by S A Pavli
“Beautiful,” whispered Manera.
“Yeah, doesn’t matter how many times you see it, it still gets you. Right there.” I touched my chest. The big 3D screen on the wall showed the same view of the planet. There were some thumps and whines and electronic beeping, then a voice over the comm announced that systems were blue and we were ready to de-orbit. We heard the rumble of the jets just before we felt the acceleration and the Settang rapidly receded and disappeared from view.
The blue and white planet expanded as we descended. We entered the atmosphere and were soon able to discriminate landscape features beneath us. Mountains, sea and forest scrolled rapidly past and then the ship banked steeply and started to descend rapidly, killing its forward speed. We craned our necks to look out of the windows like tourists visiting a new attraction.
“Look, look,” shouted Taros, one of Manera’s science team. As the ship banked around to land we could clearly see the remains of building thrusting up through the trees like discoloured rotted teeth. The ship found what seemed to be an ancient square which was still visible and largely clear of any larger trees and hovered above it. The AI requested permission to land and Manera, as the head of the exploration team, gave it her approval.
The ship descended gently and with a final lurch we were down.
“How many planets does that make?” I mused. Manera looked at me enquiringly. “That I have landed on,” I explained.
“As many as beautiful girls you have chased?” she asked.
“That would be many more,” I said with a knowing look, earning the mandatory poke in the ribs. “I didn’t say caught,” I added.
Checks on the atmosphere proved that it was breathable, surprisingly quite high on oxygen, and the temperature was tolerable, if cool. Our robots left the ship first and trudged around to ensure nothing nasty lurked in the bushes and short scrubby grass before we exited and drew our first deep breaths of the planet’s air. It was cold and surprisingly clean and bracing. All around us we could see the remains of the city that occupied this place; broken rubble and paving, with gaunt structures poking up through the ground. The square we were in, if that was what it had been, was fairly clear, with various larger structures around its periphery.
We unloaded the science equipment and formed a number of teams to go and investigate the structures around the square. We were all in communication with the ship and each other, but there seemed little here that could be dangerous. I escorted Manera and Taros to one of the largest buildings. Access was easy because all doors and windows had fallen off, but the building still stood straight, compared to most of the others which had slumped or collapsed. We could clearly see the massive metal girders that supported the walls where the bricks and external cladding had crumbled.
“Built to be earthquake proof,” noted Taros. In fact, as we examined other buildings around us they also seemed to have the same construction. But clearly, ground subsidence had been so extensive, even those structures had failed.
“This seems to be a very violent world,” I said. “Extreme climate, extreme earthquakes. I can‘t help wondering how did an advanced civilization evolve here?”
“There may have been long periods of stability,” said Manera. “Which allowed advanced life to develop.”
“Followed by short periods of violence which wiped it out,” said Taros.
“No signs of any bones,” I observed. Should I expect to find the bones of the inhabitants strewn around, I asked myself.
“It is unlikely that the civilization was wiped out in one cataclysmic event,” said Taros. “But let us see.”
We entered the building, clearing some rubble from the entrance with the help of one of our robots. Once inside we could se a large entrance hall with what was obviously a couple of lift doors on one wall and some stairs opposite. A corridor led deeper into the building. The floor was clear, apart from broken plaster from the walls. It was made of a hard plastic which was flexible enough to bend and deform and not crack. As a result, it had resisted the incursion of plant life.
We made our way cautiously into the building and down the open corridor. Doors led into rooms and we were not surprised to find the crumbled remains of chairs, tables and machinery, including a number of screens on tables and on walls. This was clearly a very advanced civilization. Surely advanced enough to survive climate change, I asked myself.
We took samples of the computers, machines and one fairly intact screen. The other rooms were similar to the first. The last room was larger, taking up the whole side of the building with broad windows which had broken. Vegetation had taken hold and the room was overgrown.
“We need a lot of work to clear this room out,” said Manera. “Let’s see what we can find upstairs.”
“If the stairs are safe,” said Taros. We made our way back and examined the stairs. They were clearly dilapidated and unsafe.
“We can use the aerial drone,” suggested Cora. I had no idea we had a drone, but it made sense. Cora sent a message to the ship and a robot arrived with a large box. The drone was a sophisticated AG vehicle. It was soon out and hovering a few feet above the ground, a gentle hum emanating from it, while Cora checked it out. We had a foldout 3D which was laid out on the floor. The drone floated slowly into the stair well and then disappeared upwards. We watched the feed on the 3D as it wended its way up the stairs. The next floor was similar to the ground floor, and so were the next two floors. The top floor however was a different matter. It was completely open, a huge space, which was cluttered with blocky cabinets and trunking. In the centre of the room there was a large device suspended from the ceiling. It was unmistakable.
“It’s a hyperspace communications transmitter,” exclaimed Taros
“Well, if they had a hyperspace transmitter, then they must have had hyperspace travel,” I suggested.
“So they would not have been wiped out by climate change,” said Manera.
“No. Our friends emigrated,” I said. “To a place with a nicer climate.”
