ON A CRYSTALLINE WORLD

EARTH DATE: May 1st, 3278
SPACE COMMANDER JOSH STONE'S LOG:

The H.M.A.S. Maribyrnong was three days out from Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri C) where we had had a settlement on planet Proxima d, when I heard from one of my officers, Space Lieutenant Gloria dela Tour:

"Space Commander, we have picked up what appears to be an uncharted sun on the long-range sensors."

"How far off?" I asked, turning my grey-leatherette chair to face the port side of the cockpit, where the tall, muscular, yet feminine woman sat watching the monitor screen which had replaced an open window centuries ago. Since most of space, away from any sun, is pitch black windows are a pointless weak spot, endangering the crew needlessly.

"About five light-years' distance," said Gloria, an attractive redhead in her early thirties: "So if we risk using the Space-Warping Drive we can be there in eighteen minutes or so."

I considered for a moment. Space warping is nothing like Gene Roddenberry's fanciful Warp Factors where you turn on your craft's engines super duper fast and magically bypass the impossibility of travelling faster than light. In reality, as Einstein explained, since you cannot travel faster than light, to get light-years across space, you must stay still and bring space rushing down upon you like a billion trillion tsunamis. With the possibility each time of creating a new Big Bang and thus ending the universe -- possibly to be replaced by a new universe where life would have to start all over again. If whatever caused the first spark of life on Earth, and nowhere else as far as we had thus far ascertained, happened again. However, space warping has been done for centuries now without wiping out the universe, so on occasions we risked it to cross deep space.

"Are you sure it's a star?" I asked.

"What else could it be" asked Gloria: "It has a luminosity of 3.5 to the power of 24 watts. That's almost as bright as our sun."

"Yet it's temperature isn't much greater than the Earth's," pointed out Vincent Violini, my First Officer, a tall raven-haired Latino: "Which seems to rule out it being a sun."

"Then what else can it be, with that much luminosity?" responded Gloria.

"Let's go find out," I said; as much to prevent a shouting match between the two officers as out of idle curiosity. To my Chief Flight Officer (pilot), Veronica 'Ronnie' Booth I gave the order: "Initiate Space-Warping Drive."

"Yes sir," said the thirty-something brunette, sounding unenthusiastic as she began pressing a sequence of buttons on her drive monitor: "Voice activation required, sir."

"Voice activation given," I said.

"Voice activation accepted," said the computer in a sultry Marilyn Monroe voice; selected by Ronnie, a big Monroe fan.

Grabbing the arms of my command chair, despite being strapped in, I tried to ignore the nauseous feeling as space raced in towards us in a kaleidoscopic burst of every colour in the rainbow, plus some I had never seen before, racing in great streamers of light, plus irritating flickers of colour like a trillion multi-coloured Christmas tree lights blinking on and off in nanoseconds.

"When will it end?" shouted Ronnie a little claustrophobic.

"Turn off the viewer screen!" I shouted; having forgotten to suggest that earlier.

"Yes Commander," said Ronnie, doing as instructed.

However, it made little difference with the streamers of colour and flickering lights sending two of the flight deck officers into epileptic seizures, even though neither of them had any history of epilepsy in their families.

Finally, we stopped and I gave the order: "Get them to the sick bay."

"Sir!" said Ronnie initiating an intership transporter, to teleport the two officers to Sick Bay.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We overshot the star, or whatever it is, by approximately a quarter of a million kilometres," said Thomas Lombardo, Secondary Flight Officer. A tall burly man who looked more like a builder's labourer than a technician and space pilot.

"How long would it take us to get there at standard speed using the main drive?" I asked, not wanting to risk space warping again if possible.

"Less than a half an hour, sir," said Ronnie.

"Them, let's do it," I said and Ronnie started punching on her drive monitor screen again.

In the suggested time, actually twenty-seven minutes, we were orbiting what turned out to be a surprising luminescent planet, covered in what appeared to be fossilised forests.

"Should we go down to explore?" asked Thomas as we orbited a hundred and twenty kilometres up.

