>> be careful > stay with my people > they will guide you back >>
The third drummer crashed down and the living group of Blue People and two astronauts marched in unison towards the wide doorway. Olivia and Scott exchanged excited looks and gasped as the diamonds held by the blue females ignited as they left the cover of the dwelling wall. Soon they were completely enveloped by the moving light sheath and they took their first steps on the planet’s surface outside of the dwelling structures.
Initially, the ground was firm but very wet from the incessant rain. However, under the protection of the light sheath, it was dry and the atmosphere remained warm but very humid. Suddenly the consistency of the clay changed and Olivia and Scott found their feet sinking to the ankles and they made strange squelching sounds as they extracted them. Fortunately the speed of the farming group was slow and they were able to keep up without too much difficulty.
They did not take their palmtops as they feared losing or damaging these vital means of communications. It also meant that their hands were free for sampling and manoeuvring in the equivalent of a paddy field. Each did carry a small camera on a band around their heads. Scott marvelled at the female workers whose arms and shoulders were taught with bulging muscles as they held their shafts steady at a slight upward angle. Each triangular edge overlapped its neighbours which formed a continuous flow of rainwater over the diamond crystals cooling them and producing steam which helped maintain the internal temperature. It was a surreal experience cocooned inside this marching group of advanced reptiles who took absolutely no notice of their two passengers.
Every so often, Olivia took samples of the wet clay and the detritus of rotting leaves and stalks and reasoned that its decomposition was how the clay remained so fertile. She tried to gauge the age of the young females; they were nearly as tall as she was. From their development she guessed they were the equivalent of young teens.
After about 100 metres the young sowers started stooping in sequence and they placed their seed pods at regular intervals into the slushy surface; Scott reckoned they had planted about 400 in five equally spaced rows. Then the whole group turned through 90 degrees and the ground below them changed. Suddenly they were trudging through rows of small plants with fleshy leaves and their feet started sinking further into the clay. Olivia stooped and picked a whole plant for detailed analysis later.
‘Their webbed feet are a distinct advantage out here,’ she said, ‘and look how blue their legs are getting.’
Now the farming group slowed as they passed into rows of fully mature plants nearly 2 metres high with huge thick leaves which dripped with rainwater. The young sowers tore off these leaves and gathered them in their arms as they passed by with an efficiency and precision that surprised the astronauts. But of increasing concern was the fact that the astronauts’ feet were sinking further into the cloying soil and both were tiring from the continuous effort. After a further 100 metres or so the slow moving group turned again through 90 degrees......
........ and started to speed up!
With rising alarm, Olivia and Scott trudged with them but could not match their speed through the viscous clay. Slowly the young sowers, their arms piled high with leaves, moved past the struggling astronauts and Scott looked at Olivia with anxiety as the rear of the group started to catch up with them.
‘Faster, Olivia, faster!’ urged Scott as they both helped to pull themselves forward.
‘I can’t go any bloody faster in this stuff, it seems even deeper!’ Olivia shouted back. ‘It’s like quicksand.’
Then Scott staggered forward straight into one of the huge plants which stopped him in his tracks and he fell back and sank to his knees in the sodden clay.
‘Olivia! I’m stuck!’ cried Scott and, as she turned to help, she watched with rising dread as the rear of the farming group marched past them, undeterred, to the distant beat of the drums.
‘I am very disappointed at our astronauts’ lack of forethought and planning before embarking on such a risky journey outside the dwelling. I can only conclude that their enthusiasm to explore the extraordinary surroundings clouded reasoned evaluation. In particular, Olivia shows the risk taking side of her character. They should have consulted Zec-1 for a risk assessment which would have been a firm ‘no’ unless snow-shoes were readily available!’
The icy rain pounded down on Olivia and Scott and plastered hair over their faces. Cold water streamed into eyes and dripped into their clothing. The temperature was less than 5 degrees and the sheath of light was barely visible as it wobbled away from them. Hyperthermia was barely 10 minutes away in these appalling conditions.
Olivia frantically pulled at Scott but failed to budge him after several attempts as she, too, was pulled deeper into the clay. Both were covered in splotches of red clay and it became obvious that their frenzied movements were only making matters worse.
‘Don’t move,’ ordered Olivia, ‘this is like quicksand and we must apply the same principles to get out.’ Accordingly, Olivia used the thick stem of the nearby plant to haul herself upright and unintentionally stripped a metre wide leaf from the stem.
‘Of course!’ she cried, ‘we can use these.’ Olivia placed the leaf on the clay in front of him. It was so thick that she could stand on it and pull on Scott’s arms but he was stuck fast. She pulled harder and he used his arms to push down on the leaf. There was some movement but both were weakened by the intense cold. Scott found himself looking directly into Olivia’s eyes and in desperation they pushed and pulled but to no avail.
