The Blue People of Cloud Planet (31 page)

Forced Upstream

That evening under the huge pyramid of the ‘Capital City’, Scott contacted Zec-1 via his palm top. He was deeply troubled by the news that the Black had now formed masses adjacent to the first seven dwelling structures and that they were now joined by a 100 metre wide, 50 kilometre long bridge. Zec-1 could offer no logical reason for this development but noted that each night the Black advanced by one dwelling.

‘So in three nights’ time it will be outside this structure!’ Scott said worryingly to no one in particular.

He then remembered something that had been at the back of his mind. He asked Zec-1 to recall the results of the survey of the sea adjacent to the land mass of Cloud Planet. Zec-1 reminded him that each coast line was symmetrically punctuated by broad estuaries 50 kilometres apart and that their rivers lined up perfectly with the lateral lines of dwelling structures in the plain. In all there were 1000 lateral structures around the equator.

Scott knew this but wanted to know more about the coast line. Zec’s next words chilled him.

‘There is a black demarcation, about 500 metres wide, around the total length of each coastline except at the estuaries.’

‘Is this the same as the black masses above us and next to the dwellings?’

‘I cannot analyse it but can only tell you it is the same colour.’

Scott wondered if the black edge of the sea that he had viewed in the dark pyramid was the same black that threatened them now. Was it a coincidence that the sea had started misting shortly afterwards, followed by the build-up of cloud that moved inland? He also remembered that there was no black at the estuary in the holographic video. But how long ago had those events taken place?

The next morning Scott selected a crystal from the same row but further on in time. The crystal ignited and they moved to the ledge at the top of the ramp.

The cloud bank towered in front of them and they could only just make out the outline of the second dwelling through the mist. But there were no light shafts!

At the edge of the river dozens of black boats were being loaded with leaves and bricks by the blue workers. Some carefully carried the large diamond crystals from the dwelling to the boats where they covered them with several layers of leaves.

The dwellings had been stripped of their crystals and there were gaping holes where once the screw lifts had been. Scott glanced back to the river where the two black screw lifts were being shepherded upstream. Then, all the remaining boats moved away from the bank and the blue workers paddled furiously through the slow moving current of the river.

‘They’re moving out,’ Scott said to Seren, ‘and taking everything of value with them.’

>> the cloud has forced them to leave > they are going up to the next dwellings > our people cannot survive without their sun >>

They watched a series of crystals which showed holographic images which moved inland and forward, time-wise, in their history. Dwelling settlements were being abandoned as the cloud bank moved inexorably upstream consuming all in its path. Finally they looked downstream from their position above the lake at the start of the red plain. Though maybe 10 kilometres away, the cloud bank dominated the whole vista. Its greyness rose up the forested slopes and mountain sides and enveloped the snowy white clouds at the top of the mountains on both sides.

‘My God! It’s travelled nearly 500 kilometres inland!’ Said Scott, ‘But I can’t fathom the timescale although we have moved the length of one wall to get to this position.’

He gauged that ultimately this cloud bank was going to cover the whole of the vast red plain together with the mountains and estuaries on the other side! He did not even consider that what he was witnessing now in the dark pyramid had already occurred to the same degree 1000 kilometres away on the other side of the red plain!

Cloud Planet of the star, Seren, in the constellation of Vercingetorix was starting to live up to its name.

‘But other changes are taking place on Cloud Planet as its estuaries, rivers and forested mountains are being enveloped by the relentless advance of the cloud. In addition to the huge rainfall from the white clouds high in the mountains, rain falls continuously from the grey cloud bank, particularly at night. Daytime temperatures plummet from highs of 35 degrees to around 5 degrees and night temperatures which usually fall to 10 degrees are now nearer zero.

‘High up in the mountains the forests abound with flocks of flying reptiles, similar to pterosaurs, but smaller than those that forced the lander down in the dwelling.

’Lizards abound in the lower and mid slopes of the forested mountains. They warm in the morning sunshine on the banks of the countless tributaries, feed on the leaves from the fast-growing seedling trees and burrow into the soil at night to preserve body temperature. On the river banks larger creatures, not too dissimilar to crocodiles, laze in the heat and then slither into the cool waters. But their environment is now completely changed and, whilst the Blue People are moving up and out of the valleys, the various reptiles are also on the move. To survive!

‘Many of the smaller reptiles moved up the mountain slopes ahead of the advancing cloud. Here their food supply was higher up in the tree canopy and they quickly adapted to climb the towering trunks. As cloud progressed, they learned to stay in the high tree tops as this was the only place to find the sun. Ultimately, they would develop flat areas of skin filled with blood vessels to optimise absorption of heat in the misty tree tops. With time they would learn to soar from branch to branch and compete with the established flying reptiles for the huge food source at the tree tops. Both sub-species grow in size in their changed environment.

