The Planet Dweller

by Palmer, Jane;

  Reniola scratched her muzzle in frustration. It would be a simple matter for her to realign the equipment, but she needed Dax’s help to get at it without altering the structure of the planet. Unfortunately, she was many miles above pursuing some green creatures who were pursuing a very puzzled Yuri.

  ***

  ‘Well, well, well. What is it?’ asked Jannu in a way a spider might introduce itself to a fly. He bent forward to take a closer look at Yuri. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before.’

  ‘It’s not Torran is it?’ pondered Tolt.

  ‘No, I don’t think its blood’s yellow.’

  ‘By the look of it, it might be congealed. Poke the thing and see if it moves.’

  Jannu stabbed at Yuri’s body with his foot. Something in the action told Yuri that these creatures were not reasonable people. He shrank back in a mixture of annoyance and terror, taking care that his hand closed round the largest pebble it could find.

  Tolt sighed. ‘Well, it obviously doesn’t understand what we’re saying.’

  ‘Shall I kill it then?’ asked Jannu.

  ‘Might as well. It can’t be any use to us.’

  ‘I suppose not.’ Jannu took out his weapon. The ground beneath them shuddered ominously. ‘On the other hand ... perhaps we should leave it alone. After all, we don’t want her to get too upset while we’re here. We can let Kulp kill it. He’s more efficient at that sort of thing than we are.’

  ‘Oh, he’s bound to be,’ Jannu said. ‘I wouldn’t have the nerve to go and upset the planet dweller like that, would you?’

  ‘Goodness no. If it’s a friend of hers, who are we to interfere?’

  ‘What are you two gabbling about?’ Kulp called.

  ‘We found the new arrival,’ Tolt sang out.

  ‘Well, stop messing about and kill it. We’ve got work to do,’ Kulp ordered.

  ‘Well, you’re so much better at that sort of thing, we thought you might like to do it.’

  Kulp joined them. ‘Why start getting squeamish now? You’ve done enough killing in the past. Anyway, what is it?’

  ‘I don’t know. It won’t answer.’

  ‘Well, it can’t be any use then.’ Kulp pulled out his blaster.

  ‘That’s just what I said.’

  Kulp sneered. ‘What a coincidence.’

  Tolt didn’t like their ringleader’s tone. ‘Coincidence?’

  ‘Yes, because that’s just what I happen to think of you two as well. Stand over there with it so I don’t waste any power when I kill all three of you.’

  Tolt and Jannu exchanged looks that said they should have known better and reluctantly lined up behind Yuri.

  ‘I had planned a special treat for you, but this opportunity can’t be missed so I’m afraid you’ll never know what it was.’

  ‘Shame.’ Tolt knew quite well that Kulp meant what he said. ‘I don’t suppose there would be any point in asking what brought about this rather drastic change of plan?’

  ‘Oh... this and that. Small things like you offering to sell me out to the Mott.’

  ‘Nothing more than that?’ Jannu knew it would have been pointless to deny the charge. Kulp had probably added the memo to kill them both to his blueprints of the net. ‘I hope the Mott won’t take it too much to heart - or whatever they use in the place of one.’

  Kulp laughed. ‘What possible use are you to the Mott, apart from blaster practice when they run out of living targets? Don’t worry. I’ll deal with the commander and his whole species if necessary.’

  Jannu and Tolt were able to take comfort in the probability that Kulp’s arrogance had at long last driven him past the point of his normal self-importance. It was inevitable that the Mott would have decided views on who was the more superior.

  ‘I hope you’re going to kill our newly discovered specimen first,’ said Tolt, ‘just for friendship’s sake.’

  ‘Why not? What is a friend if you can’t do him a favour?’

  ‘Dead either way,’ murmured Jannu, his brain racing to think of something to distract Kulp.

