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Sight Unseen
by Bekah See
Chapter 7 Half an hour later, Janet had covered most of Sam’s scrapes with the clear gooey substance pulled from the top of a hot flat rock. The numbing properties of the mixture combined with the heat made her groan with pleasure as her pains were covered up.Janet had insisted on treating Carter first, though her own wounds were more extensive. Sam didn’t argue, knowing that the quickest way to get Janet to ‘take her medicine’ was to allow her to do her job first.Once Sam was sufficiently slathered, she returned the favor, starting with Janet’s broken arm.“Will this help an internal break?” she asked, using gentle fingers to rub the paste into the doctor’s swollen skin.“It will take the edge off, and help prevent infection,” Frasier answered through gritted teeth. Sam’s touch, careful as it was, still jarred her nerves, making them scream in protest. Finally, Carter moved on and treated the nasty scrapes on Janet’s legs and torso from her running fall into the rocks. “Mmmm, thank you,” the doctor said gratefully, sinking back onto the forest floor and staring up into the trees. “Much better.”Sam smiled at the sheer relief in her friend’s voice. “It’s a good thing you’ve been studying this stuff. We’ll rest for a few minutes, but we need to keep moving. I don’t know how far the Krallik had to go before it can get up that hill and come back for us.”Janet mumbled a reply, and Sam got up to look around a bit. The anesthetic had revitalized her somewhat and she was anxious to get moving again. But she knew Janet wouldn’t be able to run much more for a while. The doctor was exhausted. So was she, but she was much more used to this than her companion.Sam wandered in a wide circle around Janet, studying the plants and what little of the terrain she could see. She was pretty sure they weren’t too far from the village, maybe three hours at a brisk walk, but with Frasier’s condition being what it was, the trip would take a lot longer. A flash of red, caught in the filtered glow of the moon caught Sam’s eye, and she stopped, staring at the ground. Carefully she knelt down and brushed away dirt and leaves covering the spot, then sat back on her heels, whistling softly.“What is it?” Janet asked sleepily.“Come and see.”“Do I have to?”Sam chuckled. “Just come here. We need to get moving anyway.”“Fine. But you’re evil, you know that right?”“Yup.”Janet hoisted herself off the ground and joined her friend. “What is it?”“You don’t recognize it?”“Should I?”“Maybe.” Sam stuck her hand into Janet’s pocket and, ignoring the doctor’s yelp of surprise, pulled out a small dome shaped object. “Look.” She held the object out next to the one glowing on the ground. The size and shape of the discs matched perfectly, although the inscriptions were different. “That’s interesting. This must be where the peddler found this one. I wonder if there’s more.”Sam crawled a few paces away from the glowing circle, brushing the soil around as she did so, watching for another red glow coming from the earth. “Here’s another one, and if I’m right…” she went a little further, “…yes, here’s a third.” She stood and brushed herself off before looking down the line of glowing objects. “I think they’re arranged in a circle.”“One of a kind, my foot,” Janet muttered as she followed Sam around the large ring of domes. Finally they approached the area where they had seen the first one, and Sam stopped. Janet, who had been watching the ground, ran into her back and cursed as she jarred her arm. “Sorry,” Sam said, steadying the doctor. “But look, here’s an empty space. This must be where our piece goes.” She knelt down and placed the dome into the ground. The thing glowed feebly, then sputtered out. Sam repositioned it and tried again. This time the inscription lit up fully and stayed that way. A hum began to reverberate through the area, vibrating the ground beneath them and rattling the trees above.A golden field began to emanate from each of the stones, fusing to the sides, and then rising into the air until a large dome began to take shape, shimmering and humming in the cool night air. Sam and Janet stared at it, transfixed. “What in the world?” Janet muttered, awestruck.“I have an idea,” Sam said, thinking hard. “Remember, in the story Tessa told, how the Light sealed the monster in a breach in the world?”“Of course.”“I think this is it.”Janet’s eyes got even wider. “Oh my.”“And I think the ‘Light’ that rescued them was an ascended Ancient.”“That would certainly explain a few things. Except…”“What?”“If it was an ascended being, why didn’t it just get rid of the monster completely? Why imprison it with a chance to get out?”“I have no idea. Why do they do anything they do? Daniel was always talking about non-interference, maybe this was the most it could do without getting into trouble.”“Okay, but why did it get involved in the first place?”