Dangerous Planet
CHAPTER 13 To the bank of the river, about which Stan heard so much, they came out only in the evening. The river itself was not very wide, but, given the fact that they had nothing to cross it on, it did not matter much. She became an insuperable obstacle for them, at least in the place where they left the forest and where the strip of fallen trees ended. It continued on the other shore, but to go further, it was necessary to cross the river. Everything was simple and clear.
Stan, of course, was able to swim, but he did not feel the desire to climb into the water. Who knows what and who can be led under this calm, smooth and dark surface. Jema was even worse. Unlike Stan, she could not swim at all, but it did not matter. Even if she could swim, hardly anyone could get her to get into the water. Like Stan did not feel like it. "You have to find a ford or something like that," exploring the bank of the river, Stan said. "Ford is what?" asked Jema. "Shallow water," Stan explained. "If we find such a place, we can cross to the other side." "And why did not Sean find this ford then?" Jema asked in that tone, as if Stan were to blame for this. "How do I know?" he shrugged. "And anyway, who knows what he was really looking for." Maybe he was not going to cross the river. Have you thought about this?" "No," Jema admitted honestly. "Such a thought never entered my head." "I do not doubt," Stan tramped on the spot, and then resolutely walked downstream. "Let's have a rest first," Jema suggested, realizing what he intended to do. "Then," Stan said without stopping. "I wanted better," Jema said just then. Stan's behavior surprised her, but only. Having overcome in a complete silence about a kilometer downstream, Stan suddenly stopped and could not resist a surprised exclamation. Jema, stepping on his heels, wanted to ask what the matter was, but when she looked up and looked in the direction in which Stan watched, she reacted in exactly the same way. "Unbelievable," she exclaimed. "Stan, have you ever seen this before?" "I think not," Stan admitted. "Me too." Their surprise was caused by a huge tree, whose branches stretched horizontally in all directions, including across the river, hiding somewhere on the other shore among the same giant trees. The best natural bridge was hard to imagine. "We are lucky," Stan said with amused notes in his voice. "If we do not fall into the water along the way, and no one will attack us," Jema added, agreeing with his words. "It's nothing," Stan said. "Okay," Stan impulsively motioned her to shut up, then looked at the clock, and then at the sky. "If we now climb on a tree, then, until darkness, surely, we will have time to cross to the other shore. What do you think?" "Well, ... probably," Jema shrugged and looked doubtfully at the smooth, green and thick trunk of the tree. It was difficult to climb on it. This is unambiguous. "It's a pity we do not have anti-grip," she added, watching Stan walk around the tree and look out for something. "We would have at least one antigrav then the tree is useless," he replied. "It's also true," Jema agreed with a sigh. Stan did not answer this and silently solved the problem of how to climb a tree. Five minutes later, he thought she had decided. "Hunter," he called quietly. "Why do you need him?" Jema was surprised. "You will see." When a hunter emerged from a pile of shriveled branches, Stan pulled out the control unit and stared at the buttons for a few seconds. Then he hid the unit back in his pocket and scratched the back of his head. As before, the hunter had to experiment. In different combinations, Stan was presented with several possible options for climbing a tree: the first was to order the hunter to break a branch and climb on it, the second to cut the branch with a plasma radiator and then climb along it to the tree. The third option was to order the hunter to throw first Jema and then himself at once on the right branch. The last option suited Stan more than the rest for the simple reason that he already knew something about the local trees and could well imagine how much of an unknown liquid would pour on them with Jema, if you cut a thick branch. In addition, and this is also well known to him, inside the branches could be driven, and for sure, there are creatures that are not ruled out much more dangerous than the two-legged ones. Stan did not meet with them yet, but he heard a lot about them. All was well, but the only hitch was how to force the hunter to throw them on a tree. And do not just throw it on a tree, namely, what they need. "So, what is next?" broke the silence of Jema, who was tired of looking at how Stan stands in front of his beast and silently looks at him. "He will help us climb a tree," Stan explained. "He's hiding the ladder in his pocket?" the girl joked. "A telepath hunter," Stan said, and then turned to his beast, who was about to climb a bunch of branches. "Hunter, lift Jema into the air," he asked, feeling that he looked like a hollow idiot. The hunter did not react to his request. "Jema," Stan called sharply. "Yes?" "Point the gun at him," Stan ordered. "I?" Jema asked, amazed. "You. Tell me you want to kill him!" Jema choked on such a request, but, nevertheless, she brought the gun to the hunter. "I'll kill you!" she cried out with conviction. This acted and the next second she was torn from the ground and flung with invisible force into the branches of the tree. When Jema finally stopped screaming, as if she were being slaughtered, Stan