|
I felt a strange apprehension the day when the shuttle doors closed behind us and the exit bay opened. Slowly, almost imperceptible at first, the shuttle was propelled out of the ship towards the planet, controlled by small thrusters. Most of the time we floated silently. An occasional burst of retro fire slowed us to the required rate of descend. The planet soon lay below us like a vast gray and blue carpet. The ship itself could no longer be seen. A strange New World lay before us. The majestic Strauss Waltz came to mind from the old movie, 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
We landed as planned, on a high plateau at the foot of a glacier. The landing craft would not be noticed there. Also the solid rock at this site would allow us to land unnoticed, as our landing jets wouldn't whirl clouds of dust into the air.
To the right was a meadow that sloped upward to an ice covered mountain that towered thousands of feet above us. To the left, a gorge dropped off that opened into a side valley. The survey photos had shown an animal trail along the ledge, which would become our path.
We left the shuttle, pushing our bikes in single file, our luggage strapped on tight. We were like a strange company of Western tourists in an alien Himalayan setting.
The trail soon entered a virgin forest of Juniper like trees. At times we could ride the bikes, so smooth was the trail in the forest. But where were the animals?
At a crossing behind a waterfall the secret of the trail began to unravel. This wasn't an animal trail. A log extended over a gorge. Its top was flattened with primitive tool. We could see the chop marks.
The entire journey, of course, was video transmitted to the ship. Chop marks and all.
Eventually we came to a clearing with a lake that had a temple like structure on its opposite shore. The trail ended at the lake.
It took nearly two hours to get everyone ferried across in the only inflatable raft we had with us. The temple was made of marble, consisting of four pillars with a dome-like roof. Grass grew where the stones were joined. The place appeared to have been deserted. We stopped for a picnic. Some people went for a swim. The lake must have been fed by hot springs. Its water was warm and clear, with a slight smell of sulfur.
The rest of the trail passed through what looked like a bamboo forest. Near the end, the trail became largely obliterated with leaves that worried the captain, but caused us no problem except to slow our progress. Nevertheless, by nightfall we had reached our destination, the edge of a meadow that rose up from the main valley. Oh, what a joy! We were embracing each other for the sheer excitement of the moment. Gone were our fears and reservations. We could see the village through the binoculars, a quaint farming village at the end of a narrow dirt road. Another dirt road extended from the village into the valley. Strangely, though, not a soul could be seen, on the road, or in the fields beyond the meadow.
We set up camp. Soon the orange glow of Beta Sun dominated the sky like the harvest moon does on clear autumn days, only warmer and brighter. The climate certainly was lovely according to our standards and more so for everyone that had been confined to the ship for those long years. Camping must have seemed heavenly to them.
We broke camp at dawn. The early sunshine glistened on the dew of the meadow as we pushed our bikes through a sea of tall grasses towards the road. A few animals could be seen grassing near the village.
Finally, when we reached the road we were able to use our bicycles again. The lead bike, ridden by the captain of course, had a video camera mounted on its handlebars. I felt both, exited and tense now. We had no idea what we were getting into, and Martin's warning was coming to mind briefly. Still, those warnings were soon pushed into the background again.
Next Page
|| - page index -
|| - chapter index -
|| - Exit -
||
|
