The Blue People of Cloud Planet

by Brian Wolfenden

  But Scott wasn’t looking at her hair when Zec-1 interrupted his gaze,

  ‘Body temperature now 17 degrees, appears to warm up quicker than other blue females, blueness decreased by 20 per cent.’

  And she slipped gracefully into the second pool.

  The other blue females had completed warming, fed and busied themselves around the dwelling. Meanwhile, the blond female stared at the lander as she moved from pool to pool.

  ‘Body temperature now 27 degrees, blueness decreased by 30 per cent.’

  The new arrival finally exited the third pool, gazed again at the lander and walked forward to sit on the ledge. One of her four attendant females immediately moved to stand in front of her and then she drank from their mammary glands.

  She then sat up, and with a slight sideways inclination of her head, dismissed them and they joined the others who were now putting leaves into the fourth pool.

  Olivia and Scott were transfixed as she rose and walked down the ramp, every movement smooth and graceful. With her eyes fixed on the lander, she reached ground level, moved forward and stopped by the side of the wreck of Pioneer 10. Her eyes sparkled with intensity as she looked directly at Scott.

  He felt overwhelmed. His heart pounded as he stared at the loveliest female form he had ever seen.

  Her hair framed her beautiful oval face to perfection. Her pale blue skin was smooth and much lighter than the blue females.

  The outstanding feature was her sparkling eyes, which were the deepest of blue. Their intensity seemed to bore through Scott’s whole being.

  ‘If the face of Helen of Troy could sink a thousand galleons,’ Scott mused, ‘this face could implode a million star ships!’

  His gaze fell to her shoulders, where a strange triangle of what appeared to be small beads hung around her neck. At its point, the triangle directed his gaze onto the most perfect breasts tipped by soft pink nipples. Around each nipple was a bright red diamond shaped tattoo. However, unlike the blue females, there were no triangles outside the diamond, or octagon shapes between the breasts.

  Scott looked down to a narrow waist with perfect hips and a smooth, flat stomach. Like the blue females, she wore a tantalising black triangular flap which pointed down between shapely thighs on long legs, slender ankles and delicate feet.

  ‘Wow, Wow, Wow! Have you ever seen anything so absolutely gorgeous,’ Scott was mesmerised and couldn’t help the outpouring of admiration. Olivia gave him a scornful, almost jealous, look.

  ‘She’s not bad for cold blooded,’ was the best Olivia could muster but inwardly she marvelled at the epitome of womanhood in front of her, ‘what do you think Zec-1?’

  ‘She exceeds perfection when compared to my database!’

  The golden blond head inclined slightly left, then right, stopped and straightened. Her eyes increased in intensity and penetrated directly into Scott’s brain.

  ‘Warning radiation of unknown frequency!’

  ‘Aarg!’ cried Scott and clutched his head.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ said a concerned Olivia.

  ‘Couldn’t you feel it? Like a headache! And then there was a sensation at the back of my eyes.’

  Her eyes sparkled with intensity again.

  ‘Warning further radiation of unknown frequency!’

  He held his head again and looked straight at the lovely creature.

  ‘She spoke to me! She communicated with me! There was a clear message behind my eyes!’

  >> who are you >>

  ‘What did she say?’ said Olivia excitedly.

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘What! – that’s an impossibility - how can you be sure?’

  ‘I don’t know – I just saw the message after the headache.’

  ‘Confirm radiation from eyes of new arrival directed into dome.’

  Scott’s head hurt but not so painfully – then behind his eyes again,

  >> why have you come >>

  Her arms moved slightly outward and she pointed to the wreck of Pioneer 10.

  ‘She just said ‘Why have you come?’’ Scott explained to Olivia.

  ‘Confirm same radiation frequency for word ‘you’.’

  ‘Why have we come?’ said Scott aloud. ‘We’re here because of the SOS message’.

  ‘So show her the message.’ Olivia suggested.

  ‘Oh yes, good idea.’ Scott agreed, ‘Zec-1! Command! Forward landing light – flash to SOS code’

  The clay ground in front of the lander glowed bright red and the body of the beautiful woman took on a reddish hue – she looked at the light - as it flashed -

  ............ dot - dot - dot - dash - dash - dash - dot - dot – dot ...........

  After two sequences of the code she suddenly looked up and her eyes glowed brighter than ever.

  ‘Warning radiation of higher intensity!’

  Scott’s head hammered as she raised her arms out towards them and beamed the most radiant and beautiful smile.

  And he saw,

  >> welcome > welcome > welcome >>

  Then she turned, skipped up the ramp and dove into the third pool.

  Olivia and Scott sat stunned, speechless as the golden head bobbed around the pool. They couldn’t find words to express their feelings – just stared at one another and then at the figure in the pool.

