Trouble in Orion's Belt; A Stellar Journey
Chapter 9: Lachesans

Dave awoke as the craft entered the atmosphere of Lachesis; he returned the craft into terrestrial air travel mode. He immediately notices the homing signal on his electro-notepad. From the coordinates that registered Richard’s location was two-hundred-twenty-three miles south. He engaged the communicator.

“This is Dave. Do you read me; over?”

The radio crackled with Julia’s voice; though it had been obscured by static; her voice was distinctive.

“We read you Dave; though poorly.”

“It’s just as well. I am inside the atmosphere of Lachesis and I’ve picked up Richard’s homing signal. I will keep you posted as to the developments.”

“Ten-four; Dave; we await the transmission.”

Dave disengaged communication and redirected the craft to the indicated trajectory on his electro-notepad.

At that same moment Richard was walking through a wet cave; and water was streaming down its walls creating a thin stream of water at his feet. He was following a group of creatures similar to the ones he had encountered on Moiraé but much smaller in stature. He had met them upon arrival but at first he rejected their friendly gestures to follow them.

They had frightened him at first; not knowing what to expect.

Aside from being smaller these creatures were a reddish brown in color whereas the Moiraé’ version were black with black eyes. This creature had red eyes pushing up from the thick tuft of fur.

They didn’t resemble any animal he had ever seen but more like trees; only with upper and lower limbs. The upper limbs had multiple appendages which were also multi-jointed.

The creatures exhibited remarkable dexterity and seemed to communicate by moving the appendages in a way to create different word symbols. Richard found them quite remarkable in the way the appendages flowed from one symbol to the next. He was also grateful in that they didn’t look upon him as a source of food.

He determined that they were somewhat a vegetarian creature; subsisting mainly on mosses and fungal food forms; none of which had Richard found appetizing; even as hungry as he had become. The creatures had insisted he eat the mosses they had brought to him and they seemed disappointed in his decline. They did however seem delighted that he accepted the water they gave him. Richard found the water remarkably pure which could have been due to the fact that its natural containment was in rocks.

Richard found himself on a large shelf which formed an indenture in the side of a cliff. The area was relatively dry although the overhead was divided by streams of rushing water which formed a massive waterfall. Richard was still wearing his reflective protective overall and wasn’t about to remove it knowing he would eventually brave the savage sunlight again. He did however loosen the top and removed his arms briefly to remove his backpack.

He found a dry corner on the ledge and rummaged through the pack until he found the sandwiches Jul had prepared for him the day before.

The creatures eyed him curiously and showed fascination at the way he fed himself. They were also curious of the strange box that he had clung to.

It was his electro-notepad which he checked periodically to make sure the homing signal was still activated. Richard was completely unaware that he had been teleported to Lachesis and was confident that Dave was diligently plotting coordinates for his rescue.

The creatures around him were no doubt a semi-subterranean species which spent a great deal of its time underground. The configuration of the appendages on its upper limbs was remarkably suited to burrowing and excavating.

Richard was satisfied and relieved at this point that creature viewed him as an odd curiosity. They showed remarkable intelligence in the way they intervened amongst themselves and were somewhat successful in their attempt to let him know they meant him no harm. At this point they seemed to show him respect for distance; something he seemed to crave.

He had problems however in his attempts to communicate with them as they have no concept of literal verbal communication.

Richard finished his sandwiches and shortly afterward his electro-notepad crackled with static. Embedded in the static was the unmistakable but incoherent sound of a human voice. He grabbed the device enthusiastically. ‘It has to be Dave,’ he thought. He waited patiently for five minutes and a clearer transmission was heard.

He pressed the send button: “Dave, this is Richard, do you read me; over.”

The static enveloped voice of Dave Lambert responded:

“Richard! It’s great to hear your voice. I’ve got the homing signal so I should reach you within twenty-five minutes.”

“Great and then I will introduce you to my new friends.”

“New, friends?”

“I’ll make my way back to the surface and explain it to you when you arrive.”

“Back to the surface? Man! Richard you’ve been busy.”

“Oh, nothing more than the unusual I just ran into some interesting folks.”