“I don’t know. Maybe the person was originally from this planet or something.” Sam ran her hands through her thick blonde hair, pushing it back and enjoying the stretch on her scalp before she mussed it up again. “Look, it doesn’t really matter why the Ancient did what it did. What matters now is can we do it again?”Janet thought a moment, then turned and picked up a hefty stone with her good hand and tossed it into the field. The stone quivered for a moment, caught between the particles battering it from all sides, then vanished into thin air. “Maybe we can.”An earth-shattering roar filled the air and the two women jumped a mile high. “Looks like we’re about to find out.”“Sam, there’s no way that thing is just going to walk back into its prison, especially if it sees the field! We’ve already seen that it’s not stupid.”“I know.” The major knelt and turned the stone she had placed into the circle. It moved easily, and the field vanished. “We’re going to have to lure it in, then turn the field back on.”“But what if it’s camouflaged? How will we know when it’s inside?”Sam looked grimly at the doctor. “I need you to find me some taso.”Janet paled. “No. Sam, no. You can’t take that stuff. It’s insane, it will do awful things to you. And I don’t know how to make the antidote.”Another roar split the air, much closer. “Find it, Janet. That’s an order.”The doctor swallowed a thousand retorts and began to hunt for the distinctive root. It was a fairly prevalent plant throughout the planet, so it didn’t take her long to locate and dig it up. She brushed as much dirt off as she could, then broke off a tiny piece and handed it to Sam. “Maybe this will be enough.”Carter took the piece and popped it into her mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing the juice. She spit out the pulp and looked around. “Nope. More.”Janet gave her a slightly larger chunk, and watched anxiously as Sam ate that too, grimacing as the dirt that clung to the morsel crunched between her teeth. She swallowed and spit, and waited…And everything changed. Sam gasped and stumbled, feeling heat begin to crawl over her body in waves of tiny needles. Fear built up in her stomach and spread like fire though her veins. Her brain shut down, she couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything. She caught sight of something moving beside and jerked her head around to see what it was. A phantom figure stood beside her, reaching out cold, clammy white hands toward her, trying to grab her, to hold her there. “No!” she shouted, pulling away from the dead eyes. “Leave me alone!”“Sam.” A voice said, loud, too loud! She dropped to the ground and covered her ears with her hands, burying her face into the white dirt beneath her. “Sam! Look at me!” the voice again, softer this time. “You have to fight it. You have to look for the Krallik!”With her eyes closed, some of the terror in the major’s mind began to recede. “Janet?” she croaked, trembling with fear.“Yes, honey, it’s me, but you need to look up.”“No, I can’t! I don’t want to see!”“I know it’s horrible, but you have to look for the monster, remember? We have to trap it in the circle!”“Trap it.” Sam mumbled, trying to remember something besides the horrible images surrounding her. “Right.” She took a shaky breath and forced her eyes open. And everything was wrong! A blindingly white sky, black moon, and black stars, stared malevolently down at her from above white tree trunks swaying with purple branches. Sam kept her eyes away from Janet—her hold on her terror was tenuous at best, and seeing her friend like that would shatter her control. Pulling her gaze down, she looked out over the edge of the circle of stones—their inscriptions glowing aqua blue in the background—and caught site of what could only be the Krallik. A hulking gray shape moved slowly toward them, its white eyes looking directly at her, and its and black claws opening and closing. “I see it,” she gasped to the apparition beside her.“How close?”“Close. Maybe two meters beyond the field.”“Why can’t I hear it?”“I-I don’t know.” Sam clamped down on a whimper and forced herself to think. “When it’s camouflaged, it can afford to be careful.” She was trembling with the effort of keeping still, of not giving into her terror.“Can it see us?” Janet whispered, afraid to touch her friend, but feeling very vulnerable. She tentatively put a hand on Sam’s shoulder, but jerked it back when she flinched violently. “Sorry.”“S’okay,” Sam stuttered. Her panic was rising, and even knowing it was mostly from the toxin still pumping through her system, it was becoming impossible to ignore. “But I’m going to crawl out of my skin in a minute. We need to get that thing caught.”“Okay.” Janet took a deep breath and stood up as tall as she could. “Hey Bigfoot! Over here! Yeah, that’s right, here I am, a nice little morsel for you to chew on!”“Janet! What are you doing? Get down!”“I’ll be all right. You just get ready with that field.”