smiled contentedly under his breath and looked with a smile as she floundered in the tangle of twigs and leaves. "I did not think you liked to joke," he said tenderly, patting the hunter on the back. A creature from an unknown planet in response to this showed a toothy jaw from the body, and then threw Stan on one branch with Jema, who no longer screamed and perceived everything with a certain amount of humor. "He's just gorgeous," she said as Stan stood beside her. - He, in my opinion, is much smarter than pretending. "That's for sure." Stan agreed, nodded his head and watched as the hunter climbed the smooth trunk of the tree for a few seconds. "Who will go first?" Jema asked. "Of course," Stan looked at her in surprise, and they gently crossed the smooth surface of the branch with a width of about half a meter in the place where they were. "I do not mind." Jema gave him the way and turned to the hunter. "You're just lovely," she said tenderly. Stan was surprised, but he did not give a look. Despite the fact that the branch looked more like a trampled path, they advanced very carefully. Going along a tree branch, especially over the river was in itself quite an unusual thing, not to mention that this tree grows on a strange planet. * * * Fortunately, there were almost no side branches, and Stan and Jema did not have to struggle through the dense veil of leaves. And there were almost no leaves as such. Instead of them in different places hanging light green hoods, which barely noticeably vibrated and at times let out on the broad surface of some bubbles. The spectacle was not very pleasant and Stan was not left feeling that the surface of the branch under their feet was about to open and absorb them. But nothing happened, and they traveled more than half the way without an adventure. And only about ten meters to the shore, one of the hoods moved faster than the others, and a creature crawled out from there with small yellow legs and a hole in the back. From this hole a leather bag, inflated by the same creature, appeared at a certain frequency. From surprise Stan almost fell into the river, because this creature crawled out just a few steps from him and sat right on their road. Stan, of course, expected something like this, but the code did this, he was very happy with his own foresight. "It's not a bipedal, is it?" he squeezed out of himself without daring to turn to Jam. The girl looked from behind him and shook her head. "If it was a bipedal she would have tried to kill someone from us." "Clear," Stan said, lifting the radiator. Jema grabbed her arm by the branch, which was not a branch at all and watched his actions with tension. "No," Stan shook his head and lowered his weapon. "What's wrong?" Jema did not finish, and screamed in the next second. The branch, for which she held herself, suddenly went limp, then came alive and grabbed her hand. "Stan, what is it?" She screamed, trying to shake off the revived "branch" from her hand. "Oh, God, Stan, do something!" She cried desperately, and almost crying. "Devil!" Stan furiously grabbed the creature clutching her arm and a sharp jerk broke it into two parts. Smelly, disgusting liquid sprinkled in all directions, flooding them from head to foot. From the unbearable smell of Stan almost turned out, and he was ready to strangle Jam with his hands for what she lacked horrible. "Gosh, I'm going to be vomited now!" wincing with disgust, Jema stammered, smearing even more dark spots in her clothes, "Stan, what if it's poison?" she exclaimed frightened. "Shut up, you!" Stan could not resist, trying not to slip on the dark liquid that was pouring under their feet. "Do not forget that there are others besides this creature." This reminder was not superfluous. Suddenly, another branch came to life and tried to grab Stan by the leg. But this time the hunter intervened. With a telepathic blow, the creature was torn from the tree, thrown far to the side and torn to pieces, flopped into immobile water. But this was not enough for the hunter. He cleverly made his way between Stan's legs and literally smeared the creature with a bag on his back. From him there were only peels and some yellowish-colored mess. "Good hunter!" Stan looked gratefully at the hunter's clicker and gave a sign to Jema, who continued with horror and disgust to look at her clothes. "It's time for us," he said. "Otherwise, we'll stay on this branch until morning." "God, I do not even know now what I should hold on in case I slip," complained Jema, glaring angrily. "Hold onto me or the hunter," Stan advised. "I certainly will not try to wrap around your hand, and even more so, I will not become so stinking to stink." "Well, you have jokes," Jema shook her fair hair and moved cautiously forward. "Rather we have already reached the shore," she added, stepping over what was only a minute ago a living being. "It's been quite a bit," Stan encouraged her. "True ..." He did not finish and went ahead. "Tell Stan, why did you stop talking?" "I forgot," he snapped. "Your business," Jema snorted disapprovingly and squeezed the weapon in her hand. Now she intended to destroy everything that would try not only to attack them, but even to move. When they crossed the river, Stan suddenly changed his mind for himself to descend to the ground. He decided to move farther along the branch, which stretched approximately in the direction where the cutting of fallen trees began. He wanted to find out how far you can go on the branch, and at the same time find out what other