Chapter 2
Torka
I stepped out into Torka's toxic atmosphere and was completely taken aback! The planet! It waas totaly abandoned! Not a living soul in sight!
"Helloooooo!" I shouted, walking out a bit from my ship, sand blowing into my visor because of the storm. The howling of the wind was my only reply.
Hours and hours later, I had searched the planet's entire barren, practicaly-flat surface using Piratebane's scanners and was none the wiser about the location of the planet's inhabitants. I was about to give up and go home when, by purre accident, the scanners stumbled across what appeared to be a trap door. Instantly, I knew I'd be coming back for some time.
"All right, Cregdith," I muttered, "let's go home."
When I got home, I found Jerry talking on the televiewer with her father. Her father, president of the entire Space Police operation, the boss of the whole show. He was the one that every Space Cop and Bounty Hunter out there reported to.
He smiled at me as I walked in. "Samuel, my boy!" he exclaimed. "My daughter tells me she sent you to Torka to search for Samus. How went the search?"
I sighed and replied "Not well, I'm afraid. A long, vigorous search of the planet's surface revealed absolutely nothing. Well.....almost nothing. There's what looks like a door into the planet's interior......I'm going back tomorrow to search inside."
"I hope you have better luck tomorrow than you did today. Anyway, I've got to go. See you two later!"
We said goodbye and watched him disappear. Then, Jerry turned and looked at me. Trying to keep a straight face, she said "I saw you leaving with another woman this morning. Big and black, with purple in places."
Trying not to smile, I said "All right, I'll admit: I've been having an affair.....with a space ship!"
"I knew it! Oh, you horrid man! You brute!"
"Oh, I AM a brute! Damnation come upon me!"
Suddenly, she was all seriousness. She looked at my face and said, in a very enticing voice, "You should be punished."
I swallowed. "Are...are you....serious?" I stammered.
"Completely, if you'll come to the bedroom."
How long had it been? Two weeks? Well.....since the honeymoon, so, yeah, that'd be about two weeks.
I think yoku all know what we did that night, so I won't go into details. Several weeks later, we would find that Jerry was going to have twins.
But that's getting a bit ahead of myself. First, I must talk about the next day.
When I woke up to head for Torka the next morning, Jerry wasn't awake yet. So I ate a quick breakfast, made myself a lunch, left a note, and headed out.
After a long, dull ride like the one from the morning before, I flew Piratebane straight to the door. I slid into my suit, climbed outside, opened the door, and dropped through. It was a short drop into a small chamber with the usual modern-style elevator.
I hopped onto the little energy platform and it immediately began to descend into the depths of the planet.
As soon as my head got below the bottom of the chamber, I could see a bunch of creatures at the base of the elevator. They were like crabs, each the size of a chihuahua, with two massive claws apiece. And they were standing at the base of the elevator, looking up at me. And they were making me extremely nervous. I got my laser cannon ready just in case.
As soon as the elevator hit the ground, one of the crabs squeaked happily and said "You're human, aren't you? We haven't had a human since that Samus lady!"
"So," I said, hoping they didn't mean had for lunch, "Samus DID come here. Where is she now?"
The little crab got a thoughtful look and said "I think she's still in the Deep Places, but she might have left when the bug people did."
"The bug people?"
"The ones that came and acted all friendly-like to the ursie-nids."
Ursie-nids? I thought. Oh, that's right, the Torkan natives. The scientists that found this place said the natives were bear-like. "So," I said out loud, "what happened to the 'ursie-nids'?"
The crab smiled a realy big smile and said "They used to be mean to us, but all of a sudden, they got realy nice to us and gave the planet to our colynees. Then, glory be to Shamsham, they left with the bug people!"
Torka
I stepped out into Torka's toxic atmosphere and was completely taken aback! The planet! It waas totaly abandoned! Not a living soul in sight!
"Helloooooo!" I shouted, walking out a bit from my ship, sand blowing into my visor because of the storm. The howling of the wind was my only reply.
Hours and hours later, I had searched the planet's entire barren, practicaly-flat surface using Piratebane's scanners and was none the wiser about the location of the planet's inhabitants. I was about to give up and go home when, by purre accident, the scanners stumbled across what appeared to be a trap door. Instantly, I knew I'd be coming back for some time.
"All right, Cregdith," I muttered, "let's go home."
When I got home, I found Jerry talking on the televiewer with her father. Her father, president of the entire Space Police operation, the boss of the whole show. He was the one that every Space Cop and Bounty Hunter out there reported to.
He smiled at me as I walked in. "Samuel, my boy!" he exclaimed. "My daughter tells me she sent you to Torka to search for Samus. How went the search?"
I sighed and replied "Not well, I'm afraid. A long, vigorous search of the planet's surface revealed absolutely nothing. Well.....almost nothing. There's what looks like a door into the planet's interior......I'm going back tomorrow to search inside."
"I hope you have better luck tomorrow than you did today. Anyway, I've got to go. See you two later!"
We said goodbye and watched him disappear. Then, Jerry turned and looked at me. Trying to keep a straight face, she said "I saw you leaving with another woman this morning. Big and black, with purple in places."
Trying not to smile, I said "All right, I'll admit: I've been having an affair.....with a space ship!"
"I knew it! Oh, you horrid man! You brute!"
"Oh, I AM a brute! Damnation come upon me!"
Suddenly, she was all seriousness. She looked at my face and said, in a very enticing voice, "You should be punished."
I swallowed. "Are...are you....serious?" I stammered.
"Completely, if you'll come to the bedroom."
How long had it been? Two weeks? Well.....since the honeymoon, so, yeah, that'd be about two weeks.
I think yoku all know what we did that night, so I won't go into details. Several weeks later, we would find that Jerry was going to have twins.
But that's getting a bit ahead of myself. First, I must talk about the next day.
When I woke up to head for Torka the next morning, Jerry wasn't awake yet. So I ate a quick breakfast, made myself a lunch, left a note, and headed out.
After a long, dull ride like the one from the morning before, I flew Piratebane straight to the door. I slid into my suit, climbed outside, opened the door, and dropped through. It was a short drop into a small chamber with the usual modern-style elevator.
I hopped onto the little energy platform and it immediately began to descend into the depths of the planet.
As soon as my head got below the bottom of the chamber, I could see a bunch of creatures at the base of the elevator. They were like crabs, each the size of a chihuahua, with two massive claws apiece. And they were standing at the base of the elevator, looking up at me. And they were making me extremely nervous. I got my laser cannon ready just in case.
As soon as the elevator hit the ground, one of the crabs squeaked happily and said "You're human, aren't you? We haven't had a human since that Samus lady!"
"So," I said, hoping they didn't mean had for lunch, "Samus DID come here. Where is she now?"
The little crab got a thoughtful look and said "I think she's still in the Deep Places, but she might have left when the bug people did."
"The bug people?"
"The ones that came and acted all friendly-like to the ursie-nids."
Ursie-nids? I thought. Oh, that's right, the Torkan natives. The scientists that found this place said the natives were bear-like. "So," I said out loud, "what happened to the 'ursie-nids'?"
The crab smiled a realy big smile and said "They used to be mean to us, but all of a sudden, they got realy nice to us and gave the planet to our colynees. Then, glory be to Shamsham, they left with the bug people!"