Роман Елиава "The Chronicles of Monster Planet"

Saying that my jaw dropped in surprise after his words would fail to describe the true extent of my astonishment. I turned my head and saw that my fellow astronauts felt the same – they looked as if competing for the world's most surprised expression. As befits a commander, Finn was the first to come to his senses.

“It can't be true. Is that some kind of a sick joke? Was the flight canceled?”

We shouted in support of our commander, asking the same questions all at once. Trevor raised his hand for silence.

“Yes, you heard it right. It's hard to believe. But it is true.”

“But how?” Finn asked.

“Your flight was a very long one. Almost two hundred years. A lot of things happened during this time. The most important of them occurred on Earth ten years after you left it. A way to move through the Droescher-Heim space was invented, that is, the ability to puncture conventional space in order to travel faster than light.

We fell silent.

“You had a Pullman-Anderson sub-light drive leveraging the Pullman effect. But puncturing space is instantaneous, all you need is an enormous amount of energy,” he cleared his throat.

I think all of us just sat there for a while – confused, with our jaws dropped.

“You see,” the speaker continued, “a new expedition was arranged and sent to Terra Nova. It reached the planet one hundred and thirty years before you did. Do you understand?”

We kept silent. I finally closed my mouth and heard Boris grunt incredulously next to me.

“The colonists reported that the planet is habitable, but humans can't breathe the local atmosphere. Which means modified atmosphere is required to establish bases here,” he paused.

“But a new problem arose,” Trevor continued. “The planet is inhabited. It is inhabited by an aggressive life form showing vestiges of intelligence. And these creatures have an advantage. It is their home world. These monsters wiped out the colonists from the first expedition. And from the next one too. We are descendants of the third colonization wave. This,” he made a circular motion, “is the third human base on this planet.”

“Were there other expeditions?” Finn asked.

Trevor shook his head and answered, “Communication with Earth is lost. We don't have enough power for a hyperspace puncture. And there have been no ships from Earth in the last fifty years.”

The hall sank into a deathly silence. Everyone was gripped by foreboding thoughts about the fate of their home planet, as well as relatives and friends back there. About humanity as a civilization.

“How many people do you have here?” Lisa asked.

“Twenty-eight,” Trevor replied. “Thirty-three, counting you.”

“Not enough. An almost extinct population,” Leonov commented.

“We know,” Taney looked at him. “And it grows even smaller as we continue to fight the indigenous life forms.”

The news was quite shocking. My thoughts were racing back and forth between the flight and the incomprehensible situation here, I could not concentrate on anything. But then the smartest member of our team, a winner of the Abel Prize in mathematics, Ji Cheng, spoke.

“You’ve said that the first expedition arrived a hundred and thirty years before us. But if the drive was built ten years after our departure, then the expedition should have arrived one hundred and sixty-nine years before us, because a hyperspace flight from Earth to this planet takes twenty-one years,” she said and looked at her watch.

Trevor and Bush exchanged glances. To be honest, I didn't understand how she had arrived to this conclusion.

“I said that the drive was invented, not built. The project took several decades to implement. Are you satisfied? Any other questions?” Trevor asked with displeasure when Cheng nodded.

“I'd like to examine the medical part of the base,” Boris requested.

“Yes, sure, but all in good time,” Trevor raised his hands reassuringly. “Let's have a meal first. Sheila will show you to the mess hall. Then we'll assign you stations at the base according to your professional skills.”

“And the locals? What are they?” I asked, unexpectedly for myself.

“The indigenous life forms – monsters, as we call them – are the dominant species of this planet. Their intelligence is not very developed, but they show animalistic ferocity and are quite cunning. You will have plenty of opportunities to see them. You'll see enough of them to make you sick, believe me,” Bush replied. “What else?”

We kept silent, so Finn expressed his willingness to have a meal.

“Before you leave,” Taney got up from his seat, “take these bracelets. They act as wireless passes that grant you access to the base compartments.”

“We can't go everywhere, can we?” Finn asked.

“Not until you get to know the base better. Actually, it is for your own good. There are quite many dangerous areas here.”

Sheila was our guide again, we followed her – but not until we took the bracelets from Vincent Taney's hands.

“What are they hiding from us?” the Russian doctor whispered in my ear.

“You do have a penchant for distrust, don't you, Boris?” I said, dismissing his suspicions.

“Mark my words!” he noted pointedly, his eyes flashing fire, but I was already ahead of him.

Boris hurried after me. I wanted to catch up with Cheng and have a word with her, but suddenly I ran into a charming blue-eyed brunette. Her graceful figure distracted me from the Chinese specialist and serious questions.

“Aren't you a power engineer from the Hope?” she asked in a deep, velvety voice.

“That would be me. How can I help such a beautiful lady?”

“How nice of you to say that!”

“It's a family trait,” I smiled my most enticing smile.

“I'm Anna Ericsson, an engineer at this base,” the girl held out her hand. “It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Her handshake was warm and firm. And suddenly I felt like drowning in those big, sensual eyes of hers. The reverie was broken by a metallic sound of Cheng's bracelet falling on the immaculately polished floor. Anna and I looked at her at once. But she didn't notice dropping the bracelet or our stares. Ji was looking at her watch intently. She's calculating something again, I thought. But what? She clearly doesn't like something about this place. Is something wrong with time? If only I had known back then what I know now! On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't have changed anything.

“Hey, Ji,” I called out to the astrophysicist.

“Ah?” she shuddered. “Everything's fine.”

She picked up the bracelet and hurried after Sheila to the mess hall. But it made me think. The unbalanced and overly suspicious Russian is one thing, but the extremely preoccupied Chinese astrophysicist is something completely different – I have never seen such strong emotion on her face before. That's something to consider.

