This story contains sex between minor boys and teen-agers. If such things offend you, or you are not at least 18 years of age, then please don't read on. This story is not true, but who knows, maybe some day it will be.
CHAPTER 48
The Ancients
by Douglas DD
"You mean the all the people on Hakaan were wiped out?" Douglas asked.
"I don't know," Mike answered. "All I know is I don't hear anybody talking anywhere on the radio. It's silent."
"Scooter, can your telescopes and viewers see anything on the planet? Like cities or anything?" Douglas asked.
"It's cloudy in a lot of places, but there are cities down there. I can't tell if anybody is in them. I can see what looks like farm land though."
"You mean like prairie?" Mike asked.
"No. I mean farmland. Like somebody has been taking care of it. At least through my telescope it doesn't look wild. It has patterns to it."
"Let's see what happens when we go around the dark side of the planet," Douglas said. "Maybe we will see if the cities are lit up."
After about an hour they were on the dark side. Scooter and Jim were both looking through telescopes trying to see something, especially lights.
"I don't see cities all lit up like I think you would on Earth, but I think I can see some kind of lights burning. I just don't see a lot. I don't know what it all means," Scooter said.
"What I think it means is there just might be somebody alive down there. It looks like some people might have survived the plague," Alex said. "Whatever, we need to go down and check it out. We're going to have to go down anyway."
"But the `Survivor' only has enough fuel to go land on the planet.
There is not enough for it to leave the planet," Mike pointed out.
"True," Jeremy said. "But don't forget there are three other shuttles here. They all have a half load of fuel for landing. We can fill the tanks of the `Survivor' and have enough fuel to come back."
"Super idea," Ryan said.
"How would we get the fuel transferred?" Alex asked.
"I don't know," Jeremy said. He knew it would mean taking a space walk, and he hated space walks and was hoping somebody would figure out a better idea.
"It's too risky," Mike said. "We have no idea how to do it, and we'd have to do it out in space and none of us are trained for that. We all know how lucky we've been doing space walks."
"But if we don't, how will we get back?" Travis asked.
"Hope that we find the fuel supplies Quan told us about. He said each airport has them," Mike said.
"I think you mean to say that each airport HAD them," Travis shot back. "And besides we don't even know if there are airports left to land at down there."
"If the Hakaan don't even have electricity," Ryan said, "they sure won't be able to help anybody on Inferno."
"Well, no matter what, everything we need is going to be down there," Douglas said. "Fuel, some better star maps, things to help Inferno, food, and maybe a way home. None of that is here. The shuttle has to go down no matter what the risk is.
"So, are we going to vote on it now?" Jeremy asked.
"There is not going to be a vote. This is going to be my decision."
"And who made you God?" Jeremy asked. "I thought we left...."
Douglas glared at Jeremy. "Jeremy there are things we can vote on. Important things. But when it comes to running this mission, you picked me to make those decisions. And I am going to make them, right or wrong. If you don't like that, Jeremy, you're welcome to call for an election so we can pick another leader."
Jeremy flinched. "I didn't mean it that way, Douglas. I just meant that we all should have a voice. Not just you and your buddies."
"Speaking of buddies," Douglas said, ignoring Jeremy, "I'm want to meet with Alex, Mike, and Scooter." He got up from his chair and walked off the bridge and into Captain's Ready Room. Alex, Mike, and Scooter followed him. Jeremy stood there with his mouth open.
Brett came up to him. "That wasn't right, Jeremy."
"Yes, it was Brett. I don't want us to just be told what to do like RC did."
"Douglas isn't RC and you know it."
"You're right Brett, but it doesn't mean I'm just going to take his making decisions for us and us not having a say."
Brett wanted to say more, but he didn't want to upset Jeremy. He loved him, but he was always afraid of losing him, even though he was sure that would never happen.
In the Ready Room Douglas faced his three friends and advisors.
"What was with Jeremy?" Mike asked. "I was ready to kick his ass!"
"He's scared," Douglas said. "Just like all the rest of us."
