THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2029 words) [10/12] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 13 2016	Views/Reads: 1761/1312	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 3 - CH 10

TEN 

Sarah took a deep breath then dived under. The sea was slightly warm and
she was in the shallows. She had her eyes opened and she swam down and 
looked at the sea bed. 

Kane and Blaze were still snoring off last night's beer and she had
woken early and crept out, patted the pony then headed down to the 
beach. She had stripped naked and splashed in. 

As she swam slowly along the sea bed she noticed lots of beautiful
shells and crabs scuttling around amongst them. Then she spotted 
something more interesting. Oysters! She collected two then swam up to 
the surface. 

As she trod water, she examined them. They were definitely oysters.
Well, it hadn't taken the planet long to give them their next surprise. 
Apart from being able to eat the oysters, there could be pearls inside. 
Oh and there were crabs down there as well which could be caught. 

She swam back to the beach, pulled on her t-shirt and shorts and trotted
back up to the beach hut. A yawning Kane and Blaze were sitting 
drinking orange juice as she strolled in. 

“Mornin,” Kane grunted. 

“Hi!” she said to them. “Where's your knife?” 

Kane frowned. “My knife? On my jumpsuit belt. Why d'you need it?” 

She held up the dark brown shells. 

“Those look like oysters,” Kane said. 

She found the knife, sat down and prised open one of the oysters. Inside
was a jet black pearl. 

“Wow!” she said, picking it out and holding it up. 

“What's that?” a puzzled Blaze asked, going over to her. 

She handed him the pearl and he examined it. 

“It's a pearl,” Kane told him. “They're worth a fortune back on Earth.
Like diamonds.” 

“Two pearls,” said Sarah, bringing over the second one which was pure
white. “They're gorgeous.” 

“You can eat them as well,” Kane told Blaze. 

Blaze frowned. “The pearls? They look a bit hard.” 

Kane laughed. “No not the pearls, the other bit inside the shell.” 

“There's crabs down there as well,” Sarah told him. 

“Yeah? We'll have to rig up some traps so we can catch them.” 

“So can you eat crabs as well?” Blaze asked. 

“You sure can,” Kane told him. “Hey, it's about time you learned to
swim.” 

Blaze grinned. “Yeah. I'd like that.” 

“Okay. We'll start today. We can use that pool where we catch the plump
fish. I'll teach you.” 

“You can start later,” Sarah told them. “Breakfast in one hour back at
the Falcon. Meantime I want the beach hut cleaned up. Okay?” She turned 
and strolled out. 

Blaze grinned as Kane showed two fingers to her retreating back. 



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