The Blue People of Cloud Planet (38 page)

Olivia Faces the Black

It was 2 hours before noon and LifeSeeker-1 was positioned 400 kilometres from the icecap and 200 kilometres above sea level. The astronauts were gazing out at an idyllic scene of deep blue sea, brilliant white ice and azure  sky – all bathed in the golden sunshine of the star, Seren.

It was hard to imagine that such a chilling menace lurked below.

Two nuclear missiles were already programmed with their targets – each had the coordinates of the third cylinder from the sea bed – at a distance of 20 cylinders apart from one another.

Timing was crucial. The lander would take 2 hours to get to the release point for the chlorine missiles and 1 minute to blast a gap in the black. The nuclear missiles would take 10 minutes from the starship to the point on the sea surface directly in line with the target discs 100 kilometres ahead and below the ice.

The nuclear warheads were programmed to pass through the black 10 seconds after the explosion of the chlorine missiles.

They could be aborted safely if something went wrong early in the mission but if the chlorine missiles failed to explode........

........ it would probably be too late!

Meanwhile Olivia was sitting alone in the right hand command seat of the lander as the two bay doors above her slowly opened.

This was it. She had two primed chlorine missiles slung under ROL-2 but one attempt, realistically, to breach the black’s defences.

AJ and the other astronauts appeared on her dome display. Everyone was tense. Everyone was trying to give smiles of encouragement.

AJ broke the silence,

‘Good luck Olivia, we are, literally, right behind you but if anything goes wrong and I consider your safety is threatened, I will not hesitate to instruct Zec-2 to abort the mission. Understood!’

Olivia nodded and AJ gave the command to start the riskiest undertaking that he had ever been involved in.

ROL-2 then lifted slowly out of the starship’s lander bay, inclined its nose downwards and started its excruciatingly slow journey to the release point.

Olivia stared out of the dome as the icecap slowly grew larger and larger in her field of view. The sea looked calm and peaceful. There were so many beautiful things about Cloud Planet, she pondered, that it was hard to believe that soon they would be sending nuclear missiles under the white ice to destroy an unimaginable enemy.

Olivia was daydreaming as the white icecap filled her horizon. They were now 50 kilometres from the release point, which was less than half an hour away. Suddenly, she was alerted by AJ’s concerned voice.

‘Olivia! I don’t know if you are aware but the black mass is already forming in the sea and right on the intended missile path.’

‘But we’re nowhere near the target!’ replied Olivia, ‘And we haven’t fired anything yet.’

Now Zec-2 had put a view on the dome screen of the lander.

‘I see it and it seems to be growing in size. Good heavens! It’s circular in shape; why?’

‘It’s about a kilometre in diameter and still growing and maintaining a perfectly round shape,’ AJ said, now disturbed by this change in the Black’s behaviour.

‘We’re moving the starship closer so that we can delay the launch of the nuclear missiles,’ AJ continued but Olivia could hear Steve interrupting,

‘Surely it doesn’t matter how big it gets as long as we can punch a hole in the middle of it?’

‘That may be true but who knows what this black menace is capable of.’ AJ responded.

They were all going to find out in the not too distant future!

‘The black mass is now 5 kilometres in diameter and still expanding. ROL-2 is 20 kilometres, 10 minutes from release point. New calculation for nuclear missiles is launch in 2 minutes.’

‘The lander is going to be over the black when it releases!’ Alison cried with alarm.

‘At this rate the lander will be above the menace sooner than that.’ Steve pointed to the screen, ‘It’s increased visibly over the last few minutes!’

‘Black mass now 7 kilometres diameter. One minute to launch of nuclear missiles, which is automatic unless majority decision to abort!’

‘Continue mission?’ AJ looked at the astronauts and they all nodded, including Olivia. No need to vote.

‘The black mass is now 10 kilometres in diameter and has stopped expanding. ROL-2 is 12 kilometres and 5 minutes from release point. Launching nuclear missiles in 10 seconds.’

The astronauts in the command dome of LifeSeeker-1 watched the two nuclear missiles streak away from the starship. Ahead they could see the black circle in the sea but on the dome display it was huge and showed the tiny lander which approached the edge of it.

Then they gasped in astonishment as Zec-C informed them that the outer part of the black circular mass in the sea had started to rotate!

Olivia watched with horror as the Black grew on her horizon. It nearly filled the dome, particularly because the lander was 15 degrees head down. She’d heard that it was 10 kilometres in diameter and gasped aloud.

Then the lander moved over the edge of the black and the sea disappeared. Now Olivia’s total forward vision was black and her eyes were transfixed by the menace below.