Unlike the Earth whose atmosphere extended about a hundred and sixty kilometres, this strange luminescent world's atmosphere, although as strong as Earth's, only extended a hundred kilometres or so.

"No, we'll scan the planet and send video back to Earth..." I began, stopping as near-deafening alarms started sounding in the cabin and the drive engines started to roar like prehistoric monsters.

"No choice, Commander," said Ronnie: "The drive engines have been seriously damaged by the space warping. It will take us about a week to repair them on the planet, perhaps three months in orbit."

"Then take us down, Chief Flight Officer," I commanded.

"Sir!" she said typing upon her drive monitor screen again.

In less than two ten we had landed upon the planet and were amazed by the sight before us:

"What the hell are they?" asked Thomas Lombardo.

"Fossilised trees," I answered, looking at the myriad shiny silver-white tree-shaped objects which formed a vast crystalline forest; which fortunately Ronnie had managed to avoid landing amongst, having found a shiny crystalline plain to land in.

"No sir, I meant those," said Thomas.

He pointed toward a number of huge crystalline towers seeming kilometres tall, standing a couple of kilometres in the distance.

"Well, I'll be damned," I said as we prepared to send a landing party to explore the planet.

"You're needed on board to help with the repairs, Chief Flight Officer," I said to Ronnie: "So I'll take Thomas, Gloria, and four security officers with me."

"Sir," said Ronnie, clearly disappointed.

To conserve power we exited the Maribyrnong by foot, rather than using the transporters and started out toward the crystalline towers. Our boots crackled against the crystalline grass beneath our feet.

"How can there be crystal grass?" asked the Chief Security Officer Desmond Dukakis, a tall bull of a man who was the greatest marksman that the Australian Space Academy had ever produced.

"It's not really grass," I said: "It's crystalline forms mimicking grass that used to grow here centuries, maybe millennia ago."

We were still a full kilometre from the nearest of the crystalline towers when we could hear the singing.

"There must be life here after all," said Thomas.

However, as we neared the tower, we realised:

"It's the tower," I said: "The wind whistling through the crystalline structure, creating a form of singing."

"Wow, it's high," said Gloria craning her neck: "Seems to reach up to Heaven."

"Or Nirvana, or the Afterlife, Space Lieutenant," teased Thomas: "Earth protocol mandates we don't use religious terms, unless we cover them all."

"Very funny, Flight Officer," said Gloria, sounding anything but amused.

"'Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise'," sang Thomas. Then blushing: "Sorry, but that's what the singing reminds me of."

As we grew nearer, we saw hideously shapen creatures standing around the tower's base.

"Draw lasers," I instructed, however, everyone except myself already had their weapons in their hands.

We crept forward warily until we could see the hideous creatures were in fact metallic statues of creatures, which presumably had once existed upon the still unnamed planet.

All was silent, except for the whistling-singing from the crystalline tower.

"It still sounds like Maurice Chevalier to me," insisted Thomas.

"Who?" asked Desmond Dukakis.

"An ancient singer from about a thousand years ago," I explained

"A great singer..." started Thomas, stopping as the shrilling started in the distance through the crystalline forest.

"What the Hell...?" said Gloria, as a great ways off resounded monstrous bellowing the likes of which had not been heard on Earth since the days of the dinosaurs and winged reptiles.

"Could the crystal statues represent monstrous creatures still living here today?" asked Desmond.

"My first thought is no," I said: "My second is, I bloody well hope not."

Before anyone could comment, a hideous bird song part cawing, part shrilling started up in the distance.

As the cawing-shrilling continued, Gloria asked: "Does it seem to be getting nearer?"

By way of answer, the towers' singing increased in volume as though calling to the unseen terrors, who were now undoubtedly approaching. Both the volume of their shrilling-cawing and the crashing of crystalline trees and bushes shattering beneath their movement made it certain that they were rapidly nearing.

"Should we retreat?" asked a terrified Thomas Lombardo.

