The Blue People of Cloud Planet (47 page)

‘It appears that, in the holographic amphitheatre, the blond Serenite boy is kneeling on that red beach with his arms raised at the same time that......

....... ten light years away another lad of a similar age is shuddering with delight as Pioneer 10 bursts into the sky on its eventful voyage!’

One Year Later – Decision Time

LifeSeeker-2 had arrived at Cloud Planet approximately 60 planet days earlier and had moved into high orbit. AJ had manoeuvred LifeSeeker-1 into a similar orbit but 10 kilometres from the other starship. Even at that distance he could clearly see the mammoth object through the dome of LifeSeeker-1. He knew that it was nearly three times the size of his starship and it had four modules protruding from its massive ion drive. Although it could accommodate 28 astronauts, it actually carried 21 with 7 berths available for his crew, if needed.

He also knew that LifeSeeker-3 would already be on route to Cloud Planet but its final destination would be dependent on his earlier communications back to the General at Mars base. If his report had stated that Cloud Planet was of little future interest then a message would have been sent to LifeSeeker-3 changing its direction to the second choice star and planetary system.

AJ chuckled to himself.

 ‘Of little interest! How far from the truth could that be!’

Now there would be a 10 year shuttle ‘service’ of star ships between Earth and Cloud Planet starting with the arrival of LifeSeeker-3 in another decade. But now it would soon be time to decide when, or if, he would return to Earth.

However, his mind had been made up some while ago. There was no way at his age that he could face another 20 years’ cryo–hibernation and return to Earth. He would remain on this amazing planet as number two to Brian Harrington, who would be the Commander of the LifeSeeker-1 space station for the next 10 years. He looked forward to carrying out research and ensuring that this planet and its people were not exploited in the future.

AJ’s immediate priority was overseeing the complex task of transferring the accommodation and research modules from LifeSeeker-2 to LifeSeeker-1 – the first stage of turning his starship into a permanent orbiting space station around Cloud Planet.

 ‘My designs and procedures for this critical operation are as follows. Non-technical readers may wish to skip this detail without losing any of the plot.

 ‘Two, 5 metre diameter, 10 metre long cylindrical modules are carried in the huge cargo bay of LifeSeeker-2. Each is flanged at both ends which provide the links between a mating flange on the underside of Lifeseeker-1 and the topsides and undersides of the accommodation and research modules. One of the cylindrical modules is firstly removed from the cargo bay using the grappling arm of the lander and the delicate operation of positioning it precisely below the flange on LifeSeeker-1 is the next stage.

‘The two flanges are manoeuvred with precision until they are exactly one half metre apart and perfectly aligned. Around the circumference of the flange on Lifeseeker-1 are 15 high tensile steel rods, each threaded at their ‘open’ end. These are now extended, hydraulically, towards the receiving female threads on the flange of the connecting cylinder.

‘In turn each threaded rod is rotated slowly clockwise and moves forward into the receiving thread until it locks against the blank end of the female receptor. When all 15 threaded rods are locked into position, the hydraulic rams retract, drawing the two flanges together. Special seals now inflate between the two surfaces completing a vacuum tight seal.

‘When Zec-C confirms the satisfactory mating of the two flanges, the lander releases its grappling hooks and moves away.

‘The accommodation module is 100 metres long and 30 metres in diameter and is attached to LifeSeeker-2 via two mating flanges which are held together by 45 hydraulic rams, each 2 metres apart. The principle is similar to the coupling of the 5 metre cylinder with LifeSeeker-1 – only in reverse. First, all the hydraulic rams extend in unison moving the entire module 2 metres forward from the ion drive. Then three landers move into position and attach their grappling hooks to hold the module. Next, in a controlled sequence, the rams rotate counter clockwise and unscrew from the flange of the module. Finally, when all 45 rams are confirmed unscrewed, they retract leaving the module detached from the starship and 2 in front of it. Now it is held in place by the three landers.

‘The accommodation module is gently ‘tugged’ away from LifeSeeker-2 by the landers, moves 10 kilometres towards LifeSeeker-1 and, ever so slowly, aligns so that its 5 metre top flange sits half a metre below the flange of the connecting cylinder on the underside of LifeSeeker-1. The accommodation module is aligned to the command module at an angle of 90 degrees of the starship to avoid the ion drive. Now, as before, the flanges are coupled, seals inflate and the landers release their hold.

The whole sequence is then repeated for the research module converting LifeSeeker-1 to a three module space station. Next, the accommodation module is commissioned allowing the astronauts aboard LifeSeeker-2 to transfer to the space station and complete the commissioning of both modules.
’

AJ congratulated Alison and Steve, who had been the lead pilots in ROL-2 during the 30 days it took to complete this delicate transformation of the two starships. Although the computer monitored and initiated all stages of the procedure, the lander pilots’ role was critical – you cannot make any mistakes at 20,000 kilometres per hour – the orbital velocity of the starships, landers and their components.