Suddenly she was six again and standing in front of the black mouth of the cave and she excitedly walked into it. Then her mind focussed back to reality.

‘5 kilometres from target point and 3 minutes to release. Nuclear missiles launched.’

Then came AJ’s concerned voice,

‘Olivia, the mass has started to rotate!’

But she didn’t need telling, as from only 2 kilometres above the mass she could see the racing outer fringes of black. Her mind went back again and she was lost in the blackness of the cave. She screamed in her mind. Again she was rocked back to the present.

 
‘4 kilometres from target point and 1.5 minutes to release. Warning! Rotation of black mass is increasing and causing turbulence, applying stabilising thrust.’

Olivia was starting to feel giddy. Through the dome her world was black and spinning. Get a grip, she urged herself, but despite this she found herself staring at the huge black mouth of the transport tunnel under the dwelling.

‘I can’t go in there! I can’t go in there!’ Her mind screamed and she remembered Seren’s calming eyes and she relaxed. Olivia opened the panel near her right hand and stared at the two mechanical levers both set at ‘clamp’. She placed her left hand on the control panel and gripped both levers with her right hand.

‘3 kilometres from target point and 1 minute to release. Get ready Olivia. Nuclear missiles one minute fifteen seconds behind. Warning! Rotation of black mass has increased suddenly, now causing suction! Applying reverse thrust to compensate!’

In the command dome of LifeSeeker-1, the astronauts watched, in amazement, as the 10 kilometre black mass in the sea ahead of them rotated faster and faster. Then they heard with consternation Zec-2’s reports of increased turbulence and suction. The mass was exerting a downward force on the lander and unbelievably.....

........ the centre of the rotating mass dropped into the sea! And the outer edges around it started to spin faster!

‘Oh my God, no! It’s formed a huge black spinning vortex!’ Alison screamed. ‘We have to abort, we have to pull Olivia out!’

Zec-C’s next words chilled them all.

‘Vortex suction is exceeding ROL-2’s full reverse thrust! The lander cannot pull out!’

‘2 kilometres from target point and 2 minutes to release. Emergency! Emergency! Suction from vortex exceeding full reverse thrust, starting to accelerate!’

Every hair on Olivia’s body stood on end as she heard these damning words. She stared in horror into the open mouth of the spinning black vortex just ahead. Her mind reeled.

‘I’m being drawn into a black hole! No..oh..oh!’ Her worst nightmare was unfolding in the dome in front of her and then she was hanging over the end of the black boat in the absolute darkness of the underground tunnel!

‘One kilometre from target point and 1 minute to release!  Emergency! Emergency! Suction from vortex exceeding full reverse thrust, continuing to accelerate! Cannot arrest forward motion! Olivia! Recalculation! Vortex suction will accelerate missiles to twice planned velocity. Release now!....

...... RELEASE NOW! RELEASE NOW! RELEASE NOW!!’

Then in her mind she felt the security of Scott’s arms around her pulling her away from the end of the black boat and suddenly she heard Zec-2’s repeated command.

She pressed down on both levers!

In the starship they heard and watched what they feared were the last minutes of the lander carrying Olivia. They had listened to Zec-2’s recalculation and realised with hope that the chlorine missiles could be launched early.

They heard Zec-2’s repeated command and saw the missiles drop from below the lander, ignite and then rush into the swirling vortex ahead.

They watched, horrified, as the lander was being drawn into the mouth of hell!

And then Zec-C calmly informed them,

‘Chlorine missiles away, 1 minute to detonation! Warning! Nuclear missiles are being accelerated by vortex. One minute ten seconds to detonation point!’

‘Oh my God! No! What if the nuclear missiles arrive too soon!’ Alison screamed. ‘What have we done! What have we done to Olivia!!’

AJ focussed on the dome and could see the two tiny chlorine missiles streaking away from the lander which was being drawn into the black vortex. The two nuclear missiles were behind and closing fast.

Unexpectedly fast!

The knuckles of Olivia’s right hand were white because she was clenching the levers so hard that she could not release her fingers. Now she watched, helplessly, as the two missiles streaked away into the black vortex.

She heard the frightening news that the nuclear missiles might arrive too soon!

‘Too bloody late for me!’ she shouted and shook her fist defiantly at the swirling black menace. She could not drag her eyes away from the terrifying black mouth rotating outside the dome of the lander.

‘In my experience it is not often that when something goes wrong, very wrong, it ultimately works in your favour. The rotation of the huge black mass in the sea and the formation of such a powerful vortex threw all the careful calculations out of the window. The attempt to defeat the Black on Cloud Planet looked doomed, but...