by Tom Johnson
"We just tolerate it a little better," Manning told him. "It's still hot enough to boil our brains if we stay out in the sunlight too long."
"Always the man of reason, I like that about you, Roger. If you just didn't have such a view about religion," he grinned, "you'd be a perfect friend."
"Around here, Cooper," the engineer told him, "it isn't wise to become close friends with any one—but your Maker."
"That can't be helped, my friend," Cooper laughed. "We are a small group, and I'm afraid we don't have any choice as to who our friends are, long termed or otherwise."
"Y'all better get up here!" Sheri called from the spaceship's portal as they approached the bio- dome. "Colonel Peterson has discovered something you've got to see!"
"Now what?" the engineer asked.
"What she didn't just discover," Cooper laughed as he slapped his friend on the back, "is that she's a woman, and she has us under her thumb!"
"Yeah," Manning agreed, "I figure she already knew that too."
As they reached the biologist, Cooper asked, "Did all the MREs spoil or something?"Sheri just giggled, and then followed them to the control room, where they found the commander staring into the view screen.
"What's so important, Colonel?" Cooper asked, as Manning carried the laser rifle to his worktable.
"Look at this, Major," the commander pointed to smoke rising on the horizon in the screen.
"How far away do you think that is?" Cooper asked the colonel.
"It appears to be below the horizon," she told him, "so I would judge it's somewhere between five and ten miles away."
"I don't see a cone," he shook his head. "Surely it's farther away than that."
"It could be volcanic traps," she told him, "with small cones just penetrating the plates."
"I would hate to think we're that close to volcanic traps," he told her. "It means this whole area could be sitting on a powder keg."
"Maybe," she admitted, "but I'm thinking they're still miles from us if they are traps. It might just be a small volcano that has decided to let loose a little steam."
"You're thinking we should check it out, though, right?" he grinned.
"The sooner the better," she admitted. "I need to know whether it's volcanic traps, or a single cone, and analyze the danger to us."
"I miss satellite technology," he shrugged.
Smiling, the commander said, "There goes that lack of adventure again, Major."
"Whatever happened to a trip to the drug store, and sharing a malt?" he grinned. "That's what I call an adventure!"
"There's no better time to field test the laser rifle than now," the engineer said with a smile.
"You're on, Roger, get the ATV, I'll handle the laser," Cooper told him.
"Well, I'm going too," the biologist argued.
"We're all going this time," the commander growled.
As they left the spaceship, Roger asked, "Shouldn't we secure the hatch while we're gone?"
"Why?" Cooper asked. "Worried about the neighborhood, Roger?"
"No, of course not," the engineer shrugged. "It's just that this is the first time we've all been gone from the Galileo Two at once."
"Just close the hatch, Manning," Colonel Peterson suggested. "Nothing will get in.""Yes, ma’am," he agreed, as he closed the hatch behind him.
Outside, they waited for the engineer to bring the ATV around."Why aren't we taking both vehicles?" Sheri asked.
"Because one smells like dead Gorgon," Cooper told her. "Remember?"
"Oh, yeah," she smiled. "I guess the odor might attract a few scavengers at that!"
"I just hope Manning knows which one to get," the commander growled.
Soon, the all terrain vehicle came spinning around the Galileo Two on two wheels, the engineer yelling like a bronco rider."That's one wild, crazy kid," Cooper laughed.
"Well, he'd better not drive like that with me in the back seat," Colonel Peterson snarled.
"Look who's talking," Cooper grinned. "I remember the last time I rode with you at the wheel, Colonel. I was lucky to survive that trip!"
"I don't remember that," the colonel smiled.
"You girls going to sit in back?" Cooper asked.
"How else would the sitting arrangement be?" the commander asked.
"Well," Cooper grinned, "I could sit in back with the colonel."
"You ride up front, Flash, and forget about sitting in back with me!" she snapped.
