Chapter 3

Our leaving this solar system was as uneventful as always. There was the brief snap when the hyperspace jump occurred and then we were decelerating to close on a new solar system. This system had been on another ship's list but that ship never returned. We wouldn't know if it came to an end here until we searched for it.

There was an earth type planet and we circled in toward it watching and listening. We didn't hear any being-made electronic noise though there was a curious buzzing sound at ten megahertz. It was a flat sound that seemed to have its source from within the planet. It became louder though didn't vary as we came closer though remained centered on the same frequency. Our Comm. people didn't know what it might be. The computer showed no information on that type of sound. The only puzzling aspect was that the initial exploration ship didn't report it.

Initial exploration ships went about looking for planets but didn't land or attempt to make contact. They recorded external information and then went on to another system. There were rarely two planets with earth-type atmospheres and an acceptable temperature range in any one system.

Something like this buzz should have been reported. Since the loss of the previous exploration ship occurred here or shortly afterwards, we were busy being cautious. We wanted to do our duty but we also wanted to make it back.

We searched for any source but the buzz seemed to come from the entire planet. We spiraled in more slowly than I would have thought possible. Amanda was with the pilots watching over everything she could. She had sent me down to the lab area to determine what the science guys were finding. I was also in contact with our comms, Anne and Michelle. Anne was trying to find a focus on the signal. Michelle was running recordings we had made through every type of analysis anyone could imagine.

The only one with any thought was Amos, one of our meteorologists. He thought the weather patterns were too regular to not be under control. When he said that, it started some more thought. Merry (geology), Helen (oceanographer), and Emily (cartography) began to speak up that the land and oceans were much too regular to be normal.

I advised Amanda and we continued to orbit at what we hoped was a safe distance. Everyone was madly measuring everything that could be seen or scanned and accurately measured from this far out.

Suddenly, I felt the ship shift. Moments before, I noticed the faces of those around me go slack. I felt a nibbling at my mind. Alarmed, I ran for the bridge. There, I found our pilots, Jamie and Laura, lowering our orbit. Both had funny looks on their faces. I went to Jamie and chopped his neck and pulled him out of his chair. I took the conn and hit the override to prevent Laura from stopping me. I blasted us away from the planet and further into space. Moments later, the nibbling stopped. I looked at our position line and moved us further away from the planet and out of its orbit.

Two minutes later, Amanda came to me and said, "What are you doing, Frank?"

"I'm moving us away from the planet and whatever had been taking our minds."

"We need to orbit the planet to determine what's happening."

"Wrong, Captain. You need to look at the tapes of our actions from about ten or fifteen minutes ago. Then, we will talk about the situation. In the meantime, I am exercising my authority in case of an attack and moving the ship out of harm's way." Amanda was a thoughtful person. She didn't like my statement but waited to say anything more until she had reviewed the tape.

Reviewing the tape and comparing it with the communications log was both interesting and enlightening. We had been attacked mentally. How this had occurred and what it was supposed to have accomplished, no one knew. I had a suspicion but wasn't ready to voice my opinion quite yet.

Our communications chief, Anne, didn't see the connection though admitted that there was a spike in the signal just before we started to spiral in to the planet. Captain Amanda saw it and so did Myra and Jamie, respectively the Astrogator and Pilot. We treated the change as an attack and began to move closer very slowly. Myra said that there should be a "sweet" spot when we would get sensed and have a mental push. Once found, we can stay just outside of it and start looking more closely at what was happening.

We found the "sweet spot" that Myra had surmised would exist and found it to be circular to the center of the planet. We set it into the autopilot and began to orbit just outside that point. We were close enough for detailed scans of the planet.

What we found was a little different from our expectations. There was no sign of civilization of any type or level. The temperature was not hot but all of the land mass was a jungle riff with predators. The oceans were the same. The level of animal violence was unprecedented. We also had a record of psychic activity that was stronger than the violence level. We tried to get a fix on it but were unable to tie down any single source.

We pulled further out and into a new higher orbit while we met to discuss the findings. Our scientific folk wanted to go in and study the planet. My danger warning was going berserk in my head. They went on and on claiming they could protect us from anything the planet could throw at us. The crewmembers were having none of it. We knew that we had almost lost the ship once.

I knew that Captain Amanda could veto the science people based upon the safety of the ship but Captains are reluctant to do that because the corps would likely remove them from future commands if the reviewers second-guessed them that it should have been allowed.

Before she made a decision, I spoke up. I said, "I would like to make a suggestion. I will take a craft inside the safe spot. I will wear armor that I will design. The scientific departments that want this planet searched will assign a crew to me protected as they deem sufficient. We will record the trip and then make a decision based upon what does or does not happen to the landing ship."

Captain Amanda looked relieved and the botany and geology people were looking like they had won a battle. Everyone quickly agreed to my suggestion.

I had a landing ship readied and added a couple of touches without telling anyone who would be making the trip about them. I worked with the Planet Side Hands and Pris Hopewell and Gene Carlton on the modifications to the landing ship and to modifications to my space suit. Pris and Gene were chemists and the Planet Side Hands were practical builders and exploiters. We set up a lead lined case for me hoping that it would stop anything from affecting me. We also put together a "dead man" switch to force the landing ship to exit orbit abruptly if I released my hold on a lever. We also rigged a simple program that could override all ship's controls and take us away from the planet if Melody Richter and Elmer White of Planet Side decided that I was no longer properly in control.

It was all we could dream up to do and I hoped it would be enough. Aboard the ship would be Beverly Sexton, a botanist; Amos Tisdale, a meteorologist; Merry Oakes, a geologist; Wendell Morris, a zoologist; and Scout Troopers, Mary Harris and Tom Henderson. I had the only key to the arms locker and, other than knives, no one was armed.

We pulled away from the Dolphin with all of us on physical monitors including brain monitors. The ship was also wired for sound transmitted on a separate frequency. We moved inside the safe zone and everyone on board began to act differently. I had also asked my Scout Troopers to not interfere unless they felt there was no other choice or to protect themselves. They looked at me weirdly at that but shrugged.

We were about a third of the way from the safe zone when the first symptoms began to be noticeable. Later, I would learn that this coincided with a surge in psychic activity from the planet. Amos grabbed Merry and ripped her suit front down rendering her naked to his hands as he roughly fondled her body. His touch was harsh and hard unlike Amos' actions in the past. He had become an animal by comparison and seemed intent upon raping Merry. She was fighting and screaming that she would rip him to pieces. She wasn't trying to stop his efforts but had added her own. Beverly was simply emoting as she suffered through repeated orgasms as her hands used her body roughly. The others all seemed to be comatose. I continued to spiral in toward the planet's surface. If I didn't change my flight path, the landing ship would crash.

With two minutes to go, I began to pull up from the surface. Tom and Wendell moved toward me mouthing senseless words. They pulled me away from my position and the dead man switch was activated when I was pulled away from the pilot's chair. Everyone was brought painfully to the floor by acceleration though my suit protected me. As soon as we were away from the planet a sufficient distance, they all went limp. I resumed my seat and slowly returned the ship to the Dolphin and docked. I locked the controls and removed my helmet.