The Blue People of Cloud Planet (22 page)

‘This dwelling is 300 metres wide with each wall over 100 metres long.  The shimmering light sheaf is an incredible sight, stretching back towards the morning sun. The wall of the dwelling immediately in front of our astronauts contains the usual massive door at the end of an open space about 100 metres square.

‘Behind them are four octagonal pyramids of bright red brick construction. They are identical in size, nested together, and their forward facing walls are studded with glistening crystals. Each has a doorway leading to a small outside area.’

‘This is like a mini – city,’ Scott cried excitedly, ‘why, there must be nearly 2000 inhabitants!’

They were driven back inside by the heat and humidity where again they took the opportunity to explore their surroundings in more detail. This was thirsty work and Olivia was getting extremely concerned at the dwindling supply of fresh water. She inwardly dreaded the thought of having to resort to the creatures’ milk. Suddenly she realised that Scott was asking a question.

‘It’s surprising how little food they eat.’ Scott commented. ‘Just some leaves and milk but they’re very strong and active.’

‘That’s because their cold-blooded,’ replied Olivia, ‘whereas most of the food we eat produces the energy to maintain our internal body heat. I seem to remember that we would starve to death after two months without food but a crocodile can last a whole year between meals!’

‘Yes, you’re right. It’s interesting that evolution on this planet has remained cold-blooded whereas on Earth warm blooded mammals diversified after the reptiles – but I’ve never been quite sure why.’

‘Both are right. The first warm-blooded mammals emerged 210-230 million years ago, about 100 million years after reptiles left the water. It is generally agreed that warm-blooded avoided going out into the open and young could be born in the safety of an underground den.

‘Furthermore, in my database I find copious notes and digital video – our astronauts take every opportunity to investigate and record their remarkable surroundings for posterity. I am selecting a couple of their more interesting observations which give an insight to the inhabitants and the planet itself.

‘Firstly, the design and construction of the 100 metre wide pyramid dwellings is simple yet very effective. Each wall is 4 metres wide at its base and forms an angle of 30 degrees to the vertical. The thickness of the wall is slowly reduced as the height increases until it is a mere 1 metre at the apex 75 metres above the ground. During construction the eight walls are built up together thus supporting one another as the height increases. It is not too dissimilar to the fabrication of an igloo using blocks of ice.

‘Secondly and surprisingly, there are no other life forms on Cloud Planet. Our astronauts diligently search every dwelling and pyramid as they pass through and use sophisticated sensing and microscopy tools in their computers. But they find no insects or bacteria or simple celled organisms. However, they did find many small lizards in the darker corners and these were much more abundant underground. They record in their notes that the high levels of chlorine in the water and atmosphere precludes all but the hardiest of survivors – the cold blooded reptiles. They live in a world which is almost perfectly hygienic which accounts for the absence of disease amongst the inhabitants of Cloud Planet. ’ 

SOS City

They had now travelled around the equator for a distance of 100 kilometres and they arrived, with heightened expectations, at the source of the SOS message that had initiated their pioneering journey 21 years ago.

Olivia was so excited that she put the return of her stomach pains to the back of her mind and they waited impatiently as the sun rose dragging the light sheath across the sky.

Just before midday, Seren beckoned and they followed her outside and up the ramp where they sat near the three drums attended by their usual drummers. The first thing they noticed was a raised wide ledge running, they presumed, all the way around the dwelling near the crystals. Sticking out of the ledge at about 2 metre intervals were upright black shafts with red clay flat blocks similar to the ones used for farming.

Then the first drummer started beating and, from all parts of the dwelling and the pyramids, hundreds of female workers walked up clay ramps leading to the ledge. They each stopped in front of one of the wooden shafts. Scott guessed that there must have been about 400 blue females around the entire circumference. Then the second drum came in. Each female picked up a shaft and held it horizontally at waist level with the clay blocks pointing to the light sheath. It seemed that the red blocks touched their neighbours’ on both sides forming a continuous flat band 2 metres from the light sheath shimmering in front of them. 

At this point Olivia and Scott realised that the third drummer was a Serenite adult female. She cocked her head sideways, in a similar fashion to Seren, raised her flat ‘drumsticks’ and pounded a loud repetitive beat.

