Endymion stopped moving and sheepishly climbed to his feet.
“Sorry miss,” he mumbled.
“Endymion!” snapped Bellona. “You pig!”
Her brother grinned. “The air’s fine,” he admitted. “Honest!”
Philyra looked far from convinced. Bellona slowly stepped through the open lift doors and walked to where Miss Clymene and Endymion were waiting. Cautiously, she lifted her own face mask and took an experimental sniff. Much to her relief, her subsequent gasp of surprise was exactly that and not a desperate wheeze of asphyxiation. Behind her, Philyra took off her own mask.
“Amazing,” Bellona murmured. “I can breath!”
“Yuck,” muttered Philyra. “It smells like the school toilets.”
Bellona smiled. The air was damp and had an odd coppery smell. Yet it was still an incredible sensation to be in the open on Ascension and not need an oxygen mask.
“The Eden Ravines are truly amazing,” declared Miss Clymene. “But you’ll learn more about this wonder of nature later on, when we get to the scientific research station. It’s a couple of kilometres walk from here, so… What do you want, Endymion?”
Looking guilty, Endymion held his hand in the air.
“I left my lunch on the skybus,” he confessed.
“You’re an idiot,” Miss Clymene told him. “It looks like you’ll have to starve. Please don’t eat anything growing in the Ravines. Alien biology makes your bowels do the most unpleasant things! Death by vomiting and diarrhoea is not a good way to go.”
Without waiting for a response, she started down a narrow track leading away from the lift, off into the dark moist jungle. Bellona wasted no time in falling into step behind her, Philyra somewhat reluctantly following behind. Endymion paused to hungrily examine a large purple fruit hanging from a nearby black stem. Bellona glanced back just in time to see the fruit split open to reveal what looked like teeth.
“Weird,” Endymion muttered.
Bellona frowned. Eating poisonous plants was one thing, but it was rather more worrying to think that some of the plants were not so worried about eating them.
*
The research station was a small habitation module roughly five metres by ten that judging by appearances had been in the Eden Ravines some years. It was owned by a large pharmaceutical company based at Bradbury Heights that was looking into interesting alien compounds for possible use in new medical treatments; a company that was more interested in making nice profits for its directors than in providing pleasant living arrangements for its field staff. The metal skin of the module, once pale grey, was badly discoloured by a strange purple fungus that covered much of the outside surface.
Inside, the laboratory and scientists’ living quarters were a picture of organised chaos, with no real separation of the two. Half-eaten meals rested on work benches next to test tubes of biological samples, along with trays of blue slime, holovid scanning microscopes and a glass tank containing an insect-like creature that looked like a cross between a grasshopper and a small dachshund.
A scientist in shabby white overalls stood at a hologram projection bench, on the other side of which stood Miss Clymene, Endymion, Bellona and Philyra. The scientist was pointing to the football-sized image hovering above the bench, which was a scale projection of a nondescript brown planet turning slowly anticlockwise upon its axis. As they watched, a smaller planetoid appeared next to it on a collision course.
“This occurred more than a billion years ago,” the scientist was saying. “However, the Barnard’s Star system is at least ten billion years old so the planets, including Ascension, had long ago formed and cooled from molten rock. It is thought this planetoid may have been a moon of one of the outer gas planets that had broken free from an unstable orbit.”
The visitors watched as the holographic planetoid smashed into the side of the larger world. The projection shimmered as the impact sent ripples across the surface and a blanket of virtual dust into the atmosphere. Moments later, the animated debris settled and now the planet looked more like the Ascension they knew. The impact had left its mark not only in the vast equatorial depression that became the Tatrill Sea, but also in the gargantuan network of canyons and cracks through the planet’s crust that gradually metamorphosed into the Eden Ravines. What was more, Ascension had come out of the collision rotating clockwise. Endymion stared at the hologram, his mouth hanging open in a most unattractive fashion.
“Are you on egg?” the scientist asked, frowning at Endymion’s expression.
“No!” retorted Endymion, offended.
