"Why didn't you tell me there would be so many insects, Hans?!?"
Maria Calvo has been busy battering mosquitos to death for the whole evening. Hans von Goeben rolls his eyes and stirs the soup which brews on the camp fire.
"Duh, my pardon, but I thought insects were already implied when we decided to go to Gaia. I mean, it is a friggin jungle, afterall!"
Another pesky mosquito bites the dust as she splats it on her knee. A big red spot remains.
"Yuck...well, of course I was prepared to face insects, but not palm-big, blood sucking monsters!", Maria accuses Hans; constantly getting louder and more furious.
"And another thing: It is muddy, the animal screams won't let me sleep, and YOU ARE JUST SITTING THERE LIKE WE WOULD BE ON A FAMILY TRIP! Doesn't this bother you at all?!"
Goeben points at her with the wooden spoon. "Excuse me, who was the one getting all excited when I was talking about my pet and Gaia? Who wanted to visit the planet and experience it herself? Besides, we are here for work, and not on holidays, Maria. Keep in mind that your project will only benefit from the samples we are collecting here."
He takes a sip from the soup. Hot enough. He proceeds calmly: "And besides, we have a damn fine place here. This spot had not been my usual campsite during the last visits for nothing. So no need to get hot-tempered for such tiny inconveniences."
Indeed, the clearing is a nice place, almost perfect: It is far away from any human outpost, and close to a turquoise, endless ocean with large,white beaches, while a clear stream flows nearby. Excellent for water supply and fishing. Plus, here, the rim of the jungle, is not populated by the big, dangerous carnivores who live deep inside the jungle, protected by the thick green hell.
Dispite these nice advantages, the daily rain in the evening and the totally different background in general are straining Maria's nerves.
She frowns and stares into the fire. Without looking at Hans, she sulks: "I just hope it will be worth the trouble we are having right now..."
He hands her the soup plate. "I am very sure it will be, Miss Calvo. Tomorrow, we will start categorizing the samples of the local flora, and afterwards begin with the fauna. You will see, it is much more interesting. Besides, the rains will stop any day. According to the Cambridge meteo-sat data."
Hans nods at her and gives a smile. "So don't be sulking like a wet dog, and finally use my mosquito spray. Even if it stinks, no one cares about smell around here. Better than collapsing due to blood loss."
She changes quick looks between the spray can and Hans. It smells like sulphur from hell, but...
With a swift move, she grabs it and puts it on her skin.
A grin, even though followed by a wrinkled nose and an "ugh", appears.
"Thanks...grandpa.", she taunts Hans. "No worries, chit.", he returns the favor.
They silently eat their meals. It has been a busy, hard day, and no one felt like talking more than needed. Food, and the sight of the foreign nature are by far more interesting at this moment.
Same counts for sleep. Without further discussions, it was decided that after dinner, they will crawl into their tents and get new energy for the next day.
Nestled deep inside her sleeping bag, alone with her thoughts, Maria wonders why Hans is already sleeping, judged by his loud snores. Afterall...the 29-year old Rheinlander with the white, long laboratory coat, designer beard, glasses and the appearence of a bean pole does not look like the typical nature boy who spends a lot of time outside. He seems to be more of the dusty scientist-kind who sits in front of a microscope the whole day. And yet, he manages to deal well with this situation.
On the other hand, it is not a miracle that Maria got problems around here. She had lived on Planet Nuremberg during her childhood, a rather industrial, civilized planet. And the rest of her 21 years have been spent in space in the Canaan group, a society of artificially enhanced humans and a turbulent background with The Order. But being in a jungle, outside a station in the Omicrons or a cockpit? A completely new experience she enjoys, and also suffers from at the same time...
Slowly, but constantly, these thoughts distract her from the shower and noises outside...letting her have the well-deserved rest...
The moon smiles brightly down on the surface of Gaia and illuminates the glade with its pale, white light. A gentle breeze blows through the air and between the branches of tropical trees; making their shadows dance magically on the thick wooden walls which surround the clearing.
Quite the opposite of a peaceful scene happens just a stone's throw away from there:
In the cold, pitch-black water of the local bay, Maria is batteling a vile, blue kraken with bare hands.
