Dwellers of the New World Chapter Six ( Pt 1 )

Two weeks before Addie and his crew left for the new planet, they had sent a probe to check on the atmosphere and also to find out if there was any living source that they should be aware of.

It had been discovered that the atmosphere was pretty much the same as earth, but very barren, with lots of rocks and caves. There was an abundance of water, creating great oceans, but the system of the moon cycles was very different to earth.

Everything on the planet, seemed to be speeded up, day and night would each only last a couple of hours. There was also no knowledge of whether there was life in the caves, although they had discovered some very strange creatures, that seemed like earth's dolphins with legs, but they seemed harmless, living off the vegetation on the land.

There were also snake like creatures, that flew with ten wings on either side of their body, a sight that was very strange to perceive. No ocean creatures had been discovered, apart from an animal that looked like a cross between a large turtle with a shell that had webbed feet, but had the neck of a swan and feathered wings, a very strange sight to behold, as it swam on the surface of the ocean.

Their ship was beached on the pebbles, the great ocean's waves lapping the shore line. On the other side were great cliffs, with a rock face towering above the ship. Beyond the cliffs, were more rocks, with the strange vegetation growing between cracks and crevices, almost like a moss with yellow berries attached.

They had not discovered any trees, nothing seemed to get that tall. Dawson recalled that Addie said, it could be something to do with the short daylight hours.

They had decided to land on the beach, so as to be close to the caves, they wished to explore.

Dawson now sat at the controls, wondering what the hell was going on, loosing contact with Max was something he just didn't need now. His mind was telling him not to panic, but his body was telling him something completely different. He wanted to go and look for Addie, but the leader's words kept going through his mind. “On no condition are you to leave the ship, whatever!”

“This is ridiculous!” he said to himself, as he scratched his head, itching to do something positive. He tried again to get a picture on the screen, anything would have made his day, but still the screen remained blank. “There's only one thing for it...I'll call Penny up, see what she thinks, as if I didn't know already.” Dawson knew that Penny was a crew member who played by the rules and trusted their leader's words.

Using the radio contact on his wrist, he called for Penny, she came up on the screen almost immediately, looking a little dishevelled. “What's the problem Dawson? I was just having an incredible dream about you and me.” She smiled as she spoke, wondering what Dawson's reply would be.

“Under any other circumstances, I'd be quite flattered at that comment, but at this moment I'm not in the mood for jokes or flattery. We have a problem, I've lost contact with Max, I can't work out why at this moment, but I thought it would be a good idea, to go out and investigate, see if there's problem blocking the signal, so I need you up here.”

Penny had been resting in her quarter's, before her shift was due. “Okay sir...I'll be right up, but you owe me one.”

Penny was the ship's third aviator, she was one of only ten women on Obsidian that had trained to fly the crystal ships. She stood up and stretched, taking a refreshing wipe from a container beside her bed, then wiping her face and feeling a lot more refreshed. Then she put a comb through her very short blonde hair, and went to another room to relieve herself.

Getting into her uniform and zipping herself up, she asked to see a hologram of her daughter, so she could speak to her, but the computer came back with. “Sorry there is a problem with the signal...your daughter cannot be contacted.”

“Dam! I really wanted to speak to her...I'm missing her so much.”

the computer came back. “I am sorry for your loss of signal, as soon as I can connect...you will be the first one to know.”

“Okay Charlie...It's not your fault...I'm just a bit fed up at the moment.”

Charlie was the name of the computer on the ship, each ship had its own computer and had a different name, it kind of made it more personal.

Leaving her quarter's, she made her way down a long corridor, passed some other rooms, where they did memory removal and experiments. When she came to the cockpit, she entered, Dawson was still fumbling with the controls. “Any luck?” she enquired, sitting down in the seat next to him.

“No...not yet, but I'm not going to sit here twiddling with these buttons, despite what Addie said. I've had plenty of time to think, my opinion is, I should go and look for them, I can take Stewart and Justin with me.”

Penny was quick to jump in. “But you can't...Addie will go mad.”

Dawson was determined. “I don't care...this is a whole new situation and I refuse to sit here any longer, doing nothing.”

But what happens if you don't return either, what shall I do then? I don't relish the idea of being left on my own.”

“Listen Penny...I'm going to keep in radio contact with you, I'll keep you posted of where we are.”

“That's what Addie said, don't you realise the mistake you're making...you don't know what's out there for goodness sake.” She was getting agitated, she felt nervous of being left on her own, especially if she lost radio contact. Even though she liked being one of the lads, her female qualities were kicking in.

Dawson thought about his decision to take both men, then decided to leave Stewart behind with Penny. “I'll tell you what...I'll leave Stewart here and take Justin, how does that suit you?”

“It doesn't suit at all...I'd rather you left Justin here, I don't trust Stewart and we don't really get on, you know how stubborn he can be.”

“Okay...deal! Justin stays with you. Anyway, I've had enough time to think, I reckon the problem with the signal is at Obsidian's end. I'm sure we would know if something was blocking this receiver.”

Penny picked up the log book, feeling slightly angry with Dawson. She had never disobeyed Addie, and always admired the way he led his crew, but she also knew Dawson could be head strong, so she accepted what he was about to do...though reluctantly. “Go on then Dawson, but be it on your shoulders, if anything should go wrong.”

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Six ( Pt 2 ) | ABCtales