THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2473 words) [5/12] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 12 2016	Views/Reads: 1940/1375	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 3 - CH 5

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

She felt terribly disappointed at what they'd discovered. Unlike the
others she had volunteered for the mission - the excitement of 
exploring a totally new Universe had been too much to resist. 

Her hopes of them discovering some brilliant new planets or spectacular
new life-forms had been high but this was what all their efforts had 
been for – a grey, desolate, uninhabited planet of no use to anyone. 
Tyler and The Inner Council on Earth would have been as disappointed as 
she was. 

Kane's voice coming over the speakers interrupted her thoughts. 

“I've landed and had a look around at a few spots and collected some
samples,” he told them. “Returning to the Ship. Get ready to open the 
Docking Bay, Blaze.” 

Blaze moved to one of the consoles and stood ready. He watched the white
Pod coming closer on the Screen, heading back over the forest. It 
reached the moorland and began descending towards the Ship. 

Blaze pressed a button on the console. “Docking Bay opened,” he told
Kane. 

“Yeah, I see it. Close it as soon as I'm in.” 

Blaze tracked the Pod all the way into the Ship then closed the Docking
Bay door. A few minutes later, Kane joined them on the Bridge. 

“Any signs of life?” Sarah asked him. 

Kane ran a hand through his rain soaked, black hair and laid his samples
box down. “Nothing,” he told them. “I've been down the coast a few 
miles then inland a few miles. The whole planet looks pretty rugged.” 

“What was it like when you went outside the pod?” Blaze asked him. 

Kane flicked some water at him. “Wet,” he said. “Rain and wind
everywhere. The only reason I landed was to collect some samples.” 

“I'll set them up,” Sarah told him. “You look as if you need some hot
coffee.” 

Kane nodded and stared at the wide Observation Screen. The ugly moor and
driving rain were all that could be seen. 

“It's a wilderness,” he said. “A goddamned wilderness. I don't think
this place could support life even if there was any. We're leaving 
tomorrow.” 

***** 

Sarah woke him at dawn the following day. 

“What the hell is it?” he grunted, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Come and look.” 

“At what? The samples?” 

She shook her head. “There's nothing special in the results. The water's
drinkable and the soil's normal.” She looked at him. “It's the planet – 
there's something different about it.” 

“This had better be good,” he muttered, pulling on a robe. 

She dragged him all the way up to the Bubble where they had an
uninterrupted all-round view. Kane peered out through screwed up eyes. 
The rain had slackened to a light drizzle and the wind had died down. 
The sky was still dull but the edges of the clouds were tinged with 
light. 

“So the rain and the wind's eased,” he said. “Big deal.” 

“It's not just that,” Sarah said, looking round. “There's something
else.” 

“Like what?” 

“I don't know. I can't quite place it. It's just a feeling, as if the
whole atmosphere's changing.” 

Kane looked at her. A long pitying look. 

“You think I'm nuts, don't you?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I've been up for hours,” she said, ignoring his reply. “I was wondering
if...” 

Kane sighed. “You want to take a look, don't you? Okay, take a Pod. I'll
track you.” 

“A walk,” she said. “I want to go for a walk.” 

“A walk! Christ, Sarah, can't it wait!?” 

She put her hands on her hips and stared at him and he knew it was
pointless to argue with her. His head sank into his hands and he 
groaned. 

“A walk,” he muttered. 

She nodded. “A walk. Right now.” 

Kane shook his head wearily. “Make me a cup of coffee while I get
dressed.” 

***** 

Blaze yawned and stretched and sat up. He must've fallen asleep on the
Bridge couch and someone had thrown a blanket over him – Sarah 
probably. The Bridge was empty and he called out to the others but 
nobody answered. 

“The bastards!” he complained. “They've left me!” 

“Only for a short time,” the Computer told him. “Message from Sarah –
they've gone for a walk and should be back soon.” 

“So the Ship's empty apart from me?” Blaze asked. 

“That's correct.” 

“The rats! The buggering rats have left me!” he said. He tossed the
blanket aside and strolled over to the Pilot's seat and sat down. He 
looked at the Observation Screen then locked himself in. “Prepare to 
lift off,” he ordered the Computer. 

“No,” it replied. 

Blaze frowned. “Are you disobeying the orders of the Captain of the
Falcon?” 

“No, I'm obeying them. Kane warned me before he went out to disregard
anything you said unless an emergency arose.” 

“The bastard!” Blaze cursed. “The ungrateful bastard! After I saved his
life as well.” 

“When was that?” the Computer asked, puzzled. 

“Oh when we landed on Modas,” Blaze replied airily. “The buggers
attacked us and I killed hundreds of them then rescued everybody.” 

The Computer remained silent. 

Blaze stared at the Screen. He unlocked his seat and wandered over for a
closer look. The view showed the empty moor and part of the forest. 

“Christ, arm lasers!” he ordered, panic in his voice. 

“No chance,” The Computer told him. 