"Even you?" Mike asked.
"Especially me," Douglas said.
Mike gave Douglas a quick squeeze.
"I couldn't let an argument get started. I know how you guys stand. I think the rest are the same way, but no way can we have a vote on decisions to run the mission. Now, that said, we're going down to the surface. We all know we have to. I am going to give a little bit of a vote, though, by asking for volunteers. Nobody is going to be forced to go down."
Scooter, Alex, and Mike immediately volunteered. Douglas knew they would, and he knew without them they might as well sit on the ship and die.
"I know Stevie will volunteer too," Alex said.
"Stevie's not going," Douglas said.
"What do you mean he's not going?" Alex sputtered. "Of course he's going! He's my brother and more important, he's my copilot! I need him." Alex was working hard to control his temper.
Douglas could see fire burning in Alex's eyes. He looked calmly back at his friend. "Who is the next best copilot?" Douglas asked.
"Don't try to give me your double talk, Douglas!" Alex yelled. He started pacing around the room. "You better have a good reason for not letting Stevie go, or I'm not going!" Alex glared at Douglas, thinking like Jeremy that maybe the power of being leader was going to Douglas's head.
The boys on the bridge could hear Alex yelling. They could tell he was yelling at Douglas, but they couldn't tell why. Jeremy got a little self-satisfied smile on his face. So, I'm not the only thorn in Douglas's side, he thought.
In the Ready Room, Douglas stayed calm as Alex stormed on about his not being appreciated, and his brother not being appreciated. Mike looked at them both, wondering if something more than yelling might start, like maybe fists starting to fly. In his own personal life, Douglas could lose his temper just as well as Alex, maybe even better. But he usually could dig deep and stay calm when he had to. It was part of what made him a good leader.
Douglas watched Alex pacing and breathing hard. Finally he said, "Alex, think about it. If something happens to the `Survivor' we might need one of the ship's shuttles to rescue us. I don't want to make it so we all stay separated forever. Stevie is the best pilot we have after you. I need him here in case we need him to pilot another shuttle. I can't have you both going down."
Alex took a couple of gulps and caught his breath. "Sorry, Doug. You're right. I'm sorry I flew off the handle. That wasn't right. And right after you had to listen to Jeremy. You need us all together right now. Whatever you say is fine with me."
"No, that's not what I want Alex. I don't want you guys being yes men. I asked you back here for a reason. I need to know what you think. I can make the final decisions. I HAVE to make the final decisions. But I can't do it alone. I can't come up with all the ideas or see everything. I need you guys. You have to tell me what you think. But we can't argue. In the end I have to make the final decision."
"I know. I'm sorry, Douglas." Douglas walked up to him and the two boys hugged each other. Then Douglas gave Mike a hug, followed by a big hug for his love, Scooter.
"Okay, that is out of the way. Now, who is going to be your copilot, Alex?"
"Well, you know that during the trip I had guys using the shuttle simulator program. It's a little different from the `Survivor' but close enough. Travis did the best. He could fly by himself I think. Then Stevie could...."
"Alex. Stevie has actually been in a cockpit during flight. Travis hasn't," Douglas said.
"I know. I got to wishing again. But Travis was the best."
"I want you to have the best. Then Travis is it is. If he volunteers. And I think he will."
They talked over a couple of other things then went back out to the bridge. Douglas took Travis aside and talked to him. Travis smiled and nodded yes. Then Douglas talked to Stevie. Stevie looked a little unhappy, but Douglas said a few more things and then he nodded yes and smiled.
After having his private chats, Douglas talked to the group. He told them the "Survivor" was going down to the surface in the morning. It would have five crew members. All volunteers. All hands went up, including Jeremy's and Stevie's.
"Hang on," Douglas said. "I already have the following. Alex will be the pilot. Travis the copilot."
