 Previous
New
Readers Start Here Table
of Contents Next
Coco Interlude I
The mountain tops were capped with snow. Lower down
there were outcrops of rock. Lower still it was grassier
with occasional clumps of trees. The valley floor was
scattered with fallen rocks but mostly it was covered
with bushes and grass. A few yards away a stream gurgled
happily. It seemed to be sunset because the sky to the
west was a striking shade of red punctuated with wisps
of thin charcoal cloud backlit by the sun. It was the
sort of effect that Industrial Light and Magic would
have been able to sell for a tidy sum.
A light breeze made the treetops sway just perceptibly.
A flock of birds flew by, silhouetted against the sun.
They moved in synchronization, heading westward, then
north, and then swinging east again.
No buildings were visible, no people, no sign of
civilisation at all. Behind the cloud something moved.
It began as just a tiny dot moving in a slow smooth
arc. It looked like another bird at first but as it
grew closer and bigger you could begin to see the detail
of engines and the delta formation of the wings. The
windows of the cockpit were forward, above a pointed
nose that ended in a kind of antenna. Under the nose
on each side were two tubular devices. It was hard to
speculate as to their purpose but they looked like they
were put there for a very particular reason.
The craft moved silently towards a clearing. It
slowed and hovered, fifty feet above the valley, and
then slid gracefully down to the ground in a perfect
vertical line, where it landed with a soft squelch on
three feet that appeared a moment before touchdown.
They left indentations in the moist grass. The name
Aquarius was painted on each side of the hull.
For five minutes nothing further happened. Then
a doorway folded out from the side of the fuselage.
The inside of the door was stepped to serve as a stairway.
A man looked cautiously out, squinting against the sun
when he turned towards the west. He waited some more,
listening carefully. He held a laser rifle in his right
hand and something that looked like a metal briefcase
in his left.
He spoke over his shoulder. "How does it look?"
"Heat sensors all negative. Radar negative.
Automonitor active."
"So we're all clear?"
"Good to go."
He descended the steps onto the grass, and two more
men appeared in the hatchway behind him. They too held
rifles. One of them called over his shoulder. "Alec.
What's the engine status?"
"Almost perfect. Boost pressure is a couple
of clicks low. I'll report it when we get back. No cause
for concern."
"Stand by."
"Roger," said the voice from the cockpit.
He scanned the surrounding landscape and then spoke
again, this time more quietly and to his neighbour.
"Stun cannons?"
He nodded grimly. "Relax, they're on auto.
They'll fire ten rounds before you even see who they
fired at."
He man on the ground ran twenty yards and then threw
himself down onto his knees. He took another quick look
all around and then flipped open the case and removed
a dozen plastic boxes and some tools. With a small trowel
he lifted a piece of turf and then, using an auger,
he began to take soil samples.
Previous New
Readers Start Here Table
of Contents Next
|
