Chapter 1: Passing the Test

I am Simon Joseph St James and sat in the speeding copter and thought about my life and what had brought me here to this time and place. I was twenty years old and the last four had been spent working to reach this point. First were the martial arts and then the science, well ... biology and zoology. I had been on the planetary youth marksmanship team as well.

My goal was to become a ranger for our planet. The few rangers that came through were only here for a month or two before leaving. It was the ranger’s job to make sure the people of the colony were safe as well as the animals of the planet. It was also their job to preserve any ruins or artifacts on a planet. I sighed as the copter changed pitch and spun in a wide circle.

I could see a grove of giant home trees and a herd of Simeron’s slowly moving through under their huge expanse. The copter shifted and tilted the other way before seeming to drop through the branches to a small clearing. My survivor instructor Mr Perry leaned close, “All right kid, this is it. Still want to go through with it?”

I nodded as my hand tightened on my small pack, “Yes sir.”

He nodded and patted my shoulder, “Just follow your directions and do not get killed.”

I grinned and as the copter dipped I moved to the door and jumped the two meters to the ground. The copter barely hesitated before lifting back into the sky. A moment was all it took and then I was standing alone in the small clearing. I looked around and put the pack on before turning to walk into the brush on one side of the clearing.

I had only been in the brush for an hour when I heard the hissing sounds of distress. As much as I wanted to head away from what I knew was danger I did not. I moved closer and after a few minutes I was looking into the crushed bushes to see a Lenolyn trapped in the net like ground vines of a chameleon tree. I thought about just walking away.

The Lenolyn were not known as being nice to humans. More like they went out of their way to rip us apart or stomp us to paste. Then there was the fact that chameleon trees were extremely dangerous. I sighed and looked around before stepping out. The growling hiss from the Lenolyn was not exactly comforting. I took a breath and walked closer carefully.

The sticky vines were wrapped around the Lenolyn’s snout and I reached out to slap the side of its head, “Be quiet and stop moving.”

I was a little surprised when it quieted and only glared at me. I looked at all the vines holding it and up at the slowly descending sucker vines. I nodded and moved around to its side and knelt as I pulled my long mono knife. I carefully split the vine, ignoring the extremely high pitched scream of the chameleon tree. I used the seeping vine milk on the leg of the Lenolyn and it caused the vine to drop away.

When the leg was free it twitched but stayed still as I moved to the back leg. I did not bother glancing up as I sliced along the new vine and began working it loose from the Lenolyn. When it was free I moved to the head and looked in the huge eyes, “I need to work the vine off so do not bite.”

The only thing it did was snort, which I took as ascent. It did not take long to work the vine off the snout and I glanced up to see the suckers almost all the way down. I absently patted the side of the huge head, “When I say go, walk straight and do not stop until you are clear.”

I moved to the other side working as quickly as I could. I almost stepped in a net vine myself before moving to the last leg. As soon as the vine came free I checked the tail and then reached up to touch the upper leg, “Go!”

The Lenolyn did not hesitate in walking forward almost delicately. The chameleon tree’s scream of defeat made the surrounding forest go silent. I carefully made my way away from the chameleon tree and glanced back to see the Lenolyn looking at me. I nodded and turned away to slip into the surrounding brush. That evening I found a sheltered spot to camp.

I used a blow gun to kill a slow Grecal as it watched me from a low hanging limb. I cleaned the lizard skin as the meat sizzled over a small fire. The night came alive with the sounds of both predators and prey. The next morning I was moving cautiously through the last of the home trees in this grove when something caught my eye.

I should describe a home tree. They are around twenty meters thick and can grow to be almost two hundred meters tall. The lowest branch on a home tree is about a forty meters above the ground. While the leaves looked large and deciduous, the trees were a type of evergreen. I had noticed what almost appeared to be a path to the closest home tree.

I hesitated and then moved to the side and slowly and carefully left the brush and walked to the tree as quietly as I could. The area under a home tree was normally clear of brush or grass although most did tend to grow thick there. I stood a couple of feet away from the bark and looked at it carefully. It was a moment before I realized there seemed to be a pattern.

There was a section of bark about the size of my hand that looked worn as if from being touched. I reached out and placed my hand on it and hesitantly pushed. There was a very soft click and a section of bark two and a half meters tall and one and a half wide popped away from the tree. I slowly pulled it out to see a set of stairs going up and another going down.

So much for not being a cat. I started up the stairs and was surprised to see indirect lighting as if the light seeped through the bark. I was up to what I thought was the forth layer of branches when the stairs stopped. There was a doorway that should have led out. It turned out to be a room with jagged slit windows. There was a feeling of waiting about the room as I looked at soft skin couches and glossy tables.

There were two other doorways into the room and I began to explore. While there was a food preparation area, there did not look like there was anything to cook the food. I found two bedrooms with soft beds and light airy blankets. I even folded one of the blankets up to take with me. At the bottom of the stairs was a smooth stoned room about thirty meters under the ground.

Strangely, the walls glowed more than bright enough to see and I looked around. There were glyphs carved smoothly into the walls by each door. I followed one for a long way and came to another room with a spiraling staircase. I turned back and finally made my way up and out of the tree. The door made another soft click when I pushed it closed.