The Blue People of Cloud Planet

by Brian Wolfenden

  ‘Shit!’ cried Olivia as she stumbled headlong down the shallow ravine, falling face first into the muddy undergrowth and disturbing creatures she didn’t want to think about. Her face was splattered with mud while blood seeped from a cut on her forehead.

  ‘Shit! Shit! Shit! – What the hell am I doing in this stinking forest? – I’m a top astronaut!’ Olivia vented her fury as a second body slid down the same slope.

  Scott Parker landed heavily beside her.

  ‘We’re being tested, Livia. This mission, whatever it is, needs the right people or combination of peoples. You’re the fourth partner I’ve struggled through these forests with and you were with Andy two days ago.’

  ‘Tested! I don’t do bloody tested! I’ll train for any job they want and do it!’ she replied, ‘And let’s get one thing straight. It’s Olivia, not Livia, OK!’

  Scott raised an eyebrow. This was going to be an interesting couple of days.

  ‘I had planned a two week training course in one of the few remaining forested areas of the Borneo jungle. The candidates were dropped in the middle of nowhere with their first partner and given only a crude map, minimal instructions and a compass with a swinging needle – the sort that became obsolete in the middle 21st century. Each was equipped with a rucksack and the basics for a two day trek, including one overnight stop. Then, when they reached the trainer’s tent [and not everyone did] and after a night’s rest they were reassigned a different partner, given new instructions and off into the jungle again to repeat the whole process.

  ‘Olivia was the dominant partner on the first two treks which were successful because of her resourcefulness and determination. However, Andy was known to be single-minded and this pairing became a clash of personalities. They arrived late at their destination.

  ‘All four of Scott’s pairings successfully completed the missions proving his outstanding leadership qualities. There was an obvious chemistry in his partnership with Olivia. I know because she was delighted when she found out that he was in the same pool of top astronauts selected by me for a major confidential mission.

  ‘However, the trainees were unaware that I was monitoring and recording their every move and utterance.’

  ‘And another thing about that idiot, Andy! Not only did I have to ward off his groping when we camped but he wouldn’t listen to me when I knew we should take a left fork. We took a right and got lost – it took us ages to retrace our steps!’

  ‘That’s not like you. You should have been firmer, Olivia.’

  That was typical of Scott, Olivia thought, always rational in all situations. That’s what she liked about him.

  ‘Olivia Medici, 34, and Scott Parker, 38, are both honours graduates in astro-physics who doctored at the McFarland Research Centre on the Moon, which is where they first met. Scott was attracted to Olivia but found her somewhat aloof and difficult to know. Both are fully qualified astronauts with licences to pilot all Roving Orbital Landers [ROL’s], shuttles and long-distance rockets. They have clocked up many thousands of pilot hours between the Moon base and Earth and more recently between the Moon and the new Mars station which was in its final stages of completion.

  ‘Olivia is of British and Italian extraction. She is tall, slim with jet black hair and strikingly good looking. She has a reputation for being serious and very critical if her high standards are not met. She has two younger brothers and a sister 20 years her junior who is studying geology and glaciology.

  ‘Scott is American with a passionate love of space travel and adventure that runs back through the generations to Jack Parker in the early 21st century. More recently, Scott’s father, Chuck, was deemed ‘lost in space’ after the solar flare of 2125. Scott is tall, well-built and handsome in a craggy way. He is the epitome of logic, coolness and rationale and gets on well with all acquaintances. ‘A born leader’ is recorded in his profile.’

  ‘We need to get off our arses and back on track’, said Olivia. ‘We’ve a way to go before camping at this river.’ She pointed to a blue line on the rather crude map they were following, ‘Which we’ll intercept in about four hours on this northerly heading.’

  ‘And then what?’ Scott queried.

  ‘Candlelit dinner for two washed down by your favourite red wine.’

  ‘I wish. Lead on,’ he replied.

  They reached the river after five hours of trekking in the oppressive heat and with the light beginning to fail they set up the two person tent. The candlelit dinner was beans heated on a gas burner and washed down with tea, with chocolate for dessert.

  They finally settled in their sleeping bags and Scott fell asleep almost immediately.

  ‘How does he do it?’ Olivia thought, disturbed by every sound and movement outside. She finally drifted into a fitful sleep....... the dark cavern entrance was so tempting and Olivia could not resist entering to explore it. But the light dropped quickly and, turning, she ran, not out of the cave but further into the murky depths. It was so black she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face and then she bumped into the wet, fetid wall and screamed!

  ‘Olivia! Wake up. What’s wrong?’ cried Scott. He could not believe that Olivia was whimpering in her sleep.

  ‘Oh no! No! I’m trapped.’

  ‘Olivia, wake up!’ Scott gently shook her shoulder.

  She woke with a start. Perspiration had beaded on her forehead and her heart hammered wildly. With horror she realised that, after all these years, the nightmare had returned to haunt her; only this time in company.

