Chapter 20: Knee-deep in mud
It was getting dark. The crickets behind the rover sang louder and louder, and the noise graph on one of the monitors obediently increased the amplitude of oscillations every minute.
Peter died about half an hour ago, and all this time in the cabin of the rover [] full silence reigned. At first, it was broken by the rare alarm signals of the radar, which, however, became more frequent, and soon Joe had to turn off the sound. Blood lured predators, and they simply did not disappear from the radius of detection.
Scott looked straight ahead, but did not notice anything around him — in his mind, Peter's moment of death was reproduced again and again. No, death was not at all terrible, because it was instantaneous - its look was terrible at that moment. A look that expresses madness and triumph at the same time.
“I couldn't shoot,” Joe finally broke the silence.
- What? - Scott flinched slightly and looked at him with an absent look.
Joe leaned back in his chair, raised his hands to his face and began massaging his eyes with his fingers.
“I just didn't shoot,” he repeated softly. - I could kill a wolf, but did not.
Scott continued to stare at him, but he did not answer. Joe opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling for a few seconds without blinking, and then swung sharply to force his fist to strike the armrest.
- Fuck, I just did not shoot!
However, at the last moment he nevertheless took control of his emotions and smoothly lowered his hand. Scott did not know what to say - he had never seen a comrade in such a state and was afraid that he might break on it.
“D-jo,” he squeezed out. “Peter, he ... he ...”
- He what?
- C-co-crazy.
Joe looked up to him.
- And I?
- What are you? - Scott began to feel anxious because he did not understand him.
However, Joe was quite calm.
“And I,” he repeated, “went crazy, do you think?”
- You? - Scott was surprised. - P-why?
“Well, because I could save Peter, but I didn't do it.”
“I wouldn’t, either,” Scott said confidently.
Joe raised an eyebrow in surprise.
- Why? - Now it's his turn to ask.
“Because he was dangerous.” O-he wanted me uh ...
- kill?
Scott nodded, and yet his gaze expressed no doubt. Looking at the confidence of his comrade, who usually didn’t stand out, Joe calmed down a bit and leaned back in his chair. His eyes followed the points, which quickly moved on the radar, periodically disappeared and then reappeared on it. Silence fell again.
“Yes, Peter was really dangerous,” thought Joe, still trying to prove to himself that he had done the right thing. “Who knows what he would have thrown out if I had not allowed him to die?” Then he would have ditched us first, and then himself. ”
Joe nodded, agreeing with his own thoughts. He turned to Scott and wanted to voice it in order to once again hear the words of approval and once again “reassure himself,” but then his gaze came upon the clock - they showed 22:12. The sun had almost disappeared beyond the horizon line, and every minute it was getting darker outside. There was no time left for emotion, so Joe decided to go straight to the point.
“We need to throw,” he said shortly.
Scott looked at him and nodded affirmatively.
“Well, let's go with the overthrow,” he replied just as briefly, and then quickly turned on the night navigation system.
Joe watched his actions with interest. Scott took a quick look at the monitors to make sure that all the nightie cameras were working properly and displaying high-quality images, and then calmly reached for the engine start button. However, at the last moment something stopped him, and he raised surprised eyes.
- D-jo ... and how are we going to fall down?
He had completely forgotten that the rover was stuck in the mud on the very thresholds, and it was more expensive to try to drive away - one could only dig deeper.
“I have one plan,” Joe thoughtfully scratched his chin. “But I will need your help.”
Scott felt a chill coming down his back. If Joe needs his help in some business right now - this is not good.
“Is this what I think it is?” He asked, casting a glance at the radar.
“If you don’t think about naked women, then yes,” Joe also looked at the radar, which for some time had not given alarm signals, but at that very moment another white dot appeared on the display, which, however, immediately disappeared. Joe glanced at the corresponding monitor, but he didn’t manage to notice the predator.
Scott pressed himself more tightly into the back of his chair, showing with his whole appearance that he did not like the idea.
- So what? Can I count on you? - Joe has already risen from his seat and seized a machine gun from a gun stand.
“Joe, but there are wolves there ...”
- I know. But if we wait more, then these more can come ... how are they there?
- Titans?
- No, damn it, hares! - Joe has already started to lose his temper. - Well, of course, the titans. And you know what, Scott? It seems to me that if one such reptile appears here, then it will not work out in the rover. Do you understand?
