“I would guess…foe,” Eerika responded unwilling to take a chance.
Just as Einar pressed against the buttons to fire, the three ships accelerated toward the planet. Going against his instincts, he paused just before firing and waited. Certainly, their presence didn’t go undetected, but the fleet of three did not seem interested in them. The mid-range craft continued forward without firing or turning around to face them. In relief that he didn’t fire, Einar simply sat and watched as the craft entered the atmosphere. There were three brief flashes of red-orange lights, then they were gone.
“They saw us…right?” Eerika asked.
“I’m not really sure how they could miss us,” Einar replied confused by why there was no attack.
“Well, they weren’t hostile. They didn’t turn back, or investigate?” Eerika said with a nod of the head.
“It seems like this planet was hidden on purpose. What is so important that it has been excluded from the maps? We should get back to Econ and I will return with backup and investigate. We don’t know what is down there, or what we are getting in to.” Einar replied.
“The atmosphere is remarkably similar to Aigi. Gravity is a little stronger. I would at least like to set the Imil down to see if we can fix the thrusters. It’s not like we have the equipment for a spacewalk,” Eerika said feeling out Einar’s thoughts.
“I don’t know if it is worth the risk or the fuel. We don’t know who or what is down there. Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want to be responsible for getting you hurt or killed. I would rather come back more prepared, better armed, and with a team,” Einar noted his opposition to changing their original plans and landing on the planet.
“As much as I truly appreciate your concern, I really want to know what is going on here,” she said throttling the Imil forward.
“You are in politics…not recon or intelligence. We need to turn around and come back another day!” Einar said in protest.
Gravity began to take a firmer grip on the Imil increasing its control on the damaged vessel. Thoughts of the innocent dead people they left behind surfaced and she visualized Senator Krico. Eerika’s mind began to work against her, welling up an unexplainable apprehension that swept over like a tidal wave. For a second, she considered taking Einar’s suggestion and leaving. There had been enough death for the day and if she were to get stuck on this unknown planet and not make it back to Econ, would anyone really know the truth of what had happened on Aigi? She pushed the invasive fear aside and realized that she needed more control over her thoughts and emotions. Fretting about their situation would not contribute fruitfully and she really needed to exit the craft, even if only for a second. With a renewed spirit, she accelerated the Imil. The thrusters pushed them into the atmosphere where a thick grey cloud choked out their visibility. For the moment, the new world was invisible to them by the naked eye as they descended into the unknown.
“You kidding me? We die, it is your fault!” he retorted. “I’m showing that we are over a mountainous area. Some fairly high elevations below us. Hopefully, we will pop out of this cloud soon.”
“I’d like to get out of these clouds. We’re at about forty-thousand feet. I sure hope they don’t have a lot of air traffic here. Eerika dropped the Imil to thirty thousand then twenty-five thousand feet and there was still no visibility. “We have mountain peaks at home higher than we are now. I’m getting a little concerned. But the good news is that I’m not picking up anything in front of us,” she said trying to fly via radar.
The Imil was released by the oppressive cloud, which had been thick enough to filter out most of the light from the star that gave life to the planet. The direct impact of the light into Eerika’s face was blinding despite only being in the cloud for less than fifteen minutes. She flipped down the protective visor and blinked rapidly as if each passing of the eyelid would restore her ability to see. Eerika had to use her peripheral vision until the temporary blindness subsided.
“Uhm…can you see that mountain in front of us? Because we are about to hit it,” Einar yelled.
“The light blinded me,” she turned her head to the right and could make out a dark mass as they approached it. Instinctively, Eerika jerked the controls to the left, but the Imil didn’t respond. She mumbled something to herself in frustration and throttled back and guided the craft thirty-degrees to the right nearly crashing into a smaller peak that was in front of it. The craft passed directly over a large woven, bowl-shaped object on the top of the ridge. “Was that some kind of nest?”
