Chapter 3 - The Arrival of Night

Mk23 -IRJ Droplet - Class 7 - Carpe Victoria (Wrecked)

Sector - Unknown

Planet - Unknown

1st May 2341 (BSST)

I pushed past the tree that had cut me, leaning back to avoid a branch that seemed to reach out, grasping for me like the withered hand of some kind of monster. Stepping back, I regained my sure footing and glanced around me. Already the smells and sounds of the sea had faded and had been replaced with the rustle of the leaves on the trees. The harsh crunch of dry, dead leaves fracturing under my heavy footsteps reverberates around me and the gentle gusts of wind whisper an unheard song that twines and digs into my mind as a crab buries itself in sand.

The main sun has steadfastly marched up and over its mid-day peak and it's now subtly and rapidly descending. Ready to finish its daily race and climb wearily into bed; passing the torch onto a moon for the night. Well hopefully there is in fact a moon. I don't have a torch so if its pitch black at night I'm not going to have a good time.

Since night is closing in I had better get some work done. I don't know what's out there and I had better be prepared for the first night on an alien planet. Focusing on my HUD I could see the debris field located several hundred metres away. Orienting myself so the marker was in the centre of my compass I looked ahead expecting to see my stuff.

What greeted me was a significant disappointment. An ever-thickening jungle that in only a few metres turned from the sparse trees that had encroached upon the beach to a mass of tangled branches, sharp points and untold dangers. The woods turned black as the thickening canopy began cutting out the light. Shadows lengthened distorting my perception of the world. Even more unnatural were the two sets of shadows now that the other sun had begun to rise. It further distorted the world sending me stumbling around as features appeared and disappeared seemingly at will. I swear the trees are sentient and just messing with me.

I used my suit to enhance the lighting but that barely made a difference. Since it seemingly wouldn't get any better I began my slog through the jungle. Stepping carefully over fallen branches, holes and rocks, around trees and branches and just generally forcing my way through the underbrush I made very little progress.

In fact, much of my time was spent clearing my path. Stamping down bushes. Ripping down creepers and vines that had bridged the trees and began to form a spider's web of greenery like a netting waiting to close me in.

Soon the forest that was filled with light, life and greenery but it soon fades like a memory of yesteryear. The trees that had sheltered me from the sun were replaced with the thin, desiccated sticks of charcoal. Lifeless and barren they resembled deformed, broken limbs and had that hollow looking humanity that was at best creepy and at worst down right disturbing. The lengthening shadows of the setting sun made them seem so much worse. Especially to a fearful mind, it was like they were grasping for me. Reaching out as a dying man rasps out in his broken voice "help" to the doctor.

I try to ignore them, but they press at my consciousness. Ever on the edge of my mind influencing me. Like the devil on my shoulder they direct my path and pretty soon I have turned away from the direct path and I'm walking along a small trail. Some large animal must have forged this route. By hook or by crook, forcing through the forest. Branches are bent and broken, they all face the direction I'm going, and this tells me the animal I'm tracking is a big brute. Big enough to trash the trees and ignore the sharp cutting leaves.

I soon arrive at a sheer cliff face. The path turns off at the cliff and seems to follow it around, skirting the edges. If I look just right I can see it enter the cliff in some sort of den. I had better avoid it until I know what it is though. No point becoming a snack just for curiosities sake.

Now that I'm in the field of charcoal I can see the sun more clearly. Its bottom edge has just breached the horizon and soon it's going to flood the world in darkness as it disappears. Flood me in darkness. Before the light fades entirely I need to find a safe place to stay the night. The cliff face is made from some sort of sedimentary rock so it's going to be hard to climb if I even can. Towards the top the cliff cuts back it a series of uneven and jagged steps. A small spattering of grass grows from some cracks on a ledge. The Small tufts liven up the barren cliff face a touch and a small tree looms above me like it's abseiling down. Its roots can be seen climbing the rock. It doesn't look very healthy.

