D.A.B, day 16
Star Fall
The sky across the mountains is just starting to become brighter as we reach the top of the ridge. It was hard to fall asleep and neither of us got much sleep. But the rain and clouds are gone and it's easy to see and move around as the planetary rings make the pre dawn night bright. It's quite beautiful with the clouds forming from the jungle and going up over the mountain tops in the low wind. It would have been really useful with a map and another compass heading to get a fix point on the Star Fall, but this is how it is, and it looked like the Star Fall should be quite close.
Sadly blue is a bad colour to see as everything have a blue hue from the night sky, and Reiley is bad at seeing blue, but her night vision is better than mine, so she should be seeing light. We try to go out on a few different small side ridges and up on cliffs to try and see any kind of light or shine in the jungle. It's hard work, especially as we try to be silent but fairly quick, while avoiding to skyline against the brighter night sky.
Is that it? I snap my fingers to get Reiley's attention and point. She moves her head around and nods. We take a heading and look for a distinctive feature or tree on the ridge as a marker to start going down, then we just silently sneak over there.
We are just past the tree where there is a slightly more open way to make our way down, and we try to move very carefully and soundless. If you're trying to stay hidden and move in the dark, you should of course not use light or be a moving shadow against a brighter sky, but generally being silent is far more important than staying truly hidden. If you can move silently it's better than moving unseen, as someone have to watch you to see movement, and it is dark, but sound comes from all around and further than visual range, and the night is quieter than the day. Snapping a branch by stepping on it, or causing stones to tumble down is sound that travels far just like metallic 'tinks', and make a potential animal or enemy aware that there is something there, and look closer. Hell, just smell might give you away, like if you smoke a cigarette or something.
We don't know what is out here, and if it is dangerous or hungry, so silent it is and we carefully move one foot and feel where it is placed and securely, before shifting our weight and moving the other as the terrain is steep too. Slow and careful movements wins over fast. This is not easy to move in nature or ground, but the moist leaves and ground help. We stay close and I can see Reiley smell the air as we move, and we can soon see light through the jungle ahead of us. There is the possibility that there is something or someone laying in wait, but it seems unlikely. Still, we are very careful as we move closer and closer, and there is no doubt about it. That is a translucent oval like thing glowing blue. And at meter length and half as wide, bigger than I thought it would be. I see no trace of a parachute, so apparently Reiley is right that the DAB's seem to use a see through material in the parachute that is pretty much invisible and it very quickly disintegrate, but it would be useful material and the oval material will apparently quickly degrade too. Can't let us have extra material to make stuff with, oh no. Bastards. The Star Fall might be unguided, but I wouldn't bet on it, and I'm quite sure that it landed pretty much where the damn alien bastard wanted it too, so once again they have proven they are bastards.
Reiley insist on approaching it, so I stay in the back with my spear as Reiley moves up to the Star Fall. She sets her rucksack to the side, and gently cut the tough material open and it seems like some kind of plastic balloon that quickly deflates and the light starts to dim. I can't help to think that the light was probably some kind of chemical reaction to the internal gas, and according to Reiley the material will start to quickly fall apart so it is of no use taking it with us. Also something that might be triggered by air touching the inside of the material. On the loose material there are several items, but as we planned Reiley just starts placing the items in her rucksack, making sure to get everything. I move forward when Reiley signals me to, and there is more than can fit in her rucksack, so I turn my back towards her and crouch. Reiley just stuffs something in my rucksack while I keep watch. Oh wow! Something is very heavy. And there is more. She whispers in my ear:
"Arne, I've never heard of a Star Fall with so many things! Or this heavy! We should get this back to camp and look at it there."
I whisper back: "Agree."
After Reiley have signalled what I think is 'Equipment', 'Secure', 'I take point', she takes point as we move back up, and I make sure to look behind and around before following.
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It's nerve wrecking going back as it's getting brighter, but we still make sure to watch for any movement following us, and we make it back just before the first rays of light illuminate the mountain tops. It is quite dark in the hut and will be hard to see, so we stay outside as we unpack. I'm curious as hell!
