Read Online In Search of the Alter Dom by Jack Challis - Free Book Online
Authors: Jack Challis
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the scavenging female Rills !’ Before Blodwyn could speak – the two Lings were gone. “They must be teasing: Grunwalde told her…. Rills were harmless little creatures!” Blodwyn was not aware that Lings , unlike their fickle human Queen – never told lies!
She began to deeply regret her decision to go on this quest. She felt helpless; lost and lonely as she looked at distant planet Earth. Earth looked so tranquil, pristine, innocent, a haze of pale blue with swirls of white clouds.
Blodwyn took a deep breath; the air was much thinner on the lunar surface. Because the moon remained static, on the side that faced Earth, it was always daylight and dry. Plant life grew only on the moon’s dark-side, which was star-lit from outer-space. Nectar rich flowers emerged from the stony ground like polyps from a coral bed; to feed large, foot long luminous moon-moths. Lacking chlorophyll, all the flowers were pale pastels. The triple-hearted Lings had a high metabolism and regularly needed energy rich pollen and nectar: like humming birds.
Blodwyn suddenly felt conspicuous and vulnerable standing in the open. She felt uneasy – shrouded by an eerie cloak of silence! She was tired, due to the thin air, and beginning to feel cold, a chilly wind had picked up. She walked towards a line of small hillocks in the distance that were in semi gloom on the edge of the moon’s dark side; she needed to find a safe warm place to rest out of sight.
Blodwyn was confident the two Lings with their keen sense of smell would soon find her. She began to see bones gleaming in the poor light. Bleached skulls of dogs, cats and several badgers lay around the moon’s dusty surface, their empty eye-sockets following her movements: they grinned – mocking her passage! Blodwyn knew something was very wrong – no set of bones were complete, they were scattered – broken as if picked over! She took a closer look. All the bones had cuts or teeth marks on them!
Continuing, she noticed the remains of some animal freshly butchered! Only the skin, bone and blood-soaked fur remained; framed on a crimson stain. Blodwyn knew that these animals had unwittingly wandered into the mouth of a low reaching Energy Band back on Earth! “But who was butchering them? Surely not the harmless little Rills!”
Blodwyn tightened her grip on the stout staff and continued toward the hillocks; she had to find safe shelter as soon as possible.
After half a mile she stopped to catch her breath, the thin air was exhausting. In the distance, she saw the unmistakable outline of a modern hang-glider, its tattered sail flapping in the chilly wind. She did not intend to inspect its owner’s remains!
Greater horror awaited her. A few paces ahead on a fresh glistening red backcloth – lay a new blue tracksuit stained and torn – an expensive mobile lay nearby. Blodwyn stopped stunned! This was not a distant event: it was like now! The mobile was still on – a desperate, futile call for help! Blodwyn stared mesmerized at the mobile – it rang!! Blodwyn’s heart stopped: she jumped back! “How could she answer – what could she say to the responder – of the desperate call?”
Increasing her stride to remove herself from the scene and the still ringing mobile, Blodwyn reached the small hillocks. She found they were the raised edges of moon craters.
Finding a small depression at the side of one; she made herself comfortable. Sitting down with her rucksack on her lap, she took out a blanket and pulled it over her legs for protection from the chilly wind. Blodwyn tried to console herself with the thought that the owner of the mobile was dead before he or she arrived on the moon surface. But logically knew dead people do not make distress calls! She decided to go home – as soon as the Lings returned; there was something dangerous here!
Blodwyn was about to check the contents of her rucksack, when a strange noise startled her! The noise came from the other side of the
She began to deeply regret her decision to go on this quest. She felt helpless; lost and lonely as she looked at distant planet Earth. Earth looked so tranquil, pristine, innocent, a haze of pale blue with swirls of white clouds.
Blodwyn took a deep breath; the air was much thinner on the lunar surface. Because the moon remained static, on the side that faced Earth, it was always daylight and dry. Plant life grew only on the moon’s dark-side, which was star-lit from outer-space. Nectar rich flowers emerged from the stony ground like polyps from a coral bed; to feed large, foot long luminous moon-moths. Lacking chlorophyll, all the flowers were pale pastels. The triple-hearted Lings had a high metabolism and regularly needed energy rich pollen and nectar: like humming birds.
Blodwyn suddenly felt conspicuous and vulnerable standing in the open. She felt uneasy – shrouded by an eerie cloak of silence! She was tired, due to the thin air, and beginning to feel cold, a chilly wind had picked up. She walked towards a line of small hillocks in the distance that were in semi gloom on the edge of the moon’s dark side; she needed to find a safe warm place to rest out of sight.
Blodwyn was confident the two Lings with their keen sense of smell would soon find her. She began to see bones gleaming in the poor light. Bleached skulls of dogs, cats and several badgers lay around the moon’s dusty surface, their empty eye-sockets following her movements: they grinned – mocking her passage! Blodwyn knew something was very wrong – no set of bones were complete, they were scattered – broken as if picked over! She took a closer look. All the bones had cuts or teeth marks on them!
Continuing, she noticed the remains of some animal freshly butchered! Only the skin, bone and blood-soaked fur remained; framed on a crimson stain. Blodwyn knew that these animals had unwittingly wandered into the mouth of a low reaching Energy Band back on Earth! “But who was butchering them? Surely not the harmless little Rills!”
Blodwyn tightened her grip on the stout staff and continued toward the hillocks; she had to find safe shelter as soon as possible.
After half a mile she stopped to catch her breath, the thin air was exhausting. In the distance, she saw the unmistakable outline of a modern hang-glider, its tattered sail flapping in the chilly wind. She did not intend to inspect its owner’s remains!
Greater horror awaited her. A few paces ahead on a fresh glistening red backcloth – lay a new blue tracksuit stained and torn – an expensive mobile lay nearby. Blodwyn stopped stunned! This was not a distant event: it was like now! The mobile was still on – a desperate, futile call for help! Blodwyn stared mesmerized at the mobile – it rang!! Blodwyn’s heart stopped: she jumped back! “How could she answer – what could she say to the responder – of the desperate call?”
Increasing her stride to remove herself from the scene and the still ringing mobile, Blodwyn reached the small hillocks. She found they were the raised edges of moon craters.
Finding a small depression at the side of one; she made herself comfortable. Sitting down with her rucksack on her lap, she took out a blanket and pulled it over her legs for protection from the chilly wind. Blodwyn tried to console herself with the thought that the owner of the mobile was dead before he or she arrived on the moon surface. But logically knew dead people do not make distress calls! She decided to go home – as soon as the Lings returned; there was something dangerous here!
Blodwyn was about to check the contents of her rucksack, when a strange noise startled her! The noise came from the other side of the
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