Twin Earth

Chapter 24

There were colours, 'rainbows perhaps?' I wondered. 'No, more like a toy kaleidoscope, like I had as a child,' I pondered thoughtfully as I watched the playful shades of pink, yellow and blue twisting and curling into beautiful geometric shapes. It was peaceful. It allowed me time to think. Everything was starting to make sense somehow, the hidden pieces of asteroid, the vanishing probe and now this whole new planet, hidden from view just a few miles from home. 'The anomaly, it can hide things and it's been hiding a secret, protecting it maybe? But it's failing, it's dying, but is any of it real?' I wondered.

My mind was hazy now and I couldn't get my ex-wife's words out of my mind. 'Is she screaming at me? No, I had to go. It was the only way. Why won't she leave me alone? I didn't mean to make mistakes. No, I went for myself, not for Rachel, not for any of them. I had to do the right thing."

"Tom..." she screamed. I could see her eyes red from anger, her arms twisted forward with her fists dug deep into her thighs. 'Why does she hate me so much? I know I said I would never go into space, but I only ever wanted to do what was right. I never meant to disappoint anyone.'

"Tom..." the voice screamed again. "Tom!"

"Rachel?" I blinked, wiping the pools of water that had collected in my eyes.

"Wake up!"

"What happened? Where are we?" I groaned, rubbing my head and attempting to sit up.

"We need to get out of here."

"Where are you? I can't see a damn thing. Ugh, I feel dizzy," I moaned.

I could feel Rachel holding my shoulder and wiping my face dry and finally opening my eyes I tried to look around. It was hot, very hot and unbelievably humid. The air was so thick with water and steam that all I could make out were a few tree trunks, smooth and tall with no branches or leaves to decipher their species even if I had the knowledge. Who knew where they disappeared to or how tall they were. Strange howls and throat calls echoed around us from what I presumed to be some kind of fauna in what I now realised was dense tropical forest. Standing up a feeling of pure terror came over me.

"Where's the craft?" I asked desperately, looking at Rachel.

"It's not far from here, but... it's in pieces Tom. When you passed out..."

"I passed out? When? How?" I interrupted.

"When we hit the atmosphere, the solar sails ripped apart, nearly destroying your side of the craft. You were knocked unconscious. I... I... tried to hold the Nano-shields... the... door together, but it wasn't working. It was flashing. Everything was flashing and bleeping. I had no idea what to do. Something, the err... change in pressure? I don't know, anyway it sucked you out. It literally sucked you out of the craft before we hit the ground. I thought you were dead!"

"Hey, it's okay," I whispered, holding Rachel in an awkward hug. "This is my fault. I should never had led us into the anomaly. It was stupid. I just thought we could get some answers and go home with something concrete to tell the others. I had no idea that we would find... that this would happen."

Rachel pulled away and wiped her face, nodded silently. The humidity flushing her cheeks a deep red.

"At least we're not dead," Rachel muttered.

"But you look hurt. What happened to you?"

"I think I've broken my ankle, but at least the craft protected us for as long as it could."

"And you're bleeding. Here," I remarked dabbing her forehead with my sleeve. "We need to get out of this jungle. Do you remember anything about the last trajectory before the crash? We should find that city and get help."

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if whoever lives here is hostile? We don't even have any weapons?"

Breathing heavily and coughing from so much water in the air I knew she was right, but we couldn't stay where we were.

"This dense mist could be hiding all sorts of dangers just here," I finally replied. "We need to get to some form of safety. We don't know if what we're breathing in is toxic. We don't know what biota can kill us. Trevor should have sent a biologist not a geologist," I joked, trying to lighten the mood, but clearly failing as Rachel began to hobble away, wincing from the pain of her foot.

"We should head north. If I'm right the city should only be a few miles from here, but... which way is north? I can't tell without a normal sun and I don't have a compass, do you? That's if one would even work in this place."

I could sense her sarcasm and I knew she hated me for the position I had put her in. I couldn't blame her. I knew going through the anomaly had been yet another example of my rash decision making. Sometimes it won me awards and sometimes it didn't, and this was definitely one of those times.

"And what about radiation?" Rachel continued. "How do we know if we're being exposed to deadly levels of radiation? Have you given us cancer too?"

"We'd know by now probably," I lied. "Look, at least it's darker down here than it was up there in space. We'd be blind by now if it wasn't for all these trees. Thank you for at least avoiding that desert and for trying to save my life."

"Well it was better than dying here alone. We can die together instead."

"Noted," I mumbled.

"At least my watch can tell me the temperature, which by the way is over fifty degrees Celsius, which is probably why I feel so dizzy and sick."

"Look, maybe I should get help. Find someone and bring them back," I suggested as Rachel collapsed to the ground and cradled her head.

"Who? The aliens?" Rachel mumbled.

"Hyperthermia will set in if we don't hurry. It's too humid to stay out here. I'm going to find help," I stated, crouching down and lifting up Rachel's chin to examine her. She looked even more flushed, her long hair now matted onto her face as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Tom..." she whispered. "Is there someone behind you or am I imagining things?"

I spun around in panic to look, but I couldn't see anything other than the mist and the weirdly smooth tree trunks. There was barely any foliage, let alone someone.

"There's no-one there," I replied, turning back to look at Rachel, my heart pounding. "Stay here, I'll be as quick as I can."

"No, there's someone there Tom. I can see him between the trees staring at us."

'What the hell,' I thought, turning back to look, but this time I did see something. A tall, probably seven foot or so and very human looking man with incredibly dark skin stood motionlessly watching us from a few metres away. His face looked strange as if covered in some sort of lattice material that every so often caught the light, glinting hues of orange and yellow and obscuring his mouth and nose. His clothes were basic and were simple layers of green cloth of a similarly reflective nature, which covered his completely hairless chest and legs, almost like a sarong and he was carrying what looked like a bag or case of some sort, wrapped tightly around his waist. It was hanging open and you could just make out a few glass-like tubes filled with unusual coloured liquids. It was as if we had caught him busy doing something else, but even so when I met his gaze I was struck by how thin and dark his eyes were, his stare so intense it forced me to look away.

"What's he doing?" I asked Rachel, turning to look at her for help, but she had passed out. "Rachel," I whispered frantically, shaking her slightly, causing her head to lop to one side. "Rachel!"