The ledge is my target, so I just need to find a way up there. I search around to find anything that might help me. I manage to scrounge up a hard stone with a point. Perhaps I can use it to improve hand holds.

As I stare up at the cliff face I can begin to see a sort of path forming to me. It won't be easy, but it might be possible. I walk up to the base and begin my ascent. Keeping my hips tucked in I carefully place my feet making sure to catch the edges in the natural divots of the rock. At least at the start the holds are small and I have to use crimps. I form a small fist keeping my fingers straight from the second joint. My thumb wraps around my first two fingers to lock them in place. I have my suit help by partly locking the finger joints to provide additional support. Moving carefully, I press with my legs and turn in pressing my shoulder to the wall to extend my reach and get those last few precious inches of reach.

Stretching I can just reach a small crack in the rock. Slipping my hand into the crack I push the knuckles up in a cup like shape and use my hand as a wedge. Sliding my hand down to a narrowing in the crack I feel the pressure on my wrist increase to a tolerable but descent pain level.

Bracing, my feet scramble on the smooth rock sending showers of dust and rock chips tumbling down to the floor below. I grit my teeth as something sharp stabs into my wrist. I can almost feel it grating on the bone beneath and I pray that the rock holds my weight. With a last ditch pull I manage to hook my foot around a small outcropping and pull myself into the wall more thoroughly.

Leaning off to the right I grab the crack now that my angle is orthogonal, and I can actually grip. Loosening my wrist, I extract it from the crack and slowly pull myself towards centre. Wedging my hand further up I slowly increase my weight on it until its supporting me entirely. I manage to wedge my feet by pulling them up, so the soles are touching. When I stand up my feet rotate and become wider locking me in.

In this manner I make my way up the crack until it runs out a few metres short of the ledge I want. I'm sweating profusely now and the suit is coping just about acceptably. The sun is now at least half gone and I can barely see, even with the boost my suit provides. If I don't manage to get to the ledge in the next few minutes I'm going to be in serious trouble.

The next section of rock is smooth, and I can't see a way up. The rock however narrows in and a channel seems to be carved going up one side of the ledge. A potential chimney if I've ever seen one.

Slipping into the narrow cut out I brace my back against one wall with one foot tucked under my bum. The other rests against the wall. Pushing with my hands to lift my back off the wall. I stand up and move my feet up to a new bracing position. Progress is slow and soon I run into a lump above me. Sighing I take a second to observe my position.

The only solution I can see is to move away from the wall into the overhang. So that is what I will have to do. Eventually I manage to lever my elbow above the lump and this helps me get over it and from there it is only a short jump to the ledge. I make it lie down on the cliff taking a few deep breaths of relief to calm my racing heart.

Once my heartrate drops to normal I sit up and in the fading light I have a quick look around my bed for the night. The tree will be a good barrier to stop me rolling off during the night. The small tufts can be a pillow if only I can contort myself around the outcroppings and get comfortable enough to sleep.

Just as the world envelopes me in all consuming darkness that wraps around me in a cocoon. Spinning me up tight. Constricting me. My breath shortens, my mind busy conjuring up all manner of creatures that dwell in the inky blackness that surrounds me on all sides.

My worries about a moon not existing are shortly put to bed as upon the horizon a shallow semicircle begins to appear. The moon is a cloudy, blotchy red. Areas of intense red light with wispy, smoke like shadows rise up above the treeline. The scarlet patches flow around the moon as blood oozes from a wound. Slowly and erratically with no meaningful pattern nor predictable path.

Of course, I knew the blood moon wasn't really red. It only appears red due to the Rayleigh scattering of the light rays refracting over the curvature of the planet. Pretty soon the moon will cease to be that unsettling shade of red. Still, knowing this didn't make it seem any less eerie. The absolute silence didn't help either. Even the wind seemed to have quietened down its endless monologue in order to watch the arrival of night and what might come with it.

