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Chapter Three
Guiding the children as they
began their exploration, was Professor Arkru’s sense of destiny and
enthusiasm. Sharing his esprit de
corps were most of the students and technicians and even several crewmen aboard
the ship. They were, he made them
believe, part of the great and glorious adventure to gather creatures from
distant worlds. At this point in
their long journey through the stars, however, the professor had brought them
finally into harm’s way. Not only
could they not breathe its toxic air, which restricted them in their bulky
suits, but they found the planet’s gravity fatiguing for their delicate
frames. It was clearly a hostile
world, filled with monsters of many kinds. There was a mountain spewing fire
and smoke in the horizon and sudden glimpses of the ugliest and, at times, most
frightening life forms they had ever seen. And yet they were surrounded by a savage beauty like nothing
ever witnessed at home. Their own
drab desert-like planet was dying.
Its sun would one day become a supernova, destroying their world and everything
else in their solar system, including the holy planet of Orm. This planet, which Doctor Arkru
christened “Irignum”—(literally ‘Green World’)—was still vibrant and new. Its younger sun would last billions of
years before exploding or burning out.
In
spite of the difficulties, the students looked forward to collecting specimens
on this world. It was the
professor’s plan to stock the enclosures with as many juvenile monsters as
possible. Great incubation
compartments would also be filled with thousands of eggs and specially designed
chambers would hold scores of hatchlings, a vast assortment of small creatures,
and anything else worthy to be in the ark.
It was the most exciting enterprise of their
lives. But there were risks in
exploration Arkru was quick to point out.
Ever since their odyssey began, they had been warned by the professor to
be on guard and wary of the unknown.
It was, in spite of all their classroom studies and lab exercises,
on-the-job training each time they touched down on a new world. The student half of the mission—to
gather specimens for the ark—depended on several factors, not the least of
which were the enclosures that the technicians must build. While the technicians began their
project, the students would learn to function in their cumbersome life support
systems before they were allowed to strike out on their own. This meant learning to walk, breath and
perform at maximum efficiency inside their suits, with the least amount of
effort and without becoming unduly fatigued.
For
the technician half of the mission, there was much to do. While the students collected their
first specimens, the technicians must already have fabricated temporary
enclosures to hold the creatures brought back to the ship. After gathering gas and chemical
samples outside the vessel, Zorig and Urlum would create the atmosphere and
special environment for this planet’s life forms inside the ark. Ultimately, with the crewmembers’ help,
Ibris and Tobit would, under Arkru and Zorig’s direction, build the permanent
enclosures required for the life forms collected on this world.
From
the beginning, Doctor Arkru thought he understood the magnitude of the mission,
and yet he failed to foresee the potential disasters in the days ahead. He believed that the collection phase
of the mission need only wait until the students themselves were up to the
task. But the children and even the ship’s crew might never be ready for this planet. Irignum’s jungle waited ominously at the edge of the meadow
for the footsteps of the first aliens from another world.
******
After
returning to the ship, the students and technicians chatted with each other
about their experiences that morning, until one-by-one they retired to their
pods for an afternoon nap. Many
crewmembers had listened with interest to their stories of the new world, but
few of them had any desire to leave the security of the ship until they were
certain it was safe.
That
evening after dinner, the professor, students, and technicians met with
Commander Falon and his officers in the conference room adjoining the
bridge. Zorig set up an easel with
cardboard sheets on the tray outlying “Doctor Arkru’s Plan” and stood there
flipping the sheets as the professor spoke. Before introducing the new teams, Arkru gave them a summary
of their mission on this world.
Pointing to Zorig’s easel, he briefly explained the mission’s objective
and the construction underway inside the ark. Today’s success setting up the Model 7 Cloaking Force Field
Trap was presented as a smashing success.
Because of Irignum’s difficult atmosphere and gravity, there would be
three additional days or stages for student adaptation before serious
collection could begin. Today (day
one) had merely been an introductory stage for the students.
On
day two, the entire class would go out together on foot across the meadow but
remain in the ambient zone of the ship.
They would, of course, check the force field trap on the way. Many of them would be given target
practice for the Class 4 Stunner.
More importantly, the students would learn to move around with facility
in their suits.
On
day three, they would set out in the crawlers, those slow-moving vehicles used
to carry personnel through the forest and haul specimens back to the ship. While fastened snugly inside their
safety belts, they would experience the bumpy and unpredictable forest path and
be introduced, for the first time, to what they had only seen from afar:
Irignum’s jungle and exotic animals and plants.
On
the fourth day, the children would travel a short distance from the ship into
three sectors of the forest, monitored closely by adults from the bridge—an
idea that made Commander Falon cringe.
