Out of Sight by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949174045
Publisher: Division Zero Press
Published: 2018-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

17

A Cave of Wonders

The next morning after breakfast, Sima decided that sleeping out in the open probably wouldn’t work as a long-term solution.

Her Omnicomputer’s assurance that they’d landed near an equatorial region erased her worries about cold becoming a problem. Even in this planet’s version of winter, the climate shouldn’t get so chilly as to be harmful given their lack of clothing. Any garments she might someday make from leaves or plants wouldn’t offer much in the sense of warmth, only modesty. Though winter-at-night could be uncomfortable.

Suggesting they use the lifeboat as a ‘house’ terrified Lissa, but that came as no surprise. Had Sima nearly suffocated inside her stasis pod, she’d probably not want to be anywhere near it again either. Lacking the skills or materials to build a reasonable shelter, she decided to try the second best option to the lifeboat: the cave.

Because the Omnicomputer had tracked her journey since she landed, the map had a marker at the location of the alien cave. Another option would be her lifeboat, but the cooling system had gotten stuck on overdrive. According to the bracelet, the interior temperature had been forty-two degrees, far too cold to sleep in, especially for a fragile child with some unidentified lung problem. Even a mild cold could prove fatal. Which brought up another worry. As soon as she wondered if this planet even had the necessary viruses on it to cause colds, she also wondered what other awful things might be here, diseases no human had ever experienced before.

That thought gnawed on her brain while they marched across the jungle, heading for the cave. She debated asking the bracelet about that, but didn’t want to scare the kids. From what little science class she recalled, she wanted to say that since this planet never had humans, no viruses or germs would’ve evolved to prey upon them. While in all probability, diseases did exist here, whether they had the capability to infect people, she had no idea.

A little before noon, they reached the opening of the cave, which triggered an instant, “Whoa” from both boys. Austin darted in first and ran down the corridor to the dome-shaped chamber. He stopped short at the bottom, mouth agape, staring at the glowing grooves in the walls.

The eerie light emanating from the decorative carvings tinted Lissa’s skin blue and made both boys appear darker. Though a few days of living had dimmed the pure whiteness of everyone’s garments, the fabric remained clean enough that it practically glowed within the chamber.

“Wow…” Austin walked around the wall, running his fingers along the grooves. “The light’s just coming right out of the rock.”

“This is cool!” yelled Juan, his voice echoing.

Lissa shivered. “It’s kinda cold in here.”

“There’s gotta be aliens on this planet,” said Austin.

“Yeah.” Juan nodded.

Sima opened her mouth to say something before the kids scared themselves.

“But it’s us,” said Juan.

“Huh?” asked Sima, her thoughts derailed.

“We’re from Earth. So we’re the aliens here.” Juan waved his arms.

Lissa climbed up onto the metal disc at the center of the room.

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