I watch, not daring to take a much-needed breath which would disturb this serene moment. Too perfect too last like a soap bubble, the moment is eventually shattered with a pop, or more like the echoing, mournful howl of a wolf. Or a creature much like one. If it were possible I freeze even more. It sounded close. Far far too close for comfort.

It should have come as no surprise that the reverberating howl is answered by an upbeat shorter howl from somewhere even closer. Perhaps the cave just below me. Not even seventy metres away. I'm more thankful than ever I had decided to climb up here.

Ever so slowly, like snail slow I crawl forward, an inch at a time, until I'm far enough forwards that like a tortoise I can stretch my neck out and take a quick cursory glance over the edge before braving a longer look, I think I can make out the outline of a creature. Not wanting to push my luck I withdraw slightly reluctantly.

"Computer, replay last 30 seconds." I whisper, my voice barely audible to my own ears, as I slink back gratefully into the shadows that now protect me in anonymity.

The suit's screen fades to black, complete black.

---Science---

It's an OLED screen you see. OLED or Organic light-emitting diode provides a richer more colourful light than LCD LED displays. Blacker blacks and more vibrant colours.

Traditional LED's that subsist on doped materials. Like germanium and silicon. One slightly electron rich and the other slightly electron deficient. When you paste the two slabs together, where they meet is sort of neutral land. Like between the trenches in the first world war.

When connected the electron rich material passes off electrons causing a current to flow across the junction. When the electrons combine with the electron holes, which is the lack of electrons where there could be electrons in an atomic lattice they recombine releasing energy in the form of photons. This process called photoluminescence is responsible for the light.

The problem with regular LCD's is that the pixels have to be backlit by the LED's and so light seepage makes the black not really so black as long as some other colour is on the screen. This is because for the colour the entire backlight must be on.

OLED's on the other hand are made from organic molecules. To produce their light 6 layers are placed on top of one another consisting of Top and bottom protective layers of glass or plastic a cathode, an anode, an emissive layer and a conductive layer. The OLED screen can be switched on and off independently depending on the voltage flowing through each pixel. Since each pixel is self-illuminating there is global backlight that will seep colour into the image. Therefore, darker blacks than LED based technology.

---Science---

Once the screen fades, an image slowly blooms. At first, it's so dark I can hardly determine the texture of the rock. It becomes clearer as my head nears the edge of the cliff where there is not ample, but just about enough light to make out a faint shape. Over on my left, just standing there autocratically on a slight rise. The shape is large, menacing and powerful. Thick stocky legs like that of a rhino, except for the fur, lead into a lion like torso. A large head that is too shadowed to determine much about and a similarly large tail that flicks around in annoyance. I get the feeling its somewhere between feline and canine but definitely more dangerous than either.

It must stand a good one and a half metres tall and just over two metres in length. I flinch as the earpiece relays another vicious snarling howl, before the creature leaps over the slight rise, catapults to a dead sprint before disappearing. The rest of the footage shows me nothing new.

As the creature disappears I am left with no doubt this world has predators, powerful ones. I sneak back over and take a longer look this time. As I pear out I notice a few new things in the faint reddish light. What I thought were a few dead trees is actually a vast swathe of forest that seems to lead up a tall jagged mountain. Perhaps it is a volcano and the pyroclastic surges have burnt out all life in that region. Perhaps there was just a bad wildfire. Perhaps... Perhaps... Perhaps... I mumble to myself yawning. Shaking my head, I snap out of my sleepiness for a few brief moments in order to plan for tomorrow. I need to salvage any useful tools and parts from the wreckage of my ship. We'll get up early and go and investigate. I run through my mental alarm clock.

It's a skill I believe all humans have. To be able to wake at exactly the time you want. Becoming a marine had forced me to be able to get up early with no alarm clock blaring at me. Some form of mental conditioning maybe, I'm thankful none the less. First light, First light, First light, ...

I chant to myself as sleep begins to encroach my weary mind. This time I let it take me, snuggling in to the rockface as best I can. A few sleepy blinks and my eyes shut, the darkness swarms in and over me like a blanket. And then I know no more.