Before the eyes of Scott, a picture of the destroyed Alpha reappeared. For some reason, everything was foggy, although the attack took place less than a day ago. The only thing that was firmly entrenched in his memory was the moment when Joe, who was drinking heavily, left the laboratory to discover the source of the noise, and came face to face with a formidable predator.
Everything went to the fact that Joe would die, but no - now he was standing nearby, whole and unharmed, and at the same time he calmly scratched his balls. Probably, and now he will cope with the situation. Scott looked out the window, could not see anything because of the darkness and took a deep breath.
- What is required of me? - He said, getting up from his seat.
“I knew I could count on you,” Joe smiled. “You only need to cover me while I pull us out of the mud.”
- Cover up? - He stretched Scott, while presenting how he would shoot a dozen wolves per second, defending his comrade.
“Yeah,” said Joe. - To make sure that nobody eats me. Got it?
- Got it!
Without losing time, Scott turned and turned on the sound of the radar, prudently lowering the volume of the signal so that it did not spread to the whole district, but it could be heard from the rover’s footboard.
- Spotlights? - Asked Scott, turning back to Joe. - Around the perimeter?
He nodded, and in the next instant the light of powerful lamps broke the darkness in front of the rover. Less powerful, but also quite bright lamps lit up around the perimeter, illuminating the immediate surroundings and allowing you to notice the approaching danger.
- Ready? - Asked Joe, going to the door and putting his hand on the opening lever.
Scott shrugged. He held the gun tight and tried to look confident, but Joe understood everything by the color of his face.
“Give me this,” he said, holding out his hand.
- What? - Scott looked at him blankly.
Joe silently took the gun from his hands and checked the fuse. However, contrary to his expectations, the trigger was not blocked, so Joe gently handed the weapon back to his friend.
“Better put the shoulder strap over your shoulder,” he gave advice. - And then drop it. I went.
With these words, he glanced at the radar, and, making sure that there were no predators in the detection zone, he opened the door and went out. Scott stayed on the steps, trying to look at once in all directions and simultaneously listening to the signals of the radar and the surrounding sounds.
Joe quickly ran around the rover and took a small shovel from the slot in its rear end. Of course, with its help, it will not be possible to dig out, however, this was not required - Joe just wanted to dig a little under the wheels, so that you could throw branches there for better grip.
The mud was rather sticky, and after a few minutes Joe had to take a short pause to restore his breath. He looked at the result of his efforts and was dissatisfied - almost all the space that he managed to free up was filled with new mud that was flowing from all sides. However, progress progressed slowly, and Joe continued to dig.
After a few more minutes, the rear right wheel was dug out more than half - this could be quite enough, but it was necessary to do the same with the other three wheels.
Joe straightened up, looked around and listened, but he could not hear anything but the singing of crickets. They could not stop their voices and sang so loudly that Joe thought for a moment that behind this noise he could not have heard Scott’s warning cries.
Suddenly a strange rustling from the side of the road was added to the singing of crickets, as if someone had stepped on a dry branch. In an instant, Joe found himself on the footboard of the rover, pushing Scott inside.
- I heard? - He asked, throwing up the machine gun and directing the trunk in the direction from which the sound came.
“N-no,” Scott replied, and looked at the radar, which still claimed that there was no one around.
Joe stared at the thick undergrowings for a few seconds, then lowered the machine gun, scratched his chin nervously, and thought that he had paranoia.
“It seemed to me that I heard ...” he began, but did not finish, because it was at this instant that the radar began to emit disturbing signals, warning of the appearance of a large predator in the detection zone.
Joe did not let the rumor down, and he sighed with relief, but in the next instant he cursed everything, because he did not want any new adventures. I wanted to quickly dig out and dump away.
“It's from the side of the road, ninety meters from us,” Scott had already carefully studied the radar performance. - Slowly approaching us ... Eighty five meters.
- What time is it now? - Threw Joe over his shoulder, not looking away from the bushes.
- At twenty to eleven. The wolf is already sixty meters away from us.
Joe tightened his grip on the machine gun and tried to listen.
“Scott,” he whispered after a few seconds. - Muffle the radar, interfere.
Scott obediently complied with the request and continued to study the data from the monitors. It was easier to listen without distracting sounds, however, Joe still could not hear anything but the singing of crickets and his own heartbeat.
“Forty meters,” Scott warned.
