Rocket to Trinculo (Mastery of the Stars Book 3)

by M J Dees

"Maybe it was Ay-ttho and Tori."

  "Maybe."

  "Or maybe not."

  "Why don't you get some rest? I'll keep watch."

  Sevan was exhausted. It seemed like a long time since he had slept. He fashioned a bed out of some old sacks he found in the car's corner and lay down. Within moments he was asleep.

  *

  "Sevan. Sevan." Ozli was whispering, or at least speaking quietly.

  It took Sevan a while to realise where he was and who was talking to him.

  "Ozli?"

  "Shhh. There is something or someone outside. Quite a few of them by the sound of it."

  Ozli was pointing his weapon towards the entrance hatch.

  Sevan looked around the car. There was a cupboard which looked as if it might have contained weapons, or at least distress beacons, but someone had looted it.

  "Do you have a spare," he asked, pointing towards Ozli's weapon.

  "No, sorry."

  Sevan watched the hatch with apprehension and listened for sounds from outside. He heard the odd sound of scuffling but nothing distinct. He wondered whether Ozli had a proximity detector in his vehicle because Sevan would never have perceived a group outside through sound alone.

  The guard's car had some small windows but outside was dark. The giant globe must have set because there was no reflected light to illuminate the surroundings.

  "It will be dawn soon," said Ozli. "We will have solar rays to help us see. I think they will make their move before then."

  Sevan thought he saw something pass by one window, more of a shadow than anything. Then he saw another and in the silhouette, which appeared for only the briefest of moments. He could make out an elongated head, similar to those of the family which had helped him on the forested planet, only much smaller. Another one passed and this time he could discern a thin torso and long spindly limbs.

  Ozli shone a light which seemed to frighten the creature and Sevan glimpsed a large fang protruding from a long mouth.

  The creatures were quiet for a while.

  "What are they doing?" Sevan asked.

  "I think they are waiting. Maybe for the dawn."

  "But they seemed scared of your light."

  "Just surprised perhaps. Maybe they don't want to come in. Maybe they are waiting for us to come out."

  "They'll have a long wait."

  "We can't stay here forever. They know that."

  "I still have some snacks."

  "Good for you. I will need to charge my vehicle. I need the solar rays."

  "You greet them then."

  "Thanks."

  "Well, if it wasn't for you pointing your weapon at me, I'd still be with the others."

  "And perhaps you'd already be dead."

  Sevan and Ozli waited. Outside, the creatures seemed to be waiting. As they were waiting, Sevan realised that outside the darkness was lifting. At the far side of the crater, Sevan could see the outline of the mountains against the brightening sky. Dawn was here and soon the wait would be over.

  CHAPTER 12: REUNION

  As the solar rays crept across the crater floor, Sevan braced himself to take another look out of a window. When he looked, he wished he hadn't. Outside were hundreds of small creatures, with long heads ending in fangs which protruded from their mouths. Their bodies were so thin, Sevan thought he could see their bones beneath their smooth brown skin. The creatures sat on long hind legs with long front legs hanging in front and ending in sharp looking claws.

  "They look like they are waiting to eat us," said Sevan.

  "They may be waiting to eat you," said Ozli. "There's not much of me worth eating. Anyway, we can't stay here forever. We had better meet them."

  "You have lost your marbles," said Sevan but before he could protest further, Ozli had opened the hatch and was heading through it.

  Sevan waited for Ozli to be attacked but the creatures just watched the emergence of the vehicle with tranquil passivity.

  Ozli halted in front of the group which sat and observed him. Sevan mustered sufficient courage to emerge through the hatch and was surprised to see the creatures unimpressed by his appearance.

  Ozli, Sevan and the creatures stared at each other for a moment until the creatures, following some unnoticed signal, moved as if as one and began to leave, stopping to ensure that Ozli and Sevan would follow them.

  They continued in this way, starting and stopping, leading Ozli and Sevan towards the mountains and to the entrance of one of the mines.

