Helium Fall Page 3

  He was surprised Sam had not thought to switch to other camera views. He was usually the first to think up alternate ideas on how to do things.

  After a change of sensors and a quick scan Eliot said, "Seven life-forms are detected at a distance of one-hundred and twenty yards, moving from left to right. A small body of water is near them at the same distance."

  "Excellent job Eliot, excellent. Did they appear to be bi-pedal in nature or quadrupeds?"

  "A mixture of both."

  Grant was surprised, "What? A mix of both? Like a family out walking their dog or something? Today is going to be interesting. I can't wait for Sam to hear the news."

  No more movement was detected on the monitors. Grant was looking forward to the morning sunrise. He left the bridge and went to the galley for a cup of coffee, Earth's finest creation in his opinion. Coffee had all but saved his life going through flight school. The sleep deprivation was bearable because of the copious amounts available for his consumption. A sobering thought came to him while he waited for it to brew. What if we're stranded here so long we run out of coffee? The thought was synonymous with Sam's vision of a T-Rex casually strolling into camp, and eating him whole. He shuddered at the thought, coffee was life. He took a short break, thoroughly enjoying his morning cup of liquid motivation, along with a pastry from the galley fridge.

  Sam would soon be awake, itching to see his first sunrise on another planet.

  "Eliot, what are the atmospheric readings at this time?"

  "The temperature is fifty-two degrees; there is a two mile per hour easterly breeze. The oxygen levels are lower than yesterday, the helium and hydrogen levels, are higher. Now is not the time to ignite the rock torch."

  "This planet is so weird, oxygen appears to rise in the evening, and the helium falls. Helium fall, I like how it sounds. Keep me posted when the levels are less volatile so we can right this tin can and not blow ourselves up by igniting the helium."

  "You are aware helium in non-flammable. A hydrogen and oxygen combination is combustible and dangerous."

  "What? Helium isn't flammable?"

  "No, it is a noble gas and is non-flammable."

  "Learn something new every day. I'm still going to call it Helium Fall. Were any of the survey bots damaged in the crash?"

  "No, all were securely fastened into the bays and remain undamaged, and functional."

  "Good news. Once we have the shuttle righted I want to get them out and let them do their thing. I think Sam and I will go for a hike, and see what we can find. We do have small arms on this ship, don't we?"

  "Yes, in the armory."

  Grant knew there were small arms in the armory; he was making conversation with Eliot to pass time. "Make note of any large objects, bodies of water, habitations, civilizations, or anything else of interest."

  "There is a cave system three miles south."

  "We will definitely look into the cave system! How large is it?"

  "It is ten miles long and angles south-east towards the mountains. I cannot detect farther. The static haze is causing my sensors to operate outside of their normal range. I can only detect the mountains due to their size."

  "We need to find the source of what is generating the haze, as quickly as possible, it's hindering our progress. It can't be a natural phenomenon, it has to be generated by something and created by something with considerable intelligence. We've never heard of such technologies, we've never even thought of creating such a thing back on Earth. It's a brilliant idea if you want to go undetected. Our radar didn't even detect it. What an idea, make it small enough to carry and you could become invisible to radar, and possibly even cameras."

  The thought brought Grant upright in his chair, and froze him in thought. What if there were beings walking around the camp all night undetected by the radar, and the cameras. It was a scary thought, and one he almost regretted entertaining. It was going to have to be looked into, and a way figured out to detect the haze, and whatever may be hiding behind it. Better yet, a way needed to be figured out to capture the sneaky little bastards, if there really were any.

  Chapter Three

  It was time for Sam to surface, and Grant was more than ready to share his thoughts with him. Sam entered the bridge with a huge yawn, and a good stretch, mumbling something about a crazy night's sleep, and the woman of his dreams.

  Grant pounced on him with his new thoughts, and began with the foot he saw on the camera.