“Apparently, he’s always like this,” Miss Clymene added.
Endymion gestured towards the hologram. “That is so cool.”
“In a way,” the scientist agreed. “The planetoid impact threw up a lot of dust and triggered large-scale volcanic activity, blocking out the sun.”
“So where did all the weird plants come from?” asked Bellona.
“It’s likely there was micro-biological life already present in the rocks, similar to what has been found on Mars,” he replied. “The ravines along the equator receive plenty of sunlight and are deep enough to trap water and a thick layer of air, thus creating an ideal environment for complex life to evolve. It’s worth remembering that before the collision it is believed the planet was tidally-locked and thus quite inhospitable.”
“Tidally what?” remarked Miss Clymene. “I teach music,” she added, by way of an explanation. “Astrophysics is not one of my strengths, I’m afraid. Ask me how to group quavers in six-eight time and I’m your woman.”
“Quite,” muttered the scientist. “To explain, Ascension orbits Barnard’s Star so closely its rotation should have been slowed by gravity long ago, leaving it spinning just once every orbit to thus always keep the same side of the planet facing towards the sun. You can see the same effect with moons as they orbit their primaries. Ingui and Geat have become tidally-locked around Woden, for example.”
Philyra and Bellona looked blank.
“Or like Luna around Earth?” the scientist suggested.
Philyra shrugged. “Never been to Earth,” she admitted.
“Well, like the Tianzun moons of Shennong. Lingbao, Yuanshi, Daode?”
“Ah!” said Bellona. “We have been studying Epsilon Eridani.”
“We’re going to Daode in a few days,” Philyra added.
“Whatever. The point is that the impact hit Ascension so hard it changed the planet’s spin,” the scientist continued. “They say love makes the world go round, but on Ascension it was a kiss from a prehistoric planetoid!”
He beamed, waiting for a reaction to his joke. Endymion shrugged, looking baffled. Bellona and Philyra turned away, embarrassed by an adult’s attempt at humour.
“That’s very amusing,” said Miss Clymene slowly, eyeing the scientist carefully.
“Other people think so,” he muttered. “To conclude, the impact was enough to give Ascension days and nights; though as you know, days here are much longer than they are on Earth or Taotie. This is also why the sun rises in the west rather than the east.”
“Why would it rise in the east?” asked Philyra. “That’s stupid.”
“That’s enough questions,” Miss Clymene snapped. She turned to their host. “Thank you for your time. It has been most educational, but I’m sure you have lots of lovely scientific things to do. I was hoping to meet up with a friend of mine who works here. When I spoke to him this morning he promised to show us the meteor that came down in the Ravines.”
“Was it a big one?” asked Endymion. “I can’t wait to see it.”
The scientist looked apologetic. “That may not be possible,” he confessed. “The area is off limits at the moment. It’s not what we thought it was.”
“It’s not a meteor?” asked Bellona. “What is it then?”
“I’ve already said too much,” the scientist admitted.
“Perhaps we should just head for the camp and get some res
t,” said Miss Clymene. “I’ll catch up with my friend tomorrow and ask if we can come and see the meteor next time.”
“Next time?” Endymion looked downcast. “It won’t be here next time.”
“In my experience, when meteors fall down, they stay down,” the teacher said firmly. “Now, say thank you to the nice scientist for showing you his hologram.”
“Thank you Mister Scientist,” intoned Endymion, Bellona and Philyra.
Miss Clymene nodded courteously to the scientist, who looked a little bemused. They received few visitors at the Ravines, unless you counted the shadowy grey figures his colleague was convinced lived out in the jungle.
“I hope it was educational,” he replied. “Good luck with the camping!”
