by Terry Frost
The other male, that left and went to check on his upset mate holding the small alien baby, came back. He said, “Bapi attack Putu littles while play. Kill little’s overwatchers and take two Putu littles. Joto’s (name of the other male) little hurt but okay. Putu kills Bapi, now.”
“Putu will kill Bapi, but we take Jeeves to Father Pappa then we go hunt Bapi.”
Jeeves could tell Joto didn’t like the thought of waiting to kill the invading clan as he jumped up and down on the branch while screeching, then he jumped from branch to branch, then back and stood next to Tinko and didn’t make another sound.
With Jeeves in the zip basket, Tinko pulled a stick lever that attached the basket to the tree and the basket and Jeeves zipped along at a fairly good speed. As he moved through the Putu’s world, he found it amazing how well Tinko and Joto kept up with the basket while they jumped from branch to branch along the way.
By the time they reached Father Pappa’s den, Jeeves estimated he had been traveling through the lower canopy for three miles. He was astounded at the endurance of Tinko and Joto, as they never stopped along the ride.
It was obvious the den was that of Father Pappa, as it was three times as large as any he saw on the way to it. There were a dozen armed Putu warriors standing at the entrance of the large den. Jeeves noticed one of the males was working what looked to him to be a handbrake of some kind. The closer the basket came to the den, it slowed, then slowed again, until it came to a complete stop at a rather sizable deck that surrounded Father Pappa’s den and the magnificent tree the deck was built around.
Amazingly Tinko and Joto were standing on the deck when the basket stopped. He thought how can they move at the speeds they do?
When Jeeves got out of the basket, he took a second to take in the sight before him. Not only the sight but the sounds as well. There were several hundred, maybe even a thousand Putu jabbering and squealing. They were not talking because the universal translator stayed silent.
Many acted nervously, and probably scared, as they looked at the giant standing on the deck at Father Pappa’s den. Jeeves didn’t take note but most of the tiny aliens were fascinated with his platinum hair and awesome blue-green eyes.
“Hurry now, Jeeves. Father Pappa knows you are here and Putu never too long when Father know when we come to him.”
Chapter 11
Captain Sokolov, Major Hoser, and Captain Teasor had broken into the large planet’s atmosphere and had begun scanning. The scanner immediately started showing life in the form of large winged animals twice the size of the American Condor back on Earth.
Looking down at the huge birds Major Hoser, said, “Will you look at the size of those birds. I take it to be a good sign, Captain. If they are a breed of vulture, that can only mean one thing. There has to be some kind of carcasses for them to feed on.”
The Perseus was flying over a flat area with tall grasses blowing in a slight breeze. On the left side of the Battlecruiser was a long mountain range that scans showed to be equivalent to the Rocky Mountain Range on Earth.
Captain Sokolov decided to head in the direction of the mountains as he could see there was a wide river running a mile or so from the edge of the mountains. They flew over a patch of grass-covered mounds that were ten feet tall.
Captain Teasor pointed out that the mounds had two foot wide holes in the side of them and said, “Those might be the dens of some kind of animal. Maybe at some point, we can take a Rover out to investigate what is making the mounds their home.”
“I have a feeling we just might get the opportunity to do just that, Captain,” Sokolov said.
When the Perseus arrived at the river, Captain Sokolov began scanning as they flew in the same direction as the river was flowing. The river was a sight to see, as it was extremely blue and very clear.
After only a mile they came to a magnificent waterfall that dropped sixty feet below. It was at the falls that the crew saw some type of large fish topping the water just past the falls. It became clear why the fish were jumping out of the water as the Perseus’s crew were astonished as a twenty-foot long creature broke the surface and grabbed one of the big fish in midair. It was only a fleeting glance but they noticed the creature had a mouth full of teeth.
“Don’t think I would advise swimming in that river,” Hoser said.
Sokolov’s comlink chirped and he answered. The hail was from Admiral Allen.
“Anything good to report so far, Captain?”