  "Whoa there big fella, I haven't had coffee, breakfast, or a good shower. You're going to have to wait a few minutes before you attack me with…wait, you saw a foot?" Sam was fully awake now, his curiosity was piqued, he had to hear more. "Go on then, tell me what happened."

  Grant told him about what he thought was a foot, it was so fast he wasn't sure, and he thought possibly his mind was playing a trick on him. He watched and waited for a good portion of the early morning, and nothing else appeared. “I had an epiphany this morning while I was talking with Eliot. You know how Eliot told us the haze was a sort of static, and made the planet invisible to our sensors?”

  Sam nodded, “Yes, I do remember him saying something." He wasn’t really sure what he had heard, it was still early, and he needed coffee.

  Grant continued, “What if the static haze could be generated by something, pocket size?” He sat in silence waiting for the idea to resonate in Sam’s sleep addled mind. He closely watched Sam’s face waiting for full realization to hit him.

  He was sadly disappointed when Sam looked at him and asked, “What are you talking about? The haze, pocket sized? You’re going to have to give me more information before I can make any kind of a coherent comment.”

  "Sam, what if, whatever was generating the haze could be made into a pocket sized, mobile device? It would generate a much smaller, personal haze.”

  Sam stared at Grant in obvious thought, one eyebrow slowly raised and then the other. Sam’s mouth dropped open when full realization hit him square between the eyes, much to Grant’s delight. He liked Sam’s expressions, especially when he was having a moment of discovery and his mind went wild with ideas.

  “So what you’re saying is, you and Eliot, had a conversation while I was sleeping and it led you to the idea we have possibly been seeing someone out there, but they have been cloaked with a pocket sized haze generator?”

  “Yep, that’s what I’m saying.”

  “Holy crap Grant, if it’s true they could have been right next to us and we would have had no idea. Now I’m freaked out.”

  “Maybe it's why we keep thinking we're seeing something, and nothing is there. We are only catching a glimpse of a foot, arm, or whatever may have slipped out of the haze.”

  Sam’s mind went wild with ideas, and his sense of security was again challenged.

  “Time to get moving Sam, we need to get this day going so we can get the shuttle righted, and get the survey bots out so they can do their thing.”

  “Gotta get me some coffee, shower, and change into my work clothes.”

  “Skip the shower Sam and wear what you’ve got on. Bring some coffee with you. Let’s go!"

  “You’re the boss, right behind you!”

  "Eliot says you have an idea on how to right the shuttle. He plotted dimensions for us and will give us specifics.

  "Yep, we can use the rock torch to cut down some trees, and use them as a fulcrum and lever. When the shuttle rises we add another log under it to keep it in position, and then raise it from there adding another log, and so on.”

  “Great idea, but how are we going to cut down flammable trees with a rock melting torch? The two do not mix well. We’ll have quite the bonfire though.”

  “Eliot suggested we narrow the flow of the torch, and basically slice the trees down. Like a hot knife through butter.”

  “Eliot said like a hot knife through butter!”

  With a look of consternation Grant replied, “No Sam, I added it on my own. Get the damn torch; I’ll scout out some dece
nt trees to suit our purpose.”

  Sam headed off to get the torch, and Grant headed to the tree line to find trees for the job. Grant stopped as he exited the shuttle. There they were, small footprints everywhere. Grant thought they may have had visitors in the night, and now he had confirmation. They must be using a device, much like he imagined, avoiding detection. Grant continued to the tree line, and thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He froze in his tracks, and looked intently at where he saw the movement. Much to his surprise, he noted a slight shimmer, subtly different from the shimmer created by the haze. He kept walking towards the tree line, pretending not to have seen anything. He knew Sam would be along shortly, and with the time they spent outside the day before, surmised whatever was hiding in the haze was just observing them. If they were going to attack, they would.

  Grant spotted six good trees and marked them so Sam would know what to cut. Grant ventured a short distance to explore some of the plant life. He noted in his recorder despite the high helium and hydrogen levels the plants thrived in the oxygen rich environment. The opposite of how plant life works on Earth. Hydrogen level, he had to check the hydrogen level before Sam fired up the rock torch. He ran back to where he had marked the trees.