creatures are found here. Jema, of course, was not enthusiastic about his decision and tried to argue, but soon she was convinced that arguing with Stan was a waste of time and effort. At first he still objected to her arguments, but then completely ignored everything she said. As always, Stan did not change himself. When Jema estimated that they crossed a tree branch on a tree branch, killing several creatures along the way, Stan decided to go down and continue the journey in the normal way, that is, on the ground, not on the tree. Fortunately, the problem of how to descend was not as acute as the problem of climbing a tree. Stan simply jumped from a height of three meters, and then picked up Jema, who nearly knocked him down with his weight. "Well, and you're heavy," he breathed, putting her on his feet. "Ha!" Jema pointed out meaningfully, adjusting her clothes. What did her "ha" mean, Stan did not understand. "So," he said carefully, looking around. "We went a kilometer in a tree, but the branch itself did not end and the devil knows where." "Right," Jema confirmed. "Strange trees here," she added after a pause. "Someday we'll get a good look at this place," Stan said, agreeing with her opinion. "Well, it's already without me," said Jema, wincing, "I would just get out of this planet ..." she did not finish and sighed dreamily. "We will," Stan assured her. He wanted to add the same thing, that perhaps not all, but he managed to restrain himself in time. Jema smiled gratefully and slowly went forward, but then stopped, went back and touched his hand for a second. "It's good that you showed up," she said. "Maybe." Stan looked straight into her eyes and smiled ruefully. "Let's go, Jema," he said, and gently pushed her. Jema smiled back and walked briskly forward. The hunter, like it used to be before, separated from them and splashed somewhere in the side. But, despite the fact that they lost sight of him, Stan did not doubt that they were reliably protected by his field. This somewhat calmed and allowed to think not only about their own safety, but also to pay attention to the terrain on which they were going. True, as it was in the morning, when they left the ship, the trail from the shock wave continued all along the forest and, when it was over, it was difficult to predict. Stan has nothing to do even figured out that this strip of fallen trees can stretch for two or three hundred kilometers, and this was already serious. They did not have a lot of food reserves, but local critters did not allow them to relax. But they were lucky. No one attacked them. Not yet attacked. After four hours of continuous walking, Jema stopped without any words, and then sank to the ground no longer caring what she was landing on. From fatigue, she no longer silently step and step. "How are you?" Stan asked who entered the rhythm and stomped like a camel in the desert. "That’s all. I can not any more." Jema wiped her face from her sweaty face and looked at him apologetically." I'm sorry, Stan, but this is my limit. " "Clear," Stan rubbed his chin with his hand and examined it from head to foot. "Could we rest for a bit?" Jema asked, hoping for his consent. "The rest is good," Stan said slowly and looked at the sky. The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon, but it was still quite light and it was still two hours before dark. This time would be quite enough to go a few more kilometers. But ... he once again looked at Jema and it became clear to him that she could not move from her place. "I'll take a little rest, and we'll go on," she said hurriedly, taking his look as displeasure. "Nothing, sit." Stan flicked his fingers thoughtfully and looked along the clearing of the fallen and wrinkled trees. As before, there was nothing unusual there. The same fragments, scattered things and human bones. All that they met all the way. But Stan, for no apparent reason, wanted to move on. Whether intuition, or something else, persistently pushed him forward. And he decided. "Turn on the field generator and wait for me," he said and signaled to the hunter. "Just a minute and I can go." Jema hastily started to get to her feet, but Stan stopped her. "We will stay in this place. So far you are arranged, but in the meantime, I will walk a little. Tomorrow you need to see the road." "Tomorrow and look," Jema tried to protest, who did not want to be alone. "Do what I say." Stan let go of her shoulder and went on with the hunter. Jema, overcome by some unpleasant feeling, wanted to shout something to him, but restrained herself and only bit her lip. It was clear that he could not be held back. Stan, meanwhile, throwing Jema out of his head, walked forward rather quickly. The hunter kept close by and not to be distracted and did not waste time, he was commanded to destroy all the animals that they find on their way especially if some creature tries to attack. The hunter, who especially liked him, did not need to repeat the command twice, and within fifteen minutes he killed, probably, a dozen of the most diverse creatures. What they were before the collision with the hunter, Stan could not find out. While he reached the place where the next victim of the hunter was hiding, he found only a mess that was only a minute ago a living creature that was dangerous for Stan. The hunter killed at a great distance, thus clearing the way for both of them, while at the same time relieving Stan from the unpleasant spectacle of reprisal. | |
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