Lister Crowe Page 4

  “One thing.” the demon girl stopped and looked at Lister. “If I show you around my world you have to show me around yours.” Lister had not expected a quid pro quo but it did seem only fair. He was not the best of companions but she had piqued his interest and he could not reign in his building excitement.

  “Deal.” he replied not really thinking she would hold him to such a promise. The newly struck compact seemed to do the trick.

  Vita hopped nimbly up on the table without sound or using her hands. Lister’s brows raised in respect for such an acrobatic feat. She took a glance back at Lister, winked and dropped through the portal. The now familiar hiss accompanied her through.

  Not so gracefully Lister clambered up onto the table. Even less gracefully he stood wobbling the high ceilings allowing him to stand comfortably. He stood for a moment looking into the static mouth to another world. Just what the hell was he doing? Fear began to tighten his chest and throat. He could be trapped, he could be killed. All of those thoughts came rushing back and he could feel his knees grow weak.

  Then he looked at the picture of his mother again hanging on the wall. She was smiling at him with unchanging humor, trapped in a photograph. He wanted it to change, he wanted it to be real and warm. Lister smiled back to the picture and stepped forward keeping his eyes on his mothers loving face. He dropped through the portal and was gone from his world.

  Chapter Four

  The drop was about six feet and Lister was not prepared for it. His knees came up and smacked him in the jaw with a dull thud as his legs slipped from beneath him. The pain was immediate and jarring. Vita came running forward with a gasp and began to help him up, brushing him off as she did so.

  “Oh, I am so sorry. Are you alright?” Lister moved his jaw from side to side and stretched his legs and arms. He felt an ache but he did not sense any permanent injury. Vita was looking up at the portal as though it had let her down in some way Lister could not understand.

  “I am fine thanks.” he looked up and saw the portal hanging in the air very unnaturally in direct contrast to the surrounding vegetation. Stepping back but still looking at the portal he saw it appeared two dimensional without height as it hung in space. Above it was nothing until what could only be described as trees obstructed his view. Then the portal suddenly winked out of existence with a static crackle leaving Lister and Vita staring up at the canopy.

  “I hope it opens back up.” he said with more than a bit of worry in his tone.

  “It will, don’t worry.” she caught his eyes and he found himself remembering how he had thought the very same thing in his apartment. She had the same tone in her voice which made Lister wonder if he had made the biggest mistake of his twenty years of life. He shrugged for it was really a moot point, either it opened or it did not. Now that he was here it was time to get to business and his business was science first and foremost.

  The first thing he realized was the heat and he was glad he had not brought his jacket. It was not the dry heat as people liked to say is not so bad but instead this was a wet heat. It was as though he were walking through the discharge from an air humidifier filled with too hot water.

  The forest he found himself in was quite unlike anything he had ever seen. The trees were not so much trees but appeared to be more like cacti or some form of giant succulent. The trunks were meaty and thick, dark green in color and striped with purples and pinks. The branches which protruded from the trunk were thick and sagged under their own weight. The leaves were large, thick and purple and did not look like leaves in the traditional sense but more like aloe leaves. The trees were not tall and none of them stood more than thirty feet high.

  There was no underbrush to speak of but in places and patches on the floor young plants of the same type were struggling to rise to the height of their brethren. He stepped over to one of the trees and ran his hand along the trunk. It was smooth and felt like skin rather than bark which was something he had not been expecting. He had expected it to be like his own world and the thought caught him off guard. Lister realized his preconceived notions may all be rendered impotent within his few hours here.

  The ground was not covered in grass but a moss which was a mid green shade which reminded him of peppermint on chewing gum wrappers. He leaned down and ran his hand over the carpet of moss. It felt as though he were running his hand over the short fur of some giant beast which stretched out on the ground around them. Lister then realized the truth of it for that was exactly what it was, one giant plant. He kept running his hand over it feeling the coolness which contrasted the wet heat the air held.

  “You are acting like you have never seen a forest before?” Vita asked her tone skeptical.

  “Nothing like this.”

  “I guess it makes sense.” Vita replied after a moment of thought. “When I looked out your window all I saw was stone and metal. Is that what your world is made of?”

  “No. We have trees, flowers and grass.” Lister answered indicating the various forms around him. “It’s just… not like this.”

  Lister noticed another plant. This one was yellow and flowering and seemed as though it would have a great scent. He leaned down toward it.

  “Don’t touch that.” Vita put her hand on his shoulder. “It will burn your skin.”

  Lister pulled his hand back as though the plant could not be trusted. He knew he was going to experience a learning curve as he stood back up. The canopy overhead was so thick with the heavy, meaty leaves he could not see the sky and disappointment tugged at his chest. One of the most amazing things he could imagine would be looking up into an alien sky.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  He had known fear as he was falling through the portal but now, with his feet on solid ground, the feeling had diminished to be replaced by excitement which sprung from the quest for knowledge. As they walked Lister saw quite a variety of different plant life though it all seemed to share the same succulent characteristics. Without much of a stretch Lister determined it must be the dominant plant life on this alien world.