Mikal thought good grief, Admiral. We’ve only been scanning for thirty minutes.
“I believe we do, Commander. We have seen large winged animals, ten-foot tall grassy mounds with dens dug into the side of them, and have just witnessed some form of aquatic life in a beautiful river that we are flying along at this moment.”
Allen did his best to hide his enthusiasm because of the report. “I’d say that is very good news, Captain. Report back to me with any new findings. I insist you notify me as soon as you can about any type of life. Allen out.”
“I don’t recall the admiral ever being this persistent about any of the other planets we’ve scanned during this entire mission,” Major Hoser said.
“I’m sure the admiral is thinking about the Colossians on board who have been marooned on that ship for a very, very, long time. We at least, have been able to stretch our legs during our visits to places like Planet Ogre, Daak, and Yopa,” Sokolov said.
****
Back on Colossus. “I’m about to go stir crazy. When are we going to be able to get off this damn tin bucket for a few hours?” Otis, the bartender asked, as he sat down two mugs of beer in front of a couple customers sitting at the bar.
The two men Otis was talking to were both Marines and were off duty. They were responsible for Colossus’s massive energy and projectile weapons depot. One of the Marines looked at Otis and said, “From what a couple of our fellow Marines told us, you damn sure wouldn’t want to have taken a tour of Planet Ogre.”
The other marine said, “Hell no you wouldn’t have, Otis.”
“Why, what was up with Planet Ogre?”
“Hence the name, Otis, Planet Ogre. Colonel Hammer named the planet that because what we were told was there were eighteen to twenty-foot tall ogres living on it.”
“You trying to tell me there were twenty-foot tall ogres walking around on that planet? First of all, that’s complete bullshit. There ain’t no such thing as ogres. Movie companies made the damn things up.”
“I’m just telling you what the guys that went on the mission told us,” the marine said.
“Just wait until I tell the eggheads that come in here on a regular basis about giant ogres. They are going to think I made this shit up.”
Chapter 12
The USC Striker and its team had covered the distance from the planet to Commodore’s Moon in just under thirty minutes. Once they were within communication range, Colonel Hammer began calling, Jeeves. He continued to call him for several more minutes, but Jeeves didn’t answer.
“If he’s not answering our call he must not be able to for some reason, or his comlink isn’t working properly,” Captain Slain suggested.
Hammer didn’t respond to Slain’s suggestion but did stray from the comlink issue and said, “You can correct me on this if you want, but isn’t this the first moon we’ve seen that is actually spinning like planets do?”
“As much as it pains me, Jak, I will have to agree with you.”
“What say we go down to the moon and scan for the Commodore's hornet. When we locate it maybe we can find the walking data master.”
“Shouldn’t we send a message to Colossus that Jeeves isn’t answering our hails and that we are going down to the moon to look for him?”
“I guess that would be the right thing to do but by the time they receive the message we probably would have found him. Admiral Allen would be more likely to be pleased if when we do call in, we would have something remarkable to tell him.”
“A
ren’t you forgetting something, Jak?” Jak just looked at Captain Slain while waiting for him to tell him what he was forgetting.
“Protocol, Jak. You know what that is, don’t you?”
“Yes I know what protocol is, Kenner, and you know I don’t particularly care for protocols.”
“We are supposed to inform command of any time we are going to be entering a planet, or in this case a moon’s atmosphere.”
“Alright, if you must, go ahead and inform them, but we ain’t waiting for their response. Now send your message and let’s go find the Commodore.”
****
To Jeeves’s surprise, Father Pappa’s den was tall enough for him to walk upright, once inside. The interior of the tree was lit up by bright green fluorescent strips that ran vertically on the walls of the tree. It was the same color as the channels he had seen in the black rocks on the shore of the Greatest Lake.
After four or five steps into the den, Tinko turned to Jeeves and said, “Humon Jeeves wait here.”
