Welcome to the penultimate issue for Volume 1 of Stone! In this issue, Shonda deals with a concussion. Martin helps her into the building they've been using as a base and keeps watch on the stone beings just outside their door. This story by Laura Browne-Lambert is being released in serial form. Two more volumes are planned for this story. Issues of Stone are meant to be read in order. If you need to catch up on this story, you can do so by clicking the links below to read previous issues. If you prefer to read audiobooks, this serial is available to listen to on YouTube or by playing the video embedded in this page.
Image Description: A reddish-gray mountain rises in the right background. The mountain is sharp and craggy. An oddly shaped boulder stands in the left fore-ground. It is red with black shadows. The boulder has two bulbs at the top that have likely been formed by erosion.
Credit: Juli Kosolapova / Unsplash via Webador
Stone (Volume 1, Issue 7)
By Laura Browne-Lambert
Martin supported Shonda on the harried walk back to the maintenance pod that had become their base camp. Her legs shook under her like jelly and her head ached as if she had a fresh concussion. Oh wait, that’s exactly what she had. A concussion. Shonda tried to grip her head as pain lanced through her head like a dagger, but her gloved hand was stopped by her helmet. Oh, right. She had a helmet on. A big, bubble-shaped helmet. Why was that again?
She turned her head to look at Martin. He had one of her arms draped across his shoulders. They were awkwardly close. Not that Shonda felt uncomfortable with Martin – sharing a single room with another person at all hours of the day was good for forcing people into a sense of closeness. Right now, however, their proximity meant their helmets periodically knocked together, adding to the ache in Shonda’s head.
She looked down at her feet. They were moving – sort of. Wobbly and uncoordinated, they were urged forward by Martin’s more confident gait. Shonda looked at him again.
“Where are we going?”
Martin stared at her but continued to puff along without losing momentum. “What do you mean, where are we going?” he asked. “We’re going back to base, remember?”
“Huh?” Shonda cocked her head questioningly, then nodded. “Oh yeah. I remember.”
Martin opened the airlock door and helped Shonda into a seated position. As soon as he locked them inside, the airlock began the process of equalizing the pressure.
Shonda reached up to fiddle with the lock on her helmet.
“No, no!” Martin lunged forward and knocked her hand away.
“Hey!”
“Come on, Shonda,” Martin’s voice sounded stressed. “You gotta let the airlock do its thing first. You know that.”
Shonda shrugged. “Yeah, I know that.”
“Then why would you take your helmet off early?” he asked, exasperated.
Shonda shrugged again. “I dunno.” She looked around the airlock. “Why were we outside?”
The inside door slid open, signaling the end of the airlock’s process. Martin pulled off his helmet and planted his face into his hands. “You’re really concussed, aren’t you?”
Shonda fumbled her way through pulling her own helmet off. “Yeah, probably. Almost definitely.”
“Come on, let’s get comfortable,” Martin mumbled joylessly. He pulled Shonda to her feet and led her to the nest of blankets that had become her bed. “Take a beat while I find the painkillers.”
Shonda laid back and threw an arm over her eyes. Now that she was still, she could feel every ache. Her body felt like a single bruise. What had she been thinking, chasing after Martin like that? A bottle of ibuprofen landed in her lap. She cracked it open and popped two into her mouth.
“And don’t fall asleep,” Martin’s voice said from across the room. Shonda grunted. “You hear me?”
Shonda waved in acknowledgement without opening her eyes. “I heard you.”
“I thought I told you ‘No falling asleep,’” Martin grumbled. He was now seated by the porthole window. Shonda stared at Martin from her pile of blankets. He sighed. “Well, I hope you’re feeling better, at least.”
“I might throw up.”
“You need a bucket?”
“Please,” Shonda responded weakly. Martin dug a mixing bowl out of the pile of odds and ends they had collected over the last several months and handed it to Shonda. She sat up slowly and hugged the bowl to her chest. “What’s going on out there?”
“Well,” Martin said as he returned to his post by the window, “I don’t see any movement from the two who came at me, so I think I killed them.”
“Oh,” Shonda made a retching noise.
“You gonna puke?”
“Maybe,” Shonda said weakly. “It’s just – I think one of them was a kid.”
Martin sighed as his demeanor softened. “You really think their sentient, don’t you?”
Shonda nodded. “I’m not a zoologist, but as a geologist, I can tell you that no rock on Earth acts like that – because our rocks don’t display behavior. These do.”
“Well, then I don’t want to hurt them, but I will if I have to,” Martin said. His voice sounded heavy. “I want to survive this place as long as I can, and they attacked me, so what was I supposed to do?”
“They didn’t, though.”
“What?”
“They didn’t attack you.” Shonda paused to dry heave. “They were just playing, I think. You just happened to be in the way.”
“Yeah? Well in that case, we’re living on their playground.”
“So, we should stay out of their way.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” Martin exclaimed. “We’re living in the only intact pod we can find. We tiptoe everywhere so we don’t alert them to our presence. We’re doing everything we can to stay alive without them noticing!”
Shonda waved a hand placatingly. “I know, I know. Let’s just – Let’s not fight about this. Just – Please, tell me what’s going on out there.”
Martin crossed his arms and looked out the window. “I’ve never studied rocks or animals, but if they were human, I’d guess they were trying to figure out what happened. A few have left the pile and are rolling around the dirt in one direction and then the other. Looks systematic to me. Like a search party.” He cleared his throat. “They stop every time they find a stone fragment.”
Shonda got up gingerly, trailing one hand along the wall for support and holding her bowl with the other. When she reached Martin, she waved him out of the chair and plopped down.
“I see movement on the hill,” said Shonda. “What’s going on up there?” Martin offered her the binoculars, but she shook her head slowly. “Nah, that won’t end well for me.” She gave a weak smile.
Martin held the binoculars up to his eyes. “They’re shifting around a bit,” he said. “Maybe they’re searching up there, too?” He went quiet for a moment. “Oh, shoot. Look at the search party.” He pointed needlessly out the window.
Shonda leaned forward. “They’re getting close to the tripwire.” She glanced at Martin. “Is it live?”
“Yup.”
A deafening boom reached their ears as a fiery explosion took over their field of view. Martin and Shonda covered their ears reflexively. When the smoke and fire cleared, they saw another shallow crater surrounded with chips of stone.
“Well – n – we – wor –,” Martin said.
“What?” Shonda asked. She felt her voice strain, but the sounds still seemed dim to her.
Martin leaned closer. He looked as if he were yelling. “Well, now we know it works.” He paused until she nodded. “I’m going to go reset it before more of them come down the hill.”
Shonda held up a hand. “Wait a second.” Martin turned around. He already had his boots on and his helmet in hand. “Do you feel something?”
Martin’s brow furrowed. “What should I feel?”
A thunderous rumble answered him. The ground shook and the table rattled. A toolbox fell from the shelf in the supply room. The entire shelving unit followed, tools and cleaners pouring through the open door.
Shonda pulled herself onto unsteady feet and pressed her face against the glass of the porthole window. She gasped. The hill made of living stones was growing.
Add comment
Comments