the Runner

by Peter Ponzo

CHAPTER 7

  C-phon3 Revisited

  When the ship was still several million kilometers from C-phon3, Runr had another dream, much like the earlier dreams. He had been walking among a host of stars which slowly vanished as he approached. Then he recognized them as crystals. Yet they appeared only momentarily, then were gone, vanishing into a blackness which he eventually recognized as the beast - which then attacked him, then the crystals had killed the creature. When he told Lori, she said it was just a dream and meant nothing. Runr grew apprehensive and morose. He stopped running about the vessel as he usually did and stayed in his cabin for long periods of time. Gry couldn't get him out of his state of depression. Kevn and Sal both were worried. Now they all stood about Runr's cot.

  "LIZ?" said Kevn.

  "Yes, master Kevn," answered the shipcomp from the small console in Runr's room. It was the same room where the boy had learned to speak the English language.

  "LIZ, you said that the C-phon planets sing. Is that how you put it?"

  "Yes, they sing. It is not precisely singing. It is not an audio signal but an electromagnetic radiation in the range just below infra red. It is not like the staccato of human speech. It is more like the allegro and andante of music. It is a modulation of frequency - a continuous rising and falling -"

  "LIZ," said Kevn, "can you hear it now?"

  "Yes, master Kevn. I have heard it since we left Afria - so long as we were not in subspace. It is now getting more intense."

  "Can you translate it, demodulate it, a frequency contraction perhaps, so we can hear it?"

  "I will try, master Kevn."

  They waited. There was a strange droning, then some static and then a clear and eerie humming and whistling, rising and falling.

  "Whale song," whispered Sal.

  "What song?" said Gry.

  "The whales of old Earth," said Kevn. "That's what it sounds like."

  Gry looked at Sal. "Whales were large mammals which lived in the oceans of old Earth," said Sal. "They vanished early in the twenty-first century, but there are recordings of their song. Kevn and I used to listen to them when we were kids. This sounds like whale song."

  They looked at Runr. He was sitting in his cot, listening carefully, his mouth opening and closing in rhythm to the wails coming from the console.

  "Runr," said Gry. "Do you understand what the planet is saying? Is it ... uh, saying something?"

  Runr looked at Gry with a blank stare. "No, it is C-phon3. It says nothing. It just sings."

  "Can you sing like that?" said Sal. "When you were on C-phon3 did you ever hear the planet sing like that? Did you ever -"

  "Sal! Stop asking questions," cried Lori. "Poor Runr is not well; he needs to rest. Now, all of you, get out of his room."

  "No, master Sal," said Runr as they were about to leave, "I never heard that before - but I think I might be able to talk to my planet now ... differently ... singing."

  "Runr, go to sleep now," whispered Lori. "You can sing to your planet later. Tomorrow. It will wait until then."

  ______________________________________________________

  When Runr stepped out of the shuttle onto the grassy field on C-phon3, he fell to the ground. Lori ran worried to his side but the boy was laughing.

  "You're pleased. You're back home. Is that it Runr?" she asked. The boy stood up, raised his arms high above his head and howled. Lori stepped back, frightened. Kevn and Gry looked from the boy toward the jungle and mountains, only a few kilometers away.

  "I wonder if we'll ... uh, find that beast?" said Gry.

  "I hope so, for the boy's sake," said Kevn.

  The boy began to run. "Runr, wait!" cried Lori.

  "It's okay, sweets," said Gry. "He won't get lost. We'll detach the ground-car and follow him."

  The three of them climbed into the g-car after it was lowered from the belly of the shuttle. It hummed, heaved and rose into the air, then headed after the boy.

  "Look at that little guy run!" cried Gry holding on to Lori. "Ever see anything that fast? See? That's why we called him runner!"

  By the time they reached the edge of the jungle the boy had disappeared. Kevn looked out the window and stared into the bush. "Well, it's time to get out of the g-car and follow on foot. Lori, you should stay here and -"

  "Certainly not!" she cried.

  "It's not a place for females," said Kevn. "It's full of vines and snakes and-"

  "You are not leaving me behind!"

  "Okay, we'll go slowly so you can ... uh, keep up," said Gry, but Lori had already jumped out of the g-car and was heading toward the jungle. The others followed as quickly as they could, jumping over roots and rocks, avoiding low branches, wading through wet bog and swatting insects that swarmed about their heads.

