The Blue People of Cloud Planet (21 page)

Olivia and Scott jumped as three drums started in unison and their booming crashed around the walls. The blue female dancers leapt into contra flow motion with louder stomping of feet and clashing of sticks. The rays now bathed their darker blue bodies as they gyrated with staccato movements.

‘Wow!’ shouted Scott. The drums ceased, the female workers stopped and a higher note pierced the atmosphere. The young dancers now moved slowly and gracefully and rose on tip toes using their arms to form magical silhouettes.

‘It’s beautiful, just like the ballet,’ Olivia breathed.

The contrast continued as four drums delivered a deafening wall of sound and the movements of the blue workers became wilder. The sound stopped and the silence was broken by a haunting higher note followed by even slower movements of the dancers.  

The whole pyramid then rocked to the furious beat of five drums and the frenzied blue females stomped until they crashed lifeless to the floor in the eerie silence. Now a barely audible note filled the pyramid and the young dancers posed gracefully with arms aloft and remained perfectly still. Slowly the note declined until, when it was hardly audible, they lowered their arms.

Then, in unison, they slowly turned towards the astronauts, knelt slowly and together raised their arms towards them and smiled.

Olivia’s heart burned with emotion for these lovely young creatures and she and Scott raised their arms in appreciation. Then all the Serenites in the pyramid responded likewise and they saw repeatedly,

>> help us > rescue our people > save our world >>

Finally Seren walked to the front of the platform by the drummers and looked intensely at Olivia and Scott,

>> we must continue our journey > we have a long way to go >>

‘I show below the inside of Seren’s pyramid. You can see the familiar pools on the left but most striking is the triangular theatre with its massive wooden sculptures and the wall art at the back.’

Outside the Dwelling

The two astronauts followed Seren underground and arrived at the boat dock where they were surprised to find two tunnels side by side with their duplex docking chambers. Seren read Scott’s question and pointed,

>> this one is for leaves > using many boats all the time > the other for our people > who only travel at night >>

 ‘So they send the food on to the dwellings near the equator,’ Scott said aloud, ‘and according to Zec-C’s information we are about 100 kilometres away.’

‘How far is the SOS dwelling?’ Olivia queried.

‘Once we reach the equator, it is two further structures along, not that far.’

‘On their journey from the edge of the forest to the equator, our astronauts travel through four small dwellings each 100 metres across, three farming dwellings at 150 metres and are now leaving their eighth structure – a combined farming and Serenite dwelling 200 metres across. Next is a similar-sized dwelling and at the equator is a 300 metre structure that completes the 500 kilometre radial limb from the edge of the forest.’

Before they left Seren’s home, Scott had gently told Olivia the frightening events of the previous night. She was shocked and her fears of the black tunnels returned. Scott removed one of the straps from the pack he carried and told her that he would use it to bind them together at the waist once they were settled in the leaves. This seemed to satisfy Olivia and the night’s journey passed without incident.

The next dwelling was identical in basic layout but with subtle differences in the sculptures and wall paintings. There were no Serenite men at this dwelling but they were disturbed to see two lifeless blond forms taken away by the blue workers to the outside channel. Again, where ever they were, deaths exceeded births for both blue workers and Serenites alike.

As the sun climbed through the sky dragging the light sheath with it, Olivia and Scott donned their waterproof clothing and boots and ascended the lift screw into the pyramid dwelling. They had argued heatedly earlier that morning about going outside the walls of the dwelling; Scott had been cautious about this but Olivia couldn’t wait to get outside and explore the hostile environment. However, she had made the sensible suggestion that they travel inside one of the farming groups.

‘We’ll be able to see the young farmers at work and take samples for analysis.’ Olivia had continued, excited at the prospect of investigating another aspect of this surreal world.

They walked out into the heat as the first drummer signalled the assembly of the blue females and young sowers. Perspiration was already running down inside their wetsuits making them feel most uncomfortable. As they crossed the open space they lined up inside the forming group to the beat of the second drum. Then Scott turned and saw Seren who stood in the doorway of the dwelling.

>> be careful > stay with my people > they will guide you back >>

The third drummer crashed down and the living group of Blue People and two astronauts marched in unison towards the wide doorway. Olivia and Scott exchanged excited looks and gasped as the diamonds held by the blue females ignited as they left the cover of the dwelling wall. Soon they were completely enveloped by the moving light sheath and they took their first steps on the planet’s surface outside of the dwelling structures.

Initially, the ground was firm but very wet from the incessant rain. However, under the protection of the light sheath, it was dry and the atmosphere remained warm but very humid. Suddenly the consistency of the clay changed and Olivia and Scott found their feet sinking to the ankles and they made strange squelching sounds as they extracted them. Fortunately the speed of the farming group was slow and they were able to keep up without too much difficulty.

They did not take their palmtops as they feared losing or damaging these vital means of communications. It also meant that their hands were free for sampling and manoeuvring in the equivalent of a paddy field. Each did carry a small camera on a band around their heads. Scott marvelled at the female workers whose arms and shoulders were taught with bulging muscles as they held their shafts steady at a slight upward angle. Each triangular edge overlapped its neighbours which formed a continuous flow of rainwater over the diamond crystals cooling them and producing steam which helped maintain the internal temperature. It was a surreal experience cocooned inside this marching group of advanced reptiles who took absolutely no notice of their two passengers.

Every so often, Olivia took samples of the wet clay and the detritus of rotting leaves and stalks and reasoned that its decomposition was how the clay remained so fertile. She tried to gauge the age of the young females; they were nearly as tall as she was. From their development she guessed they were the equivalent of young teens.

