THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 1825 words) [9/12] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 13 2016	Views/Reads: 1925/1326	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 3 - CH 9

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“The planet that loves people!” Sarah said, smiling at him. 

He nodded. “There must be more of these maybe in the forests,” he said. 

“Possibly,” Sarah agreed. 

“So did it let you climb on okay?” Kane asked. 

“Yeah. I got a box and stood on it and climbed on. She's really
friendly. She trusts me.” 

“How did you learn to ride?” Sarah asked. 

“I just got her moving and sort of just sat there then just started
going up and down,” Blaze told her. “I fell off a couple of times on 
the way over but then I just dematerialized back on. ” Sarah laughed. 
“Hey, happy birthday!” she said. “Get down till I give you a hug!” 

Blaze grinned and slid off the pony. Sarah hugged him and kissed his
cheek. 

“Happy birthday!” she said. “Hey, turn round.” 

Blaze turned and she examined the small circle on his neck. 

“Yep. You're 15 now,” she said. “Says so right here.” 

Blaze nodded. “I'm really 15,” he said. 

“Yep and I'm making a special dinner for us. We'll have it at the beach
hut later.” 

“That'll be great.” 

Kane walked over and hugged him. “Happy birthday,” he said. “I'll have a
present for you later as well.” 

Blaze grinned and vanished and reappeared on the pony. “Thanks Dad!” he
said then laughed and quickly rode off. 

“Little bastard!” Kane muttered, watching him go. 

Sarah sniggered at him. 

“Piss off, you,” he said to her. 

“Okay...Dad!” she replied. 

Kane grinned and chased her back into the Ship. 

***** 

Sarah was in the Galley preparing the birthday dinner. She had
discovered some mint growing in the nearby forest and was making plump 
pool fish stuffed with mint and orange. 

Desert would be freshly cut pineapples, mangoes and pears. She was also
squeezing orange juice and sieving coconut milk. 

She hummed her way round the Galley, dressed in t-shirt and shorts,
happy to be preparing dinner for her family. 

Kane meantime was in the workroom on the Falcon. He was making a pendant
for Blaze and secretly, one for Sarah. He had cut two long, thin strips 
of soft, black leather and had selected two similar, exquisite 
diamonds, both a rich, dark blue. 

After polishing the diamonds, he pierced small holes in the top of them
with a fine laser drill then threaded the leather through. He clamped 
two tiny silver rings on either side of the diamonds and these would 
hold them in position. 

Happy with his work, he hid the pendants in the workroom then
transported some extra mattresses and blankets to the beach hut in the 
Pod. 

After that he visited ‘the golden stream' and stocked up with plenty of
beer for tonight's celebration. 

Meantime, the last of the Mohicans was riding bare-chested along a wide,
curved beach, dashing along the shoreline on his white pony and in and 
out of the shallows, whooping and yelling and laughing in sheer 
delight! 

He had even temporarily forgotten about Kane's promise that he could
have as much beer as he wanted today, so in love was he with his pony. 

***** 

Kane let out a long, satisfying burp, much to Blaze's amusement and
Sarah's annoyance. 

“That dinner was superb!” he told her, patting his stomach. 

“Yeah it was great!” agreed Blaze, getting up from the table and going
round and hugging her. 

“Why thank you, young sir,” she said, happy that they'd both enjoyed her
efforts. 

“Time for the beer now, I would say,” said Kane. 

“Yes!” said Blaze, punching the air. 

Kane winked at Sarah. “Okay you two stay here,” he said and strolled out
the beach hut and round behind it. He had left the beer in the shade 
earlier and had managed to find 15 tall glasses on the Falcon. 

The white pony was nearby, eating from a huge mound of grass Blaze had
brought from the forest for it. 

Kane filled each of the glasses, put them on a tray and added a bottle
each for himself and Sarah then carried the tray back to the hut. 

Blaze's eyes widened when he saw it. 

On cue, Sarah strolled over and she and Kane sang ‘Happy Birthday!' to
him and he beamed happily. 

