The Blue People of Cloud Planet (26 page)

Then, three days later and to everyone’s relief and delight, Olivia regained consciousness. Martha explained that it was now a matter of rest and nourishment and that she could receive visitors.

Twelve days after her dramatic emergency rescue from the SOS city, Olivia was well enough to join her colleagues in the command dome, initially for short periods as ordered by Martha.

Then a deeply concerning event occurred as Zec-C reported that a new black mass had formed at the edge of the plain and was expanding in the direction of the equator. Over the last four nights this had grown in size and suddenly split into three. They were positioned adjacent to the outer three dwellings. Zec-C estimated that each of these new black masses was 1 kilometre square but could not determine if they were present during the day.

The major concern to AJ and the astronauts was that this line of dwellings led towards the huge dwelling at the equator where, they assumed, that Scott was now located. It had its own smaller black mass blocking communications.

During the next two nights a fourth and fifth large black mass appeared. The latter had settled next to the first farming dwelling.

Underground Treasure

 ‘There is, undoubtedly, an order in Serenite society determined by the number of red triangles which are tattooed on the individuals’ chest. In the massive central ‘theatre’ of the leaders’ pyramid all the Serenite males and females have at least one red triangle. As one moves down towards the floor so the number of red triangles per capita increases. The front row has males and females each with 10–20 of the male birth marks. The older Serenities on the raised area in the centre have even more and Hotenka has by far the largest number of red ones.

‘Further, there are some differences in the leaders’ pyramid. There are ramps leading up to ledges where many hundreds of the Blue People can stand and watch proceedings. In the walls behind the pools are two 40 metre inclined ramps which form an inverted ‘v’ some 30 metres above the pool area and 75 metres wide. Thirty six black ‘drum’ structures are located in front of this triangular ramp. Each is topped in red with accompanying reed structures to the side. Their heights follow the triangular ramp and they stand proud by a further metre. The two centre ones are over 30 metres high and 2 metres square and produce a deafening cacophony of sound.’

Seren had informed Scott that they were now guests of the leader and should remain in this large pyramid. There was no further discussion about the plight of the Blue People and it was business as usual as they drank, fed and formed their mating groups in pursuit of creating the elusive males.

Hotenka had returned alone to the central plinth and stood by the now covered golden plaque. Seren approached and Scott saw,

>> watch our leader >>

Hotenka had cocked his head and appeared to be waiting,

‘What’s he doing?’ Scott asked.

>> hotenka is listening for the drums to start >>

‘What drums!?’

>> the drums that begin the calling of your name >>

 ‘But why?’, and then the Serenite leader pulled back the black cover, exposing the plaque and golden shafts of light sprang across the pyramid. He then cocked his head the other way and stared intently at the golden plaque.

>> it has begun >>

Scott still did not understand and Seren obviously sensed this,

>> the leader is sending your name to the third drummer >>

And then he understood. The code of lines was being telepathically sent to the Serenite drummer at the SOS dwelling – he had assumed, incorrectly, that it had been learned by heart. Also, although it was mid-afternoon here, it would be 1 hour before noon at the SOS dwelling.

‘And he does this every day for 2 hours, oops, I mean the duration?’

>> yes > every sun at this time >>

It then struck Scott that the silver-haired leader of the Blue People of Cloud Planet had relayed this message at the same time, daily, either side of noon for 35 years! He was awed by the desperate determination and commitment of the leader to his people.

‘But we’re here. Why does he need to keep sending the message?’

>> you have come > but our troubles remain > hotenka will keep calling until we are saved >>

That afternoon, Scott again succumbed to Seren and a new group of eager blond females frantic for the elusive male births that threatened their existence and advanced their status in Serenite society.

The next morning he and Seren met with Hotenka and his five elders to try and learn more about the fate of the Blue People. However, it soon became clear that his opening statement - ‘this is what I know’, was the extent of his knowledge of their fate.

To try to understand Serenite history, Scott asked about the amazing diamonds but found it difficult to make himself understood. He then pointed at the light shafts and then gestured upwards towards the crystals. Suddenly Seren understood as he saw,

>> he means the stones > he is asking about the light emitting stones > and where do they come from >>

Then the leader inclined his head and one of his female elders beckoned to Scott and Seren to follow her.

They walked to the black screw lift where two adult blue females helped them don the huge leaves – obviously they were going underground.

The group descended the screw lift led by the females. The temperature dropped and the roar of multiple water flows battered Scott’s ears. They passed a duplex boat dock and Scott knew that there were four of these in this dwelling and, he presumed, in all dwellings on the equator. Next they came to the dark mouth of a tunnel the same size and shape as the boat dock. However this tunnel was dry and next to it about 5 metres further on was another dry tunnel. And possibly another but it was too gloomy to be certain.

