Red's Tales: The Relic Part 1

Dark clouds rolled overhead as two figures scaled up the rocky cliff face. It might have seemed dangerous, but the two climbers native to the planet, Caligula, paid it no more mind than someone on Earth would regard the sun. Both female climbers were born and raised on Caligula and  had spent their whole lives in Chohe, the largest city of the dustball planet.

The girl closest to the top was named Amanda. She had long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and a scarf over her head. Below her was her best friend, a Patheurian, named Rusqa. She had brown, black, and white fur like a calico cat. Her eyes were as wide and yellow as a pair of sunflowers. She would twitch her ears every now and then as she struggled to keep up with her friend.

“Slow down Amanda!” She called up.

“Pick up the pace!” Amanda called back. “Aren’t Patheurians supposed to be good climbers?”

Rusqa scowled at her feet and muttered, “Stereotypes.”

Truthfully, Rusqa had spent most of her life with humans, aside from her father who was always working. As a result, she wasn’t exactly a typical Patheurian, but more like a human girl in her interests and hobbies. Amanda had been her friend since grade school and the two had grown up together. As they got older Amanda became more adventurous; which was why they’d taken up rock climbing.

This particular cliff face lay a few miles outside of town and nestled between two plateaus. It was a seldom explored area, mostly, because Caligulans didn’t think it was worth the time or energy.

Amanda reached the top first, took a few steps forward, and then froze in her tracks. Not far below, Rusqa was fretting over how dirty she was getting.

“Hey, Amanda! What’s wrong with you? Give me a hand up!” She shouted.

No response.

Finally Rusqa reached the top and found Amanda with her back to her. She appeared to be staring at something in a small cave directly ahead of her.

“Hey, thanks for helping me up here!” Rusqa said.

Amanda didn’t respond.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rusqa asked.

Amanda started walking toward the cave. She lifted a finger towards the cave and said, “Look.”

Rusqa’s sharp eyes pierced through the shadows of the cave and found what her friend was so captivated by. It was an object, it looked to be a dark metallic gray and it was shaped a lot like a flower bulb. The two friends drew closer and Rusqa could feel something tickling her sharp Patheurian senses.

“Amanda, I don’t think we should be here,” she whispered. Something was wrong and she could feel it.

Despite Rusqa’s warning, Amanda kept walking forward until she was almost upon the strange metal, flower bulb. And as she drew closer Rusqa could hear a low audible buzz that kept getting louder as she got closer.

“Don’t touch it,” she shouted, but it was too late. Amanda touched the relic.

At first nothing happened, then the noise stopped. Amanda let out a gasp which turned into a scream as she let go of the thing. She was thrown visibly backwards by some invisible force, Rusqa also felt something hit her chest and caused her to fall over too. She lay still as she noticed her senses were no longer being assailed.

“Amanda,” she asked and looked over to her friend who was laying flat on her back, eyes shut, and not a muscle moving. She put an ear to her chest, heard her heartbeat, and felt her breathing, but Amanda didn’t respond to her voice or touch.

“Help!” Rusqa shouted and pleaded to the air as she started to drag her friend away from the cliff top and the metal flower.



                                             ****


   “Come on Patches! For old time’s sake.” Red said as she batted her eyes at the Patheurian mechanic.

Everyone in Chohe called him Patches. He was by far the best mechanic in town whether he was fixing starships or small vehicles he would make them work. No matter the damage, the job got done.

The origin of his nickname was a matter of some debate. The first theory was it was because he was a mechanic that patched up vehicles. The second thought was because his fur looked like he had patches of material sewn on. Lastly, if it was a play on his name Pathqa.

“Red, if I give you a discount, everyone will want a discount,” Patches responded.

Red swiveled an ear back. “Really? I’m one of your most loyal customers. You don’t think that just once you can come down in price?” Then in a whisper she added, “I won’t tell anyone.”

