual reverie.

 

“Lord, did I ever tell you how much I hate sleeping on the ground?” grouched Tasha as she pushed herself slowly up onto her elbows.  “Well, I do.”

 

“Tasha, you’re a marine for Christ’s sake.  How can you not like sleeping on the ground?” Rachel inquired after she finished laughing.

 

“Just because I’m a ground pounder doesn’t mean to say I don’t appreciate the niceties of life, like a comfortable bed,” the marine replied as she scrubbed the sleep from her eyes.  Tasha sat up and looked over to where Storm and Rachel sat, silently taking notice of where their hands lay.  “You sleep well?” she inquired.

 

Rachel looked down, suddenly realised she was still holding onto Storm’s hand and hastily removed it from the woman’s grasp.  “Yeah, fine,” she said, her mood darkening slightly as she lost the warmth of Storm’s hand.

 

Storm, nonplussed at Rachel’s quick removal of her hand, leant forward and poured another warm drink of tea and passed it over to Tasha.

 

Tasha was grateful for the warming properties of the tea.  The cavern wasn’t cold as such, but the rains outside had taken a lot of the heat out of the air and the rocks that formed the cavern had naturally radiated away some of the warmth that was perpetually stored in them.  The combination lowered the temperature enough to make it noticeable. 

 

“When we're all up and about, I’m going to see where that entrance in the wall goes to.  It’s the first real indication we’ve had that there may actually have been a civilisation on this planet.”

 

“Sounds like a good idea.  See if Lisa or Carrie will go with you.  I’m going to get Storm to show me that entire wall. We might at least discover how she managed to end up being the one person here.”  Rachel let her eyes creep over to where Lisa and Carrie lay curled around each other.  “I’m beginning to believe that those two could sleep through anything.”

 

“Only if they’re together.  Otherwise Carrie is as jumpy as hell.”

 

“Do you miss having someone like that?” asked Rachel as Storm once again came to sit by her side.

 

“Sometimes.  Sometimes when I wake up in the mornings, or when I’m trying to sleep at night, I wonder what it would be like to have someone to fall asleep with and wake up next to in the mornings.  What about you?”

 

“Never really thought about it much.  It is only now that I see those two together that I realise how isolated I feel sometimes.”

 

Tasha looked down at the wooden mug in her hands and smiled softly, seeing that Storm had put fruit next to her.  She took a sip of the still warm tea.  “Don’t think you have to worry about that much anymore.”  Her eyes pointedly fixed on Storm who was sitting next to Rachel.

 

Rachel rolled her eyes at the marine.  “As if.”  Though she does seem to have become attached to me.

 

It was sometime later, after Lisa and Carrie had finally surfaced, that they got the day off to a proper start.  Lisa and Carrie had decided to go with Tasha to see where the archway through Storm’s picture wall led.  Rachel stayed behind with Storm, determined to get the woman to show her the earlier works that were out of her reach on the wall.

 

Tasha led the way through the arched entrance, holding a torch up high to light their path.  The tunnel descended further underground as they followed it and should have been easy to traverse, but there had been several cave-ins. Rubble littered the floor and in some cases blocked the way.

 

“How far do you think we’ve come?” asked Carrie as she looked over Tasha’s shoulder.

 

“Not as far as it feels like we have, that’s for sure,” replied Tasha.

 

“You got that right.  I feel like I’ve been walking all day,” said Lisa as she joined them.

 

“Whose idea was this?”  Tasha flexed her arms to get some feeling back into them after moving the last pile of rubble.

 

“Yours!” came the chorus of replies from Lisa and Carrie.

 

Tasha grinned.  “Yeah, I guess it was, but aren’t we having fun?”

 

“I might have been if I hadn’t just seen what was in front of us,” answered Carrie who had walked several feet ahead.

 

“What’s that?” Lisa walked up to her.  “Oh.”  Her eyebrow went up as she contemplated the rocks strewn in front of her, and then turned back to Tasha.  “Come on, she-ra, this was your bright idea.”

 

**********

 

Rachel sat quietly staring at the fire.  The girls had left the cavern two hours ago, but Storm had been so busy puttering around that she hadn't wanted to interrupt. In Rachel’s opinion the woman was truly impressive.  Once the girls had left, she had doused the fire and cleaned the pit of refuse and ash from the night before, then she had carefully rebuilt and lit it again.  She’d rearranged several of the larger ledges and covered them with furs and what looked to be large leaves or rushes that she had pulled from a crevice.  Beds for us, I imagine. 

 

Rachel looked up as Storm came and stood before her.  She smiled at the woman and Storm held out her hand. Rachel reached up and grasped it.  “What?”

 

“Rachel come,” said Storm, pulling the doctor to her feet, leading her over to the wall and pointing to the uppermost paintings.

 

“Yes, I can see them,” she said.  I’d like to see them closer if I could only figure how the hell you got up there.  Storm pulled on her hand again and guided her over to the cavern wall.  The tall woman gestured at the wall and Rachel looked closely, unable to see what Storm wanted.  Storm gestured again.

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t’ understand.”  Rachel smiled as she saw the look of frustration on the woman’s face. “Show me.”  Rachel gestured at the wall this time.

 

Understanding Rachel’s gestures, Storm proceeded to scale the wall, carefully showing Rachel where she could put her hands and feet.

 

Grinning, Rachel slowly began to follow her companion.

 

 

**********

Conditions in the tunnel weren’t exactly ideal. It was cramped and the temperature had steadily risen as the girls worked to clear the latest rock fall they had come across.