“Back on Earth if it was your birthday,” Sarah explained to him, “you'd
get a big cake with 15 candles on it.” 

“I'd rather have the 15 beers!” said Blaze. “Are they all for me?” 

Kane nodded. “I told you that you could have as much as you wanted
today.” 

Blaze rubbed his hands and reached out and took one. They all clinked
glasses and bottles. 

“If you drink all of them, you'll have one helluva hangover tomorrow,”
Sarah warned him. 

“Yeah, remember what you were like on Earth when you stole that booze
from me?” Kane added. 

Blaze nodded. “Yeah, I remember. It was pretty bad.” 

“And you won't be able to ride your pony. You'll be too ill,” Sarah told
him. 

Blaze considered that. “Hmm, in that case I'll just have a few
then...maybe quite a few! 

They all laughed. 

“Here's your final present,” said Kane. “From us.” He brought out the
pendant which Sarah had wrapped in some soft cotton and tied with a 
ribbon. 

Blaze unwrapped it. “Wow! Nice pendant!” he said, admiring it. “Tie it
for me, will you?” he asked Sarah. 

She took the pendant and tied it on for him. 

“Hey, this is really cool!” he said, glancing down at it. 

“You could buy beer for a year with that diamond back on Earth,” Kane
remarked. 

Blaze grinned at them. “I'd rather have the pendant since it's from you
two,” he said. 

He hugged them. “It's been a great party. Thanks for everything.” 

The sun was beginning to set and they took their beers out to the beach
to watch, sitting on a blanket. Blaze strolled over and stroked his 
pony's neck then came back and joined them. 

“Have you thought of a name for her yet?” Sarah asked him. 

Blaze nodded. “I'm calling her Zara – just like your name.” 

She put her arm round him and kissed him on the cheek. “That's very
sweet of you.” 

They sat drinking beer for a while, watching the sun setting over calm
seas, the tide slowly coming in. Kane had collected some firewood 
earlier and when it was dark, he and Blaze made a large circle of 
rocks, piled in some wood and lit it. 

As they sat there by the firelight, watching the crackling flames, Sarah
forced them each to sing a song in turn and they sat there, drinking 
beer and laughing at each other's terrible efforts at singing. 

***** 

With the fire dying down and the night a little cooler, Kane and Sarah
pulled on warm jackets and headed off for a stroll along the beach. 

The excitement of the day, riding his pony and dematerializing had tired
Blaze and he only managed six beers before yawning then hugging them 
both then heading for his mattress in the beach hut. His pony had 
settled down amongst the palm trees. At the top of one of them, the two 
birds were building a nest. 

Kane and Sarah took hands as they strolled along the beach. The pale
yellow moon was high in the sky and they walked along next to the 
gently breaking waves. 

Kane stopped them. He reached into his pocket. “A present for you,” he
said. “Close your eyes and hold out your hand.” 

Sarah smiled and closed her eyes and he gave her the second pendant. 

She opened her eyes and saw it. “A pendant just like Blaze's! It's
beautiful!” she said. She held it up and it glittered in the moonlight. 
“Tie it for me.” 

She turned and he moved her long black hair aside and tied it. She
turned back round and gazed down at it then up at him. They kissed then 
strolled on. 

“Well I think he enjoyed his birthday,” said Sarah. 

“He sure did. An excellent meal. The pendant. The beer. The pony. I
still can't get over how that pony appeared.” 

Sarah smiled at him. “We're on the planet that loves people,” she
reminded him. “Who knows what it'll surprise us with next.” 

“Yeah, you're right. You know, it's time we gave it a name. We can't
just keep saying the planet that loves people.” 

“I've already got one,” she said, glancing at him. 

“Yeah?” 

She hesitated. “Kasabla,” she told him. 

Kane frowned. “Kasabla!? Where the hell did you get that from?” 

She laughed. “I'm not telling you! You'll have to work that one out
yourself, Captain!.....Kasabla!” 


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