Planet Of No Return

Brion called a halt before dusk, tired by a full day of walking after a sleepless night. As he had done before, he staked Ravn down so he wouldn’t go wandering when they weren’t watching. With the enemy well secured Brion enjoyed a deep and dreamless sleep, waking in the morning well refreshed for the trek.

They proceeded like this for three days, walking through the sparse cover of the foothills with the forest nearby. They only ventured out after dusk to fill their water bottles, if they had not crossed any streams during the day. Ravn only spoke once, shouting a warning when he heard the distant sound of engines. They lay hidden in the undergrowth watching the contrails of invisible aircraft above. The planes drew white lines across the horizon, coming from the north. If this was any indication, the march was certainly going in the right direction. Ravn was terrified of the aircraft, lying shuddering on the ground.

“We are close, too close,” he insisted. “We must go back.” Only with effort did Brion force him to go on. Nor did he go far. Less than an hour later he stopped and sat down under a tree.

“Now what?” Brion asked.

“We must wait until dark and then go down to the lake and pass this place by.” He waved to the ridge ahead.

“We go on now,” Brion ordered. “There is a lot of daylight left.”

“We cannot. Up ahead is a Holy Place. We cannot go there. We must pass it by. Only at night is it safe to go along the lake.”

“A Holy Place? I like the sound of that. We’ll take a look …”

“No! It is forbidden! You cannot!”

Brion was aware of the surge of emotion that seized Ravn, a fear greater than anything he had experienced before — greater even than his fear of Brion. He screeched as he attacked, knife raised. Brion stepped inside the swinging arm, blocking the downward swing with his own arm, and caught Ravn’s wrist. He seized his neck with his other hand, squeezing hard until the writhing body went limp.

“He’ll be unconscious for a long time — but I’ll stake him out just in case we’re delayed.”

“You mean while we’re looking at the Holy Place?”

“No — while I’m looking at it. You’ll stay with him. His fear was real. Whatever is up there is dangerous.”

Lea snorted with disgust. “And just what isn’t dangerous on this planet? We go together. Correct?”

Brion opened his mouth to argue — then closed it and reluctantly nodded. This was one argument that he knew he was lost even before it had begun. “Stay close to me. We have no idea what might be over the ridge.”

They walked slowly upwards through the trees, then stopped at the foot of the grassy slope. It ended at the top of the ridge a few yards further on. Brion leaned close and whispered.

“Please stay here until I see what we are facing. I promise that you will join me as soon as it is safe. All right?” She nodded agreement and sank into the shelter of a large tree.

Brion crept the last few feet — an inch at a time. At the top he paused, then raised his head with infinite caution. Looked, then raised his head even higher to stare down the other side. Then he stood and waved, calling back to Lea.

“Come up here — it’s all right. Just come and see what we have discovered.”

13: The Enemy Revealed

Lea scrambled up the slope, burning with curiosity. What could it possibly be? Ravn had been deathly afraid of something up here — yet Brion was standing on the ridge, calling to her and waving. He reached down and took her hand, helping her up the last few feet. “Look,” he said, pointing.

Ruins, the ancient remains of buildings of some kind. Lea shook her head,

“Is this the Holy Place? Just some decaying ruins. There is certainly nothing frightening here.

“To our eyes. This surely represents something important to the locals. They may be destroyed now, but you must realize that these are the first permanent structures of any kind that we have seen on this planet. I think that it is safe enough to take a closer look.”

There was certainly nothing in the tumbled walls that could offer a threat of any kind; the ruined buildings must have been centuries old. Some of the construction had been of steel, but this had long since rusted away leaving only red traces in the soil. However the larger buildings, great square structures, had been made of rammed earth faced with ceramic. Where the ceramic had been fractured the dirt had been washed away, but enough of it had remained intact so there was still solid structure in many places. Brion clambered up to take a closer look at one of the remaining walls, searching for any evidence that might remain of the original nature of the constructions. He kicked at the crumbling dirt, then pointed to a series of holes in the outer wall.