To many officers and crew members the rules of student collection set
forth by the Scientific Fathers seemed unreasonable this time. Essentially, because of this
long-standing tradition accepted by Professor Arkru, there would be no hands-on
supervision. The student leaders
would have full responsibility for their teammates. In theory, the powerful stun guns provided to qualified
students should scare away dull witted beasts or stop them dead in their
tracks. Judging by the reaction
this planet’s creatures had to the ship’s thrusters, they might, as on previous
planets, stay away from the Revekians altogether. Specimens found by students would be part of the on-the-job
training for each member of the team.
The animal trails created by the larger beasts, which had been evident
in the viewing screens, would be used for travel. There would be no unnecessary detours from these paths,
unless student leaders were given permission from the bridge. The crews would perform their
collections quickly and expeditiously and return, when ordered by the bridge,
back to the ship.
Corresponding
to the three sectors explored by the students, in what was applauded as a good
idea by Commander Falon and his staff, the professor would break up the cliques
in his class and organize them into the three groups, instead of one large
troop of collectors, to maintain discipline and provide good examples for
members of the class. Each of the
three groups would have a balanced number of females and youngsters in it and
leaders who would act as role models to members of the teams.
Collection Team 1 Rifkin: Omrik, Shizwit, and Yorzl.
Collection Team 2 Zither: Vimml, Illiakim, and Zeppa.
Collection Team 3 Rezwit:
Grummel, Alafa, and Lumnal.
The
new teams presented tonight would prove to be a mixed blessing in the days
ahead. In spite of being separated
from their friends, Rifkin, Zither, and Rezwit had been honored by the
change. The remainder of the
students accepted it as a fait
accompli, focusing, with both fear and excitement, on the adventure
ahead.
******
On
the second day, as planned, after a hearty breakfast, the students suited up
and followed the professor down the ramp and into the meadow beside the
ship. It was the professor’s
intentions to lead his crew a respectable distance into the meadow yet remain
in the ambient zone of the ship.
Carrying two stun guns, one on each hip, Arkru led them through the
grassland surrounding the ship.
Technicians Ibris and Tobit, who would assist in training the students,
carried the box of additional stunners for the group. Zorig, who was proficient himself in firing this weapon, did
not want his little sister Urlum along, but Arkru wanted her to learn how to
operate the stunner too.
On
the way across the meadow, Arkru and his students first inspected the test
trap. It was suppose to be empty
of monsters. No one had been
stationed to tranquilize its inhabitants once they entered, and the trap had
been set for a light electrical shock that would intimidate very few beasts.
Nevertheless, as they approached the trap and looked inside the enclosure, they
saw three small scaly creatures huddled fearfully inside.
“Our
first monsters!” Zither cried.
Arkru
was visibly pleased. He stood
there beaming with professional pride at the capture of the first aliens by the
Model 7 Cloaking Force Field Trap.
“Yes,
Zither, it works, the new model really
works!” he exclaimed with exultation, while studying the amazing creatures
inside.
“Ibris
and Tobit,” he directed congenially, “set down the box of guns. This is an important occasion for our
expedition to Irignum. Let us
rejoice and thank Izmir for this moment!”
He
knew, of course, that even these unimposing creatures were too large for their
accommodations inside the ship. By
tomorrow, when the students went forth in their crawlers, the technicians would
have improvised several enclosures from ones already fabricated in the
ark. Everyone groaned to
themselves or heaved a sigh when he ordered Alafa, the unofficial “button
pusher” to turn off the trap.
“We’re
not ready yet,” Rezwit explained to his young charge Lumnal. “But you just wait
kid. Our team’s going to bag us
one of those leapers we saw from the bridge!”
“Stand
back everyone,” Arkru ordered the group, “we’re letting these fellows loose!”
“They’re
so cute,” Alafa hesitated. “They look like vraggas with their long-necks and
legs.”
The
three small turkey-sized dinosaurs darted away as Arkru shooed them from the
trap, running swiftly across the meadow and into the forest beyond.
“Great
celestial lights!” Vimml cried.
“They
run like the samgar on Beskol,” observed Omrik calmly.
Rifkin
stopped caressing Urlum long enough to marvel at the escape, himself. “Urlum,”
he cried, “look at those fellows go!
I’ve never seen anything run so fast!”
“You
can run faster!” She said adoringly, her eyelids at half-mast.
“Nyaa!”
sneered Rifkin. “In these clunky suits we move as slow as worms!”
As
the students sat down in their life support systems to whisper excitedly among
themselves, Arkru commented on the creatures that had just been caught and
released from their first trap.
They were indeed, as Omrik suggested, similar to the willowy samgar of
Beskol and seemed just as harmless as those brainless fellows were. Arkru felt emboldened by the fact they
had been intimidated enough by the force field shock to remain huddled
inside. This fact portended great
things for the collections to be made in the coming days.
