Space:1999 - Breakaway by E.C. Tubb

Author:E.C. Tubb
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-02T14:14:29.832000+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The planet was beautiful. A world of which men had dreamed and written and sung, setting the concept like a jewel in mighty sagas, placing it at the heart of religion, making it the stuff of legends. Paradise, Avalon, Hesperus, Arcadia, the Elysian Fields ... the old yearning for a place in which there would be nothing but loveliness forever.

Terra Nova had answered that need.

Koenig stood before the open port of the Eagle and filled his lungs with air which held the scent of perfume, watching a bird with plumage like the fires of dawn, treading on grass which sank beneath his feet like a cushion.

Before him trees soared like the columns of a cathedral, their tops tufted with delicate fronds, the boles scaled and shimmering. On one side of the clearing in which they had landed rocks rose in smooth rotundity, backed by the haze of distant mountains. On the other topping a low crest a mass of shrubbery bore star-like flowers.

"It's beautiful!" Helena stared around, her eyes entranced. "John! If we could only stay here!"

Koenig gestured towards the rocks, the distant mountains.

"Paul, you and Sandra move in that direction. Don't go too far, test what you see, take specimens and stay out of trouble. Immediate contact if you run into anything suspicious. Don't use those lasers unless there is no alternative."

"I understand, sir, we don't want to upset the natives."

"Not if there are any. Helena, we'll move to the left."

Carter would stay with the Eagle, maintaining contact with base and probably fuming at the necessity. Later, perhaps, his chance would come, for now he had to restrain his eargerness to explore.

"This is superb, John." Helena plucked a leaf from a shrub and sealed it into a specimen case. "A subtropical temperature, fertile soil, a variety of vegetation - we couldn't have asked for anything better."

"Let's hope it's as good as it looks."

"You think it isn't?"

"I don't know, Helena. That's what we're here to find out."

They walked on in silence, enjoying the sultry air, the scent of vegetation, welcome after the sterile conditions at Alpha. Enjoying too the privacy, the sense of space and solitude.

Water!" Helena led the way to where a pool rested in a shallow valley surrounded by low, fruit-bearing trees. "And I must test those fruits."

Both passed, the water tasting like nectar, crisp and cool despite the warmth of the air. The fruits were darkly yellow beneath a purple rinds, seedless, the juice thick and of the color of honey.

"It's like a water-melon," said Helena, eating. "Or like pineapple and grape. Or - " She broke off and then said, wonderingly, "An assortment of flavours. Think of one and you taste it. Here, John, try."

He took the segment she offered him and filled his mouth with tantalizing memories. Apple pie heavy with cinnamon, apricots steeped in brandy, candied peaches, strawberries, lichees, the saline tang of olives, the meaty flavour of nuts - he could taste them all.

"One fruit," said Helena. "And it's anything you want it to be.

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