  "Maybe they are luring us to eat us from the comfort of their homes," said Sevan.

  "We are about to find out," Ozli sounded unperturbed.

  The creatures disappeared into one of the mine entrances in the mountain side and Ozli followed them without pause. Sevan lingered, weighing up his options before entering.

  Having already lost sight of Ozli and the creatures, Sevan followed lights on the walls which illuminated the interior. The tunnel descended and curved and then opened up into a huge illuminated cavern.

  Sevan was still in the tunnel, approaching the opening to the cavern when he heard the commotion and then saw Ozli trying to reverse his vehicle back into the tunnel. The creatures seemed to be scattering into the cavern and a few and took refuge in the tunnel.

  "Sevan? I need your help," Ozli called.

  Sevan was reluctant to go near the opening into the cavern where, judging by the grimace like expressions on the elongated faces of the creatures, something terrible was happening.

  "Sevan? You need to show yourself," Ozli pleaded.

  Sevan took a deep breath and edged towards the opening, past the cowering creatures in the tunnel. He edged towards the end of the tunnel and, peering around the corner, was not prepared for what he saw.

  The creatures had retreated to the edge of the cavern because at the far side stood Ay-ttho, pointing a large weapon towards Ozli. On one side of her, stood Tori looking just as angry and on the other side, Sevan was amazed and pleased to see Slar who was sporting a bandage around one arm.

  "Ay-ttho! It's me, don't shoot," Sevan shouted. "Ozli's not a threat to us."

  "He shot Slar," Ay-ttho shouted back.

  "He's sorry about that and wants to help us get off the planet."

  Ay-ttho did not look convinced.

  "It's true," said Ozli. "I am very sorry for shooting Slar but I have a plan to get us off Nereid."

  "Why should we trust you?" shouted Tori.

  "There's no reason you should," Ozli admitted. "I'm just asking you to believe me and help me convert the rocket."

  "The rocket?" Ay-ttho was astonished.

  "I think we should trust him?" said Slar.

  "Really?" said Tori. "But he shot you."

  "I know but I sense he is telling the truth and if he has a plan for leaving Nereid, then I think we should join him."

  Ay-ttho lowered the weapon.

  "Where did you get that?" Sevan asked, finding the courage to enter the cavern and pointing towards the weapon.

  "We found it in the rocket," Tori answered, Ay-ttho still being too angry to respond.

  "So you stole the snacks too."

  "Yes," said Slar. "But it proved unnecessary as our hosts here have fed us very well. Are you hungry?"

  Sevan didn't need to respond, his expression said everything.

  The creatures had regained their courage and had mingled in the cavern. They ushered Sevan into the centre where there stood a stone plinth which Sevan perceived to be a long table which the creatures were covering with a variety of items, all of which looked to Sevan to be very edible.

  Encouraged by Ay-ttho, Tori and Slar and the creatures, Sevan began to eat and found the food very enjoyable and satisfying.

  "They have something which will make your day," said Tori, signalling to the creatures with drinking gestures and then by pointing to Sevan.

  Some creatures rushed away and returned with stone bowls, brimming with a frothy liquid. Sevan tasted the fizzy liquid and thought it
tasted almost as good as the pish to which Thertee had introduced him.

  "Don't drink too much. It's very potent," warned Tori.

  They waited for Sevan to finish eating and drinking before they would allow Ozli to explain and then they listened in silence. When he had finished, there was a long pause which ended when Ay-ttho spoke.

  "You think you can get that rocket out of the atmosphere?"

  "With their help," Ozli said, meaning the creatures. "It is possible."

  Ay-ttho did not look convinced.

  "It might be our only chance to get off Nereid," said Slar.

  "It might be a good chance to kill ourselves," said Ay-ttho. "There must be freighters visit Nereid all the time to collect the materials they mine here."

  "After the damage the Republic has inflicted, I don't imagine there will be any freighters for a while. What have we got to lose?"

  "Our lives."

  "There's nothing else to do," said Tori. "We may as well pass our time by building his spaceship."

