'Fear is Shaped Like a Coil'
Posted: 2005-11-26 08:42pm
This is from my brainchild, the Oasis of Taurus project: http://www.gefkthow.com/news.html
It's more character-centric and resident of a completely original science fiction world - but here we go, the story I wanted to offer up to you all:
'Fear is Shaped Like a Coil'
“Guys, there’s a dune over there, can we rest for ten seconds?” he asked. Tao thought if the trio kept going for another minute he’d get heat stroke. His relatively short, thin frame was definitely no match for the Nadia Desert’s heat and his longish blond hair was already getting matted with sweat. Marcus always seemed to be looking out for him. “Hey Charlie,” the dark-skinned private said “let’s give the short guy a break!” Giving Marcus a narrow-eyed sideways glare, Tao secretly thanked him. The three veered off their course to head for the shade of a sandy mound.
“Man,” Charlie groaned as he plopped down cross-legged onto the cooler sand, “how’d you make it through basic training, Tao?” Marcus rolled his eyes at Charlie after taking a spot to his right. “Well, my dad once told me ‘there’s nothing to fear, not even loss,” Tao said absently, sitting down on the cool sand. Charlie looked perplexed. “That’s… that’s it? Your old man told you not to be scared of anything and that got you through basic?”
“Yeah,” said Tao. After even Marcus looked at him curiously he added, “What, you expected a long anecdote or something?” They both shook their heads, averting their eyes. Tao simply sighed as he leaned his back against the shady face of the sand mound, his legs stretched out in front of him. At this point he really didn’t care if he got sand in his hair.
“Let’s just take a break,” Marcus noted to both of his scout buddies, “the well’s coming up soon.” Just one and a half kilometers further, there was a well that tapped into the desert’s water table deep below – which was dug solely for the purpose of desert rangers and military scouts like the three presently taking a rest. Charlie sat there digging his fingers into the refreshing silicone grains and Marcus scratched his short dark, curly hair. Evicting his rifle from his lap, Tao opted to just dump it on the darkened desert floor. “Hey, make sure you don’t get any sand in the barrel there, bud.” The thin 25-year-old grunted his acknowledgement, propping the slamoline-firing weapon up against the dune. He took a swig from his water canister and heaved his small chest deeply.
Charlie tapped Marcus on his shoulder, “You brought the 15 meter rope for when we stop at the well, right?” “Yep, I packed the long one just in case…” Marcus trailed off, fumbling through his shoulder bag and then swore. “Damn it! I had it right out there too… Ah, sorry guys, I forgot to bring it with us,” he apologized. Tao nearly choked on his second big gulp. “What, no water?!” Marcus shook his head, “At least not until the rest of the squad catches up with us.” The short one drooped his head. What was better than having to scout across a long stretch of the Nadia Desert before Coalition forces arrived on the planet? Running out of water and not being able to get any more for the next hour, of course.
This didn’t help the way Tao looked at his job. With the possible exception of Marcus, he was the only one in the whole Nadia Republic’s temporary forces who was paying any attention to the big picture. He fumbled with his rifle’s slamoline cartridge; it was actually working for once. Rhuun’s army was huge and the Coalition had over ten thousand armed troops. Nadia had a glorified rat pack of two thousand shoddy volunteers. They’d be the little kid standing by as the two big men fought it out. It was depressing, really.
Just visible above another subtle rise in the still, hot sand, Tao’s eyes came across what looked like a long and coiled… something. It was twenty meters or so away and looked black and white. His eyes narrowed in curiosity – he wasn’t afraid yet. “Hey Marcus,” he tapped the fellow scout’s arm and got his attention, “what do you think that is?” He pointed out the coil that looked like it was shifting about in the shimmering heat.
It took no time at all for Marcus’s arm to fly out, holding Tao back. That served only to annoy him, but Marcus explained. “The sergeant told me about this,” he spoke slowly, eyes fixed on the black and white coil, “it’s called the grey-coiler… that snake’s venom can kill you in five minutes.” Charlie gaped. Almost in a whisper he asked, “What do we do?”
“We should wait – definitely wait until the rest of the squad catches up.” Marcus cupped the back of his neck and squinted over in the direction of the coil as Charlie swore under his breath. Tao leaned forward a bit, “Hey, don’t worry, I’m sure if we just stay still….” he glanced up a Marcus, “right?” He gave a forced nod, still staring at the coil. The skinny scout to his right sat back down, sighing. One more thing to wait out: a venomous snake, he thought and leaned back against the sandy mound again.
Twice Tao almost drifted off to sleep, but his gaze kept returning to the snake. Marcus was digging through his bag and they could both hear Charlie flipping the cartridge door of his rifle back and forth. It was awfully motionless for a snake.
After a while he just had to mention the fact. “Marcus…” Tao mumbled, “it’s not really moving.” The point man snapped his bag shut again and looked up at the coil. “We still shouldn’t take any chances – those things wait, you know,” he said after a while, raising his eyebrows and making eye contact with Tao. He wiped a few soaked strands of blond hair out of his face and dropped his narrowed eyes to the feet that were resting out in front of him. That must have troubled Charlie; “Don’t do anything stupid, little man,” he said.
