Star Trek: Balance of Nature by Heather Jarman

Author:Heather Jarman [Heather Jarman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Hard Science Fiction, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780743475938
Google: Upo91QJ-Mv4C
Amazon: B000FBJFZK
Barnesnoble: B000FBJFZK
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2003-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

She walked until the tree trunk and her teammates had long since passed from sight. In her aloneness, she jumped at the echoing chirps and animal skrees, wondering if a sharp-toothed sloth, prepared to pounce, waited in the next hollow. Rope or no rope, the prospect of dangling in midair, several kilometers off the ground with only a finger-thin rope to hang on to terrified her. Gradually, she acclimated; the hollow thumps of nuts falling from higher branches stopped startling her. She stopped worrying if a misstep would send her careening off the branch so she moved more swiftly, with confidence. Parting tangles of plants, stepping over furry mosses, and skirting the edges of laito monkey nests, she hunched over her tricorder, diligently taking readings. Life seethed on every side. Instead of fearing it, she found her environs comfortable, cozy.

When she reached a fork in the branch, she decided to take a break. A water seep trickling daintily from the upper reaches had smoothed a hollow in the bark where she could sit. For a late-cycle meal, she ate her fill of orange jahang berries and sipped beads of water off a leaf. Let’s see whether all this walking is getting us anywhere, she thought, transferring data from her harness companel to her tricorder.

As the sensor input was received, the data was broken down and cross-referenced with every available Federation database, a time-consuming process. Consequently, Pattie didn’t expect conclusive results would emerge until later. The rudiments of the problem, however, had begun to take shape. Sensors identified the unusual substance, not surprisingly, as an organic toxin with no known link to any disease, pest, or invasive organism native to the homeworld. She read the computer’s prognosis with concern:

LONG-TERM EXPOSURE TO TOXIN CAN RESULT IN IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE AND/OR DEATH TO ANY ORGANISM.

A rustle.

Startled, she turned to the side. Must be the wind.

She turned back to her tricorder. NO KNOWN ANTIDOTE EXISTS.

The shadows deepened. She looked up at the sky where clouds had blanketed the sun. But the forest—the forest felt…darker.

Another rustle…scraping twigs…soft squish…fruit falling

Leaves trembled as if a wave had passed through the tunnel of gnarled twigs behind her. Something’s here, she thought. Maybe someone caught up with me. Or a team member transported down.

Cautiously, Pattie eased into a standing position, cocking her ear toward the deep forest. At first low and intermittent, a hum rose, gradually increasing in pitch until the sound’s acuity made her wince in pain. She tried raising two limbs to cover her ears, to block the horrifically sharp noise, but her limbs stayed fixed—paralyzed at her sides. Unwillingly, she listened and while no words came from the sound, images formed in her mind. Warm dizziness suffused her. Her eye membranes dropped, bounced up, and dropped again. Around and above her, long reeds rippled and waved; the light dimmed as the green ceiling lowered, coming closer….

Abruptly, the hum stopped.

The warm feeling abated. Pattie stirred from the trance she’d been in; panic engulfed her. She spun around, checking the forest on all sides of her; she saw nothing unusual.

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