THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 2029 words) [10/12] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 13 2016	Views/Reads: 1762/1312	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 3 - CH 10

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

***** 

Later that morning after Blaze had been for a canter along the beach on
Zara, Kane was giving him his first swimming lesson. They splashed 
around in the 'plump fish pool' a while and Blaze was unafraid, knowing 
he could easily dematerialize back to the bank if he got in trouble. 
They practised for an hour then strolled back downstream to the hut. 

They arrived back to see Sarah standing in front of it, dressed in
t-shirt and jeans, hands on hips, staring up at something. They 
strolled round to see what it was. 

She had fixed a wooden sign above the doorway and it had been laser-
stencilled. In different coloured letters it spelled out KASABLA. 

“Kasabla!” exclaimed Blaze “Is that the name of the hut?” 

“Nope, said Sarah, putting an arm round his shoulders. “It's the name of
the planet.” 

“Kasabla,” Blaze said. “Yeah, that's pretty good.” 

“Did you make the sign?” Kane asked. 

She grinned. “In the workroom on the Falcon. With the help of the
Computer,” she admitted. 

“It's not bad,” Kane said. 

“Have you worked it out yet?” she asked him. “Kasabla?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well?” 

“The first two letters, K and A – they're from Kane. The second two, S
and A – they're from Sarah.” 

“And the last three, B, L and A – they're from Blaze!” he piped up.
“Kasabla! It's brilliant! I like it!” 

“What about you?” she asked Kane. 

He shrugged. “Why not?” 

Sarah smiled. “It's decided then. From now on the planet's name is
Kasabla.” Then something occurred to her. “Hey, where did you learn to 
read?” she asked Blaze. 

He scowled. “On the Birth Colony. Unton. They taught us to read and
write and other stuff. In case we needed it for slave work.” 

“Oh did they? Well at least it's helping you now. So how's the swimming
coming along?” 

“He's doing fine,” said Kane. “He's learning fast.” 

“Yeah, I only swallowed half the pool,” Blaze admitted, laughing. 

Kane grinned and looked back at the beach hut. “You know, I was thinking
about the hut,” he said, stroking his moustache. 

“What about it?” Sarah asked. 

“Well we all like staying in it so why don't we build a wooden house
right here in the bay?” 

Sarah considered this. “Could we do it?” 

“Sure. There's enough wood nearby, we can use laser saws and drills in
the workroom. Blaze can transport stuff. Yeah we could all do it 
together.” 

Sarah grinned. “Okay,” she said, let's do it!” 

Kane put an arm round each of them. “In that case let's head back to the
Falcon. A quick shower and a beer and we can start drawing up plans.” 

***** 

After lunch Kane fired up the Drive on the Falcon as he had been doing
every other day, just to keep everything charged up. With the low hum 
of the Drive in the background, the three of then sat round a table in 
the Galley and began drawing up plans for the beach house. 

An hour or so late and with the plans coming along nicely, Kane
suggested taking the Pod out for another look at Kasabla inland. Blaze 
accompanied them on Zara, dematerializing to keep up with them. Kane 
took it slow so he didn't fall behind. 

From the Pod the view was superb as they passed over lush forests,
sparkling rivers, tumbling waterfalls, valleys and mountains. It was 
also incredible to watch Blaze sitting on Zara dematerializing up a 
mountain and then down the other side. 

At the end of a long, wide valley the land flattened and in the fields
below, familiar looking golden crops were growing. In the field next to 
it were strange looking plants and bushes. 

They landed on a level area nearby to have a closer look and shortly
afterwards Blaze and Zara arrived. He slid off his pony and joined 
them. 

“I bet that's the first pony in the history of the world ever to have
dematerialized!” a grinning Kane remarked. 

“She doesn't seem to mind,” said Blaze, looking at Zara who was moving
around, cropping on grass. 

“Hey, come and look!” Sarah called to them. 

She had strolled over to the first field where the yellow crops were
growing. They were quite tall and she had broken the top of one and 
examined it. Kane and Blaze walked over. 

Sarah held out her hand. 

“Christ, that's wheat!” said Kane. 

“It sure is,” agreed Sarah. 

“We had that on Unton,” Blaze told them. “We had to harvest it by hand
as practice for slave labour.” 

“Good, you can give us a hand harvesting some!” said Sarah. “You know
what you can make from wheat, don't you?” 

Blaze nodded. “Bread. I worked in the bread making factory as well.” 

