Where the Forest Ends: A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel

  Where The Forest Ends

  Ben Turner

  Chapter 1

  Frank grabbed onto the railing to steady himself while he waited for the nausea to pass. Vivian and the strange woman kept walking along the bridge.

  Frank glanced at them, then at the forest.

  It was breathtaking. He tried to wrap his head around the idea that the forest covered this entire planet, but couldn't. There were immense metal bridges set up between the trees, which were large enough to have full sized apartments and offices carved into them.

  Trella was a small planet, barely a blip on the radar. Technically, it wasn't a planet at all. It was closer to the size of a large asteroid. It was possible to walk around the entire planet in just a few weeks.

  Frank looked above them. No light came through the thick canopy of leaves above them. If not for the goggles the locals had supplied, he and Vivian would have been blind.

  Something grabbed Frank's leg.

  He looked down at Vivian, his ten-year-old daughter, and smiled to reassure her. They were both gaunt from months of dwindling rations. Frank hadn't wanted to come here, but it was one of the last colonies not part of the Intergalactic Confederation. Here, no one would ask who he was or what he had done. They could start a life here.

  Frank's nausea passed. He pushed back from the railing, made sure his legs were steady, and resumed walking across the bridge.

  Vivian walked beside him, looking more confident than he felt.

  The strange woman was standing at the end of the bridge. She had met them on the treetops where they’d landed their ship. She had said nothing, simply gesturing that they were to follow her down the stairs which led below the treetops.

  She hadn't given her name. Like the rest of the locals, her skin was translucent. Frank could see her bones and muscles through her skin. Had she been naked, he could have seen her heart as it beat.

  Frank stopped a dozen feet in front of the woman. Vivian walked a few more feet then stopped, looking back at her father with a questioning gaze.

  The ghostly inhabitants of this planet made Frank nervous.

  He adjusted his goggles and glanced over the edge of the bridge. His nausea returned.

  Several kilometers below them was the forest floor. Frank didn't have a fear of heights, but as he looked down at the ground, he got the sense that it wasn't quite still, as though it were alive and flowing like a river.

  When Frank stared at any one spot on the forest floor, he saw the orange moss, the flowers, and the fluttering leaves as unique, unmoving pieces of an ecosystem, but when he looked at it he couldn't help but see it as a moving thing, living as it was flowed in and out of the trees.

  "Daddy?" said Vivian. She was looking up at him through her goggles.

  Frank put a hand on his daughter's shoulder to reassure her. He swallowed and turned back towards the strange woman.

  They walked onto the platform surrounding the tree. They stopped just outside the reach of the translucent woman.

  "You are Frank Masters?" said the woman. Her voice was soft and smooth.

  Frank looked up at her. He watched blood run through her veins.

  "Yes," he said.

  He looked up and met the woman’s gaze. Frank wondered what would happen if she went into direct sunlight. It had been the blackest of nights when they had arrived on the treetops.

  He looked down and gave Vivian a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She seemed fine, as though she was too young to realize how strange this planet was.

  The translucent woman held out a hand. It looked like bones and muscles with a thin white cover stretched over it.

  Frank shook it, trying to keep his focus on her eyes and not the skull he could see between her bangs.

  "Thank you," said Frank. "We were almost out of food. I'll do anything I can. This will be good for us."

  The woman nodded. She released Frank's hand, then crouched down and looked at Vivian.

  Frank wanted to pull his daughter away, but Vivian stepped forward and put a hand on the translucent face.

  "Come with me while your dad goes to work," said the woman. "We have other children for you to play with."

  Vivian looked up at Frank.

  He nodded, despite the growing pit of unease in his stomach.

  Vivian turned back to the woman and nodded. The woman took Vivian's hand and lead her away.

  Frank watched them. He was unsure whether to follow.

  The woman stopped and turned back, keeping a firm grip on Vivian's hand.

  "Someone will be here in a moment," she said.

  Frank swallowed and nodded.

  He watched as the translucent woman walked away with his daughter. Vivian laughed at something the woman said. They rounded the tree and disappeared from Frank's vision.

  He felt a knot form inside his stomach. He had researched this planet and found nothing to suggest it was dangerous, but information had been scarce.

  He didn't have a choice. The alternative was too terrifying to think of.

  "Are you Frank Masters?" said a deep voice behind him.

  Frank turned, grabbing onto the railing to steady himself. He accidentally looked down at the forest floor, and once again got the sense it was a flowing river.

  The man before him was just as translucent as the woman, but much less attractive. A large gut hung out over his midsection, and he was bald save for a few wisps of hair.

  "I'm Frank Masters," said Frank, holding out a hand.

  The man shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Frank!

  Frank nodded and took back his hand. "What do you need me to do?"

  The man grinned and pointed over the edge. "We need you to go down there."

  Frank looked over the railing.

  "Okay," he said after a moments consideration. He wiped away the sweat from his brow and swallowed. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Ask away!" said the man. "I'm sure you're a little out of your element right now."

  "It's not alive, is it? The ground down there, I mean."