  Sam had arrived and was in the process of firing up the torch to begin cutting. “SAM! SAM!” Do not light the rock torch! We have to check the hydrogen levels. We could blow this whole place sky high if the levels are too high.”

  “Whew, good call Grant, I hadn’t even thought about the levels.”

  “I only thought about it because Eliot brought it up last night when we were talking.”

  “Glad you caught me!”

  With a touch to his collar Grant asked, “Eliot, what are the hydrogen levels? Can we fire up the torch without blowing the place up?”

  “Yes, the levels are safe.”

  Sam fired up the torch and began to cut. It only took a few minutes using the rock torch to cut the trees needed for their little project.

  “Good job Sam, good job thinking to bring a maintenance bot with you too. It can carry the trees where we need them. How did you get it out of the bay, we can't open the doors yet?”

  “The bots float and move easily. I maneuvered it to the elevator, it barely fit, and brought it and the torch out through the hatch. I didn’t want to carry it all the way over here.”

  "I am amazed at the level of genius lazy can produce."

  Sam feigned a look of shock, "Lazy? I prefer creative or intelligent."

  Grant chuckled to himself, and let it go.

  The morning sunrise was beautiful. The sky was a deep purple, fading to a bright blue, then the shimmery light blue opal it was now.

  “The sunrise was amazing, wasn’t it Grant?”

  “It sure was, there must be potassium chloride in gas form, it causes a purple flame when burned. The blues came from the amount of helium in the atmosphere.”

  Sam enjoyed the moment, “Whatever, it was amazing! I’d like to be around to see a few more. But not too many more, this place gives me the creeps.”

  “This place is beautiful Sam. The trees are bright orange, neon yellow, deep green, and a rich wine color. The underbrush is deep green, full, and lush. The flowering plants give off intense aromas like we’ve never smelled before. It’s actually quite beautiful and inviting."

  "Well, so far anyways.” T-Rex and his buddies still lurked in back of Sam's mind.

  “You got those trees in place? We need to get this thing back to level. The survey bots need out so they can do their job.”

  “On it boss, the maintenance bot is loading the last of the smaller logs into the cradle of the counter balance. I hope the shuttle doesn’t weigh too much.”

  With the cradle now loaded, Sam instructed the bot to slowly pull down on the end of the lever log. The bot obeyed and the shuttle slowly began to rise, their plan was working. With several more adjustments and a lot more logs the shuttle would be where they wanted it.

  They had miscalculated the number of posts they needed to keep it supported.

  “Sam, we need four more logs to keep this thing level. Grab the bot and cut some more logs.”

  Sam headed off with the bot and began cutting several more pieces off the tree they felled earlier. On his second cut, without a doubt, he saw movement. Sam played it cool and continued cutting. Two more to go and he could high tail it back to the shuttle. As he finished his last cut, a figure stepped out from behind a tree. It was there only a brief moment, but Sam saw it, and it saw him.

  Sam hollered to Grant, “GRANT! We are not alone!” As the bot gathered the remaining logs Sam kept a vigilant eye on the tree where the figure had been. He returned to the shuttle, and quickly went inside to the armory. He grabbed a small fire arm, and headed back outside.

  The hunt was about to begin, but Grant saw him as he exited the shuttle. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m going on a little hunting trip!”

  “Uh, no you’re not. What did you see?"

  “Grant, I saw a small figure step out from behind a tree. It looked me straight in the eyes, and I looked straight in its eyes, too. There is no doubt we both know the other was there. I’m going to hunt it down and make it talk, haze device or not.”

  “Sam, you’ll do no such thing. We do not know if they shot down the shuttle. They haven’t attacked us, and most likely have had many opportunities to capture us, take us out, or destroy the shuttle. Our priority is getting the shuttle repaired so the bots can survey the planet. Then, we can address the issue of our visitors. Put the gun back in the armory, and let’s finish this so we can assess the damage, and figure out what we need to make the repairs, deal?”