Then the blue females walked over to two short black shafts. They had a small crystal wedged at one end which was illuminated by a shaft of light from the ceiling. They picked them up, turned them over and walked towards the mouth of the tunnel.

Scott gasped as a pool of light beamed out in front of each female – it was as if there were holding a torch. It was incredible to think that the crystals could be charged by light and then were able to release the stored energy.  How many more times was he going to be astonished by the technology of the Serenites and the versatility of their unbelievable diamonds.

The procession moved into the tunnel where the floor was red and dusty. The light from the ‘torches’ illuminated large daubs of black in the red clay of the walls. He moved closer to investigate and ran his hand across the surface and discovered it was a stratum of carbon black about a metre square in size but irregular in shape. In the centre was a large recessed void which was symmetrically shaped. He could not comprehend this.

They moved further into the depths of the tunnel where there were dozens of similar black shapes with empty recesses which covered the walls and ceiling. They continued on in the eerie light of the tunnel and then in the distant edge of the ‘torch’ light something glistened and reflected back.  Suddenly the black shapes had large gleaming centres!

He rushed forward and began to comprehend. A huge diamond crystal nestled in the centre of the carbon. It was perfect in shape with multi-faceted surfaces. There were dozens and dozens of them which dazzled in the light of the ‘torches’.

He did not know, nor could guess, the length of the tunnel but the specks of light seemed to go on and on into the distance. Then Seren said,

>> here are our stones > the givers of light >>

After this explanation the group turned around, walked back out and entered the next tunnel. Scott had to rush to keep up. Now the diamonds were smaller and similar in size to the ‘torches’.

He wondered what incredible geological forces had been involved to seed and grow such sublime diamonds and was the whole plain studded with these treasures?

They left that tunnel and moved past several others. He deduced that they must radiate out from the dwelling like the spokes of a wheel.

 ‘Each wall of the 500 metre dwelling is about 200 hundred metres long and contains 10 straight tunnels – 80 tunnels in total radiating from this dwelling. And they all link directly with or intersect those emanating at angles to other dwellings. The extent of the mines under the red clay is staggering and is, as yet, not fully explored.’

They entered yet another tunnel where the black daubs were much smaller with veins of red. Further in, light reflected off smaller crystals in the wall. He moved forward and touched one – it was loose – and it came away in his hand. He nearly dropped it because it was so heavy. It was beautifully faceted but its colour was different – it was tinged red – and it was not as clear as the larger ones because it had an internal crystalline pattern. It was about the size of a small book.

He looked at Seren and at the elder Serenite female and held the crystal aloft.

‘These are astounding, these tunnels and their treasures are remarkable – may I take this stone back to the pyramid to examine it more closely?’  Accordingly, one of the blue workers took it from him and the elder Serenite said,

>> there are many more of these red stones > in the dark pyramid >>

Scott looked puzzled and then Seren added,

>> i know where she means > i will show you later >>

Scott now felt cold and he shivered. He had been so excited that he had not noticed the chill which had slowly seeped into him. The group left the incredible tunnels with their fantastic treasures and went back up into the pyramid where the hot pools awaited them. He had a lot to think about.

He watched the Serenites drinking and feeding from a spot near the cool pool. Scott hefted the incredible diamond which was wrapped in a thick piece of leaf to protect it from exposure to the light beams. He returned it to his pack and mused,

 ‘Back on Earth I’d be worth a fortune with just one of these!’

Slowly the implications for Cloud Planet with its red clay plain stuffed with millions of huge diamonds dawned on him. This situation was going to need careful management – apart from the power potential - my God! – think of the weapon capability! – If these ever got into the wrong hands! Scott shuddered at the thought.

However a coded message about the wealth of the planet had already been sent from LifeSeeker-1 without the knowledge of Scott, Zec-C and the remaining astronauts. The sender was part of the team that had programmed Zec-C and had been clever and devious enough to salt away the odd gigabyte of programme code for a rainy day!

It would be 10 years before the coded message reached Earth and was received by the unscrupulous leader of a group of powerful industrialists and politicians. They would quickly realise the wealth and power that could be exploited from a planet full of diamonds!

At the same time, the General would initially marvel at the findings on Cloud Planet - but then he too, would be troubled by the ramifications of such a treasure trove.

‘Earth is struggling to produce enough energy. Fossil fuels are depleted to meaningless amounts not worth extracting and nuclear and renewable sources are barely keeping up with demand. Solar power is, now, much more efficient.

 ‘But the most critical development of the 22
^nd
century is the ‘wireless’ transmission of electricity and the formation of a worldwide grid in space. This is fed from conventional power-generating sources, solar arrays in space and now from exciting new projects exploiting the thermal vents under the oceans and icecaps. These are producing very low cost energy at zero carbon footprint. By a strange coincidence, a team member of one of these installations under the Antarctic is Raphaella Medici, the younger sister of Olivia. But that is another story.