  The man frowned for a moment, then laughed. "Of course not. You're just experiencing some vertigo. Don't overthink it."

  Frank nodded, although he wasn't convinced.

  "Come on," said the man, turning away. "Let's head down."

  "Wait," said Frank. "What's your name?"

  The man chuckled. "Sorry, I forgot. My name is Cornelius."

  "Just Cornelius?"

  Cornelius nodded. "We don't have family names here. The Council of the Mother Tree thinks family names create unnecessary divisions."

  Frank nodded and looked out at the forest, which seemed to stretch all the way to the edge of his vision. "Are there other people here like me and my daughter?"

  "You'll get to meet with them after your first task is complete," said Cornelius. "What until they get a load of you!"

  Cornelius reached out and tried to poke Frank in the chest, but Frank recoiled and covered the spot.

  "Suit yourself," said Cornelius, grinning. "Right now, we need to go to work. Come on! We don't have all day!"

  Frank frowned, wondering how anyone could tell day from night in this eternal darkness.

  Cornelius turned back and broke out into another deep, hearty laugh. "That's another joke," he said. "I always use that on the outsiders. Same reaction, every time. I love it! Before you ask, there's no days and nights here. For bookkeeping purposes, we use 30 hour days and 300 day years, but that’s mostly just to keep it simple."

  "Of course," said Frank. "How do we get down?"

  "Stairs," said Cornelius.

  "Are you serious?" said Frank. "That's like a kilome
ter down. I thought you had technology here."

  "We do, but not down to the surface. Too dangerous." Cornelius turned and walked away without another word. Frank watched the muscles in Cornelius's legs contract and stretch as he walked.

  After a moment of hesitation, Frank followed.

  They crossed a few more bridges. In the distance, Frank could see hundreds of locals moving around the biggest tree he'd had ever seen. It dwarfed the rest of the trees by comparison.

  "That's the Mother Tree," said Cornelius. "Hurry up! That joke about days might have been a joke, but we really are on a deadline."

  Cornelius stopped in front of a doorway that was cut into one of the trees. He took out a key and unlocked the door. They stepped inside the tree, closed the door behind them, and started walking down the staircase which wound around the trees interior.

  Frank had to stop several times on the way down to catch his breath. Each time, Cornelius would wait patiently as Frank rubbed his legs and waited for his strength to return.

  Frank began counting backwards from a thousand to focus his mind on something other than the endless steps and the pain in his legs. When he reached zero he started again. His thoughts wandered to Vivian and the woman.

  A million terrifying thoughts flew through his mind. He pushed them all away. It wouldn't do any good to scare himself.

  Finally, they reached the bottom. Frank fell against the wall and stretched out his legs. Cornelius handed him a metal bottle of water which he gulped down as fast as he could.

  Frank looked around. They were in a small round room with metal cabinets and a desk against the walls. The bottle of water had come from one of the cabinets.

  "You'll find all the weapons you need here," said Cornelius.

  "Weapons?" said Frank, looking up at him. "Why do I need weapons?"

  "You shouldn't," said Cornelius. "Usually the creatures keep to themselves, but it never hurts to be safe."

  "Agreed," said Frank, pushing himself to his feet.

  He walked over to the cabinets and examined the guns. They were military issue, although any proprietary information had been scratched off.

  He put on a gun belt and loaded it with ammunition.

  "What's my task?" said Frank as he finished outfitting himself. He was a professional, and he was going to act like it.

  Cornelius fell into the chair. "We use broadcast dishes to contact the outside world. It's how we contacted you. One of them fell from its perch above the trees and onto the forest floor. We need you to retrieve it."

  "That's a long way down, are you sure it's still functional?"

  "Probably not, but we need the parts regardless."

  Frank nodded and turned towards the exit. There was one more set of stairs, then he would step onto the forest floor. The air was denser and more humid here, and he could see the perspiration building up on Cornelius's translucent skin.

  "Why can't one of you go and retrieve it?" said Frank. He winced at his own words. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant, why do I have to go and retrieve it?"

  Cornelius grinned. "Because this is your job, and because you might die. We can't put our own people at risk. Don't worry. The forest won't bite."

  Frank spun and glared at him. He watched a muscle twitch in Cornelius's jaw.

  Cornelius laughed again. Frank couldn't help but smile. He had to admit Cornelius had a good laugh.

  "What are you looking at?" said Cornelius. "Oh, right. I always forget that you freaks can see through our skin. It makes you great medics. I'm sure you're used to it."

  "No," said Frank, shaking his head. "I've never seen anything like it. Do you mean you can't see your own organs?"

  "No," said Cornelius. "Why would we? That would be weird. Come on, we need that dish back up and running as soon as possible."

  "Where is it?" said Frank, gathering himself. He took a few hesitant steps in the direction of the doorway.

  "To the East," said Cornelius. "About three hundred meters from here. Get the dish and drag it back. We'll have your lodgings set up by then, along with a nice warm dinner. How does that sound?"

