Dark Beyond the Stars Read online

  Fort Gamma

  Roark stood watching the Animal, who was lying on the ground in the cage. “I don’t think she looks so great,” she said as Curtis approached the holding cell. “But she looks better than she did when we first saw her.”

  Curtis made a face. “She’s an Animal. She looks like an Animal, and she stinks like one.”

  Roark shook her head and put out her hand for the recorder. “Did you see anything interesting?”

  “Just a lot of wandering around outside the fort. A couple of Animal sightings, but no action. From what I can tell, the Animals weren’t that aggressive back then. They seem to clear out as soon as they see a blaster.”

  “Hm. That’s puzzling. The one we’ve got here—she saw that I had a weapon and she came on anyway.”

  Endrosa

  “Bryce, hon, how much longer before we head back to the fort?”

  “You tired, Jane?”

  “No, I’m fine. I just wondered when we’re going to stop for lunch. I’m hungry. I’m always hungry here.”

  “There’s a hill up ahead where we plan to break and eat. Since you all haven’t seen anything of Endrosa, we wanted to stop at a spot where you can see some of the terrain and not just a bunch of bushes. But here—” Bryce walked over to one of the plants. “Natasha tells me these berries are safe, and pretty filling. You can snack on these.”

  Jane picked a couple of ripe-looking red berries from the bush and popped them into her mouth. “Not bad. A little bitter.” She spit out some seeds. “Still better than what we ate for breakfast. What’s the plan when we run out of that nasty stuff we brought from Earth? I’m getting tired of eating dried sawdust mixed with purified water.”

  Bryce grinned. “I hear you. They’re working on a garden to the west of the fort. The hope is that it will produce something edible soon.”

  “Bryce!” A shout came from Natasha. “More Animals!”

  Fort Gamma

  “Roark, I’m worried.”

  “About what? Animals eating you up?”

  Curtis rolled his eyes. “No. About the fact that there’s no sign of any of the earlier colonists. About the fact that both the other forts have been taken over by Animals, and we don’t even know where the bodies went. Doesn’t that freak you out?”

  “Not particularly. They could have died of natural causes, and the Animals—or something—just decided it made sense to… you know. Eat what they found. Wouldn’t you?”

  “No.”

  “Sure you would, if you were starving to death. Keep in mind that the only thing we’ve been able to grow here so far is a few measly potatoes, and those berries are the single native source of food we’ve discovered. It’s going to get pretty hungry around here soon.”

  Endrosa

  Jane looked up as Animals emerged from the vegetation. It was hard to pick them out, since their long fur matched the bushes around them almost perfectly. There were twelve colonists, including Bryce and Natasha with their blasters. And there were five Animals. So far.

  Jane jumped as the first blaster sounded. Bryce had it on his shoulder and took out two of the beasts quickly. Natasha took a position beside him. With both of them firing, the three other Animals burst open in an explosion of fur and guts.

  But more Animals had now streamed out of the tall bushes behind them. Another ten at least. A strange sound came from their throats as their fellow creatures were slaughtered. They ran toward the humans, ragged fur covering whatever kind of faces they had, their anger obvious from the noises they made.

  Another dozen emerged from the vegetation. It was a stampede.

  Bryce and Natasha blasted them one after the other, but there were too many; the Security guards were overcome. The Animals wrestled both of them to the ground.

  Then, slowly, with several of the Animals sitting on Bryce and Natasha, two others managed to pry Bryce’s blaster from his arms.

  The unarmed colonists huddled together in fear.

  Fort Gamma

  Roark and Curtis stared into the small recorder screen together.

  “Oh my God,” Curtis said.

  “Wow. I’ve never seen so many Animals at once.”

  “Oh, no. They’ve got him. The big guy with the blaster. What’s his name?”

  “Bryce. Remember? She’s only said his name about six times.”

  “Yeah. I bet you remember. Mr. Musclebound.” Curtis turned his head away. “Oh, God. Now they’re going to eat him.”

  “You are such a wuss. Nobody’s eating anybody.”

  “Yet.” Curtis turned back to look at the screen. “Whoa. What are they doing? They’re taking the blasters! Those things can use weapons?”

  “No, look. They’re tossing them far away. They’re just eliminating a threat.”

  Fort Alpha

  Jane and the rest of the colonists tramped through the bush, surrounded by Animals. They could see the broad walls of another fort ahead of them. It looked old.

  Fort Alpha.

  Dozens of Animals were standing in front of the open door, staring at the approaching humans. Jane looked back at them with great curiosity.

  Bryce was in the lead, and six Animals were in tight formation around him. Since their capture yesterday, Bryce had been talking about a plan to escape, and it was clear that the Animals sensed his intentions.

  Yet as they headed through the tall door into the fort, Bryce made his move. He pushed hard against two of the beasts beside him, then tried to pivot and get at the two immediately behind.

  The Animals had obviously been anticipating this. A rope dropped over Bryce’s head and was pulled tight around his shoulders.