From the mountain’s apex, a large winged figure launched itself toward them in defense of its territory. A second and third followed. “Can you see those winged creatures? They look like very large, winged krytyr. They seem somewhat agitated and are flying toward us. I guess we disturbed them.”
Eerika’s sight improved. Her vision was no longer limited by large golden blotches. She was able to look directly at the winged creatures, “Huge, half the size of the Imil. Fast too. They may be protecting their territory. I don’t want to kill them; we’ll continue to put distance between us and their nest and maybe they will turn back.”
“Not fast enough for them,” Einar yelled.
The first reached the nose of the craft, let out a shrieking noise before spitting a green liquid onto the Imil. The metal in front of Eerika instantly began to smoke and discolor as she watched the metal erode. “The thing is spitting some kind of acid at us that seems to be dissolving the metal like it is nothing. It may be them or us! The Imil is damaged already. I can’t imagine having three of them spitting that crap on us.”
The second krytyr fixed its eye on Einar and stared at him through the bubble canopy as it flew next to the Imil. He couldn’t discern whether or not the beast was taunting him or simply trying to understand the potential threat posed by the flying machine. As if growing weary of its thoughts and siding with the Imil as a threat, the winged beast opened its thick, elongated beak, turned and spat onto the side of the craft. A portion of the spray splattered against the glass canopy and immediately it lost transparency and seemed to be dissolving. While he could not see the red glow of heat or a fire, a dense cloud of smoke lifted from the metal as if being welded. Due to the angle and the fogging up of the canopy, he was not able to see the full extent of the damage done by the krytyr. The amount of smoke concerned him as vital components of the Imil may have been exposed. He began to choke on the putrid odor of the toxic smoke in the cockpit.
Einar decided to dial back and reduce the plasma in the round for the sake of conserving their ammunition. He fired two rounds at the first krytyr and knocked it slightly from its flight pattern but did little else to discourage it. The shrill sounded as if it was fueled more by anger than pain. Without hesitation, two krytyr came up from the rear and simultaneously attacked the vessel. They ripped at the metal panels and tried to drive their beaks into the bubble canopy where Einar’s head was. Each time the beak slammed into the canopy in front of his face, he envisioned it breaking and then being ripped apart by the two creatures. The acid was still dissolving the protective barrier to his left and had yet to show signs of fizzling out. One of the creatures, as if sensing a vulnerability, reached down on to the side of the Imil where the acid damaged the craft. Its giant claw grabbed metal and was able to latch on. With a powerful flap of its giant membranous wings, the creature pulled back with enough force to redirect the Imil a few degrees. There was a loud pop, then Einar saw the metal as the beast peeled it back like the skin on a piece of fruit.
“What was that?” Eerika shouted.
Without responding, Einar increased the plasma level and fired. The round found its mark and proved effective. The beast exploded but resulted in the unintended consequence of sending its bodily contents on the Imil. Acid coated the bubble canopy over Einar and on contact began to melt the glass. His visibility outside of the craft went down to near zero and was reduced to dark blotches. Einar wondered how long it woul
d take for the canopy to be completely dissolved. He focused on the scanner and located the two remaining krytyr. One was just over Eerika and sounded like it was driving its beak into the glass canopy over her. He considered taking a shot but realized he would risk putting her in the same circumstance that he was in, temporarily blind and soon to be exposed to the outside world. The Imil launched forward as Eerika, tired of playing with the krytyr, had decided to outrun the winged assailants.
The damage to the Imil caused it to vibrate violently with the increase of resistance of the outside world on the damaged skin of the craft. Eerika eased back the thrusters. The two winged beasts refused to give up the chase despite being miles from their nesting area. Einar aimed and fired off several rounds that made direct impacts into the head and chest cavity of the angry creatures. Both fell limply from the air and crashed onto the rocky terrain below.
“Wow, you have to see this. There is clearly a city here on the edge of the mountains. I have never seen anything like this,” Eerika said, “I’m putting us down.”