What started as a spontanous night stroll down to the beach, seems now to be the end of a young woman's life. Maria desperatly tries to free herself from the monster's deathly grip, while the tentacles press the last remaining air out of her lungs; the surrounding waters start to recieve a stint of red from the wounds the suction cups cause on her skin.
The attack only lasts for a wink, which results in Maria quickly loosing consciousness underwater. The environment around her starts rapedly to become darker and blurred every second as she gets abducted deeper and deeper into the open sea. One of the last things she wittnesses are the squid's razor-sharp oral fissure...and darkness.
Deep, black darkness in eerie silence...
...and suddenly, out of nowhere, and yet all around her, a last, gurgled chirp!
Maria snaps out of her well-deserved sleep. Quick, short breathes and hammering heart beats drown every other sound for a few seconds. Her startled look flies through the interior of the tent.
No bay, no monster, no water...besides the puddle of sweat the nightmare left as a reminder.
"And such a crappy thing has to happen when I need sleep the most...", Maria groans.
She hasn't had such a horrific dream since months, even though the Omicrons are filled with more than enough nightmare fuel. Sobbing, she curls herself to a human ball by pulling her legs towards the body and putting her head between them.
She slowly whips back and forth. "All just a dream, girl, all just a dream..."
Really? The same lilted melody jingles again through the clearing and her tent. First shocked by noticing it, she holds her breath and listens in awe...
Another time, louder, and directly above her! She bites her lip.
It doesn't sound crooky anymore, like a dieing scream in a nightmare. It is clear, melodic and...and...somehow fascinating!
Curiosity kicks in. One should know that Maria is widely known and notorious for her unsatisfiable inquisiteveness, which has been mostly benefitial to the Canaans' knowledge, but on the other hand also pretty risky for her own, physical health so far. But this has never hold her back.
One look up, to the top of the tent, reveals the source of the magical sounds: A shadow casted by the moonlight. The silhouette reveals a tiny beak and long feathers both at that thing's wings and tail.
"This has to be a majestic birdie...", Maria mumbles and finds her already slowly crawling out of the tent to get a peek at that creature. The dread from seconds ago is not existent anymore.
Two brightly shining eyes are focused on a creature which, as time will show, has never been seen by a human. With its look, it completly enthralled Maria:
Now, being in such a situation like Maria is right now, a lot of people would take a photography of the animal. Some would try to catch and analyse it, like Hans. And other might want to kill and stuff it for their mantelpiece.
Maria...wants to pet it.
Which is, understandably, not in accord with a wild bird. At least one would think that. And again, one will get taught that exception is the rule.
Appearently, the bizarre creature doesn't show the normal flight instinct which a lot of other beings show on Gaia. Instead, it jumps closer to her outstretched hand, inch by inch.
With initial hesitation, the bird starts touching it gently with its beak; it looks something like a dog smelling at a foreigner's leg.
At the same time, Maria tries to pet its smooth, scaled neck. To her own surprise, she can hear a purring sound in return. A wyvern-like creature with the coat of a bird and a cat-like vibration?
A perfect pet for the cramped Canaan vessels! A wish a lot of the Canaan associates have mentioned so far, and making this wish come true is only a grab away from Maria...
The magic moment gets torn into shreds when her new friend emitts a loud caw. Something seems to have startled it, and suprised by the sudden cry, Maria jumps up as well.
With great noise, the frightened creature flies off.
"No, nein! Come back! Get back! You feathered freak!", she makes a leap forward to catch its long tail. Unfortunatly, the tricky roots sticking out of the ground stop her from a second sucessfull attempt: Loudly cursing, she lands on her behind. But a hurt ankle was the minor problem right now...
Seconds after the caw, Hans stuck his head out of the tent to check what riot was interrupting his rest. The only thing he can see is Maria staring up to the sky in terror. His question of why the hell she makes such a terror in the middle of the night drowns in a quickly rising and highly worrying cacophony. The clearing becomes darker and darker every second as an quickly increasing number of wyverns fly circularry above it and block the moonlight.
Out of their midst, an especially big bird dives down right into Maria's direction; like an arrow falling down from the skies; with stretched out claws and a brutal cry out of its sharp, opened beak!
Moments before the impact, Maria noticed its eyes, pitch-black as the water of bay, which stare with fury right into her soul...