The Lost Planet of Ko'sstahn, where beasts with three heads and five tails roam the city streets at night, is in peril. Summoned by the Princess Kelliana, James Carver must battle dangerous and powerful foes if the day is to be saved ... A collecti...
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Ko'sstahn
Carver woke to find himself lying on the ground in broad daylight. He lay there for a moment, trying to work out what had happened. Why was he still alive?
Fearfully he moved his arms and legs, checking for damage. To his astonishment, everything seemed intact. He could have sworn the photon beam was about to slice him in pieces.
Had it all been a dream - a nightmare? He blinked and sat up. He was still wearing the clothes he had worn for the training op - his dust-red combat suit, gravity boots and utility belt. But instead of red sand beneath him, he was sitting in a field of grass. Grass? Where the hell was he? There was no grass on Mars - well, none outside in the open. The only grass existed in a few carefully cultivated patches under domes.
He looked around and saw grass stretching in all directions, as far as the eye could see. He cast his eyes upward, searching for more clues. He saw the sun in its usual place, as far as he could tell, but where was Earth? Its glowing remains should have been quite visible - but they weren't. Instead, a white smudge filled about a quarter of the sky. It was as if a door or a gate had opened and pushed him through into a new world.
He queried his wristcom, but apparently it was damaged because it told him he hadn't moved from his last position, which was obviously ridiculous. It also told him that the white smudge in the sky was something called 'clouds.' Mars didn't have clouds, there simply wasn't enough water. Where was he?
For the first time he thought to wonder if anyone else had come through with him, any of the rebels for instance, but he couldn't see anyone. Part of him couldn't help hoping that Barker and the rest of his team might suddenly appear. Maybe they hadn't died either. Then an image of the bloody chunks of meat scattered on the sand flashed into his mind. Wishful thinking wouldn't bring them back to life. He got rather shakily to his feet and turned 360 degrees, scanning his surroundings.
Somewhat to his relief, there was Jupiter, looming large on the horizon, but then to the north, he could see cone shaped buildings rather like giant chimneys. He knew for a fact there were no such buildings on Mars.
Since the few remaining humans had fled to Mars several centuries ago seeking a new home before Earth's imminent destruction, scientists had worked hard to build up the atmosphere. Now, although there was enough air for people to breathe outside the domes, air quality was still tightly controlled. Nothing was released into the fragile atmosphere that wasn't thoroughly purified.
Still, where there were buildings, there were probably people. Perhaps he could find someone who could tell him what the hell was going on. In a daze, he started walking towards the chimneys, the tall grass swishing against his legs. Before he had covered a hundred metres, he froze - his hand reaching automatically for the weapon which wasn't there.
The grass parted to his left and the next second a huge serpent reared up, eyes red with fury, its yellow-black skin glistening in the sun. Two long fangs dripped with saliva. Carver scrabbled for the knife in his utility belt. With a blade only ten centimetres long, useful for opening ration-paks and other small tasks, it was hardly his weapon of choice but it was all he had. The serpent's eyes followed the blade in Carver's right hand as he twisted it slowly back and forth, seeking the right angle. There! He had it. The serpent was dazzled for a split second by the bright glare from the blade. As quick as the eye could see, Carver flung himself on the serpent's back, bringing them both crashing to the ground. Carver's left arm was clamped under its jaw as his right plunged the blade into the spot between the beast's eyes. Again and again until they glazed over. The body still thrashing, Carver scrambled off, gulping in great gasps of air. He took a couple of hasty steps backwards. The serpent was dead - it just didn't know it yet.
He was still getting his breath back, scanning the surroundings for further danger, when a slight young woman rose out of the ground in front of him, dressed in long black boots and a jacket and pants made of black fur trimmed with white. In his rattled state, Carver was embarrassed to admit his first thought was that she appeared by magic. Then he realised she had come up on a platform, from under the ground. She didn't appear to be armed so he stood still, waiting for her to approach.
The woman stopped a couple of metres away.
She looked human, but the language she spoke was like nothing he had ever heard before.
"%^&*^?" Her dark eyes were fixed on his but she didn't appear to be hostile, or frightened by his presence for that matter - just wary.
She was probably asking who he was and what he was doing there.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Carver answered, unmoving, keeping his hands by his sides. He had no idea what gestures were acceptable, or threatening, in this world. Wherever he was, it sure as hell wasn't 25th century Mars. "My name is Carver, Lieutenant James Carver, of the People's Third Martian Forces."
He bit his lip. That was probably too much information for an introduction. He glanced at his wristcom, wondering whether it was working well enough to translate for him.
He tried again, slowly raising his arm to point to himself. "James Carver," he repeated. "From Mars. Can you understand me?"
"&%^*%^? K&^%*?"
Carver looked blank and slowly shook his head. He adjusted the setting on his wristcom - perhaps it would work now.
She spoke again and this time he could understand. Although the words were the last thing he had expected to hear.
"Greetings. I am Kelior. Are you the warrior summoned by Princess Kelliana?"