  ”Deal, but I’m keeping my eyes peeled. If I see anyone else, I’m done. WTF! Are those foot prints? Grant, there are footprints, everywhere. Did you know there were foot prints everywhere?”

  Grant tried his best to remain calm, “Sam, they’re small foot prints, and yes, I knew they were there. I saw them this morning, but didn’t want, or need you freaking out. You act like this is your first mission and haven’t had any training about meeting new life.”

  “It is my first mission, and I never thought I’d really be meeting anyone out here. I mean, I hoped I would, but not on the first planet I landed on.”

  “Well, we didn’t really land did we? Get this finished and we can make a plan for tomorrow, and how we’re going to deal with this situation.”

  Sam hurriedly set about getting the last logs in place. With the help of Grant and the bot it was accomplished in short order. He did a quick evaluation and determined one of the landing supports had crumpled and would have to be replaced, or somehow repaired. All in all it didn’t appear to be in bad shape. The landing support, the exterior lab bay doors, and a couple of sensors were damaged in the crash. The shuttle was covered in dirt, debris, and hopefully a little cleaning would not reveal other issues. The first item up for repair was the bay doors. After an hour of digging, scraping and brushing away soil and chunks of tree, Sam was able to get the bay doors moving. Not perfectly, but functional.

  Grant and Sam released the survey bots from their restraints and sent them on their merry way to begin their duties of figuring out what the planet was made of, and mapping the locations of promising finds. They programmed the bots to first survey their surrounding area and search for intelligent life.

  “Sam, let’s get some lunch then figure out what we need to do about our visitors.”

  “Yes, finally! You know I didn’t get any breakfast, hell the rest of my coffee is still sitting out there on a log.”

  “Buck up Sam, we’re going to discover intelligent life in the next few days and our lives will never be the same.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of Grant. I’d really like to see home again. You know, see my family, go to Landing's in New Liberty, and check out some hotties on the beach. Life as we knew it wasn’t so bad.”

  “Sam
, life as we knew it was alright but it could be great. We discover life, make it home, and we’re heroes! Heroes, Sam. Let it sink in a bit.”

  They headed to the galley, Sam loved the galley, it was his happy place. He decided to have pasta Diavolo, garlic bread, and a nice glass of yet to be named, deep red wine.

  Grant opted for an Italian sub with roasted yellow and red peppers, provolone cheese, and a touch of Italian dressing, sprinkled with parmesan cheese. A bag chips would complete the meal. For all their similarities they were totally different. It was their tradition to compare their meal choices and appreciate their differences.

  ”Ok Grant, we need to talk about the footprints, and what I saw in the woods. Tell me what you know, what you think, and how the hell we’re going to deal with it. All kidding aside, I’m a little concerned about our current situation.”

  “I saw the footprints this morning as we left the shuttle, I saw movement when I was at the tree line, and noticed there was a shimmer from behind a tree, different from the shimmer created by the haze. I also realized if we had crashed early in the morning or late at night we could have blown this place to high heaven. The fire from the jets would have ignited the hydrogen. I also realized we have been very lucky to this point, and you really are a big chicken, all kidding aside.”

  “Seriously, you saw all of this and thought these things and you didn’t tell me. What the heck Grant?”

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think we were in any real danger.”

  “Really Grant, we were shot out of the sky by something or someone we didn’t see, we have been seeing movement, and suspect someone or something has watched us since we crashed. Now we know all of the above is true. You want me to be calm and rational? I can, as soon as you tell me what we’re going to do, everything is going to be fine, we will get off this planet, and return safely home. Can you? I didn’t think so.”

  Grant realized he had made a fundamental mistake by not telling Sam what he discovered, and he should have let Sam know everything he and Eliot had discussed. Now he had to regain Sam’s trust and get him grounded, while solving their problems, and making sure they stayed alive.