  ‘What next on this unbelievable Cloud Planet? Firstly the light shafts, then the dwellings, the blue creatures and now this sublime apparition. Sorry Olivia, but it’s difficult not to go over the top.’

  She then surprised him. ‘You’re right – everything has been remarkable but her communications with us, or rather with you, make me realise she’s obviously many intelligence levels above the blue females. Why don’t we give her a name? I know. Why don’t we refer to her as Seren after the star of this sensational planet?’

  ‘Great idea! I really like that.’ Scott enthused.

  The astronauts continued to watch as Seren left the pool and sat on the ledge. She inclined her head and her blue female attendants came to her with food and drink. They accompanied her to the top of the channel and assisted with the cleansing of her body. Seren then came out of the channel and walked gracefully back to the Pioneer 10 wreck.

  Her head inclined both ways and her eyes sparkled as she transmitted a new message.

  ‘Warning radiation!’

  Scott felt the pressure in his head and he saw clearly,

  >> you must come with me >>

  She pointed left and extended her slender finger in the direction of the equator. Then she raised both arms towards the dome of the lander.

  ‘Warning more intense radiation!’

  >> please help me > help our people survive > save our world >>

  And he felt the full force of Seren’s emotional appeal and his heart went out to her.

  ‘I find this planet is proving to be remarkable in a number of ways. The axis of rotation is constantly parallel to its star and the orbit describes a perfect circle of radius 140 million kilometres – similar to the distance of Earth from its sun. Cloud Planet has equal day and night times during its 20 hour rotation. There are no seasons during the planet’s 400 days’ traverse around the star Seren. This unique geometry of star and planet results in a symmetrical landmass to either side of the equator. Its seas and icecaps are, unsurprisingly, also identical in size.

  ‘However, whereas on Earth evolution is hugely diverse, here on Cloud Planet it is limited to one species of tree and a small number of cold blooded creatures. Also, some of these reptiles have evolved along two paths into a low intelligence blue form and a perfect human shape - not too dissimilar to the evolution of monkeys and humans on our planet.

  ‘This latest arrival, named Seren by our astronauts, additionally has telepathic and mind-controlling capabilities which I consider most extraordinary.

  ‘I show below the detail of this dwelling showing the canal behind feeding all the hydraulics. Just one wall is illuminated so that you can view t
he inside structure. I can well imagine Olivia’s and Scott’s astonishment as they sat in the lander and watched Seren glide gracefully down the ramp and point at the wreck of Pioneer 10.’

  BOOK FIVE

  AN UNDERGROUND JOURNEY

  Chapter 33

  Abandon Ship

  For the rest of the afternoon, Seren bathed in the large pool and whilst resting on the edge she would occasionally tilt her head left or right.

  ‘Why does she do that head thing?’ Olivia questioned.

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ replied Scott.

  ‘I am detecting radiation of a different frequency’, said Zec-1, ‘when she tilts to the left radiation is leaving her head and when she tilts to the right I can detect radiation entering the dwelling.’

  ‘You mean she is communicating,’ said Scott, ‘in the same manner she conveyed information to me?’

  ‘With you it was a very focussed band of radiation – in fact it was directed specifically at your head, causing you pain.’

  ‘Is that why I didn’t feel anything?’ Olivia continued. ‘She was only focussing on Scott?’

  ‘I agree but I cannot understand why, but I also conclude that the head movements are communications with a wider range of listeners, some, maybe, at considerable distance.’

  ‘So is it telepathy?’ Scott enquired.

  ‘I believe it is more advanced than that.’

  As the afternoon wore on and the red shadows deepened in the dwelling, Seren and the blue females went through the process of raising their body temperatures. Her blue females waited on the platform, leading to the screw lift, for her to emerge and then helped to wrap her in a large leaf. She moved forward, stopped and turned her head towards the lander.

  ‘Warning radiation!’

  Scott’s head ached and he saw,

  >> come with me > come and help my people >>

  And with that she disappeared underground.

  The dwelling switched off, the rain fell harder and, as the clouds darkened, communications were re–established with LifeSeeker-1.

  AJ and the astronauts aboard the starship were hardly able to comprehend as they watched the highlights of Seren’s arrival and her impassioned plea to help her people.

  ‘We don’t have much time,’ AJ forced his mind back to practicalities. ‘It’s clear that we can’t get the lander out of the dwelling, nor can we rescue Olivia and Scott because of the threat of the reptiles and the black mass. We have to consider abandoning the lander and following this Seren to a dwelling away from these threats. Hopefully there we can affect a rescue or re–evaluate our options.’

  AJ looked at the other astronauts who nodded in approval.

  ‘I propose that you both acclimatise tomorrow without spacesuits. Zec-C has given a clean bill of health to the atmosphere except for chlorine, but you will require face masks with scrubbers and tight fitting goggles to protect your eyes.

