Planet Of No Return

“And that broadcast — is it possible that the crew of the plane sent it out?”

“Yes, of course! If it was a scout ship it was in that particular area for some reason. When it was fired upon they took evasive action while reporting back to their base. And unless I am mistaken — here comes the response now.” Brion pointed to the track suddenly displayed on the screen. “A ballistic missile, probably targeted on the ground defence missile site below. The war is still going on. So we know two more places where we don’t want to go.”

“The target site below — where something has just blown up with a spectacular explosion — and also the place where that missile was launched from that did all the damage.”

“Exactly. Until we know what is happening on this planet we want to stay as far away as possible from any war zones. Now let’s see if we can find some of those animals that Hartig spotted. We can be reasonably sure that they will keep well away from any battles or moving machinery. They took off when Hartig’s ship landed, and I imagine they will stay as far away as possible from anything mechanical.

They found the site they were looking for on the eastern shore of the gigantic lake that they named the Central Sea. Moving dots were scattered over the grass plains that stretched from the foothills all the way to the lake shore. Under the highest resolution of the electronic telescope, it could be seen that these were grazing animals of some kind. The location of the herd was recorded as well as other herds along the shore. There appeared to be predators as well; they saw one group fleeing in panic from what appeared to be larger and faster pursuers. But in all their searching they found absolutely no sign at all of any kind of civilization.

“That’s the area where I would like to drop,” Brion said. “On the plain where all the herds are.”

“What do you mean when you say ‘drop’? Aren’t we going to land this lifeship?”

“No. That’s the last thing we want to do. You saw what happened to that aircraft. We don’t want to get into radar range and alert their missiles. So I am going to compute a ballistic orbit that will drop me into the atmosphere at the correct spot.”

“Won’t it hurt just a little bit when you burn up, after impacting all that air waiting for you down there?”

Brion smiled. “I appreciate your concern. I’ll be wearing a gravchute that will slow my fall. I’ve also removed all of the unessential metal fittings from the pressure suit, even substituted a plastic oxygen tank. There is only the slightest chance that I can be detected by ground radar — particularly since the area we have picked seems to be clear of constructions of any kind. As soon as I hit the ground I’ll get rid of the gravchute along with the rest of the space gear.”

“But you’ll be stranded!”

“Hardly. I’ll be in communication with you.”

“Will you? Then you have invented an all-plastic radio?” Her attempt at humour failed dismally; there was only concern in her voice now.

“I intend to use these,” Brion said, pulling a length of collared cloth from the pack at his side. “I’ve worked out a simple code. When I spread these panels on the ground you’ll be able to see them clearly from space. As soon as I am down and it is daylight, I will lay out a message for you. As I move about I’ll send you regular messages so you will know everything that is happening.”

“It’s dangerous …”

“Everything about this operation is dangerous. But there is no other way that it can be done.” He turned back to the screen and examined the image carefully, finally tapping his finger on the image. “That’s where I want to go. Close to the place where the plains meet the hills. There will be woodland nearby for cover. If we time it right I can drop during the night and reach the ground at dawn. I will take shelter as soon as possible, then make my observations. If these animals are what they appear to be, wild native life forms, I can move on to the next step in the observation.”

“And that is going to be exactly what?”

“An approach on foot to one of the battle areas.”

“You can’t!”

“I’m sorry — but I must. There is very little we can learn about machine warfare from a herd of wild animals. The nearest wrecks are only about one-hundred miles away from my drop zone. An easy two or three day walk. I’ll make daily reports as I go, starting all messages with an ‘X’. This regular form does not occur in nature, so a computer scan will locate and zero in on it for you. I’m going to get some sleep now. Please wake me up an hour before I have to leave.”