"It was just an idea," he grinned.Sheri giggled, as she laid the metal spear across her lap when she climbed into the back seat with the colonel. Cooper waited until they were seated, and then he climbed into the front with the engineer.
"Go west, young man," he smiled.
"East," the colonel snapped.
"Or east, if you so prefer," Cooper laughed, as he sat the laser rifle next to his right leg.
"And he was going to be my copilot all the way to Mars," the commander shrugged.
Grinning, Cooper said, "We only had one direction to go then," he pointed with a finger. "Up."
"And to think of all those years I spent in training for this mission," Colonel Peterson shrugged. "Major Cooper sums it up in one word, 'Up'!"
"Time wasted, Evelyn," Sheri told her.
The colonel nodded her head. "Evidently," she said.
They did have to travel east, although their path through the swamps was not a direct course. Manning had to skirt several shallow lakes, and detour around fallen trees as well as some that were still standing. However, the biggest obstacle was in crossing the wide river that cut a swath from north to south. Finding a higher level of ground, they were excited to discover a section where the river was a few feet below the level of the ground, and a thick shelf of land stretched to both sides of the fast flowing river banks, allowing them to cross to the far side at that point. Everywhere they looked, a wide variety of herbivores grazed on the grasses and plants in the thick jungle around the wetlands. To the trained eye of the biologist, Sheri counted a larger ratio of plant eaters to that of the predators
"Why were the animals so damn ugly in the beginning?" Cooper asked no one in particular.
"To God, all creatures have some beauty," Manning told him.
"You've got to be kidding," Cooper snarled.
"Even the dinosaurs will have beauty in the eyes of God," the engineer continued.
"Then why did He kill them off?" Sheri asked.
"All things have their season, ma'am," he told her.
"Even man?" Colonel Peterson asked from the back seat.
"We are His greatest creation," Manning told her. "He will always save a remnant from extinction."
"Say, that makes sense," Sheri said. "Maybe mankind was on the brink of extinction when we departed Earth, and we are God's remnant."
"From my perspective," the commander said, "His remnant isn't doing so good."
"I guess you're right," Sheri admitted. We started out with seven, and look at us now.”
"Hey, let's don't give up on us too soon," Cooper laughed.
"Whew! Do you guys smell that?" Sheri asked.
"Satan has come down to Earth," Manning grumbled.”He has fallen.”
"Sulfur," Cooper corrected.
"Volcano," Colonel Peterson corrected them.Sure enough, they could now see a cone rising into the sky from the jungle treetops, and smoke spewed from the apex. Every now and then they could even feel small earth tremors from the activity deep within the ground.
Coming out of the thick tree line, they could now see the volcanic mountain still at a great distance, and were amazed to see that it was only about the height of a typical Arizona mesa.
"Well, it is not volcanic traps," Colonel Peterson said with a sigh.
"Just a small volcano," Cooper agreed.
"And very young," the commander agreed. "But it could still be dangerous."
"Do you think it's getting ready to erupt, Colonel?" Sheri asked.
"I don't think so," the command
er told them. "Like the major said, it's just letting off a little steam for now. But you can never tell about a volcano!"Just as she said that, the ground shook violently, and the volcano blew a giant cloud of ash skyward!
Chapter Fifteen
Creatures of the Night
"Get out of here, Roger," Cooper yelled, as everyone ducked down low in anticipation of complete destruction coming from the volcano.
The all terrain vehicle slid and skidded as the engineer whipped it about and stomped on the accelerator. When the tires finally gripped the ground, they shot off like a rocket towards the margin of the trees again. Colonel Peterson, looking back at the volcano cone, laughed softly, then said:
"I think you can slow down again, Manning, the volcano was just getting rid of some heat and ash. We're safe enough for now."
"It didn't do my heart any good," Cooper growled.
"Mine, either," the engineer said, as he slowed the ATV again.
"That was fun," Sheri told them.
"Do you wanna go back?" Manning asked, starting to turn the vehicle.
"No, she doesn't!" Colonel Peterson told them.
