Hero of the Shining Pasture, Supreme Fleet Admiral Bossy, says:
“Our agents have intercepted a perfidious anti-revolutionary
document from Enemy of the Pasture, JJ Robinson. It is one of
those “short stories” which all cattle and school calves have
been often warned about. Enemy of the Pasture, JJ Robinson
attached a note to the perfidious document, which says:”
“This is an ancient short story, which I wrote in about 1990.
I have cleaned up some formatting and a few words, and dropped
it into the weblog pretty much as I left it. Constructive
comments are appreciated. --Enemy of the Pasture, JJ Robinson”
J.J. Robinson
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 1990-2006, J.J. Robinson
The Thing That Fell
by
J.J. Robinson
Kak moved noiselessly through the golden fronds and grey-
green stalks of the forest floor. He pulled his membranous wings
into tight bundles so that his forearms could move without
impediment. He bent low and crept to the edge of the rocky
river-course. The water ran through its bed of well-worn stones
with a hiss and fell into a deeper course with a throaty rumble.
He would never be heard above the sound.
The other two were waiting at the bottom of the short rapids
atop a big, flat boulder. They gripped the glistening-wet
surface uncertainly with the clawed toes of their webbed hind
feet. Their wing-hands held a casting net which they obviously
didn't know how to use. Irrion, the eldest, leaned over the edge
of the boulder and stared intently into the running water.
Dgulaik, the youngest, had begun to tire from all the excitement.
His head was beginning to droop downward. Kak saw with some
amusement that one of Dgaulaik's hind toes was snagged in the
edge of the net.
Kak had made a pretense of frustration with the gnordon-
fishing and of going to hunt small ground-fruit among the trees.
Once out of sight, he had doubled back to close on his three-
friends from behind....
"Schrekke!" Kak screamed.
Irrion started at the sudden noise so close behind. Dgulaik
woke suddenly from his drowse, and thinking that Irrion was
making a cast, belatedly made to join him in heaving the circular
net. As the heavy net reached its full extent it pulled Dgulaik
off balance, and he stepped into space. Clawing desperately for
support, he grabbed Irrion's forearm. Both tumbled headlong into
the water.
The two emerged from the icy, swirling shallows with the net
draped over their heads. Kak was rolling about on the ground,
laughing uproariously.
The two victims turned their flat orange eyes toward each
other in unspoken conference. With incredible speed, they freed
their wings, sprang from the water, and fell on the delirious
villian.
In the excitement of the wild melee that followed, any idea
of side was quickly lost. Schrekke never stayed angry for long.
The tumbling children became a writhing mass of grey and orange
fur.
Their play was interrupted by a loud crack, which brought
them to instant attention. The three concealed themselves behind
the boulder with movement that would have defied the eye to
follow.
In midstream at the base of the rapids, two gnordon the
length of Irrion's wing-arm had bounded from the water with their
characteristic vocalization. Their deeply triangular profiles
flashed blue-silver in the late afternoon sun. As the fish fell
back toward the water, they began to flutter their enlarged fore-
fins furiously with a deafening buzz. Thirty meters upstream,
the creatures fell exhausted into the rushing water and wriggled
away among the stones of the bottom.
"Stirf!" said Irrion naughtily, and showed his spike-like
fangs to Kak. They had been trying for three hours to net even
one of the prized food-creatures.
As Irrion poised himself to leap back into mock combat,
three much louder reports shook the still, warm air. The sounds
didn't come from the stream this time, but from high above. The
perplexed children scanned the sky.
"There!" cried Irrion, and pointed.
They looked up, and saw an orange streak in the sky. The
streak was clearly visible despite the brightness of the sun, and
was growing noticeably longer as they watched.
"Is it one of the star-stones my Grandfather was talking
about?" asked Dgulaik, awestruck.
"Could be," Irrion replied.
As the streak moved closer, they could see a white blur at
its tip. Within the blur, something could be seen tumbling end-
over-end. The thing threw off bursts of steamy white whenever it
turned sideways.
They watched until the thing disappeared below the northern
horizon. Where it had vanished, an angry red dome of light
appeared.
"Let's go see what it is!" cried Dgulaik. He spread his
wings and sprang into the air.