Kane looked out over the field. “You could make a million loaves from
this lot,” he said. 

“We could bring back the Pod tomorrow and start harvesting some,” Sarah
suggested. 

“Yeah, we'll bring laser saws to cut a load down.” He frowned. “Hang on,
have we got any yeast in the stores? For making the bread?” 

Sarah grinned. “I made sure there was.” 

“What the hell for?” 

“In case I got bored on the journey then I could make cakes!” 

Kane shook his head. 

“Let's check out the other field,” said Blaze. 

“Yeah, there's some funny looking plants and bushes growing there,”
agreed Sarah. 

The three of them strolled along the edge of the wheat field then
crossed a small stream which separated the two fields. 

The second field was filled with strange looking tall plants and
smaller, bushier plants, all growing several yards apart. The tall 
plants had long, blue, fruit-like objects on them and the bushes had 
round, purple, fruit-like ones. 

Kane strolled over to one of the tall plants and picked off one of the
blue ones. “It looks like a banana,” he said. “Except it's blue.” 

Sarah reached out and touched it. “It's got a soft skin as well,” she
said. “See if you can peel it.” 

Kane dug in his thumbnail and the top end of the skin split and he
peeled it down. He peeled down some more strips and underneath lay a 
pale white object. He held it up and smelled it. 

“Christ!” he muttered. “What the hell does that smell like to you?” he
asked Sarah. 

She took it and sniffed it and her eyes widened. “Chicken!” she
exclaimed. “Roast chicken!” 

She held it out to Blaze and he sniffed it. “Yeah, it does!” he agreed. 

Sarah looked at Kane. “Do we take it back to the Ship and test it or try
it now?” she asked. 

“Well I tried the beer without testing so yeah, go ahead.” 

Sarah broke off a small piece and put it into her mouth. She chewed on
it a few moments then swallowed and smiled. “Jeeze, it's exactly like 
roast chicken!” she told them. 

Kane and Blaze tried a small piece each and agreed. 

“That definitely tastes like roast chicken!” Kane declared. “And it's
growing on a plant! 

“In a field!” added Blaze. 

Next they examined the thick bushes and Sarah picked one of the round,
purple, fruit-like objects. It had a skin like an orange and Kane slit 
it open with his Knife and she peeled the skin off. 

Underneath was a soft, dark brown, circular object and Sarah smelled it.
“My God! Roast beef!” 

Kane and Blaze smelled it and both agreed. This time Kane tried a small
piece and was amazed by it. 

“I'll be damned! Tastes exactly like roast beef!” 

Sarah and Blaze tried small pieces and both agreed. 

“Amazing!” said Sarah. “Absolutely amazing!” 

Kane grinned. “Let's take a load of each back with us,” he said. “Guess
what's for dinner tonight!?” 

“Could it be roast chicken and roast beef?” asked Blaze. 

“Correct!” Kane told him. “Washed down with some of Kasabla's finest
ale!” 

***** 

The chicken and roast beef ‘fruits' were tested in the small lab on the
Falcon and, as Kane had expected, proved non-harmful. After an 
excellent dinner in the Galley, they had finalised plans for the beach 
house whilst sitting in the Bridge and then decided on a nightcap round 
the campfire at the beach hut. 

“We'll start work on the beach house tomorrow then,” Kane said, taking a
pull on his beer. 

He expected a reply from Sarah but she was staring dreamily into the
flames. 

“How long have we been here now?” she asked him. 

He stroked his chin as he thought about it. “If you count that first
afternoon when we landed, this is day six.” 

“Six days,” said Sarah. “Let's just look at what Kasabla's given us so
far.” 

“Excellent beer!” admitted Kane, drinking some more from his glass. 

“My pony!” said Blaze, glancing over at where she had settled in her
usual spot. 

Sarah counted on her fingers. “Oranges, pineapples, coconuts, mangoes,
potatoes, tomatoes and mint.” 

“Fresh drinking water and plump pool fish,” Kane added. 

“Crabs and oysters,” said Sarah. 

“Diamonds and pearls,” Blaze chipped in. 

“And now roast chicken and roast beef,” Kane finished. 

They were silent a while, staring into the crackling flames, thinking
about all the planet had given them. 

“It really is incredible what we've been given,” Sarah said eventually.
“This planet really loves us. It must have been lonely for people for 
God knows how long and now we're here and it just loves the company”. 

“Agreed,” Kane said, grinning and putting an arm round her. “And who
knows what's going to happen tomorrow!” 


Tweet