  The Animals pushed him forward, and several dragged him by the rope toward a cage in the center of the fort.

  Fort Gamma

  “Look at what they’ve done to the fort. This can’t be Beta. Is this the first fort, do you think?”

  Roark peered at the recorder, trying to make out the details on the small screen. “Yup. I bet it’s the Alpha settlement. Looks more than… what is it? About fifteen years old?”

  “Right. And they’ve changed things.”

  “Must be because they don’t have hands like humans do. Flippers or fins or something. Pads. No digits—or the digits are fused. Strange.”

  “God, it’s a mess in there. And what are they doing to the colonists?”

  Both heads leaned forward. “They’re feeding them. Through the bars.”

  Fort Alpha

  “Jane. You awake?”

  It was Bryce. He always slept as close to her as he could, but sometimes they tied him up. Today was a good day—no ropes.

  “Yes. You doing okay?”

  “As okay as I can be, stuck here in a cage. How about you? Are they treating you all right?”

  “Oh, yes, peachy. I always said I wanted an adventure, but I’m not sure this was quite what I had in mind.”

  “Listen, Jane. I’m going to try to get us out tonight. It’s the best chance I’ve had in a month. I’m not tied up, and—”

  “Bryce, no. It’s too dangerous. I’m surprised they haven’t killed you yet. They know you’re the leader.”

  “I don’t care if they kill me. I only stay alive so I can protect you and the others. But I can’t stand living this way anymore.”

  “Why tonight?”

  “Because they had that dance—a celebration or something. They’re all woozy. Must have some kind of booze or drugs they take. I think I have a shot.”

  “God bless you, Bryce. Good luck.”

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  “I’d love to, if I thought I could make it. I’ll only slow you down—I can’t move nearly as fast as the rest of you can. Plus I’m all stiffened up from lying in this cage.”

  “I’ll carry you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “No. Seriously, Jane. You’re my best friend here, and the only reason I haven’t just gone for broke already. I didn’t want to leave you
here with these beasts, and I still don’t. Please come.”

  Jane sighed, then stood up slowly, feeling her joints creak.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Fort Gamma

  “They’re trying to escape! Do you think they’ll make it?”

  “Well, we’re about to find out.”

  “This would be a really great movie if it didn’t involve people getting killed and eaten.”

  “Curtis, we haven’t seen a single human being eaten.”

  “Yet. Oh my God, here come the Animals. They do look drunk! And mad. No way they’ll get out.”

  Fort Alpha

  Bryce walked carefully along the perimeter of the fort, Jane on his back, a trail of colonists creeping silently behind them, ears alert for the sounds of Animals.

  “How did you unlock the cage?” Jane whispered into his ear.

  “They don’t have fingers, so the lock they set up is a breeze for a human to pick. I figured it out a week ago, but I was waiting for the right moment.”

  When they got near the door of the fort, Bryce set Jane down and gestured for the other colonists to move forward.

  Bright lights suddenly illuminated everything around them, and a net came down over Bryce.

  “Run, Jane!” he shouted.

  She ran.

  Fort Gamma

  “Why can’t we just skip ahead?” Curtis asked. “There hasn’t been anything but vegetation for days now. She just tramps along through the bush.”

  “I’m fast-forwarding through most of it, aren’t I? I don’t want to completely skip ahead and miss something interesting.”

  “There isn’t anything interesting. Unless you count that time she spotted an Animal and then ran the other way.”

  “Hey, if I didn’t stop and watch it now and then, we wouldn’t know she’s started talking to herself. And she’s slurring her words.”

  “Yeah. Fascinating.”

  “She must be exhausted—and hot. And starving. I feel sorry for her.”

  “Come on. Skip ahead. How long does this thing go, anyway?”

  Roark leaned forward and checked the recorder. After a moment, she put her hand on her forehead. “Curtis, if I ever call you an idiot again, you’ll have to remind me of how stupid I can be.” She pointed to the small screen. “Look at this. In a few more hours, the initial recording ends. But then it starts up again—only two months ago.”

  “What? That can’t be our friend Jane. They established Fort Beta about five years ago. You think she’s been wandering around the bush for five years?”

  Roark frowned. “No, it doesn’t seem likely.”

  Endrosa

  Jane felt her energy ebbing away. She was eating berries and the bit of brown vegetation she could strip from the bushes and keep down. The berries had moisture. Occasionally she came across yellow, acrid water. It couldn’t be safe, but she drank it anyway.

  She kept moving.

  She felt like she had been walking forever. The other colonists had scattered shortly after the escape—some staying in groups, some moving individually through the trees. Jane hadn’t seen another human in months.

  She thought of Bryce and how he must be dead by now. How he would probably rather be dead than a captive.

  Jane realized that her time was short. She had nowhere to go. She had somehow made her way back to Fort Beta—only to find it overrun by Animals. While she had been in captivity, they must have raided the fort and killed the colonists.

  There had been rumors that the Animals ate humans. She had never believed that, but now she wasn’t so sure.

  Why hadn’t the Animals eaten the colonists when she and the others were prisoners?