The boys were surprised it wasn't Stevie. Douglas explained why he picked Travis and they understood. He said that Scooter would be going because he was needed to translate. He would go to lead the mission. Mike would go to be an enforcer if they needed it. He said he needed one more volunteer to be extra help. Again, all the hands went up. Douglas pretty much expected this and had made up his mind who he wanted. He took Jeremy because even though they never really got along Jeremy was good to have around in tough situations. He didn't back down to anything. Jeremy was surprised he was picked, but it made him happy.
Jim was put in charge on the ship. Staying behind with him were Stevie, Ryan, Brett, and the twins.
Oh great, Brett thought, the little weak ones are left to baby-sit the ship. He wished he was bigger and stronger.
They agreed that they would leave in the morning. Scooter, Jim, and Alex would check the maps with the instructions they got from Quan about where the capital city of Haakan was. They needed to find the right place to enter the atmosphere. They only had enough fuel for one chance.
That night in bed, Scooter and Douglas made sweet love. Kisses and hugs, rolling on the bed, and finally Douglas entering Scooter, pumping his cum into him. In each cabin boyfriends made love to boyfriends. The ones who would be separated hugged extra hard; Ryan and Travis, Jeremy and Brett. Mike let Alex and Stevie sleep together that night. He made love to Jim. Even the twins got caught up in it all in their room, finishing their night with a sweet 69.
Everybody slept hard and deep, nervous, but ready for the new adventure to start.
When morning came, Mike and the twins got breakfast ready. Then everybody met in the bridge waiting for Douglas to give final instructions. As Douglas opened his mouth to talk alarms started going off.
"What's going on?" Douglas asked.
Alex and Stevie looked at the control panel. "Something is ahead of us," Stevie said. "And it looks like it's something very very big. In fact, it's humongous and is right in our path." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dralkan walked along the weed covered runway. In places he could see big chunks of concrete covered with plants and weeds. The 13 year old boy was naked in the summer sun, along with Trundall, his 14 year old Meshanna, and his little brother Shamene, who was 11. He liked coming to the old airport. It was surrounded by woods and gave them plenty of places to play and to make up adventures. There hardly was anybody there and they were hardly ever bothered. They had just finished playing some hide-and-go seek, with sex play added in.
Dralkan enjoyed playing space explorer around the old airport. From the time he was little his dad had told him, Trundall, and Shamene about how the great airport of the Hakaan capital had sent huge supersonic airliners around the globe connecting them to the other great cities of the planet. Trundall's dad was his dad's Meshanna and partner. He and Trundall had grown up like brothers, and were so close they could almost read each other's minds. In fact sometimes Dralkan swore that they did. He felt closer to him than he did to little Shamene, who was his real brother. He loved his little brother in every way, in bed and out, but Trundall was his soul mate and Meshanna, and would for sure be his partner after they grew up. They had been Meshannas from the first Joining after they each had had their first wet cum (Dralkan was proud that he had gotten his before the older Trundall, when he was 12). That event had been all they had been waiting for, because the decision to Join had been made from the time they first understood what a Meshanna was. All they had to do was make it official.
The stories that excited him most were not of the great airplanes that flew around the globe, but of the great spaceships that took people to the two lost colonies and sent explorers out on the adventure of exploring the galaxy. The passenger space shuttles landed here at the airport of Kana, the Hakaan capital city, but there was another spaceport deeper in the woods that the cargo shuttles, the shuttles to the exploration ships, and the shuttles that went to the Merr space station took off from. At night the huge space station could still be seen as it orbited the planet.
Dralkan had studied in history how one of the exploration ships brought back the plague and over half the population of Hakaan died before doctors could find a cure. They not only found a cure, but also found a way to prevent similar plagues. They were too late, however, because the Ancients, who were the oldest rulers to survive the plague, had been elected to rule Hakaan. Long before the cure was found, they promised to end all space travel so that evil would never again come from space to their beautiful planet. As the exploration, cargo, and passenger ships returned from their trips, the ancients had them destroyed. Although Dralkan's grandfather was one of the Ancients, he didn't like how far they were going. He wanted space exploration stopped, but didn't want to cut off their two colonies. The plague wasn't coming from the colonies. They had been settled by Hakaan. They were Hakaan. He felt they should not abandon their own people. He finally convinced the rest of the Ancients to at least send a starship manned by volunteers to each planet to tell them why no more ships were coming from Hakaan, so that they could take measures to survive. They agreed to do it, as long as the colonies thought that the ships were unmanned robot ships and the crews never left the ships. The last two starships left were sent off to the two colonies. They never came back. By the time the cure and prevention was found, the rule of the Ancients was solidified. The fear of a new, even worse plague, was always used to justify their policy.