Now LifeSeeker-2 was nearly ready for its return journey. In addition to taking astronauts back to Earth, the huge bay that once held the two connecting cylinders now contained 2,000 diamond crystals.

This made hardly a dent in the inventory of the Blue People of Cloud Planet. However, this was an unbelievable treasure trove destined for planet Earth.

Again a secret message was sent to Earth. In ten year’s time the same leader of the cartel would hear that a starship crammed with thousands of enormous diamonds was heading for Earth and they would have a decade to plan its acquisition.

And arrange the elimination of those who might get in their way!

‘I am still extremely surprised that, despite all the intricate security systems I built into Project Omega, someone outwits me. It takes many hours of my massive computing power to find the ‘buried’ code in the system. It is a very clever piece of deception and evidence of the remarkable intelligence of the person involved. It is a shame that greed and selfishness has corrupted this clever mind.’

Steve was sitting in the command dome of LifeSeeker-2 staring out at the space station in the distance; the sun glinting from its three modules mounted one on top of the other. He was now commander in charge of the starship for its return journey and was waiting for his passengers to check in.

The dome display illuminated and AJ’s face appeared.

‘I’ve sent a message to the General that your starship be escorted once you come out of half-light speed. We can’t take any chances with a hold full of diamonds!’

‘My concern,’ replied Steve, ‘is that it won’t be the General receiving the message but I’m sure he will have passed command to someone equally as trustworthy.’

‘I agree and I’ve already sent my concerns to the General, or his replacement, regarding potential exploitation of this planet.’ AJ continued. ‘Now, Steve, it falls on your shoulders to champion the Blue People of Cloud Planet when you get back. They’ve been through enough.’

‘I’ll do my best, but it will be 20 years before I get back, a lot can happen in that time!’

‘Good luck, Steve, and ‘bon voyage’’

‘And good luck to you, AJ, it’s been great knowing you!’

Martha and Pete arrived at LifeSeeker-2 the next day delivered by Alison in ROL-2. But Alison was not returning to Earth. She wanted to continue the work of restoring Cloud Planet’s estuaries so, after an emotional farewell; she piloted the lander back to the space station. Still no word from Olivia and Scott, Steve thought, but they knew the deadline for departure was the following day.

Olivia sat in the command dome of ROL-1 staring out at the mist and rain. The lander sat in the middle of the open space in front of the huge pyramid dwelling of the ‘capital city’. It was shortly before dawn and already visibility had improved and the rainfall had eased.

She wondered how long it would be before the cloud dissipated completely from the red plain. Many years, she thought, perhaps a decade. But already it had thinned at the edge of the plain so it would eventually happen. She thought about the last 6 years spent on this planet. She had buried herself in the mammoth task of reclaiming that one estuary and rebuilding the six dwellings by the sea.

How appropriate that the Serenite leader had come back to his paradise, even though it was to be his last day on Cloud Planet.

Then through the mist, Olivia could see that two figures had emerged from the pyramid and they walked to a point about 50 metres in front of the lander. She looked at Scott and the beautiful blond Serenite young man clutching his hand and her heart lurched momentarily. Although she still had not forgiven him, surprisingly, a part of her still loved him despite all that had happened but she wouldn’t share him.

Time to go, Olivia thought, fighting back the tears,

‘Command Zec-1! Prepare for lift off.’

Scott could see Olivia clearly in the command dome and he heard the main engines as they ignited. His chest tightened with emotion as he met her eyes. He knew he had hurt her badly and he mouthed the word ‘sorry’ knowing it could never be enough. Then the hand that clutched his shook as a result of the cold and rain. However, there were three remarkable things that were different about this Serenite boy.

Firstly, despite the fact that it was nearing the end of the night, this young boy was not blue. He was cold and shivering but like Scott he was warm-blooded!

Secondly and even more surprisingly were the audible sounds made by an inhabitant of Cloud Planet........

‘Is Olivia going back to your star?’ said Zac, the first Serenite to have the power of speech in addition to telepathy.

‘Yes’, choked Scott, ‘she’s leaving on LifeSeeker-2 later today.’

‘And is your star far away?’

‘Oh, yes, Zac, a long way away!’

‘Will I ever go to your star, Scott?’

‘Oh, yes, Zac, you most certainly will!’

Thirdly, Zac had an immense IQ for his age, mainly achieved from the amount of time spent with Zec-C on Scott’s palmtop. This knowledge was shared through telepathy with his ‘brothers’ around Cloud Planet – there were nearly 1,000 of them! At the age of six a Serenite male reached his manhood and this intelligence would be passed on to new generations.

A race of ‘Super Serenites’ would evolve.

Olivia looked down at the two figures huddled together against the cold rain and smiled.

Scott and Zac smiled back.

Then Olivia raised her arms outwards and upwards in the traditional Serenite way.