Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1 – September 2024 instalment

Thankful to be standing after sitting on the uncomfortable bench for an hour, Maria reached down to grab their backpack and holdalls. McLintock picked up the holdall.

“Come on, I’ll carry those bags. You don’t look strong enough to hump all three down to my place.”

There was a titter of laughter from the men in the vehicle. Maria tried to ignore them, but it irked her. They slug the rucksack on their back, and gingerly made their way down the steps, and on to the roadside.

They looked around, taking in the town they’d arrived in. The verge was a coarse grass, orange and red. It scratched at Maria’s trousers and seemed to twist around her legs. Maria stepped off the grass on to the road, feeling the broken concrete, or at least, a concrete-like substance, beneath their boots.

Maria watched the transport rumble away, the aurochs still bellowing and screaming as it thrashed its head against the chains. They felt tears prick their eyes for the poor creature.

How much pain it must be in!

Maria blinked back the tears and looked to McLintock.

“We, Sargeant, lead the way.”

“It’s Sarah. It’ll be really awkward if you keep calling me Sargeant McLintock while you’re staying with me.”

“In that case, call me Mary.”

Maria coughed.

“You got a cold?”

“No, it’s this air. It’s very thick.”

“Oh yeah, I suppose it is. Compared to Rocky Horror, it’s quite thin. You get used to the change eventually. It depends on where you’re coming from.

“Indeed.” Maria agreed, “Is this the edge of town?”

“Mostly, this is all of town.”

Maria looked around. There was a smaller road crossing the one they’d arrived on from the landing field. And not much else, a few buildings around the cross-roads. The roads disappeared into the dense vegetation, heavy growth hiding their destinations.

“What’s down there?” Maria asked, pointing along what must be the main road through the area.

“Prisoner depot. They stay there between arrival and their trips to Rocky Horror.”

Maria nodded and looked towards the other road and the cross-roads. The buildings were a mix of concrete blocks and shipping containers. A few soldiers loitered around a building with two rows of windows, smoking and drinking mugs of something. One, a tall, muscular man, saw Maria perusing the settlement and grinned.

“Come on doc, let’s get inside.” Sarah led Maria along the smaller road, to the right, heading out of town.

Unlike the ‘main’ road, this one was packed orange dirt, the vegetation cut back twenty metres on either side. Five hundred meters or so away, Maria saw a blue smudge. It stood out clearly against the orange sky and orange-red-green of the plants. The road climbed slightly, the incline unnoticeable except in the strain on Maria’s thighs.

“That your place?” Maria nodding at the slowly resolving structure.

“It is.” Sarah shifted the weight of the holdalls on her shoulders.

“It’s a way from the other buildings.” Maria looked back. From this vantage point it was possible to make out a scattering of structures on the further side of the road. They looked forward again. No other buildings rose from the jungle. The sudden realisation that they would be out in the woods with a stranger, combined with a sudden steepening in the road, made Maria’s breath catch in their throat.

Maria looked back, gauging the distance if they had to run for help. The man who’d grinned at them was stood in the centre of the crossroads watching the pair. Maria felt a shudder of disquiet run through them. A flutter of wind in the trees seemed to agree, something was wrong on Aurox.

“Come on Mary, I’m gasping.”

“Right, yes, of course.” Maria was shaken out of their reverie by Sarah’s call. They sped up to a jog to catch up with their host.

Breath wheezing and panting, Maria arrived at their temporary residence. The blue structure turned out to be two metal shipping containers stacked on top of each other, long sides facing the road, and set back by fifty yards. A wall of concrete blocks, a meter and a half high, separated the ‘garden’ surrounding the containers from the road and surrounding jungle. A blue metal gate, clearly made from a piece of shipping container allowed entrance into this rough and ready residence. A sign nailed to the wall at shoulder height said ‘Sgt S McLintock. No Trespassing’.  

“This way.” Sarah pushed the gate open. “Watch the grass, it’s lively.”

Maria looked across the lawn. It was about ten centimetres high and purple-orange. The blades of grass shifted slightly, although there was no breeze.

“Okay…can I study it?”

“If you want.” Sarah closed the gate behind them, bolting it in place, and led the way along a dirt path to a set of metal stairs up to the second container. She took them two at a time, the holdalls, and apparently a fortnight on Rocky Horror, not holding her back.

