Extreme Difference (22 page)

‘Just shut up and watch.’ Sandy retorted, regretting his harshness almost immediately.

The tiny speck of light slowly drifted downwards towards the crater, and then was no more.

‘Oh, it’s gone.’ said Ben, sounding disappointed.

‘No it hasn’t,’ Sandy replied, ‘look just below where you saw it last, the stars are being blanked out by something, and it’s still coming down.’

The great ship lowered itself into the crater, and fifteen metres from the frozen sands it stopped, hovering, the huge black shape being hardly discernible from the dark rock.

Twin beams of light lanced down to illuminate the sand beneath, and something slowly drifted down from between them, tumbling over and over as it descended.

‘My God, that ship’s big.’ Sandy exclaimed, as the back wash of light off the sand lit up the outline of the vessel.

‘Some poor sod’s been dumped.’ he muttered, recalling his own experience of not so long ago. ‘I hope they get to him before he freezes solid.’

‘I expect they will if they have a Nan like we had.’ Ben said thoughtfully.

Having deposited its cargo on the crater floor, the twin lights went out, and the great ship silently rose up, accelerating away sharply, soon just another moving star, and then it was gone.

‘How did you know it would come?’ asked Sandy, aware of his shivering for the first time.

‘I remembered what Nan said, and thought this would be the last chance to see it.’ Ben replied through chattering teeth. ‘I’m glad I did, now I know what you said was true.’ he added as an after thought.

‘I don’t think we’ll tell the others about this,’ Sandy suggested, ‘it’ll only start another argument, and we don’t want that this morning.’

‘I agree,’ Ben replied, ‘they’re not scientific like us.’ Sandy grinned to himself, yes, Ben was coming along just fine.

They hurried down to Mop’s kitchen, the warmest place in the complex, and a chance for an extra portion of food.

‘What got you up so early?’ she asked, giving Ben a wink which only confused him.

‘Ah, things to do,’ Sandy answered cheerfully, ‘how about a little snack to keep us going?’ playfully giving her a sharp slap on her ample rear end.

‘You men are all the same, you only think of your stomachs, well, most of the time.’

A generous bowl of Mop’s hot gruel and a couple of buns later, and they had almost forgotten the incident in the crater, but not quite.

‘Well, the great day has dawned,’ said Sandy, wiping his bowl with the remains of a bun, ‘and I think you’ll like your new home, there’s plenty of plants for you to cook, and you wouldn’t believe the amount of fruit and berries we’ve seen.’

He didn’t mention the creature who had befriended Ben.

The pair went up to the main cavern to await the morning meal, and put the finishing touches to the planned great exodus. On the way up, they were approached by Bell,

‘We’ve got enough material for the women's uniforms, in fact they’re finished, but there isn’t a lot left over and we’ll need more to replace our own clothes someday. Can you get any more from the other groups?’

‘If anyone’s got any, we could, but it will mean coming back up again, what do you think Ben?’

‘Don’t see why not. We’ve still got a lot of bits and pieces in the store we don’t need, we should be able to do an exchange with somebody.’

They walked on to the main cavern, joining others as they too made their way up for the morning meal.

When everyone had had their fill, Sandy outlined the plan.

‘We’ve put all the things we shall need for our new life on frames, which we can drag down the tunnels. It’s quite a long way, but we should be there by evening, or perhaps a little earlier. The route may look a bit scary in places, but it is quite safe, we’ve done it, with no trouble. Everyone should take their own bedding, because if we have to spend the night in the bottom cave for any reason, all you’ll have to lie on is rock. Any questions?’ There were none.

The event had been talked about so much, that nearly all questions had been covered, one way or another, and now they just wanted to get on with the journey.

The meeting broke up and everyone went to their respective caves, gathered their belongings, and then assembled in the main tunnel leading to the storeroom.

As each person entered, they were allotted a loaded frame on which they were instructed to tie a limited amount of their bedding rags and any other possessions they had.