‘Other lizards move down the slopes towards the rivers where they burrow into the clay soil. They are joined by the ‘crocodiles’ and find the underground streams and caverns which are etched by the huge water flows from the mountains and the red plain. A proportion of these streams and caverns are formed by the discharge of hot water from the tens of thousands of dwelling structures so that they remain warm day and night. Although in this pitch-black world, there is no day and night. However, it is certainly warm enough underground for these reptiles to survive and adapt. They forage above ground for food during the day and return to the warm pools at night. And they grow.

‘Finally, with the Blue People gone and the lower slopes now left uncultivated, the seedling trees that provide their food grow unchecked. The copious rain is perfect for these trees and though the daytime cloud restricts the sunlight, photosynthesis is still efficient, and, over time, these trees push themselves to incredible heights to get their canopies up towards the sunlight.

‘The ultimate net effect on Cloud Planet would be that an additional   500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from its atmosphere is locked into the dramatically-expanding forests. This reverse ‘greenhouse’ effect has implications far down the line for the Blue People of Cloud Planet as their environment cools.’

Underground Retreat

Scott and Seren moved around the ledge so that they were looking across the lake towards the red wall of the dam.

‘My God! Look at all this activity.’ The far slopes were covered with blue workers who ferried water in their moving triangles to cool the cutting lasers wielded by the male Serenites. Perfect coordination as yet another huge trunk rolled down the slope and crashed into the lake. Dozens and dozens of black boats manoeuvred the trunks to the pen structures where they were cut into their ultimate square shapes. Along the length of the dam were moored hundreds of square trunks of different length and width. These were being treated with a protective black coating.

In the centre of the dam wall was the opening where water flowed and fed the canal that stretched across the plain. Here, workers in their boats shepherded the trunks until they disappeared from view down into the canal and then floated slowly towards the first dwelling on the plain.

>> why is there so much activity > why so many people >>

Scott glanced back at the huge cloud bank consuming the forest behind the lake.

‘They’re losing their huge trees; they’re going to lose their source of wood. They must be stockpiling before this lake becomes inaccessible.’

Scott selected the next crystal from the row above and now they were looking over the first dwelling at the start of the plain. The wall of the dam was about 300 metres away and a steady flow of square trunks was entering the canal and drifting towards them. The dwelling was a hive of activity with a hundred or so blue workers supervised by blond male Serenites.

There was a large hole in the plinth where the screw lift would have been and Scott wondered if they were preparing to abandon this structure.

On closer examination he realised they were modifying the walls of the dwelling. Blue workers had formed a line from outside and ferried red clay bricks to the walls opposite the light shaft. They were being carefully positioned and ‘cemented’ in place using thick, red clay slurry. This formed the double channel with a castellated centre wall – identical to the structures from which the light shafts emanated.

He moved position in order to see over the canal towards the triangular plantations. Between the canal wall and the start of the plantations were flat lattice structures where the blue workers were moulding thick red paste into bricks. These were then baked in the sun.

‘So that’s how they make their bricks.’

He then noticed that a shallow clay ramp had been fabricated from the side of the canal and ran down into the hole in the dwelling. Water sluiced over this ramp from the edge of the canal and a huge square trunk was being shunted out of the canal, onto the top of the ramp where it started to slide in the water flow. Dozens of blue workers carrying black wedges levered and coaxed the huge trunk until it disappeared from sight underground.

Scott selected crystals from further inland and saw the same frenetic activity and modifications to the walls and underground. He moved forward in time and back to the first dwelling by the dam. All the walls had been modified to the double channel design and water flowed around the circumference of the dwelling. Scott deduced that the central wall was covered by hundreds of clay bricks to protect the crystals from the sun. When they were removed, he again concluded, the whole dwelling would be enveloped in the light sheath. This they would do just before the dwelling was enveloped by the advancing cloud bank.

He turned his attention to the clay ramp leading to the underground chambers. What he saw now completed his understanding.

Two black boats were coaxed out of the upper canal and shepherded down the wet clay ramp where they disappeared from view. Doubtless there had been equal activity and construction below ground as the tunnel, which was the mineshaft providing their crystals, was linked to the next dwelling and converted into a two-way hydro transport system.

‘Your people were very adept at protecting their way of life.’ Scott said to Seren, ‘because they had the foresight to realise that they were going to lose their dwellings on the plain to the advancing cloud.’ Seren looked at Scott and her eyes blazed,

>> we were once a proud and clever people as our leader told you > but our world changed and our people started to die >>

Scott felt deep compassion for Seren and his heart ached for the beautiful female standing before him. Then he looked back towards the dam and the towering cloud bank which even now seemed to be tumbling over the mountains and spilling down the steep sides towards the red plain. This was the painful history of her people unfolding in this unlikely holographic amphitheatre.

But there was worse, far worse to come.