“Are they anything like the Moiraé’?”

“They seem to be a different variety that the first encounter but still in all they are Moiraé.”

“Richard; They are not Moiraé. You’re on Lachesis.”

“Lachesis? How is that possible? I was headed for the plane and I was drawn into some kind of vessel. I was thrown out the other side.”

“We are going to have a long talk when I catch up to you.”

“Yes I think the conversation is already underway. This is the strangest assignment we’ve ever ventured.

“You said it brother. There have been far too many surprises. Well anyway; the folks back at dome are certainly relieved that you are okay.”

“How is Jul? Did she make it back okay?”

“She’s fine. She let us in on what had happened and that is how I found you. We would never have known what had happened to you otherwise.”

Richard was almost to the surface when he heard the roar of the jet aircraft over the sound of the rushing water. A few of the creatures followed him back; unknowing they were about to meet another human. They were merely curious as to why Richard had suddenly decided to go back to the surface. They were a curious sort of creature anyway but to be in the company of one as impetuous as Richard it made it all the more compelling. Dave was about to have the experience of meeting these delightful creatures as well.

Meeting the Martians some eighteen years earlier was eventful but since the Martians were human it was somewhat less of an impact. And these creatures walked on the walls and ceiling as well as the floor.

Richard had emerged just as Dave landed the craft just over a hundred yards from the mouth of the cave where Richard had emerged. And the creatures swarmed around him like a nest of baby spiders. He noticed for the first time the fine fir around the twig like appendages that grew out of its odd shaped body. It was a much lighter color that at first appearance looked white but at closer study was a light yellow.

Dave gasped at the sight of the creatures.

“Richard! Have you noticed what followed you here?”

“Of course I wanted you to meet my new friends. I they greeted me the moment I walked into the cave. Actually what I thought was a cave turned out to be an excavated hollow.”

“Are you going to tell me that you trust these creatures?” Dave jumped back as the creatures fanned their appendages towards him.

“I flinched too; the first time I encountered them,” Richard said. I’ve discovered that it is some kind of greeting and they are welcoming you into their home.”

“Are you sure? I mean they have some kind of pointed things on the ends of their appendages?”

“Relax; they are like finger nails. I’ve been with these creatures since yesterday and I admit the first encounter was frightening. But after a few hours I realized that their gestures are friendly.”

“Okay, if you say so, Richard,” he said; still keeping his distance.

“So, do you want to take a look around before we head back? This place is really fascinating.”

“We really should be getting back. Donna and Jul are worried sick and the rest are anxious to get you back to the compound as well.”

“It will only take a few minutes and besides I’ve been away for two days and they’ll hardly notice the difference.”

Dave walked back to the Cliffside with Richard and the creatures.

“You really can’t help but notice how clean these areas are,” Richard pointed out. “These creatures are self domesticated and they seem to be tribal; though I haven figured out who the leader is yet.”

“Maybe it’s him over there?” Dave pointed to one gesturing with his appendages.

“They’re just having a conversation. Notice in a moment one of them will gesture back.”

“Hmmm? So they are,” Dave agreed. They’re probably talking about us.”

“Yes, they probably are but aren’t we talking as much about them.”

“Sure; but why wouldn’t we? We just met them and know nothing about them.”

“Don’t you think that it’s only right that they have the same fascinations about us?”

“Well, if you put it that way. This place is pretty wet isn’t it?” Dave changed the subject.

“That’s because we are near a waterfall. The water here is the purest I’ve ever tasted. You should have some.”

“You drank the water? Richard you don’t know what’s in it; you could get sick or even drugged.”

“Relax; I only tried it after I got really thirsty. It’s really clean water. Come-on let’s go up and look at the falls.”

Dave reluctantly followed Richard through the narrow rock passages; which he had to admit were not a natural phenomena. They had been carefully and precisely dug. They were however more suited to the creatures’ needs than it was to human’s but were accessible nonetheless.

They had emerged on the ledge where Richard had been earlier.

“It’s easy to see why the creatures prefer this area to others. It is remarkably cooler here.”

