Barrenlands: An Odyssey (Old Work)

Chapter Fourteen.

1

MORNING had broken over the vast landscape, but the Engineer had beaten the first golden rays of the sun. Her feet sunk into the sand with each and every step, and a long trail of footsteps trailed off behind her in the distance like a colony of dark-brown ants marching behind her in a bowing line. She had awoken in the early hours – when the moon was still in the sky – and had failed to drift back into a nap. With so many thoughts in her mind and questions which remained unanswered, she righted her water containers across her shoulders and continued the journey that ruled her life. Each step was heavy and each step was longing, and she could only hope that she would forget about the memories of Little Girl and let her drift into the junkyard of her mind. There was no worth in agonising over something that was beyond her control, nor agonising over something that she had no idea of how it had happened in the first instance. Like she did so often, the Engineer lifted her hand to the top of her brows and gazed across the landscape that stretched over the horizon like a massive blanket. Like a shimmering oasis in the desert, she spotted something obtrusive in the horizon, something sticking out of the sand at an odd angle as if it didn't belong there.

Another one, ahh ye, she heard a voice sigh in her head. It was the same as the one that she vaguely remembered belonging to a relative, though those times had long come to pass. She was alone now; alone in the vast barrens that would otherwise consume her whole one day. Albeit with hints of reluctance in her bones, the Engineer picked up her feet and plundered forwards, inching closer towards the object.

2

The capsule was the third to be found, and it bore no variations in markings to those of the others except of course, the painted letter and number sequence that ran down the length of the surface. xSP-1532v1; the straight third of the sequence. The plated metal glinted in the morning sun, and the rivets protruded from the sides almost like little knobs. There was one thing that frustrated the Engineer at this time – almost two. It gnawed at her deep within, tearing open those questions that still remained elusive and floating in the midst of her mind. What was it? And why was Little Girl so trusting in it, pressing the button and starting the red, flashing beacon? It now glowed red behind her eyes, the ghosts of memories past resurfacing.

Shifting in her boots, the Engineer took a step forwards and fell to her knees to take a close look at the capsule. She hadn't noticed previously with the others, but her eyes picked up the many micro-scratches on the surface caused by the abrasion of the wind. The small grooves were shadowed by the sun, and the play of illusions made them seem deeper than they really were. With her curiosity slowly being piqued again, the Engineer made a small, sidewards step and pushed her face closer to the capsule. There, on its side, was what appeared to be a dent of sorts, which she now ran her finger along. The metal was hot to her touch. But how that was made remained a question for another day. Continuing with her inventorying of an inspection, she lay down on the sand and looked up at the side that had been construed in the darkness of the shade. There was a latch of sorts, a small metal door with a push-button on one of the corners. Almost instinctively and without thinking once more, she pushed herself further below the object and pushed on it, the door flipping open effortlessly.

The Engineer fell into sheer curious-like awe as the small square piece of metal fell away to expose a panel of sorts, with wires and circuits plugged into one another. Thin coloured ribbons crisscrossed this way and that; a concoction of technology. However, there was one length that appeared to be severed, the fibres frayed and hanging onto each part but only just. Whatever the function of the capsule was, it was most certainly compromised by this split. Feeing the sudden urge to see it completed, the Engineer raised its waist and pulled out a rectangular piece of folded material from her pants. Ripping apart the clip that held it closed, she rolled out the material in front of her and heard the metallic tools chink. The Engineer then thumbed through them all, eventually feeling the one that she had been searching for. Pulling it out from the small loop that held it firm, she raised it to the hairy split in the wires and pushed down on a small rubber button. The needle like tip of the tool began to illuminate red, and she frayed wires began to melt together to form a single piece. Indeed, the pen-like tool was not unlike that of a soldering iron. And just like that – from the corner of her eyes – she caught the red beacon flash red.

On. Off. On. Off. If anyone hadn't known better, it could have been mistaken for some sort of transmitter, sending a signal to lifeforms well beyond their own system – be them friendly or hostile.