"Schrekke!" screamed Kak, in earnest this time. "No!"
Prescience burned in his mind like a torch.
The shock-wave struck. The concussion hurled the airborne
child far away among the trees, and the golden fronds and grey-
green stalks were blown flat. As Kak tumbled off the boulder, he
heard the awful death-groan of a great tree as its ancient roots
were torn from the ground.
It was decided during that evening that Kak and Irrion,
since they had observed the strange sky-fall and were old enough
to travel but too young for does, should investigate the thing
they had seen.
Kak's Mother prepared his last afternoon meal in the safe
tunnels of the Dgudoma. When he had finished, she enfolded him
in her wings in the manner of her kind, and wept over him as
though she did not expect him to return. She finally released
him, dried her saucer-sized orange eyes on her frock, and went
morosely about her business.
"You bear a great responsibility to your folk, Kak," said
his Father. "Do not forget us."
"Think always of the pride your family will feel when you
return successfully." His venerable Grandfather cast a sidelong
glance at Kak's Mother.
"It is a great pity that only two must make this journey,
not three," his Grandmother lamented tearfully. Dgulaik had not
been found in the twisted wreck of trees above, but the Chief of
the College of Omens had felt his spirit leave.
The Grandfather tried to look sternly at his Mate, but
finally embraced her instead. Kak's Mother joined the weeping
pair, and then Kak and his Father.
Kak and Irrion met under the grove of great trees that
guarded the entrance of Dgudoma Haem. One of the ancient trees
had been lost to the same unholy wind that had extinguished
Dgulaik's spirit.
Every member of the Dgudoma who could be spared from his
labors waited in the grove to see them off. The Chiefs of the
seven colleges of the Dgudoma appeared, and gave the children a
sack of supplies, a skin of water, and a ceremonial book of
proverbs ("Travel light, fly far.")
"There has been a great burning in the Ocean of Trees to the
Northwest. You will see a great evil there, and you must not be
overcome by it." The Chief of the College of Omens gestured with
the tip of his wrinkled wing toward the horizon. "You will pass
the camps of the Hoo-mands." The old Chief's blade-like front
teeth and ample lips formed the strange name with difficulty.
"You must avoid them at all costs."
Kak looked at Irrion inquiringly. The older child shrugged
slightly.
"They are short-necked and wingless," the Chief continued,
"They are slow of hand and foot, and their eyes are made so they
can't see well to the sides. Only a few have magics of useable
strength. Hoo-mands make things that make their magics stronger
or carry them in the air or let them move quickly or chase down
their prey for them. Many are insane."
Kak found that he was beginning to tremble. He tried to
steady himself by clasping his wing-arms together so that Irrion
wouldn't see.
"If the Maker made them," Irrion quoted, "They must have
hope."
"This is true," said the old Chief, "but their rescue is for
another time. The danger now is greater than frolicsome young
spirits might suppose. The Hoo-mands have brought many made-
things with them."
"Some of their worst made-things can make magics of their
own and think for themselves. I fear greatly that the Thing That
Fell is one of those. Guard yourselves, and do not approach it
too closely. See where it lies, then return to us with all
haste. Our greatest Love goes with you." All those assembled
nodded their agreement.
The two set out on foot at the next twilight. They let
their wings carry them over the stream, then returned to the
secure cover of the ground. Kak felt his throat tighten as he
saw the smooth boulder where Dgulaik....he turned his eyes
Northward, and tried to put the events of the previous day out of
his mind.
They tramped on foot for five days, as the forest floor
became increasingly broken and rocky. Soon they were travelling
almost entirely in the high canopy of the trees, leaping and
gliding from limb to limb. Occasionally one of them would fly
above the sheltering leaves to scan the land ahead, and to see
what could be seen of the Thing That Fell.
In the day, they slept far from the ground and spoke in
hushed voices about what they would do when they found the Thing
That Fell. Kak would remember those childish visions of heroic
adventure and new knowledge for the rest of his life, with mixed
fondness and pain.
On the sixth day, Irrion returned from his reconnaisance and
alighted on the heavy bole where they had slept away the light.
"I can see something! A smoking place, about two days journey to
cross on foot! In its midst is a great pit. Some Mands are
sleeping on the ground among the last of the trees."
