Chapter 13

The planets population was as diverse as the builders could make it. Or at least it assumed so. The planets mind and memory was vast, but some of the most interesting mind archives was closed to it. When the planet thought about it, which it very seldom did, it was with the greatest difficulty. As it, or someone, had created a very strong inhibition whenever that question raised itself. Somewhat like a suppressed memory in a human, things you really didn’t need, or wanted, to remember.

Then again, the planet had taken in refugees too, more so in the beginning although now slowly petering out. For the last millennia it had been content, and happily closed its eyes to the outside universe’s. Which made it even more troubling for it, when it considered how those suits and humans had succeed to arrive, almost without notice.

In some ways the planet was as a paradise, a natural habitat containing everything from glaciers to deserts, wide stretches of open plain, mountains, valleys and an abundant wild life. But with every new settlement it had forced an agreement on them, those ‘outside ones’, now given dominion on what technology they could use, or had already. The most important being that it was not to be exported or transferred to another dominion. And so it was with trade too, the caravans that sometimes moved between those dominions was devoid of technology, using native lifeforms for transportation.

It made for a sometimes bizarre sight seeing those caravans move. Humanoids that clearly wasn’t used to being outdoors doing their best to handle huge slovenly, at times dangerously temperamental, animals, setting up gaudily colored sale tents when arriving, laying out what wares they were allowed to trade, mostly of a non technological level, but inside the tents at times offering things that wasn’t. The planet did allow some leeway here but, as always, it had its own ways of restricting trade it considered ill found. That included most weaponry past simple guns, and when it came to some dominions, not even that.

You wanted to trade, you better accept the rules. If you didn’t there was only one punishment, abandonment. It left you behind with some basic tools for survival, wherever a planet could be found that could care for your type of life form. There was whole society’s that had disappeared that way. You could look at it as being ruled by an enlightened dictator, although one with vastly more resources to its disposal than any Terran dictator ever knew.

In other ways it could be sheer terror joining a caravan. The wildlife abundant and not a few down right dangerous. Picking the wrong route you might stumble into closed wildlife preservation’s that the planet collected for its own, slightly twisted, enjoyment. Some of them survivable, others not so much. But the rewards reaped from traveling was great as there was no world wide communication allowed, except those gained by the caravans. It was a way for the planet to slow down the technological development to a manageable level at the same time as it offered people a setting for letting lose their restlessness and lust for adventure. The offer came at a cost naturally, you, betting your life. Then again, isn’t that what we all do, every day?

Honestly, would you want it any other way? A planet so huge that no one ever had traveled it? A lifetime of exploration and adventure, just waiting for you?

I think not.

It was by now Jeff started to have a strange sensation. As if something slowly lifted him out of his shell. He couldn’t make sense of it but realized he wanted to lay down. He could swear to that the ground was moving under him.

“Do you feel it too?”

“Feel what Jeff.”

“The earthquake.”

Royal and the Suit hastily checked their readings.

“No earthquake registered” said Suit in sub-mode.

“Maybe you should get some rest?”

“You feel ill?” asked Janelle

“Check him out Suit.”

With both Royal and the Suit fussing over him Jeff closed his eyes on the floor of the tent. Doing so he had a sudden sensation of falling, deeper and deeper into some vast space. And by the time he opened them again his body was gone.