  The light here seemed different from what he was used to which made sense, after all he was under a different sun. Most exo-biologists assumed life would rise on worlds much like his own. By such reasoning he could be relatively certain most of the laws which had been true on his home world would hold true here. He could not shake the underlying feeling he was still in his apartment though and the feeling gave him a bit of vertigo.

  They walked through the strange forest in which Vita seemed perfectly at ease and why would she not be, this was her home. Soon they came to a path which cut through the trees and again, it was something Lister had not been expecting. Before him was a paved road the width of a large, two lane bike path.

  “You don’t have these in your world either?” Vita could see the expression of shock on his face. Lister paused for a moment confused by such a normal thing in this strange place.

  “We do.”

  “Just not like this?” Vita guessed his thought.

  “No, exactly like this.” Lister hunkered down and ran his hand over the surface and wondered at the make up of it. It was not concrete, nor was it blacktop but had the qualities of both.

  “Oh.” Vita sounded surprised but seemed glad at least something was the same.

  Lister stood up and the two continued but now on the path. The trees on either side formed a natural roof over their heads so Lister still could not see the sky. He had so many questions but he was not one to ask people for anything, most of all answers so they continued with his thoughts unvoiced but his mind wondering at the sights.

  From time to time Vita would name a few of the plants as they passed and explain their benefits or dangers. Lister soon came to realize much on this world was not conductive to humanity either his or hers. It was then he decided it was best to keep his hands to himself.

  Creatures could be heard in the distance going about their daily lives unaware
an otherworldly visitor was traipsing around in their midst. The sounds were not what Lister was used to though he rarely left the city. At one time he had lived in the country but he had been young and his mother had still been alive.

  As they were walking they saw a group of three people ahead of them, going the same direction they were traveling. The two of them were walking faster than the trio and though Lister was getting tired he managed to keep pace with his guide.

  “Tamra!” Vita shouted and held up her hand.

  The three people turned and waved back to them. A few moments later they were beside the other travelers. The group consisted of two children, a boy and a girl with a woman who must have been their mother.

  Lister was five foot eleven which was not tall in his world but he felt like a giant among them. Lister saw they were not like Vita, they were more like him, though not exactly. They were shorter and stockier which explained why Lister was so exhausted after just a bit of walking. Their short legs and stocky frames were obviously a product of evolution on a planet having gravity with more pull than his own.

  “Our cart broke down back on the road so we are walking to the village to get your grandfathers help.” Tamra was telling her story and Lister was looking at the three of them as though they were a science project. The kids sensed this and hid behind their mothers thin skirt, peeking out at him from time to time.

  “We can fix it for you.” Vita volunteered. Lister finally took notice of the conversation.

  “Can you do that? I thought…” Tamra was looking confused.

  “I can’t but he can.” Vita indicated Lister with her thumb. “He is a wizard.”

  “No, I am not a wizard.” he said shaking his head.

  “Of course you are.” Vita said smiling at the woman. She took Lister by the arm and stepped a couple of paces away. Lister allowed himself to be led.

  “We have to help my friends.”

  “I don’t know anything about… carts.”

  “How hard can it be. You can open portals.” Vita seemed sure it would be but a small thing for him to take care of the problem.

  “I don’t have much time. I only set the portal for three hours.” Lister answered looking back at the family and smiling. When he turned back he saw that Vita had taken a defiant stance with her arms crossed.

  “Really, I don’t have time.” he argued but she did not answer. She just stood there looking up at him fire slowly licking her pupils.

  “There is so much I need to see. Your village. Meet your grandfather.” he sounded excited hoping it would catch but still she would not answer and he knew he was beaten. This was one of the reasons for his distaste of people and the norms of society which accompanied them.

  “Fine.” he capitulated not hiding the frustration in his tone.

  “Thank you.” Vita was victorious and she knew it. Lister fumed at the delay but he needed this girl/demon in order to make it back to the portal now for he had no idea how to find the clearing. She walked back to the three weary travelers and told them the good news.

  “Oh thank you Vita.” she hugged her and turned her attention upward to Lister. “And you are sir?”

  “Lister Crowe.” he said flatly still not excited about the prospect of retracing their steps and pushing his timeline back. The little boy looked out from behind his mother’s dress and smiled at him.

  “Lister Crowe. How peculiar.” the woman said with a silly smile on her face which bespoke her fascination with his name.

  “Please, call me Lister.”

  He was not at all happy with what had just happened and moreover he was not sure Vita was going to be the help he had hoped she would be. What kind of a host would neglect the wishes of their guest in order to take on some mission of mercy for someone Lister did not even know.

  Sure he felt sorry for the children but what business of theirs was it if their cart had broken down. Vita knew them and of course she must feel some obligation to their well being but what about his well being. His time was short and the portal was going to open in an hour and a half and he had seen barely anything.

