Omina Uncharted

by Roland Starr

  “I gave up thinking about my fife when this mission was planned,” the Pravan said in grim tones. “I’m rather surprised that we have got this far, but I don’t expect a successful conclusion. I think the Zukons will follow their nature and refuse our aid. They will keep on trying to conquer Prava, and they won’t care if they die in the attempt.”

  “I think you’re wrong.” Vonner moistened his lips. “I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t think we could make these people see reason. The fact that they’ve released Bardo makes me more confident of the outcome.”

  He looked up at Bardo, and saw the man coming erect from his seat. There was something in Bardo’s expression that warned Vonner of trouble, but the man was staring towards the two Zukon guards. Suddenly Bardo reached into his pocket, and Vonner caught a glimpse of metal as Bardo lifted something clear of his clothes.

  Den Thol shouted a warning and the Zukons turned quickly. Vonner launched himself forward across the room in a flying tackle at the space-sick Earthman as Bardo lifted a Zukon weapon to blast the two Zukons. In that moment the whole situation changed drastically. Vonner was actually off his feet in a headlong dive when a terrific explosion shattered the silence and the building rocked wildly. The next instant Vonner was colliding heavily with Bardo, knocking him off balance and putting him off aim. Then it seemed that the whole building fell in upon them, and blackness flared up to encompass them…

  CHAPTER XI

  Vonner opened his eyes and looked around dizzily. He was having trouble breathing, and he struggled into a sitting position, pushing the inert and heavy figure of Ed Bardo off his shoulders. He saw that Bardo was unconscious, and there was a trickle of blood on the Earthman’s right temple. A chunk of masonry had fallen from the ceiling, striking Bardo with full force and catching Vonner a glancing blow. Den Thol was stretched out on his back some yards away, breathing heavily and apparently unconscious. There was no sign of the two Zukon guards.

  Looking around, Vonner saw the reason for his difficulty in breathing. Part of an exterior wall had collapsed, and the heavy atmosphere of the planet had filtered into the pressured air if the interior. Vonner made an effort to get to his feet and staggered across to Den Thol, bending over the Pravan and shaking his shoulder. There were no outward signs of injuries on the man, but Den Thol appeared to be having more trouble with his breathing than Vonner himself.

  Vonner crossed to the lower end of the room, which had not been so severely damaged, and hastily put on his space suit. As soon as he was breathing purer air he felt easier, and he went to Den Thol and tried to arouse the Pravan. Failing to do so, he carried the man to where the space suits lay and put Den Tholl’s head inside the helmet, turning on the air supply. Then he went to check Ed Bardo.

  A second explosion rent the air, and the damaged building rocked dangerously. Vonner crouched, looking around wonderingly. Pieces of masonry were falling from the upper part of the building, and he hurried to a window and peered outside. He was shocked to see that the two Zukon craft had disappeared, and even more amazed at the sight which met his eyes when he lifted his gaze to stare at the nearer of the volcanoes.

  The top of the volcano was missing, and dense smoke was pouring into the lowering skies, billowing up angrily, shot with dull red, ominous flames, and even at the distance Vonner could see a wave of molten lava spilling down the mountain slopes. He stared for a moment, fearing that the end of the planet had come. Then he turned to check upon Bardo, and was relieved to see Den Thol recovered and getting into his space suit.

  “Captain, try to contact Orion,” the Pravan called. “I’ll take care of Bardo. We need a ship down here to take us off.”

  “You’ve seen that the Zukons have pulled out?” Vonner demanded.

  “Yes, and it is no more than I expected,” came the grim reply. “I think we had better seek the security of Orion until we can re-establish contact with the Zukons once more.”

  “Our guards have gone,” Vonner said as he moved to the door.

  “And they saw Bardo about to attack them when the explosion came,” Den Thol said. “We may find that the truce is over, Captain. Hurry and get a ship down here for us.”

