THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2269 words) [2/12] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 11 2016	Views/Reads: 1886/1422	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 3 - CH 2

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

Blaze. He picked up a small but powerful torch. “Let's go,” he said to 
Sarah. She nodded, gave Blaze a hug and strolled over to him. “Lead on, 
Captain,” she said, smiling. 

Kane nodded at Blaze and headed for the door. “Stay close,” he told
Sarah. “Try and stop me,” she said, grabbing the belt at the back of 
his jumpsuit. Kane rechecked his laser, flicked on the torch and they 
stepped out into the passageway. 

Once they left the pool of light the passage began twisting and turning,
lit only by Kane's torch. They moved along slowly, every noise they 
made sounding unnaturally loud in the eerie silence. 

Sarah glanced over her shoulder. Back there was the Safety Cabin and
Blaze and bright warm light. Ahead there was only blackness. She 
hesitated and Kane turned. 

“What's up?” he asked. 

“I'm scared.” 

He felt her shiver so he turned and gave her a reassuring hug. Then a
brief kiss. “Come on,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck. “Let's go.” 

Although they were familiar with this part of the Ship it all seemed
distorted by the darkness and strange shapes loomed out of it which 
they couldn't recognise. 

Laser pistol and torch held in front of him, Kane moved them along
slowly until each shape was recognised and this slowed them further. 
All the time the menacing silence gnawed away at them and Kane could 
feel Sarah's grip growing tighter as they stumbled on. Half-way along 
the seemingly endless passageway he stopped them. 

“What is it?” Sarah hissed, drawing closer. 

“Ssshhh! I thought I heard something.” 

They listened intently but the only sound in the thick silence was the
occasional creaking of the Ship. 

“Muslik!!” Kane yelled without warning. 

Sarah screamed and grabbed him. “You might have warned me you were going
to yell!” she hissed angrily. 

He looked over his shoulder. Her face was a white blur in the darkness.
“Sorry. I didn't know I was going to do it myself.” 

“Why the hell doesn't he answer? He must hear us.” 

‘Because something's wrong,' Kane thought but didn't say so. “I don't
know,” he whispered. 

“Call him again.” 

“Muslik!!” Kane yelled. 

They waited for an answer but all they heard was his voice echoing
through the silent Ship till it lost itself in some dark corner. 

“Let's go,” Kane hissed and they moved on again. 

There were openings leading off from the passageway now, minor corridors
leading to other parts of the Falcon and Kane stopped them at each one. 
Sarah had to wait alone in nerve-wracking suspense until he examined 
each of them by torchlight and made sure they were empty. 

“We're almost there,” he whispered to her after checking yet another
dark entrance. He shone his torch down it. “That leads along to the 
Drive section. Only one more corner and one more intersection between 
us and the Bridge.” 

“Thank God,” she muttered, sagging against him. “I don't think I could
take much more.” 

Kane allowed her a brief rest before moving on again. In front of them
the passageway veered sharply to the left and he guided them over to 
the far wall before they rounded it. 

“Last corner,” he said softly. “We'll take it slowly.” 

They began to move forwards, their backs hard against the wall. Half-way
round Kane stopped them and they listened in the thick blackness. The 
creaking which they'd heard from time to time was now louder but apart 
from that there was nothing. 

They crept forward and when they were fully round the corner they could
see a comforting dim glow from the open Bridge about twenty yards away. 
They both relaxed and Sarah leaned against Kane as they inspected the 
final straight. 

“I can feel your heart beating,” he said over his shoulder. 

“I'm surprised it still is,” she replied. 

She heard him laughing softly and elbowed him in the ribs. They
concentrated on the passage ahead, the last stretch between them and 
the safety of the Bridge. The beginning of it was in darkness but it 
gradually lightened up with the dim glow spilling out the open door. 

“Muslik!!” Kane yelled. Sarah jumped behind him again and stifled a
scream. “Jesus! Would you stop doing that!?” 

“Sorry,” he muttered but she knew he was grinning. 

They waited but there was no reply from Muslik. 

“Let's go,” Kane whispered. 

They crept forward again but at least there was a little light ahead and
they could see the final corridor intersection between them and the 
Bridge. Kane halted just short of it. 

“Last one,” he whispered. 

He left Sarah again and slid along the wall towards it. Slowly, very
slowly, he inched his head into the entrance on the right. It was 
clear. He leapt across the passage and shone his torch into the 
entrance on the left then sharply jerked his head back. 

“What is it?” Sarah hissed across at him. 

He waited a moment before answering. “Clear,” he said. 

“God damn it, Frank!” she hissed angrily at him. 

“Come on,” he said, grinning and reaching out a hand to her. 

She was still muttering at him as they crossed the corridor intersection
when she glanced to her right and saw something moving. She screamed 
and let go his hand and jumped back. 