Something about it just stirred Tao. The snake was just sitting out in the hot sand… it was said that Nadia Desert reptiles were highly adapted to hot conditions, but the critter moved so little it might as well have been dead. He bent his knees and snatched up his rifle, standing up. “Tao,” Marcus warned, “what are you doing? – hey!” As Tao loaded a fresh cartridge into the weapon Marcus nearly stood up, but he couldn’t; he was detained by his anxiety, feverishly glancing at the snake. And so he and Charlie looked on while the bright sunlight crept down Tao’s back. The thin scout started trudging forward in the direction of the coil, his rifle hanging at his side.
As Tao kept walking, kept drawing closer to the coil he could feel his heart beat faster. Pulling his gun up to his modest chest, he slowed down and eventually halted five meters from where the reptile was mostly hidden behind a smaller mound of sand. He leveled his rifle with shaking hands and aimed toward the only visible sliver of black and white. Breathing in shallow gasps, he inched closer, closer. It could lunge out and sink its fangs into him at any moment – and he, knowing that, drew closer. Damn, I must be crazy, he thought as fresh sweat that had little to do with the desert heat dripped down his left cheek.
Only three or four meters were separating him and the snake now. He hadn’t seen it move. He had never even seen a live grey-coiler before in his life, but still his leg muscles went stiff while he inched closer. Tao’s finger was tensing up over the trigger; he would literally fire on a heartbeat’s notice, keeping his aim directly on the coil.
Then, for some reason almost as unfathomable as why people help one another, he remembered the words his father spoke to him before he left to serve the Nadia Republic: “You know, there’s really nothing to fear, not even loss.” Tao felt his finger relaxing, albeit slightly. He stepped this time instead of inching, moving forward fluidly – but still kept the rifle at full attention.
Finally Tao saw a quarter of the black and white coil, then half, and eventually all of it. Standing directly over the erratically wound coil, he dropped his rifle, letting it softly thud onto the burning sand. Charlie was watching in terror from the safety of the shade. Tao reached down, grabbing a section of the coil and lifted it up. Letting out a snort of laughter, he tugged at it with both hands; it was tough all right. Back in the shade, Charlie had never seen Marcus’s eyes so dilated. “Hey guys,” Tao called back as he still ran his eyes over the black and white length and sized it up, “we’ve got twenty meters of carbon fiber here!”
Slinging the coil over his shoulder, he snatched up his rifle. Suddenly it felt much cooler. “Let’s head over to the well!”
It's more character-centric and resident of a completely original science fiction world - but here we go, the story I wanted to offer up to you all:
'Fear is Shaped Like a Coil'
“Guys, there’s a dune over there, can we rest for ten seconds?” he asked. Tao thought if the trio kept going for another minute he’d get heat stroke. His relatively short, thin frame was definitely no match for the Nadia Desert’s heat and his longish blond hair was already getting matted with sweat. Marcus always seemed to be looking out for him. “Hey Charlie,” the dark-skinned private said “let’s give the short guy a break!” Giving Marcus a narrow-eyed sideways glare, Tao secretly thanked him. The three veered off their course to head for the shade of a sandy mound.
“Man,” Charlie groaned as he plopped down cross-legged onto the cooler sand, “how’d you make it through basic training, Tao?” Marcus rolled his eyes at Charlie after taking a spot to his right. “Well, my dad once told me ‘there’s nothing to fear, not even loss,” Tao said absently, sitting down on the cool sand. Charlie looked perplexed. “That’s… that’s it? Your old man told you not to be scared of anything and that got you through basic?”
“Yeah,” said Tao. After even Marcus looked at him curiously he added, “What, you expected a long anecdote or something?” They both shook their heads, averting their eyes. Tao simply sighed as he leaned his back against the shady face of the sand mound, his legs stretched out in front of him. At this point he really didn’t care if he got sand in his hair.
“Let’s just take a break,” Marcus noted to both of his scout buddies, “the well’s coming up soon.” Just one and a half kilometers further, there was a well that tapped into the desert’s water table deep below – which was dug solely for the purpose of desert rangers and military scouts like the three presently taking a rest. Charlie sat there digging his fingers into the refreshing silicone grains and Marcus scratched his short dark, curly hair. Evicting his rifle from his lap, Tao opted to just dump it on the darkened desert floor. “Hey, make sure you don’t get any sand in the barrel there, bud.” The thin 25-year-old grunted his acknowledgement, propping the slamoline-firing weapon up against the dune. He took a swig from his water canister and heaved his small chest deeply.
Charlie tapped Marcus on his shoulder, “You brought the 15 meter rope for when we stop at the well, right?” “Yep, I packed the long one just in case…” Marcus trailed off, fumbling through his shoulder bag and then swore. “Damn it! I had it right out there too… Ah, sorry guys, I forgot to bring it with us,” he apologized. Tao nearly choked on his second big gulp. “What, no water?!” Marcus shook his head, “At least not until the rest of the squad catches up with us.” The short one drooped his head. What was better than having to scout across a long stretch of the Nadia Desert before Coalition forces arrived on the planet? Running out of water and not being able to get any more for the next hour, of course.