“With
our weapons and our traps,” he boasted, settling down on a nearby log, “we’ll
subdue this planet as we have all the others. The mere presence of our mighty ship has quietened it. We must be humble though. We must have reverence for its bounty
and treat its creatures with respect.”
Everyone,
including Rifkin, felt electrified by what they had seen on this planet. Arkru’s lofty tribute to “the majesty
of the forest” and his comments on the eerie quiet caused by the landing of
their ship served as a backdrop for the excitement they shared. It also made many of them sleepy. The strange quiet around the ship the
professor alluded to made them feel secure but also lulled them into drowsiness
in the pod-like coziness of their heavy suits, until several students were seen
napping inside their helmets and had to be shaken awake by their classmates.
Paying
the most attention to Arkru’s commentary was Zither, who now felt threatened by
this world. For him, this planet
offered the opportunity to prove himself at last to the professor, but also
provided dangers everywhere he looked.
Creepers, crawlers, runners, and flyers were there waiting in the
forest. He could feel their eyes
upon him. He could hear the
distant honks, bleats, groans, and screeches of monsters gathering in the
bushes and trees as the group said goodbye to the test trap and walked further
into the meadow and away from the ship.
The
only one not listening to the professor’s every word, yet too occupied to fall
asleep, was Rifkin—the adventurer extraordinaire, whose own lofty thoughts
continued to be divided between Urlum’s presence and the adventures ahead. In alien thinking Urlum was quite
beautiful, unlike the tomboyish Alafa, who could run, jump and fight with the
boys. All the boys, including
Zither, envied Rifkin for Urlum’s affection. But it was Alafa, not Arkru’s lab assistant Urlum, who had
found favor with the professor today.
Alafa,
wide-awake and eager, held onto the controller with great pride. Lumnal showed great interest also by
helping the professor and Rezwit recalibrate the poles, which had been knocked
out of alignment by the escaping beasts.
What was taking so long now was the professor’s decision to widen the
square of the trap, which required more effort in the thick carpet of meadow
grass. Even the normally lazy
Grummel joined Rezwit, Alafa, and Lumnal in helping Arkru change the trap. In spite of Rifkin’s popularity and
Zither’s personal efforts, Team Number Three shone brightly in the professor’s
eyes. Alafa was certainly happy
with her new team. Rezwit,
Grummel, and Lumnal were roughnecks just like her. Like Zither, however, Rifkin was not encouraged with his
team. He was expected to train
Omrik, Shizwit, and Yorzl to become collectors, and yet Shizwit acted as if she
was afraid of him and Omrik seemed addled in the head. Yorzl, the youngest student on the
ship, appeared to be too immature for an expedition. In the days ahead Rifkin would miss romping around with his
friends. With the professor’s
cautious excursions, trap setting sessions, and organized teams, things were
becoming too tame for him. He
wanted his old gang of Rezwit, Grummel, and Vimml back. He wanted freedom to explore at-will
and the old trust Arkru had in him to forge ahead on his own.
Vimml,
who was on Zither’s team, had also been disappointed with Arkru’s changes. But, like Alafa, he could see advantages
now in his new team. On Raethia,
Beskol, and Orm he had been treated as a little brother by the older boys. He could never measure up to his idol
Rifkin, yet Arkru had taken him aside on the ship this morning and asked him to
cooperate with Zither and lend the older student his enthusiasm and
expertise. Arkru had merely been
using diplomacy on the dejected Vimml, but Vimml now reasoned that he, not
Zither, was secretly in command of the team. He must not let on, of course. He couldn’t even tell his best friend Rifkin…. But the
professor would know. He would
make sure he knew by upstaging his new leader every chance he had.
******
“Greetings!”
He nodded to Zither, who stood alone on the fringe of the group.
“Vimml?”
Zither looked with surprise into the helmet at his grinning face.
Something’s
not right here, he thought as Vimml approached. Vimml’s not my friend.
He’s never shown me a shred of warmth or friendliness, and yet here he
is extending his gloved hand in an offer of friendship. What’s he up to? Is this not Rifkin’s scoundrel-in-arms
and best friend? Sensing that one
more joke was being played on him by Rifkin, through the complicity of Vimml,
one of Rifkin’s pals, Zither’s hopeful expression faded as he waited for the
prank to occur. Perhaps Vimml had
a ball of alien feces in his glove or would somehow trip him as Grummel or
Rezwit knelt down behind him and Vimml, at Rifkin’s signal, gave him a shove. But Vimml just stood there staring at
him with his boyish charm. Zither
glanced subtly at his glove and found it clean. Furtively, he looked around himself and also discovered that
no one was lurking on all fours behind…. There has to be a catch, he told
himself as he studied Vimml’s face.