Suddenly, Joe again heard the crack of a dry branch, and then some rustling in the undergrowth. He threw up an automatic rifle and aimed approximately at the place where the sound came from, but he did not dare to shoot for good luck. If he misses, which is most likely, then this may scare away or, conversely, annoy the predator - any of these options is fraught with unnecessary noise and attention. Most of all, Joe regretted that the weapons they possessed did not have a target designation system. If only there would be an infrared sight - he would have already shot half the inhabitants of this damned forest and would have quietly dug out the rover.
“T-thirty meters,” Scott's voice sounded more and more agitated.
The rustling became clearer, and Joe once again made a quick movement with his finger to make sure that the fuse is off and the trigger is not blocked.
- Twenty five.
Joe noticed that the bushes began to move slightly, but with every second the amplitude of the movements grew stronger. The predator could appear at any moment, and Joe cursed under his breath in a whisper, feeling a drop of sweat coming down his cheek. The pulse seemed to jump to one hundred and forty beats per minute, and breathing became uneven and sharp.
Finally, a horned head appeared from the bushes. Joe, without lowering the scope, cursed again, but did not shoot. After a few moments, he still lowered the scope and turned to Scott:
- This is an elk. Hefty such a losar, more wolf.
He felt some relief, but the next moment the thought crept into his head that, in general, the elk also represented a significant danger. Massive and sharp horns were dangerous even for wolves, to say nothing of raising a person there.
“Joe, there's another t-point,” Scott said quickly, pointing his finger at the monitor. - And this is certainly a wolf!
This point was moving at an amazing speed, and in just a couple of seconds it covered the distance from the edge of the radar's circumference almost to its center. There was no doubt - it was a wolf, and he moved straight towards them.
- A door! - In a panic, Scott shouted, but Joe's hand was already on the lever.
Before the door closed, Joe managed to notice that the elk, sensing danger, lifted his head and began to look around, and then darted off and rushed into the thicket of the forest, covering the distance sufficient to escape from the radar in two jumps.
And the next moment, in the cabin of the rover, there was a thud, and he swung slightly. Scott's eyes widened either from surprise or from horror, and he could not take his eyes off the monitor, where a huge wolf appeared for a split second and immediately disappeared into the bushes.
- What the hell was that? - Joe came closer and also stared at the monitors, but there was nothing remarkable about them anymore. Radar also claimed that there were no large animals nearby, as if nothing had happened.
Scott finally came to his senses and began frantically studying data from other monitors.
“Did he run over the roof?” - Joe also looked from one monitor to another, and soon his eyes came across a red diagnostic message with the words "A problem was detected."
And after a few more seconds, he realized that the darkness ahead of the rover was no longer cut by the light of powerful searchlights.
“Yes, he ran over the roof,” Scott also noticed the diagnostic system message. - And, it seems, s-demolished the searchlight.
Joe looked out the window. Now only a few meters from the perimeter of the rover remained lit. Even if they manage to dig out and go onto the road, such poor lighting will obviously not be enough to move at least a little.
“Shit,” Joe concluded, looking up again at the radar. - Do we have spare lamps?
“The lamps are there,” Scott brought the diagnostics to a separate monitor in order to get more data. - T-only they will not be useful to us - the wolf destroyed the installation itself.
- It turns out quickly to fix?
- I think no.
“Shit,” Joe made the conclusion again. - Just shitty in the square.
And then his eyes came across a noise graph. The singing of the crickets still dominated among other sounds, however, to them now added some kind of low, hollow sound that was barely distinguishable.
Scott followed the direction of his comrade's gaze and also drew attention to a new line on the chart.
- It seems, in-all crap in a cube? He asked uncertainly.
Joe nodded. For some reason, both of them did not have any doubts that this deaf and low sound was made by the titans, who did not die out at all, as scientists had claimed, several million years ago. The fucking titans exist, and at least one of them is now close enough for the sound sensors to catch it, and this, in turn, meant that we should hurry.
Joe again glanced at the radar - there were no large animals nearby.
“Okay, there’s no time to lose,” he said, heading for the door again. - There are still three wheels. Remember what to do?
“So-exactly,” Scott replied, adding the sound of the radar and throwing the machine belt over his shoulder. - I'll cover, Joe.
Chapter 21: Strong Tension
Scott rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead and brushed away sweat. His breathing was uneven and quickened, and his heart was pounding wildly with excitement. The glance jumped from the radar to the noise graph and back with such a frequency that sometimes Scott even thought that one of his eyes was looking at the radar and the other at the chart.