 

“I'll tell you this much,” said Lisa as she grabbed hold of the rock that Carrie was handing to her.  “Next time you have a bright idea, Tasha, you're on your own!”

 

Tasha laughed.  “Stop kidding yourself, you are enjoying this.  Bet you haven’t had this good a workout in ages.”  Tasha put down the rock she had been moving and stretched her back, arms rising to wipe the sweat from her brow.

 

“Oh yeah, just what I needed after that trek through the treetops yesterday," Lisa replied, taking a break as well. "I hope that the shuttle lived through the flood.”

 

“I’m hoping that the beacon sent the message to Sue up on Kingdom as well as back to the village,” Carrie said as she burrowed deeper into the small tunnel through the rubble that she had created.  “Otherwise we’ll have everybody out searching for us.  And I really would hate to have the ‘we told you it wasn’t safe to let the girls out on their own’ brigade saying I told you so.”

 

Lisa groaned.  “Oh, yep.  I can just see Kane Aston's smug face. It would make his day to be able to stick his oar in somewhere.” Kane Aston had been the bane of Lisa’s life back at the village.  The man was a pompous ass. A rich, pompous ass, admittedly, but one who didn’t quite understand that money meant very little now.  He had--the lord only knows how--been elected to the council just before the invasion.  Now that humanity's and the confederation's fight for life had turned his exclusive world upside down, he had taken to abusing his power by making sure that those he disapproved of got the brunt of his antagonism. 

 

On landfall at the planet, Lisa had the misfortune of being assigned to the council staff. Whilst she had been working with the plans for the farming and agricultural community that would have to be set up, Aston had made advances that Lisa had politely rebuffed.  He hadn’t taken no for an answer and Lisa had eventually taken him to one side and told him she was more interested in his secretary than she was in him. That had stopped his advances toward her but, in retaliation, he had then commenced a campaign against what he considered the infidels of their society. 

 

Luckily for Lisa, Aston's reputation went before him and very few people took any notice of what he said.  It would only be another few months before they elected a new council and then, hopefully, he would no longer be a concern. 

 

When Rachel had put together this expedition he had been most vocal against letting the trip go ahead.  He had been the one who insisted on there being a military presence but had not been happy at all when Tasha, a female, was assigned to the team.

 

“Nah, the message will have gone off.  God wouldn’t be that nasty to me, would she?” Lisa implored.

 

The girls all laughed at Lisa’s beseeching look and slowly got back to work.

 

Rachel’s heart was beating double time.  She was hanging fifty feet in the air, suspended by a harness of what appeared to be dried out and woven vines.  Storm was ingenious, and how she had ever figured out how to get herself up here was a mystery to Rachel.  But here she was, face to face with the artwork she had been eager to see last night.  It was fascinating; the first few were obviously her first attempts at expressing herself, though Rachel had no idea why she had chosen to start in the gods-awful cavern.  By moving slings of the harness to attachment points further along the roof of the cavern, and carefully transferring her weight, Rachel was able to move along the cavern wall, studying the pictures. About half way along, Rachel really became interested in what she was looking at.

 

The picture was a rendition of a night sky, except that, in this one, meteors were raining out of the sky.  Even more interesting was that the meteors were impacting upon an urban scene.  Housing structures and other buildings were quite easily distinguished, but it struck Rachel that no people were pictured.

 

Brow furrowing in concentration, Rachel carefully unhooked one sling and moved it along. Then, hooking its opposite number on the other side of the harness, she moved that along.  The harness and Rachel moved about a foot further along the wall.  She quickly moved the other two attachments and began to study the next picture. 

 

A clattering below her attracted her attention away from the wall back down to the cavern floor where Storm sat, sorting through several pieces of equipment that they had brought along with them.  The women had learnt very quickly that their friend liked to examine and explore the new things that they had introduced to her, but she had yet to break anything she had played with so far.  In fact she had found some innovative ways of using some of them. Tasha would certainly never again look at her toothbrush in quite the same way, that was for sure.  Leaving Storm to her examination, Rachel returned to hers.

 

This next one was similar to the first except it showed more of the landscape. Here it appeared that Storm had painted cities and forests burning, but again no people could be seen.  So she has been in a technological society, which I kinda already assumed since she has been genetically created or at least tampered with.  The question is, where was this civilisation and why is she here alone?  And how long has she been here?  How long?  Ah! This is so frustrating, nothing here tells me where she came from.  I can’t even determine which planet these are pictures of.  Well, I’m not giving up that easily; I’ll just stay up here until I find something.  And until Storm tells me how the hell to get down.

 

**********

 

Carrie stopped to catch her breath after setting down the last rock she had moved.  “How much further, do you think?”

 

“Can’t be much further, we must have moved nearly a ton,” replied Tasha.

 

“Slight exaggeration there, don’t you think?” Lisa paused with the others.  “I don’t think we are going to get through this tonight, ladies. What say we call it a day?”

 

“Yeah, I can go with that,” Carrie said, smiling at her partner.

 

“Me too,”  Tasha agreed.  She threw a small rock back toward the blockage.  The rock hit was a resounding clang of stone on metal.

 

The girls looked at each other before scrambling back up the debris.  “What was that, do you think?” inquired Tasha.

 

“No idea, but I’d say we are about to find out,” answered Lisa.

 

“It’s metal.”  Carrie was sprawled on her front, torch shining in amongst the rubble, hand digging through it.  “Yeah, it is metal I can feel it,” she remarked as her hand came into contact with it.

 

A few more minutes of frantic activity and they had cleared away the topmost rubble.

 

“Guess that answers my question doesn’t it?  It’s a door.”

 

  

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