The Blue People of Cloud Planet (48 page)

Scott and Zac responded with a similar gesture as the lander roared up into Cloud.

As they disappeared from view, Olivia lowered her arms and focussed on piloting the lander. Her left hand pressed onto the console in front of her.

‘OK, Zec-1, let’s dock with the starship and go home.’

‘But Olivia is not going home. She is going somewhere that she could not have imagined in a million lifetimes.’

As for Scott, he was now the leader of the Blue People. With Seren by his side he would spend most of his time at the capital city with regular visits to other dwellings and the sea.

Meanwhile hoards of beautiful Serenite females would travel from all corners of Cloud Planet to lie with their leader.

‘Life looks very rosy for Scott but all that is about to change. This planet is about to reveal more surprises. Then he, too, is going somewhere he could not have imagined in a million lifetimes.

Deep Underground

 ‘Underneath the thick clay of the red plain is a layer of chalk and limestone about 1 kilometre in depth. Cold water from the canals and hot flows from the pools of 20,000 dwelling structures percolate through the clay and, over time, form underground streams, channels and caverns filled with water. The underground ambient air temperature is 15-20 degrees Celsius and is 20-25 degrees for the subterranean pools. 

‘After the invasion of the black and the creation of the cloud collar, many of the forest lizards moved down to the rivers where they joined the ‘crocodiles’ and both sought refuge in the caves and tunnels leading to this warm underworld. Initially these reptiles foraged for food by day in the cold rain forests and warm themselves by night in the underground pools. However, there is no shortage of food underground as leaves and stalks are constantly being washed down from the dwellings and the rivers themselves.

‘Thus, they adapted and thrived in this new black underground environment. They multiplied, grew in size and searched further and further inland through the streams until they arrived at the huge hot pools and caverns under the red plain itself.

‘At the same time the Blue People are forced from the valleys and underground into their chambers beneath the dwellings on the plain. The creation of the full light sheath around each dwelling causes much higher flows of hot water down into the caverns. This results in underground air temperatures now in excess of 20-25 degrees and water temperatures which ranged 35-45 degrees.

‘Slowly the food source for these growing reptiles starts to increase as the death rate among the Blue People begins to rise as their environment cools. But it is the ‘crocodiles’ that take the largest share of the abundant food. Initially, they are only interested in the ‘wrapping’ around the lifeless forms which enter their domain via the open channels in the dwellings. These huge leaves provide nourishment for further adaptation and the reptiles became larger reaching 2 metres in length. Now they become stronger and develop powerful jaws and sharp teeth which enable them to devour the contents of the wrapped forms as well. This additional source of food, rich in protein and fat, causes them to become carnivorous.

‘They quickly grow in size, strength and ferocity as a constantly increasing number of leaf wrapped food parcels flows down to their hot black underground world.

‘I am surprised at the rate of evolution on this planet but conditions are very conducive, particularly underground. Further, in this planet’s distant past, the ancestors of these reptiles evolve from egg layers to bearers of live young. The gestation time is extremely short which results in multiple generations each year which contributes to their staggering changes over a period of just over 2 centuries.’

In the Stygian blackness the monster reptile effortlessly pushed itself through the flow of hot water as it travelled from cavern to cavern. It was a mighty three and a half metres in length with a hard scaly skin and sightless eyes whose lids had long ceased to close. The creature propelled itself through the rushing water using its powerful tail aided by webbed limbs which also carried hard claws to manoeuvre over wet, slippery rocks. Its powerful jaws were nearly a metre in length and festooned with sharp, serrated teeth which made short work of the leaf wrapped parcels of food.

Though blind and living in a world of total blackness, this formidable creature had developed an extraordinary sense of smell and a sonar system to guide it through the labyrinth of caverns, streams and tunnels.

Normally these creatures did not have to move far from their large hot underground pools as their food came to them, every day in quantities more than they could possibly consume.

However, this copious supply of food slowly started to decrease and these monstrous reptiles had to go searching for their meals by seeking out new pools and caverns. Over a period of 5 years the supply had decreased significantly and the creatures were forced further inland and finally arrived under the clay of the red plain.

However, this gigantic creature was not alone because something clung to its scaly back!

The Blind People

Not all of the leaf wrapped bodies of blue workers placed for disposal in the open channels of the dwellings were actually lifeless!

As temperatures slowly dropped in the sleeping chambers of the blue workers, so more and more failed to awake immediately and were assumed to have died.

All of the bodies placed in the open channel quickly exited the dwellings and flowed through channels in the red clay into the caverns, pools and streams of the black underground world - ultimately into the domain of the waiting reptiles.

However, prolonged immersion in hot water revived some of them! The weaker ones struggled and failed to extract themselves from the leaf wrap and they drowned.

Others fought their way out of the wrap and flowed in the absolute darkness through countless caverns and pools where, eventually, they perished through lack of milk and food.

Some became more challenging parcels of food for the huge reptiles which were not used to their meals trying to escape!