  But Kulp hadn’t taken into consideration Yuri. As he raised his blaster to dispatch him where he sat, a large pebble hurled with more than David-like aggression struck the base of his visor and sent him reeling backwards. It hadn’t been the atmosphere Kulp had wanted protection from, so he hadn’t locked the catch that held his helmet to the suit. It flew open and the helmet sprang from his head.

  To Yuri’s amazement and Tolt and Jannu’s delight, the loathsome green creature turned into a loathsome bright pink creature. Before the enraged colourful monster could rediscover its quarry, the three of them spread out: Yuri was rooted to the spot in appalled fascination instead of dashing for his life as soon as a clear run presented itself while Jannu and Tolt jeered at the humiliated and uncoordinated Kulp.

  Kulp wasn’t so confused as they thought. He raised his weapon and with remarkable accuracy shot the catches from their helmets. They sprang from their heads. It was then that Jannu and Tolt realised the surprise Kulp had been about to spare them.

  They looked at each other. The two Olmuke had turned not only pink, but blue, magenta, yellow and orange as well. In fact there were few colours the stripes on their faces didn’t display.

  This was the last straw for Yuri. He turned on his heels and fled, whether they were in a position to fire at him or not. Although he could hear the whirring volley of shots behind him, the astronomer didn’t look back until he came to higher ground where he could take cover. His knees were no longer reliable after the experience, and he had to stop to catch his breath.

  As Yuri turned to look at the melee on the beach below, yet another intruder appeared. Though elegant compared to the others, it was just as weird. The unclothed parts of its body displayed a profusion of fur that would have made a Persian cat envious, and this included the long swishing tail. The muzzle would have given the creature a benign doggy sort of look if the eyes had not gleamed bright crimson like blazing coals.

  The three individuals with the complexion trouble still screamed strange noises at each other until the pink one turned and saw the newcomer. Yuri could tell by his actions that it was not a sociable meeting and his common sense told him to run.

  ‘Dax!’ screeched Kulp in rage so violent it was a wonder he didn’t glow red. Without waiting to introduce the arrival to Jannu or Tolt, he fired his blaster. To his bewilderment and frustration, the weapon had no effect on her. With the speed of the true fanatic, Kulp hurled his weapon at Dax and snatched Tolt’s.

  ‘Idiot!’ shouted Jannu. ‘Now run!’

  Tolt needed no further bidding. The multi-striped engineers fled with the speed of two desperate hares. Kulp took no notice. He was filled with smouldering rage as he confronted the only creature to have not only outwitted, but humiliated him as well. He could see his life’s ambition to destroy the Torran so near fulfilment, even his own self preservation was a secondary matter.

  His cruel lips curled sadistically as he raised the weapon to again take aim at the fuzzy foe that looked down at him with an air of quizzical benevolence.

  ‘Having problems with your complexion, Kulp?’ inquired Dax. ‘You should keep out of the sun.’

  Unable to stand her searing his glowing pink ears with another word, Kulp pressed the trigger without stopping to wonder why he could understand the Torran without the benefit of a translator. He was more confused by the fact that Tolt’s weapon seemed to be useless as well and the darts of venom filtered away into the atmosphere before they could reach their target.

  ‘Now what have I done to upset you like that?’ Dax asked sweetly. ‘Anyone would think you were annoyed at something.’

  Kulp was beyond words, and lunged towards her with some vague idea of wrapping his twelve fingers around her slender neck. She was too quick for him. With a side step that her attacker would have needed three to equal, she was standing on a gnarled tree trunk and still looking down at him with innocent concern.

&
nbsp; ‘You shouldn’t let things upset you like this,’ Dax told him. ‘After all, wouldn’t the galaxy be a better place if we could all be friends?’

  ‘Friends with a Torran!’ roared Kulp as he realised that it was useless to try and kill her by any conventional means. ‘I’d sooner befriend a Mott!’

  ‘Oh, that would be taking things too far. I was only talking about the more reasonable species.’

  ‘The Mott happen to rule this galaxy whether we like it or not,’ Kulp snapped back as a more devious way of trapping her materialised in his one-track mind. ‘So what are you doing here, my furry friend?’

