by Carl Conrad
“A lot, John,” Scott answered. “But, I don’t think we even know all that went on. We were in different places... and I couldn’t see Marty for a while and he couldn’t see me. I think we even encountered different creatures.”
“Yes,” Marty added. “The creatures that were attacking the creatures in the pool didn’t have any tentacles. And – you won’t believe this, Scott, but – those creatures we saw earlier that flew like stingrays in the ocean... also have legs or feet or something with these talons on them that grabbed big chunks out of the creatures in the pool!”
“What?” Stimson asked. He could barely restrain himself. “You mean those flying creatures – the stingrays – were ATTACKING the creatures in the pool?”
Even Scott was stunned. But there was no time to tell any more of the story because suddenly the sky started to fill with flying creatures. Because they were flying at a low altitude and so close to the astronauts, it was easy to see that there were at least 15 or 20 of them – even of different shapes and colors – that circled the astronauts and the pool of liquid like vultures. Were they going to attack? both Scott and Marty wondered.
Chapter 16 – We’ve Got To Get Back To The Ship!
Suddenly more creatures appeared in the pool, and the size of the pool began to expand. There could have been as many as 15 or 20 shapes in the pool by now. And, circling overhead, was a growing number of flying creatures.
“We’ve got to get out of here, Scott!” Marty quickly observed. “Yes, let’s go!” Scott agreed, and the astronauts began to quickly move toward the opening in the rim of the crater where their ship was. As much as the astronauts hurried, though, they were too slow to avoid the obstructions that suddenly appeared in their way.
“No! Stop, Marty,” Scott quickly admonished as he saw the ground start to crack and splinter in front of them. “It’s going to open, Marty! Quick! Get off to the side!”
Still dragging the tools and sample case behind him, Marty veered off to the right and out of the way of a ground fault as it ripped through the area where the astronauts were standing. Then the seam that was created in the crust filled with the same dark, sludgy liquid that was in the other pool. As it expanded, more creatures appeared from under the surface.
“Get back farther, Marty!” Scott instructed him. “See if we can get to that little knoll. That should be out of the way.”
As the astronauts hurried another twenty to twenty-five feet away from the area where so much was happening, they could see the battle in greater perspective. “Stimson!” Scott called out. “Stimson, I think it’s a battle of some kind taking place!”
Stimson was just astonished! “You mean the creatures are fighting each other?” he asked.
“Yes! And I hope we’re safe where we are!” Scott continued.
“Can you get back to the ship?” Stimson asked.
“Negative,” Scott admitted without optimism. “There’s a second pool that opened up right in front of our exit point. But, even if the pool wasn’t there, I think we’d have to go right through the battle area, and we wouldn’t have much of a chance of getting through.”
From overhead, the sky was filling with scores of flying creatures. Some darted at the creatures in the pools with surprising speed while others landed on the creatures and tore at them with their tentacles. And, bubbling up from the depths of the pool were shapes that stretched and moved in unusual ways both to avoid the attacks from the flying creatures and to quickly smother them in the dark liquid of the pool if they missed their target.
Scott instinctively looked around to see what other options they might have. “Marty, what do you think about that gap a little east of us?” Scott asked as he pointed to a gap in the rim wall of the crater about 30 yards from them.
Marty turned to look more closely at what Scott had pointed to but was knocked to his knees by a speeding stingray that ran right into him. “Ooooof!” was the sound Marty made as the creature slammed into him. But it looked as if the creature was hurt even worse than Marty. There was no movement from it as it laid on the ground.
Scott checked to make sure that Marty just had the wind knocked out of him, then helped him to his feet. They both looked at the motionless creature at their feet.
“Is it dead?” Marty asked.
“What?” Stimson could hardly believe what he had heard. “You mean you have one of them?”
“Roger, John. One flew right into Marty’s back. Hit him pretty hard. Marty’s ok, but the thing isn’t moving.” Scott used his extractor rod to cautiously poke at the creature. “No. It seems to be dead.”
“Can you put it in the collection case?” Stimson asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s see,” Scott said as he opened the small suitcase-sized case. “Maybe if we take out some of the stuff that’s in here.” He began emptying the case.
“Scott, we’ve got to get out of here,” Marty said as he looked again at the battle taking place only 40 or 50 yards from them. Flying creatures were diving at shapeless creatures in the pools while the liquid sprayed from splashes and assaults in great numbers. It was an intense battle that left casualties on both sides but the astronauts definitely needed to get out of the area while the creatures were distracted.
Scott tried to pick the creature up that was next to them, but it was too slippery and heavy for him to do it by himself. “Help me, Marty,” he said. “Maybe together we can get it in the case.”
The creature filled the entire collection case, but they were able to close the top and secure the clasp. Then, with the collection case mounted on top of the tool box, in which they had put the other samples, the astronauts began to make their way toward the opening they saw in the crater wall.
“We’re moving, Stimson,” Scott advised him. “It’s a lot like walking through the desert with these suits on and the heat and heavy atmosphere. But, we’re getting out of the battle zone. Looks like we might be able to get into the crater.”
“How do you feel, Marty?” Stimson asked.