Four of the stronger members of the group manhandled the frames through the now much enlarged hole leading into the beginning of the tunnel proper, and then the frame was passed on to the allotted ‘puller’, who took up his rope, and pulled.

How they would manage when it came to the steep down slopes, Sandy had yet to reason out, but he felt sure they could make it, one way or another.

Each frame had its own lamp attached, and this gave just enough light for them to see where they were going, once their eyes had got used to the feeble glow.

Where the tunnel widened out, just before the first ledge, Sandy explained what they had seen there, and offered anyone interested, a quick view. About half the group took up the offer, filing past the others as they made their way up to the front of the column, where Ben lead them out to view the unbelievable vast expanse of cloud below.

They got under way again, those who had viewed the unbelievable trying to tell the unbelieving about it in tunnels which amplified every sound, sending the echoes crashing back and forth, until they ended up as an unintelligible jumble of sound.

Sandy called a halt when they reached the cave they used on their first journey down, although not everyone managed to squeeze in at once. The break was welcome, as few had experienced such steep slopes before, and holding a loaded frame back from crashing into the one in front was a totally new experience. Most difficult of all was judging when to rush around to the back of the frame to hold it back, when an extra steep section was encountered.

So far, there had been no injuries, apart from a few bruised shins, and a wonderful new set of cuss words.

The metal tube crossing the lava pool proved to be more of a problem than Sandy had anticipated. Some had to be gently coerced, others sworn at copiously and then shamed into making the crossing, while a few refused point blank, and had to be physically bundled across, which did little for harmony and good will, especially as someone else then had to go back and drag the protester’s loaded frame across.

However, after the next steep downward slope, and a few more bruised shins, the tube was forgotten, as more pressing matters were at hand.

Another break was called when Sandy estimated they were two-thirds the way to the bottom, and that rejuvenated flagging spirits. Getting them back on their feet again was another matter.

At long last, tired, bruised, and a little short tempered, they arrived in the main cavern of the water trap.

‘Well done, everyone,’ Sandy shouted, his voice echoing around the vast cave and being amplified greatly, ‘we’ve arrived. Take a rest for a few minutes, and we’ll open the water trap, then it’s out into a land you won’t believe!’

The last of the water was drunk, meat strips chewed, and cuts and bruises compared to see who had sustained the most damage, not that anyone really cared. They had made it.

‘Now listen up,’ it was Ben’s turn, at Sandy’s insistence, to issue instructions. ‘The water trap will be opened in a moment. When all the water has gone, we’ll have to manhandle the frames down the slope, and then up the other side. Please stay together when we reach the open, and wait until you are told before moving off. There is a large grey creature with a long nose down here, it is quite harmless and eats plants. It may not be here now, but just in case it is ...’ He smiled his widest smile to allay any fears, he hoped.

Sandy nodded at Ben, and he went over to the stone lever, and raised it. They both enjoyed the look on the faces of the rest of the assembly as the water level fell, and was then gone, light flooding in from the green world outside.

‘Thank God it’s still light out there,’ Sandy quietly said to Ben, as the others filed past with their frames, ‘otherwise we’d have to stay the night in here, and I didn’t like it much last time.’

Soon all had passed through the great trough, and were standing in a close knit group in the grassy glade, mouths open in wonderment at what they saw.

‘As we still have some light left, I suggest we carry on a short distance to a cave complex we’ve found, and make it our home for the night.’

This time there were no hesitations, and the cluster of small caves was reached without incident. The main cavern was kept aside for a general meeting and eating room, the second largest for stores, while the others were for up for grabs, Sandy and Ben having already secured theirs.

After a short rest, they began to construct a crude wall of rocks to close off the main entrance, leaving a small opening which they could easily block with the now defunct frames, should the need arise.

Strict instructions were given concerning the use of the oil lamps. Although there was a considerable quantity of oil left, Sandy knew it would run out one day, and a substitute would have to be found before then.

