‘The ship is hermetically sealed,’ stated Borron, as if reading Rex’s thoughts – which, indeed, he could be doing. ‘We should not come to any harm.’
As everyone took in these words, the Tavona shuddered, and obviously broke completely through the ice on which they had landed, sinking into the water below. They were plunged into darkness. Someone let out an involuntary cry.
‘Gator,’ requested Vargo, ‘could you turn on the outside lights.’ His voice was eerily calm. Rex was grateful for that, but he could not repress his anxiety at their situation.
The lights came on. Outside the windows was swirling dark water. In the distance a rocky bank could be seen.
‘Now what?’ asked Toby plaintively.
‘We move the ship sideways,’ stated Gator, ‘until we can find a suitable place to get back into the air.’
Rex drew a shaky breath. ‘I didn’t realise that the ship was safe underwater.’
‘Neither did I,’ confessed Tiger. ‘Or perhaps more accurately, I wasn’t sure that the jets would work.’
‘The ship is safe in almost any conditions,’ Borron reassured them. ‘If we sank too deep under water, then the pressure would of course pose a risk. At this depth, however, we should have no problems.’
‘Are we under power at the moment?’ asked Toby.
Gator answered. ‘Not as such. We seem to be just below the surface of a wide river. There is a strong current, so the Tavona is being moved along quite quickly. I would think that this means we are being drawn towards the open sea. I can of course steer the ship with the jets, if we get too close to the riverbank.’
‘The hull cannot be breached,’ suggested the Professor, ‘or we would surely know about it by now.’
Vargo answered. ‘Certainly there is no actual break in the metal. I think that Gator is more concerned about the ship’s skin having been weakened. With luck, we shall soon come into the open.’ He looked up at the ice above them. ‘Then we can take off readily, and then land somewhere more solid, to examine the ship.’
‘Is it possible that we will not find another hole in the ice?’ The question was posed by the Professor.
‘Of course. In which case, we shall have to rise rapidly to the surface, and use our speed to break through.’ Vargo seemed quite relaxed at the idea.
‘Would that definitely work?’ questioned Tiger.
‘Probably,’ Borron replied with a smile. ‘I hope that we do not have to find out.’
‘By gosh! Look at that,’ remarked Tiger, as a large fish with a gaping mouth bumped against the window.
‘There’s an even bigger one.’ Toby pointed in another direction.
‘There is certainly plenty of animal life here, despite the cold temperatures,’ the Professor stated. ‘I would dearly love to examine this planet’s flora and fauna.’
‘For various reasons, that is not possible at present,’ returned Vargo.
‘And a good job too,’ put in Toby.
The Tavona continued to be carried quickly downstream. As well as many species of fishes, the travellers also observed some large marine mammals rather like seals. Meanwhile, It was some time before they drew clear of the ice overhead. Suddenly there was light overhead, and looking up, Rex could see blue sky refracted through the water.
‘We can go up now,’ Gator stated unnecessarily. He touched the controls, and the ship began to rise rapidly. Soon they had broken through the surface, and they ascended into the atmosphere, dripping water.
‘What a view!’ said Toby admiringly, and Rex had to agree. Below them was a dark blue sea, sparkling in brilliant sunlight. Before them lay a broad estuary, and on each side of that snow-covered mountains reached towards the sky.
‘We must have travelled many miles,’ averred the Professor. ‘The weather here is completely different from what we have seen elsewhere on Kiol.’
‘Never mind that for the moment,’ rejoined Tiger. ‘Let’s go and check the ship over, just in case anyone else comes along.’
Gator agreed, and the ship was soon standing on the beach. Lester and Jaro, two of the crewmen, left the ship to examine the underside. Toby elected to stay in the ship, whilst Rex and Tiger went outside, accompanied by Vargo and Professor Brane.
‘You’ll never see a beach more deserted than this,’ observed Tiger. ‘Perhaps in a different season, this is a pleasant place to be.’
‘I can’t imagine anyone putting up holiday chalets here,’ replied Rex with biting sarcasm. ‘The sooner we can move on, the happier I’ll be.’
‘According to Borron’s calculations,’ stated Vargo as he walked up to join Rex, ‘the summers here are probably very hot. The planet has a pronounced axial tilt.’
‘So the summers are hotter, and the winters colder, than Earth.’ Tiger looked thoughtful. ‘I would wager that the people who live here are probably pretty tough. They would have given the space bandits a hard time.’
‘They’d probably give us a hard time too, if they got hold of us,’ asserted Toby. ‘I don’t suppose they would give us a chance to explain that we’re friendly visitors.’
A yell interrupted their discussion. They turned in the direction of the sound. On the horizon, a small group of horsemen were riding furiously down the beach towards them. They waved what look like weapons of some sort.
‘Trouble,’ rapped out Tiger crisply. ‘How’s the inspection going, Vargo?’
Vargo spoke quickly to Jaro. ‘It is almost finished,’ he announced. ‘However, it would be better if we had a few more minutes.’
‘Then let’s try something.’ Tiger readied his rifle, and fired over the heads of the men as they approached. Their mounts reared in surprise, and the majority of the riders were unseated.
‘Fascinating,’ the Professor was heard to mutter, as he used his telescope. ‘Very like our own horses, but these animals seem to have no manes. Nor tails, apparently.’
The immediate threat of attack had receded, yet the horsemen showed their feelings, by shouting stridently, and waving their weapons. They soon attempted to remount their horses, but the beasts were not yet ready to obey.
‘The work is finished.’ Vargo stated after a few minutes. ‘Everything is in order. Let us re-embark.’
Rex needed no second invitation, and as soon as they were all seated in the ship, the doors were closed, and the Tavona climbed again into the sky. The group of horsemen continued to gesticulate angrily.
‘They do seem to be upset,’ observed the Professor. ‘I would have liked to make a closer acquaintance with the inhabitants of this world, but that would be a dangerous thing to attempt at present.’
‘The simplest explanation would seem to be the correct one,’ rejoined Vargo. ‘The people are hostile to us, because they have previously been visited by other people from space, who obviously treated them badly. I would think that those people were those you call slave traders.’
‘You are right of course, Vargo,’ answered the Professor, looking distressed. ‘I must confess I hoped that man would have outgrown his aggression before travelling to the stars, but that has not happened here.’
‘These people are surely exceptions to the rule,’ contributed Rex. ‘Think of how many races we have met in the past. They have almost all been friendly, even the inhabitants of Vallon, who we were convinced were holding Donald Graham against his will.’
‘Their actions haven’t exactly done them any good, either,’ Toby chipped in. ‘For all we know, they could all be dead now.’
‘I do hope not,’ confessed the Professor in a melancholy voice. ‘I had always hoped that the Universe was a benign, rather than a malign, place.’
‘It is both, of course,’ stated Borron. ‘But let us go on.’
