[Placeholder] (Complete) NaNoWriMo 2016

Plans A Through Z

"Four days, ten thousand words, we got this." The Writer looked happily at her clean desk. "I think."

"I just want to be rescued," Red said with a sigh. The alien was sitting in his beanbag still only roughly defined, a bipedal shadow with an aura of bird-ness. "And while I'd like to say I have full faith in your ability to problem solve, I don't see how you are going to drive the herd away enough for us to escape."

"I will eat them," said Cat, dismissively. He had abandoned his beanbag for another couch sprawl and was trying to read the Muse's tablet while upside down. She was ignoring him. He was ignoring that she was ignoring him.

"There has to be something that they are afraid of," said Simon. "If they had no predators than the damned things would have taken over the planet by now. There has to be a reason that they hide in the forests. Something on the grasslands must eat them... other than Cat." He amended as Cat preened.

"Well, time to find out." Said the Writer and she set the word sprint timer.

~*~*~*~*~

"We need more information," said Simon as they sat in the tent that night. The herd had returned, but was unable to damage the tent material and was simply grazing around them. There was the occasion headbutt of the walls, but it was halfhearted at best. "These things have to be scared of something."

Cat nodded. "Something eats them, otherwise they are too many. If we can be this, they will flee." He bared his teeth at the wall as another headbutt attempt was made.

They hadn't tried scaring the herd away, they wanted to save that for the daylight when they were unprotected.

"Too bad we can't put wheels on the tent and just push our way through." Simon said with a sigh.

"Hah," Cat chuffed, "without anchors they push us where they will. We are not as strong as that."

"We can talk to the colonists," said Ship.

"Wait, what?" Simon and Cat looked up. "I thought we couldn't get a signal through?"

"The other ship has been talking to someone," Ship said. "It's a very basic form of communication in and only a yes/no signal coming out, but it is communication."

"Why didn't it tell us that?" Simon was getting incredibly frustrated with the planetside ship. "This would be so much easier if we could see what they have already tried."

"I don't think I was supposed to notice the communication," admitted Ship. "I just happened to catch it because I've been trying to monitor the noises the herd makes."

"Wait, those things aren't intelligent, right?" Simon was already feeling oddly nauseous at the thought his dinner might have been a person.

"No more than goats," said Ship. "They are clever for animals, but there is no sign of actual intelligence. They do have a series of subvocal communications that appear to be linked to meanings, but 'food', 'danger', 'here I am, where are you?' and 'help' seem to be the extent of it. I'm still not sure if 'danger' and 'help' are the same thing, they seem to have different tones."

"That could be useful," said Simon, "but is it safe for us to talk to the colonists? Is there a way to pretend we were just trying out ideas and stumbled into finding the channel?"

"They should be able to hear us through the normal channels," said Ship. "There's no need to try and use the same one, unless there is some other reason they are using that one. The communicators they have to talk to the colony should be able to pick us up."

"Well, here's goes nothing then," said Simon as he went to unpack their radios.

~*~*~*~*~