Immediately, all the females holding their black shafts moved forward three steps and the red clay blocks moved over the tops of the diamond crystals, shielding them from the sun.

This caused the light sheath to shoot up into the sky and disappear in a second. The effect was so instantaneous it was as if someone had thrown a light switch. As a result cloud closed in, the temperature dropped and it started raining. Then the third drummer stopped and the multitude of female workers immediately stepped three paces back uncovering the diamonds.

The result was dazzling as the crystals spontaneously ignited at full force causing the light cone to shoot up into the clouds again – and the sun shone.

Olivia and Scott jumped as the third drummer crashed down again on the drum. As before the blue females moved forward shutting off the light. This forward and back movement turned the light sheath off and on in synchronisation to the third drummer.

‘ – light – light – light – long light – long light – long light – light – light – light –‘

‘My God!’ shouted Scott, ‘It’s perfect Morse code! Three short bursts of light, three long and three short again, repeated over and over!’

They couldn’t take their eyes off the spectacle viewed through alternating hot sunshine and cold rain.

After a while Scott turned excitedly to Olivia,

‘When we saw that flashing signal in the conference room, did you ever believe that we would be sitting here watching another life species sending that incredible message – I’m overwhelmed!’

But Olivia was white and, gripping her stomach, was barely able to respond,

‘I feel ill, aaargh! The pain!’

He did not hesitate and rushed her down the ramp where she was violently sick in the open channel.

From Bad to Worse

Scott half carried Olivia into the pyramid and walked past the huge triangular structure. He stopped intermittently when the interior was thrown into darkness then resumed as the light shafts came on again illuminating his way. He reached the cool pool, helped Olivia to a comfortable position and mopped her brow – she was burning, shaking and clutching her abdomen.

The SOS flashed in the pyramid which seemed to add to Olivia’s discomfort and also made it difficult for Scott to locate and find the medical bag. When he returned to Olivia’s side, she was half sitting in the cool pool, throwing water onto her face. She was obviously in distress and his stomach knotted with deep concern. He put his arms around her,

‘Olivia, what’s wrong!’

‘It’s like before, aaargh!! Only worse and these flashing lights!’

Then, Seren appeared like a vision out of the dark and she sat next to Olivia on the edge of the pool. She was so close that Scott caught her breath. The light on her body accentuated the pale, duck egg blue of her perfect skin. Then she faded into the gloom and reappeared as the signal went on and off, on and off. Olivia groaned and Scott watched, uncomprehending, as Seren removed her strange triangular necklace and placed it gently around Olivia’s neck. She then put her hand on Olivia’s forehead and looked into her eyes,

>> be calm> be calm > be calm >>

It was so reassuring that Scott even felt relief himself. Olivia clutched the necklace and mouthed a ‘thank you’ directly at Seren. She was momentarily transfixed and then, remarkably, fell asleep. Scott looked at her and said his own ‘thank you’ and saw,

>> there is something very wrong with your female >>

And Seren got up and walked away.

Olivia was, at least, comfortable for the moment, so Scott made a pillow from a large pack of cotton wool stored in the medical bag and waited until the signal stopped flashing. He then strapped a rectangular box to Olivia’s forearm and ensured that it was tightly in place before activating the ‘on’ switch. This marvel of miniaturised diagnostic equipment determined the major bodily functions and key liquid chemical levels accurately and wirelessly.

He sighed with relief as the initial red light changed to amber and the LCD display confirmed adequate battery power. The words ‘Start Scan?’ appeared and he tapped the screen. He saw, not surprisingly, that Olivia’s body temperature was high as was her blood pressure and pulse. Then various chemical measurements of her blood, urine and saliva passed across the screen and although he did not understand these, the fact that several measurements were reported in ‘red’ meant that something was radically wrong.

Finally, the screen was headed by the word ‘diagnosis’ and then words appeared which brought a lump to his throat and he swallowed hard.

‘Condition is serious but cannot be determined accurately, results need urgent analysis by Zec-1 and Martha’

He switched off the analyser but left it in place for further tests. He knew he would have to be patient and wait for the light sheath to switch off so Zec-1 could analyse the results.

Olivia continued to sleep fitfully and about 2 hours later the diagnosis read,

‘Condition is stable but still serious, results need urgent analysis by Zec-1 and Martha’

Scott had registered that this dwelling and its pyramids was only sparsely populated by Serenites but mainly housed blue females for the signalling. It was a relief that there was no music and dance with Olivia being so ill.