Chapter 17
Back in the Settang at the end of the day, relaxing over coffee, we compared notes with our Earth colleagues. After finishing with the first building, we had moved on to other parts of the derelict town. We found further evidence of an advanced civilization. But no humanoid bones, at least not above ground. If they buried their dead and we could find a burial ground then we would see what the inhabitants of this planet may have looked like.
The Earth explorers had also made similar discoveries. The conclusion seemed to be that the planet had been abandoned when the climate had begun to change. The problem was, how do you move a few billion people? It must surely have been done over thousands of years.
While the engineers and scientists puzzled over their finds, we decided that we needed a more efficient way of locating Earth type planets. Colaraia’s engineers rigged up some specialised AI computers, linked to long range telescopes, to scan the optical and radio spectrum. Earth type planets seemed surprisingly scarce, but we eventually succeeded in discovering some likely candidates.
The suggestion came from the Earth expedition that things would move twice as fast if we split our forces and explored separately. It seemed safe enough on the face of it. There was no sign of life around us, and each of our two forces were more than capable of taking on anything we had come across so far. We would always be within a few minutes jump of each other and in permanent communication. We divided up the discovered Earth type planets and set off, each to his own.
The first three planets were uninhabitable with no sign of any previous life or civilization. The fourth was a burning desert, but covered from pole to equator with desolate ruins. It was clear that in the past the climate must have been quite different. The temperatures were so high we decided to send in the robots, but little had survived the scorching heat. Plastic and wood had burned, metal had deformed and glass had shattered. Even bricks and concrete had mostly crumbled. But it was clear that this planet had al
so been the home of an advanced civilization, and been abandoned.
The fifth, sixth and seventh were also marginal with no sign of previous habitation. Number eight was alive and well and very healthy! We looked down on blue seas and verdant forests which brought smiles to our faces.
“Let’s build a house and live here,” said Manera wistfully.
“We could start our own tribe,” I suggested. “Mrs Robinson Crusoe.”
“Don’t start that again,” she laughed.
The scans revealed no sign of previous or current habitation. It appeared to be a virgin planet. When it came to selecting an exploration team there was, suddenly and inexplicably, a large number of enthusiastic volunteers. A number of sites were selected, some suspiciously close to some very attractive beaches. I had to confess, the idea of Manera and me alone on a golden tropical beach was very enticing. Assuming no alligators, or crocodiles, I could never remember which was the salt water one. Or any other nasty and hungry local wildlife.
A number of expeditions were dispatched, all with suitable protection from our robot soldier army. Manera, myself, our friend Taros and the enigmatic Cora and one of the soldier robots were dropped in a thickly forested delta. Inland the jungle was so thick we could not see through it. The ship dropped us on an open piece of land between the sea and jungle, and flew inland to deliver supplies to another exploration team. To our right as we faced inland the broad sweep of the river disappeared inland into the forested uplands. To our left the beautiful curve of golden sand was delineated by green jungle and blue sea and sky.
“Not bad,” said Taros, looking admiringly around.
“Big hotel over there,” I said. “Swimming pool over there and concrete motorway over there.”
Taros groaned and shouted “Noooo!” dramatically.
“Stop rubber necking like tourists and help me with this drone,” said Manera.
Grinning, Taros ambled over to help her. Cora was setting up the other drone with characteristic speed and precision. I waited for them to finish, at the same time examining the area with an explorer’s eye. I noted the geographical details and planned a route to follow. We did not want to get entangled and lost in the thick jungle. Better to either follow the curve of the beach, with the odd foray into the edges of the jungle to sample the wildlife, making sure there was nothing that wanted to sample us. Alternatively, going up river may be possible.
The heat was stifling and we were all beginning to sweat heavily. But exposing more skin than necessary was a risk. We had smeared a great deal of nasty insect repellents on our exposed skin.. I had been assured by the scientific team that no living creature would find it appealing, although I would not be surprised if we now smelled like the local equivalent to a butcher‘s market.
We discussed our next move and I suggested we send one drone up river and the other along the coast. We could then decide which way to go. This was agreed and both drones were dispatched. We settled down on some boulders to watch the video from the drones. Cora directed them while we gave her instructions when anything interesting was spotted.
We were engrossed on our task when we were interrupted by a rather unpleasant noise, a cross between a cough and a growl. We all looked up abruptly and, for a moment we saw nothing. Then we spotted them, camouflaged the same colour as the scrubby grass, half a dozen monstrosities eyeing us speculatively. They were a cross between an alligator and a wart hog, arguably two of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen. They must have crawled out of the river and crept up on us.
“Cora, this may be a good time to tell the robot to shoo them away,” I said.
“Shoo them away?”
“Er, get rid of them.”
Manera had come close to me and was eyeing the creatures warily. Our soldier robot moved quickly, stepping between us and the creatures.
“I will attempt to… get rid of them… without harming them,” said Cora.
“I don’t think we mind if you harm them,” I said. “There’s probably many more where they came from.”