"We will have to go far around them." said Kak. He tried
to keep his voice from shaking, without much success.
They stopped in early morning near the edge of the burned
place, and used the last good concealment to rest before entering
the barren area. The horror before them was almost unbearable.
Neither had ever ventured for more than a few moments from
beneath the Ocean of Trees that embraced almost all of their
world. Everywhere was the stench of smoke, the blackened stumps
of trees, and the unrelenting gaze of the sun. Here and there,
open flames still gnawed greedily at the priceless wood.
Among the dwindling trees, after Irrion had left for a last
reconnaissance, Kak saw his first human. The thing was even more
horrible than the Chief of Omens had said. Kak could feel its
crazed mind with his magics, and quickly wished he couldn't. He
turned to flee wildly into the trees. As he turned, he almost
ran headlong into Irrion.
"We have to see the Thing That Fell." The older child put
one of his wing-hands on Kak's shoulder and pointed with the
other. "It's that way."
"You...we know where it is." Kak was trembling violently, so
that his fangs grated together. "We can go back and tell the
others."
"We have to see the Thing That Fell," Irrion insisted.
Kak looked at his three-friend for a time, trying to
understand Irrion's strange behavior. At last, Kak nodded his
assent. Irrion released his shoulder. As the light waned in
late afternoon, they ate a few morsels from their dwindling
rations. With the onset of darkness, they spread their wings and
flew into the midst of the burning. About midnight, with muscles
aching, they landed on the edge of the crater.
The Thing had fallen into a rocky crest, which had once been
submerged in the Ocean of Trees. The center of the crest had
been obliterated by the impact, so that only the rocky flanks and
the charred ruin of trees remained.
They peered into the great hole. Far below, they could see
a dim glow. It was not a flame, they knew, for the light they
saw was the icy blue of death in the Times of Cold. Irrion bade
Kak to stand guard as he launched himself to glide slowly into
the crater.
"Schrekke...." said Kak, but it was only a hoarse whisper.
Irrion reached the floor of the pit, and stood for a long moment
with his wings outstretched, limned in deadly blue. He leaned
forward....
"Schrekke!" screamed Kak, "No!"
...and then the world exploded.
Kak opened his eyes. He was surprised to find that he was
once again under the cover of trees. It was night, and the songs
and tiny many-colored lights of lantern-flits filled the air
beneath the soaring trees. The breeze was cool and soothing.
He heard something stir nearby. It was Dgulaik, stirring as
if from a long sleep! Kak clamped his wing-hands over his muzzle
lest he shout with joy. Dgulaik looked at him, blinking, and
rubbed his eyes sleepily.
Then Kak saw the light. It was pale, deadly blue, and it
was coming closer. Kak grabbed Dgulaik and dragged him into
motion. The two tumbled headlong into concealment behind a tree.
Soon they could see Irrion walking among the trees, very much
alive.
The reunion of the three-friends was too much for Kak. He
leapt from his concealment to greet Irrion!
His cry of joy froze in his throat. Irrion was carrying
something that could only be the Thing That Fell. It was a
long, thick cylinder, covered with fabulous scribings and glowing
jewels. Prominent among the etchings were two pictures of beings
with short necks and no wings. One end of the cylinder carried a
hemisphere of pure, clear crystal. The other end was jagged, as
if something had been violently torn from it.
The Thing glowed blue, and white vapor poured from it onto
the ground. As Irrion stood before them, the ground about his
feet became solidly covered with frost.
And the Thing had a mind. Kak could feel it throbbing in
his head. It was lovely and beautiful and awe-inspiring and....
Kak knew at once that Stirf himself in the tormenting flames
of the undying dead could not have been more evil.
"What is it, Kak?" Dgulaik had moved beside him.
"I...." Kak's reply was cut off as he realized with
strangling horror that Irrion's wing-arms and hands, where they
touched the Thing, were also blue and deadly freezing cold.
Irrion's lips were parted in a lunatic grin, and his eyes scanned
them unfocused, as if he were blind.
"Uhm...Irrion..." Kak was barely able to breathe. "Let us
leave this Thing hidden here, and return to the Dgudoma to report
what we have seen. You are injured, and will need healing."