  Frank couldn't remember the last time he'd had a warm meal. If he ever ate beans out of a can again, it would be too soon.

  His stomach grumbled, and he walked out the door.

  He walked down the last flight of stairs and stopped on the last step.

  One more step and he would be on the forest floor. He looked up. He could barely make out the bridges a kilometer above him.

  He lurched forward as a heavy force hit him from behind. He stumbled onto the mossy, leaf covered ground. He spun around, seething.

  Cornelius was standing on the staircase, laughing and smacking his knee. Frank hadn't heard him approach.

  "You froze up," said Cornelius when he noticed the look Frank was giving him. “I was helping."

  "How do you not have anyone else who can do this?" Frank shouted back. "Why not someone else of my kind?

  Cornelius became stern and serious. "Be glad that you were given this opportunity. There are people begging to get this position. Where would you and your daughter be if we hadn't offered you sanctuary?"

  Frank swallowed. There were two scenarios. In the first he and Vivian were both dead. In the second, he was in prison and Vivian was a ward of the Confederation.

  He didn't know which was worse.

  Frank sighed and nodded.

  "The dish is that way, right?" he said, pointing to his right.

  Cornelius nodded. He turned and walked up the stairs. "I'll see you soon," he shouted over his shoulder.

  Frank turned towards the uninviting forest. He readjusted his belt and made sure his gun was loaded. It was archaic technology, but it would get the job done.

  He reached up and adjusted the goggles on his face. If they ever stopped working, he would be dead.

  He needed to get the broadcast dish as fast as possible. He wondered if he was being watched.

  The spongy moss sank as he walked along the forest floor. His heart skipped a beat whenever a leaf or twig crunched under his foot or he stepped on a loose rock.

  Several times, he had to jump and scramble over the roots of the immense trees, falling over the top.

  Within a half hour, he found the broadcast dish.

  It only raised more questions.

  Frank looked up at the dish. It was leaning against a tree, and dwarfed the immense roots around it. It was covered in moss, branches, dirt and rust.

  It had been here a long time.

  Frank considered the possibility that rust accumulated faster on this planet.

  Something moved in the corner of his eye.

  He turned and saw nothing.

  Something moved again. Frank pulled out his gun and spun towards the source of the movement.

  A small orange bird was perched on a branch. It gave him with a questioning glance.

  Frank let out a deep breath. He was being paranoid. He would go back and explain that Cornelius had made a mistake. They would need to send more people to get the dish.

  It was an honest mistake.

  The ground began to shake and move, turning in on itself.

  In that moment, Frank knew that all his fears had been founded.

  He cursed and pushed his back against the broadcast dish. He aimed the gun at the ground as it began to pulse and move.

  The clearing in front of him began to rotate like a whirlpool.

  The ground beneath Frank's feet began moving, pulling him towards the center of the clearing.

  He turned and began running towards the broadcast dish, running against the current of the moving forest. No matter how fast he ran, he got further from the broadcast dish. His breaths became frantic as he desperately tried to run away from the center of the clearing.

  He shot backwards, at the center of the grass whirlpool, but the bullets disappeared into the moss as though it was water.

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the center of th
e clearing was opening like jaws.

  He looked at the broadcast dish, wondering what it's true purpose was.

  He kept running and looked up at the bridges and the dark canopy of leaves overhead. He thought of Vivian. He had brought her here. This was all his fault.

  Frank tripped over a branch and fell onto all fours.

  The moving ground dragged him towards the opening jaws. He tried to crawl against the current, but it was too fast.

  As he got closer to the mouth, he turned onto his backside and began firing wildly into the hole.

  It did nothing.

  He tried to grab the grass, but everything was moving along with him.

  Frank fell into the waiting mouth of the forest. He fell a few feet, onto a soft cushion of moss.

  He tried to sit up and reach for the edges of the hole above him.

  A root shot out from the ground and grabbed his wrist, wrapping around it and pulling it back down into the moss. In quick succession, roots grabbed onto all four of his limbs, as well as his neck and waist.

  "Help!" screamed Frank. The mouth of the forest was closing above him, cutting off any view of the forest above.

  "Vivian!" he screamed, hoping beyond hope that she would be able to hear him.

  As the mouth of the living forest closed above him, his cries were abruptly cut off from the rest of the world.

  Chapter 2

  10 Years Later

  Vivian looked closely at Cornelius's chest. His heart was not doing well. He was overweight and had been exerting himself for almost a decade. There was nothing she could do for him if he didn't want to help himself.

  She had told him as much a dozen times.

  "You know," said Cornelius, lowering his shirt, "It's still strange you can see through my chest."

  "It's strange to me that you can't," said Vivian.

  She smiled up at Cornelius. Ever since that fateful day her father had died, Cornelius had become a father figure to her.

  He had been the one to tell her that her father had been attacked and killed by a basilisk, one of the rarest and most dangerous creatures on Trella.

  She had initially been distraught, but over time she had come to accept it was an honest mistake that anyone could have made. In the time since, she had been adopted into the culture of Trella as though she had always lived there.