Perhaps it would come later when he would be caught off-guard. The more he thought about it, the more
he realized how paranoid he had become.
In their cumbersome suits it was doubtful that even Rifkin would be able
to pull such a prank. A faint,
crooked smile broke Zither’s simian face.
“Greetings,
in deed.” He belatedly shook Vimml’s outstretched glove. “Welcome to Team
Number Two.”
For
a little while Zither enjoyed his role as leader of Team Number Two. He had no illusions about Vimml’s
loyalties. It was obvious that
Vimml was only pretending to be his friend. But Zither’s goal was to be the best team leader in Doctor
Arkru’s class. This required unity
within his team, and team unity required respect—if not friendship—for him and
loyalty to the team. Somehow he
must at least gain respect and loyalty from his team. He had made a good start with Vimml. Now he must work on the remaining
members of his team: Illiakim and Zeppa.
There
was a look of resolution on Zither’s face, a side of Zither that Vimml had never
seen. As he looked into helmets
and searched the stenciled names on the life support systems around him, Zither
appeared fearless and determined to achieve his goals.
“It’s
important that Team Number Two function smoothly as a machine,” he declared loftily
to Vimml. “That’s why I must make peace with Illiakim and Zeppa once and for
all!”
As
they approached the two female students, however, Illiakim turned her back on
him and folded her arms in a gesture of disapproval. Zeppa ran away to join the other youngsters in the
group. Vimml was embarrassed by
their behavior, but not surprised.
After all, they didn’t like Zither. None of the students liked him, except, perhaps, Urlum, but
then that silly girl liked everyone
on the ship. He stood there with
his leader, his head sinking into the depths of his helmet as Zither walked
toward the pouting Illiakim, cordially extended his hand in greeting and read
to her from his wrist communicator an abridged version of the Collector’s
Rules:
There will be no thrill-seeking detours off our
assigned path.
There will be no teasing or
pranks played on team members.
There will be
no talking in the forest without permission.
There will be no unauthorized collecting of specimens.
There will be no
firing of the stunner without permission.
You will follow strict orders, without question, at all times!
The
Collector’s Rules were, Zither informed Illiakim afterwards, the same rules
Arkru had given them on other planets, but here on Irignum they were especially
important. Irignum, after all, he
reminded her, was a particularly dangerous place. She and Zeppa couldn’t run back through the forest to the
ship every time he did something they didn’t like. They must work as teammates and not as rivals or foes, since
their very lives depended upon their cooperation on this hostile world. Illiakim and Vimml exchanged dubious
looks as Zither elaborated on the dangers of this world. They were the same dangers that Arkru had
warned them about earlier but Zither had taken it to heart. Toxic air, poisonous life forms,
and excess gravity, taken together with the dangers of Irignum’s many monsters,
Zither concluded, made this planet’s exploration both hazardous and overwhelming. It seemed very clear to his teammates,
he was becoming an alarmist. They
had seen nothing here to warrant such concern. Had not the very landing of their mighty ship silenced the
forest? Was not their trap
successful in capturing creatures with a minimal electrical shock? And what about the professor’s box of
guns? If a mere jolt of
electricity could keep them at bay, what would a stunner set for full force do?
******
A
false calm pervaded Doctor Arkru’s class.
The shadow and ambience of the mighty vessel seemed to act as a sentinel
for them as they moved further from the ship, reinforcing the complacency the
students already felt toward this world.
The only two members of the group not calm right now were Zither and the
professor, himself. No one else
believed that this verdant paradise around them could really be hostile. Who would dare come near their mighty
ship or challenge their traps or guns?
Their
first trap was now larger, though less powerful than before. The amount of creatures caught versus
the trap’s original power seemed a worthwhile exchange if the professor’s hunch
proved true. As it had been
demonstrated so expertly today to his students, it took only a small shock to
spook most of these dim-witted beasts.
In actuality, though, the traps would have no effect upon the giants of
this world. All they had between
them and the leviathans out there were their stunners, which had never been
tested against such beasts.
With
his hand resting on one of his guns, Arkru looked back at the ship, whose
monstrous shadow was not far away.
Weighted down in their bulky suits, breathing from the heavy canisters
on their backs and feeling the drag of Irignum’s gravity upon their delicate
bones left all of the aliens physically restricted and limited in their
activity. In their life support
systems with their intercommunication links with each other and the bridge, an
emotional as well as physical umbilical cord tied them to the safety of the
ship. They would need the ship’s
warmth, comfort, and nourishment more than ever now because they would, except
for their life support systems, find none of these necessities on this
world. They were trapped inside
their suits and, in a very real sense, cut off from this world. Here on Irignum they would always need
a constant supply of breathable gas flowing into their fragile lungs. Their contaminated suits would have to
be disinfected before they re-entered the ship. They would never be able to feel the texture of animals and
plants nor smell the planet’s flowers and taste the nectar of their fruits
without being poisoned by the attempt.