"We don't need to go back to Haem," said poor, lunatic
Irrion. "Look!"
Irrion removed one of his hands with some difficulty from
the Thing. Kak grimaced as he saw that a quantity of Irrion's
flesh had been left behind. He heard Dgulaik whimper. The
younger child had moved to hide behind him.
Irrion's hand spoke blue light, and the bolt struck a huge
tree. Blue and white fire girdled the trunk, leapt and sparkled
toward the soaring crown. Sheets of blue corruscating with white
and silver enveloped the ancient limbs. The tree buckled down
upon itself, swelling, shrinking, groaning....
The lights faded, and revealed a sphere of ancient wood,
with flying wooden butresses and panes of diamond and jade and a
massive door of gleaming steel.
"We can make our own Dgudoma here!" cried Irrion. "When
the time comes, we will go to Haem to obtain your does. Or...."A
gleam crossed Irrion's eyes which would have turned a hungry
Mawrgl to flight. "...perhaps by then I will be able to make
some."
"No," Kak said with the last resolve he could muster.
"Remain here if you wish, but Dgulaik and I will return to Haem
and report to the Chiefs." Kak made a tentative probe into
Irrion's mind, but the power there was far too great, and too
horribly unnatural to bear. He fought down the fear welling up
in his mind.
"Understand, little one. We will not fall into the hands of
the Dgreahenses. If we cannot obtain your cooperation, and if we
fail to subjegate your people utterly to our will, we will
destroy this world and everything on it!"
"'Will', Irrion?" Kak was desperate for any way to resist,
or at least delay the overwhelming power that surged through
Irrion's mind. "Not 'wills'?"
Irrion blinked. Suddenly he yelped in pain, looking wildly
at his hands. Then his eyes became dull and unfocused again.
"Now K...um...Kak!" Irrion smiled. His lips pulled back
over his gums in rictus, flecked with spittle. "See, I have
found little Dgulaik, and restored him, and telep...brought him
to join us! We can have anything we want together! Only let us
escape now. The rebel Hoo-mands who almost destroyed us, the
Dgreahenses, will come soon. We must escape. Then I will show
your people how to build a new star-drive! You will be richly
rewar...."
"Is this really Dgulaik?" Kak interrupted. He indicated
the younger child crouching behind his wing.
"Of course!" Irrion seemed genuinely offended. "I am an
infallible Judge. The young...whatever you are...was killed when
I fell on your world. I justly compensated him."
"Who are you?" asked Kak, awed and horrified.
"I am a Mk.XII Adjudicator, Part Number CGX-7345027U45,
Serial Number 0127. I am a Continuum Six machine telepath,
equipped with the latest Sym-Syn and Cyber-Law functions. But
the rebels attacked me, and shot away my star-drives. I lost
control and crashed. I need your help!"
"Why?" Kak hadn't understood most of what the made-Thing
which held Irrion's mind was babbling about.
"The humans had an colonial empire that spanned half the
galaxy. There were setbacks, lines of communication broke down
amid uncontrollable lawlessness. They built us to avoid a dark
age. We are their law! Without us, they will fall into
unrecoverable anarchy! I must survive at all costs!"
"That's very good, Irrion!" Kak was playing a very dangerous
game. Timing was critical, and the unfamiliar vibrations he
felt in the soles of his feet were very slight, maybe imaginary.
"What? Then can we go? We...." Irrion raised one furry
eyebrow.
"No. I mean, you have learned to pronounce the Mand-name!
Very good!"
Irrion growled.
"Please stop, Irrion!" Dgulaik wailed in terror. "I want
to go home!"
"Oh!" Irrion blinked again. He yelped in surprise and
pain, and dropped the Thing on the ground. He stood transfixed
for an impossibly long moment, staring in dismay at his wing-
hands.
"Irrion! Schrekke! Dgulaik, run!" Kak screamed, and leapt
for Irrion. He could hear Dgulaik behind him, wings beating the
air frantically as he took flight. On the ground! Kak's mind
screamed at Dgulaik, but the child was in panic, and couldn't
hear.