The Ancients decided during the early stages of the plague that it was science and technology that had ruined the Hakaan way of life. So many people had died that a lot of the factories couldn't run. People who knew how to do things died. Machines quit working and the Ancients made it against the law to fix them. Then they decided to destroy the machinery. Airplanes, cars, factories, electrical plants, were all destroyed. Most of the Hakaan who were left went along with it because they were frightened. People were dying all around them and science couldn't save them. Science had brought the horrible disease from somewhere out in space. By the time doctors found the cure and a way to prevent the disease it was too late to reverse the toll of the deaths or the policies of the Ancients. The technology and way of life that the Hakaanen had spent centuries building up was gone. Even some hospitals and medical facilities were destroyed. People blamed the doctors for not finding a cure earlier. When the time came to have a new election the frightened people of Hakaan reelected the Ancients. That was the last election ever on Hakaan. By the time the Hakaanen realized what the ancients had done to them it was too late. The Ancients instituted an oligarchy, suspending elections and placing themselves in charge of governing what was left of Hakaan. They ruled that science and technology must never return to bring more ruin to their beautiful planet. Except for the Shkah, whose small number had been all but wiped out by the plague, the Hakaanen weren't the type of people to start an uprising, and it became easy for the Ancients to rule the planet. Only the Ancients were allowed to have radio, so they could connect the entire planet. Only the ancients had any kind of machines. For example, they had two airplanes that were stored at small government airport in Kana. The Ancients had started out with good intentions, but now that they had absolute power they had no intention of ever giving it up.
For the Ancients had become consumed with an illness that was in many ways as devastating and deadly as the plague had been. It was the same illness that afflicted Robert Charles Power. Having it. Using it. Loving it. They allowed only themselves the use of technology, such as airplanes and radios. They controlled the planet's energy And to maintain control, the Ancients had allied themselves with the surviving Shkah, whose ruthlessness and cunning made them ideal for the role as the Ancient's secret police. Not everybody sat still letting things happen, however. Even though Dralkan's grandfather was an Ancient, he disagreed with them and their quest for power. He started a secret resistance movement. One of the things he did was make sure the spaceport out in the woods wasn't destroyed. It became camouflaged to look like was being overgrown with weeds. He held out a dream to his followers that someday a ship would come back from one of the lost colonies to help bring Hakaan back to where it was. He said the lost colonies would keep Hakaan science and technology alive. His followers would take their vacations at their "vacation homes" in the woods which were right by the space port. They kept the runway intact and serviceable, but they put a covering over it that made it appear crumbling and covered with weeds. They even added little trees after a while.
They had a space radio, procured by Dralkan's grandfather, so they could listen for the return of one of the messenger ships, and later to listen for a ship coming from one of the lost colonies when it looked like the messenger ships would never return. At first, somebody was always at the airport, but as the years went by they kept worked on the runway and equipment whenever a member of the group took a "vacation" at the old cargo port.
Trundall's grandfather was an inventor. He worked kept their radio operating, and used spare electrical parts to make mini-radios for the resistance.. Dralkan had a small radio in his pack which he could use any time to contact his dad's radio. It was constructed so the Ancients could never pick up its signal on their radio. But his major invention wasn't the mini-radios, it was something far more far reaching. It was the first warp space radio, which he almost had completed before the plague hit. When the Ancients started destroying machines and technology, Dralkan's grandfather warned Trundall's to hide is invention and to tell the Ancients he was never able to make it work, so he destroyed it. Their two grandfathers knew each other because their sons were best friends and were soon to become Meshannas.