  Sevan and Ay-ttho sat for a moment trying to think of reasons for not building Ozli's ship, but, other than that they might all die during the launch. They couldn't come up with any reasons for not building it.

  Ozli's plan involved connecting the existing rocket track from the terminal at Trinculo to a vacuum tube which already existed high above trinculo to lift materials from the mines to waiting freighters. With sufficient velocity, Ozli argued, they could fire the rocket up the tube with enough velocity to leave Nereid's atmosphere and arrive at the globe containing the Doomed Planet and Daphnis.

  The only doubt Ozli had was regarding from what material the globe was constructed and whether the rocket could pierce it and stay intact to enter the atmosphere of one of planets within.

  The execution of Ozli's plan was not straightforward. First, they had to repair the rocket itself by making right any damage it received from the crash landing in the crater and they had to strengthen its body to withstand the pressures of space travel. Ozli intended to only use the first car of the rocket so they could use sections of other cars for reinforcement.

  The second task was to transport the rocket up to the city where the track began. This is where the creatures came into their own, working as a vast team and using their basic mining equipment to transport the rocket up the mountain track and across the precarious ledge to the cavern behind the waterfall which was now only a dribble compared to its previous forceful cascade.

  This had been a source of some concern for Ozli who worried that because hydroelectricity powered the rocket track, there might not be enough power for the rocket to reach the required velocity. His fears proved unfounded however.

  "They must have some kind of power storage system," he said. "To manage fluctuations in generation or perhaps to meet peaks in demand. Either way, there is more than enough energy for our requirements."

  Slar drove the rocket up to Trinculo where, following the directions of Ay-ttho, the creatures buried the charred bodies of the very important guests in a single mass grave. The ceremony Slar officiated was strange for the creatures accustomed to taking their dead to the top of a mountain and allowing the flying creatures to pick apart the corpse. They said the flying creatures used to be plentiful around the crater rim but were now sadly scarce.

  Ozli led Sevan, Slar, Ay-ttho and Tori past the viewing site and around a corner where an incredible view came into sight. It was a vast tube stretching high into the sky.

  Slar drove the rocket to and from the city of Waterfall to ferry hundreds of creatures up to Trinculo to help with what Ozli described as the heaviest phase of engineering.

  The task was twofold. First, they had to reposition the lower end of the tube so that the rocket would not have to reduce its velocity to negotiate curves in the track. Second, they had to extend the track itself from the terminal at Trinculo to the base of the tube. Ozli assured them the rocket should negotiate this at maximum velocity

  Sevan marvelled at the industry of the creatures who toiled throughout the day, and as far as Sevan could tell, throughout the night, taking shifts so that the work would never cease.

  "Why are they so keen to help us?" Sevan asked Ozli.

  "It is in their nature, I suppose. I don't think they would turn down the opportunity to be part of a major engineering project. It is from their work that they derive pleasure and pride."

  The creatures had transported everything they needed from the crater and Slar made regular trips to and from the ruined city to bring fresh supplies. They cooked and built shelters and before long Trinculo looked like a small town with track laying works running straight through the middle of the settlement.

  Ozli had found a maintenance depot for the rocket which contained plenty of spare track and many of the parts he needed to modify the rocket to enable it to go even faster than it already did.

  Ay-ttho observed the work with scepticism but Tori had begun to believe in the project and was looking forward to its completion. Slar had the most faith in the project outside of Ozli. She supervised the insertion of the track into the lower section of the tube and spent long periods with Ozli debating from what material the globe might be made.

  Ozli theorised that the sphere was a solar energy capture device, supplying energy to the twin planets. In his theory, the sphere would not be solid but contain many gaps through which they could attempt to steer the rocket. To aid this, Ozli was installing small boosters to the rocket's outer shell.

  Slar argued that if it collected solar energy, wouldn't it be better around a star rather than two planets? But Ozli dismissed her argument as irrelevant.

  After a great deal of hard work, the moment of the launch drew closer and everyone prepared for an initial test to determine the rocket's velocity when it reached Trinculo without sending it up the tube.