Despite the fact that on the radar for several minutes no new points appeared, Scott’s alarm was ready to turn into panic, because the crickets were no longer dominating the noise graph - it divided its position with a low and rolling roar that started somewhere half an hour ago and with every minute it became more and more distinct. Titan was somewhere very close.
Joe was outside, shoveling the last wheel, and he could hear that roar perfectly. At first, he tried to listen to other sounds, which, unfortunately, he constantly seemed to be, but then he simply spat, put the machine near and decided to focus on the wheels. Wolves and other animals no longer disturbed him - the mind was occupied only by a formidable roar that echoed in all corners of the head. In the end, even if something appears on the radar, Scott will warn him.
Throwing back another shovel of earth, Joe rose to his feet for a second to stretch his stiff loins, and at that moment it seemed to him that he hears the voice of a comrade. Immediately throwing away the shovel, he grabbed the machine gun and listened.
“Joe,” Scott shouted from the opposite side of the rover. - Tu-ut is something to eat!
Joe swore hard and backed away to get around the rover from behind, looking around cautiously.
- And-disappeared! Scott screamed again, stepping out onto the bandwagon. - Do you hear me?
- I hear. What was there?
- Yes, hell knows. Maybe a wolf, but immediately disappeared. I was really scared h-what is titanium.
“Soon the titan will appear,” Joe growled, pushing past the comrade to the rover's salon. - Well, let's see what we did.
He put the gun on the fuse and fixed it on the gun stand, then sat in the pilot's seat and started the engine. Diagnostic messages were displayed on the monitor:
"Starting the engine ... OK"
"Navigation system ... OK"
"Night navigation system ... OK"
"The lighting system ... Found a problem"
Seeing the red warning, Joe's heart skipped a beat, but he immediately remembered the reason for these problems and their relative noncriticality. You can go with partial lighting, the main thing is to get out of the mud.
Joe took a quick look at Scott. He excitedly bit his lip and, noticing the look of his friend, nodded in the affirmative.
“Well, come on ... Come on, darling,” Joe whispered and began to gently squeeze the gas pedal.
The wheels spun, but the rover did not budge. Joe struck hard on the arm of the chair, then jumped up, shouted something inarticulate and probably obscene, and ran his hands through his hair. Scott closed his eyes, raised his palms to his face and tried to calm himself mentally.
“What to do, what to do now ...” Joe nervously chattering under his breath, trying to figure out the remaining options.
Scott opened his eyes, patted his cheeks and wanted to join the brainstorming, but then his eyes came across the radar.
- D-jo? - he heard his voice.
He did not understand whether Joe said anything or not, because at that moment the noise graph dramatically increased the amplitude almost to the maximum, and the rover’s interior was filled with a heart-rending roar. It was not clear where he came from — whether from the rover’s audio system duplicating all external sounds, or from the open door — although, in general, it was completely unimportant.
Saying nothing, Joe abruptly jumped out and ran for a shovel. Once at the front left wheel, he began to fling dirt openly, but he quickly realized that it was pointless - new dirt was flowing from all sides and filling all the space.
Joe in the hearts kicked on the wheel with a weighty shoe began to look around in search of at least something that could help. Who knows, maybe there is another rover in these swamps, where you could leave. Or somewhere out of the mud sticks open door of the bunker, in which one could spend the night. For some reason, these thoughts seemed too funny, and Joe nervously laughed. True, this laughter quickly turned into a kind of moan, and Joe swore again tightly.
“Now it doesn't help,” Scott’s voice distracted him from his thoughts. He stood nearby and held in his hands an armful of dry branches. - Let's try to improve the c-grip. Anyway, nothing else remains.
“Yes,” Joe nodded, and for some reason he felt sharply ashamed of his tantrum. - It’s too early to give up.
He walked around the rover, shoved the shovel back into the groove in its back and wanted to go into the bushes for the branches, but something suddenly caught his eye. Something like a carbine. Joe clutched at him with both hands and gently pulled. The carbine did not yield, and Joe pulled harder - again to no avail.
- Lil! - He snapped. - Rather, come here!
At the same moment he was near.
“Come on, let's pull this thing out,” Joe pointed to the carbine.
- What is it? Scott asked, although certain thoughts had already begun to creep into his head.
- There is no time to explain. Pull!
They began to pull together, but the stubborn carbine did not yield. Joe even rested one foot on the backside of the rover, but even that didn’t work.
- Come on, bastard! - He swore, feeling that his fingers were about to open.