After about 100 metres the young sowers started stooping in sequence and they placed their seed pods at regular intervals into the slushy surface; Scott reckoned they had planted about 400 in five equally spaced rows. Then the whole group turned through 90 degrees and the ground below them changed. Suddenly they were trudging through rows of small plants with fleshy leaves and their feet started sinking further into the clay. Olivia stooped and picked a whole plant for detailed analysis later.

‘Their webbed feet are a distinct advantage out here,’ she said, ‘and look how blue their legs are getting.’

Now the farming group slowed as they passed into rows of fully mature plants nearly 2 metres high with huge thick leaves which dripped with rainwater. The young sowers tore off these leaves and gathered them in their arms as they passed by with an efficiency and precision that surprised the astronauts. But of increasing concern was the fact that the astronauts’ feet were sinking further into the cloying soil and both were tiring from the continuous effort.  After a further 100 metres or so the slow moving group turned again through 90 degrees......

........ and started to speed up!

With rising alarm, Olivia and Scott trudged with them but could not match their speed through the viscous clay. Slowly the young sowers, their arms piled high with leaves, moved past the struggling astronauts and Scott looked at Olivia with anxiety as the rear of the group started to catch up with them.

‘Faster, Olivia, faster!’ urged Scott as they both helped to pull themselves forward.

‘I can’t go any bloody faster in this stuff, it seems even deeper!’ Olivia shouted back. ‘It’s like quicksand.’

Then Scott staggered forward straight into one of the huge plants which stopped him in his tracks and he fell back and sank to his knees in the sodden clay.

‘Olivia! I’m stuck!’ cried Scott and, as she turned to help, she watched with rising dread as the rear of the farming group marched past them, undeterred, to the distant beat of the drums.

‘I am very disappointed at our astronauts’ lack of forethought and planning before embarking on such a risky journey outside the dwelling. I can only conclude that their enthusiasm to explore the extraordinary surroundings clouded reasoned evaluation. In particular, Olivia shows the risk taking side of her character. They should have consulted Zec-1 for a risk assessment which would have been a firm ‘no’ unless snow-shoes were readily available!’

The icy rain pounded down on Olivia and Scott and plastered hair over their faces. Cold water streamed into eyes and dripped into their clothing. The temperature was less than 5 degrees and the sheath of light was barely visible as it wobbled away from them. Hyperthermia was barely 10 minutes away in these appalling conditions.

 Olivia frantically pulled at Scott but failed to budge him after several attempts as she, too, was pulled deeper into the clay. Both were covered in splotches of red clay and it became obvious that their frenzied movements were only making matters worse.

‘Don’t move,’ ordered Olivia, ‘this is like quicksand and we must apply the same principles to get out.’  Accordingly, Olivia used the thick stem of the nearby plant to haul herself upright and unintentionally stripped a metre wide leaf from the stem.

‘Of course!’ she cried, ‘we can use these.’ Olivia placed the leaf on the clay in front of him. It was so thick that she could stand on it and pull on Scott’s arms but he was stuck fast. She pulled harder and he used his arms to push down on the leaf. There was some movement but both were weakened by the intense cold. Scott found himself looking directly into Olivia’s eyes and in desperation they pushed and pulled but to no avail.

Then Olivia’s head hurt and she saw,

>> calm yourself > use your strength gently > you can do it >>

‘Scott! Slow movements! Don’t fight it!’ Olivia sat on her knees and pulled gently at his shoulders. At first nothing happened and then, ever so slowly, he inched out of the clay. Finally and with a deep sucking sound his feet came out and he tumbled on top of Olivia before rolling aside. She pulled herself up and stripped another large leaf.

‘Use these leaves and let’s get the hell out of this bog,’ shouted Olivia, ‘but which way did they bloody go?’

‘Listen, the drums, it’s that way.’ Scott pointed.

They placed the huge leaves in front of them, clambered on and then pulled the vacated ones behind to the front position again. Using the tree stalks to help their balance, they clumsily scampered through the plantation until the ground became clearer and firmer. Meanwhile the sound of the drums increased through the roar of the driving rain and shaking with cold they staggered forward together.

‘She spoke to me. Seren helped me to do it!’ Olivia’s teeth chattered with the cold.

‘But Olivia, it was your initiative with the leaves that saved the day - you saved my life.’

Suddenly the drums stopped but directly ahead through the downpour they could see a wide rectangle of bright light. As they hurried closer they could see Seren standing in the middle of the doorway, arms outstretched and beaming one of her beautiful smiles.

As they journeyed on through the tunnel that evening they reflected on their near disastrous foray outside the dwelling. They realised that they had not thought it through properly and vowed more care in the future. To lighten matters Olivia playfully punched Scott and said,

‘Well at least I’ve got some samples to analyse and we must have looked a real sight thrashing about in that mud-bath!’

‘Yes, we can watch it again in the morning – it’s all on video!’ Scott said and, as Olivia snuggled into him, the boat rocked slightly in the absolute blackness.

Another night passed without further incident and they safely arrived at their tenth dwelling. They were now at the equator.

‘Our astronauts find it almost impossible to grasp that another 10 dwellings stretch across the plains to the other mountain range and even harder to imagine that they are underneath one of 1000 dwellings spread around the equator. That is 20,000 structures in total on the 1000 kilometre wide red plain of Cloud Planet.’

They ascended the screw lift and arrived, as anticipated, in the pyramid dwelling where they all warmed and fed themselves. Then they walked out through the sunlit door.