The CHANGI BULLET

Chapter 27 - Abandoned

Walking back towards the Izzati, Cerys spotted the carcass of a new creature on the ground. They gathered around it. Though it was fairly decomposed, they thought they could make out wings.

'Seems like we do have flying creatures, after all,' said Professor Birney. 'Was that a bird, do you think?'

'Ugly thing, I know that,' said Cerys, with a body quiver.

In the cockpit of the Izzati, Inggrid suddenly had a warning light come on. Farrah and Toto were with her, playing look-out for the ground party to return.

'Is that a battery issue?' asked Farrah, concerned.

'Losing battery power, yes. Strange, seen as we're not actually doing anything.'

'There is always some natural seepage. Three or four per cent an hour.'

'Going faster than that, Farrah.' She turned on her ground communications. 'Ari, we are losing battery power.'

'At what rate?'

'Moving steadily towards a critical level.'

'We're almost back.' Ari spoke to Ezra, 'Ezra, come straight back. We have a problem with the Izzati.'

Ezra and Dr Ghosh were still looking out over gigantic swampland. If there was an alien city there, then it was an underground one. The far distance suggested a mountain range, although it was very gloomy.

'On our way,' answered Ezra.

Inggrid started to realise that it was a genuine emergency. 'Ari, we are at forty-five per cent. If we lose much more we won't have enough power to instruct the engines to give us lift. Do you understand?'

Farrah asked, 'Where is the energy going?'

'It's just being sucked into the planet's surface. Go and let them in, Farrah.'

Farrah hurried off. Back downstairs, she activated the air lock door (it was not procedure to leave it open, even when in a suitable atmosphere) and was shocked to only see the three of them arriving.

'What's happened?' she asked. 'Have Dr Ghosh and Ezra been killed?'

'No,' replied Ari. 'They're right behind us.'

Ari saw Rizki, looking relieved to have him back on board, then rushed off to join Inggrid.

Inggrid's face was strained, watching him jump into his seat. 'Forty per cent, Ari. Are we going or are we staying here? Is this what we came searching for? Is this mission success?'

'I don't know, Inggrid! We need days to explore. Professor Birney hasn't even run his full experiments yet. Ezra will be here in a minute. We can go and think about whether to return.'

'Ari! We don't have a minute. We lift off now or we never lift off again.'

Ari contacted the ground. 'Ezra?'

Ezra was driving down the hill like a maniac. Dr Ghosh was hanging on to the door handle to avoid her head hitting the roof. 'Two minutes! Nearly there. Open the air lock, I'll drive straight up.'

Ari looked into Inggrid's imploring eyes. He made the decision.

'We have to lift off now, Ezra. Situation critical. We will return for you. We will return for you.'

'Ari!'

'Let's go, Inggrid.'

Ezra skidded the jeep to a stop. He and Dr Ghosh got out, only to watch in disbelief as the Izzati lifted off and headed out of the planet's atmosphere. Dr Ghosh collapsed to the ground with the utter despair of the situation.