Chapter 27: Pandorum

Bower looked up from Nadia at the beautiful ocean all around them. Off in the distance, he could see looming cliffs and a white sand beach but they were still a half of a mile or so from the shore. They were in a massive bay, almost completely encircled by landmasses from the open ocean, so the waves were quite calm and the sun was warm.

They could see the massive rings of the Elysium poking out of the water and part of the hull was visible too. Beneath the surface of the water barnacles, mussels and coral had began growing on the Elysium, thriving on the outer hull below the waves like clusters of dark scales slowly claiming the ship as just another part of the vast ocean.

The water that slowly rolled toward, spread out on and hissed a retreat from the distant shoreline was such a bright aqua that it seemed more like an artist's rendition rather than actual beach. The air was extraordinarily fresh and it had a faint sweet smell like a blossoms. The pod was bobbing slightly in the small swells but for the most part, everything was serene.

This is a hell of a lot better than being chased by hunters.

Nadia was crying. Bower could tell that she was shedding tears of joy.

He held her close. Against his chest Nadia said, "Its so beautiful."

"Yeah. This is our home now."

Bower noticed the water in the pod was pink. Nadia was still bleeding. At both ends of the pod were sealed airtight compartments that held survival gear. Bower let her go gently, went to the cryopod display and typed in the command to open both lockers at once.

Nadia looked weak and pale, "What are you doing?"

"I have to stop the bleeding." Bower found bandages but Nadia was lying down mostly submerged.

"Is that Mahn?" Nadia asked. She had sat up and was looking at something floating on the horizon. Bower saw that it was Mahn and he was waving to them, "Why is he so far away?"

"Maybe he changed trajectory because of the launch in water," Bower said. He was checking the display on the pod and found the evacuate command. With a whoosh, inner pumps came one, draining the pod and expelling the bloody water out of side jets and into the open water.

Too bad I couldn't drain the cryopod during our ascent.

Bower told Nadia, "Lay back down. I have to bandage you."

The circular gunshot wound was to the left of her belly button, swollen and angry. Blood seeped out slowly. If any internal organs had been punctured, she could get an infection and die. Bower dusted the wound with antibiotic powder. He had her partially roll onto her good side, she moaned and winced in pain. The exit wound was a lot larger, right above her kidney. Luckily, there was almost no bleeding, most of the flesh had been cauterized by the hot bullet. He dusted that wound as well then wrapped a tight bandage around her. He was amazed at how tiny her waistline was.

Mahn had removed a metal plate from his pod and was using it as a paddle. He was slowly getting closer to them.

"Ahoy!" Mahn called. He was within a dozen yards now and looked exhausted. Rowing must have been tough with his damaged shoulder.

Nadia waved to him, "Welcome to Pandorum!"

"It's good to see you, Mahn," Bower told him.

"I think we need to all get in one pod," Mahn suggested, "Easier to row."

"Agreed," Bower nodded.

"I thought about swimming for shore," Mahn said thoughtfully, looking down at the water, "but we have no idea what kind of predators are swimming around below us."

"The computer says the current is taking us towards shore. All we have to do is wait," Nadia told them.

"That is good news, Nu," Mahn yawned. He stayed in his own pod, "I am going to take a nap. Wake me when we get closer to shore."

The bright warm sun was low in the sky as dusk was approaching but the rays were still slowly drying them off. Bower had a lot of things to attend to once they got to shore but he didn't want to worry about them until he absolutely had to. Right now, he wanted to focus his attention on Nadia to make sure she was okay. He sat down and leaned back in the pod watching her. She carefully crawled toward him and to his surprise, she lay across his body, her head resting on his chest. He pulled her closer.

This new world was going to be a challenge, they were all well aware but with Nadia at his side, Bower felt that he could conquer anything set up against him. Nadia felt magical in his arms, so perfectly comfortable that instead of being strangers on an unknown planet, they could just as easily be newlyweds drifting happily on a lazy river in some grand casino back on earth.