Tinko and Joto walked further into the den, leaving four wide-eyed Putu warriors to guard Jeeves. While he waited, and the guards were pointing their spears at him and grinning, as they showed their teeth. He didn’t have to wait long before Tinko and Joto came for him.
“Father Pappa will see Jeeves now,” Tinko said.
Commodore Jeeves had turned off his communicator when he was under the large leaves just under Tinko and Joto, when he first laid eyes on them, as he didn’t want to give himself away by allowing the comlink to sound off. It was uncommon for Jeeves to forget things, but he was so enamored with his discovery, he had forgotten to turn it back on.
When he finally saw Father Pappa, he was surprised at the size of the alien overlord. He was a foot taller and several inches wider than any other Putu. The hair patch on his head was about the same color as Jeeves’s hair, platinum.
His eyes were streaked red, not white like the others. Jeeves knew this alien had seen many years in its life. He was sitting on a massive bent wood throne of sorts. The branches were some of the smallest Jeeves had seen in the massive forest. They were tightly woven and twisted in such a way the throne almost looked like it was cut out of a small tree trunk.
Pappa’s throne had a rounded high back and there was an armrest on each side. There were two females holding woven bowls made of leaves. One of the bowls was moving, or so Jeeves thought. It was a batch of large worms and the other was full of insects that made a buzzing sound.
He was staring straight at Jeeves as he pulled a large worm out and ate it whole. He reached into the other bowl and brought out a strange dark bug with wings and began munching on it. While chewing the bug, its wings were the last thing to disappear in Pappa’s mouth before disappearing and being swallowed.
Jeeves started to introduce himself but before he got a word out, Pappa held up his hand stopping him from speaking. Pappa chewed for a few more seconds then motioned for the females to take the bowls away.
He looked at Tinko and Joto and said in a husky voice, “Putu must kill Bapi and bring back the littles. Leave now, Father Pappa want to speak to this Humon.”
Tinko and Joto performed a half bow then quickly exited the den. The other four warriors stood near the back of Father Pappa. Pappa waved Jeeves to come closer so he could get a good look at him, then motioned him to sit. The only place for him to sit was on the wood floor, so he sat, crossing his legs in front of the amazing alien overlord.
“Pappa know name, Jeeves. Pappa not know why come to Putu’s world. Why come to Putu’s world, Jeeves?”
“Prior to my arrival to Putu’s world, I did not know of the Putu. I am from a world far away and am looking for my kind.”
“Humons?”
“Yes, Humans.
“Father Pappa is first Putu. All Putu come from Pappa. All Putu have Pappa’s blood.”
It would be best not to ask him how he could father all the Putu without a mate. So I think I will let this information stand. I wonder why he hasn’t asked me how I got to this world.
As if Father Pappa could read minds he said to Jeeves’s astonishment, “Pappa know how Jeeves get to Putu’s world. Jeeves fly the stars, does Jeeves not?”
“Yes, that is correct, Father Pappa. You know about the stars?”
“Pappa know many things, Humon. For Pappa has lived for many, many, seasons. Pappa remembers when this tree just bush,” he said while opening his arms and waving them about.
“Jeeves want Putu help find more Humons?”
Jeeves hesitated for just a few seconds before answering, as it just came to him Pappa had to be at least 300 to 400 hundred years old, or older.
“Thank you, Father Pappa, but I can find them with this,” Jeeves said as he pointed at his comlink.
He was surprised once more when Pappa didn’t ask him what was the communicator device. So he decided to see if he could get a question or two answered himself.
“Why do Putu and Bapi steal littles from each other, and kill each other?”
“Putu not take Bapi littles. Many seasons passed since Bapi betray Putu. Putu and Bapi like same clan. Evil Eater come to Putu and Bapi world. Evil Eater make Bapi take Putu littles and feed Evil Eater. We kill all Bapi for take Putu littles.”
Extremely interesting. I must find out more about this Evil Eater. I wonder if I can get him to extrapolate about the thing. But before Jeeves could pry more out of Father Pappa, outside of the Father’s den the Putu world became loud with screeching, and noises of banging on tree branches.