Even the most adventuresome of the students, Rifkin, must feel his
lifestyle hampered greatly here.
And yet Irignum’s mysteries and beauties offered Arkru and his students
the greatest opportunities of their lives.
On
the slanted rock used for Arkru’s lectures yesterday, the professor reminded
his fidgety students “Tomorrow, we’ll take the crawlers into the jungle. We might even bring back a few small
specimens to the ship. For now we
need to find a clearing large enough for a target range in which to fire our
guns.”
The
twelve students and four technicians cheered this suggestion, hoping that the
professor would find the clearing soon, before they were too far from the
ship. So far in their clunky suits
and with Arkru using every opportunity to expound on this and that, they hadn’t
even traveled a mile from the ark.
And yet it felt as if they had traveled further.
On
the way from the rock, seventeen aliens in awkward beetle-like life support
systems plodded onward and outward.
Arkru stopped occasionally to point to a plant or small animal scurrying
on the ground and compare it to a life form on their home planet or on one of
the many worlds explored in space. So far the large denizens they had seen from the bridge
seemed to shy away from the ship.
But this was, Arkru was quick to point out, an aberration in this
jungle. How many times did an
alien space ship land in such a forest?
It must have been a tremendous shock to have seen it plunge suddenly
from the sky.
As
they ambled on ever so slowly in their life support systems, the professor
would give an opinion on why a creature behaved or looked as it did. To Arkru, all creatures of Irignum were
important for their collection, from the smallest bug to the giants lurking in
the forest. As his students and
colleagues, they would, he promised them, learn on this planet how to become
collectors just like him. Most of
them would become good marksmen with the stunners. Here, more than any other world they had visited, they would
learn to be brave, patient, and wise, like himself, so that someday they too
would travel to faraway planets on different ships, gathering specimens to
bring back and populate compatible worlds.
“Someday,”
Arkru spoke ruefully as he searched the meadow ahead, “as our planet dies, the
entire universe will become one great zoo.”
“Wonderful!”
Vimml clapped his hands.
“Do
you think we’ll live long enough to see this happen?” Rezwit asked, trying to
envision this wondrous age.
“No,”
Arkru shook his head in dismay, “perish the thought! As a scientist and collector, I was given a mission that
seems impossible for even me to fulfill.
As our own solar system circles its collapsing sun, there is a strong
likelihood of one day being marooned as wanderers in space. You boys would like that wouldn’t
you? It has been a long time since
you’ve walked beneath our planet’s reddened sky and over its hot, endless
sands. For you, my students and
technicians, home must seem like a distant abstraction—the place were you were
born, nurtured and taught the basics of life. After light-years and endless prolonged slumbers, home
became the mother ship, as it gave orders and a sense of security in the
darkness of space.”
Most
of the students nodded their helmeted heads. They seemed unmoved by the loss of their planet. Arkru was not surprised but
disappointed with this reaction.
“With
so much space separating us from the mother ship,” he confided to them, “I feel
as if I’ve become more than a professor teaching you the lore of science and
life; I feel as if I’ve become a father figure to you.”
Again
they nodded, this time vigorously, except Rifkin, who had found a tiny skull
that occupied his time.
“The
team, of which we are all a part, has become our family,” Arkru said, as the
inattentive Rifkin made the tiny skull’s jaws move up and down, “just as home
is now the ship’s corridors, compartments and the warmth of our sleeping-pods
at the end of the day.”
“This
world,” he looked around the field on which they stood to the forest beyond,
“nightmarishly beautiful as it is, can never be our home, and yet we envy its
youth and vitality and the unknown course of history lying in its path.”
To
emphasize what he was saying or simply to get their attention, Arkru pulled out
one of his stunners and fired it into the air. A crackling that was similar to the sound of lightning now
startled his students. The smell
of ozone, created by electron bombardment of oxygen, filled the air.
“There!”
he murmured to Zorig, his chief lab technician, “That got their attention!”
Fired
in spirit by the professor’s energy if not his eloquence, eleven of the twelve
students and the three remaining lab technicians jumped up and down in their
clumsy suits with glee. They
wanted to learn to be marksmen and collectors now, this very moment, with no
more delays. They could care less
about the integrity of alien life or the majesty of the forest. He had but to say the word and the
collections would begin this very hour.
Rifkin
had managed to entertain himself independently as the professor talked. He had created a bracelet for Urlum,
his favorite female student: a strand of grass woven into a band with the tiny
skull fashioned securely in its midst.