"I never been this comfortable with anyone," she confessed, seemingly reading his thoughts.

"I haven't either."

Nadia looked up from his chest, directly into his eyes. She was determined that he understand, "I'm serious. I always wore ugly glasses, was always awkward growing up. During college, I was unpopular, nonexistent as one of the smart kids. I was rarely asked out on dates, never paid any attention, especially by men."

Bower said, "I find that hard to believe."

Nadia smiled shyly, "It's true. When I volunteered for this mission to Pandorum, I was still very awkward with the rest of the crew. I have never been as comfortable with anyone as I am with you."

Bower grinned, "That makes me a very lucky man." They kissed.

Nadia settled back down against his chest, "We're going to have to find fresh water, a food source and shelter. I can see the beautiful waterfall from here, which is fresh water, there are plenty of trees for shelter and there is probably dehydrated meals in the emergency kits on board our pods," Nadia said.

"So the main thing we have to focus on is finding or building a permanent shelter. I can't wait to finally get some sleep," Bower yawned.

"You want to sleep?" she asked, puzzled.

"Aren't you sleepy? When is the last time you've slept?" Bower wondered if it possible the mutagen had strengthened them that rendered sleep unnecessary? The possibilities of the mutagen were astounding if that turned out to be true.

"I haven't slept in two days," she admitted.

"Well this will be our first opportunity."

"Yes," she murmured against his chest, "Our first opportunity to sleep together."

Bower thought about what she was saying for a few moments and it finally registered. She was flirting again. "Wow," he told her grinning and they kissed again. He knew romance would have to wait. With her wound, love making was out of the question. The thought of them being intimate was exhilarating. He could hardly wait.

"What is that?" They heard Mahn suddenly call out from his pod. His voice was pinched with alarm.

Bower was immediately worried. Anything that spooked Mahn had to be very frightening. Bower sat up, alarmed, "What did you say, Mahn?"

"What the fuck is that?" Mahn asked. He was pointing downwards at something below the surface of the water.

Bower leaned over and looked down into the bright turquoise ocean. The water wasn't bright between the two pods and he saw why. There was a long dark spot there instead and it looked as though it were following the pods. At first glance, Bower thought it was a shadow, so he looked up expecting to see a large cloud overhead. He could find nothing in the sky could be casting such a massive amount of shade. His hair nearly stood on end when he realized that the large dark thing was not a shadow, but a large creature underwater right between their pods.

Mahn's cryopod was still a good thirty feet away from theirs and the thing easily stretched out between them, its body was eight or nine feet wide. The water was so clear that Bower realized it had to down pretty deep below them to obscure details. Also, it might actually be larger when it rose from the depths towards the surface.

Holy shit.

"I am full of fear at the moment, my friend.," Mahn admitted. His eyes were wide, "That thing is huge."

As they watched, the submerged titan turned under them, positioning itself behind Mahn's pod. Once it had turned, Bower could make out that it was in the shape of a fish.

He felt knots of fear in his belly. Why can't everything just work out? Why does everything want to kill them? Was the cosmos set out against them? Was God? Had they pissed off the big man upstairs?

"I can see it!" Mahn called out, "It is not deep underwater, it is near the surface! It can camouflage itself, bending the sunlight off its scales or something, it is incredible!"

"What are you talking about?" Bower asked.

Nadia seemed very interested in this fish that could appear only as a shadow just under the surface of the water. Bower wondered if the strange fish was completely invisible only betrayed by its large shadow. His body was so tense, he felt light-headed.

Mahn was still looking at it then turning back to them with each description, "It's a peacock blue, with a pink stripe down the side, yellow eyes, small black spots and it's got teeth! It's shaped like a..." The Asian man's lips trembled as he looked back at Bower.

Bower voice cracked from nervousness, "Like a what?"

"Like a shark!"

