The Blue

Branches hit the young man in the face with a wet slap. The sound startled a few unseen birds in the trees nearby. They took off with a flutter of wings and a raucous chorus of calls. A cloud of cold water droplets hung in the air. Startled, he tried to take a breath, but a mixture of air and water was sucked into his lungs, which made him rasp and cough.

It always did that.

He couldn't remember the last time that he had his inhaler. He honestly couldn't even be bothered to remember what it had looked like. He had survived this long without it and learned to cope. He did remember what that feeling of relief was like, after using it, so he focused on that. He steadied himself, hands on each knee. He stooped over, calmed himself and took a deep breath, forcing his lungs to relax through sheer willpower. Then he stood as he forced his chest to rise in a deep, slow inhalation.

In through the nose... out through the mouth.

A deep sigh escaped as the feeling of panic eased. A couple of small, lingering coughs later and he was feeling back to his usual self.

My inhaler... he thought. Haven't thought about that in a long time.

He didn't speak the words aloud, never aloud. What was the point? There hadn’t been anyone else to talk to for years and he had become used to internalizing his own monologue instead of vocalizing like the other animals.

He was a solitary creature. He had no other specimen of his species to communicate with. He still made noises, but only those necessary for survival among the animals.

Even though it had healed years ago, the pink scar on his shoulder ached occasionally and he rubbed it absently through the tear in his threadbare clothing. Soon after he had woken up in this drenched and forsaken paradise, with no memory of who he was or how he had gotten here, he had found a crook of a large tree to rest in at night.

He hadn’t realized that it was already claimed. It was only through sheer luck that he had won that first fight for his life at all. The body of the large, angry baboon cushioned his fall against the rocks below.

His other hand rested absently on the long, pointed baboon’s tooth that hung from a strap of leather around his neck. He smiled quietly to himself. After that, the baboons and most of the other animals had left him alone.

A rustling in the leaves snapped him out of his reverie. Instinct made him crouch low, eyes wide and scanning in the direction that the sound had come from. His heart pounded in his ears as he listened and waited.

The seconds stretched to minutes as he waited, pulse throbbing in his ears. He willed his heart to slow. He tried to filter out the sounds of the jungle around him. Somewhere on the edge of hearing, something was trying very hard to hide its breathing. Was it him? He checked the almost silent inhale and exhale to his own breaths.

No.

He could run, but that would likely result in a chase and any predator would probably run him down in a matter of seconds. He could attack, but he didn’t think he could withstand any kind of fight for long. That meant that he would have to win fast! Without knowing the kind of creature that waited in the bushes, there was no guarantee.

Instead, he growled.

The sound was low and primal. It emanated from deep in his chest and he let it resonate in his throat before he released it in a crescendo that ended in a high, trailing whine. He waited again, listening to hear an answering growl or the sound of something retreating into the jungle.

Nothing.

Maybe the creature was just waiting. Maybe it was just as scared as he was. He continued to wait.

One, one-thousand.

Two, one-thousand.

He didn’t know why he passed time this way, but it felt right. He got to one hundred.

The boy moved with the speed of a sloth and the grace of a flamingo. The callouses on his feet would’ve clicked on the rocks, if the morning rain hadn’t already softened them. He stretched his legs and muscles ached as he moved with exaggerated slowness to circle around. He listened for anything that would give him any clue what or where it was, but his own movements were deafening in his ears. He winced at each tiny splash as he slid his feet through the puddles.

An insufferable forever later, the boy was behind the spot. He took a big, silent breath and slid his finger along the edge of a large leaf. He peered through the thin vernier that separated him from the spot.

Nothing.

He let loose a long sigh that he hadn’t realized he had been holding. Relief flooded through him. He must have been mistaken. He took one step into the small gap in the vegetation to investigate further, just in case.

He froze.

The impression in the mud was already beginning to melt back into the ground as displaced water rushed back. He only saw the briefest glance before it disappeared, but it was enough.

His head jerked up, eyes searching. His pulse spiked and the pounding in his ears wasn’t from fear this time. A flash of bright blue disappeared into the jungle to his left. He sprinted after it.

He was hunting the blue.

He followed a trail of color, blurs of bright blue darting between the trees and leaves. When he lost the blue, he followed the broken leaves and fresh scuffs in the mud. When he couldn’t find that, he paused and looked for another splash of color in the deep green and brown jungle.

Then he lost the trail altogether.