Once
again Zither, listening more intently than any other students, had been pecking
notes furiously into his wrist communicator as Arkru spoke. Nowhere in the database of the ship in
which he inputted notes and his private thoughts could he find a file labeled
‘Courage’—the one thing he needed most now. His intellectual airs, which had impressed Omrik and
Shizwit, were becoming quite boring to his team. The sudden discharge from Arkru’s gun now jolted him back to
reality. He could not find the
answers he wanted on his wrist. He
must find them here with his comrades, who were primed and ready to go.
“I
love the smell of a stunner,” Illiakim thrilled, as little Zeppa looked on. “It’s
like lightning but in broad daylight.
You can’t see its discharge until your target drops dead!”
“Just
you wait,” Vimml shouted to Illiakim, looking out into the jungle. “I’m going
to get me one of those leapers and maybe one of those long-necked monsters
too!”
“Those
stunners aren’t set to kill monsters,” Zither informed them, as the professor
drew the group to a halt.
“This
is perfect,” the professor announced, raising his arms to signal them to stop.
“We’re far enough away from the ship and will not be firing directly against
the trees.”
Somehow,
Zither thought to himself, he must steel himself against cowardice and share
their mindless courage and disregard for danger… but he didn’t know how.
In
his search for a perfect target practicing area, Arkru had taken them over a
mile from the vessel—the furthest they had ever gone. Anything could happen out here so far from the ship. The professor, pumped up greatly by the
camaraderie of the group, seemed to be discarding his own concerns for
Irignum’s dangers. He was
obviously in no hurry to have Ibris and Tobit distribute weapons so that the
students and technicians could be armed.
Zither was beside himself with fear. The two technicians, now thoroughly exhausted, lowered the
box to the ground and sat on its lid as the professor looked around the
immediate vicinity for just the right spot. This time the group groaned with disappointment because it
was taking so long. Arkru motioned
for them to sit down again as he walked out several yards and signaled the
technicians to open the box and bring him the targets that lie on top of the
guns. It was the two technicians
turn to groan amongst themselves as they unlocked and then pried open the lid. Nine poles, each with a circle similar
to a bull’s-eye nailed on top, were carried gingerly to the professor.
The
Professor, Ibris, and Tobit had to space each target perfectly from each other
and pound them into the ground.
Zither leaned against a solitary tree growing in the field. Feeling some comfort that he could
scramble up its low-lying branches if trouble came, he wondered why his
teammates were so brave. Were they
merely too stupid to realize the dangers on this planet? Or where they relying on the crackle of
their stunners to give them daring and power?
He
looked at the eager faces of Vimml and Illiakim. Zeppa was also excited, although it seemed doubtful that
Arkru would assign her a gun. Everyone, except him, had the fire and zeal of
the Old Ones in their veins. It was time to bag some beasts!
Rifkin,
who excelled at everything he did, had plenty of courage and yet he still found
time to charm Urlum by putting a necklace around her neck. Zither hated Rifkin. It came to him slowly now, as he waited
with the remainder of the group, that it wasn’t Rifkin’s continual teasing or
efforts to make him look foolish in Arkru’s eyes that irritated him so much but
Rifkin’s unbridled energy, undisciplined courage, insufferable arrogance, and
most of all the fact that he didn’t
care! It seemed as if the
professor, in spite of his knowledge and ability to inspire minds, was blind to
Rifkin’s faults. He favored Rifkin
above everyone else. Urlum,
Illiakim and even Shizwit favored him too. Everyone favored Rifkin. . . except him. He would like to use Rifkin for target
practice right now!
After
they arranged the guns neatly on the box, Ibris and Tobit stood back to await
further instructions. The
professor, who carried his own weapons on each hip, paused to inspect the
stunners on the lid. There were twelve
students, but only nine targets in the meadow and nine guns lying in a
row. This concerned the students
far more than anything he could say.
“Nine
guns?” they murmured in disbelief. “There’s twelve of us. Why are there only nine guns?
The
professor had the remarkable ability to talk and think on two different levels
without losing his train of thought.
As he stood there directing the installation of the targets, he lectured
the students and technicians on when to use and when not to use the guns. This lecture turned into a moralistic
sermon on the sanctity of alien life—a concept that the Old Ones had forgotten
in their lust for conquest.
Sometimes in this duality, Arkru failed to see what was right before his
nose. Perhaps due to the
camouflage of their life support systems, he failed to gauge their mood. While he pontificated so eloquently, he
caught what he thought were the polite and attentive expressions of his
students and was lulled by the monotony of his words. He was pleased that Zither took voluminous notes and that
Alafa was taking such good care of his controller. The much older Zorig, who would act as his
second-in-command, was showing great patience now. The students were not fidgeting very much… except Rifkin, he
realized, his eyes stopping cold.