What the hell?! This is a damn crossbow!
A strange design in some kind of angular green-brown-yellow camouflage, but that is a crossbow! Riley gives me a quiver in the same camouflage with 8 bolts in it, each bolt with an evil looking blade tip. Damn. The crossbow has a very strange design with a long curved bar on the underside going from the front back down to the pistol like grip and stock. And there is no manual. Of course. The material is light and feel and sounds like some type of composite, and it looks like the camouflage is in the composite instead of painted, and as I look closer I see there are black symbols recessed in the material. The safety is thumb operated and reminds me of a few firearms and the symbols are fairly obvious, but there is also a latch in a grip like part on that bar below the pistol grip, and when I grab it the underside bar release from the pistol grip, and the bar is a lever that pivots at the front. Oh, it's the loading mechanism. Yeah, now the other symbols make sense. There is almost no resistance or sound as the lever pivots forward 90 degree, but as I pull it back there is resistance and the string starts to move back, but only about two thirds of the way. So I repeat the motion, and the force require haven't really increased, but the string reach the end and locks in place with a faint click, and as the loading lever reach the end it also locks in place.
Crap, I really shouldn't shoot this here, but I really want to test it, and I can hit one of the thick end posts, so I glide a bolt in place and step back as much as I can, and aim. The sights are fairly simple but the front sight reminds me of a bow sight with adjustable range beads, and will work. I grip the crossbow and it is comfortable and overall fairly light, so I line up my eye and use the top bead at the front and aim. I remember to push the safety away, and as I breath out and still I squeeze the trigger. TWACK! Yes! Wow. That bolt hit hard! From Reiley's exclamation it's obvious that she agree, and I can't wait to play more with this. I mean practise. That bolt is stuck hard, and I won't be getting that out without using tools. I really need to be careful with the few good bolts I have and use a proper target. Maybe something with stacked leaves or bundles? Bundled braided grass?
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"Reiley, can you make wooden bolts so I have more to use and practise with?"
"I will try. That is a very good and powerful weapon, and it is much faster to reload than the other crossbows. I guess you won't be needing the new crossbow."
"You did very good work on them, and they will still be good to have as a backup if this break or something. Just like having bundles of arrows if we ever have to defend this place, backup weapons are good. And we might become more people."
"True. There is more in your pack! And look at this!"
Reiley hands me a form of wrap like for tools with blue decoration and band in synthetic material, and when I unroll it I see two fairly normal looking hammers, a few files, tongs, and other normal looking metal working tools with dark blue handles in some kind of composite material. Nice. I start to look deeper in my rucksack. There is a package with two brown earmuff looking things, and eye protection glasses in the same transparent material as those water bottles. The very heavy thing in the bottom is a small anvil. A freaking anvil. Reiley smile as she shows me two large knives and basically machetes with sheaths and grips coloured in the same kind of angular green-brown-yellow camouflage. Those machetes will be damn useful - both as a tool and for close combat as there is more mass at the sharp tip, with a good long cutting edge that becomes sharper closer to the handle, and the back also have saw tooths. Also nice with matching camouflage. Reiley take up two flexible white packages, and as she opens one and... it looks like two pairs of boots? Oh, yes, that is some kind of high performance brown boots with a bit of the same camouflage like decoration, and one pair is larger, which she gives me.
"Lets try them on."
I assume they fit us, and as we try them on that proves true. They are really really nice and comfortable boots even without socks, and the material that overlap for adjustment and tightening have some kind of velcro like function without feeling like velcro. Reiley is just awed.
"They are so comfortable."
"I bet they dry quickly and resist water. Anyway, this is so much better than what we both used to wear. What is in the last pack?"
Reiley opens it and just have a bewildered look as she take out flimsy looking clothes. And I realise that is some kind of underwear. No, it's more sexy lingerie than just underwear, and not just one set. And a pair of high heels?! "Oh, those perverted damn alien bastards." Shit. I probably shouldn't have said that loud.