“It is against my programming to harm living creatures unnecessarily,” she said.
The creatures were getting restless, giving little lunges towards us, growling and displaying rows of sharp teeth. I pulled my rifle off my shoulder and shot one of the creatures between the eyes. I was very pleased with the accuracy of my shot.
“Nice one Constantine,” I congratulated myself, turning my rifle on to the next animal. But the loud crack of the rifle had frightened them and they rapidly slithered away. “Damn, the bastards can move,” I remarked. “I would not want one of them creeping up on me.”
Cora was looking at me impassively.
“Perhaps I can explain something to you Cora,” I said, shouldering my rifle. “Harming living but non-intelligent creatures comes way down the order of priority compared to protecting living intelligent ones. Like ourselves, in case you had any doubts.”
“Were they dangerous,” she asked. I looked at her curiously.
“You don’t know too much about wild animals do you?”
“I have never had occasion to deal with any,” she replied. Of course not, I thought. She is a Peacekeeper AI. Grew up’ on a desolate asteroid and never met a living creature until we turned up. Her only knowledge of living creatures was Hianja. She was modelled and programmed to be such. She knew about wild animals of course, but would not know whether they wanted to lick you or eat you!
“Sorry Cora, of course you haven’t,” I said.
“Good shot Captain,” said Taros admiringly. “Can you show me how to do that?”
“Takes a lot of practice,” I said modestly. “Us interstellar explorers have to be able to look after ourselves.” There was the crack of a rifle and I jumped and turned around.
“Shit!” I exclaimed. Just a couple of feet behind me, one of the ’hogigators’ had crept up un-noticed. Our soldier robots machine rifle hummed as it withdrew back into its housing. “Where did that bastard come from?”
Manera gasped and grabbed me reflexively. I stepped away from the dead animal and we both examined it apprehensively.
“You was saying?” said Manera shakily. “About interstellar explorers being able to take care of themselves, and all that?”
“Perhaps I spoke too quickly,” I said. “Thank you Cora. You are a fast learner.”
“You are welcome,” she replied. “Should I instruct the robot to shoot any other wild animals that come near us?”
“Er, only if they are large and have lots of teeth,” I replied, to nervous laughter.
“How large and how many teeth?”
I paused and looked at her. Was there a twinkle in her eyes? And just the faintest sign of a smile in the lips? I gave her a reproving look and the smile broadened. I smiled back and chuckled.
“You really are a fast learner.”
“This puts a rather different complexion on things,” said Manera. We looked at her questioningly. “I mean, where there is one species of large carnivore, there are likely to be many more.”
“We have seen no sign of them,” pointed out Taros.
“We have not sent the drones into the jungle yet,” said Manera. We all thought about it and came to the same conclusion. If there was anything like the ‘hogigators’ in the jungle, we would not like to meet it!
“Well, let us do that,” I suggested. I was going to say ‘no point beating about the bush’ then realised that was exactly what we were doing! Cora was instructed to send the drones into the jungle and we settled down around the screens with interest. Meanwhile, our soldier robot patrolled the perimeter of our camp to keep ‘hogigators’ away.
The drones nosed into the canopy and we gazed with wonder at what met our eyes. The trees were absolutely huge, some more than three hundred feet., and they made a green cathedral of light. The drones floated between giant trunks, weaving a complex path between them. Brightly coloured birds fluttered between the trees and perched on the branches. We spotted sm
all monkey like creatures in a herd on a group of trees and as the drone approached them they leapt away through the trees chattering and screaming. We laughed at their antics.
Suddenly a huge head snaked up from behind a tree trunk and a great gaping mouth attempted to swallow the drone. The drone dodged with agile speed and climbed away, banking around to give us a view of the creature. It was a giant anaconda, its mouth big enough to swallow a cow. Its body was wound around the trunk of a tree, almost as thick as the trunk and probably fifty feet long.
“Dear God look at the size of that thing,” gasped Manera. “It could swallow us for breakfast.”
The head of the giant continued to track the drone, probably thinking it was a fat tasty insect, but eventually gave up and slithered down into the thick undergrowth. The drone continued its journey, varying its height to explore the undergrowth as well as the tree tops. It was teeming with life of all sorts, creeping, crawling, slithering, jumping and climbing. In the undergrowth there was much snorting and grunting from wart hog type animals, probably cousins of the ‘hogigators’, as they dug for roots and or maggots, or whatever was their dietary preference.
There was an urgent buzz from our comms and Hamolatonen’s voice interrupted our fascinated scrutiny of the jungle and its inhabitants.
“Team 3 has got into some trouble.”
He had our immediate attention. Team 3 was Commander Pariso’s team. He had two of Manera’s science team and one of his astronauts, as well as a couple of soldier robots. I found it hard to see how they could have got into trouble with two lethal robots with them.
“They have been ambushed in the jungle by some natives.”
“Natives? What kind of natives? We haven’t seen any sign of intelligent natives.” Manera frowned as she talked. “Can you send us video? On the drone screens.”