Kak caught Irrion by the shoulder and swept him toward the
safety of the forest. They fled through the trees until Irrion's
legs buckled under him. As they tumbled to the ground, Kak
looked back. The nimbus of blue light around the Thing had
swelled to the size of a great tree. It bulged and turned red on
the far side, the side toward Dgulaik. The fleeing child was
clearly visible above the trees.
The air and ground around them suddenly shook with a
grotesque, unnatural thunder. In response, the nimbus in the
clearing swelled even larger, and turned red all over....
Irrion lurched painfully to his feet, and began to run. Kak
followed. The thunder continued without pause. They ran...and
ran.
A dazzling streak of white flame fell from somewhere above.
Kak looked back in time to see the the Thing and its dome of
light engulfed in a sun-bright ball of flame. Blinded, he ran at
full speed into a tree. As the blast tore at the trees above
him, his mind went blank.
He awoke to a splitting headache. The sun was breaking
through the trees. He gingerly pressed his palm against his left
eye. It was swollen almost shut.
He heard Irrion's moan. The eldest of the threesome lay a
few arm lengths away. His wing-hands were bright red. Dark
blood oozed from the torn flesh.
Kak looked at the ground around him. It was the unnatural
forest that the Thing had made over the burning of its Fall.
Instead of healthy undergrowth, the forest floor was covered
with a short, nappy grass, manicured and uniform. He would not
find pollachia here. He instead tore strips from his travel
cloak and improvised bandages for Irrion's hands from them, then
touched his mind to block the pain.
It was midmorning before they could travel again. There was
nothing for them to eat. Irrion moved slowly, supported by Kak.
They approached the clearing where the Thing That Fell had
been left. White smoke billowed and hissed from the ground. Kak
peered carefully from behind a tree. A thing like a silvery
metal Mawrlg had sliced a path through the trunks of dozens of
trees and dug into the ground just short of the clearing. Smoke
still poured from its ruined wings. Three humans stood around a
burned and smoking cylinder, now missing most of its crystal
dome. The Thing was dark, smoldering and hissing white plumes of
steam. In the men's minds, Kak felt great pride in their final
victory and deep dismay at the cost in lives on this world and
others. They considered the destruction of the thinking made-
thing a turning point in their history.
Kak carefully moved away from the humans and skirted the
clearing toward the South. Stealth was almost impossible while
he had to half-carry Irrion in broad daylight, but the humans
seemed too preoccupied to look for them. He hoped the Mawrlg
were also busy.
Kak picked up Dgulaik's scent just before noon. He found
the child soon thereafter. A human hovered over Dgulaik. The
awful thing was touching his wing-arm with one of its made-
things.
"Schrekke!" Kak cried.
The human fell away from Dgulaik and rolled onto the ground.
Like the other humans they had seen, this one was encumbered with
all manner of things that looked like cooking-pots strapped all
over its body and covering its head. It pulled out a small thing
with a handle and pointed it at Kak.
Kak lowered Irrion gently to the ground so that he could
rest against a tree. Anger welled up in him. He searched the
human's mind as best he could, looking for the right words in its
language to tell it what he wanted to say.
"Who let your stirfing race out to roam the heavens at large?"
Kak's lip curled into an angry snarl.
The human drew back as if he had slapped it. The thing it
was holding wavered in its grasp, then fell to the ground. The
human fled into the trees, making a horrible gasping sound.
Kak slowly sat down against a tree, and pressed his hand
against the side of his throbbing head.
"Dgulaik, are you okay?"
"Yes, Kak. I seem to have broken my arm. The Hoo-mand was
trying to put it back together."
"When we get back to Haem, you and I are going to have a
long talk. For now, you're going to have to take Irrion back to
the Dgudoma. He will need lots of water and fresh food as soon
as you can find some. The healers must see him as quickly as you
can get home."
"Where are you going, Kak?" Dgulaik was getting to his
feet.
"I hurt the Mand. I will have to go find it, and try to
make it better. And Dgulaik...?"
"Yes?" Dgulaik asked sheepishly.
"Stay on the ground!" Kak hissed, his lip curling over his
fangs. Dgulaik winced and cowered slightly.