"I don't need to see it close up again, either," Cooper admitted.
"Let's go home," the commander said.
"Home," Sheri shrugged. "How strange, to think of the Galileo Two as home," the biologist sighed.
"It's all we have now," the commander told her. "We might as well make the best of it."They almost missed the land bridge on the return, as Manning went too far and passed the crossing, and then had to return along the riverbank until they found the naturally formed bridge and crossed back over. A Dimetrodon swam below them as the ATV thundered over the rushing water. It gave them a glancing glare, and then continued on its search for food, finally wading into the deep mud on the far side before disappearing into deep brush along the bank.
Watching a giant Gorgon moving among a herd of mammalians, they expected the fierce predator to attack one of the cows at any minute, but it must have fed only recently, for it never bothered the plant eaters. A family of Seymouria young frolicked in the mud with giant worms, until a menacing crocomander dove into the mix and came up with one of the small reptiles in its jaws.
Striking the desert without incident, the engineer shrugged, as he said, "Sorry you weren't able to test the laser gun today, Cooper."
"I guess it's best that we don't have to use it," Cooper told him. "No sense in firing at something just for the fun of it, I don't think. There'll always be a next time, though, you can count on it."
By the time they arrived back at the spaceship, it was getting late, so they prepared MREs and ate the packaged meals instead of cooking more steaks. But afterwards, they went outside, and sat at the old fireplace from the previous night's cookout. With the sun setting, they could now see the sky over the area of the active volcano, and marveled at the red glow in the sky from the mild eruptions. Every so often, they could actually see the flash of fire within the rising cloud of smoke as the huge steam billowed into the sky.
Sheri suddenly laughed softly, and they looked at the biologist curiously, as she said, "Remember how frightened we were today when the volcano blew that cloud of smoke right in front of us?"
"How could we forget that, Sheri?" the commander asked.
"As horrible as that seemed at the moment, the eruption tonight, as seen from here, looks absolutely beautiful."
"There's no denying that, Sheri," Cooper told her. "But it might be a different story if we were closer to it."
"Sheri's right, though," the commander said. "It's strange how something so frightening can also be so beautiful, depending on where you are sitting at the moment. I saw scenes similar to this in the war, but there was never anything beautiful about that."
"Yeah," Cooper said, "we couldn't get near the cities that had been devastated by nukes, as the radiation was too hot. But I flew over many cities that had been wasted by conventional bombs, and I've seen them burning at night after we strafed them with heavy artillery. But I still have nightmares when I dream about the people I saw on fire, and smelling their burning flesh."
"I could never understand the war," Manning said. "Nor why humans wanted to hurt other humans like that!"
"There's nothing new under the sun, Manning," Colonel Peterson told him. "From the time of the first humans, there have been conflicts."
"You're right, ma'am," he agreed. "It began with Cain and Abel."
"Or any two people put together," the commander said. "Eventually, they are going to disagree on something, and one will kill the other. That's the way of humans!"
"But it doesn't have to be, Colonel," he told her. "People can learn to get along with each other. They just need to have love in their heart."
"That's what I've been trying to tell the colonel," Cooper laughed.
"Oh, shut up, Major," the commander ordered. "And eat your MREs!"
"And that's what she keeps telling you," Manning cackled out with his silly laughter again.
"Roger, I swear, I'm going to feed you and that laugh to the next Gorgon I run across," Cooper threatened.
"Be careful what you threaten, Cooper," Manning told him. "In this place, it could come true."
"You're right, Roger, and I'm..."
"What was that?" Sheri asked suddenly."What was what?" Colonel Peterson asked, as she looked around apprehensively.
"I don't know, I thought I saw something at the edge of the lighting, but I may have been mistaken," the biologist said.
"Well, there's no sense taking any chances," Cooper told them. "Ladies, it's time you went home. Come on, Roger, let's escort our dates to their door."
"I left the laser gun in the ship," the engineer said, disgustedly.