"What do you mean?" Reiley is just bewildered by the items and my reaction.
"That looks like sexy female lingerie from my culture." Reiley is still bewildered. "Clothes that a woman would wear underneath her normal clothes to feel sexy, or to entice her man to sex in bed, instead of clothes more for their practical use. Those are high heel shoes to change height and posture, and completely impractical to walk around in nature."
I see the light come on in Reiley's eyes as she understands, and she blush and looks away before looking back at the lingerie and heels. The silence between us is uncomfortable.
"I might have prayed to the Spirits... that I... "
Reiley's speech fade away as she avoid looking at me and blush so hard while playing with her hair braid. Figures, that that is a wish the DAB's would grant, especially as it is impractical. Seriously, high heels in a jungle or on cliffs. Or even here on this fairly uneven rocky floor. They must be laughing their ass off right now. I just step up to Reiley and hug her and kiss her.
"You are a wonderful, smart, skilled and beautiful woman that I am happy to be in a relationship with. You don't need special clothes to entice me, or dress up and make yourself prettier. I love you for you, not what you wear."
Reiley mumbles into my neck: "But what if I want to dress pretty and be sexy for you?"
"I would be happy to look at you and enjoy your beauty, no matter what you wear. Or doesn't wear."
We just hold each other and hug and kiss, but eventually we turn back to the Star Fall stuff, and I have to explain how it is intended to be worn. The white cloth from the packages will be useful, and apparently the packaging does not disintegrate, so useful to either sew things off or just make stuff like bandages. We have talked about having a small first aid kit on our belt kits, and we should have a couple of bandages and tourniquets just in case. Reiley point at the tools and anvil.
"Are that those forging tools you talked about making?" Of course she have seen similar being used in forges in her culture, and I nod as a reply. "You think that is a reward because you've made iron?"
"I assume so. And it seems to be really good tools. That anvil is a whole heck of a lot of metal, but it feels like a dumb idea to try to melt any of it down. The metal might also react badly if I try it, and be useless for a blade or so. Different kinds of metal are good for different things, and needs to be heat treated correctly. And then I've lost the tool or anvil."
Doing something tricky like that feels like a safety feature the DAB's would do if they could. Hell, there could be some kind of very bad chemical reaction hidden inside, like deadly gas or kaboom bad if heated in a fire. So I sure won't try. Well, now I have tools to forge and don't have to waste creek iron or time on the tools. It absolutely feels like a reward for an accomplishment. I just can't use the tools today, since it will sound like a forge, and that is a distinct sound travelling far. We might have people out there searching for the Star Fall. Wait, is that why it was blue? It might not just be that Reiley is terrible at telling green and blue apart, as green should be health or food and that is what the people in her camp told her. Some of them absolutely see blue and one might even see UV. There have been no mention of blue Star Falls. Blue might be 'tech level' reward or something, and making metal and especially iron is Age defining in human civilizations. Iron Age. And I did do it completely with stuff here. There was even included some very nice special bonuses like the crossbow, boots and blades for the both of us that we have talked about, so those bonuses might not happen if I cheat.
I should go for tech levels and similar stuff without looking like I do it for the tech level reward. Beside making sure to make that map, I should really try to make electricity with a generator, and not just for charging my watch. That might lead to a very nice reward. It would be better with copper found here, but yeah, that feels kind of unlikely to happen. So, what can I do that is tech more than surviving? Electricity for the watch, and hope that is enough. Make a good map, but I'm already working on that. I'm working on Astronomy too, and I really should make sure to get that days of the year correct, and maybe naming a few constellations. A pendulum to prove the world rotates might be difficult as it should be protected from wind with a really long string, but if we find a future tall cave it is doable. I don't think stuff like maths works, as that is just pure knowledge taught and brought here. Stuff like making stone tools, fire and such doesn't seem to count, so probably not a wheel. Did the canoe give a reward? That is advanced craft made here. Did tanning leather? Why didn't pottery? It wasn't advanced enough?
Hummm...
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