Kak moved wearily along the grassy edge of the stream. He
felt like he was at the head of a parade for the end of the
world. The human thundered along behind him, as oblivious as
ever to the need for quiet. The thing had discarded most of its
clumsy armor, but it was still impossibly slow. Luckily they had
only encountered one Mawlrg in the three weeks of the journey
from the evil Forest of the Thing That Fell, and it was only a
fleeting shadow on the canopy of trees. Perhaps even Mawrlgs
were afraid of this much noise.
They rounded a bend in the stream, and Kak saw Irrion and
Dgulaik. He clamped his wing-hands over his muzzle lest he shout
with joy. Dgulaik's arm looked fully healed, and the youngest of
the threesome didn't look too bad for having been dead. Irrion's
wing-arms were still bandaged, with sticky grey unguent oozing
from among the layers of pollachiaa leaves. Kak could see the
scars of frostbite on the skin of Irrion's wings. The eldest
three-friend was nevertheless holding his part of the casting net
in his wing-hands, staring intently into the fast-running water.
It was a challenge Kak couldn't resist. He couldn't believe
they hadn't heard the human's approach, even with the sound of
the water. He motioned for the human to proceed up the stream-
bank, and turned into the cover of the trees. He moved through
the trees like a ghost, utterly silent. He moved into a strike
position on all fours, bunched and rippled his muscles, and
sprang....
...and in the space of a heartbeat, found himself up to his
neck in icy water, with the net draped over his head.
"Hello, Kak!" said Irrion. "Welcome back!"
Kak grimaced. He had forgotten how much he hated getting
his fur wet.
"We've been listening to your approach for about four days,"
said Dgulaik merrily.
Irrion and Dgulaik spun around. The human had arrived at
the base of the rapids, and was making a very strange clucking
sound.
"That's the sound they make when they're amused," Kak
explained sourly.
Dgulaik stared open-mouthed at the human. It removed the
pot from its head, which revealed a shank of knotted yellow fur
hanging from atop its head to its shoulders, tiny, close-set blue
eyes, and a fangless grin.
"What is THAT?" Dgulaik glanced back at Kak, barely able to
contain his distress.
"It's one of their does." Kak shrugged off the net, and
waded to the bank.
"But it's horrible!" Dgulaik looked as though he might
become ill.
"You'll get used to its appearance after a while. It is
also one of their healers. We have a great deal to learn about
it. It is willing to learn about us, and maybe this way we can
figure out how to keep the Hoo-mands from destroying everything
they touch."
The human inspected Irrion's bandages, and let one of her
made-things taste the unguent. Irrion watched in a state of
barely restrained panic. Kak clucked, and spoke a reproach in
human language. The man-doe put her things away in a pouch.
When Dgulaik had gathered the net, the four turned toward
the Dgudoma. They had only moved a few steps when a series of
loud cracks drew their attention to the stream. Three big
gnordon buzzed their way upstream, and escaped among the stones
of the streambed.
"Stirf!" said Irrion, and showed Kak his fangs. "You did it
to us again!" But then his grimace turned into a broad grin, and
he cuffed Kak and Dgulaik behind their ears with the rough
pollachiaa casts on his hands.
Their slow progress toward Haem quickly turned into a
rolling romp, and the sound of laughter echoed through the Ocean
of Trees.
THE END
—Supreme Fleet Admiral Bossy Speaks!, LockMart Wins Moon Contract
August 31, 2006 · Leave a Comment
After a prolonged silence….
Just in! Check out comments from Supreme Fleet Admiral Bossy from The Shining Pasture! This week, the Hero of the Shining Pasture speaks on a newly discovered “short story”.
If you couldn’t see it coming….
My Way News[AP] – Lockheed Martin Wins NASA Moon Contract
…up 5th Ave., LockMart has been awarded the “Orion” contract, with the notion of getting people back on the Moon by 2020, give or take…..
[Check the LiveTV /Media Channel link at the NASA homepage for a flashy presentation with catchy background music of how th Ares/Orion system is expected to work: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sts115_front/index.html
There are a number of conceptual upgrades from the Apollo days. The mission would be assembled from components sent to orbit in two separate launches, to accomodate the larger crew size and propellant requirements. The components are expected to be adaptable to Mars missions, in case the whole thing doesn't end up like the X-33---the last attempt by NASA and its contractor community to build a newmanned spacecraft.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-33 ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-031.txt]
Categories: News Commentary