  ‘Abandoning the lander is a big decision particularly for you, Olivia and Scott, but I feel it is our only option so I will call for a confidential vote.’

  The proposal to abandon ROL-1 was carried by five votes to two – interesting!

  ‘You will also need to consider the amount of food, water and clothing that you can reasonably carry.’ AJ continued. ‘Remember to take your palm top computers so you can remain in contact with Zec-1 and the starship. They will enable us to track your progress.

  ‘Oh, and one other thing – don’t forget the sun cream!’

  This brought some laughter amongst the tense astronauts.

  Communications were lost only 20 minutes later when the black mass suddenly returned. The question was – would they be able to speak to the lander in the morning?

  It was a long night for Olivia and the dream returned, causing her to toss and turn in her sleep. Scott tried, unsuccessfully, to calm Olivia but her sleep was fitful. She lay awake knowing that she had to face the dark tunnel under the dwelling – 50 kilometres long, 10 hours of travel and how did you know you would come out at the other end? Olivia shuddered as these thoughts raced around her mind.

  Dawn eventually came but there were, worryingly, no communications with LifeSeeker-1 because the black mass remained above them until just before the sun’s rays activated the dwelling.

  The lighting up of the dwelling lifted Olivia’s spirits and they watched anxiously as the screw lift raised and the blue females emerged. Finally, at the rear of the group, Seren appeared. She stepped onto the platform, stopped and turned her head towards the lander.

  Her eyes bored into Scott’s head and he saw.

  >> you talked with your people above the clouds > what have you decided >>

  Scott was momentarily stunned. How could she have known this? He repeated the message to an equally bewildered Olivia.

  ‘It’s also astonishing that her powers are such that she knows we have made a decision,’ she replied.

  Then Seren slipped her leaf and entered the first pool.

  They watched, enchanted, as she went through the warming process. Her attendant blue females gathered around her as she fed. Then she made the journey down to the side of the wreck of Pioneer 10.

  She looked more desirable than ever, Scott thought, and for the one hundredth time he admired her sublime figure, conscious of the way the point of the triangular necklace focussed his gaze downwards. She then looked up, raised her arms towards them and radiated the word,

  >> welcome >>

  The astronauts raised their arms in a similar gesture and she, in turn, smiled in response.

  She lowered her arms and her eyes sparkled.

  Scott was surprised as his head did not hurt but he still saw the message,

  >> will you come with me > if the answer is yes then raise your arms >>

  Olivia and Scott looked at one another. Even though the decision had been made, Scott felt an overwhelming desire to shout ‘yes’, ‘yes’, ‘of course we will’ , but he checked his thoughts and together they raised their arms towards Seren.

  In response she raised her arms, her eyes gleamed and she smiled in gratitude,

  >> thank you > thank you > thank you >>

  Then she turned, ran lightly up the ramp and entered large pool.

  Olivia and Scott sat in their command seats in the airlock. They were wearing thin two piece synthetic tops, pants and slip on shoes with a ridged sole. Their noses and mouths were covered by lightweight masks with filters containing a chemical that would neutralise chlorine. They wore goggles to protect their eyes and carried their palmtops for communications. Pressure in the airlock had to be increased only slightly to match that on Cloud Planet.

  Zec-1 interrupted their thoughts,

  ‘Opening lower airlock door, preparing to lower command seats.’

  As they started moving downwards, the heat and humidity hit them. By the time they stood up under the lander they were already drenched in perspiration.

  ‘The atmosphere is like the forest in Borneo where we trained,’ Olivia remarked, as they walked between the huge caterpillar tracks out into the sunshine of the dwelling. It was less humid in the sun but already their tunics were soaking. They walked past the wreck of Pioneer 10, up the ramp and stood by the large pool. Around them the light sheath shimmered and the blue females scurried back and forth carrying leaves for the fourth pool and the boat waiting below.

  Seren was bathing in the large pool when she stopped and looked at Scott, her eyes sparkled,

  >> come in > join me >>

  ‘Well, we can hardly get any wetter.’ Scott said and they laid down their equipment and walked down the ramp into the hot but refreshing water. After 5 minutes the astronauts climbed out of the pool and sat on the ledge where evaporation from their tunics gave a pleasant cooling effect.

  Seren came out of the pool and sat a couple of metres from them. Close up, she was even more remarkable.

  Her attendant blue females came forward with ‘cooked’ green leaves which she ate heartily and, w
ith an incline of her head, two of her females came to Olivia and Scott and offered food.

  ‘Zec-1’s analysis says it’s OK for consumption,’ Scott said, ‘I’m going to try some.’ It was like a soft pancake in texture but vivid dark green and still hot from cooking.

  ‘It’s a bit like spinach; I’m not wild about it, but at least we wouldn’t starve.’