"No, we stand and fight!" insisted Desmond Dukakis, getting murmurs of agreement from the other security officers, two men, and a woman Meryl, who was reportedly a dead shot like Dukakis.

"I make that decision, Chief Security Officer!" I said, as through the crystalline forest continued the sound of glass breaking, as the unseen creatures rapidly neared.

As we watched, strange shimmering began to show vaguely in the distance. Something was definitely on the way. Standing by the towers we could hear the creatures charging toward us, but still could not make out what they were.

"If we're going, we'd better go now," said Gloria, all bravado gone.

"Too late, we stand and fight!" insisted Meryl.

In the distance we could just discern strange silvery shapes, looking vaguely like animals. But we still couldn't make out what kind.

"Maybe it is too late to run," I said, having never liked to retreat from a skirmish.

As the creatures neared we could see to our amazement that, like the towers, they were crystalline. Strange part pig-like, part bear-like beasts made of living crystals reflecting sunlight just like giant mirrors.

"How is that possible?" demanded Thomas: "Their movement should shatter them to pieces."

"Who cares," said Meryl: "They're charging, so I'm shooting."

Before I could even give the order, the four security guards fired as the first creatures smashed their way out of the crystalline forest. Two of the officers missed, destroying crystal plants, but dead-eyed Meryl and Desmond hit their targets, and, squealing like pigs at a slaughter yard, the two crystalline creatures shattered into thousands of tiny crystal shards.

"Two down, seven to go," said Meryl aiming again.

She fired two quick laser bursts and two more squealing crystal beasts shattered into shards no larger than grains of sand.

Shrilling in terror, the other beasts reversed direction and ran back into the forest. Squealing as they ran, they smashed through the crystal trees in a mad stampede.

"Well, that takes care of them," said Desmond, patting Meryl on the left shoulder: "Great shooting."

"Thanks, Chief," she said, blushing from the compliment.

"Perhaps we'd better get back now," suggested Gloria.

"Yes," I said, and we turned around.

As we started back the crystalline tower's singing took on a shrill, almost hysterical pitch.

"What's it doing?" asked one of the security guards.

"Singing in distress for the four creatures we slaughtered," said Thomas.

"We had no choice," insisted Desmond.

"Agreed," I said, although, like Thomas, I was unhappy that we had had to kill the strange, horrible, yet wonderful crystalline life forms.


EARTH DATE: May 3rd, 3278
SPACE COMMANDER JOSH STONE'S LOG:

It was two days before we set out to explore the strange crystalline world further. This time Thomas and Gloria declined to come along, so I allowed Ronnie Booth to come along since the repairs to the Maribyrnong were coming along nicely, and I decided that they could spare the ravenette for a few hours:

Returning to the crystalline towers, we looked around for, and soon found, doorways to enter the towers.

"Do you think they'll open without shattering?" asked Meryl, referring to the crystal doors, with crystal handles and hinges.

"Only one way to find out," insisted Ronnie Booth.

She grabbed the doorknob and turned it with a grating sound, making us wonder if she had damaged the mechanism. Ignoring the grating, she swung the door inward and took the lead.

Inside was even eerier than out; everything was crystalline, chairs, cabinets, and a large spiral staircase in the centre of the tower.

"Transparent towers?" said Meryl.

"Not quite," said Ronnie: "Translucent. They give us a hint at what's beyond each wall, without quite being able to see right through them."

"Do you think anything could be living in the tower?" asked Desmond Dukakis, covering his ears as we were almost deafened as the tower started singing-whistling again.

When it muted a little, I said: "If we hadn't been attacked by the crystalline creatures two days ago, I would have said no. But now, I don't know."

After looking around the ground floor reception area, I started toward the spiral crystal staircase in the centre of the building, which had turned out to be much larger than we had realised from outside. The ground floor must have been nearly a kilometre squared, allowing for many apartments upstairs.

"Do you think it's safe to try the stairs? asked Meryl.

I stopped for a moment to consider, then said: "If we want to find out what lies upstairs, we have no choice but to risk it."

"If this thing towers kilometres into the air, as it seems to, there must be some kind of elevators," pointed out Ronnie.

