A Thousand Ages

by D. E. Ellis

  “!Quaking—my foot!” howled Bruce Kenton. “It wasn’t ground at all. The mist was steam caused by our jets as they touched water. Whatever that green was, it certainly wasn’t grass. It dissolved as the heat touched it, and I caught a glimpse of water before we were surrounded by steam!”

  “I thought it was too good to be true,” groaned Courton. “Five miles of lovely grass! Five miles of blessed water covered with algae. In fact, a lake. Much more in keeping with the character of this place.”

  “Well, it’s obvious we shall have to use more care next time. But, first, We” take a little time off to nurse our bruises,” announced Thane.

  “Next time!” cried Courton, whose nerves were still more than a little awry.

  It was clear by now that no one had sustained any serious injury and, after a meal, they professed themselves quite willing to make another attempt. This time, it was decided to try the mountain range for a smooth plateau; on the reasoning that, if the ground was not firm there, then they could not be sure of anything on the satellite. In that case it would be inadvisable to attempt a landing.

  Searching for a plateau was even more difficult than skimming the tree-tops. They had circled the range many times before even the smallest plateau came in view. It was scarcely more than a wide ledge near to the top of one of the most insignificant mountains.

  The landing was this time accomplished safely.

  “Where’s the Union Jack?” jested Bruce, anxious to be first to step out in this new land. The others laughed at his recalling the old empires, when nations had discovered and claimed what they called new lands, forgetting the rights of those who lived in them. On Earth, all that was finished. There were high hopes of world government. No major wars had occurred for two hundred years. Only now and again was there reason to fear that storms might be brewing under the surface. It was still fear of war rather than true brotherly love that kept the world at peace.

  “Hold on,” laughed Thane. “Have you forgotten what the jets did to the ground when we took off?”

  “You’re right. It wouldn’t be cold feet we’d be suffering from if we walked out right now.” Courton was giving the fused rocks beneath them a more thorough examination through an observation panel.

  “I suggest we snatch a few hours’ sleep before we explore, that will give the ground time to cool. One of us will have to keep watch, but if we take it in turns that will give us one hour’s watch and five hours’ sleep each, before we need make a move,” said Thane.

  It had been full sunlight when they landed, and outside the ship, extremely hot, Thane judged, watching the heat haze dance over the rocks. Now four hours later it was his turn to watch and a different scene met his eyes.

  “Wonderful, isn’t it!” whispered Dunstable, who had not long before been privileged to watch the full glare of sunlight gradually soften and then harden into the brilliant quality of reflected light, a thousand times more magnificent than that of Earth’s moon. There, huge and majestic, still low in the sky, floated the planet, Kevin. The satellite turned much more rapidly on its axis than Earth, completing a revolution once every eight hours, so the plant’s apparent movement was quite noticeable as they gazed at it.

  Earlier, when circling the satellite, they had taken its brilliant light for granted, and found their search of the night side of Demeter scarcely more difficult than the sunlit side. Now, seen from the stable surface of the satellite, instead of a moving space-ship, it had a new quality. Even the barren, depressing view of rocks took on a new luminous glow.

  Arnot’s hour passed very quickly with no undue incidents, as did the remaining hour’s watch taken by Wormald. Wormald could hardly wait to set foot outside the space-ship. His sole concern was the well-being of the Unisphere. Since the death of his wife he had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the construction and testing of the Unisphere; and, now, he was anxious to examine the effect of the journey on her hull.

  An hour before dawn, but in light almost as bright as Earth’s daylight, they set foot on the glassily smooth, fused rocks beneath them. The ledge was about three hundred yards long and a hundred yards wide. Their view was restricted by other mountains, not impressive in their height, but bound to be an obstacle to their explorations.

  They decided to explore in pairs, leaving two with the ship. Their equipment was light owing to the oppressive heat they would encounter when the sun rose, and to the need to burden themselves as little as possible in order to combat the difficulty of moving their own bodies—which now weighed half as much again as on Earth. Thane realised it was going to be difficult to explore far with no means of transport. The same thought had apparently just occurred to Bruce.

  “It’s a pity we didn’t have room to pack more large exploration equipment. Think of the stuff they used to open the moon—all ferried there by old-type rocket ships. Here’s us with the very latest ship, the first to set foot in a new planetary system—and no transport at all.”

  “Considering that the Unisphere is only a small experimental ship, more concerned with finding out the difficulties to be encountered in interstellar travel, than exploring new worlds, it isn’t surprising,” answered Thane.

  “Well, here we are, on the longest trip ever taken, and we won’t have time to explore more than the tiniest fraction of the place.”

  “It is quite possible that the star we were intending to reach, Proxima Centauri, has no planets at all. In that case, we should have carried heavy equipment, at the expense of our food supplies, for nothing. Of course, we could have existed entirely on pills; but a real meal now and again is extremely good for moral on a trip of this sort. Apart from that, what sort of equipment do you think we could use here? A helicopter would have difficulty landing, apart from this ledge. Even a jet-car with an air cushion would have trouble negotiating the forest and coming to rest. Their engines would have to have been specially designed to cope with this world—and, so far, they don’t even know it exists. If it is worth while,other, larger ships will follow with all the large stuff.”