“It’s coming. Faster now. Just a little more, a little more.” Sam reached a shaking hand out to “their” stone in the circle, getting ready to put it in place. “Just a little closer… there!” she shouted, pushing the dome into the ground, then cried out and buried her head in her arms as a field of the brightest blue flared up and over the furiously roaring creature. A second later, both field and monster had vanished. “Sam?” Janet dropped to her friend’s side. “It’s gone. Are you okay?”A grunt and a whimper were her only answers.Janet started to look anxiously around, trying to find something she could give the major to help dilute the effects of the root. She tripped on something and went sprawling, a gasp escaping her as her broken arm was trapped beneath her. She lay still for a moment, breathing hard and trying not to groan too loud, then reached back to see what had tripped her. A long, thick vine snaked across her ankle and disappeared into a tangle of thin trees a few meters away. Janet grabbed a nearby rock and began to hammer at the vine, trying to get to the juices she knew would be flowing inside. Finally the rock split the tough hide, and Janet used a handy leaf to collect the liquid now seeping from the wounded plant. Balancing the leaf on her arm, she moved back to Sam, who was now curled in the fetal position. Janet could hear her panting, and could see her rocking and shaking, using the kinetic energy being released by her body to keep herself in check. “Sam, are you still with me?”“B-barely,” came the whispered reply.“I’ve got something that should help, at least a little. Can you sit up?”Sam shook her head violently. “No way.”“Sam, it’s going to be okay. The Krallik is gone. You did it. Please,” Janet’s voice wavered—her exhaustion was beginning to take its toll. “Please, you need to sit up so I can give this to you. You can keep your eyes closed, but I need you to sit up.”Sam digested this for a moment. She knew she was safe, and that the horrifying figure hovering above her was just Janet—reversed, but her brain refused to accept that she wasn’t it mortal danger. She also knew that the only way to get rid of the debilitation was to take her medicine. Janet always helped her feel better. She could be trusted. Slowly, keeping her eyes closed, Sam sat up, still shaking. “W-what is it?”“Remember how I was telling you that certain plants have properties that will negate the toxins in the taso root?” A nod. “Well, this is one of them. I need you to drink it.”Another nod. Janet knelt next to Sam. “Open your mouth and tilt your head back.” Sam forced herself to allow Janet to pour the undiluted vine sap into her mouth. Janet watched closely to make sure it was swallowed. Carter downed the bitter stuff in one and then sat and waited, rocking herself carefully as bit by bit, her pulse and breathing slowed to something resembling normal. The horrible landscape began to return to normal, but it would not change completely. Sam could see Janet sitting beside her, and though she still looked a little—off—her appearance was no longer frightening. Most of all, she felt the fear recede, and her strength began to return as the sap entered her bloodstream. Finally, she stood, still a little off balance by the strange colors of the forest, but no longer ready to bolt at any sound. Janet stood too, and Sam reached down and hugged the smaller woman. “Thank you,” she whispered.Janet hugged her back one-armed, then pulled away and smiled up. “You’re welcome. But let’s try to not do that again, okay?”Sam smiled back, then looked over the doctor’s head and froze.“What is it?” Janet asked her.“I see something.”Janet turned and studied the direction Sam was staring. She even went so far as to stand on her tiptoes, trying to get the same perspective as her much taller friend. “Where? I don’t see anything.”“Oh crap. Janet, it’s the Krallik RUN!”Sam took off, pulling the doctor around in front of her, and they raced in the direction of the village. But both women were exhausted, and even with the extra adrenaline push, they quickly slowed, not able to keep up the furious pace. The Krallik crashed along behind them, roaring its rage out to anyone within a five mile radius. Sam stumbled and fell, tripping Janet on her way down, and both women landed in a tangle on the forest floor.She watched in horror as the monster’s huge form, now somewhat diluted, came closer and closer, filling her vision and stealing her breath. She scrabbled backwards, trying to get away and cover Janet’s body at the same time.The beast reached down one massive arm and grabbed at their tangled legs. It pulled hard, and Janet slid out from underneath Sam and was dangled in the air by her ankle. She screamed and started to kick, trying to free herself. The monster got hold of her arm with its other hand and raised her up to the level of its face. Sam couldn’t see any detail of the Krallik, but could imagine it opening its mouth to tear Janet in half. She looked around frantically for something to use as a weapon, and