  Vonner nodded and left the room, but when he entered the communications office he found the place in a shambles. Great chunks of solid rock had crashed against the exterior walls, pieces of the volcano top, Vonner decided. There were gaping holes in the insulated wall and the delicate communications equipment was shattered. It looked too badly damaged to operate, Vonner thought, and soon discovered that it was. There was no life in any of the input dials, and the screens remained blank no matter what he tried. He gave up after a short time and went back to where Den Thol was getting Bardo into a space suit.

  “I’ll try my personal communicator when we get outside,” Vonner said. “The equipment in here is useless.”

  “We’re going to be in trouble if we don’t get out of this area as soon as possible,” Den Thol retorted. “That second volcano looks as if it is erupting all the more furiously now. I was hoping that the explosion in the other would have lessened the pressure somehow, but it seems to have aggravated the whole situation.”

  “How is Bardo?” Vonner went across, and was relieved to see Bardo’s eyes open, but the man seemed dazed, and he did not reply when Vonner questioned him.

  “Let’s get outside,” Den Thol said, and they had to half carry Bardo.

  But the airlock door was locked on the outside, and Vonner tightened his lips as he realised that they would not be able to leave by the normal way.

  “We’ve got a ridge between us and any lava flow,” Den Thol said. “But there could be another explosion at any time, and if the whole volcano disintegrates it will tear this part of the land to shreds. We’d never survive.”

  “There are holes in the exterior wall in the communications room,” Vonner said. “Let’s try there. Those Zukons have disappeared. I expect they left by the airlock as soon as the explosion happened. Do you think Tryxx imagined it was our device that caused the explosion?”

  Den Thol shook his head, and they supported Bardo as they made their way into the communications room. The Pravan’s face showed despair when he saw the damage that had been caused to the equipment.

  The double exterior wall of the room was severely holed, and they found that they could just squeeze outside. Vonner went first, then helped Bardo through, and Den Thol followed. The ground was heaving and shaking as they moved into the open, and thick black ash was coming down steadily like rain. But more ominous and dangerous were the lumps of smoking lava rock that were crashing down all around. Some were as large as a man, and Vonner tightened his lips as he was narrowly missed by a chunk that would have obliterated him had it made contact.

  Vonner produced his personal communicator, but all he got when he operated it was a continuous stream of static.

  Den Thol spoke to him on their space suits communicators, and now they were in the open they had difficulty in hearing each other.

  “We’ll have to get under cover, Captain,” the Pravan said. “If we are hit by lava and our suits burned we’ll die. Let’s try those other buildings. There may be an intact communicator in one of them. We need a shuttle-ship down here. The sooner we get off this planet the better.”

  “I want to re-establish contact with the Zukons,” Vonner said.

  Den Thol smiled thinly. “Let us not cross our bridges until we come to them,” he retorted. “First we must take care of our own position.”

  Bardo was able to walk unaided, but when Vonner spoke to him he got no reply from the dazed man. Vonner realised that it wasn’t just the treatment he’d received from the Zukons that was affecting him. The space sickness still clutched Bardo’s mind with its sinister power.

  They had several narrow escapes as they made a search of the other buildings. Most of them had been damaged in the volcanic explosion, but on the perimeter of the site they came across a blockhouse-type of building that had with
stood the fierce natural eruption.

  Den Thol opened the airlock and they entered, to find themselves in a command post. The Pravan seemed to know all about the place. He turned to Vonner.

  “Captain, this is the command post of the site. There are concealed missile pits around this area, and they are controlled from here. This whole site is patterned on the Pravan set-up on our perimeter planets. The Zukons stole the plans and used them for their own defence.”

  “That’s interesting,” Vonner said. “But is there a communicator here that will enable us to contact Orion,”

  “If Orion is still in orbit then we should be able to talk to them!” Den Thol shed his space suit, and Vonner followed the action. But Bardo merely removed his helmet. “Come this way, Captain,” the Pravan continued. “At least we’ll be safe in here unless the planet does disintegrate.”