"Would that be any safer than the stairs?" asked Desmond.

Ronnie and I exchanged puzzled looks, neither of us having an answer. Finally, shrugging, I started up the crystalline steps, which made precarious cracking sounds beneath my big feet.

"Maybe the women should go first since we're probably lighter," suggested Meryl.

"Thanks a lot," said Ronnie, making us all laugh.

So slowly we tiptoed as best we could up the creaking crystalline steps until we reached the first floor. The long corridor looked like the corridor of any other tenement building but had shiny crystalline walls broken occasionally on each side by doors with numbers 1001, 1002, etc. Suggesting people lived or had once lived within them.

"Just like a tenement building on Earth, except for the translucent walls," said Meryl.

"Let's find out," said Ronnie. Grabbing the doorknob she twisted it and managed, somehow, to open the door without shattering the lock or door.

Inside, we found a living room with a crystalline sofa and lounge chairs, crystalline cabinets, and what looked like a crystalline viewer screen taking up all of one large wall.

"A TV monitor, or CCTV viewer?" wondered Ronnie.

"'Big Brother is watching over you'," I sang.

"'There's not a thing that you can do'," Ronnie sang back at me, having clearly kept up on 21st-century music.

"I wonder if we can get it going?" asked Desmond.

"First, let's check out the other rooms," I suggested.

The first room looked pretty much the same as any Melbourne bedroom, except for everything being crystalline; including the large Queen Sized bed, and the two figures lying on it. Although their features were very angular, like rough-cut diamonds, they undoubtedly were humanoid.

"People of some kind; or statues?" asked Meryl.

"Who lays statues on a bed?" asked Ronnie: "Even a crystalline bed."

"Good point," said Meryl, as we set of to explore the next room.

This time there were three child-sized beds, each containing a child-sized figure, at least one a girl; the other two were probably boys. Their features were rough-hewn like their parents' as though they were hastily carven statues.

"Is this a living family, who are still sleeping?" asked Desmond: "Or has something happened to them, like the human statues at Pompeii?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," I said.

"Should we try to awaken them?" asked Meryl.

"And have their parents attack us?" asked Ronnie.

"No, let's leave them alone, and go check out other apartments," I said.

The next apartment was merely a bed-sitting room with a crystalline sofa and a small double bed. No one was in the bed, but a pair of adult males were seated on the sofa, staring toward a wall-sized viewer screen.

"Looks like it is a TV, if they fell asleep sitting in front of it," suggested Ronnie.

"If they're sleeping, why aren't they awake yet?" asked Meryl: "It's after eight-thirty."

"Maybe they're cold-blooded... or whatever they have," I said: "And need the afternoon sun to warm them enough before they can move."

In other rooms, the crystalline figures were standing rigid in living rooms like crystalline statues. Either choosing to sleep standing up, or else having been caught that way when their 'blood' temperature dropped too much for them to stay awake.

"Do we need to check out the rest of the tower?" asked Ronnie, suddenly looking startled.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I think one of the statue people has moved," she said, pointing to where two figures stood near the living room window.

Looking around, we saw that she was right. The two figures had previously been facing each other, side-on to the window; now one of them had turned slightly toward us.

"Time for an advance to the rear," I said, only half joking, and we quickly returned to the crystalline corridor: "No point checking any further. The crystal floor is only just taking our weight."

As it creaked beneath us, Ronnie said: "So let's get downstairs before we collapse through the floor."

Trying our best not to panic we managed to get downstairs unscathed, and out into the crystalline world.

Where we noticed for the first time rough-hewn pig-like crystal creatures standing, frozen at the start of the forest.

"That seems to confirm that the beings in this world freeze if the temperature drops below a certain level," I said.

By way of answer, the crystalline tower started singing again, along with the other towers a kilometre or so away, as a warm wind passed by.

Beyond the city, in the crystalline forest, a strange high-pitched squealing began slowly ringing out.

"Did one of the statues move slightly?" asked Meryl, pointing to the crystalline beasts: "Are they waking up? Did an animal move ever so slightly?"