  "I can't see her, can you?" asked Gry, worried.

  "Nope. She's pretty fast. Runners' mother you know," said Kevn smiling. "Let's head for the mountain, where we first saw Runr. Who knows, Lori may already be headed that way."

  They continued until they reached the base of the mountain. They were about to walk into the clearing when they heard a scream.

  "That's Lori!" shouted Gry. "It came from over there!" and he ran back into the jungle.

  Lori stood with her back against a tree, hands raised in defense. In front of her stood an enormous beast, white froth dripping from its mouth, yellow teeth, huge arms extended, paws bristling with claws, whining, moaning. Gry stopped and Kevn continued past him.

  "Hey! Get out of here!" screamed Kevn, waving his arms as he ran toward the beast. The creature turned and dropped its arms, staring at Kevn, red tongue hanging from the side of its mouth.

  "Kevn, be careful!" shouted Lori. Kevn stopped a few meters from the creature, still waving his arms. The beast turned and dropped on all fours, walking toward Kevn with head low. Gry ran past Kevn and leaped at the beast, hitting it firmly on the skull with a rock. The great black creature howled in pain and rose to its full height. Gry gulped audibly and backed away toward Kevn. The beast rushed them and brought his arms down in a crushing blow, claws extended, mouth open in a wide and angry snarl. Kevn and Gry closed their eyes, ducked and waited for the blow to fall. They opened their eyes. The beast was gone.

  "The hole!" shouted Lori. "He fell into that hole!"

  Kevn and Gry peered into the opening in the ground. At the bottom was the beast, raging mad, clawing at the walls - and the walls glowed in a cool blue light.

  "Mother Earth!" cried Gry. "We've been saved by ... uh, by -"

  "- by Runr's planet," said Lori, gazing down the hole.

  "Where is Runr?" asked Kevn, looking about.

  "I saw him climb that mountain," said Lori, pointing in the direction of the clearing. They all ran in that direction and immediately started the climb. When they had reached the ridge, they could still hear the beast howling below in the jungle. Slowly they followed the ridge, Lori in the lead, until they came to a cave. Lori peered inside for a moment and entered. The others followed cautiously. At the far end of the cave was the runner, squatting, hands firmly planted against the wall, head lowered into his chest, eyes closed, singing softly. Blue lights danced about his hands.

  "Shhh," whispered Lori, "he's talking to his planet."

  The boy looked about and saw them in the mouth of the cave. He jumped up and ran to Lori. "He's not a bad beast. He was frightened. He is my best friend."

  "Some friend," grunted Gry.

  "I was calling him - my planet was calling him - he was coming to greet me. I'm sorry, I didn't think -"

  "That's all right Runr," whispered Lori. "We weren't harmed. But your friend, I'm afraid he's at the bottom of a hole and can't get out."

  "He is out ... now," said Runr.

  The cave darkened as the huge beast blocked the entrance. Lori gasped and Gry stood in front of her. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you ... now," said Runr. The boy growled and the beast sank to its stomach and wh
ined. Runr climbed onto its back and the beast raised its head for the boy to scratch.

  "Will you look at that," said Kevn quietly. "Looks as if we've made a few friends here today. A planet, and a beast."

  ______________________________________________________

  The vessel continued to orbit and Sal and TOM kept the surface of the planet on the televiewer, with chemical composition, density, radiation, elevation and atmospheric data continuously displayed. "I haven't seen any sign of an Afrian society, or of any civilized society. Have you TOM?"

  "No, master Sal, I have not," answered the android.

  "Perhaps a civilized society is not what you should be seeking," said the shipcomp.

  Sal straightened up and stared at the console.

  "LIZ, what do you mean? What should we look for?" said Sal.

  "The Afrian settlers who escaped from Afria must have left in a hurry. If there were any who landed here, then, perhaps they brought little which could be identified as civilized. Perhaps they lived a very primitive life here."

  "What evidence do you suggest we seek," asked TOM.

  "Yes," appended Sal. "How does one recognize a primitive society?"

  "I suggest you ask C-phon3."