  ‘Me? I just heard that someone was going to drive the rightful owner out of its planet... and you know how us Torrans like to interfere when we have the chance.’

  ‘So, that creature we found belongs to you? What was it? Some little distraction for us, perhaps?’

  ‘Not especially.’ Dax was annoyed that her suddenly acquired wealth of mortal knowledge couldn’t tell her either.

  ‘You would be upset if any harm came to it, wouldn’t you? You Torrans are soft like that.’

  ‘It seemed from where I was standing, it had the power to look after itself, so attempting to kill it might not concern me as much as you hope.’

  ‘Well, let’s put it to the test, shall we?’ Kulp suggested. ‘As you obviously aren’t going to kill me, things would get a bit dull if there wasn’t a victim of some sort.’ He sprang off in the direction Yuri had taken.

  Dax wasn’t sure what to make of that. She wouldn’t kill Kulp, and Kulp couldn’t kill her, so he was going to kill the intruder who neither of them knew anything about. The logic of incensed hatred was foreign to her. The fact that he seemed to mean what he said made her decide to lope after him.

  Unluckily for Yuri, his age had overtaken the surge of adrenaline his fright had given him, and he was reduced to staggering through the tangled vegetation. As nothing moved under or about him, he was at least thankful that Moosevan’s passion had gone off the boil. Yuri’s common sense said that affection for such an unlikely creature as a planet was not normal, even for him. His senses told him that her perfumed thoughts and sensual misty fingers were something he could never experience in his own world. The more he thought about it and realised she had lost interest in him, the more he began to regret it. Eva would have been unable to show the minutest fraction of such affection, even if she thought him anything else but an encumbrance.

  Yuri’s progress became slower and slower until he had to stop and rest by a flower-coated boulder. He was so consumed in his own thoughts that he didn’t feel it move obligingly forward to shape itself to his spine.

  Yuri looked about him at the bewildering array of flowers, fruit, trees, and rocks. It was as if Moosevan not only designed the flora, she also rearranged it to fit whatever her strange tastes desired. If she wanted a mountain moved from one side of her world, he had no doubt she could do that as well, or even channel a whole sea across her surface. With that going on, it was hardly surprising mobile life forms decided not to evolve here.

  Slowly his contemplation turned to a longing for just one small sign that she had forgiven him for running off. As though his wishes were about to be answered, Yuri heard a rustling in the branches a short distance away.

  He looked up to see the humourless pink expression of a fanatical Kulp.

  CHAPTER 11

  ‘Use the boosters, use the boosters!’ shouted Tolt.

  Jannu retorted with equal desperation, ‘Not yet, not yet! We’ll be blown to bits if the beacons aren’t aligned.’

  ‘I’m sure Kulp meant the boosters to be operated now. The robots can’t hold the beacons in position without them.’

  ‘Are you sure you two do know how to operate this net?’ snarled the Mott. ‘You’d better not make any mistakes.’

  ‘We know, we know,’ Jannu tried to reassure him while he endeavoured to recall the sequence in which the beacons had to be armed. ‘We’ll have to, because Kulp isn’t likely to find his way back now.’

  ‘I’m beginning to think this isn’t such a good idea after all,’ the Mott decided with enough malevolence to convince the two engineers that, if they wanted to stay alive, they would have to succeed in activating the space-distort net without any marked mishap.

  ‘Wasn’t there something we have to do to compensate for the collapsar?’ Tolt whispered frantically to Jannu.

  ‘The net has already compensated for it,’ was the unhelpful reply.

  ‘No,’ hissed Tolt, ‘I mean now, while we’re still arming it?’

  ‘Can’t think of anything,’ Jannu desperately tried to remember. ‘If we don’t get a move on, Kulp is bound to think of some dirty trick to escape from the planet.’

  ‘Shall I start the countdown sequence now then? If we do think of anything, we can always compensate for it afterwards.’