  ‘It’s OK’, she stammered, ‘only a bad dream.’

  ‘It sounded more than that – do you want to talk about it?’

  ‘No, I’ll be fine’.

  Olivia was determined not to let Scott realise how agitated she was. However she was grateful when he gently put his hands on her shoulders and spooned her back into his front. Tentatively, he slid one arm around her waist and was delighted when she lifted his hand and cupped it firmly to one of her breasts. They both quickly fell asleep.

  They woke the following morning and got on with their daily routine.

  ‘So what’s next?’ Olivia queried. ‘I seem to remember we follow the river downstream for a few kilometres.’

  ‘Yes, right, but we have to traverse the river first.’

  ‘What!’ cried Olivia, ‘Are you crazy? Look there’s a reasonable path this side, that bank over there looks horrendous. Show me where it says we have to cross?’

  ‘It’s not in the instructions but I know we have to get to the other side of the river. Olivia, you have to trust me.’

  She looked into Scott’s blue eyes. There was a depth and quality that reassured her and also an underlying sadness. Yes, she could trust this man unlike her disastrous partnership with Andy.

  ‘OK buster! – But you’d better be damned right ‘cause we’re going to get awfully wet crossing that!’

  They didn’t just get wet but absolutely soaked. The journey down the riverbank for the next half mile was treacherous. Then, they were on a reasonable path and Scott was quick to point out that on the other side of the river the gorge came down to the very edge – there would have been no easy route there. After a further three kilometres they came to a clearing and there was the trainer sitting under his awning.

  ‘You’re the first team to get here,’ he said, ‘well done.’

  ‘So where now?’ enquired Olivia, stifling a yawn. ‘Which lucky guy has got me next?’

  ‘Ma-am, 100 metres up the road there’s hot showers, fresh clothes and a three course lunch in a five star hotel for you,’ he answered with a wry grin, ‘and then you’re both on a shuttle to Moon Base leaving at 3 pm sharp – don’t miss it!’

  ‘Yes sir,’ they replied in harmony. Things were looking up.

  Chapter 4

  The Moon – 2 Weeks later

  ‘Welcome to the Moon and to my home where I hold a very privileged position. Of all the occupants, I have the single largest residence at the base
with the most sophisticated air conditioning system. A large number of my family members reside here with me and many more are constantly travelling through space.

  ‘You are now going to meet one of my family who is about to put our two astronauts through their paces in the Sea of Tranquillity.’

  ‘Emergency! Emergency!’ Zec-1’s voice boomed in Olivia’s ears, ‘Return immediately to ROL-1,’ the strange sound continued.

  ‘Zec-1 is the latest in artificially intelligent computers which is installed in the advanced Roving Orbital Lander – ROL-1. I am Zec which is short for ZENIC – Zeeman Enhanced Nanotechnology Induction Computer. I control every member of my family, and there are millions of them, through the Safe Solar Protocol, SSP as it is known, which is the replacement for the Internet used during the 21st and 22nd century.’

  Simultaneously the heads up display in the helmet of Olivia’s spacesuit flashed the same digital warning in red light before her eyes.

  ‘Command received and understood.’ She replied and the voice recognition algorithm in Zec-1’s vast database confirmed the identity of the astronaut. Twenty metres away, Scott had received the identical instruction and had similarly replied and been authenticated by Zec-1.

  With both astronauts initially identified, Zec-1 now started lowering the air lock bay door located on the underneath of the lander and with it the revolutionary through air lock command seats.

  Olivia and Scott turned carefully and proceeded in controlled short hops towards the lander thirty metres away. In this low gravity sudden movements could end in disaster and even in emergencies, calm, precise actions were drilled into the astronauts during training.

  As Olivia hopped towards the craft, she couldn’t help thinking that BUG-1 might have been a more appropriate name as it stood on four huge bent ‘legs’ in front of her.

  ‘This lander is the most sophisticated craft that I have designed and is multi - versatile for take-off, landing and roving in the most inhospitable of terrains – whether solid or liquid and has the ability to climb up or down ledges of two metres. The cylindrical design is 4 meters in diameter and 20 meters in length and it stands 3 meters above ground when its legs are fully extended.

  ‘The most technically advanced feature is the clear hemispherical dome at the front which carries the command module. It is moulded from enhanced cyano – acrylic copolymers and contains multiple layers of programmable liquid crystal displays. I, or in this case Zec-1, can command this half metre thick dome to display any activity or situation both inside and outside the lander. The dome, depending on the level of the emergency, can be blackened from its outermost layers inwards ultimately giving protection from the severest of radiation.

  ‘Also, there is no more scrambling up a ladder into the air lock – the astronaut’s command seats are capable of being cycled from the dome through the airlock to a position between the huge caterpillar tracks on the front legs just above the Moon’s surface.’