“I kind of figured that,” he responded sarcastically.
The Imil touched down and the hydraulic arms pushed the two glass canopies upward, flipping them open. Einar was relieved to be on the ground and getting out of the Imil. He started to take a deep breath of fresh air, then gagged at the pungent smell of sulfur and vaporizing metal. He began to cough as his lungs rejected the mixture of toxins he had inhaled. “Man, that stinks!” He stood and considered how to get out of the Imil as he was surrounded by degrading acid-coated metal. He needed to step on something in order to make it out of the acid and to a safe area in order to climb down. He reached back and ripped up the fire-proof seat padding and placed it on the rim of the cockpit, retrieved the PX589, then quickly stepped on it as he lunged forward. His foot slipped and he nearly dropped the PX and slid off the Imil before reaching out and grabbing the forward canopy and catching himself. It was a bit embarrassing and he had hoped that Eerika hadn’t seen him look like a fool.
After regaining his footing, Einar looked around and found that she was not looking at him at all but was standing on the edge of a cliff immersed in her thoughts. She was looking in the direction of the planet’s star. For the first time, he could see what it was that made her set the Imil down, outside of the fact that it was being consumed by acid.
To their right, a river moved from the mountain toward the red starlight drenched horizon and snaked its way through what, on the outskirts, appeared to be a desert. No other water source was visible from their vantage point. Thick, lush vegetation and tall densely populated trees with long leaves that formed umbrella shaped canopies, followed the winding shoreline outward for hundreds of feet or more. Some areas appeared to be low and possibly affected by occasional or controlled flooding for the purposes of agriculture. Integrated in the greenery were large, uncommon, intelligently made structures. They were staring at a very populated city. Large, stone constructed, four-sided structures rose high over the treetops and met at a point as if directing attention toward the red sky.
“This is not Earth,” Eerika said thinking out loud.
“What? Why would it be?” Einar asked seeking clarity.
Eerika put her eye to the ogao and dialed it for the distance to focus on the city, “This planet…this is not earth. But it is undeniable that these people were, at some point, on Earth. I have studied the history of Earth. That, to me, looks exactly like the structures that were common with some tribes or cultures. Those huge structures are called pyramids according to the information we have. I don’t know anything about this planet, but those plants are called palm trees and look like the kind native to Earth and that region. Tall statues that I assume are tributes to their gods or rulers were typical of ancient civilizations there as well. What is going on here? This is very odd.”
Outside of the primary structures between the city and the mountain, thousands of primitive, small, humble, huts and shacks were bundled up in several highly congested areas along the riverbank. There was very little plant life and no protection from the light of the star that supplied the planet with life in that area.
“You can see that there are poor people, who may be slaves as it was popular in many cultures.”
“Purple plants…again? That red star distorts the color…I hate purple plants,” Einar chimed in. “Well, we may as well go down and see if they will give us dinner and a place to sleep tonight.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she responded.
“Well, for the most part, the Imil is not going to be able to go anywhere…as far as space travel is concerned. The acid from those winged demons did considerable damage. We’re not leaving the planet in that thing,” Einar walked around the Imil and stopped in the rear. He opened a small panel and began punching keys. After a few minutes, a compartment opened on the underside of the Imil and he pulled out a six-foot-long, by six-inch-wide, cylindrical shaped object. The nose nearly crashed to the rocky surface as it came free from the compartment that appeared to be perfectly conformed to its shape, “Wow, this thing is heavier than it looks.”
“What is that?” Eerika asked.