“Ok, I guess,” he replied. “Tired,” he said as his breathing had increased noticeably. He was pulling the wheeled tool case and collection kit behind him which must have weighed another 25 or 30 pounds. The wheels turned slowly, but they rarely got stuck in the sand.
“There it is, Scott,” Marty remarked as he saw the opening they were walking toward.
“It looks a little narrow,” Scott surmised. “Do you think we can make it through?”
“We’ll make it if we have to bulldoze our way through,” Marty said with determination. “I’m too tired to find another route.”
“Roger, that,” Scott agreed. “Ok, let me get up ahead a little and see what it looks like.”
Scott moved a little faster without the load Marty was dragging. As he approached the small opening in the crater wall, he could see that it probably wasn’t wide enough for them to fit through. However, the wall was only about 5 or 6 feet tall around it.
“I don’t know if we can get through the opening,” Scott concluded. It’s only two or maybe three feet wide.”
“Can you turn sideways?” Stimson asked.
“It’s possible,” Scott replied. But we aren’t much narrower either way in these suits, John.”
“Can you see another opening, or even get over the wall?” Stimson asked.
“I don’t see any other openings close enough to us. And, I’m sure we can’t get over the wall. This isn’t an obstacle course, it’s Venus, remember?”
“What’s that?” Stimson asked as he turned away from his microphone to talk to some of the other scientists in the room. A moment later, he passed along the message. “Scott, some of the geologists in the group think the rim of the crater may not be rock. They think it might just be a hard crust of some kind.”
Marty perked up when he heard that. “Of course it could be,” he realized. “I’ve wanted to get some samples of that stuff anyway. Let me get a closer look at it.”
He wrestled with the equipmen
t he was dragging for a moment until he got out the hand pick he knew was in with the tools. Pulling it out of the case and waving it triumphantly in the air, he stepped closer to the wall and carefully chipped a rock-sized piece out of it. Holding it in his hand, looking at it from several angles, he then crushed it in his glove like sand at the beach.
“This isn’t rock, guys,” he concluded with a flourish, “this is compressed sand!”
Marty put several samples in the plastic bags he had brought with him then, like the bulldozer he had promised to be, he slashed at the relatively thick and tall wall of sand that had only offered a small opening, and began to cut his way through it with ease.
The scientists on Earth were flabbergasted! There were many versions of “I told you so” coming from various places in the room, but also an instant curiosity to know more.
“What about those places where the boulders were?” asked one of the scientists with an opposing view. “Or those arches?” asked another. “Those are certain to be real minerals. That’s got to be rock or pyrite.”
“Yes, yes,” answered another. “There is probably a whole diversity of geology on the planet. But, this news is incredible! It certainly proves the Thompson Theory...” another added as the debates continued.
“Come on, Scott,” Marty said somewhat short on breath as he finished making a wider opening in the wall. He stepped through it and pulled the tools and sample case through behind him.
Scott shuffled up to the wall and was about to follow Marty when there was a shaking all around them. The ground split into a five or six foot gash right behind Scott then splinter cracks radiated out from it as liquid appeared where the ground had been. Then one of the dark, undulating creatures rose to the surface.
“Get out of there, Scott!” Marty yelled as he urged his partner and friend to flee through the opening he had created. Scott wasted no time doing just that. He turned away from where the creature had broken through the surface, and hurried through the opening Marty had created.
“Do you know where the ship is from here, Scott?” Marty asked. “I can’t see it through this haze.”
“I’ve got the tracking beacon on my power pack,” Scott advised him. Looking at a group of gauges and indicators on built into the wrist of his space suit, Scott correlated their position with the beam that was always emanating from the ship.
“This way,” he said, pointing slightly to their right. So they took off in that direction with Scott leading the way. Although, as they crossed through a small rock-strewn area, the ground cracked and split again. As the liquid appeared , they knew some of the creatures would be next.
“Quick! This way, Marty,” Scott indicated as he didn’t wait until the creatures appeared, he just instantly veered to his left, following a route with the least obstacles. But, as they travelled another 15 or 20 yards, the ground split again and began filling with liquid. Although, this time, two of the flying creatures visibly hovered above them.
“I see the ship, Marty,” Scott said with a certain sense of security.
“Well, let’s go for it,” Marty urged. “I’m so exhausted I can hardly move anymore.”
“Here, let me pull that tool kit,” Scott said as he reached over to take it.
“Ok... I’m having enough trouble just following you. “
Scott grabbed the tools and collection samples, but worried about circumventing the new obstacles that had presented themselves. “Watch out for those flying things, too, Marty. I don’t know if they’re going to attack, or if they’re just looking things over.”
As he said that, the two creatures swooped down and sat on either side of the opening in the crust. The creatures didn’t look menacing, but when a creature from under the ground rose in the murky liquid that formed a pool, they both jumped on it and dug at it with their talons until the creature retreated under the liquid. As the creature disappeared, the liquid began to crust over until the two flying creatures had to fly off.
Another thought came to prominence as Scott happened to look at the oxygen indicator on the wristband of his suit. “Marty, how much oxygen have you got left in your suit? I’ve only got about 46 minutes, and we’ve still got a ways to go to get to the ship.”