The more fortunate among the survivors then clambered from the water flow onto rocky ledges and found hot dry caves in the underground blackness. They lived on milk and leaf fragments which constantly washed past their new hostile environment. Although their telepathy was short range, they were able to contact other living blue workers in nearby caverns and they eventually formed groups of 15-20 females with one or two males.

They survived and mated underground!

Therefore, because of the constantly higher temperatures, they produced a majority of male young and their numbers increased. There was no shortage of milk and the huge leaf wrappings of less fortunate blue workers provided an abundance of food. They thrived in the constant warmth of their new surroundings. However, some were not quick enough to escape the huge jaws of razor sharp teeth as they competed at the pool edges for the parcels of food.

The blue workers evolved in this environment of total blackness, constant heat and danger from the ferocious reptiles. Their sense of smell and touch was enhanced and they developed a sonar system to guide them around the complex matrix of caverns, pools and tunnels.

Ingeniously, they developed their telepathic skills to manipulate the simple minds of the huge reptiles. There was plenty of food for both underground people and these creatures as each wanted a different part of the wrapped parcels. The underground inhabitants were able to implant ‘messages’ that they were not threatening the reptiles’ food source but merely unwrapping for them. Ultimately, they controlled the reptiles to such a degree that the wrapped parcels were delivered to the groups of ‘blind’ people by the creatures themselves.

How ironic that this new group of blue workers, who had farmed for the Serenites, had now become the masters underground and the reptiles their farmers.

As they continued to evolve they formed larger groups with strong dominant males and more than enough females for breast milk and procreation.  So the blue workers evolved in the underground blackness of the caverns and became the Blind People of Cloud Planet.

In the blackness the huge reptile forced itself through the increasing flow of hot water as it travelled further up through the caverns in search of food.

And something clung to its scaly back. A form sat astride the monster!

At just under 2 metres tall, the powerful male had its legs wrapped around the reptile’s body and its hands gripped two large fleshy scales on the shoulders of the creature. The rider’s skin was coarse, scaly and off white in colour, with no body hair whatsoever. Extra webbing had evolved between the fingers and toes and the green and yellow pigmentation of the eyes had disappeared a long time ago. The creature could not see and its eyelids were permanently open. The nostrils had flared and the jaw line protruded showing sharp rows of teeth. This was a frightening sight and hard to believe that its recent ancestors were the blue workers.

The hideous form had complete control of the huge reptile. It had become his form of transport through the hot waters of the black caverns. But he was only one of tens of thousands of Blind People similarly navigating their unlikely steeds further and further under the red plain of Cloud Planet in search of the ever-dwindling food source.

Now the rider and reptile had forced their way into one of the regular shaped channels in the red clay. It was narrow and the water flow had increased and was much hotter. The smell of its prey was much stronger now, urging the blind rider and his ferocious mount forward.

They turned through a sharp bend in the clay channel where ahead of them the darkness dimmed and then became lighter. Eyes that had been used to utter blackness for so long and lost the ability to close, found the intensity of light a major deterrent. Both rider and mount stopped and were forced back by the flow of the water.

Whilst only 30 metres away a blue female worker held aloft a new-born male to the raised arms of the Serenites and workers in the dwelling above.

But there were other ways into the world of the Blue People via the icy cold flows from the canals and underground transport tunnels. How long would it be before the Blind People and their monstrous creatures would remember that, as cold blooded reptiles, they could survive a drop in temperature as long as they were able to heat up again afterwards. Hunger would become a compelling driving force.

There would be more problems ahead for Scott and the Blue People of Cloud Planet.

Moon Base – 2175

The General has made one of his now infrequent visits to Moon Base and was staring intently at the console in front of him.

Now well into his eighties, he had long ago retired as supreme leader of the World Cosmological Council but still retained an active role in Project Omega. He was desperately hoping for two things before his own final journey to the stars, as he liked to think of it.

Firstly, he hoped that he would receive the signals from the star, Seren, that LifeSeeker-1 had arrived successfully and that all the crew had ‘awakened’ safely from cryo-hibernation. Secondly that there would be an explanation for the existence of the strange blinking planet and a solution to such an unusual signal.

 Oh, and, of course, that he lived at least another 5 years to hear this news!

He was in the Mission and Flight Control centre, a large domed structure sitting adjacent to the landing ‘roof’ of the Moon Base. Nearly 500 personnel manned, ‘twenty four seven’, the various missions and controlled the flights of hundreds of rockets and shuttles between the bases of Earth, Moon and Mars. Their consoles were arranged in several rising concentric circles such that the operators could view the dome display in front of them which carried the essential data for their mission or flight.

He had studied the replicated data for the LifeSeeker missions, which were being monitored in depth at Mars Base, and satisfied himself that all systems were still working in a satisfactory manner. Now he stood behind the 50 operators supporting Mission TitanLife-3 and could see, on the dome display, the ROL lander at the camp set up on Jupiter’s moon, Titan. In the distance, astronauts were finalising the complex drilling platform that would allow them seek out new life forms that may exist in the seas below the frozen surface of the moon. This mission was also exploring the nearby regions to determine a suitable location for a future base.