  ‘At least this way we stand a chance of staying alive. Align the beacons.’

  ‘All right,’ said Tolt and began to order his remaining long-suffering robots to take their beacons to their firing positions.

  Jannu watched the robots leave the chute to glide across the sky to their certain destruction. ‘Ex 8 89 isn’t responding.’

  ‘Hang Ex 8 89. What difference is one unarmed terminal going to make?’

  ‘I have a feeling we should know that.’ Jannu didn’t like to admit that he was unable to understand all of Kulp’s specifications. ‘There isn’t time to check without breaking the sequence.’

  As Tolt and Jannu bumbled about in nervous confusion, the Mott commander’s four feet again became very agitated and seemed to do a little jig on the spot to stop him from galloping about the control room in rage. He was well aware of the procedure the Mott had for court-martials. The main thing that made them different from any other species’ was that the defendant was executed before the trial began. To their way of thinking this was more efficient, because they could always be found guilty on the grounds they had failed to give evidence in their defence. He knew. He had judged too many to suspect otherwise. It wasn’t until now, when his life was on the line, that he fancied there could have been some error in the way they were conducted. He cursed to think he had allowed himself to be cornered into this situation by two soft-centred, addle-brained, treacherous green things who also appeared to have the disconcerting habit of acquiring multi-coloured stripes. Fortunately the stripes had disappeared rapidly before his one eye’s limited discrimination became permanently offended. The only thing that prevented the Mott from airing his displeasure was the fact that his life was totally dependent on their muddled efforts to control something beyond their scope and very much further beyond his.

  ***

  Having reached the spot where she had left Dax to pursue the three Olmuke who were pursuing the strange intruder, Reniola stood still, trying to sense Dax’s presence through the growing mist the planet dweller had rolled across the landscape. Moosevan was probably trying to confuse her sense of direction. It was pointless because all super intelligences had their own inbuilt compass, even if not an accurate grasp of mortal behaviour.

  Reniola made her way down to the pebble beach where it was evident that Dax had met the others. The scattered pebbles and discarded weapons told her that her companion had caught up with them, and the combatants had run off in different directions. Briefly stopping to wonder how Dax had managed to chase all of them at once without reverting to her natural form, and probably in consequence forgotten what she was pursuing them for, Reniola located her trail and plodded on.

  The mist began to lift and she sensed that Moosevan was being remarkably quiet for some reason. There was an element of the ominous about her mood, as though she was waiting for the opportunity to pounce on something. Reniola just hoped that it wasn’t going to be her and Dax. After all, they were trying to help the obstructive, temperamental creature. If it weren’t for Torran enterprise and evolution they wouldn’t be there at all and the malfunctioning
accretion equipment would have sealed her fate. What was causing the accretion beam to stall was beyond even Reniola, since the technology their ancient engineers had perfected was unlikely to be anything but perfect.

  ***

  A surge of terror rose from the pit of Yuri’s stomach. It was bad enough to see one of those creatures green and behind a visor. To see it pink and without one set up the sort of contradiction only a maleficent surrealist could paint.

  A row of powerful fingers reached out towards him. The astronomer was so paralysed with fright he could only wince as they sank into his flesh and pulled him away from the boulder. Not daring to wonder why he hadn’t been killed outright, Yuri let his captor lead him to the cover of some undergrowth. He was pushed to the ground and held there by the strength of an educated gorilla.

  Although the language and movements of his captor were totally foreign to him, Yuri could tell by its premeditated manner that he was going to die anyway and he should be thankful he had been allowed to live that long. The creature carried no weapon but its six fingered hands could have either throttled him or ripped him apart in seconds, depending on how gracious a mood it might have been in.

  A rustling from the bushes heralded the arrival of the other oddity pursuing him. By this time Yuri had realised whose side he would prefer to be on if he had been given the choice. He managed to summon enough strength to let out a strangled shout of warning before Kulp smothered him more effectively with his free hand and dragged him into the clearing to use as a shield.