  She found a spot under a low bush and curled up to rest.

  Soon, she would die.

  Fort Gamma

  Roark and Curtis stood beside the cage and looked at the Animal in there.

  “When do you think it ate Jane?”

  Roark turned and stared at Curtis. She raised her eyebrow and said nothing.

  “Okay. I get it,” he said.”You don’t believe in the Animals-eating-humans theory. So when did the Animal meet Jane, curtsy, and say how are you? And then grab the recorder off her head and put it on itself while backing away slowly and politely?”

  “I think we missed that part.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean the recording we’re watching now—all it shows is a bunch of foraging through the vegetation, eating berries, and making almost no sound.” Roark stared at the recorder as though it had the answer. “And have you noticed the hands when you catch a glimpse of them in the shot? They’re weird-looking. I don’t know what happened in the five years after Jane shut down the first recording, but not surprisingly, it doesn’t look like she survived it. I think we’re watching the Animal now.”

  Endrosa

  Jane stumbled out of the bush into a clearing. Her vision was blurry and her lips were parched. When she looked down at her hands they looked strange to her.

  Ahead was the fort. A fort.

  But there were no Animals to be seen.

  She was confused. Hadn’t she been to this fort before? Weren’t there dozens of Animals? Which fort had she been held at? Which fort had she come from? She couldn’t remember.

  She didn’t care.

  Looking up at the high wall, she saw the figure of a colonist.

  They had taken back their stronghold!

  She called out to him, but her throat was dry and her voice was weak.

  She staggered onward. Home at last.

  Fort Gamma

  “Roark, buddy, this got old a long time ago. There’s nothing but brown vegetation and heavy breathing.” Curtis flopped back in his seat and looked at Roark. “And you’re way too slow with the fast-forwarding.”

  “Then you’ll be happy to know we’re almost done. We’re coming up on the day the Animal came here.”

  “Thank God. Please, can we fast-forward to that? That part might actually be fun.”

  Roark shrugged, then upped the fast-forward speed. A blur of more brown vegetation flew past.

  “See?” Curtis said. “We’re not missing anything.”

  As they watched the recording hurry by on the small screen, Curtis added, “You do know we’re going to have to make a report to the higher-ups about this. It hasn’t exactly gone unnoticed that there’s a big hairy Animal in this cage.”

  “Yeah. I’ll write the report. You’ve been a real friend to help me with this assignment. Thanks.” Roark leaned over and kissed Curtis.

  He looked at her in amazement. “You can do that again whenever you want to.”

  She smiled, and they both turned their eyes back to the recorder screen. Their own fort came into view, and Roark quickly returned the recording to normal playback. The Animal wearing the device bobbed and weaved in a wobbly path toward the fort.

  “Hey. That’s me!” Curtis said as he saw his small silhouette standing at the top of the fort wall.

  “Yes. And that’s when you called me to come up and blast that thing to death.”

  They glanced over at the Animal in the cage beside them, who seemed to be staring back. It was hard to tell, since her eyes were covered by hair.

  On the screen, they followed the scene as the Animal was tranquilized, carried into the fort, and placed in the cage. The video continued up until the moment when the recorder was pulled away from the Animal’s head and Roark shut it off.

  “Well, that’s all there is,” Roark said.

  She pulled Curtis up from his seat and started to do a little shimmy. “Dance with me, Curtis. You know the ‘Love Shuffle,’ don’t you?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “I don’t dance. But if you want to show me the ‘Love Shuffle,’ I’ll be only too happy to watch.”

  Roark shook her hips right and left in time to some imaginary music. As she did so, the Animal stood up in the cage and made awkward attempts to imitate her.

  “He
y look at that, Roark. The Animal is dancing!” Curtis laughed.

  Roark stopped and stared, but the Animal kept right on trying, her feet slowly shuffling to a remembered beat.

  Q&A with Patrice Fitzgerald

  What do you like best about your story, “Animal Planet”?

  I think it's cool to have someone other than the typical young person get the urge to wander in space, because being inquisitive—and even daring—is not a matter of age but of who you are as an individual. This story is all about fear of the other, which is something humans feel deep in their bones.

  Is this similar to most of what you write?

  I think my stories are often about the search for connection. Many of them are also funny. This one has a little bit of humor, but it's more serious than a lot of the short stories I've written recently. One of my favorite parts of writing is the chance to explore a lot of different feelings, from the mundane to the ridiculous, and live them out in an imaginary scenario.

  What's something we don't know about you?

  Hmm. I have a law degree and a graduate degree in voice. I write another set of stories under a secret pen name. I won't tell you what it is, though—that’s how I keep it a secret!

  How can readers find you?

  Come friend me on Facebook (I’m on Facebook way too often), or write to me directly. I love to hear from readers.

  One of the most exciting things about the new indie writing world is the interaction between authors and readers. They get jazzed when they can connect with us, and we are thrilled to hear from those who enjoy our stories. The response from readers is the fuel that keeps us writers chugging along creatively.