Then Olivia’s head hurt and she saw,
>> calm yourself > use your strength gently > you can do it >>
‘Scott! Slow movements! Don’t fight it!’ Olivia sat on her knees and pulled gently at his shoulders. At first nothing happened and then, ever so slowly, he inched out of the clay. Finally and with a deep sucking sound his feet came out and he tumbled on top of Olivia before rolling aside. She pulled herself up and stripped another large leaf.
‘Use these leaves and let’s get the hell out of this bog,’ shouted Olivia, ‘but which way did they bloody go?’
‘Listen, the drums, it’s that way.’ Scott pointed.
They placed the huge leaves in front of them, clambered on and then pulled the vacated ones behind to the front position again. Using the tree stalks to help their balance, they clumsily scampered through the plantation until the ground became clearer and firmer. Meanwhile the sound of the drums increased through the roar of the driving rain and shaking with cold they staggered forward together.
‘She spoke to me. Seren helped me to do it!’ Olivia’s teeth chattered with the cold.
‘But Olivia, it was your initiative with the leaves that saved the day - you saved my life.’
Suddenly the drums stopped but directly ahead through the downpour they could see a wide rectangle of bright light. As they hurried closer they could see Seren standing in the middle of the doorway, arms outstretched and beaming one of her beautiful smiles.
As they journeyed on through the tunnel that evening they reflected on their near disastrous foray outside the dwelling. They realised that they had not thought it through properly and vowed more care in the future. To lighten matters Olivia playfully punched Scott and said,
‘Well at least I’ve got some samples to analyse and we must have looked a real sight thrashing about in that mud-bath!’
‘Yes, we can watch it again in the morning – it’s all on video!’ Scott said and, as Olivia snuggled into him, the boat rocked slightly in the absolute blackness.
Another night passed without further incident and they safely arrived at their tenth dwelling. They were now at the equator.
‘Our astronauts find it almost impossible to grasp that another 10 dwellings stretch across the plains to the other mountain range and even harder to imagine that they are underneath one of 1000 dwellings spread around the equator. That is 20,000 structures in total on the 1000 kilometre wide red plain of Clo
ud Planet.’
They ascended the screw lift and arrived, as anticipated, in the pyramid dwelling where they all warmed and fed themselves. Then they walked out through the sunlit door.
‘This dwelling is 300 metres wide with each wall over 100 metres long. The shimmering light sheaf is an incredible sight, stretching back towards the morning sun. The wall of the dwelling immediately in front of our astronauts contains the usual massive door at the end of an open space about 100 metres square.
‘Behind them are four octagonal pyramids of bright red brick construction. They are identical in size, nested together, and their forward facing walls are studded with glistening crystals. Each has a doorway leading to a small outside area.’
‘This is like a mini – city,’ Scott cried excitedly, ‘why, there must be nearly 2000 inhabitants!’
They were driven back inside by the heat and humidity where again they took the opportunity to explore their surroundings in more detail. This was thirsty work and Olivia was getting extremely concerned at the dwindling supply of fresh water. She inwardly dreaded the thought of having to resort to the creatures’ milk. Suddenly she realised that Scott was asking a question.
‘It’s surprising how little food they eat.’ Scott commented. ‘Just some leaves and milk but they’re very strong and active.’
‘That’s because their cold-blooded,’ replied Olivia, ‘whereas most of the food we eat produces the energy to maintain our internal body heat. I seem to remember that we would starve to death after two months without food but a crocodile can last a whole year between meals!’
‘Yes, you’re right. It’s interesting that evolution on this planet has remained cold-blooded whereas on Earth warm blooded mammals diversified after the reptiles – but I’ve never been quite sure why.’
‘Both are right. The first warm-blooded mammals emerged 210-230 million years ago, about 100 million years after reptiles left the water. It is generally agreed that warm-blooded avoided going out into the open and young could be born in the safety of an underground den.
‘Furthermore, in my database I find copious notes and digital video – our astronauts take every opportunity to investigate and record their remarkable surroundings for posterity. I am selecting a couple of their more interesting observations which give an insight to the inhabitants and the planet itself.
‘Firstly, the design and construction of the 100 metre wide pyramid dwellings is simple yet very effective. Each wall is 4 metres wide at its base and forms an angle of 30 degrees to the vertical. The thickness of the wall is slowly reduced as the height increases until it is a mere 1 metre at the apex 75 metres above the ground. During construction the eight walls are built up together thus supporting one another as the height increases. It is not too dissimilar to the fabrication of an igloo using blocks of ice.
‘Secondly and surprisingly, there are no other life forms on Cloud Planet. Our astronauts diligently search every dwelling and pyramid as they pass through and use sophisticated sensing and microscopy tools in their computers. But they find no insects or bacteria or simple celled organisms. However, they did find many small lizards in the darker corners and these were much more abundant underground. They record in their notes that the high levels of chlorine in the water and atmosphere precludes all but the hardiest of survivors – the cold blooded reptiles. They live in a world which is almost perfectly hygienic which accounts for the absence of disease amongst the inhabitants of Cloud Planet. ’
Chapter 41
SOS City
They had now travelled around the equator for a distance of 100 kilometres and they arrived, with heightened expectations, at the source of the SOS message that had initiated their pioneering journey 21 years ago.