However, he realised that they could not travel any further until her condition was known and, he prayed, cured. As if reading his thoughts, Seren appeared and her eyes met his,

>> we will remain here until your female can travel again > but we cannot delay too long > we still have a long way to go >>

Scott smiled at her with relief and gratitude.

Shortly before dusk, the small band of Serenites and blue workers in their pyramid warmed up and they all moved underground to the chamber below the hot pools. Seren helped gather extra leaves to make a comfortable bed for Olivia. She was awake and had taken some fresh water from their almost depleted stock but was still in extreme discomfort. Seren again placed her hand on Olivia’s brow and magically she relaxed and went to sleep. Scott was so relieved and grateful that he wanted to kiss this extraordinary nurse and was then anxious that she might have read his thoughts.

Seren beamed a knowing smile and she went to join her attendants to settle for the night.

As soon as the light sheath switched off, Scott fired up his palmtop and plugged in the diagnostic tool.

Zec-1 was almost immediately on line to inform that the black mass was already above the lander and stationary over the SOS dwelling and then reported his findings from the diagnostic report which chilled Scott to the bone,

‘Olivia’s condition is extremely critical. Apart from high temperature, pulse and blood pressure, she has an abnormally high salt level in her blood which could cause major organ failure if not reduced. She is also severely dehydrated. She must have a blood transfusion as soon as possible!’

Zec-1’s prognosis was effectively a death sentence for Olivia!

Scott buried his head in his hands in despair as he sat in the blackness just outside the underground sleeping quarters. His mind was in turmoil and he tried to suppress his tears. It could not be worse because the only matching blood type available was on the starship, 500 kilometres above him!

As his body shook with emotion, he suddenly saw,

>> be calm > be calm > there must be a way >>

This message galvanised Scott and shook him out of his misery,

‘Zec-1, we have to get Olivia to the starship. Can we get one of the emergency shuttles down at night?’

 ‘The black mass between you and LifeSeeker-1 at night makes it impossible for me to compute a percentage success rate. We have to get the shuttle down through the mass and then, with Olivia on board, get it back through to the starship. This is an unknown danger and considering the fact that the black mass reacts to our every move, I cannot recommend this course of action. Furthermore how do we communicate with LifeSeeker-1 to send the emergency vehicle down to us?’

Hopeless, Scott thought, the situation is impossible and again in the dark he saw,

>> be calm > there must be a way > there must be a way >>

These encouraging words seemed to run around his mind and helped him to think. He then remembered their first attempt to land on Cloud Planet during the day when the light shafts had caused the landing to be aborted – what had Zec-1 said during their analysis in the starship afterwards?

‘The light shafts were too close together to risk landing’

‘but if they were further apart there was a good chance of landing?’

‘but there was nowhere on the planet where the light cones were further apart’

And then it hit him!

‘Zec-1! Zec-1! When we analysed the aborted day landing, what did you compute as a safe distance to give a reasonable chance of landing in the day?’

‘Fifty kilometres from the nearest light shaft gives an 85 per cent chance of success.’

‘So if we could switch off this SOS dwelling during the day!’ Scott said with rising hope, ‘Could we land inside? And for how long would we have to turn it off?’

‘Yes we could as the dwellings are 50 kilometres apart but we would need two windows each a minimum of 10 minutes, to get the emergency shuttle in and out. But you have to tell LifeSeeker-1 to pre-program the lander’s computer and give exact coordinates to land.’

Scott’s hopes soared as he wondered if the blue females could hold the light shaft off long enough and if he was any good on the drums!

As he sat in the blackness, Seren transmitted,

>> they can do it > and so can you >>

 ‘Zec-1! Give me the Morse code for the following message!’

‘In the design of LifeSeeker-1 there are seven emergency shuttles, each capable of holding one astronaut. They are for critical evacuation of the starship or the rescue of individual crew members from life threatening situations. Each is highly manoeuvrable and capable of manual operation by the individual or fully automatic control by Zec-C.

‘Further, examination of the medical records for two of the criminal volunteers showed that they are now ‘salt intolerant’ after cryo-hibernation. These findings almost certainly help explain Olivia’s condition.’