As the creatures started to rouse, we beat a hasty retreat, wary of fighting them off again.


EARTH DATE: May 6th, 3278
SPACE COMMANDER JOSH STONE'S LOG:

Despite our trepidation at the knowledge that the statues were people of a kind, and our run-in with the pig-like bull-like crystalline creatures, I was determined to explore the crystalline forest itself. However, all hands were needed on deck for the next couple of days to help with the repairs to the Maribyrnong. So I was unable to go exploring again for another three days.

This time, we set out early, while it was still dark so that the beasts would be motionless, and took with us military torches, as well as wearing thermal suits to protect us against the cold.

As we reached the singing towers, wary in case the motionless pig-bears suddenly came to life, we headed toward the crystal trees. Unknowing what awaited us in the crystal forest, death or sanctuary?

Despite our best efforts, we were unable to avoid crushing the crystalline plants as we moved slowly through the translucent forest. We had been moving for perhaps an hour when Meryl said:

"I think I can hear the sound of water flowing."

"On this crystalline world?" I asked.

"Experts say that life cannot exist without water," said Edith Quantrain, a tall attractive fifty-something brunette; our Chief Science Officer: "But, of course, they're basing that solely upon their knowledge of carbon-based life forms; not crystalline life forms."

Turning to Meryl, I asked the ash blonde: "Which way do you think it's coming from?"

"Perhaps a kilometre to the right," she said, pointing in roughly the correct direction.

"Then let's go," I said, allowing Desmond Dukakis and Meryl to lead the way.

After about eighteen minutes we came to a bubbling river, perhaps a kilometre or slightly less across.

"What do you think the liquid is?" I asked Edith.

She sniffed, then said: "Since it's odourless and colourless it could be liquid nitrogen. Although, it should evaporate quickly once the day starts to warm up. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of negative 196 Degrees Celsius. Although, on this goofy world..."

She stopped, startled by something ... almost falling into the river. She was saved in the nick of time by Desmond and Meryl grabbing her by the shoulders.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Something just swam past," said Edith.

"That's impossible," I started to say, as a large crystalline 'fish' broke the surface for a moment, as though checking us out, then dived again and swam on: "Or maybe not."

"So whatever it is, crystalline creatures can grow in it," said Edith: "Assuming crystalline life forms grow the same way non-living crystals grow back on Earth. Although on this wacky planet who can say? I wish I had brought some sterile containers with me, but I hadn't expected to find anything to take samples of."

"On this goofy world, always expect the unexpected," I said.

"Yes, sir," said Edith blushing until I laughed to let her know I was only teasing.

As more and more of the crystal fish swam by, clearly no longer concerned by our presence, Meryl asked:

"Do the fish thingies wake earlier than the animals and humanoids? Or is it later than it seems?"

"Good question," I said as we all started looking around.

"No sign of it getting light yet?" said Desmond.

"On Earth, although they rest, fish don't actually sleep," pointed out Edith Quantrain: "Maybe it's the same with the crystalline fish on this world."

We managed to capture images of the crystalline creatures to our wrist vid-recorders and would have stayed longer. Except that a huge crystalline shark suddenly broke the surface, scaring the Hell out of us, and sending the smaller fish scurrying away, making a strange jingly-jangly noise like chimes on a windy day.

"Time to leave," said Edith, without getting any argument from the rest of us, as we headed deeper into the crystalline forest.

We had barely started again when we were startled again. This time when something the size of an opossum or bilby jingle-jangled away to safety as Edith almost stepped on the creature, which must have been hiding or sleeping in the crystalline grass.

Laughing I said: "The same thing happened to me on my uncle's farm in Glen Hartwell as a child, only it was a wild rabbit hiding in the native Australian grasses, not a crystalline critter."

"I'm glad to know I'm not the only unobservant person here," said Edith blushing as soon as she said it, as though thinking I'd reprimand her.