*
Before long, they reached their camp for the night, which was an inflatable dome permanently pegged to the ground in a small clearing not far from the research station. The concept of ‘night’ was largely artificial; as the scientist had noted, days were long on this strange world. Ascension took the equivalent of fourteen Terran days to rotate just once on its axis. In contrast, the planet was so close to Barnard’s Star that it positively hurled around the star, taking just three Terran weeks to complete each orbit. This also meant that the relatively-small Barnard’s Star looked six times bigger from the surface of Ascension than Sol did from Earth, though the weak daylight offered by the ancient red dwarf was nowhere near as bright. Ascension’s orbit and rotation, along with its backwards rotation, resulted in a day that lasted on average eighty-four hours, followed by a further eighty-four hours of night. The native plants of the Eden Ravines had long evolved to cope, but human biology was not so adaptable and remained firmly wedded to the old day-and-night cycles of Earth.
Therefore, even though the sun was almost directly overhead, the twenty-four-hour clocks of their wristpads were telling them it was getting close to bedtime. The journey out to the gloomy Ravines had been long and they were all tired. Bellona and Philyra sat outside the dome, munching upon the contents of their pack lunches while Endymion sat to one side with his stomach rumbling. Miss Clymene had just arrived back at the camp after having returned briefly to the research station. In her hand she held a small metal canister, from which emanated an odour not unlike mushroom soup. Endymion eyed it hungrily.
“You’re in luck, Endymion!” Miss Clymene declared. “It just so happens that the scientists have discovered a plant in the Ravines that isn’t toxic to humans. What’s more, they’ve kindly made some into soup for you. Isn’t that nice of them?”
Endymion took the canister from her and opened the lid. The steaming liquid inside was a luminous shade of grey with orange lumps floating upon the surface. Close up, the smell was not so pleasant and so strong he wanted to gag.
“Yuck!” exclaimed Endymion. “It looks like a can of cat vomit!”
“I did tell you not to forget your pack lunch,” Miss Clymene pointed out, sitting down beside them. “Well, that’s the alternative. Maybe next time you will remember to take notice of what I say.”
“Yes, Miss Clymene,” muttered Endymion, meekly. Holding his nose, he took a sip of the soup and cringed. “Actually, this isn’t bad.”
“Really?” Philyra was curious.
“No,” he admitted. “It tastes revolting.”
After they finished eating, Miss Clymene pulled out her slate to catch up on her work. They were supposed to be departing for Daode in two Terran days’ time but spaceport customer services at Newbrum had still not found them a flight to Epsilon Eridani. Endymion’s earlier comment about sharing a shuttle with Bradbury Heights had touched a nerve, as their rivals had chartered the only interstellar cruiser currently docked at Ascension and made it clear there were no spare seats for the Newbrum school band. It soon transpired that this was not a problem she could resolve right now.
“No signal,” she sighed, tossing aside the slate in mock disgust. The bottom of the Eden Ravines was out of range of Newbrum’s transmitters and all she was getting was the scientists’ local network, which was sluggish and confounding her attempts to link to the wider net.
Philyra looked at her own wristpad in disgust. “How can you not get the holovid channels here?” she complained. “This place is the pits!”
“Exactly,” said Endymion. “A great big deep dark pit. That’s why there’s no signal.”
“But this is inhumane! How dare they take away my Gods of Avalon!”
“It’s just a holovid programme,” murmured Bellona, then jumped as Philyra shot her a look dripping with venom.
“Just a holovid programme! How can you say that?” she retorted. “I’m going to miss the vote on Sonja versus the Dethridge Demons!”
“How can you watch holovids on such a small screen?” asked Bellona. Her lack of enthusiasm for the media capabilities of a wristpad was partly due to a childhood ear infection, which had left her unable to have the cochlear implant necessary to listen to broadcasts without plugging in earphones. She found the amount of time Philyra spent glued to her wristpad somewhat disturbing.
“I’m sure a few hours without net access won’t kill us,” Miss Clymene said brightly, standing up. “We could all do with an early night. Can I trust you all to get some sleep and not to go wandering off into the jungle?”
Bellona looked fearfully into the trees. “Are we safe here?”
“As long as you leave the strange vegetation alone,” Miss Clymene confirmed.
“And the alien plants leave us alone,” added Endymion.