  There was no damage at all to the interior of the command post, and Vonner was relieved as he followed the Pravan to the top storey of the building. They entered an observation room which gave all-round views of the entire area, and there were consoles and wall panels occupying every foot of space.

  Vonner stood watching while Den Thol operated the master switches. Lights began to flash on the panels, and dials and meters began to register.

  “We’re in luck, Captain,” Den Thol said jubilantly.

  “Everything works. This is exactly like the command post I use on Omina! Give me a moment and then we should be in contact with Orion!

  Vonner looked around through the transparent dome of the building, and noted with growing concern that the eruptions of the second volcano were growing in volume and intensity. It seemed as if the forces of Nature itself were angry with the Zukons.

  “Try to contact the Zukons before Orion,” Vonner said.

  Den Thol looked at him, and there was a strange expression on the Pravan’s face.

  “You do care more about these hostile people than your own life, Captain! If you are an average example of your race then I sincerely hope that Earth men will colonise Omina. Our two peoples would gain much from fraternisation.”

  “I’m thinking of the millions of women and children in those cities under the sea,” Vonner said slowly. “We’ve got to do all we can to save them, Den Thol.”

  “Of course you are right,” the Pravan replied. He turned to a console and began to operate it, and when he spoke he used the Zukon language.

  Vonner listened, although he could not understand. There was interference on the air, but nothing as bad as that encountered on the smaller personal communicators. The moments went by and there was no reply when Den Thol switched the receiver on. There was no sound from the outside because of the heavily insulated walls of the command post, but Vonner suddenly felt the building tremor, and when he looked through the transparent walls he was horrified to see a second tremendous eruption from the volcano that had already blown its top.

  Flames and molten lava spurted into the dark sky, and tremor after tremor shook the whole area. Rocks came crashing down into the big clearing, and several struck the dome of the command post. Vonner flinched, although he realised that nothing short of a direct hit from a nuclear missile would fracture the dome. He went to Den Thol’s side, and the Pravan turned a worried face towards him.

  “There’s no answer, Captain. I think we’d better contact Orion and get out of here. We can handle the situation better from orbit. I have the feeling that Zukon is in its death throes!”

  “I wonder where Captain Tryxx went to?” Vonner stared around, watching the volcanoes. The second volcano seemed to be increasing its activity, and he knew from the graphs they had made of the entire surface of the planet that there were literally hundreds of volcanoes, most of them active.

  “He didn’t strike me as being a man who would flee,” Den Thol said. “I have fought against Tryxx many times, and he never showed fear.”

  “Perhaps he was ordered away,” Vonner said. “Unless those guards with us reported to him that Bardo was about the kill them when the eruption took place.”

  “They certainly left us in a hurry.” Den Thol’s voice was steady but thin with anticipation. “Captain, perhaps you would watch those two screens on that wall. I’ll activate them. The one on the left will show you any craft that shows above this segment of the hemisphere. The other will warn of missiles approaching the planet anywhere above our horizons.”

  Vonner stared at the screens, and as soon as they were activated he saw a space craft on the left hand screen. He recognised it immediately as Orion. But reception was poor, and from time to time the picture faded.

  “So your ship is still in orbit.” There was satisfaction in Den Thol’s voice. “Will Mr. Hanton act upon his own initiative and send a shuttleship down here to contact you? He must know by now that communications have broken down. He must have recorded the volcanic action that is taking place.”

  “There is a more dangerous aspect to this loss of contact,” Vonner said in harsh tones. “With communication broken off Mr. Hanton may think that we’ve been overpowered by the Zukons. He may leave orbit and have your men trigger that device we planted.”

  There was silence between them for a moment, and then Den Thol drew a swift breath.

  “I’ve been trying not to let that thought come into my mind,” he said. “I think we had better contact your ship at once, Captain. We must maintain some control over the decision to use the device.”