The boys all liked visiting their summer home. They'd been going there since they were babies. They played naked out in the woods and played with each other. Shamene got his first blow job there when he was six. Trundall gave it to him. His brother Shamene let him up his own butt when he was eight, and fucked him when he was nine. The first time was always in the woods at their summer home. The summer home brought fond memories to all three boys. Dralkan's summer home was actually the old terminal. It had been rebuilt into summer apartments. Everybody who lived there knew what the project was about and helped with it.
Right now, though, Dralkan was at the old main airport with Trundall and Shamene. Dralkan was sitting up on a chunk of concrete from the torn up runway of Kana's airport. Chamira, Hakaan's sun, shone down on his naked body. He was ready to challenge Dralkan and Shamene to a game of king of the hill. Shamene was kind of disappointed that Almontzo, his best friend, couldn't come, but he had broken his arm the week before and still had to stay home.
"Drally, when can me and Almy become Meshannas?" Shamene asked. He like using nicknames.
"You know when, brother. When you can both make seed."
"I wish it was tomorrow."
"Well, it won't be, you're both still too young. I was twelve and Trundall was thirteen before we could do it. I beat him by a month," he said giggling. Trundall glared at him, then smiled. He looked down at himself. He was the one to get hair first.
Dralkan looked down the old runway. There were still some fuselages of supersonic jets and shuttle craft left along the sides of the runway. They had been stripped of everything.
"Let's play king of the hill," he said, changing the subject.
The other boys agreed and were ready to charge up the concrete slab when they all heard a deep rumbling boom which seemed to shake the ground, and then a strange steady noise. They froze and looked around. It seemed to be coming from above them in the sky. They looked up but saw nothing. Dralkan looked all around and saw nothing. Then Shamene pointed to the south end of the runway. The other two boys looked down there. but still couldn't see anything.
"No, look up," Shamene said.
They both did and saw what Shamene has seen. Up in the sky was a black dot, which kept getting bigger. Suddenly it looked like it had two bright lights come on.
"What is it?" Shamene asked.
"I don't know. But I bet it's a space shuttle," Dralkan said. "It has to be."
"From where? A lost colony?"
"I don't know. But I do know it's trying to land here. And if it does it's going to crash. There isn't a runway here any more, and they don't know it. If they try landing on it they will be killed." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alex could see the city of Kana to his left and the runway of the airport straight ahead of him. They were flying over water toward land. He flicked on the landing lights even though it was obvious nothing else was flying and that the airport was abandoned. Travis sat next to him checking out the instruments. Scooter was in the seat behind him trying to raise somebody on the radio.
The cockpit door was open. Douglas was strapped into the first seat in the cabin, thinking about the morning. After the alarms went off, the ship's automatic pilot turned it before they could do anything. Then they passed by a gigantic space station. It was dark and looked abandoned. There were the hulks of a couple of starships close to it. They stared at the dark shape going by, lit up on one side by Chamira, the Haakan sun. It was an awe inspiring sight, but it was a sad one too.
Alex's voice took him out of his day dream. "I don't know if we can land there, Douglas. It looks overgrown."
"How much fuel do we have left?"
"An hour."
Damn, Douglas thought. The plan was to land at the airport of the capital. They never thought that they couldn't use it, that it would be all overgrown. If the main airport on the planet was overgrown, then there would be no place to land, and they didn't have enough fuel to launch back into space.
The closer the shuttle came to the airport, the more Alex realized that the airport might be too overgrown to use. He saw that one of the runways looked better than the others. It was the middle one and didn't seem to have trees growing out of it. It was hard to tell how safe it really was. He aimed for it. If it looked too bad he could always pull up and go back around. However, if they couldn't find a place to land, then they would have to ditch the shuttle in the ocean. If they managed to survive a water landing they would have no way to return to the starship, so they desperately needed a place to land. Alex started his landing procedures as the "Survivor" headed for what looked like the best of the three runways.