As he flirted with Urlum, Rifkin
was faced the wrong way!
Zither
smiled with mirth. Several more
students tittered with laughter as they realized what was wrong. Arkru’s train of thought was suddenly
broken, crashing mutely down to earth.
With the exception of a distant trumpeting, there was silence again in
the meadow.
“Great
Izmir!” he groaned to Zorig. “What am I to do with him? Everyone pays attention except him!”
He
whispered something into the chief technician’s helmet. It was obvious to everyone what it was
about. Rifkin had gotten himself
into trouble again. This time he
had done it standing right were he was and without making a sound.
“This
has got to stop!” Arkru was saying to Zorig. “I want you to take your sister back
to the ship. She doesn’t really
belong out here; for that fact neither do you. You can gather more chemical and gas samples tomorrow. Right now she’s too great a distraction
for the boys, especially Rifkin. Look at that young fool!”
“Oh,
I’d like to hit him,” blurted Zorig angrily. “When he’s out of his suit I’m
going to pound that stupid grin of his off his face!”
“No,
no Zorig, none of that.” Arkru waved his hands. “I don’t want dissention. I’m going to punish him, but right now
I’m just going to set him straight.”
“All
right professor,” Zorig replied with disappointment, “you know what’s best.”
“Urlum,” he shouted rudely to his sister, “we’re going back to the ship!”
“Rifkin,
I want to talk to you,” Arkru called irritably as Zorig grabbed Urlum’s
wrist. Zither was gloating unabashedly now. Everyone else were either snickering
amongst themselves or feeling sorry for the pair. Holding securely to Urlum’s gloved hand, Zorig pulled her
indelicately from the group, until he heard the professor’s voice. To his great surprise, Arkru handed him
one of his own guns.
“Take
this Zorig,” he spoke severely, sticking it into the technician’s belt. “Don’t
argue. This is just a
precaution. You and your sister can
train more with us tomorrow, during our excursion. My stunner is armed and ready to fire. In case you’ve forgotten, release the
safety on its handle, point, and shoot.”
“It’s
so peaceful here,” Urlum pouted. “I thought everything is afraid of our ship.”
“The
professor wants us to go back to the ship,” Zorig informed her, as he led her
through the meadow. “Your friend Rifkin’s in big trouble now!”
Rifkin
was pulled aside discretely by Arkru and taken to task. The admonishment sounded like many of the
reprimands he had received before, except this time it involved Urlum. He felt bad about this. It was all his fault; Urlum had done
nothing wrong. It was also
occurring during an important occasion for the other students and himself,
which seemed to make it that much worse.
For the first time in a long time, he felt embarrassed in front of his
peers. He could see Zither
gloating on the sidelines and Alafa sneering at him now. He would get even with Zither and
Alafa. He would show them all!”
“You’ve
got to stop playing these silly games.” Arkru was scolding him. “You have such
promise, but you never pay attention.
You’re never focused! I
want you to promise me that you’ll focus on your new teammates Omrik, Shizwit
and Yorzl and teach them how to collect.
Pay attention to me, not Urlum, during our classroom excursions. Stop this stupid rivalry with poor
Zither too. Let him do his job!”
“All
right, Doctor Arkru,” Rifkin sounded meek enough, though he was seething
inside.
He
had no intention of not competing with Zither. He simply wouldn’t let on that he was. He wouldn’t have time for Urlum during
the days ahead anyhow, except on the ship. What would be difficult for him to comply with would be
teaching his new team to be collectors.
This worried him most of all.
The
professor walked back to the target range and raised his hands dramatically up
to the sky. Rifkin swaggered
behind him with a defiant look on his face. With this interruption out of the way, he ordered Ibris and
Tobit to pass out the guns. For
the time being, he explained, only he was certified to use the Class 4
Stunner. Everyone else, except the
ones who were too young, had to be trained in the handling and firing of the
weapon. The stunners would remain
deactivated this morning until Arkru was satisfied each student was familiar
with the mechanics of the gun.
“We
will discuss the mechanics of the Class 4 Stunner, modified by myself,” he
began, holding up one of his guns. “Ibris and Tobit will walk down the firing
line checking your weapons. They
will activate them only at my command.
Activation requires a special key that I have not distributed to any of
you yet.”
“Is
the Class 4 as good as what the Old Ones used?” asked Rifkin, inspecting the
small, unpretentious-looking gun.
“Yes,”
Arkru nodded his head with irritation, “but I modified the gun so it would only
stun creatures, not necessarily kill them. That’s why it’s called a stunner.”