This didn’t help the way Tao looked at his job. With the possible exception of Marcus, he was the only one in the whole Nadia Republic’s temporary forces who was paying any attention to the big picture. He fumbled with his rifle’s slamoline cartridge; it was actually working for once. Rhuun’s army was huge and the Coalition had over ten thousand armed troops. Nadia had a glorified rat pack of two thousand shoddy volunteers. They’d be the little kid standing by as the two big men fought it out. It was depressing, really.
Just visible above another subtle rise in the still, hot sand, Tao’s eyes came across what looked like a long and coiled… something. It was twenty meters or so away and looked black and white. His eyes narrowed in curiosity – he wasn’t afraid yet. “Hey Marcus,” he tapped the fellow scout’s arm and got his attention, “what do you think that is?” He pointed out the coil that looked like it was shifting about in the shimmering heat.
It took no time at all for Marcus’s arm to fly out, holding Tao back. That served only to annoy him, but Marcus explained. “The sergeant told me about this,” he spoke slowly, eyes fixed on the black and white coil, “it’s called the grey-coiler… that snake’s venom can kill you in five minutes.” Charlie gaped. Almost in a whisper he asked, “What do we do?”
“We should wait – definitely wait until the rest of the squad catches up.” Marcus cupped the back of his neck and squinted over in the direction of the coil as Charlie swore under his breath. Tao leaned forward a bit, “Hey, don’t worry, I’m sure if we just stay still….” he glanced up a Marcus, “right?” He gave a forced nod, still staring at the coil. The skinny scout to his right sat back down, sighing. One more thing to wait out: a venomous snake, he thought and leaned back against the sandy mound again.
Twice Tao almost drifted off to sleep, but his gaze kept returning to the snake. Marcus was digging through his bag and they could both hear Charlie flipping the cartridge door of his rifle back and forth. It was awfully motionless for a snake.
After a while he just had to mention the fact. “Marcus…” Tao mumbled, “it’s not really moving.” The point man snapped his bag shut again and looked up at the coil. “We still shouldn’t take any chances – those things wait, you know,” he said after a while, raising his eyebrows and making eye contact with Tao. He wiped a few soaked strands of blond hair out of his face and dropped his narrowed eyes to the feet that were resting out in front of him. That must have troubled Charlie; “Don’t do anything stupid, little man,” he said.
Something about it just stirred Tao. The snake was just sitting out in the hot sand… it was said that Nadia Desert reptiles were highly adapted to hot conditions, but the critter moved so little it might as well have been dead. He bent his knees and snatched up his rifle, standing up. “Tao,” Marcus warned, “what are you doing? – hey!” As Tao loaded a fresh cartridge into the weapon Marcus nearly stood up, but he couldn’t; he was detained by his anxiety, feverishly glancing at the snake. And so he and Charlie looked on while the bright sunlight crept down Tao’s back. The thin scout started trudging forward in the direction of the coil, his rifle hanging at his side.
As Tao kept walking, kept drawing closer to the coil he could feel his heart beat faster. Pulling his gun up to his modest chest, he slowed down and eventually halted five meters from where the reptile was mostly hidden behind a smaller mound of sand. He leveled his rifle with shaking hands and aimed toward the only visible sliver of black and white. Breathing in shallow gasps, he inched closer, closer. It could lunge out and sink its fangs into him at any moment – and he, knowing that, drew closer. Damn, I must be crazy, he thought as fresh sweat that had little to do with the desert heat dripped down his left cheek.
Only three or four meters were separating him and the snake now. He hadn’t seen it move. He had never even seen a live grey-coiler before in his life, but still his leg muscles went stiff while he inched closer. Tao’s finger was tensing up over the trigger; he would literally fire on a heartbeat’s notice, keeping his aim directly on the coil.
Then, for some reason almost as unfathomable as why people help one another, he remembered the words his father spoke to him before he left to serve the Nadia Republic: “You know, there’s really nothing to fear, not even loss.” Tao felt his finger relaxing, albeit slightly. He stepped this time instead of inching, moving forward fluidly – but still kept the rifle at full attention.
Finally Tao saw a quarter of the black and white coil, then half, and eventually all of it. Standing directly over the erratically wound coil, he dropped his rifle, letting it softly thud onto the burning sand. Charlie was watching in terror from the safety of the shade. Tao reached down, grabbing a section of the coil and lifted it up. Letting out a snort of laughter, he tugged at it with both hands; it was tough all right. Back in the shade, Charlie had never seen Marcus’s eyes so dilated. “Hey guys,” Tao called back as he still ran his eyes over the black and white length and sized it up, “we’ve got twenty meters of carbon fiber here!”
Slinging the coil over his shoulder, he snatched up his rifle. Suddenly it felt much cooler. “Let’s head over to the well!”