“You live upstairs? What’s in the other container?” Maria asked, as they climbed the stairs more slowly, trying to catch their breath.

“My gym and armoury. It’s safer to live above ground here.” Sarah tapped on a panel as she spoke. A door slid open on rails and then another opened inwards as Maria joined Sarah at the top of the stairs.

Maria realised the solid seeming wall was a series of shuttered windows as more slid out and along hidden tracks.

“Nice. Very secure.”

“It needs to be. The prisoners are the least of my worries here. I’m away for days or weeks at a time and I don’t exactly trust many of my colleagues in the settlement project.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“No, but very nosy.” Sarah laughed, “Come in.”

Lights switched on as the pair walked in. The door was positioned about halfway along the container, opening into a lounge-kitchen, taking up about a third of the space. There were doors at each end.

“My room.” Sarah pointed to the door on the left, past the kitchen area. “Guest room.” She pointed to the door on the right, before leading the way towards it.

Maria’s boots echoed on the wooden floor, eyes dazzled by the orange sunlight diffusing through the room, bouncing off white walls, mirrors, and a brown floor polished to a high shine.

“Is this real Earth wood?” Maria asked in wonder. It certainly sounded like wood, although growing up with Ents really put you off the stuff as décor.

Sarah laughed, “I couldn’t afford real Earth wood if I lived a thousand Earth years and worked every single day of them. It’s manufactured from a woody plant that grows north of here. They dry, press, dye, and texture it at the Depot.”

“There’s a factory there? They don’t just mine Rocky Horror?”

“No, some of the prisoners with short sentences, for lesser crimes, get to work in the factory and farm that supplies the depot and the village.”

Sarah pushed the door to the guest room open, stepped into the room a meter or so, and dropped the holdalls on the bed. It was a good shot; Maria was impressed. The bags landed in the centre of the bed, two metres away. Other than the double bed, a desk and some shelves, the room was sparse. The décor remained brown floor, white walls. A window let light in above the bedhead, while another door sat opposite the entryway.

“That’s the bathroom.” Sarah waved at the door, “I hope you brought towels and toiletries, because I forgot to stock up. There’re some cupboards in that wall if you want to store anything.” She pointed to the wall beside the desk, “Bottom one is bedding, but the top one is empty. They lock if you want to keep your research secure.”

“Thanks.” Maria hesitated, “How do I open them?” There were no visible handles or seams.

Sarah grinned, “Like this.” She walked across the room and tapped on the wall in front of her. A metre-by-metre section slid inwards and into a recess. Sarah pushed the panel to the left, sliding it from view.

“That’s very ‘priest hole’.” Maria grinned, hoping Sarah would get the reference both to the ancient practice of building hidden rooms for priests in houses and to the galaxy-net series about spies that had been popular when they were a teenager. Sarah was about the same age as Maria, so they guessed she’d probably get the reference.

“Isn’t it just? It’s just a bit of fun, but sometimes hidden cupboards come in handy.”

“Do you have a water limit? I really need a shower.” Maria sniffed themselves and wrinkled their nose.

Sarah copied Maria’s actions and laughed. “No, and I’ll be scrubbing myself clean too. It rains practically daily here, and I have a storage tank under the house. Compared to some places I’ve lived, it’s an ocean planet. Wash, relax, I’ll get the kettle on and cook us some local delicacies.”

“Thanks.” Maria grinned and felt guilty for deceiving their new friend. Alright, possibly a new friend, possibly a plant to keep an eye on them. Maria wasn’t sure yet. They were intrigued by references to living on much drier planets.

Sarah grinned back and pushed the door open into the living room. As the door swung shut behind her, Maria thought she saw something pushing up against Sarah’s shirt.

Maria looked around at the room. It was shiny. That was the only way they could describe it. Light reflected off the walls, the floor, the desk, the cupboards. A mirror reflected light back out of the window, the light fitting, a crystal glass chandelier, bounced more light around. Maria walked to the window and pulled the blind down.

That was better.

They dropped the rucksack on to the bed, sat down and toed off their boots. Everything ached, and they didn’t feel safe, and they felt guilty, and anxious about everything.

Okay, Maria thought, now is not the time to have a meltdown. Shower, clean clothes, nap, food. We can do that.

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For all of the chapter see this page.