What a project that would be, he mused, and suddenly he was startled by a cry from an operator on the other side of the dome.

This technician had risen from his own console and rushed to one that had hardly been manned in the last 40 years!

‘A signal! A signal!’ shouted the operator, who then noticed the General.

‘General! A signal from StarGazer-1! Commander Chuck Parker’s mission!’

Both the operator and the General rushed to the console where some of the lights that had been red for 50 years now flashed green. The operator took up position at the StarGazer-1 desk. He hadn’t been born when the massive solar flare of 2125 severed communications 50 years ago.

‘It’s a short communication from StarGazer-1, audio, plus a few seconds of video!’

‘What’s it saying?’ The General could hardly contain his excitement.

‘I’m just processing the digital feed, here it comes, audio first.’

Astonishingly and for the first time in over 50 years a familiar voice boomed out,

‘Where in Heavens’ name did that come fro...?’ 

‘Is that it?’

‘Yes sir, plus this video clip coming up,’

Many eyes now looked up at the dome where the screen showed a grainy image of a light grey background with a darker shape in the centre. The shape quickly grew in size until it filled the screen. Then the video stopped.

‘Play it again!’ barked the General and they listened and watched.

‘That’s it Sir, that’s all there is. The video is the forward view out of the spacecraft. And there’s no further communication from StarGazer-1.’

‘It’s his voice! It’s Chuck’s voice,’ the General confirmed. ‘I’d know it anywhere. Where’s the transmission coming from?’

The coordinates came up on the dome.

‘That’s 33 million kilometres away, General, and it’s nowhere near the original flight trajectory. What does it mean?’

‘What else is in that region of space?’

‘Nothing, Sir! Nothing at all in our records!’

‘But it looked as if Stargazer-1 was moving towards something, and Chuck said ‘where in Heavens’ name did that come from?’’ The General persisted.

‘Yes, General, but something could have been moving towards StarGazer-1. Also one other thing - the computer has analysed the dark shape and it has straight edges! – it is a 2 kilometre wide regular hexagon.’

There was silence in the control centre.

The General sat down, stunned at the evidence that Chuck Parker was still alive. After 55 years! How could that be? It did not seem feasible.

‘I need to send a message,’ he ordered. ‘To LifeSeeker-1.’

He found it difficult to phrase the words. After all, he had to tell Scott that his father was still alive after all these years but they had little clue as to his whereabouts.

 ‘It would be 10 years before this message reached Cloud Planet but surprisingly Scott was going to find this out much sooner than that!’

Approximately 1 minute after the sensational transmission from StarGazer-1, the control room erupted with gasps and shouts as operators stood and pointed at the section of dome that displayed news from Earth.

‘General! Look! Something weird is happening, I can’t believe it!’ cried one of the operators. ‘A huge number of asteroids, meteorites or something has crashed into the Pacific ocean!’

‘That’s preposterous,’ the General retorted, rising awkwardly from his seat. ‘Anything like that would have been detected well before arriving at Earth.’

The General stared, open-mouthed. He listened and watched in awe and horror as satellite pictures showed large objects crashing into the ocean as far as the eye could see causing huge explosions of water.

The newscaster was broadcasting, over this unbelievable scene, that there was no forewarning of this vast shower.

‘Experts are completely baffled that such a large number of enormous objects could have arrived at Earth undetected. Furthermore, and of immense immediate concern is the formation of gigantic tsunamis heading in all directions from a point in the centre of the southern Pacific Ocean.’

‘But how?’ cried the General. ‘How could this happen without warning?’

Then the newscaster spoke again but this time his voice was higher pitched and carried a tone of incredulity.

‘Further video is coming through from the southern Pacific, I can’t believe what I’m seeing! A tsunami wave over 500 metres in height – that can’t be right surely? – is racing at speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour on an expanding front towards southern Australasia, the tip of South America and directly at the ice-shelf of Antarctica. Already hundreds of SOS messages have been received from shipping and energy fields in the south Pacific and most have been followed by ominous silence.’

The broadcaster continued to say that the World Disaster Council was in full session and emergency evacuation plans have been activated for the whole western coast of continental America and the eastern seaboards of China, Asia, Australasia and Antarctica.

 Satellite pictures then showed the scale of these tsunamis, which, although thousands of kilometres from landfall, would cause a calamity on Earth of unprecedented proportions. However, the Ross ice-shelf of continental Antarctica was only 500 kilometres away.

Continuing footage showed the gargantuan curved wave as it raged towards the ice. It was both awesome and frightening in its proportions.

Even more disturbing was the enormous black mass that followed in its wake.

The General could only watch, helplessly, wondering what had caused this calamity and what the consequences would be for planet Earth.