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| Sci-Shorts-200 The Quarantine One Two Three |
The
Quarantine
Nick Zentor * One The oblong space-craft landed in a remote part of the planet in a field of weeds on a gradual slope, in the midst of a forest of trees. “There is an abundance of life here,” the spaceman known as Nulka said to his crewmates, Kelvo and Tovek. “I’m not certain, but the sensors appear to detect intelligent structures in the distance.” “How distant? Kelvo said. “About 10 k-units,” Nulka said. “Tovek and I will investigate on foot,” said Kelvo, who was in command. “Nulka, you will remain here and continue the environmental study. We can maintain radio-contact, but use it only for emergencies.” Kelvo and Tovek checked their portable units, decided the atmosphere was safe enough to go without helmets, and left the craft. They walked carefully down the gradual inclining slope and looked about with curious interest, noting the various forms of plant-life, small animal life, insects, and geological strata. Kelvo stopped near the edge of the forest, crouched down, and examined a plant closely. He picked an insect off it with a gloved hand, and put it into a plastic bag, then added a small branch of leave it to the same bag. He stood up tall again, secured the bag at his side, in a larger bag attached to his belt, and then located an opening in the brush that led into the forest. They walked slowly and curiously through the trees, stopping to take pictures with a small photo-recorder unit every now and then. It was a long walk through the forest, but they were explorers and collected data on the environment as they went. They encountered a babbling brook of water, strewn with large, stone boulders, and took a sample of the water in a vial, then carefully climbed across it, over the rocks, to the opposite side. There they found a hilly meadowland, where the trees thinned out. They walked over brief hills, around crops of stone, through sparsely scattered trees, for a few k-units, and encountered a wooden fence. On the other side of the fence was a large field, with patches of weed and sparsely scattered plants of different varieties, and an oddly pungent mushroom-like growth which they chose to avoid. Across the field, in the distance, were a group of four-legged beasts, which appeared to be grazing on the plants in the field. Further beyond the beasts, around a k-unit in the distance, was a red and white structure. They studied it with long-range field-spex and judged it to be of an intelligent design. “This wooden structure blocking our way,” Kelvo observed, “appears to be confining the beasts. I suggest we walk around it, just in case they are dangerous.” They did so; followed the fence south, for about 100 meters, and it curved about in the direction toward the structure. Another 200 meters, they crossed a dirt-road that led through a gate in the fence, and continued to follow it. Several hundred meters later, they reached the end of the fence and sited the structure less than 100 meters away. They stood at the edge of a cluster of trees and studied it closely. There were actually several structures clustered together, some large, others small. There was a big, red, box-like structure, a tall, silver, cylindrical structure, another large, somewhat irregular white structure with many angles, 2 long, semi-translucent structures, and 2 or 3 smaller structures about it. * I originally used the pseudonym Sabrina Holten for this one. For explanation, see List of Pseudonyms |
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| Copyright 4/2007 by Nick Zentor |