Jeeves began walking toward the entrance to the den, followed by Father Pappa and the four warriors. There were a dozen or so Putu standing on a deck near Pappa’s den and two of the Putu warriors had three Bapi on their knees with a braided rope around their hands and leashes around their necks.
The Bapi’s bodies were similar to the Putu except their color was dark gray with orange colored hair on their heads. Two of the three were bleeding from their heads, and the other from his mouth.
A female Putu came out of the den, which Jeeves had figured was Joto’s mate, and she was making an awful sound which to Jeeves sounded like wailing. Tinko saw Father Pappa and Jeeves and moved quickly and precisely to their location.
Just as Tinko landed on the deck, a loud scream rang out and everyone looked over at where the three Bapi were being held and saw Joto run a spear through the Bapi whose mouth was bleeding, then threw him off the deck to the bottom below.
The rest of the Putu that went on the hunt were jumping around as a celebration of Joto killing the Bapi. That’s when Jeeves asked Tinko what had happened and where were the two littles that had been taken.
“Joto kill Bapi leader. Leader take Putu littles and give to Evil Eater and littles no more. Tinko and Joto not sleep this night. When light of day come we give Bapi to Sabo. Sabo eats Putu and Bapi.”
He surely isn’t talking about a Sabertooth Tiger, Jeeves wondered.
Chapter 13
After scanning along the mountain range for almost fifty miles, the grassy plain ended and a wide area of thousands and thousands of small, medium and large brown and black rocks and boulders covered the landscape for miles. The whole area was void of life as far as the scan showed and after flying over the area for ten more miles, a mountain-sized dormant volcano began to come into view.
“Captain, I’m thinking that volcano is a pretty good indicator of where all the rocks came from many years ago,” Major Hoser implied.
“I believe that is an accurate assumption, Major. Must have been a hell of an explosion when that monster erupted. I’d guess it happened a hundred thousand years or so ago.”
The Perseus flew over the volcano and it, in fact, was dormant. A few miles past the volcano the mountain range ended right where a deep canyon began. The Grand Canyon was but a crack compared to the monstrosity they started flying over.
The canyon was about the same depth as the Grand Canyon back on Earth, but it was much wider and ran for a
t least a hundred miles. Most canyons that are known to Humans are usually dry and arid, with a sparse number of trees, and old signs of having at least one river had flowed in them at one time or another.
But the gash in this world had a number of waterfalls that poured out of the canyon walls and spilled their bounty into three raging rivers. At one point further into the canyon, two of the rivers emptied into a massive crystal clear lake that bordered on being just short of a strait or small sea. It was huge.
The entire length of the great canyon’s floor was covered with millions of average-sized trees. There were occasional open areas miles apart that were blanketed with medium to short grasses. Every opening the Perseus passed over had a different variety of animals that were feeding on the grass.
The animals didn’t resemble any kind of herbivore one might see on the plains of Africa back on Earth. One huge herd had short bodies like a cow but had long necks almost as long as giraffes. Captain Teasor commented on how weird they looked to which his two companions agreed.
There were small groups of huge boars with massive tusks foraging around as well as a mix of small antelope breeds. The canyon floor was filled with animal life and Captain Sokolov knew his next report to Admiral Allen would be an exciting one.
****
While still orbiting the planet, as the crew of the Perseus was using its scanners and sensors, Admiral Allen was getting an update from the Striker, which was searching for a signal from the transponder on Commodore Jeeves’s hornet.
Concerned by the news the crew of the Striker hadn’t heard from Commodore Jeeves, Allen ordered them to get down into the atmosphere of the moon and the second they picked up the transponder’s signal, start looking for Jeeves in their Rover.
“Do not hesitate to report the second you find the hornet, Captain Slain,” Allen ordered.
“Aye, aye, Admiral. When we find the hornet you will be the first to know. Slain, out.”