  Tori volunteered to pilot the rocket so that Ozli and Slar could take measurements. Sevan and Ay-ttho were still very sceptical about the project and observed from a distance.

  The day of the test finally arrived.

  CHAPTER 13: THE PLANS GO AWRY

  Sevan and Ay-ttho watched the test from a ledge above Trinculo. It was an old funeral platform used by the creatures and Sevan felt a foreboding sense of creepiness.

  They watched Ozli and Slar prepare their apparatus far below, talking with Tori on the ship's communicator. The creatures had all gathered and were lining the track as if waiting for a parade. Ozli and Slar kept gesticulating for them to get back to a safe distance.

  "Have you tried to get Ron on your communicator?" Sevan asked Ay-ttho.

  "I have. I try all the time but all I get is static."

  Ozli gave the order to start the test and everyone waited for the rocket to emerge from the tunnel.

  They saw it before they heard it, climbing the slope from the tunnel entrance. But when the rocket reached the point where the track levelled out, the rocket didn't stop climbing but lifted off, leaving the track and sailing high above everyone's heads.

  To Sevan, the events seemed to happen in slow motion. The rocket, rose in a graceful arc across the sky, followed by the turning heads of hundreds of creatures as well as Ozli and Slar.

  It peaked at the zenith of a parabolic curve and then began to descend. The creatures scattered, not wanting to be crushed by the falling craft. But the rocket did not crush anyone, it cleared the edge of the cliff and plummeted downwards out of view.

  The creatures, Ozli and Slar, rushed to the edge of the cliff. Sevan and Ay-ttho rushed down the mountain side as fast as they could to join them.

  When they arrived, Sevan had to summon every particle of courage he possessed to look over the edge.

  "He must have engaged the descent procedures," Ozli explained. "But it looks like the craft hid the ground with some force."

  Sevan could barely see the wreckage below amongst the dust but what he could see didn't look good.

  "If anything has happened to him, I will end you," Ay-ttho wa
rned Ozli.

  "How do we get down there?" Slar mused.

  Some creatures had already rushed off to a narrow path and were beginning their descent. Slar, Ay-ttho and Sevan followed them but Ozli could not as the path was too narrow for his vehicle.

  Sevan hadn't gone very far when he began to regret his decision to follow the others. He could not turn back due to the number of creatures following behind. He tried to not look down but focussed on the path in front of him.

  The descent seemed never ending and more than once the party stopped to rest when the narrow path opened up into a larger ledge or cave which it did in only a few places. They negotiated the rest of the descent on a path was barely as wide as Sevan himself. The creatures negotiated the way more effectively and some of them went ahead on the occasions the others felt the need to rest.

  By the time Sevan reached the foot of the descent, he just wanted to lie down and rest but he forced himself to keep going across what looked like grassy scrub to the site of the wreckage which already had a hoard of creatures working to cut away a section of the fuselage so they could access Tori.

  As Sevan approached, the creatures were lifting out Tori's body. They had strapped him to a section of the fuselage which they laid down on the grass.

  Tori was unconscious, Sevan hoped he would be okay as Ay-ttho and Slar bent over him. It was Slar who looked like she knew what she was doing as she placed her hands on Tori's body, searching first for vital signs and then for signs of broken limbs. After what seemed like a very long time, she sat back and sighed.

  "I think with the proper care he'll be okay," she said. "But it will be very difficult to carry him back up that path to Trinculo."

  The creatures appeared to relish the challenge, and it was all that Slar and Ay-ttho could do to stop them carrying Tori off.

  "So what are we going to do?" Ay-ttho asked.

  "Maybe if we take him as far as the foot of the cliff we can ask the creatures to bring supplies down from Trinculo."

  "What about Ozli?" Sevan asked.

  "I don't give a fushy about Ozli," Ay-ttho snapped.

  "What I meant was, couldn't Ozli be of help?"

  "He might be if we can get him down here," said Slar.