Two lamps were left burning permanently day and night to act as ‘keepers of the flame’, the others being lit from them as and when needed.

The light began to fade, and they all withdrew to the main cavern, securely blocking off the opening to the outside.

Mop had produced a hot stew on a fire lit by Sandy, the concept of burning wood being something new to them all.

Most had crowded around Mop’s cooking pot to watch it boiling merrily away, and for the first time getting smoke filled eyes into the bargain. Once the principle had sunk in, she had a plentiful supply of wood, the pile growing to a point of embarrassment.

They had tried to make the new eating room as homely as possible, but somehow it lacked the ambience of the old one up in the crater rim. But the stew helped a bit.

The new women who had joined the group caused a little friction, or to be more precise, the men seeking their attention caused those who already belonged, to view the newcomers as a potential threat to any budding relationships which had existed before the new arrivals arrived.

According to Ben, there had been little interaction between the men and women before the new uniforms had been made, Mop’s attraction to Sandy being the first really observable and overt partnership. This seemed to act like a catalyst, the group members suddenly becoming aware of their sexuality in a way not previously experienced.

During their discussions on the matter, Sandy thought it might be due to the extreme difficulties they had in order to just survive, or possibly some interference from those who had brought them here in the first place.

Despite their long and arduous journey, they were reluctant to end the evening, and a second pot of soup-like liquid was brewed up by Mop. When they went out to stoke up the fire, Mop came rushing back in, full of excitement, exclaiming,

‘You should see the .... stars, I think Ben said they were, little glittering lights all over the sky, they’re beautiful.’

Then she rushed back out again.

Few had seen stars, as they were only visible when the sun had passed well below the horizon, and by then the temperature within the crater had dropped well below freezing point, so no one ventured out.

Only Sandy, Ben and Nan had been out early enough in the morning to see the last of the brightest stars fading away as the dawn broke, and they had not bothered to mention it.

What puzzled Sandy was that the cloud cover had disappeared, although during the daytime it seemed to be an unbroken cover, protecting them from the fierce sun above.

Most of the group trooped out to see the new wonder, marvelling at the still warm perfumed air.

Ben got Mop’s fire going again, and it shed enough light for all to move around safely in the little glade outside their caves. Then someone started another fire, high up in a pile of rocks, illuminating the whole area. Ben then suggested that it might be a good idea to keep a fire going all night, in case they were troubled by any creatures like the fanged monster they had seen on their first visit.

So far, no one had seen anything of the animal kingdom their new world might have, although there were a few strange noises that night, and one nerve jangling scream just as the soup was being served.

It was very late that night when the barricade of frames was reassembled across the cave’s entrance, and the oil lamps extinguished one by one. Seemingly, no one wanted to end their first day in their new world, lest it should all turn out to be a dream, and in the morning the cold reality of the crater would re-impose itself on their lives.

Exhaustion won in the end, and snores echoed around the caves in a fine duet with the night sounds from the creatures of the forest outside.

Next morning, the embers of Mop’s cooking fire were still glowing, and she soon had a pot of gruel on the boil. Fortified with dried vegetable roots which Bell had grown, and flavoured with the new herbs, it made a potable and nourishing start for the day.

Sandy put together an exploration party to survey the surrounding area, while those left behind were instructed to rebuild the entrance to the caves, such that a door could be constructed if they were able to fell some of the trees they had seen earlier.

The party set off, Sandy carrying the laser gun hidden in his clothing, as he only wanted it to be used in extreme emergencies. The small stream which ran near the caves eventually fed into a lake of considerable size behind a line of trees, unnoticed in the excitement of their arrival.

Several large swimming creatures, which Sandy called fish, could be seen lazily swimming about, and Ben’s first thought was ‘food’. They sat on the bank of the lake, their feet dangling in the water while a strategy was worked out for catching the fish.

Greg solved the problem by suggesting that they wove a screen of fine stems, and herded the fish into the shallows where they could be caught.