“It's an emergency!” Blaze exclaimed. “Aliens! Hordes of then coming out
the forest towards us!” 

The Computer sighed. “Funny how scanner reports don't detect anything. I
think you might be lying to me, Blaze.” 

Realizing he couldn't outsmart the Computer, Blaze gave up and wandered
over to the Bridge door. “You know what you are?” he said to it. 

“I've a fairly good idea,” it replied. 

Blaze turned and strolled off 

“Likeable person,” the Computer muttered to itself. “His command of
words is a bit limited though.” 

“Bastard!” Blaze yelled from the passageway. 

“I rest my case,” the Computer muttered. 

Still yelling curses at the Computer, Kane and anything else that came
into his mind, Blaze made his way up to the Bubble. He had been up 
several times before, usually with Miller and he'd always liked the 
view. 

This time it stopped him in mid-curse. As he looked round, he noticed
that the rain had stopped completely. Since he absolutely hated rain, 
it had been the only thing that had prevented him dematerializing from 
the Ship and exploring. Now the weather had brightened a little and 
even the wind had died down to a gentle breeze. He decided to go out 
for a look round. 

He disappeared down to his cabin, grabbed a warm jacket and was back in
the Bubble shortly afterwards. He looked around at the moor and spotted 
the forest away to the right. That would do! 

He closed his eyes, concentrated and dematerialized. Seconds later he
was standing under some swaying branches, a grin on his face. Despite 
his jacket, he felt it cold after the warmth of the Ship but it was 
good to be outside again after so long on board. 

Whistling cheerfully to himself he strolled along under the trees, the
wet grass springy under his feet. He wandered into the forest for a bit 
then decided he didn't like its darkness and wandered back out. He 
looked around and spotted the sea back behind the Ship. 

The sea! He had forgotten the sea! He loved seas and could just catch a
glimpse of it from here. He concentrated briefly and materialized on 
the rocky foreshore. 

The tide was out and he raced across the damp sand, whooping and
laughing and splashing in and out of shallow pools. As he approached 
the water's edge he ran faster and leapt out over some incoming waves. 
Inches before he fell into them he disappeared and materialized on a 
small island not far out. 

The wind was stronger here and it whipped his straight black hair around
as he gazed out to sea. The water was much calmer today, the waves just 
rippling along the surface to break around the small island or continue 
on their way to the shore where they splashed gently on to the beach. 
He climbed a small hill and gazed back towards the land. 

He could see the Ship and the moor and the dark forest behind it.
Further along there was a curved bay with sand dunes and some strange 
looking trees bordering it. 

The trees interested him and he decided he wanted a closer look at them.
He closed his eyes and seconds later he was standing at the edge of the 
curved bay. He ran up and down some sand dunes then stopped at the 
bottom of one of the trees. 

It had a long, curving trunk with no branches and at the top, a crown of
long, broad, green leaves. There were some round things hanging amongst 
the leaves and he materialized on top of the tree, wondering if it 
would support him. 

It did and he pulled at one of the round things almost overbalancing as
it came away in his hand. 

The thing had a very hard shell with short dark hair growing from it. He
shook it and heard something sloshing about inside but he didn't have a 
knife with him to open it. Maybe Kane would know what it contained. 

The tree started to bend and he went with it then stepped off. When he
was a couple of feet from the ground he disappeared and appeared on top 
of another tree he'd spotted further inland. 

There was a small forest here and he dematerialised across it, whooping
and laughing and skipping from tree top to tree top, vanishing before 
he could crash through the branches. 

At the end of the forest was a large hill and he aimed at it from the
last tree. He stopped on the hill for a few moments to catch his breath 
and decide where he was going next. 

Behind the hill a long wide valley rolled away into the distance with a
river running through it. It looked interesting so he zipped along the 
valley, darting from side to side across the river, laughing and 
yelling and cursing. 

After some twists and turns, the river broadened and started flowing
faster and ahead he could see it disappear over the edge of a hill. 

He appeared at the edge and breathless, peered over. The drop was fairly
steep, about a hundred feet and the river cascaded down in a fantastic 
waterfall, crashing into a wide pool far below. 

He searched the ground for a good place to materialize on. To the right
of the pool was a broad grassy bank. That would do. He perched 
precariously on the very edge of the drop, threw the hairy sphere high 
into the air then jumped out into space. 

The wind buffeted him and the spray soaked him before he disappeared.
Seconds later he was standing on the grassy back watching the sphere 
coming down towards him. He reached out to catch it but he'd misjudged 
his throw and it splashed into the pool then floated off. He cursed it 
and flipped it a finger. 

All the dematerializing had tired him and he sank down on to the grass
and watched the waterfall crashing against rocks on the way down and 
then into the pool, spray flying high into the air and drenching him 
even more. 

He was grinning happily at the scene when a sudden movement to his left
caught his eye. 

He turned quickly to see what it was and the smile on his face died. A
few feet away the grass started shaking for a moment then something 
started coming up out of the ground towards him. 


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