Oddly enough, it helped, and the carbine with a dry metal crack finally popped out of the groove, and Joe and Scott flopped backwards. As was to be expected, the carbine was at the end of a metal cable, the existence of which for some reason was never guessed by.
- Is that a winch? - Surprised asked Scott, and from the surprise he even stopped stuttering. - Joe, is that a winch?
- Along the way! - He replied and swore again. But it was a joyous curse, carefree. Practically, children.
- I wonder how long it is? - Without waiting for an answer, Scott jumped to his feet, grabbed a carbine and ran toward the road. Joe did not lag behind him.
Scott spotted a young, but already quite strong tree about twenty meters away, and headed straight for it. With each step, he became more and more afraid that the cable was about to end, without reaching the tree. And his fears were confirmed - even though the length of the cable was enough to reach the tree, it still ended when Scott began to cover the trunk. There were not enough centimeters to snap the carbine.
- Here is the devil! - Scott screamed in the hearts. - Not enough length!
Joe scratched his head and looked around at the neighborhood in search of something else that could be caught, but other trees were even further. Not inventing anything better, he took the carbine out of Scott’s hands, firmly pressed his feet against the ground and pulled strength.
And the next moment, suddenly he was in a horizontal position, and the carbine, which jumped out of his hands, almost hit him in the head. For a moment, Joe was lost in space, but the comrade's shouts quickly brought him to life. Joe did not believe his ears, but Scott, who was the most modest man on Demetrion, began to swear excitedly, buttoning the carbine on the cable, which was already covering the tree.
“I hope this rusty piece of de-shit doesn't o-break,” he concluded, and Joe finally realized that his jerk had an effect — the jammed cable advanced a few more centimeters.
Quickly jumping to his feet, he rushed to the rover. Scott started shouting something in his back, and it seems there was the word “wait a minute”, but Joe did not pay attention. Once in the pilot's seat, he frantically searched the menu for something that could relate to the winch. He knew the rover's menu like the back of his hand, and there certainly wasn’t anything like that, but he was still looking. After a few seconds, a breathless Scott burst into the salon.
“Damn him, yes, there’s nothing about this damn winch!” - Joe began to look through all the menu items in the second circle, although he understood that it was useless.
Scott plopped down in a chair next door.
“There is nothing like that, I just remember,” he said.
“And how then ...” Joe did not finish speaking, because the new attack of a roar, even louder than the previous one, drowned out all other sounds.
Scott winced at the loud sound that was pressing hard on the eardrums, and glanced at the radar - judging by the testimony, the titan was already thirty meters away from them! And then his gaze dropped to one of the screens of the night navigation system, which was responsible for the frontal image, and saw the titanium there almost to its full height.
Biting his lip, Scott closed his eyes, as if playing a child's game and convincing himself that if he did not see the titanium, it means that he would not be able to harm him. But then something made him open his eyes and look out the window to see the awesome silhouette. Out of the corner of his eye, Scott noticed that Joe was slowly reaching for the toggle switch on the control panel, as if trying not to startle the predator, and the next moment the light around the perimeter of the rover went out, and the silhouette disappeared into the dark.
Following the deafening roar came no less deafening silence. Even the crickets stopped singing, and the only sounds that Scott heard were the crunch of dry twigs under the paws of titanium and their breath.
- How to use this winch? - Joe whispered, while his eyes were riveted to the image of titanium on the monitor.
“I think, I just need to go on the gas,” Scott replied in the same whisper.
Joe scratched his head. On the one hand, it seemed plausible - if there was nothing connected with the winch in the rover menu, then it is logical to assume that its work is interconnected with the engine operation - probably the supplied current was distributed between them in such a way as to facilitate the overcoming of difficult obstacles. Indeed, why control two actions at once, when smart automation can do it for you, you just have to press the gas pedal? On the other hand, Joe was embarrassed by the fact that he never knew about the existence of this winch and did not know for sure how it worked. – .
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Scott obediently pressed the pedal and felt the rover accelerate rapidly. Only now he understood what had changed on the display - the tension of the winch cable dropped to zero.
- Gazuy! - Joe continued to shout, although he himself was well aware that they were already moving. The point on the radar began to move away from the center and move closer to the border of the circle - they managed to break away from titanium. In the next instant, space shuddered at the next roar, but this was unimportant.
Joe, holding the handrail so as not to fall out, closed the door and re-locked the machine on the counter. From the trunk went barely noticeable plume of smoke.