Onward we journeyed, occasionally encountering other small creatures, this time managing to see them before almost stepping upon them. But as daylight started to fall, we decided it was time to return to the ship. However, we had misjudged our return since compasses didn't work on this beautiful but crazy world, and found ourselves outside one of the crystalline towers. Not the one we had explored previously, but a tower a kilometre or so further from the Maribyrnong.

We quick-marched back toward the spaceship, and had reached the original tower, only to find a couple of crystalline people standing outside as we neared. Although rough hewn like before, the creatures, in the sunlight, looked beautiful in a strange haunting way.

"Who are you?" asked the crystalline man in a high-pitched voice.

"What are you?" asked his quite beautiful wife or friend.

"We are human beings from the planet Earth in the Milky Way," I said.

The two 'people' exchanged puzzled looks, then carefully retreated back inside the crystalline tower. Which began singing again as soon as they entered, as though mimicking their terror at the sight of us.

"It seems we look as strange to them as they do to us?" said Desmond.

"I thought they looked beautiful," said Edith.

"In a rough-chiselled kind of way," said Meryl with a laugh.

"Remember, you're our science officer, not our poet," I teased Edith as we started back toward the Maribyrnong.

"A scientist can still appreciate beauty," she insisted.


EARTH DATE: May 8th, 3278
SPACE COMMANDER JOSH STONE'S LOG:

By late afternoon on the 8th of May, the repairs to the Maribyrnong were completed and we were ready to take off once we completed a large series of flight checks. I would have liked to spend another hour or two exploring the crystalline world, however, we would struggle to make our expected return date to Melbourne Space Port at Tullamarine, formerly Melbourne Airport, anyway, due to the week needed for repairs, without taking time out for further sightseeing.

We had barely started our checks, when what sounded like heavy rain or hail started against the outside of the Maribyrnong.

"Video screen on!" I instructed Ronnie Booth.

"Sir," she said, doing as instructed.

We could see nothing on the front viewer, but when we circled the outside of the ship, we were startled to see dozens of the crystalline people standing outside the Maribyrnong. Some were hurling crystalline spears or implements, tools etc. at the ship; others settled for throwing crystalline stones at us. Fortunately, our titanium-aluminium alloy hull was too strong for the crystalline projectiles, all of which shattered upon impact with the outside hull of the ship.

"I guess that means they want us to leave their planet," said First Officer Vincent Violini.

"All right already, we're going soon!" said Ronnie. However, the outside com was off, so the crystalline people could not hear her.

"Ignore them and continue with the pre-liftoff checks," I instructed.

"Sir," said Ronnie, although clearly wanting to go outside and chase the crystalline people away.

Coming onto the flight deck, Desmond Dukakis asked: "Should we go outside and shoo them off, sir?"

"No, they can't hurt the ship, and we've done enough damage to this planet without risking killing any of them," I said: "But we'll have to shoo them off somehow before takeoff, in case the ignition blasts melt them. After all crystal is just strengthened glass, and glass melts readily."

It took another fifty-plus minutes to finish the pre-flight checks, not helped by the constant rain of crystalline objects against the outside hull of the Maribyrnong. Finally, however, to our monumental relief, we were ready to take off.

"Now how do we scare them off before ignition?" asked Ronnie.

"Try playing Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries very loudly through the outside speakers," suggested Gloria dela Tour: "That always startles me, if I'm not expecting it."

"Fair enough," I said unable to resist laughing: "Let's do it."

"Sir," said Ronnie before tapping a number of buttons upon her drive monitor.

The instant Ride of the Valkyries started booming outside, the crystalline people dropped their projectiles and ran off toward the crystalline towers.

"Mission accomplished," said Ronnie, smiling cheekily.

"Then take us up, Chief Flight Officer," I instructed, and we were soon away from the strange, beautiful and potentially deadly crystalline world.

"Next stop Tullamarine ... I hope," said Ronnie.

"Fingers, toes, and anything else you've got crossed," I said as we set off at standard by two speed toward Earth.

"Sir!" said Ronnie, Gloria, and Vincent as one.

THE END
© Copyright 2024 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia