Omina Uncharted

by Roland Starr

  “I’ve got something, Captain! It’s faint and garbled, but it sounds like Orion."

  Vonner nodded and hurried towards the tense astrogator. He took the handset from Marr and clicked up the power on the receiver.

  “Come in Orion! This is Vonner speaking.”

  The crackling that came through the receiver was deafening, and Vonner was compelled to turn down the volume. Then he caught the faint sound of a voice in the background, and turned up the noise full volume. He winced at the battering his eardrums were taking, and frowned as he tried to make out the words coming through.

  “Hanton…attack! Two…ships!”

  “Did you get that?” Marr gasped as the receiver suddenly died on them, and full silence enveloped them. “It sounded like Hanton to me. What did he say?”

  “It sounded as if they were under attack by two ships!” Vonner was thinking fast. “They had their shields up, so they wouldn’t sustain serious damage.”

  “Doesn’t that depend upon what they’ve come up against?” Reid demanded, coming along the cabin towards them.

  “And what about us?” Bardo cut in. “We’re sitting ducks here! We’ve got no protection! If there are alien ships up there attacking Orion then it’ll be our turn next!” He sprang to his feet and darted towards the airlock. “I’m getting out of here. I warned you of the dangers we were facing, but you wouldn’t listen to me. You figured I was space-sick. Well the whole crew will be a lot worse off before this is over.”

  “Grab him!” Vonner ordered, and the security crew closed on Bardo as he tried to operate the airlock. When the man was pinned to the floor, the doctor stepped in and gave him a sedative. A moment later he was sleeping heavily.

  “We can’t take off and run the risk of being picked up,” Vonner said slowly. “We’d stand no chance if we were cornered. I think there’s nothing we can do except maintain guard around here and await developments. When Hanton has fought off the attacks he may come through to us and give us some information. In the meantime I’ll take a party out and do some exploring. I think you’d better come along with me, Quill. You’d better get a close look at the film show that’s been laid on for us.”

  They left the ship and Curran came up, his face grim.

  Vonner shook his head in reply to the Colonel’s enquiring lift of the head, and gave a brief resume of what had developed.

  “So we’ve walked into trouble!” Curran glanced around. “Well I must say that it seems too quiet for me! I don’t like it! There should have been some sign of life if the people here were friendly.”

  “Perhaps they’re waiting to see what we mean to do.” Vonner looked around. “Philo, you stick around here and organise the defence of the ship. I’ll take a small party and look around. If we make for that high ground over there we may see something in the background. If you do come across alien life then stay out of sight. Let them know we’re peaceful!”

  “Will do, Captain!” Curran said.

  “I’ll take Nevin and three of your guards with me. Quill is coming along in case there are any scientific questions to be answered. And watch out for Bardo, Philo. Doc has put him to sleep. He started cracking up again.”

  “Leave him to me!” There was a glint in Curran’s dark eyes. “But you’d better be careful out there, Captain. It’s too quiet! If they hit you I guess you won’t know anything about it until it’s too late. Maybe you ought to let me head the party! I’m dispensable, but you’re not!”

  “The shuttle-ship is our only means of getting off the planet,” Vonner retorted through his teeth. “At the moment nothing is more important than that!”

  Curran nodded and turned to peer around, the Othic tube ready for action in his hands. Vonner signalled to the men who were to accompany him and started away from the ship, walking steadily, feeling the heat of the sun on his back immediately he stepped out of the shade of the ship. He signalled for the guards to deploy, and he carried a stun-gun in his right hand. Quillon Reid followed almost in his footsteps.

  A couple of times Vonner looked back over his shoulder at the ship, afraid that an attack would commence before he could get back. But the scene was perfectly natural, except for the cattle seemingly grazing in the distance. They had not moved at all since they had first been sighted! It struck Vonner then that there was a sinister element in the atmosphere, and he began to wonder if the sun up there was real, although it was hot enough. He realised that they could take nothing at its face value!

  Then he looked back once more towards the ship, and he halted in mid-stride, a frown creasing his face as he looked around. There was no sign of the shuttle-ship! At first he thought he was dreaming! It hadn’t taken off! He thought he had wandered from the course he’d set himself, and looked around, expecting to see the ship somewhere, but the grassy plain was deserted, and he realised that it really was deserted. Even the grazing cattle were gone!

  He didn’t have to call the attention of the others to what was happening! It suddenly all became too obvious. Vonner saw the grass dissolving under his feet, and the whole landscape was imperceptibly changing! The next moment there was nothing but sand and rock underfoot, and a desert stretched away, illimitable!

  CHAPTER II

  “Captain, what’s happening?” Sergeant Nevin demanded hoarsely. He was pale and shaken, gripping his stun-gun and looking as if he’d stepped into the centre of a nightmare.

  “Just hold it!” Vonner snapped. His eyes were closed to the merest slits because the brilliance of the sun reflecting from the yellow sand around them was blinding in intensity.

  “The ship is gone!” Reid said in precise tones. He was making an effort to control himself, but his face showed that he was badly shaken.

  “Perhaps it hasn’t gone!” Vonner said through his teeth. “If the inhabitants here can change the scenery at will then it’s likely they’ve made us think the ship has gone.”

  “There’s a difference between projecting a false scene and concealing something like our ship,” Reid retorted.

  “Well you try to come up with an answer,” Vonner said, looking around. “Sergeant, do you know exactly where the ship was standing?”

  “Yes, Captain!”

  “Then take one man and go back and check. Feel around for it.”

  “You figure it is invisible?” Nevin demanded harshly.

  “I’m not figuring anything right now! Just do it, Sergeant!”

  Nevin nodded and motioned to one of the guards, and they went off at the double.

  “Let’s go on to that high ground,” Vonner said, and started forward. His feet sank into the burning sand, and he staggered. Reid was having difficulty himself, but he forged to Vonner’s side.

  “This is more than changing pictures, Captain,” he remarked. “That I could understand. But this is different. They change the very earth under our feet.”

  “This region might have been desert in the first place,” Vonner commented, wiping sweat from his forehead. “What more effective way of disposing of unwanted aliens than luring them into such inhospitable terrain?”

  “You’ve got something there,” Reid said.

  They floundered on, making progress at great cost to their strength. Vonner noted that with the changing of the scenery to desert the sun had seemed to grow hotter! But it could have been imagination, he realised.

  He kept looking around, watching Nevin and the other guard, who were searching around the landing site for signs of the shuttle-ship. They appeared to have no success, for shortly after, Vonner looked around once more to see the sergeant and his companion returning, following their footsteps in the shifting sands.

  They were spent physically and mentally by the time they reached the rocky ridge they’d first spotted from the ship. It was farther than it had seemed at the time, and Vonner flopped down and stared around, sweat glistening on his face. His eyes refused to open more than the merest slits, and he realised that any length of time spent in these glaring conditions would
result in temporary loss of vision.

  Reid was gasping for breath at his side, and the two guards were also breathless. Vonner realised that two years of being cooped up on the space flight had taken the fine edge off their fitness. But there were other things to worry about right now. He stared around incessantly, hoping against hope to spot something, anything, that would be a pointer to civilisation. But there was nothing but sand and rocks and heat haze.

  Sergeant Nevin arrived and flung himself down beside Vonner. Sweat was pouring off his face, and his uniform was soaked. He shook his head silently for a few moments, unable to speak, but after a time he became less agitated, and managed to gasp out that he’d failed to locate the ship or any signs of it.

  “Is it my imagination, Captain?” he finally demanded, “or is the air getting thinner?”

  Vonner felt a pang strike through him as he glanced at Reid, who shrugged.

  “I can’t answer that without instruments, Captain,” Reid said. His brown eyes were dull, and he seemed unable to concentrate.

  Vonner tried to moisten his lips. He realised that he was faced with a decision to make. They could remain here in the hope that the scenery would change once more and the ship would reappear, or they could push on and try to locate someone or something native to the planet. But he soon decided that there was no choice. The terrain, such as it was, stretched away apparently for miles, and he guessed they would die of heat before they covered half the distance to the nearest horizon. He looked at Reid, and found the scientist watching him closely.

  “What are we going to do, Captain?” Reid demanded.

  “Stay here!” Vonner found it difficult to speak. He shielded his eyes with a wavering hand and stared into the brassy sky. There was nothing to see, and he had to close his eyes against the glare.

  “We’ll be dead by the time the sun reaches the horizon,” Reid said. “We’ve got no water and no food, and we’re not acclimatised to this killing heat.”

  Vonner rolled on to his back and flung an arm across his eyes. His eyelids could not protect him from the blinding glare. He tried to think, but found his mental processes fading, and even when he conjured up a picture of Adah he could not find the emotion he needed to demonstrate his concern.

  “Captain!” There was a tremor in Nevin’s voice, and Vonnor forced himself into a sitting position and looked at the sergeant. “Over there, Captain! Low in the sky! It’s a ship! I saw the sun reflecting upon it. But it’s like nothing I ever saw!”

  Vonner shaded his eyes and spotted the glittering sphere that was moving slowly towards them at a height of around two hundred feet. There was no sound of propulsion, and the eerie silence of the desert seemed to give the scene an atmosphere of unreality.

  “Get down and stay still!” Vonner said instantly, finding some of his customary crispness. “They could be looking for us!”

  They flattened themselves, but Vonner realised that they would stand out against the glaring sand in their dark blue uniforms. He stared upwards, watching the strange craft, but it was not in him to resist. If they stayed here much longer they would die. If they were taken prisoner at least they would increase their chances of survival.

  “What do we do, Captain, if they try to take us?” Nevin demanded. “Do we fight?”

  “Only to save our lives,” Vonner replied instantly. “If they want us alive then we’ll submit! We can’t get out of this situation by our own efforts.”

  The sphere seemed to roll through the bright sky, effortlessly and with no obvious signs of propulsion. Vonner stared at it with all his professional interest aroused, despite the gravity of their predicament. Then it was directly overhead, and it stopped, hanging suspended in air. Vonner clutched his stun-gun, but made no movement, and he warned the others to show no signs of animation.

  As they replied, a beam of light stabbed down from the sphere. There seemed to be a crackling sound all about their position, and Vonner felt a strange tingling sweeping through him. It seemed to start in the chest and spread outwards towards his extremities. When it reached his head he blacked out, painlessly and without discomfort…

  Vonner opened his eyes and found his mind completely relaxed. For some moments his memory was non-existent, but then everything returned, and he sat up quickly, looking around in wonder. He was in a bare cell, and Reid, Nevin and the three security guards were with him. He saw that he was lying on a low couch made of a plastic material, and he eased himself to his feet, looking around and wondering what had happened since blacking out in the desert. He crossed first to Reid and then the others in turn, examining them, relieved to find that they were still alive, and he saw that Reid was slowly coming to his senses.

  There was no apparent door to the cell, and Vonner moved around the bare metal walls, looking for the means of egress. He was unsuccessful, and returned to Reid’s side as the scientist opened his eyes.

  It took Reid some moments to return to mental efficiency, and then he began to ask a stream of questions. Vonner silenced him with a wave of the hand.

  “I’m as ignorant of the facts as you, Quill,” Vonner said. “But I’d say all the signs are right. We haven’t been killed out of hand. They took us prisoner, and we’re unmarked.”

  “I hope that’s true of the rest of the crew,” Reid said. “But what happened to the shuttle-ship? And is Orion still in orbit?”

  Nevin and the other guards were coming to, and Vonner felt impatience begin to start through him. He went to the nearest wall and banged upon it, hurting his fist, but he persevered and motioned for the others to hammer on the three remaining walls. Their concerted efforts soon produced reaction. A section of the wall on Vonner’s left swung open and three figures stepped into the aperture.

  Vonner caught his breath, for the figures were humanoid, tall and well formed, with fair skins and light coloured hair. They had high foreheads and cheekbones, and looked intelligent. Each of them was holding a small hand weapon that resembled a short metal cylinder with one flared, open end, and Vonner noticed that the weapons were not lifted to cover him and his companions.

  Silence fell at the confrontation, and Vonner stepped forward, lifting his right hand in a sign of peace. “We are aliens on this planet and we come in peace,” he said.

  “We know who you are, Captain Vonner! We have been in communication with your mother ship!” The foremost of the trio smiled. He came forward and held out a large hand, and Vonner clasped it and shook it firmly. “First let me apologise for the poor welcome you received, but we mistook you for Zukons until two Zukon ships arrived to destroy your craft. Then we realised that you were enemies of Zukon, and therefore friends of ours.”

  “I’m sorry, but I understand none of this,” Vonner said in some bewilderment.

  “Of course! I understand. How could you be aware of our local problems? But it shall be explained to you in due course. Let me now hasten to greet you as warmly as possible and offer you what poor hospitality we have at our disposal here! I am Den Thol, the commander of the outpost here on Obal!”

  “I’m grateful for your welcome after the shocks we received on landing,” Vonner said. “But can you give me news of my ship Orion? And the smaller craft in which I landed?”

  “Have no fears for your craft or your crew, Captain. The mother craft experienced some fearful moments before we were able to kill the Zukons, although some of them escaped. That is why we were obliged to remove your shuttle-ship and its crew, for fear that it would fall into the hands of the enemy. But they are all safe. We picked you up as soon as possible. Now we have matters under our control once more, and we can extend to you our hospitality.”

  “Thank you, but there are a number of questions I would like to ask,” Vonner said dazedly.

  “Naturally, and I shall give you some of the answers while we are going to the main assembly hall, where your crew awaits you. Please accompany me.” Den Thol smiled and waved a hand towards the opening in the wall. “Please do not think that yo
u were being held prisoner. This is a recovery room, and you were placed here to awaken naturally from the blackout we enforced upon you. It was feared that you would act against us if we approached you normally. We decided to take you first and explain later.”

  Vonner accompanied Thol into a corridor and they walked along it, the others following.

  “We brought these weapons along now for fear that you would attack us without warning before an explanation was made. We have analysed your species and are satisfied that you are aggressive only in defence, the same as us. We know why you have come, and at the outset it was disturbing. But I have sent information to Prava, our home, and I expect you and your crew will be requested to go there to meet our people.”

  “Then you’re not native to Omina?” Vonner demanded.

  “We call this planet Obal. It is the nearest of the five planets of the First Odan System to the Zukon galaxy. We maintain an outpost here to give early warning of Zukon activity and to prevent Zukon landings. I am sorry that you were subjected to some of our very confusing defensive measures.

  “How did you accomplish the change from fertile land to desert?” Vonner demanded. “It was worse than confusing!”

  “We shall explain everything to you in due course,” Thol said, smiling. “We showed you the grassy plain because that is reality and we wanted you safe until we could contact you. But when some of the Zukons escaped and gained the ground we turned it into a desert to kill them.”

  “I’m glad that I’m not a Zukon!” Vonner said. “How do you speak our language?”

  “We analysed it and programmed it into our autotutors. They enabled us to speak your language, and to understand it, without having to learn it.”

  “Very impressive!” Vonner glanced around and saw Reid following at a short distance, talking avidly to one of the other Pravans. The third Pravan was accompanying Nevin and the three security guards. Vonner noticed then that the guards still had their stun-guns on their belts, and he was reassured that this situation was real and not just another mirage produced by the machine that had changed the fertile plain into a desert that could kill.