Harvest Time

8 - Night Action

I spent the night in one room of a three-room shack that Emla shared with Elcanah. The room was barely large enough to lie down. Given a bed made from two hand-woven but threadbare blankets, I had difficulty getting to sleep. The jungle outside was filled with strange noises – insects, I was told – and having to sleep on the ground instead of a proper straw-filled mattress was far from comfortable. But, once I did manage to sleep, I was awoken not long afterwards by someone getting under the blanket with me.

"Say nothing," came a whispered voice. The voice sounded young and female. It didn't take much imagination to realise it was Emla. Close up, she smelt earthy, but not unpleasant.

"Emla?" I whispered.

"Quiet," she ordered. "They won't do anything about trying to get back. I've watched them for a year. They barely do enough to stay alive."

She pulled herself even closer to me, her mouth against my ear, her hair drifting across my face. I was glad of the darkness as I felt myself flush all over. I swallowed hard.

"I've been back to the Harvester depot several times. But only at night. You can get inside by climbing some trees and going through a hole in the roof."

"They didn't try to kill you?"

"No, they wanted to. But I've discovered some new things about them."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you want to go back as well, don't you?"

"Yes," I agreed.

"So do I. But I don't think I can do it on my own and these people aren't going to help."

"Why not?"

"Most of them are either scared or lazy or too old, or all three. I don't know. All they do is talk, but they never do anything. I know Elcanah tried once with help from Dakka, but she is too old now and while he is still a good hunter, he knows his arrows and axe are no match for Harvesters. So, despite Elcanah, even he has given up."

"But not you?"

"No. They say I'm the youngest that ever came through and survived. And that was only because I was holding onto Sesha, trying to stop her from being harvested."

"Your sister?"

"Yes, I-I saw what happened to her," she whispered and I could feel her body shake next to mine.

My thoughts returned to that breeder, her body partly mashed and shredded as she hung dying from the opening in the Harvester's glass cylinder. I shuddered, too. "I-I'm sorry about your sister. I lost mine to the Harvester as well."

"I want to kill them," Emla whispered. "You killed one."

"Yes."

"I heard that Dakka damaged the one that captured him, but he couldn't stop it taking all the others. But you actually killed one."

"Yes," I said again.

"I want to kill all of them."

"So do I," I whispered back.

"Good," she said.

She was silent for a few moments. Then she started to extract herself from my blankets but whispered, "Rest well. Tomorrow night I will show you."

Then she was gone.

I awoke in the morning as the sun came up and wondered if I had imagined Emla in my bed last night.

I yawned, feeling very tired. This was partly due to how heavy I was in this gravity but I also had the impression that the period of darkness had been short – far shorter than a night back home. I wondered if the day on this world had less than the normal thirty-six hours.