  “There’s a second craft on the screen,” Vonner said, his eyes narrowing as he saw a Zukon ship. “Is it about to attack Orion'?"

  They watched intently, helpless to intervene, but Vonner knew Orion's deflector screens were up, and he waited to see what the Zukon ship would do because it actions would indicate the attitude now held by the Zukons. But Den Thol was watching the other screen, and the Pravan’s sharp ejaculation of shock jerked Vonner’s attention to the right-hand screen. He stiffened when he saw half a dozen pinpoints of light being recorded.

  “Missiles,” Den Thol said in clipped tones, and ran across the room to a set-up of panels bristling with levers and switches. “It looks as if they’ve been fired at us!”

  “What can I do?” Vonner demanded as the Pravan hurriedly threw switches and punched buttons. The panels became alive with flickering red and green lights.

  “Nothing! I can handle this. You’d better pray that the volcanic action hasn’t damaged any of the controls. If you look at the cleared ground around us you’ll see weapon pits opening up.”

  Vonner moved to a window and peered out, and was surprised to see dozens of gaping holes in the ground that they had walked over on their approach to the site. He went back to Den Thol’s side, but the Pravan was frantically busy.

  “Everything is worked by computer,” Den Thol said. “But I have to activate all the circuits. Let’s hope the circuits have been well maintained.”

  Vonner glanced at the right-hand screen, and saw the points of light growing larger.

  “They’ll strike here in thirty seconds,” Den Thol said. “I’ll know in a moment if they’re aimed at us or the volcano. It could be that the Zukons are trying a desperate measure to stop the volcanic action. They may be blasting them in the hope that the explosions will stifle them into inactivity.”

  “There’s little chance of that,” Vonner said. “I think we’d better accept that they are aiming at us, Den Thol.”

  They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, and the silence was overpowering.

  “If that is the case then the Zukons have decided against accepting a truce and they’re ready to resume hostilities.” Den Thol’s tones quivered with disappointment. “It means that we have sacrificed our lives in vain.”

  “It means that the millions of Zukons on this planet are doomed to die,” Vonner retorted. “We must maintain contact with these people. We’ve got to talk some more.”

  “It’s too late!” The Pravan shook his head sadly. “Those six missiles are directed at t
his spot. They know we are here and they plan to kill us, Captain.”

  As he spoke, Den Thol stabbed a long forefinger at a row of buttons, and Vonner glanced outside to see six streaks of smoke in the dark air. He glanced at the screen on the right and saw their counter-missiles rising speedily, and Den Thol chuckled harshly.

  “The Zukons must have overlooked the fact that I know this system intimately,” he said. “Our problem will not be in shooting down their missiles but having sufficient to hold our own against them. The firing points are reloaded automatically. On Omina we have sufficient arms to stand off continuous attacks. But the Zukons here have not been attacked by our forces in years. They have these sites merely as insurance against our coming. If they haven’t been maintained to our standards then I’m afraid we’re in for a bad time, Captain.”

  Vonner was watching the right hand screen, but he nodded without transferring his attention from it. Slowly the two lines of bright dots moved together, until they were almost touching. Then a brightness enveloped the screen, and when it cleared there were no more dots.

  “We’ve destroyed the first shots,” Den Thol said, jabbing his fingers at other buttons. “Now let us hope we can reload for the next attack.”

  “Show me how to work the communicator and I’ll keep trying to raise Orion,” Vonner said sharply. He eyed the left hand screen, and saw Orion and the Zukon ship. They were not engaging each other, and Vonner knew Hanton would not attack until he had received confirmation of the renewed hostilities.

  Den Thol showed Vonner how to use the communicator, and Vonner sat down and began to call Orion. He saw Den Thol beat off a second missile attack. The Pravan was coldly decisive, and never hurried or hesitated in his actions. But Vonner failed to raise the ship, and when he tried to call up the Zukons there was no reply.

  “It looks like stalemate for the moment,” Den Thol said at length. “Very soon we’re going to be in serious trouble.”