Diego & Germán - 1. Chapter I: Am I alone?

What a great day to be alive! Spring here is really something to behold.

An enormous vault in radiant electric cyan with some cotton candy clouds hanging here and there extended in all directions. The early sun still projected long shadows in the woods, leaving light and dark beams, alternatively warming and cooling me on my morning run.

# Well, let us see if you still feel the same when we reach 35°C at noon. This heat is not doing my valves any good. #

* Oh, fuck you, Lisa. If you are trying to manipulate me into leaving, let me tell you, I know for a fact that in the back of my brain, where you are located, it’s permanently a cozy 37°C. I know you'd prefer to be with you clique of IA's back home, solving equations, or whatever you do with your friends in your down time, but you are stuck with me here. So deal with it. Now be a good daemon, and let me enjoy my morning run. *

# Harrumph. #

Running through pure, unadulterated nature was liberating: sprinting over roots and bushes, no humans within thousands of kilometers, following a trail, zig-zagging between tree trunks, that deer and other animals had left on their way to water. When I arrived on this planet, and settled here, you almost couldn't distinguish the trail among the high grass. Now there was a clear path, of about 30 cm, that went from the woods to the tumultuous brook on the other side, below my tent.

Even though I was not trying to be specially silent, rabbits, deer or foxes crossed my way often, probably startled at seeing an unknown creature, puffing and panting in just his shorts and flashy yellow and orange running shoes. As far as I knew, there were also wolves and bears around, but they had been avoiding me so far. No problem there, as long as Ruffles, my dog, was with me. Running with weapons in the middle of nowhere is kind of ridiculous – imagine tripping on a root and shooting your leg –, but an encounter with a bear or with wolves could become really unpleasant fast. So Ruffles, my warhound, was the perfect way to keep unexpected surprises at bay.

Not that I would’ve left Ruffles behind, but bringing him with me had been one of the conditions my family set when they agreed to sponsor me for this trip. My mothers would not have put their impressive weight behind this project if the cybernetic combat war hound was not to spend every minute with me, in the ‘frozen-ass-of-the-galaxy’, as they liked to remind me.

And really, Ruffles was the kind of cuddly company I really loved to have with me. He woke me up every morning, laying his not inconsiderable weight on my stomach, impatient to go out, and his sheer happiness running through the woods with me, gave me energy for the whole day. I didn't feel so lonely with him around.

After a bend in the trail, I arrived at the brook again, with the water current singing g to the left and a dark green slope to the right. Below a thick mass of leaves supported by hundreds of straight white trunks, extended a shadowy turf with thousands of tiny white bell-flowers, almost shining against the dark background. It resembled an inverted green night sky carried by marble columns.

Wow! What colors! If the planet has more of these to offer, this will be a memorable stay.

* Have you seen this, Lisa? *

# Did you notice it reeks like garlic there? Those are ramsons. #

* Oh, shut up. Can't I just enjoy the beauty? *

# I am just trying to prevent you becoming a sappy romantic. We do not need the angst here. #

* You are just jealous I can run and you can’t. *

# Hey! That really was under the belt. You are being a bodyist pig. We, the bodyless, resent what you are implying. #

I continued running and bickering with Lisa. The ramsons' slope more or less marked the middle of my circuit. From now on, the trail turned right, moving under some crags, to enter the big plain of the river that occupied the center, several kilometers further down.

The moment I was under the crags, Ruffles began barking nervously.

That big putz has smelled a rabbit again. If I didn't control him, there wouldn't be a rabbit in kilometers.

But then I felt it too. Someone or something was watching.

How is it possible? I should have detected this sooner. The nearest settlement is the mission in Shboa, over a 1000 km away. What interest could that bunch of fanatics have in me? If it was them, they'd have come calling at my tent, exhorting me to repent and clean my sinful soul. Actually, who would have an interest in me at all?

* Lisa, have you noticed it too? *

# Do you think it could be a booty call? #

* Oh, come on, this is serious. Whoever this is, he has gone undetected for who knows how long. And that failure includes you. *

# Hey, I'm just as good as my sensors, and they are not saying jack. Someone was too cheap to spend money on decent stuff. #

* We are not having that discussion now. *

I got goosebumps. Whoever this was, he was really good. I contacted Ruffles, to see if his keen senses had detected something more. A war hound was an exceedingly expensive machine, which only the likes of my family could afford privately, and the technology involved was nothing but spectacular. But even Ruffles had only detected something at the lowest level of intuition, and I could not find a better answer.

* Lisa, how are the satellites doing. Can you read anything from them?*

# I have already checked, but someone was too much of a cheapskate to deploy all the satellites (do you notice a trend here?), and now they are both under the horizon. At least I can confirm everything is fine at the camp and no one has breached the secured perimeter. #

* Hey, I wasn't expecting an army for tea. I'm in the frozen asshole of the galaxy, for fucks sake! *

Actually I’d thought of not launching the satellites at all. What dangers should there be on an archeological mission? The drones should be enough for reconnaissance and transport. At the end I decided to launch them to better study the wider terrain and weather patterns, but I never thought they would be needed against an attack or something.

OK, let's use some concentration. Focus your emptiness inside. Let your consciousness expand. Extend the bubble out. Sense all the life around you. Hear their essence. Feel their energy.

Slowly the bubble of my consciousness grew, while I jogged on. Keeping my body moving, to avoid letting my watcher realize he’d been found out, and concentrating on my chi wasn’t easy. But I was able to follow my intuition to its source.

There it was, somewhere above me, on the crag. A person, a man, was watching, perched on a ledge, but I couldn’t sense any impending danger. Whoever it was, he wasn’t out to hurt me.

What is he doing there? I'm in the middle of nowhere, doing an archaeological excavation. Someone lost? Some castaway?

I used my military training to reign in my thoughts. No use asking questions that can’t be answered. Ruffles! Let's go back to camp!

Ruffles immediately positioned himself by my side and we both trotted back. Not too fast, but not too slow; I wanted to get back as soon as possible, but I had to keep my strength; I might need it later.

Mysterious stalker didn't try to follow me.

As soon as I arrived at the tent, I sat at my office table, to get a better connection to the system, and tried to see if I could find out something else. Maybe the baggers or the drones had detected something out of the ordinary. Even the data from the satellites from the past days didn't give me any clues as to who was watching.

* OK, Lisa, let's increase security and launch the third and fourth satellites. We still have some stuff in the ship we could use down here. Deploy it as you see fit. If that guy is going to visit, I want to know before he arrives. Oh, and bring down some of the heavy stuff. I want to be ready for all eventualities, and the gun won't be enough. For the moment I'll concentrate on my job, and you can play with the system, and watch the invisible man. *

# You always get the best jobs! #

* That's because I'm the boss. *

My mind filled with a big smiley blowing a raspberry.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Carlos Hazday, the Beta Reader, and Jaro_423, the Editor, for their hard work, and their immense patience. You rock! 
If there are any errors left in the story, rest assured, they are mine.
I'm not sure how the comments work here, but I'd be grateful if you could notice me any errors you find. Thanks!