  "That is quite impossible," said TOM. "Only the boy can -"

  "Yes!" said Sal. "We'll ask Runr. TOM, get Kevn on the communicator."

  There was a humming as TOM poked a comtab on the console.

  "That you Sal?" answered Kevn. "We're having a party down here - chewing on raw antelope and you wouldn't believe who the host is."

  "The host?" said Sal. "What host?"

  "A giant creature, black as sin with teeth like yellow poles. Its Runr's friend."

  "And he's eating antelope? He's not eating you?"

  "He eats berries, yellow berries, thank the Good Earth."

  "Kevn, is Runr there? We can find no evidence of an Afrian society on the planet surface. Maybe Runr can ask the planet. That sounds wierd - ask the planet."

  "I know what you mean. Wait ..."

  Kevn left the comlink open and they heard him talking to Runr. They waited. "The boy's asking the planet. Hmm, that does sound wierd. Maybe we should say communicating with the - wait ..." They waited. "Runr says there is no Afrian society on the planet surface. There never was one."

  "Then how did Runr ... uh, get on C-phon3?" they heard Gry ask.

  "Wait ..." They waited. "Runr is asking - communicating ..." They waited. "Looks like the planet doesn't know. Sorry Sal, guess this trip was a waste of time."

  "It was not a waste of time," they heard Lori say. "This is Runr's home. Look how happy he is."

  "Sal," said Kevn. "Just stay at the receive station. We're coming up shortly."

  Sal leaned back in his chair. "Any more ideas LIZ?" he asked.

  "The Afrians may have left Runr on C-phon3 without establishing a society," said the shipcomp.

  TOM grunted, a very human grunt, and the console lights flashed erratically.

  ______________________________________________________

  When K-47 left its orbit about C-phon3, Lori was in the galley with Runr making what LIZ had called lasagna . It was to be a green lasagna with green noodles of natural algae and a bright red sauce. The others were in the command room.

  "I had a dream last night. I don't understand it." Runr was sitting on the floor. Lori put down the bowl and gazed at the boy.

  "Why don't you tell me about it," she said. Runr often had dreams and although she knew they were harmless the black youth was frightened at his lack of understanding.

  "I was in a large room," he began, his voice quivering slightly. "I'm not sure it was a room, it was so dark, black. Then there were white lights, too bright to look at, all around the room - but I couldn't see any walls. The room seemed to go on forever."

  The boy paused as though the memory of the dream was too disturbing to recall. Lori smiled and put her hand on his head, stroking, caressing.

  "Then, from far away came a red light, slowly, and it got bigger as it came closer, and it ran into the first white light and that light disappeared and that made the red light even bigger and it looked like a mouth, open and red and full of white lights that looked like stars in the sky. At first I thought the lights were crystals, but now I know they were stars."

  Lori saw that the boy was shaking and knelt by his side.

  "It means nothing. I have dreams, nightmares. Everybody does. It scares you for awhile, then you forget them, then you have another, some other night. Maybe it's what you ate for dinner. Maybe it's who you spoke to that day."

  She got to her feet. If she could talk of something else the boy would forget his dream.

  "Runr, I thought you would be sad to leave your planet," she said cheerily. "You didn't seem sad. In fact, you seemed pretty happy."

  "Yes, I am happy. I can see that the beast cannot return with me to the Dome. He would be as unhappy as I was, even if he were in the Dolom Mountains. There are no yellow berries there. This is his home. I was happy to see him. He is a good friend."

  Lori smiled. Runr was on his feet and had already forgotten his dream.

  "I also thought you would want to stay on C-phon3. I was afraid of that. I talked to Gry. We had decided to let you stay if that was your wish. But we are very pleased that you have decided to come Home with us."

  "I see now that C-phon3 is not my home."

  "I think you made a wise decision Runr. Home planet is now your home and -"

  "No, Afria is my home. I will go to Afria again. That is my real home. And one day I will visit Earth and see the first home of my people."

  Lori stopped preparing the meal and looked at Runr. He was sitting on the floor again, as he usually did. He was smiling, leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling. He was clearly very happy and that made Lori happy. There was no need to tell him that a visit to Earth was out of the question. When he was older he would forget about Afria and C-phon3 and the beast.

  In particular he would forget about a visit to Earth.

  PART FOUR