Philyra gulped. Miss Clymene gave him a withering look, then disappeared inside the inflatable dome and out of sight. Bellona scowled at her brother, who promptly turned his back on her to instead absorb himself in something on his wristpad.
“What are you doing?” she asked at last. “I thought there was no signal down here.”
“Hacking into the scientists’ network.”
When he failed to elaborate, Philyra edged across and peered over his shoulder, then shrugged. Bellona waited a little longer before asking the obvious question.
“Why?”
“I want to see where that meteor landed.”
A hush descended once more upon their camp, until all they could hear was the tap-tapping of Endymion’s fingers upon his wristpad’s screen.
“Is he always this talkative?” Philyra asked Bellona.
“The life and soul of the party.”
Endymion appeared to have found what he sought. Standing up, he shuffled around in a circle, looking at his wristpad as he did so, then stopped.
“That way,” he declared, pointing into the jungle. “Coming?”
“Yeah, why not,” said Philyra, climbing to her feet. “I’m bored,” she explained, seeing Bellona’s look of surprise. “And not in the least bit tired.”
“It’s not far,” Endymion told Bellona. “I got the coordinates and a map of the Ravines from the scientists’ database. It can’t be more than a kilometre away.”
The prospect of a mini adventure did not appeal to Bellona at all, but the thought of being left behind at the camp with no one but Miss Clymene for company was possibly worse, particularly now she could hear her teacher’s gentle snores drifting through the open door of the dome. Bellona reluctantly stood up and came to her brother’s side.
Endymion picked up his radiation cloak and grinned. “Follow me!”
Following the map on his wristpad, he led them away from the camp and towards the edge of the jungle surrounding the research station. Philyra fell in step behind him, leaving Bellona to bring up the rear. Although the sun remained high, once they slipped beneath the cool leafy canopy it became too dark to see more than a few steps ahead and Endymion soon had to rely on the tiny display on his wristpad for directions. The black and purple foliage grew more dense and chaotic the further they walked and before long they had to force their way through the twisted undergrowth to make progress.
Faint slithering sounds and the distant
screeches of unseen creatures kept their nerves jangling. Bellona screamed as a huge black insect, at least a metre long and looking like a cross between a centipede and a scorpion, suddenly shot across her path just centimetres from her foot. She had already decided that Philyra was acting far too serenely for someone scared stiff of the Terran spiders that had taken up residence in Newbrum’s dome. Endymion himself appeared oblivious to everything apart from the image on his wristpad.
“This is stupid,” mumbled Bellona.
For what seemed the millionth time, she untangled her hair from a spiny purple stem she was sure had been chasing her through the overhanging foliage. Her companions did not appear to be having any problems negotiating the undergrowth and she was convinced the jungle was singling her out for attention. It did not help that she only had one free hand, for the other clung to her radiation cloak as if her life depended upon it. Philyra wore hers with an air of casual confidence that made the baggy lead-lined cape look like the height of fashion.
Ahead, Endymion had stopped. “This is it,” he whispered. “Look!”
They had reached the edge of another clearing. Philyra and Bellona peered over his shoulder to where he pointed, expecting to see a small crater with a smouldering meteor at its centre. What they actually saw was nothing of the sort.
“It’s a spaceship,” murmured Bellona, surprised. “What’s it doing here?”
Endymion stepped out of the jungle and slowly approached the spacecraft. It was a lunar-class exploration vessel, consisting of a large spherical hull standing upon four landing struts with a single booster engine at its base. The lower half of the hull was an open frame that held a cylindrical-shaped object on one side of the engine and a heavy-duty winch on the other. One of the slanting struts had a ladder attached, above which an open hatch in the side of the hull offered a tantalising glimpse of the spacecraft’s interior.
“The Nellie Chapman,” remarked Philyra, reading the legend on the side of the hull.
“It’s an asteroid mining ship,” Endymion told her. “You can see the Astromole drilling machine in the cradle underneath.”
Hollow Moon Page 5