He stopped and looked, but there was no hint of his quarry. The jungle closed back in and the trail went cold. He began to panic, turning wildly, searching, hunting. All he could see was the green of the trees and the brown of the ground. The leaves brushed against him and he could hear nothing except his own heavy breathing. He whirled in place, frantic for any sign, but his own feet had betrayed him.

He stopped and looked at his own prints. They had confused any trail that had been left. Realization fell like a rock on his shoulders. He sank to his knees into the lukewarm mud. Tears fell like rain from his eyes, cutting rivulets through the mud-stained cheeks until they cascaded like a tiny waterfall, splashing into the mud puddle between his knees.

Then he heard it.

The sound was like no bird song he had heard for a long time. There were sounds that were familiar, and yet alien to him. He followed it, cautious as he did. The edge of the jungle came from out of nowhere and he recoiled.

Where am I?

The mud gave way to more rock beyond the jungle. The sky was just beyond that, so close that he felt like he could touch it if he could just walk out there and stretch.

And there was the blue.

On two pink legs, the blue stood at the edge of the rocks and seemed to have the same dream to touch the sky that he had. Forearm extended, it’s long, brown mane drifted around its head as the wind seemed to play with it. But what really held him enraptured was the sound.

It sounded like the most beautiful bird he had ever heard. It was quiet and strong; sad and defiant. He listened and the creature’s song broke his heart until he couldn’t help crying again. This time, he kept his eyes on the blue, struggling to focus through the tears. This creature’s song held more meaning than anything the birds of the forest knew. It held the secret to life. Images of another creature like him, but also not like him, flashed in his mind. He remembered being held and sucking on the not-him’s chest. He remembered the warmth of another and…love.

His heart seemed to grow and he felt heat in his chest and cheeks. His head got light and his chest became tight. He thought he was going to have another attack, but it was different.

The last sounds of the blue’s song hung on the evening air and he closed his eyes, trying to capture that sound and hold it in his heart forever. He knew he wouldn’t, but the essence, the ghost of it, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He breathed a deep sigh as the last remnants hung on the air and then faded into nothing, replaced by the soft whisper of the wind and a rushing noise that he didn’t recognize. It made him think of the rush of the river that flowed into the pool near his tree, but it came and went with relaxing regularity.

When he opened his eyes, the blue had disappeared and there was a stark white, two legged creature standing where it had been before. It reminded him a lot of the not-him he had remembered. Could this be another of his kind? A “her?”

He saw the blue laying crumpled on the rocks and realized that she had been wearing a second skin, like he did. This one was in much better shape and brighter than his, but similar.

He watched her in fascination. She had arms and legs, hands and feet. The eyes were a light green and he felt like he had swallowed feathers when he looked into them. He saw that she wasn’t as strong as he was, but the chest was more pronounced and her waist tapered before flaring back out at its hips. He wasn’t sure why that caused him to feel new and strange things, but it did.

She held something in one hand. She shook it, held it to her lips and breathed deep. Then she let it fall.

Is that…?

He watched, fascinated as he saw the chest rise and fall once, twice, three times. She closed her beautiful eyes, a peaceful expression on her face, and he waited for her to open them again. And he waited. And waited.

He closed his own eyes and silently begged her to let him see those eyes again, to feel that connection. When he opened his own eyes again, her hands were stretched out to her sides in a gesture that he didn’t recognize. She began to tip backwards. Brown hair fluttered forward as she fell back, the wind seeming to rise up from the ground. Her expression of calm never faltered.

She was going to catch herself, right? His heart sank in his chest as he realized that she wasn’t. She must be asleep. He had to do something.

His feet darted from the edge of the jungle. His hands reached for her, trying to catch an arm or hand. He wasn’t going to make it.

“NO!”

The sound came from his lips without thinking.

The serenity on her face switched to confusion as her eyes snapped open at the sound. They locked eyes. He saw emotions flashed across her face in rapid succession; curiosity, wonder, realization, fascination, another realization, and finally abject fear.

He didn’t think, he just lept. His arms wrapped around her. He turned himself in the air, trying to cushion her fall. He held her close, bracing for the inevitable, painful thud as he hit the ground. He felt the warmth of her skin against him as he held her tight in a protective embrace. But there was no thud, only the ever-increasing sound of rushing air around him and the desperate scream of the girl. He squeezed her tighter.

It's going to be okay, he thought. Now that you’re here, it’s all going to be okay.

###

The woman pressed a flashing red button on the console in front of her. It stopped flashing and the buzzing alarm was silenced. She read the message that appeared on screen.

“Doctor Marlowe?” she called over her shoulder.

“What, Gina?” The doctor had crossed the room and was partially blocking the cold, sterile light above her before the words were fully out of his mouth. His accent marked him as a descendent of the old Eurasian peoples. It was not especially pronounced, following the old trends, versus the new that emphasized the old ways. Instead there was only the hint of an accent, but Gina couldn’t have missed it in a crowd, distinct as it was.

“Two code forty-fours just popped up.” She pointed to the message.

“Who is it this time?” Another man sighed, this one not as tall, and no accent to his voice at all hovered over her other shoulder.

“What? Why?” The doctor spared the other man a withering glance.

The other two ignored him and Gina scanned the report. “Looks like a male and a female. The female was just delivered this week. The male… oh!” Gina blinked in surprise.

“What is it?”

“It seems he’s been planetside for, well, almost since the beginning. We’ve been tracking him for a long time. I guess he adapted quickly.”

“I don’t care. What was their status?” Doctor Marlowe snapped.

“The female wasn’t there long enough to be infected,” Gina responded, skipping that report while she navigated to another menu. “Give me moment while I dig for his file… there.” A much longer screen of text, numbers and readouts popped up. She turned and looked over her shoulder at the doctor.

“Positive.”

Excitement flashed across the doctor’s face. “What degree of certainty?”

“Ninety-three percent.”

His voice was shrill. “Order retrieval so that we can confirm immediately. I’ll be in the operating room. Send the body there as soon as it arrives.”

“But there’s protocols…” the man protested after him.

“To hell with the protocols!” Marlowe shouted as he stormed out. “We’ve waited decades for this! I’ll be dam…” the last of his words were cut off as the automatic door shut behind him. A brief silence washed into the room.

“Boy and a girl, huh?” the man said. “Lover’s suicide pact?”

Gina shook her head, her short cropped hair swishing from side to side. “No way to tell, David. Not until we get them back for detailed study. We’ll have to take their chips out; let the computer sift through everything.”

David raised one eyebrow. It faintly irritated Gina because he knew she couldn’t do that. “Chip-suh? Didn’t Doctor Marlowe say to retrieve the positive one?”

“Well,” Gina said with the corner of her lip twitching into a sly grin. “There are protocols to follow.”

“Ha,” David laughed. It was a throaty, deep sound. “You know, Missus Albright, I don’t think you’re as proper a girl as you try to appear.”

She winked at him and then held one finger to her demure lips. “Don’t tell, or they might send me down there. And you have better believe, Mister Albright, that I ain’t goin’ alone!” Her voice took on a drawl that she had mostly gotten rid of when she had gotten married. They kissed as only stably married couples do.

Gina pulled her lips away from his and looked at him, their arms still around each other.

“Do you think we would do it?”

“What?”

“Lover’s suicide pact.”

He didn’t respond right away. His eyes shifted up to the ceiling in deep contemplation. “You know, I’m not sure.”

She nestled her head into his neck and shoulder. She could smell his familiar, reassuring shampoo as she breathed him in. “I hope not,” she whispered. “I’d like to think that one of us could survive that hell.”

“Then no suicide pacts,” he promised just as quietly. He gave her another kiss, this time gently on the forehead, and Gina thought that it was even more sensual, more real, than the first. He disengaged and started to walk out of the door. “Don’t work too late.”

“That’s not up to me,” Gina called after him, but he was gone. She sighed and walked up to the giant display on the opposite wall. It showed ticking metrics and colorful data. She tapped it and the image instantly changed. At first, it looked black and entirely empty. Another touch and it changed again. Little specks of light dotted around the display. Another two touches and the speck of light in the middle was a big blue circle. She tapped furiously until the blue circle stretched almost from floor to ceiling. In the center sat a jagged patch of green.

She recalled stories her grandmother would tell her of the old explorers; how they would sail across the oceans of the old world to discover riches, land and even medicines.

What if the great Kristover Columbia had lived on a water planet like this, with only one island? Would he have sailed until his boat fell apart around him and he drowned?

Flashes of lightning on the screen drew her attention to a storm gathering to the southwest. It was going to be a bad one. Better hurry those retrieval drones up.

She punched some controls. Twin beams of light streaked across, directly toward the land mass. They disappeared and Gina knew that the drones were scanning the area where the two signals had been lost, searching for the bodies.

She watched the island and imagined herself on a ship in that endless sea, the deck rocking beneath her feet, the smell of salt on the wind and only the tide to command her. She sighed, staring at the screen, her eyes fixed on that endless ocean in her mind.

How did we get here? The fate of humanity being decided on a distant, backwater, penal planet.