“Yes, it couldn’t be more than ninety degrees Fahrenheit up here,” Richard readily agreed.

“Okay, so what do you make of these creatures.”

“I don’t know; I’ve been filming and photographing them in hopes I could discuss it with Brad later. But without further examination they are remarkable creatures aren’t they?”

“Well, you can’t deny that they are friendly,” Dave agreed.

“I can’t even begin to evaluate their behavior because I’ve never encountered anything else like them except those down in the cell”

“That’s right Brad and the Wilson’s have been studying the films and pictures you took. They appear to be similar in shape.”

“Yes but the ones in the cell are much larger and more menacing; at least in appearance that is.”

“They also let out a loud noise,” Dave reminded him.

“Oh these creatures let out noises too; when they’re excited about something, or when something disturbs them. Their communications are nonetheless non-verbal.”

“But wouldn’t the sounds; rudimentary as they are; be considered communicating.”

“Hmmm? That’s an interesting point and I will consider posing it to Julia.”

About that time a few of the creatures in an open area of the ledge began rolling on the ground; in a playful way. They would roll until they would bump another creature and that creature would in turn fall then roll into another. The creatures seemed quite amused at this action. Then a large number of them formed a group and rolled over to a dry spot on the cliff. They then formed a wall by standing one atop the other that was at least fifteen feet high and about twelve feet wide. The uppermost creatures anchored themselves to outcroppings of rocks above. The lower most creatures then climbed up the living ladder until they were at the top. They continued this peculiar action until they were all at the top of the cliff. Presumably they were continuing their antics at the top of the falls.

“Now that is interesting,” Dave remarked.

“Hmmm? I wonder if I could get them to do something for me.” Richard suggested with a wild look.

“I don’t like it when you get that wild look in your eyes. What are you scheming?”

Richard glared back at him in resentment. “Scheming? I just have an idea; that’s all.”

“Your ideas have a tendency to get us into trouble.”

“Okay, Dave but what I am thinking is we could get them to take my electro-notepad up and have them record it. Is that such a bad idea?”

“Hmmm? I will admit that your idea has some interesting aspects to it. The trick would be to explain to them how to go about it. But first you should transfer the data that you recorded earlier over to mine just in case something happens.”

“I don’t know if you noticed but they seem to have been looking for a way to communicate with us. All we need to do is set the device to record and let them know that we want them to do something for us having to do with the notepad.”

“This I have to see.”

Richard walked over to one of the creatures with the device set to record. Just as Richard suspected he had the creature’s immediate attention. He handed it the device and it curiously rolled the device between its appendages as if examining it; or one would assume. The creature did this for about thirty seconds then handed it back to Richard.

“Well, you did get a little further than I would have thought,” Dave taunted.

“I’m not done yet.” Richard motioned for the creature to follow him to the face of the cliff. He slapped the wall and then made climbing motions with his arms and legs. The creature seemed to understand. Then Richard held his palms parallel with the ground and motioned in the direction of some other creatures then he handed the device back to the creature and pointed to the top of the cliff. The creature gestured over to a group of his friends who gleefully rolled over to the cliff facing. They performed just as the previous group and carried the device to the top of the falls. Richard was grinning looking back at Dave.

“I’ll have to admit; that this was a stroke of genius. Now I wonder what kind of video we’ll get back.”

“Well we’ll get something to look at least.”

The two men looked up for almost a minute at the top of the cliff. Then unexpectedly Richard’s electro-notepad came hurling downward. The two men flinched to dodge pieces as they flew in different directions. They stood stunned for a few moments and then looked up to a line of creatures at the top who appeared readily pleased with themselves.

“Well, it was a good idea,” Dave said in disappointment.

Richard slapped Dave’s shoulder in a friendly gesture.

“Don’t worry friend; I still had the device on transmit.”

Dave lifted up his notepad and pressed a few buttons

“There is a playback. How did you realize that this might happen?”

“I didn’t; I got the idea from you and just in case they might leave it up there so I left it on transmit.”

“Well, I’ve had enough of this and I’m sure the rest are eager for us to return,” Dave insisted.