“This is our beacon of hope. You can put in a message, location or whatever you want.” He set it down on the most level surface he could find then turned a knob under a plate on the side and four fins popped out of the bottom. He moved to the nose and walked it up into an upright position resting on the fins. “I am not sure of where we are, but it is programmed to know where Econ is. Normally it would be dropped out of the Imil and simply take off in zero gravity and take a message back home. There is a fuel reserve that will launch it in situations like this. Gravity, wind, and atmospheric pressure will determine how much fuel it will use. Once out of the atmosphere, it will broadcast a coded message, then go into celerity toward Econ for several days. When it has exhausted the stick, it will broadcast the coded message once an hour. I am not sure how long it will take for it to get picked up or for anyone to come looking for us.” Einar opened a small metal lid on the side and pressed a button. He closed the compartment and locked the lid before suggesting to Eerika that they move away. As soon as they were on the backside of the Imil, the beacon’s thrusters ignited and lifted it from the rocky surface. The white light made by the thrusters was blinding in the day and would have been seen for hundreds of miles in the dark, drawing attention to themselves. In a matter of seconds, it was in the atmosphere and out of sight, to his relief. “My concern is that, while we do need someone to know what happened to us and where we are, if the Imil didn’t already draw attention to us, this certainly will. I’m not crazy about alerting them to our position but we really don’t have much of a choice. This particular tribe or culture from Earth, are they typically hostile? What is their history.”
Eerika returned her attention to the civilization in the desert valley, “What I recall, I think they were a great power in their time. Brutally enslaved many. There were great stories of the accomplishments and the brutality of these people. Yes, brutal by all accounts. From here, it looks like they still believe in slavery.”
“What is with that? Everywhere we go, every direction we look, in all periods of history, there is someone wanting to conquer, enslave, indoctrinate or imprison other beings. Millions die so that one power-hungry moron can rule over who or whatever is left alive. It’s freaking ridiculous! I’ll spare you the speech. Anyway, I’m not sure what kind of weapons they have, but they definitely outnumber us.” Einar was leaning toward fighting his way out of any altercation after learning about the Egyptians history of slavery.
“So, you no longer want to go down and ask them for dinner?” she asked with a raise of the eyebrow.
“That was a joke. No, I have no desire to engage them until I can understand them better. If you would have listened to me, we would be on our way to Econ.” Einar stood next to her on the cliff area and looked out over the city, “it looks like such a primitive culture. The pointed stru
ctures—”
“Pyramids. They are called pyramids. Several different ancient civilizations of Earth built them. I am not sure which one this is.”
“Right, you said that already. Well, they look stupid. Why are they so primitive? Three ships entered the atmosphere in the exact same location we did. Where are they? Who were they? I don’t see them unless they were set down behind one of those pyramids. So, more than likely, there are many cities here…most likely more advanced. We know for a fact that there is an exposure to technology. These beings have seen flying ships and I assume they have seen modern weaponry. But this city seems to be far from advanced,” Einar said, “perhaps they rebuke the advancements of the universe.”
“How do we know that they don’t? We might be surprised at what they have down there,” Eerika chimed in.
“Right. Well, we are not far from Aigi. And it is doubtful that they don’t know these…beings are here. They have helped to keep this a secret. This is really weird,” he said spitting onto the ground.
Einar inspected his sidearm and adjusted the rounds to be lethal. He leaned the PX against the Imil and checked it over. The plasma cartridge was at three-quarters, but he still had a full magazine of lower velocity rounds for close combat. “You need to grab your weapon. I’m going to do some recon. You may want to be armed and find a safe place while I am gone,” Einar noted as he began to walk away.
“Won’t that send the wrong message? We aren’t here to start a war with them,” she said attempting to grab his attention.
“I can hide it when I get close if I engage one and they are not a threat. We need to be armed. We can’t leave them way up here,” he said while climbing up the side of the Imil and retrieving a second PX. Einar handed it to her. Reluctantly, she took it while flashing him a look of displeasure. The weapon reminded her of those killed at the hands of the Redum murderers at the Baraza Zima. Eerika did not want anyone else to get killed, including either of them but knew he was right. She needed to shake off the memory for now as there was no time for mourning. Their lives still technically hung in the balance. They were by no means beyond the possibility of being executed themselves. To make matters worse, it was entirely possible that they were still being hunted by the Tisht since fleeing Aigi.
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