I got us down in a desert, he thought, I can land this one on a runway. There was one difference though. The "Survivor" couldn't hover like the "Moonduster" could. He had to land it like an airplane, and he needed a long, perfect runway to do that. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thaller watched the shuttle approaching the airport. His radio in the capitol building had alerted him to the mysterious shuttle. He had been trying hard not to be bored. Hardly anybody dared to use a radio any more. They knew they would be caught and punished by the Ancient's Shkah policemen; men like him, who had power on Hakaan for the first time in centuries. Men who no longer had to hide out in the woods, and who were getting what they deserved. Of course he didn't know about the secret radios invented by Trundall's grandfather.
When the radio went off he listened carefully and started running checks to see where the broadcast was coming from. But as soon as he started listening, he realized he didn't need a check. It wasn't a broadcast that was trying to hide itself. It was coming from space, from a starship- a starship from a lost colony. The Ancients told him to ignore it. They had no place to land, so could not present a danger. If they heard nothing, they might think Hakaan was dead and not land or come down. Even if they did attempt to come down to the planet, there would be no place to land and they would either go back to their colony or crash.
The Ancients met when they heard about the radio contact. The Ancients were upset that the shuttle was coming in to land. They didn't think it would succeed, but just it's being there meant that people would see it and remember the lost colonies. They were angry that after all these years a colony had sent a ship back. They were worried that the shuttle might bring more disease, even though the plague was no longer a danger on Hakaan, and obviously had not affected the incoming colonists. They hoped it would crash and would be the only one of the two starships to return. The whole group of seven stood on the balcony of the capitol watching the shuttle head for the airport. They knew if it tried to land there it would be destroyed on the deteriorated runway. Brennin, Dralkan's grandfather, had died a few years ago, so the entire council now thought alike. They all wished for the destruction of the shuttle. They all watched it, hoping it would try to land. They had no intention of rescuing anybody after it crashed. It could sit at the airport and burn itself out. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dralkan pulled his radio out of his pack. He didn't know if he could reach the shuttle with it, but he knew the big one at the other space port could, if anybody was there to answer his call. He pressed the send button and got an answer. It was Corinna, his mother. She must be there with her Meshanna, and with his little sister, Morgott. He smiled. He loved all three of them. This made it easier.
"What is it you want, Drally? You know this is only for emergencies. We need to keep it priv..."
Dralkan interrupted her. "Mother this IS an emergency. A shuttle is coming down, landing, right now, and we need to tell it not to land."
"What do you mean a shuttle is landing?"
"Mother! There is no time. We both need to call it and tell it not to land here."
"Where? Where are you? What are you talking about?"
Dralkan looked at the shuttle coming down. He could see the wings now. The lights were bright and the navigation lights were blinking. It was getting close. Time was running out. He didn't have near the number of channels on his radio that the big radio did, but his mom wasn't understanding him. He let go the send button. He changed to the first channel and radioed the shuttle. Nothing. Second channel. No answer. Third channel. The shuttle was closer and louder. He could see that the flaps were down. No answer on the third channel. Fourth channel. No Answer. The little pocket radio only had ten channels and time was running out. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alex could see that the third runway was covered with weeds. But weeds were okay. It was trees he worried about, and the third runway didn't have any trees growing out of it. What he couldn't see was that under the weeds parts of the runway was broken up and huge chunks of concrete protruded out of it, hidden by the tall weeds. He lowered the flaps, slowing the big space shuttle way down. He had landed it before on Inferno, and knew how it behaved. Even without runway lights and radio help he could see that he was perfectly lined up with the runway. This was going to be a perfect landing. Everything ahead looked smooth. He told Travis to lower the landing gear. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dralkan saw the landing gear go down. Even though he had never seen any kind of aircraft land before, he knew what was going on. The sight of the big shuttle coming in to land almost hypnotized him. He switched to the fifth channel. No answer. No way would he have time for the last five channels. He ran to the center runway, pulled Shamene up behind him and waved at Trundall to follow him. They all stood up on the block and started waving, trying to signal the shuttle not to land, ready to bolt fast if they weren't seen, hoping they could get away. Dralkan waved and jumped. He wished he had some clothing or something to wave, but the three of them were naked. All they had were their arms and hands. But as much as the waved the shuttle didn't alter course. It was almost to the edge of the runway. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Ancients saw the shuttle at the tree tops. They expected to see it drop below the trees and then hear the crash and the explosion. If it was this close to landing it means they couldn't tell how bad the runway was under the weeds. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Travis looked through the cockpit at the runway ahead. It looked rough but useable. Of course they couldn't tell for sure what was under the weeds. Then he blinked and looked again.