"That's okay, Roger," Colonel Peterson told him. "Alley Oop has his trusty spear with him!"
"One spear," Cooper moaned. "Let's just hope there's only one Gorgon."At the door to the Galileo Two, Cooper grinned, and asked, "Don't we get a goodnight kiss after our date?"
"Take a cold shower," the commander grinned. "But be careful going home, Major, it's dark out there!"
"Thanks," he grinned.
On the way back to the bio-dome, Manning asked, "Do you think she really saw something, Cooper?"
"Yeah, she saw something, Roger. I saw it too. Several of them were out there in the darkness, just watching us."
"Could you tell what they were?" Manning asked.
"Darwis, I think," he told him.
"Then, they've found us," Manning said.
"It looks like it, pal," Cooper said. "We'll have to be more alert from here on out. And I think we'd better start carrying the laser gun whenever we're outside at night."
"I'll start working on another model of the gun tomorrow," Manning told him.
"That would be a good idea, Roger," he told him. "The sooner, the better."
"How were your dreams last night, Coop?" Sheri asked with a grin.
"I dreamed about those damn Gorgons," he groaned. "They were after Roger and me."
"Any of 'em have long, sexy legs like Evelyn's?" she continued.
"Nah, those dang MREs have kicked in again," he told her. "The colonel missed her chance last night."
"Missed my chance for what?" the commander asked, as she came into the room.
Laughing, Sheri walked away after winking at the major.
"We were just talking about long, sexy legs and MREs," she grinned.
"There's nothing funny about it," Cooper argued.
"What, long, sexy legs?" Colonel Peterson asked with a smile.
"I'm going to help Roger," Cooper told them. "At least he won't tease me about MREs."
"NASA knew what they were doing when they supplied us with five years of them," the commander told him. "We should be thankful for their thoughtfulness."
"Roger, how can I help you today?" he groaned.
"I don't know what's wrong with him," the commander shrugged as Cooper walked hurriedly away.
> Sheri giggled some more.
The engineer completed the second laser rifle that day with Cooper's help, and the new model had a better alignment between barrel and stock."This one should aim more efficiently," Manning told him, as he handed the lightweight weapon over.
"Good," Cooper told him. "With two of these, we will be a little better armed when we go into the swamps tomorrow."
"Are we going back in?" the engineer asked, curiously.
"Yes," Cooper told him, "Sheri wants to get those specimens this time. Scientists like to study things," he grinned.
Nodding his head, the engineer said, "So I've noticed, Cooper. But this classroom is dangerous. Seems to me, she'd want to study things from a distance."
"That's why she has us, pal, for protection," Cooper slapped the engineer on the back.
"I don't know that we've been much help so far," Manning told him.
"Yeah," Cooper agreed, I suppose you're right, Roger. Anyway, we'd better close the shop down for the night. I think the girls are getting ready for bed, and we're in their way!"
Climbing down the ladder from the hatch, they caught a glimpse of several animals moving into the darker shadows below. "Better keep your finger on the trigger, Roger," Cooper said as they descended the ladder.
"You do the same, Coop," the engineer told him. Nothing molested them, though, as they made their way back to the bio-dome. But they knew something was watching them in the night.
"Catch that big one over there, Roger," Sheri yelled at the engineer who was helping her gather amphibians the next day.Cooper and the colonel were standing near the ATV with the laser rifles, alert to any possible danger from the larger predators as their teammates wallowed in the mud with the frogs and tadpoles.
"You missed it," the biologist complained as Manning let the slippery creature get away.
"I couldn't hold it," he complained.
When one of the crocomanders wandered too close to their team mates, Cooper aimed the laser rifle and pressed the trigger, and was rewarded when the laser beamed the reptile across the snout, causing the creature to slither away into deeper water.
"You did that on purpose," the commander argued.
"I just wanted to see what it would do," Cooper argued. "I didn't hurt the thing, just shooed it away. I can't wait to try it on one of those big Gorgons!"