Olivia was so excited that she put the return of her stomach pains to the back of her mind and they waited impatiently as the sun rose dragging the light sheath across the sky.
Just before midday, Seren beckoned and they followed her outside and up the ramp where they sat near the three drums attended by their usual drummers. The first thing they noticed was a raised wide ledge running, they presumed, all the way around the dwelling near the crystals. Sticking out of the ledge at about 2 metre intervals were upright black shafts with red clay flat blocks similar to the ones used for farming.
Then the first drummer started beating and, from all parts of the dwelling and the pyramids, hundreds of female workers walked up clay ramps leading to the ledge. They each stopped in front of one of the wooden shafts. Scott guessed that there must have been about 400 blue females around the entire circumference. Then the second drum came in. Each female picked up a shaft and held it horizontally at waist level with the clay blocks pointing to the light sheath. It seemed that the red blocks touched their neighbours’ on both sides forming a continuous flat band 2 metres from the light sheath shimmering in front of them.
At this point Olivia and Scott realised that the third drummer was a Serenite adult female. She cocked her head sideways, in a similar fashion to Seren, raised her flat ‘drumsticks’ and pounded a loud repetitive beat.
Immediately, all the females holding their black shafts moved forward three steps and the red clay blocks moved over the tops of the diamond crystals, shielding them from the sun.
This caused the light sheath to shoot up into the sky and disappear in a second. The effect was so instantaneous it was as if someone had thrown a light switch. As a result cloud closed in, the temperature dropped and it started raining. Then the third drummer stopped and the multitude of female workers immediately stepped three paces back uncovering the diamonds.
The result was dazzling as the crystals spontaneously ignited at full force causing the light cone to shoot up into the clouds again – and the sun shone.
Olivia and Scott jumped as the third drummer crashed down again on the drum. As before the blue females moved forward shutting off the light. This forward and back movement turned the light sheath off and on in synchronisation to the third drummer.
‘ – light – light – light – long light – long light – long light – light – light – light –‘
‘My God!’ shouted Scott, ‘It’s perfect Morse code! Three short bursts of light, three long and three short again, repeated over and over!’
They couldn’t take their eyes off the spectacle viewed through alternating hot sunshine and cold rain.
After a while Scott turned excitedly to Olivia,
‘When we saw that flashing signal in the conference room, did you ever believe that we would be sitting here watching another life species sending that incredible message – I’m overwhelmed!’
But Olivia was white and, gripping her stomach, was barely able to respond,
‘I feel ill, aaargh! The pain!’
He did not hesitate and rushed her down the ramp where she was violently sick in the open channel.
Chapter 42
From Bad to Worse
Scott half carried Olivia into the pyramid and walked past the huge triangular structure. He stopped intermittently when the interior was thrown into darkness then resumed as the light shafts came on again illuminating his way. He reached the cool pool, helped Olivia to a comfortable position and mopped her brow – she was burning, shaking and clutching her abdomen.
The SOS flashed in the pyramid which seemed to add to Olivia’s discomfort and also made it difficult for Scott to locate and find the medical bag. When he returned to Olivia’s side, she was half sitting in the cool pool, throwing water onto her face. She was obviously in distress and his stomach knotted with deep concern. He put his arms around her,
‘Olivia, what’s wrong!’
‘It’s like before, aaargh!! Only worse and these flashing lights!’
Then, Seren appeared like a vision out of the dark and she sat next to Olivia on the edge of the pool. She was so close that Scott caught her breath. The light on her body accentuated the pale, duck egg blue of her perfect skin. Then she faded into the gloom and reappeared
as the signal went on and off, on and off. Olivia groaned and Scott watched, uncomprehending, as Seren removed her strange triangular necklace and placed it gently around Olivia’s neck. She then put her hand on Olivia’s forehead and looked into her eyes,
>> be calm> be calm > be calm >>
It was so reassuring that Scott even felt relief himself. Olivia clutched the necklace and mouthed a ‘thank you’ directly at Seren. She was momentarily transfixed and then, remarkably, fell asleep. Scott looked at her and said his own ‘thank you’ and saw,
>> there is something very wrong with your female >>
And Seren got up and walked away.
Olivia was, at least, comfortable for the moment, so Scott made a pillow from a large pack of cotton wool stored in the medical bag and waited until the signal stopped flashing. He then strapped a rectangular box to Olivia’s forearm and ensured that it was tightly in place before activating the ‘on’ switch. This marvel of miniaturised diagnostic equipment determined the major bodily functions and key liquid chemical levels accurately and wirelessly.
The Blue People of Cloud Planet Page 18