“If you're going to the mess hall, I can keep you company,” Anna distracted me from my confused thoughts again.

The mess hall was a fairly large room, which could easily accommodate at least a hundred people. Now it seemed empty. As we entered, I caught several curious looks from a few people sitting there. No wonder, I thought. We are probably the most interesting event in their lives. But, then again, maybe not, recalling what Trevor had said about the local species. It would be interesting to see them. Besides, what are we supposed to do now? Our mission has lost its purpose.

A dark-skinned man, whose appearance evoked thoughts of vegetarian cuisine, came to serve us food. His black eyes with bright whites, which created a stark contrast with his dark skin, shifted from one crew member to another.

“This is our cook, Raheem Khaji,” Dr. Hill said.

“I hope his meals aren’t quite as sour as his face,” another attempt of mine to lighten the mood with a joke, again failed, inevitably triggering Sheila's displeased stare.

Despite expectations, our lunch, dinner, or whatever meal of the day it was, included meat. We had chicken. Just a small portion, accompanied with some sort of boiled grass. In addition, we had porridge and tea, which, judging by the particles floating in it, had been made from the same grass as the side dish. Well, Terra Nova is anything but a gourmet paradise, I thought, picking at the gelatinous puree with a spoon. Anna came over with her tray and took a seat opposite me.

“Do you find our food unusual?”

“Compared to the nutrient solution pumped into my body for the last two hundred years, it's just ambrosia,” I replied and recklessly put a spoonful of the puree in my mouth.

The puree was expectedly tasteless, but it made the girl smile.

“What was the food like back on Earth?” she asked. “I heard there was some sort of a delicacy, oyster. Obviously, I've never tried it.”

“Well, it’s something like a sea worm in a shell. I've never liked oysters, they are highly overrated. I'd rather have a well-done steak with a glass of chilled wine.”

“A worm? Yuck!” Anna looked at me incredulously. “You are kidding, aren't you?”

“No. Why is he following us?” I pointed my spoon at Werner, who stayed at the entrance.

“Trevor probably asked him to keep an eye on you to prevent accidents. You're new to the base and MP.”

“What's MP?”

“You are definitely new here. It's what we call this world. Monster Planet, MP for short.”

“And the locals, what are they like?” I asked, sipping the unexpectedly good tea.

The girl closed up at once.

“Is something wrong?” I was already sorry that I had asked the question. Our relationship with this lovely girl was off to a good start and might blossom into something bigger. Although two hundred years in a capsule could have a negative effect on my body, I thought uneasily.

“They are aggressive, bad,” Anna replied. “They kill us. They must be exterminated.”

“Wow, such thirst for blood!” I pointedly raised my eyebrow in surprise.

“When your friends are murdered, the blood of your enemies seems – how did you put it? – like ambrosia.”

I chose not to say anything. Perhaps she had the right to say that, who knows.

“Are they really intelligent?” I asked instead.

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are organized, social, but at the same time incapable of creative thinking. Many of their actions are instinctive, genetically coded, I believe. Like ants. I can't provide more details, I'm not a biologist.”

“But have you seen them?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” a grimace of disgust distorted Anna's pretty features. “I hope never to see them again.”

It was Finn who distracted me from the conversation.

“Max, get up. We have to get together and discuss the situation.”

“Anna, excuse me. It was very nice talking to you,” I said to the girl, standing up, “I hope we'll continue next time?”

“Absolutely,” the girl smiled, leaving her seat.

“You, French folks, just never change,” Finn commented, watching her go. “But we do have a lot to discuss, so let's meet at my place.”

A quarter of an hour later, after a short stay in my own compartment, I arrived at the commander's room. I came second after Boris and perched on the bed. Finn took a stool, while Leonov was sitting on a chair next to him. They looked like conspirators. The Russian astronaut was saying something, but stopped as I entered.

“I think we should present your theory to Max,” the commander told the biologist.

“What theory?” I asked, looking at my crew-mates.

“Boris thinks we haven't left Earth,” John continued.

“An interesting idea,” I remarked, looking at the frowning biologist. “Are there any arguments to support it?”

“Just open your eyes! Does it look like a space base to you?” Leonov rattled on. “And this tall story about new drives just doesn't hold water. Only a naive Asian could fall for such nonsense.”

He was obviously referring to Ji Cheng.

“Well, everything seems logical,” I noted, standing up for our astrophysicist.

“Oh, really?” the biologist threw up his hands, his sunken eyes darting nervously from me to Finn and back again. “I'm telling you, they're doing an experiment on us. Just like the flight to Mars! Do you remember? When they just locked up the crew on Earth.”

“But the participants knew it was staged,” the commander intervened.

“That's it. That's right,” Leonov quickly interrupted him. “They knew it, but we don't. Why? We've got to find an answer to this question. Why are they experimenting on us?”

“I think you're crazy,” I told him bluntly. “Some side effect of the conservation maybe.”

Leonov paused and looked at us. The commander's face showed doubt and pity. It was obvious that he agreed with me completely. The Russian got really worked up.

“I know better! I'm a doctor and a biologist, not you! What is it, do you think?” he asked, raising his hand.

“It's your right hand,” Lisa replied, entering the compartment.

“No,” Boris said after a solemn pause, “This is a bracelet they use to track us and take readings.”

“What's going on?” Lisa asked, perplexed. “Did I miss something?”

“Yep,” I said. “Our learned friend has put forward a conspiracy theory. He believes that there was no flight at all. Instead, we are a part of some experiment on Earth.”

Lisa eyed the biologist suspiciously for a moment, then turned to Finn.

“You know what? I do believe that something is wrong here,” she said.