Red had brought her buggy in to get patched up. She’d recently taken it through the badlands on yet another excursion. Since she was a hunting guide by trade, a good vehicle was essential. Red was a Daedalian, a race that humans often thought looked like bipedal jackals. Daedalians didn’t agree with the comparison. Red was the name she went by and, unlike Patches, name the red color of her fur, a rare color for Daedalians, made it obvious why she was called Red.

Patches seemed to be relenting, “Fine, I’ll give you ten percent off this repair job.”

Red started to retort when there was a shout from outside.

“Help!”

Rusqa, Patches’ daughter ran into the shop with her tail held high in fright.

“Rusqa! How many times have I told you? Don’t run in here! There’s grease on the floor,” Patches scolded her.

“Daddy! Something happened! It’s terrible! Amanda and I.. and we were and… and this thing…”

“Woah! Slow down,” Patches said in a confused voice.

Red shook her head. “What happened? You run into a razorglider nest?”

She’d seen Rusqa and her human friend many times around the mechanic’s shop and the two struck her as the kind of youth who had misadventures.

Rusqa babbled a bit before she took a deep breath and calmed down. “Amanda and I were just out rock climbing when we ran across this... thing.”

“What kind of thing,” Red asked. She’d spent time in the badlands she was confident she could identify what the two had run into.

Rusqa looked at her, “It was this thing. This metal thing. It looked like a flower bulb and she touched it. I… I told her not to, but she did. Then it, like, threw us back and now she’s unconscious.”

“Why didn’t you just say that? I’ll call an ambulance,” Patches responded.

Red turned to Rusqa. “Where is she now?”

Rusqa motioned for Red to follow her as she lead the way outside. Amanda was lying in the back of a skimmer unconscious. Red knew from basic first aid to check the girl’s vitals and  found she was breathing normally. She could hear her heartbeat perfectly due to her sensitive Daedalian ears.

Soon the air was filled with sirens as an ambulance arrived. The medics were at Amanda’s side in an instant. Red and Rusqa stepped away and let the professionals take over. They asked the usual questions as they examined the unconscious Amanda and then things took an odd turn. Amanda’s eyes flew open as she gasped.

“Miss,” one of the medics asked right as she bolted upright and shoved him away.

“Amanda,” Rusqa asked uncertain about her friends behavior.

Amanda looked at her and began to shout in another language.

Red spoke several languages, including; the trade language, two Daedalian dialects, Patheurian, English, Chinese, Sh’ra, Leonid, etc. However, this language was even foreign to her ears.

Amanda bolted away from the medics and into the mechanic’s shop, babbling in the odd language the whole time. Red, Rusqa, and the medics gave chase. When they entered the shop they could see Amanda trying to piece together various spare parts. Patches glared daggers at her.

“What in the hells are you doing to my stuff,” he shouted.

Amanda continued to jabber away in the odd language.

“Has she been on any kind of drugs,” one of the medics asked.

Rusqa was the first to respond, “No!” Then she turned to her friend, “Amanda! It’s me, snap out of it!”

The girl continued to ignore her as she continued to try and piece things together. The medics tentatively took a step forward and Amanda turned violent again. As she threw a heavy metal pipe at the closest one, the medic ducked and then the two rushed her.

Amanda screamed and beat at them, babbling the whole time. Rusqa looked on in shock. The medics kept trying to get the girl to calm down, but she just kept struggling. Red and Patches jumped in and between the four of them they managed to secure Amanda’s flailing limbs.

Red marveled at the girl’s resistance that was quite impressive for a petite human girl. The four managed to get her to the ambulance and secure her to the gurney. Amanda kept gibbering away. Finally, the medics shut the doors as she screamed at them.

“We’re taking her to the hospital. I can’t begin to try and explain what’s going on with her,”  one of the medics said.

“Will she be alright,” Rusqa asked.

The medic shrugged, “I honestly can’t answer that.”

With that, the two entered the ambulance and drove away, leaving a confused trio behind.

“Rusqa, do you think you could find this cave again,” Red asked.

Rusqa nodded. “I’m never going to forget it.”

“I think we’re going to make a trip,” Red said just as a police skimmer arrived.

“After we get done answering a lot of questions that is.”