Amazed
at what Arkru just said, Rifkin inquired. “Shouldn’t we have a gun that can
kill if need be? Who knows when
we’ll be attacked or how long a creature will be stunned?”
“I
didn’t say it wouldn’t kill creatures,” Arkru explained tutorially, “but a
sufficient shock should incapacitate one of these creatures for a significantly
long time. Remember students and
technicians: we come as friends and not destroyers!”
The
professor looked around the group for agreement, and was disappointed. A collective gasp rose up among the
children. For once, Zither and
Rifkin were in total agreement, as was Rezwit the third leader in the
group. Even the toadies Ibris and
Tobit found this hard to accept.
“What if the gun doesn’t kill them?” Ibris frowned
down at his weapon.
“Shouldn’t
we use the kill frequency for a planet like this?” murmured Tobit. “I see no
friends on this planet. That big
meat-eater we saw in our viewing screens is certainly not our friend!”
“I
knew it,” Zither turned to his team. “The Old Ones ghosts are haunting us
again!”
With
the three youngsters, Lumnal, Yorzl and Zeppa pouting in the background, the
students and technicians were mustered onto the firing line: nine children in
beetle-shaped life support systems holding small silver stunners that flashed
jewel-like in the sun. The two
technicians lined up to fire would probably not be required to use the weapon,
but they would, by taking turns with the professor’s second gun, be tested too.
“Students,
after I pass them out, you’ll insert your keys into the handle of your guns,”
Arkru ordered gently. “You’ll turn the key but once, remove it and place it in
your life support pouch. I’ll
retrieve it when we’re finished.
You’ll not fire until I give you the order to do so. Do you understand?”
“Yes,
professor,” most of them chimed.
A
few grumbles ricocheted down the line.
“Now
wait until I show each one of you individually,” he instructed them. “We don’t
want anyone misfiring or shooting his neighbor.”
Several
students groaned out loud as the process dragged on. Rifkin kicked a dirt clod into the air with his boot. Because of his surliness, the professor
began at the opposite end of the line, which made Rifkin the last one to fire
his gun.
Alafa
had the honor of being the first student to take aim through the gun sight and
gently squeeze the trigger. The
crackle of her weapon was followed by a faint thud on the corner of her target.
“Very
good Alafa,” the professor nodded with approval. “Now give me five more!”
Alafa
managed to hit the target all six times.
She showed great promise, as did Rezwit, her team leader, who placed all
his shots in his target except one.
This shot worried the professor greatly since the discharge of electrons
continued on through the grasses to Izmir-knew-where.
“You
did well Rezwit. This cannot be
helped,” he said with a shudder. “We don’t know yet how our guns will effect
life forms here or how far the invisible beam travels. The Class 4 Stunner has never been
tested before.”
Evidently
the range of the gun and its effectiveness were not clearly understood even by
the professor. “It’s as if he’s afraid that we might accidentally shoot
something here!” Rifkin quipped to Omrik while waiting on the line.
After
Doctor Arkru’s favorite team members had finished, the quality of marksmanship
seemed to go down hill. Tobit and
Ibris did very well, but Zither only hit his target twice. The remainder of the students, except
Rifkin, missed the target entirely, their shots coursing through the meadow
into the unknown. Rifkin, the last
to shoot, not only hit it six times but concentrated his shots in the center of
the target. Clearly, Rifkin was
the best shot, though the most immature marksmen to send into the forest with a
gun.
******
Arkru
realized how fatigued many members of the group had become. The fact that they were not used to their
new environment as well as their heavy life support systems might help explain
their poor performance, but didn’t explain members of Team Number Three’s
outstanding performance or why Rifkin had done so well.
The
professor’s technicians, Alafa, and the team leaders were now certified to
carry stunners in their life support system belts when they disembarked from
the ship. Grummel, a member of
Rezwit’s team, had done well, but was seriously reprimanded by the professor
for taking aim on a flying reptile overhead. The older students, except those certified, would have to
prove themselves during the excursion and the expedition that followed. Doctor Arkru warned the team leaders
once again, as he retrieved the stunner keys, not to allow the youngsters to
shoot the guns.
Rifkin,
Rezwit, Vimml, and Grummel, who comprised Rifkin’s old gang, were impatient to
be free of Arkru’s control. They
could not wait for the expedition to begin. Of all the students, it was duly noted by Arkru, Zither
seemed the most happy under his supervision. Until the formation of the teams, he had hung back on the
sidelines as an intellectual loner and misfit. Though his mind was sharp, his hands were shaky with both
the trap and gun. He appeared to
be the least promising of the team leaders, and yet he was the most diligent
and would undoubtedly work the hardest of any of them. In addition to worrying about Rifkin’s
behavior, Arkru could not help being concerned with Zither, who had tried so
hard today but seemed to have the least chance of success.