"Alex, look! I swear I see three naked boys ahead."
Alex squinted his eyes some. He saw the three boys too, jumping, waving and pointing up. They were standing higher than the runway. Which meant they were on something hidden under the weeds. They were signaling the runway was unsafe for landing.
"Raise the landing gear!" Alex shouted as he pulled back on the throttle and started pointed the nose up. Travis raised the landing gear as the shuttle rockets roared. The runway was coming closer and Alex pulled up harder.
The three Hakaan boys heard the roar of the engines and saw the flaps change and the landing gear raise up. The shuttle was coming in low. They jumped sideways off the slab and ran hard off the edge of the runway. The shadow of the shuttle covered them and they held their ears to block of the noise of the howling engines. They could almost feel the metal of the shuttle as it passed over them. Then they did feel the heat of the rockets as the shuttle started straining back up into the sky, the tail missing the concrete slab by only a couple of feet.
The Ancients saw the shuttle disappear under the tree line and could only see its tail. Then they heard the roar of the engines, and saw the tail drop and the nose come rising up. The landing was being aborted. Somebody had seen something at the last second. The Ancients were upset that the shuttle hadn't crashed and burned, but they knew the shuttle had no place to land. It was only a matter of time before it had to come down.
Alex raised the nose up hard, hoping he had room and wouldn't scrape the tail on the ground. They started gaining altitude and he finally let out his breath. They were back flying again.
Dralkan watched the smoke pour out of the rocket engines as the shuttle roared back into the sky. He still had the radio in his hand. He had more time now, but he needed to get the shuttle before it got out of range. Otherwise it would be up to his mother on the big radio to contact them, if he could get her to understand.
He flicked to channel six. No answer. Then he went to channel seven.
Scooter was gripping on to his seat tightly after the close call. His heart was still racing. Suddenly his headphones squawked. "Calling shuttle. Calling shuttle."
Scooter hit the send button. "Shuttle here! Come in!" Scooter could tell he was listening to the voice of a boy.
Alex and Travis both turned around at the sound of Scooter's excited voice.
Dralkan almost screamed when he heard the radio voice, but even on the little radio he could tell it was the voice of a boy, not of a man. Why was that?
"This is Dralkan. I'm one of the boys on the ground. The runway is all torn up. You can't land here."
"Thanks for waving us off," Scooter said. "That was a brave thing to do. I'm Scooter. But if the runway is torn up where can we land?"
"I have a place for you. You will need to fly northwest to get there."
"We only have an hour's fuel left," Scooter said. "It has to be close to here."
"What's going on?" Alex asked. He and Travis couldn't understand the Hakaan language.
Scooter started passing on what Dralkan was telling him. He told them to fly to the northwest and look for a long clearing in the woods. He said Dralkan would be right back with instructions.
Dralkan switched channels on his radio and got hold of his mother.
"Mother, listen now. They didn't land but we need to do Emergency Plan A."
"Why, Drally? I don't understand what's going on."
"Mother, in about two minutes look out or your window. Then you will know." Dralkan loved his mother, but she could be very dense sometimes.
His mother went to the window and looked out. Suddenly she saw a shape coming over the trees. She put her hand to her mouth. "Oh my God!" she whispered.