Seeing a thirty foot shark was enough to worry anyone regardless of how brave they were but seeing a thirty foot shark that could camouflage itself, that was swimming just below the surface within a few feet was enough to cause temporary insanity. Bower felt as though ice water was coursing through his veins. He was trembling in fear.

"Even if it surfaces out of curiosity, we're going to be capsized," Nadia said grimly.

They continued watching it, studying it closely, absolutely mesmerized by it. It was so dangerous that there was nothing they could do but wait. Bower pulled out the firearm but since it had been submerged and was still soaked, he wasn't sure it would fire.

Bower's gaze was so intense upon the beast that his eyes began to water. The massive shark could surface at any minute and bite into one of the pods as if it were no more than a rubber squeak toy. The thought of being capsized and tossed into the water with such a huge predator, made Bower's insides turn to mush.

Bower remembered draining the pod, the bloody water had been jettisoned. This shark had been attracted by Nadia's blood.

Suddenly, almost violently, the shark turned away from them, its wake left hissing bubbles. Puzzled by its behavior, Bower looked around and realized what he was hearing was the waves on the beach behind him. They had finally reached the shore.

The sand was reflecting the setting sun so brightly, that it hurt their eyes. Past the beach, sixty feet away, the sand slowly tousled with grasses that were a dark green and eventually terminated into dark earth flanked with shrubs and small trees. Beyond that tree line were taller, fuller timber, their branches stretching out like long arms trying to capture the golden rays of sunlight.

They heard birds singing, but not like any birds they had ever heard before. Their songs were encircled by the canopy of trees deep in the jungle, so the music was echoing softly like distant chanting.

There were other strange sounds, wood knocks, strange animal calls, insects buzzing and the soft hiss of the gentle breeze sweeping through the foliage with deft fingers. Against the dark underbelly of the jungle, the sky seemed a deeper blue than it had been on earth, the tree's leaves perhaps a deeper green and the flowers blooming from the short shrubs, vines and plants cluttering at the foot of the massive trees were more brilliant and lovely colors than earth flowers had been.

Of course, Bower couldn't remember much of earth due to his memory loss, so his perception of the Pandorum vegetation was speculative at best.

"This is our new home," Nadia said. It almost sounded as though she were asking a question.

The cryopod made contact with the sand, and it spun with the power of the waves, threatening to roll over.

Bower hopped out into knee high water, amazed at how crystal clear and warm it was. He began to pull on the pod, trying to drag it up the sand. It was too heavy. He held it stationary so that Nadia could carefully climb out onto the warm sand.

They walked towards the treeline, Bower looked down the length of the beach. The sand ended at a large rocky outcrop one hundred feet in one direction and a thick wall of vegetation two hundred feet in the other.

Nadia slowly sat down then stretched out on her back, looking up at the darkening sky. Bower did too. He didn't realize how long it had been since they could lay down and relax. Although he had a lot of work to do before nightfall, Bower fell asleep.

The huntress was on the bridge, hissing down at him. Bower was dangling from the broken bridge by one hand. He was losing his grip, his fingers slipping one by one. To his horror, the huntress attacked. They fell together, tumbling through the air. Bower screamed as the huntress bit into his chest and rending his back with its sharp claws. He tried to punch the damned demon but his arms felt like molasses. The huntress tore out a large chunk of his flesh, spat it out and bit him again. Bower howled in pain.

He woke up screaming and thrashing on the cool sand.

The morning sun was just coming over the distance mountains. Birds were just waking up. Singing and fluttering, the forest was stirring to life. The ocean waves were so rhythmic that he almost fell asleep again. The calming sounds of the tranquil waves breaking was almost therapeutic.

Nadia was still asleep. She had taken the spear off her back. It was lying on the sand within arm's reach.

Bower touched her face. She was burning up. At first he was alarmed, but her color looked better and her bandages were clean. She was healing nicely.

Mahn snoozed about twenty feet away. They both looked so peaceful that Bower felt guilty as he roused them from their slumber.

Bower had never been so sore in his life. Every muscle screamed in pain and every one of his joints was stiff. He stretched, trying to ward off the pain.

"I hurt all over," Mahn complained. He changed the bandages on his wounds, the worst being the his shoulder and his side where he'd been bitten.

The two cryopods were still on the beach so Bower opened the compartments and laid out the survival gear.

A quick inventory told them they had two bath towels, four sleeping bags, six flares, two flare guns, two Swiss style knives with multiple tools built into them, two waterproof two man tents, two lighters, two soft blankets, two thick medium sized jackets, two flashlights, several days worth of dehydrated soup and four gallons of purified water. One of the survival kits contained a few fishing hooks, some fishing line and a few bars of soap. The other contained a tiny mirror and a small saw.

Some of the gear had expired, rendering them useless. The flashlight batteries were corroded. The two lighter's fuel had evaporated. The soap had dried up and flaked into useless powder.

"So what now?" Mahn asked Bower.

"We have to get back into the ship," Bower told him.

"What?" Nadia was incredulous.

Bower sighed, "I know. The ship is the last place I want to go but there are still innocent and uninformed people being slaughtered and eaten by the hunters. We can't just abandon them. Plus, there is still some useful technology on board that we can use."

"You're right," Nadia agreed, "There is also the biological plants and animals. But we're still wounded and we barely got out alive. Don't you think going back is suicidal?"

"Yeah but after we've healed up, I think we might be just as much of a threat to the hunters as they are to us."

Bower would prefer to travel all the way into hell, through the heat and brimstone, find Satan himself and high five him, instead of going back aboard the Elysium but he knew they had to. He remembered the meager tent city that he found in the mechanical room. People had lived there. People had survived, for God only knew how long.

Bower asked them, "Do you think the hunters drowned?"

Mahn said, "No. The ship is very compartmentalized. They would find a place safe from the flood and keep hunting."

"We'll have to be very careful moving around on board," Nadia said, "There will be plenty of areas that will be completely cut off because of the water."

"I wonder if anyone else managed to escape outside the ship before we did?" Bower said thoughtfully.

"That's possible, my friend."

"We still don't know how hostile this place is," Nadia pointed out.

Bower scratched his head, "Maybe we should do a little exploring."

Taking a few steps into the wild jungle, Bower noticed a plant that was nearly twice as tall as he was with a large beautiful dark purple flower on top of it, similar to a sunflower on earth. There were short spines or spikes hidden between the petals along the outer face of the flower and as he studied it closer, he saw that they were teeth and the center of the flower was actually a rudimentary mouth. He remained at a safe distance, or at least what he thought would be safe.

Mahn was especially interested in the large plant but he too kept at a distance from it, "It must be a carnivorous plant. Amazing. It is not any species that I know of."

"Well maybe we should stay away from it until we know what kind of meat it likes to eat. Hopefully, humans aren't part of it's diet," Bower decided.

"Agreed," Mahn said, staring at the dangerous looking flower, "I do wish to study this plant thoroughly as soon as I can."

Most of the vegetation's species were strange. There were various types, Mahn didn't recognize any of them. Every tree seemed to be relatively thin, very tall, as if built to sway with strong winds without breaking. There were many strange vines that looped through the brush and the trees, hanging down from the heights like ropes to another world above.

In a small cluster, there were a dozen or so of trees that were absolutely massive. The trunks were as big as some of the ancient sequoias back on earth but with smooth bark. These trees weren't towering either like a sequoia, their mass was widespread with only a few very thick low branches on each one. The branches were nearly as thick as the trunk in girth and each branch had a deep groove that ran the length of each limb on the topside. Most of the branches had intertwined with its neighboring sequoia, as if they were all supporting one another. The grooved branches were mostly horizontal with a slight grade towards the trunk of the tree, perhaps to capture water.

Mahn wasn't sure what the function of the groove was but from the ground, this cluster of behemoth trees seemed like an overhead fortress, a perfect place to keep safe from the ground.

"This is it," Bower said, "This is where we'll build our home."