Kane dropped to one knee, swivelled and fired several quick bursts from
his laser pistol. Some glass shattered and fell to the floor but 
nothing else moved. 

He stood up. “It was just a reflection,” he told her. “You caught it
when you passed the corridor. There's a sliding glass door further down 
there.” 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah.” 

He fired another burst and more glass shattered. 

“Sorry,” she said, her voice shaky. “I saw something moving and--” 

“Forget it,” he told her. “You alright?” 

“Terrific.” 

He grinned at her. “At least we know the corridors are clear. That just
leaves the Bridge. Come on.” 

She took a couple of deep breaths and steadied herself. He held out his
hand to her and she was just reaching for it when something growled in 
the darkness behind her and leapt on to her back. 

Her scream echoed up and down the passage then ended abruptly as a fur
covered hand clamped over her face. She felt something else slithering 
round her throat and she dropped her laser pistol and tried to pull it 
away but whatever it was tightened its hold. 

With both hands she managed to rip away its grip from her face and she
screamed again and threw herself wildly from side to side trying to 
shake the creature off her back. Kane tried to grab it but she kept 
twisting out of his reach. 

“Keep still!!” he yelled but she panicked and ran off along the
passageway. 

Kane could make out a dark shape hunched on her back but there wasn't
enough light to see what it was. He took aim with his laser but Sarah 
was throwing herself around so much that he couldn't get a clear shot. 

He sprinted up the passage and caught her a few yards from the Bridge
door. She was still yelling and fighting wildly, trying to dislodge the 
creature and there was only one thing he could do. 

He tripped her and she fell with the thing snarling and clawing on top
of her He swung the laser at its head and caught it a glancing blow. It 
screeched horribly and leapt off her and scrabbled up the rest of the 
passage towards the Bridge. 

Kane had a fleeting impression of something about three feet high
covered in bluish fur as he sighted along the laser and fired. The 
creature screamed and crashed into the doorway and lay still. 

He watched it for a short time, ready to fire again but it was out cold.
Just to be on the safe side he changed his laser pistol setting from 
‘stun' to ‘kill'. 

He helped Sarah up. She was shaking pretty badly and he held her tightly
a while. Slowly the shaking eased but he waited till she pulled herself 
away. She leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes and took some 
deep breaths. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah, just about.” 

“Did it hurt you?” 

She shook her head. “What the hell is it?” she asked, glancing at the
motionless bundle of fur. 

Kane shrugged. “Want to find out?” 

“No thanks. You do it.” 

Keeping his laser trained on the creature he walked up the passage. It
was still lying motionless in the open Bridge doorway but he prodded it 
with his boot a couple of times to make sure it was still out. The 
bluish colour he'd glimpsed earlier wasn't fur but some kind of rough 
material the thing had pulled round itself. 

Still with the laser trained on it, he knelt down slowly and grabbed an
edge of the material. He steeled himself then yanked it back and almost 
dropped his laser when he saw what lay underneath. 

“Christ, come and see what attacked you!” he said over his shoulder to
Sarah. 

“What is it?” she asked suspiciously, creeping up behind him. 

“It's pretty hideous,” he told her. 

“Oh God!” she muttered then steeled herself and slowly peered over his
shoulder. “Blaze!!” she yelled. “Goddamn it!!” She leaned back against 
the wall and laughed with relief. 

“Little bastard!” Kane said, grinning. 

“How the hell did he get behind us without making any noise?” 

“He can dematerialize, remember?” 

“Jeeze! I feel like an idiot! I thought it was an alien or something.”
“So did I,” Kane admitted. He bent down and pulled the blue sacking 
away from Blaze. 

“Will he be alright?” she asked, kneeling down beside him. 

“Yeah he'll be round soon. He's lucky my laser was set on ‘stun'. Leave
him where he is. Let's see what's going on with Muslik.” 

Cautiously they stepped into the Bridge. Everything appeared calm. Some
of the monitors and instrument panels had come back on and this was 
where the dim glow was coming from. A couple of the Bridge lights also 
started flickering to life. The Observation Screen was blank and Muslik 
was sitting in the Pilot's seat, staring at it. 

“Hey Muslik, what's happening?” Kane asked. 

Muslik didn't even turn. 

“For Christ's sake, Muslik, are we out of the Corridor!?” Kane yelled. 

Muslik ignored him and continued to stare at the screen. They could see
his pipe in his mouth and thin wisps of smoke drifting up from it. 

“For fuck sake, Muslik!!” Kane said angrily, striding over to him. “Are
we out of the godamned Corridor!?” 

He grabbed the edge of the seat, spun it round sharply and then stopped
it with his boot. The impact jarred Muslik and in front of them, before 
their astonished eyes, he shattered into little round pieces which 
bounced all over the Bridge floor like beads scattered from a hundred 
broken necklaces. 


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