Her Meshanna ran up and looked out as the shuttle flew past the runway. Dralkan's mother ran back to the radio. "It's a space shuttle! Why didn't you tell me?"
Dralkan sighed. "I tried mother."
"Is it ours?"
"It must be. They speak Hakaan, but with a weird accent. They have an hour of fuel left. You need to land it. Plan A."
They all had practiced the emergency plans before. Dralkan's mother agreed that Plan A was the best one. It was one that two people could handle. Even the boys could if they had been there. Dralkan told his mother to turn to channel seven so they all could talk together.
"I'm back," Dralkan said. "Did you see the clearing?"
"Yes. We flew over it. What about it?"
"That's where you're landing."
Scooter told Alex what Dralkan just said. "He's nuts!" Alex said. "That runway is worse than the one he told us not to land on. It has fucking trees growing on it! How do we know we can trust him? How do we know that waving us off wasn't a trick?"
"I sense it," Scooter said. "There are weird things going on here. He has no reason to lie to us. He risked his life to save us down there."
"I'm not landing on that field," Alex said.
"You might not have any choice," Travis answered. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The "Survivor" started circling the field waiting for instructions. The Ancients looked at it off in the distance through a telescope, wondering what was going on.
"He's planning to land at the old space port. The cargo port," one of them said.
"Excellent," another one said. "Nothing can land there. It's in worse shape than the main space port. It's trees and rocks." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dralkan's mother came on the radio. She instructed the shuttle to make a wide turn and then face west and approach the runway. Her partner then pushed the touch screen on a computer, and motors started up, run by the solar generators hidden along the field. The motors started moving the camouflage covering off the runway. As Alex banked the shuttle on a turn and saw the cover being moved back.
"Look!" he yelled pointing down. "A clear runway is opening up! This is amazing!"
"I told you something weird was going on here," Scooter said. "But the question is, what? What is this all about?"
The shuttle went over the runway one last time. It was clear and ready for a landing. Then Travis looked at the end of the runway and pointed out the window. "I didn't notice that before. It looks like somebody didn't make it." The three boys in the cockpit looked out the window at the fuselage at the east end of the runway. It still had the wings and tail attached, but it looked like a hulk that had overshot the runway. "I hope our brakes work better," Scooter said.
"I made a better landing with the `Moonduster'," Alex said.
Douglas could swear he hadn't seen the hulk on the first passes, but now it had been uncovered just like the runway had.
Alex had the "Survivor" facing west and lined up with the runway. The runway was clear and lit up. This is just like Inferno, he thought. An easy landing on a clear runway.
The flaps were down, there was no wind, the sun was behind them. Everything was perfect. Scooter was right, they could trust whoever was talking to them on the radio. The three naked boys on the ground saved them and now the mother of one of them was guiding them into a perfect runway out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere.
Travis lowered the landing gear. The runway approached fast. The shuttle went over the end of the runway. Alex felt the wheels hit the ground followed by the nose wheel. He jammed on the brakes and hit the retro rocket reverse thrusters. It was a perfect landing. At the same time Dralkan's mother pushed an icon on the touch screen. As the "Survivor" roared to a stop Alex suddenly saw a blinding flash in front of him.
The two ladies in the old control tower above the terminal saw the bright flash and then saw a huge fireball roll up into the sky. The sound of the explosion was deafening.
Far off, standing on the highest spot he could find Dralkan could see the fireball rise up in the distance over the forest. He smiled. Emergency Plan A had worked.
Many of the citizens of Kana had seen the shuttle and were looking in the direction it had flown. They saw the fireball too, and soon heard the distant roar of the explosion.
The Ancients saw the fireball too. Like Dralkan they smiled, but for a different reason. They turned around and walked into the capitol building, satisfied the emergency was over.
At the spaceport the flames continued to shoot high into the sky. The easy perfect landing of the "Survivor" appeared to have come to a surprise end.
Next: Chapter 49 Round Ears
Constructive comments are welcomed. E-mail me, Douglas DD, at TheHakaanen@Hotmail.com