  He wondered what would happen if he missed the portal. He knew then he would never see his home again. The thought sent a cold chill down his spine and he realized he had made a major miscalculation. He would have been able to set the portal to open at intervals while he was gone. A couple lines of code was all it would require but to his defense he had not been expecting anything to happen let alone something so strange as this. Lister realizing the error could not help but wonder if he was forgetting something else.

  Lister looked at his watch and did a quick calculation. From what Vita had said they would be able to get back to the cart in about forty minutes. Depending upon how long it took him to fix it, if indeed he could, it would leave him a half hour to get back to the portal. He could go back through and reset it for a time much longer than the few hours he had initially given himself.

  Lister knew he did not have much of a choice in the matter and decided it would be best just to get under way. If he had to he would tell Vita about his error and they could go before the cart was fixed and perhaps he could come back for it. He was not so vain to admit when he screwed up but he really did not want to if he did not have to.

  Chapter Five

  Forty-five minutes of walking brought them to the spot where the cart had broken down. The road was easier to traverse than the forest but the higher gravity was taking it’s toll on Lister as he puffed and wheezed his way along. He was sweating profusely in the stifling heat and he was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic under the ever present canopy. He had never been the most rugged of people, he was a scientist and as a result had spent most of his time indoors.

  He had expected to see a couple of horses as they approached or at least something which would pass for beasts of burden here. Instead he saw a vehicle resembling a large riding lawn mower but with four seats rather than one and a small trailer attached at the back. Lister looked at the machine wide eyed for a moment having not expected to see it’s like here. He was not entirely sure he was going to be able to fix it but he was bolstered by the fact it was a machine and Lister had never met a machine he did not like.

  Vita unlatched the hood and folded out the panels to reveal the engine compartment. It was unlike any motor Lister had seen. He could see no source of combustion, no wires connecting anything. He did not know where to start but he found himself excited at the prospect despite the time crunch. He was reminded of a time when he was a young boy when he had taken apart his mothers blender just to see how it worked. Of course the act had cost him dessert and a grounding from his mother but the thrill of discovery ignited by such a simple task was what had sparked his love affair with science. It was when he had first learned the properties of magnetic motors and with any luck he should be able to find out what made this vehicle tick.

  “Can you fix it?” Vita asked.

  “Let me see what we have in here then I can tell you.” Lister replied too sharply. Vita heard the tone and she made it clear by rolling her eyes in a most childish way.

  After ten minutes and with the assistance of the toolkit from his backpack Lister found what he thought was the power source. He removed it from it’s housing and wondered at it for a moment. It was a crystal the diameter of a nickel, jagged and elongated. It glowed with a dull light emanating from somewhere deep within it. Lister was oddly transfixed as he looked into it’s depths. He had heard of the power of crystals but not in this context or as an actual power source. As he held it he silently wished he had brought his Geiger counter with him because such a glow might not be good for a person. He put it in his shirt and scrubbed at it. Was he being bombarded with radiation right now?

  “Vita, whats…” he began. Vita held up a hand to quiet him and he did so with no argument.

  “Keep working and make it quick.” she said leaning over and whispering in his ear. Then quick as a shot, silent as a breeze she was off into the
stand of trees along side the path. Lister was shocked at the speed with which she moved.

  Lister did as he was told and began to work with more urgency. He cleaned the crystal chamber of the detritus which had built up. He had to scrape at some spots of corrosion which had infected the big metal orb which was the housing for the crystal. It took time but soon he began putting the motor back together. He was nearly finished when:

  “Hello there.” two men came from behind a stand of trees. This must have been what she was talking about Lister assumed as he latched the compartment hood.

  “Hello.” he replied in kind. Looking at the two men he did not feel reassured they had the best of intentions.

  “Looks like you ran into a bit of trouble.” the largest of the two men said and though he was large he was not tall. He may have been considered tall compared to the others he had met here but he was shorter than Lister by more than a few inches. Though he was squat, he seemed as thick as one of the strange trees which ran along either side of the road.

  “No I got it fixed.” Lister turned to the console and pressed the starter. It whirred to life. “See, all fixed.” he smiled at them.

  “That’s not what I meant.” the man began to stalk forward to where Lister was standing.

  “Whoa,” Lister said taking a step back for each of his forward. “no need to be like that.” Lister had always relied on his wit to settle confrontations and though he could talk his way out of many a situation this seemed something far more sinister than any he had encountered before.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur. In half of a heartbeat Vita was crouching next to the large man and with a low sweep of her leg she had taken him from his feet. The other man, as startled as Lister drew a knife from the sheath on his belt.

  The blur moved again and the knife was sent sailing through the air glinting as it flipped end over end. Vita was in front of the ne’er do well and punched out with a flat palm in a stinging blow to his nose which staggered the man, sending him a couple of steps back. The dagger came down and Vita caught it without looking. The big man was struggling to get his bulk up off of the path, his eyes angry slits and a snarl for a mouth.