her hands felt something hard beside her and she grabbed it, jumping to her feet. It wasn’t much more than a stout stick, but she ran at the monster and started to hit it as hard as she could wherever she could. She ran around the back of it, beating at its head, but being careful to stay away from Janet’s wildly struggling form.The Krallik finally noticed Sam’s efforts, and, releasing Janet’s arm, turned to begin swinging at her. She ducked and dodged, trying to avoid the huge claws while still staying in range to do some damage. A lucky blow caused it to bellow hugely and put both hands to its head to protect what might have been its ears or nose or some other sensitive part, and Janet hurtled to the ground, landing on her head and laying still. Sam stood over her friend, club raised, ready to strike again. She kept an eye on the beast as she knelt to check Janet’s pulse. Her hand encountered something wet and sticky, but she didn’t have time to investigate further. The Krallik swiped viciously at her, and she jumped aside, but she wasn’t fast enough. The tips of the claws grazed her as she rolled away, slashing through her middle and leaving deep gashes that sent fire directly to her brain. Sam dropped her club, gripping her side and belly, and tried very hard to stay conscious. She saw the creature coming for her, and swallowed hard. Then the creature seemed to hunch, and a blurred figure raced around the front of it, bringing Sam’s club down hard on its head. A resounding crack rang through the trees, and the creature stood swaying for a moment, then crashed to the ground, its head mere inches from Sam’s face. Carter rolled away from it and scrambled forward a few feet before lying still and gasping for breath.Janet stumbled to her and knelt down, swaying from her head injury. Her voice was slurred, and she put a hand on Sam for balance, looking hard when she felt the blood. “Oh my god,” she swore, getting a look at the major’s stomach. “Are you feeling the poison?”“No,” Sam said through gritted teeth. “Just the pain.”“Those wounds are long, but they’re not very deep. Sam, can you move? I don’t think that thing is going to be out for long.”“Help me,” she answered through gritted teeth. Janet squatted next to her and let the major put an arm around her shoulder. Together, they painfully stood and stayed still, holding one another for support. Sam was almost sobbing from the agony of her injuries, and had to fight just to stay on her feet. Janet was beginning to feel distinctly sleepy and nauseous, both signs of a major concussion.A lowing moan from behind spurred them to an attempt at speed, but Janet quickly lost her balance and fell, pulling Sam down with her. Carter looked up from the ground, seeing the Krallik once again descending upon them. A blinding light forced her eyes shut and she heard the monster’s resounding roar very near her, and then abruptly, all was quiet. Sam risked opening her eyes, blinking as sparks popped in her vision. She reached a hand out and felt Janet beside her, crumpled in a heap, and not moving at all. She moved closer and put her hand over the doctor’s mouth to check for breath.“Do not fear. She is alive,” a man’s voice sounded out of the darkness, and Sam leapt to her feet, then dropped again as four parallel sets of agony burned along her ribs and torso. She knelt on the ground, gasping for air.“Who are you?” she said breathlessly, trying to see the figure through the gloom.“A friend,” the voice said, soft and soothing. “Come. I will carry your companion. Can you walk?”Sam didn’t answer, but watched the man’s shadow as he gently lifted the doctor’s still form. He straightened and she could feel his eyes on her. “It is not far, but I can come back for you if you wish.”Sam shook her head. She’d be damned if she was going to separate from Janet. She lurched to her feet, and followed the stranger through the forest to a small but cozy looking hut hidden among the trees. A warm glow shown through the windows, and Sam could smell something wonderful cooking within. The man entered the structure, and she followed close behind, suddenly anxious to be out of the darkness and into the security of lights. The stranger deposited Janet carefully onto a mat on the floor, and arranged her so that she was lying comfortably. Sam could now see a nasty gash on her head running from the center of her forehead into her hairline.“Come, you must rest. You have been wounded.” Sam looked at their benefactor and saw him setting out another mat next to the doctor. Suddenly her legs wouldn’t support her anymore, and she fell forward as the room tilted. He caught her in strong arms and helped her to lie down before covering her with a blanket.“Who are you?” Sam mumbled, needing to put a name to this man she was trusting their lives to.“I am Nemik. Now sleep. We will speak again when you wake.She had no choice. Her body was shutting down. She slept.
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