  Olivia and Scott arrived at the twin command seats virtually together and sat in their own ergonomically designed positions. They then put their left hand palm downwards on the side arm, where, through a circular clear panel in the hand glove of the spacesuit, the palm print was read by Zec-1 again confirming the identity of the astronauts. Lap belts automatically encircled their waists and their helmets were also clamped.

  ‘Command enter ROV-1,’ they said in unison and, satisfied that both astronauts were secondarily identified and confirmed, the telescopic gantry holding the command seats started to rise up into the air lock. As this was an emergency entry, the speed was at maximum capability and the lower door closed behind them and sealed the craft against the hostile outer environment. Once Zec-1 had confirmed that the silicone seals were inflated to optimum pressure, the air lock was quickly pressurised to internal lander conditions and the forward internal door was opened. The seats with their two occupants were moved forward into the command dome and latched. The telescopic gantry detached itself and retracted back into the air lock and the forward door was closed and sealed, thus establishing optimum integrity inside the craft.

  Concurrently, Zec-1 had already started the four take-off rocket boosters on the underside of the lander.

  Olivia and Scott, still fully suited, again placed their left palms on the registration monitor on the control panel in front of them.

  ‘Command emergency lift – off!’ they instructed and Zec-1 took the four boosters from idle to controlled power. This lifted the huge lander quickly into the vacuum above the Moon’s surface and pressed Olivia and Scott into their seats with significant g-force. When the lander was one kilometre above the surface the emergency was declared over by Zec-1 who reported that the evacuation had taken one minute fifty five point three two seconds beating the previous best practice by 1.28 seconds.

  ‘Why we have to know to the second decimal place I will never understand,’ joked Olivia.

  ‘Precision is the difference between success and failure,’ replied Zec-1.

  Olivia could only smile at the computer’s apt but very correct response.

  Now the heads-up display informed her that she could release the helmet from the spacesuit. ‘Command raise helmet,’ she instructed and it was slowly raised and parked behind her seat head rest. At the same time the pressurised air pack and hand controlled thrusters located across the front of the spacesuit were released and a side clamp swivelled these away from the astronaut and retracted them into a utilities compartment where they would be checked and refilled appropriately for the next use. They could now relax and not for the first time they admired the marvellous spectacle of the Moon’s surface through the clear dome.

  ‘Command return to Moon Base!’ called both astronauts again with their left hands on the panel.

  ‘Confirm return to Moon Base,’ Zec-1 replied.

  ‘This is one of many training exercises that I have arranged during the last two weeks with ROL-1 including a two day ‘trip’ to Earth. Here they practised gravity landings and take-offs from a variety of terrains including water and ice. In the weightlessness of space they rehearsed space walks around the lander. Normally only one astronaut is outside the lander as dictated by the safety protocol. However, this rule can be broken in an emergency. To facilitate single walks, the telescopic gantry is commanded to engage either right or left control seats singly and this is a valuable feature for taking passengers on and off the lander.’

  Then, when Olivia was spacewalking and gawking through the dome of the lander at Scott in the command seat, her most feared exercise suddenly took place.

  ‘Red emergency! Red emergency!’ commanded Zec-1, ‘return to lander immediately.’

  This was the highest level of threat to the astronauts and their lander and Zec-1 immediately commanded Olivia’s helmet and the lander’s dome to maximum black condition. Olivia shuddered as her world suddenly switched off and would have panicked but for the displays in front of her eyes which gave her a picture of the outside and her relative position to the lander. Almost immediately Zec-1 started issuing instructions to guide her to the outside command seat below the lander and the tether attached to Olivia was slowly reeled in.

  Meanwhile inside, Scott’s lap belt suddenly clamped in place and he was momentarily shocked as Olivia suddenly disappeared behind the dome of black in front of him. He was then reassured as the internal display quickly showed multiple views of Olivia outside progressing towards the safety of the external command seat. All through this, Zec-1’s calm instructions echoed inside the command dome and her replies followed as each order was complied with.

  When she reached the air lock and Zec-1 had confirmed the outer door closed and sealed, the lander went into final red emergency mode and a force field was generated around it. ROL-1 then retreated from the crisis situation at full power.

  10 kilometres away, Zec-1 commanded an end to code red and the dome and Olivia’s helmet cleared.

  Scott peered in – Olivia’s face was
white!

  ‘4 minutes 29.06 seconds for red emergency in spacewalk conditions,’ Zec-1 informed, ‘well done Olivia.’

  But Olivia was not listening.

  Olivia thought of that particular exercise as they were returning to Moon Base on the following morning. A shiver ran through her body as she remembered the return of the nightmare that previous night in her quarters. She feared that another uncontrolled outburst might jeopardise this training and her aspirations for space travel in the future.

  ‘Command, prepare to dock!’ Zec-1 announced.

  They moved forward to their seats and placed their left hands on the control panel.