  “I suppose you’re right. We’re the boys for the donkey work.” Bruce assumed the look of a martyr as he and Thane trudged heavily to the edge of the plateau, accompanied by the doctor and Gordon Dunstable.

  Thursfield and Wormald were to stay with the ship at first, while the younger members did the preliminary explorations. They would keep in touch with the teams by radio. Wormald intended to make a thorough check of the ravages wrought by their long journey, while Thursfield busied himself collecting rock specimens in the immediate vicinity.

  The four reached the edge and proceeded to look for an easy way down.

  “There’s a river down there somewhere,” said Bruce, and Thane recalled the glitter that had appeared at intervals as they had circled the mountains.

  “If we can reach it, it might be possible to use it as a means of transport—if we had a raft,” suggested Dunstable.

  “If we had some trees,” answered Bruce, sarcastically.

  “It’s funny but nearly all the available land on this peculiar satellite is covered with forest, yet trees non’t seem to grow where we need them,” remarked Courton.

  The way down proved a fairly simple climb. There were no steep precipices and the river was less than a thousand feet beneath the plateau. By the time they had reached it, however, they were exhausted and breathless.

  Demeter’s midday was approaching and the tropical heat, coupled with the humid atmosphere and added gravity, made further travel at that moment out of the question.

  “The rocks on the other side of the river seem to provide more shade than this,” remarked Thane. “I suggest we cross the river and rest for two hours.”

  “That’s the most welcome suggestion I’ve heard for months,” cheered Bruce. “That water is just taunting me to jump in!”

  “Grant had better test it first to make sure it’s all it seems to be. Do you remember that acid pool on Mars?” Thane’s reminder had a sobering effe
ct on Bruce. He had not seen it but nearly everyone who had an interest in space travel had heard of it.

  Courton’s analysis proved beyond doubt that the water varied little from water on Earth, so after watching carefully for signs of hostile life in its depths, they agreed to cross one at a time.

  Thane called the Unisphere to inform Thursfield and Wormald of their intentions, and then prepared to be the first to risk the crossing. His first concern was for his communications set, which was small enough to be strapped to his wrist. That, together with his blaster, his emergency food supply in the form of pills, and several other objects which might or might not bear wetting, he wrapped in a water-proof cover that he had carried, foreseeing the possibility of such an emergency, from the torrential rain they had seen falling in some places on the satellite as they surveyed it. As for protective clothing for themselves, the heat, and the extra weight it would mean carrying, made it undesirable. It was unlikely to be cold while they were between the planet and the sun; being wet wasn’t going to hurt them, even if it was uncomfortable.

  He took one end of the rope held by the rest of the party. It did not appear to be a dangerous crossing, but intended to to take all possible precautions on this strange world. The water was warm but deliciously cool, in comparison with the temperature of the air. The river was too deep for wading; so, with the bundle tied on his head and rope around his waist, Thane swam carefully across. What little current there was did not hinder him in the least, but it was so wonderful to be buoyed up from the wearying drag of gravity, that he had to fight temptation to stop swimming and just drift, floating there coolly and peacefully. The thought of the others, patiently waiting in the blazing hot sun for their turn, spurred him on. It was only thirty yards across. Thane wished it had been twice as far.

  At least, it was reasonably cool on the further bank and it was no hardship to wait while the others successfully made the easy crossing.

  They used the rest period discussing their next move. It was decided to split up there, one pair going upriver and the other down. They drew lots to see which way each pair was to go.

  “At least, it will be easier for us to get back,” as he and Thane drew ‘upriver’.

  “Why? Are you thinking of swimming all the way?” queried Courton.

  “That might be pleasant, but hardly wise,” put in Thane, hastily. “We know nothing of the life forms on this world. We should be completely defenceless with our weapons in bundles on our heads, if anything attacked us from the bank. There may also be hostile life in the depths of the river. It’s just possible it may be necessary to swim at times where it’s difficult to find secure footing beside the river. But, even then we should take it in turns, if possible, with one always on watch.”

  They had sufficient food tablets to last them a week, Earth time; during that period they would explore as far as possible, collecting such specimens as could be conveniently transported back. They would keep in instant touch with the Unisphere.

  Chapter 3

  Six of Demeter’s eight-hour days later, Thane and Bruce found themselves following the river into forested country. The river had wound in and out of the mountains, taking the line of least resistance. At last they had emerged on the far side of the mountains to the green lake—their first contact with the natural life of Demeter.

  “What now?” asked Bruce. “Do we continue to follow the river, or shall we branch off? It probably turns back into the mountains again further on. I’m getting rather bored by a constant view of rock.”

  “Don’t forget the river makes a good guide back to the ship. Besides, I thought you were the one who wanted to swim all the way.”

  “We certainly made enough excuses to swim most of it!” Bruce retorted. Indeed, in spite of his own warnings, Thane had succumbed, time and time again, to the temptation of travelling the easy way—always with the precaution, however, of taking it in turns, one walking while the other swam. Nothing had happened, toe satellite seemed to be devoid of animal life. “We could always climb a tree, get an idea of the general direction of the mountains and then follow them back to the ship.”