Marty looked at his oxygen indicator with more concern when he noticed that he had quite a bit less than that. “I’ve got 32 minutes left, Scott.”
“Thirty-two minutes!” Scott exclaimed with concern. “Come on. We’ve got to get back to the ship.”
John Stimson also heard the report, and felt a sense of urgency. “How much farther do you think the ship is, Scott?”
“I’d say only 30 or 40 yards at the most, but it’s not a straight route,” Scott estimated. We’re coming in from around behind it. And if we get anymore interference from those creatures – either ones! – it’s going to slow us down even more... This tool box and samples don’t make it any easier.”
“I know,” Stimson agreed. “But, you’ve got some incredible things in there. Keep going and don’t let anything slow you down.”
“I wish it was that easy, John,” Scott said with the sound of reservation in his voice.
But both the men had started off toward the ship again. It was uneven terrain, made more difficult by the heavy atmospheric pressure and the persistent haze of sulphuric acid clouds in the air, but they were determined to get back to the ship. They were exhausted from the strain of all that had happened to them and the astonishing experience of all these new discoveries. But there was also a brimming pride that their work here would mean changes in how Venus was perceived and even how life in the universe would now be projected.
“There it is, Marty!” Scott said triumphantly when he could make out their craft, still at a slight distance ahead, sitting on an inclined angle, but looking fully capable of lifting off from the planet.
“I see it!” Marty acknowledged. And there was a happy, relieved tone in his voice.
Stimson was also relieved to hear that they were so close to the ship. “Keep going, you guys. We’ll get you up and out of here as soon as we can. Then you can rest.”
“What I want to do is eat, Stimson,” Marty said with both a hint of jest and hunger in his voice. “I hope Grayson has got a three pound steak up there for me!”
“Well, we’ll make sure we’ve got one for you when you get back to Earth if he hasn’t, Marty,” Stimson assured him. “We might even have a nice slice of pie for you, too.”
There was an uplifting feeling in the steps of the astronauts as they shuffled their way across the surface of the planet, but they didn’t realize that the toughest part of their journey might still be ahead of them.
Only about ten or twelve meters from the ship, Scott stopped his forward movement and pointed to the ship. “Look at the ship, Marty. Do you see those things on the ladder?”
Chapter 17 – Blast Off!
“What is it, Scott?” Stimson asked.
“They’re on the ladder of the ship,” he said in a calm monotone.
“What’s on the ladder?” Stimson continued.
“Those creatures... the stingray creatures. They’re on the ladder and they’re all over the ship.”
“What do you mean?” Stimson asked more urgently.
“John, they’re all over the ship,” Scott replied, slightly irritated. “They’re like ants clustered on a piece of candy!”
“You mean, you can’t get in the ship?” Stimson asked in astonishment.
“That’s right, John. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. They’re crawling all over the ship.”
As Scott and Marty looked at the ship, there must have been 15 or 20 of the creatures moving around on the outside of the ship. Three of the creatures sat poised on the rungs of the ladder.
“What do you think, Marty?” Scott asked. “Are they dangerous or just curious?”
“I don’t know. I saw them in action when they were attacking those creatures in the pools, and I thought they were pretty vi
cious. But, seeing them like this, they look like chickens in a chicken coop.”
“Do you think we could just shoo them away?” Scott wondered out loud.
“You mean like rush them and wave our extractor rods at them?” Marty asked skeptically.
“Yeah, I guess something like that,” Scott answered.
“Well, we’d better do something pretty quick, Scott,” Marty advised him, “because I’ve only got about six minutes of oxygen left.”
The thought of getting back inside the ship took on a more urgent importance as they considered the limitations of their oxygen.
Stimson interrupted their thoughts of a mad dash at the creatures. “Wait a minute! What about banging on the tool box... or even the ship? You know what it did last time. Maybe it will scare them away.”
“Hey, it’s worth a try,” Marty agreed. He took the sample case off the tool box and set it on the soil to his side, then opened the tool box and took out his hammer. “Here goes nothing,” Marty advised them, and he took a firm swing at the metal hasp of the tool box.
Clunk! reverberated the sound of the hammer as it struck the box. It wasn’t a crisp, metal on metal sound, so he swung several more times until he finally got that higher pitched clinking sound: CLINK! CLINK!
That was all it took. As soon as the creatures heard that sound, they flew from the ship like pigeons from a courtyard! But the astronauts were in too big a hurry to analyze what had just happened.
Several of the creatures flew past Scott and Marty as they fled from the ship. Marty had to even suddenly dodge to the left to avoid one of them running into him, but his reflexes were quick enough. He looked at the oxygen indicator on his wrist.
“Three and a half minutes, Scott,” he reported. Scott knew what Marty was talking about. “Quick! Get to the ladder and get inside the ship,” he instructed. “I’ll take care of the samples and follow you.”
Marty stepped carefully around the side of the landing module, looking it over cautiously to make sure none of the creatures were still there, but saw nothing to give him concern. Even the leg of the lander that had partially sunk into the crust when they landed, seemed not to have moved anymore.