The heat of entering the atmosphere was a walk in the park
compared to the wormhole ride. The great Tri-Chord engines kicked in to
counteract the pull of the planet's gravity-well and roared silently as they descended through
the clouds. Dutch’s mind was singularly focused during the final moments of
descent…always a tricky moment for the pilot, even though the onboard computer was
doing all the hard work after she had programmed in the co-ordinates. She
hadn’t felt confident enough with the controls to do a manual touchdown but
still she had to be on her toes. At two thousand feet, three giant parachutes
deployed and everyone felt the jerk and drift as their descent slowed to around
twenty feet a second. The pneumatic dampers would take care of the final touch
down velocity. Dutch remembered the descent to be all more pleasant for not
having to steer, and she had ample time to look around as they
drifted down through the many layers of pink and blue clouds, listening to
the ooh’s and aah’s of the little group behind her as various aspects of
the landscape slowly revealed themselves . It looked like paradise from the
air: green meadows and shady woods stretching far and wide, rivers and
waterfalls running in and out of sight, sometimes hidden behind fields of
flowers and shrubs in a gorgeous array of colours. It looked almost too good to
be true. After a final bump, the engines wound down and all the bells and
buzzing and hissing slowly ceased. For a while everyone sat in raptured
silence, not knowing what to do next.
“I can’t see anything dangerous out there,” said Dutch
after what seemed an eternity, “so I think it’s time to have a look around. I’ll
go first and see that it’s safe.”
“NO!” shrieked Sweet Mary, horrified by the fact that she
might see Dutch eaten alive out there. “I’m going with you.”
“Me too,” said Rose.
“Looks like it’s all for one,” said Officer Angelo.
When the steps unfolded to reveal the landscape, a breath
of the warmest, sweetest smelling breeze wafted up through the open hatch. None
of them had ever smelt such a variety of smells before. The heady mixture of
warm grasses and fresh flowers held them entranced for many a long minute. In a
daze of wonder they descended the ladder and took their first steps on their
beautiful new world; the place that they in all likelihood were going to spend
the rest of their lives.
They found an ideal picnic spot under a tree and unpacked their hamper of food and drinks.
“Oh look,” said Sweet Mary, who had wondered off as she
was wont to do. “A pool! Rose, come and look. Oh my word,” she said excitedly
stripping off her bio-slippers and plunging her feet into the water before
Dutch could caution her to be careful. It didn’t take Rose long to follow suit
and soon the two of them sat side by side at the edge of the little pebbled
pool, idly kicking their feet in the water, watching the little fish dash in
and nibble at their toes. Rose couldn’t really feel them, they were so small,
but it felt lovely all the same. She was so delighted not to have to wear those
awful new shoes again, or her corset, or the rest. She was used to the bio-suit
now. In fact it was the most comfortable thing she’d ever worn. She looked at
her feet again and for the first time she clearly saw how badly they had been
deformed by the stylish shoes she had had to wear for her husband’s sake,
instead of comfortable house shoes, or gardening shoes, or shopping sandals. It
made her want to cry. She looked at Sweet Mary wriggling her pretty toes in the
water next to her. She had perfect little feet, and for a moment she almost
wanted to resent her for it until she remembered what Dutch had told her about
the kind of life the poor child had had to endure. She put an arm around her in
recompense for her bad thought, and hugged her tightly. Sweet Mary smiled back
at her.
“It’s lovely here, isn’t it? Like paradise. And the
flowers are so big.”
They were in a meadow with tall shady plants and bushes
scattered about. The flowers were indeed gigantic, of every shape and colour
and they hung like bells in the warm midday air, dispensing their aroma to the
winds. Occasionally a flying creature with bat-like wings and a winding reptile
body would plunge noisily into one of them in search of nectar. Some of the
plants, instead of flowers, had a fruit which looked like a purple spotted
watermelon. All around them were gently sloping hills basking in the sunshine.
In the far distance they could see a darker green fringe, probably a forest,
and beyond that, the purple-red ridge of a mountain range.
“I think I’m going to love staying here,” said Sweet Mary
kicking up the water in pure joy. “The only thing wrong is that I’m running out
of make-up. Well, running out of a few things actually.”
“I can give you some,” said Rose. “But I think we’re going
to have to learn to do without sooner or later, unless we can find something
here to replace it with,” she said, looking around.
There was a sudden buzzing, vibrating sound and a giant
beetle, the size of a turtle, came into view. It had wide serrated mandibles at
the front end, grinding crosswise across each other and making an awful noise.
The girls squealed and clung onto each other in fright. Dutch and Angelo rushed
to their side to protect them but there was no cause for alarm. They all
watched in amazement as the strange carapaced creature fairly zoomed past them,
its little legs thrumming at the ground. It looked like an organic lawnmower,
cutting and eating the grass as it went. It was obvious that it wasn’t
interested in them. Sweet Mary giggled nervously as it disappeared into the
undergrowth, clackering away.
“Might as well check the area for anymore surprises,” said
Dutch, putting her pistol away. “You coming?” she asked Officer Angelo, and
they moved off a little way together, scanning the terrain. Dutch’s eyes
flicked back to the ship for the hundredth time, constantly checking that it
was alright and that the path was clear should they need to run to it for protection.
It stood in a little clearing a few hundred yards away.
Sweet Mary turned around to watch them and noticed Righteous
standing by himself out in the sun, unmoving and mute, tall and trenchant like a
deep obsidian shadow – like a blot on the landscape, a fatal black slash in the midst
of all this light and colour.
“I feel really worried about Righteous,” said Sweet Mary
to Rose. He hadn’t moved a muscle in hours, despite their constant attempts to
draw him out of his shell.
“There must be something we can do about it,” said Sweet
Mary. “He’s such a nice man. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“I wonder what’s happening to him?” mused Rose and let out
a long impotent sigh. “I suppose we just have to be patient and wait till he
comes out of it.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
It was the eyes that gave a clue to his state of mind.
Judging by his body one would have thought he was in a coma, but the eyes were
alive and full of strife and suffering. He looked like a man at war with
himself. A man who wasn’t going to move a muscle until one side or the other
won. It was as if he was waiting for someone to press his ‘on’ switch because
he couldn’t do it himself anymore. In the meantime the battle inside raged on,
the fire of it showing in his eyes.
“It doesn’t feel right, having fun like this when he’s
like that. I’m going to go and talk to him again,” said Sweet Mary, giving her
wet legs a final rub with a towel. Her tone on this last sentence was firm and
positive. She had made up her mind. She felt awful about giving up on him after
a few earlier tries. It wasn’t right to abandon him like that. Just because he
didn’t respond immediately doesn’t mean she had to give up. Everyone had given
up on him. She pulled on her bio slippers and went to make amends for her
selfishness.
IS THERE SOMETHING AMISS WITH RIGHTEOUS? DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING THAT THE OTHER'S DON'T. FIND OUT IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.