  “That’s all right, provided we strike the range at the same place as the river—otherwise we might wander for days in the foothills. You saw the width of the range as we circled it. It wasn’t just two ridges of mountains with a convenient river valley in between. As for climbing a mountain to get our bearings … it’s a feat I’d rather not think about under the present conditions. Even the tree you suggested climbing is a painful thought.”

  Ah, well, the forest makes a change for the present. And it may be some time before the river returns to the mountains. I don’t suppose we can trace the source before we turn back.”

  “It’s most unlikely we shell manage it this trip. I expect it’s one of the things that will have to be left to the exploration party if the people back home decide it’s worth sending one.”

  Thane stopped to examine a tree. They were not particularly tall. In fact, although they grew thickly, they had a stunted look about them. The leaves of this particular tree were almost black and had a shiny appearance. Others bore a cactus-like foliage. Many were in fruit. The dark, shiny-leafed type had a cone of a more fleshy texture than the pine trees of Earth, while some were covered with exotic blossoms. A third variety, with foliage of a needle-like texture, appeared to be fruitless.

  They collected specimens of the leaves, bark and fruit. The bark was extremely tough and difficult to remove.

  The rest period was taken as usual while the sun was at its height. The trees gave them all the protection they needed from its heat. Thane dozed off; it was Bruce’s turn to keep watch.

  A scream rudely awakened him. He was immediately aware of thousands of faint popping noises and also, simultaneously, of Bruce writhing on the ground. He suddenly felt two or three sharp pains as something punctured his skin. The air seemed to be filled with miniature darts. Most of them fell short of Thane but Bruce, a few yards away, had been in the thick of them. He now lay there groaning, resembling a porcupine.

  The shower ceased as suddenly as it had begun. Thane rushed forward. The shock had momentarily taken Bruce’s senses away from him. Thane began plucking the needle-like projections out of him while the man was still insensible. The thought that somebody or some animal, had attacked them, made him cast hasty glances all round as he did so. Then the significance of the spines in his hand made him look up.

  Slightly to his left, and only a few feet away, was one of the spine-bearing trees, now denuded of foliage. He examined those in his hand more closely. Each had a seed attached. Then he knew why those particular trees had appeared to be fruitless—this was their method of reproduction.

  Thane worked swiftly removing the spines, most of which had penetrated Bruce’s back and arms, some to the depth of almost half-an-inch. By the time he had removed the last one or two from his lets, he had counted over seventy. He dragged him to the river and proceeded to bathe away the blood welling from the many tiny cuts they had left. While this operation was in progress, Bruce slowly became conscious once more.

  “My back’s on fire!” he gasped.

  “Keep still,” commanded Thane, and proceeded to turn Bruce’s torn, blood-stained shirt into a bandage, augmenting it with strips from his own. His wounds had been slight; the one or two needles that had punctured his skin had not penetrated quite so deeply, as he had been further away. However, he could feel them smarting, so he knew what Bruce must be suffering.

  As Bruce began to take a more intelligent interest in his surroundings, Than explained what had happened.

  “First we must call up the Unisphere and let them know what has happened. Then we had better start back immediately,” he announced, when he had done all he could for Bruce. “Do you think you’ll be able to walk?”

  “Swimming would be more like it. It might cool off my back a little.” Bruce sat up experimentally, and Thane watched him anxiously as he began to call t
he Unisphere.

  “Arnot here,” he said, when he had made contact. “We are about to start back. Bruce has been rather badly hurt. If you can contact Grant, ask him to start back immediately, too. I should like him to have a look at Bruce as soon as possible.”

  Thursfield’s voice anxiously inquired into the causes of Bruce’s injury. He was amazed when Thane told him. His next remark gave Thane new cause for worry:

  “I’ll try to contact Grant. But I haven’t heard from him or Dunstable for over eight hours, although I’ve called them several times.”

  “Keep trying, perhaps their radios are out of order—although it’s rather a tall coincidence they should both go wrong at the same time. Meanwhile we had better start on our way back.”

  Thane was more worried than he cared to admit. Before they left, they had agreed to call the Unisphere every four hours, whether or not they had anything to report.

  The sight of Bruce tottering on his feet, brought him back to his present problem.

  “Steady on, old chap,” he said, as he moved forward to support him. “You don’t look fit to walk, nor to swim for that matter.”

  “It’s this damned gravity. But just let me get to that water and I’ll be all right. What was that about Grant not keeping contact?”

  “He’s probably all right. Anyway, we can’t do anything about it now. We’ve got to concentrate on getting back ourselves.” Thane purposely made the whole thing sound rather casual; Bruce looked rather feverish, and the less he had on his mind, the better.

  After brave attempts on his part at both walking and swimming, heavily supported by Thane, it soon became obvious that Bruce was in no condition to move. Desperately, Thane recalled Bruce’s earlier sarcasm about trees and rafts. Well, here were the trees, but the difficulty lay in cutting them down. It was far beyond the capabilities of such tools as he was carrying with him to hew through their tough wood. Fire was the only alternative.