Fan Fiction ❯ Titan ❯ Ceres reunited ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The pod moved jerkily across the ice plains, clanking slightly as it rumbled over the uneven terrain. It reached the top of a small mound and stopped. The three cameras whirred right, then left, and then the whole thing rolled away down the slope. As it moved away the lenses focused on a distant cliff face. The vertical face had been torn and ravaged by the winds of this world. Far off in the other direction a volcano was erupting, spewing tons of water and steam into the atmosphere high above. After a few hours it had followed a stream into a canyon. The walls stretched a mile into the air, carved from the ice over hundreds of years. The wind whistled through the narrow groove in the ground, accompanied by the gentle splashing of the machine as it drove through the stream of lighter fluid. It stopped and rotated until its spectrometer was facing the cliff wall. It stayed motionless for a while, clicking quietly to itself, before turning away and heading back off down the stream. Further along, the canyon grew deeper and narrower and the stream became a river. The pod witnessed other streams flowing over the cliff to fall down its face and boom into the one that had originally carved the canyon itself. Another time, the river had grown until all that could be heard was the insistent roaring of the fast paced liquid. The pod was moving along a narrow pathway cut into the rock a few feet up the wall when it was almost struck by a falling ball of ice. The camera swiveled, trying to get a better view of where it had come from. It made out some movement quite high up the cliff, and a few falling ice crystals. It stared for a while and when nothing else happened began its journey again. From the top of the cliff the probe looked utterly helpless. It drove steadily alongside the river, dwarfed by the enormity of its surroundings, the sheer cliff face, just a stripe on the vast, barren landscape. The amazing green sky and orange clouds, illuminated by the distant star, high in the sky, perfectly framed the crescent of a huge, ringed orb. The tiny world seemed endless as the pod persisted further and further across the scarred surface, observing anything and everything.
A young woman got out of her car. She was about 20 years old, rather pretty, with red, shoulder length hair. She wore jeans, a white, sleeveless shirt, a backpack, large, sensible boots and a pair of sunglasses. Everyone wore sunglasses these days. The atmosphere here was still thin, despite the terraforming, and the light could be rather harsh. She stood on the pavement for a while, watching the people go by on their business in the city, then she opened the boot of her smartcar and took out a stack of books which she tucked under her arm, and a plant pot with a strange, blue tendril growing in the dirt. It wiggled slightly in the wind, which was interesting because there was no wind. She elbowed her way through the double doors of a large skyscraper. The room inside was large and empty. A desk was at the far end with an elevator door either side. An elderly woman was sat behind the desk tapping away at a computer. The young woman made her way to the desk and coughed politely to get the lady's attention. She looked up.
"Name?" the old woman said in a croaky voice.
"Elizabeth Kane."
"Top floor, room 113."
"Thankyou."
The young woman strolled to the elevator and awkwardly pressed the button. She waited a while until the elevator pinged and the door slid open. She stepped inside, the door closed automatically and the elevator moved away. The old woman sat at her desk for a while working on her computer. After a few minutes she looked up, tapped a few more keys, turned the computer off and went to have lunch.
A man was sat at a table. The table was large and round and made of metal but the only thing on it was a glass of water and a small laptop. The man was connecting cables from the laptop to just about every electrical object in the room. He was average height, with a thin face, big sunglasses and a dark green baseball cap. His blonde hair stuck out from under it at odd angles. He wore a heavy jacket, jeans and trainers. The door to the room began to open revealing the young woman. Without looking up the man pushed a button on his laptop and the door slid shut again.
"Dan, open the damn door!" the woman's voice called impatiently.
The man started to laugh, a strange, snorting chuckle.
"Oh, come on man, you're 28, start acting it!" the voice called.
"Alright keep your pants on." the man called, still chuckling.
He pushed another button and the door opened. The woman strolled in and clipped him round the ear before sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"Hey, what was that for? It was only a bit of fun Liz, lighten up."
"No more jokes Dan. Come on, this is serious. If you're here and I'm here then who else do you think is coming. We're both part of the same team."
The man gave her a hurt look "Yeah, yeah I know. Sorry. But you still shouldn't have hit me."
"Well you deserved it." she said, opening her backpack.
She put her plant pot on the table and took out a spray bottle which she sprayed gently over the blue bud which wiggled quickly as the liquid touched it. The woman stroked it lovingly and turned it around to spray the other side.
"I thought this was important." said the man.
"What?" said the woman in surprise.
"Well if this is so important why are you watering a pot plant?"
"It's not water, it's dilute cyanide. The plant's designed to absorb harmful toxins safely. I just upped the dosage."
"Wow. Cool. Just don't you spray that stuff at me." he said, turning back to his laptop and rolling his eyes.
"Well it's better than hacking into vital systems. At least this is useful."
"Whatever."
The woman ignored him and went back to tending the plant. They sat there for a while until a thumping at the door made them both look up.
"Hey, why's the door locked?" called a voice "Let me in."
The man began to giggle and covered his eyes. The woman stood up.
"Oh for god sake Dan."
She went to the door and pulled out the wires he had plugged into the socket next to it. The door slid open and another man stumbled through wearing farm clothes.
"Hey!!!" cried the man at the table "Why did you have to pull the plug on my fun?"
"Shut up Dan!" the girl said impatiently. The first man turned back to the computer grumbling to himself.
The second man milled around apologetically "Err, sorry I'm late, I, err, the cow, it had a bit of trouble." he pulled his boots and gloves off and threw them into the elevator "Dan, just send it down would you. To the waste disposal floor. Thanks." he turned to the woman and shook her hand "Hi Liz. Sorry about that. I think someone dumped something and the cow ate it. I had to take her to the vet."
The woman reached into her backpack and pulled out a small container which she threw to him.
"Try these. I engineered them to absorb toxins. Just plant them around the field and they should absorb anything harmful." she smiled broadly at him.
He smiled back "Thanks Liz. You're a genius with plants."
"I'm not that great." she said blushing.
The man laughed and pocketed the seeds. Then he went over to the other man and bent over the computer screen.
"Hey Dan, how are you?"
"I'm ok. I almost won the lottery the other day. But they traced the computer signal so I had to give the money back. How you bin then man.?"
"So so. I acquired an interesting fossil, earth based but still."
The man at the table began typing faster "Good, good, hey listen man. You got something waterproof on you?"
The second man looked puzzled "Yeah the clothes I'm wearing are waterproof, why?"
"Great, Liz what about you? Got anything waterproof?" he stood up and started collecting up his cables and stuffing them into a bag.
The woman strolled over to him and folded her arms. "Why would I need something waterproof Dan? What are you up to?"
The man stuffed his computer into the bag after the wires and slung the bag over his shoulder. Then he straightened up.
"Oh nothing, I'm not doing anything." He pulled his cap lower over his face and stared at his watch.
The woman grabbed his collar and yanked him closer "Dan, I swear, if you do what I think you're going to do...."
There was a loud beeping and suddenly the room became very wet. The man being held by the woman dropped his head and began laughing madly. The woman was standing directly under the sprinkler system and was soaking wet after a few seconds. The other man walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Easy.." he said quietly. She pushed the laughing man backwards and he fell over a chair.
"Ow! That hurt." he moaned.
"Dan, you are a complete imbecile!!!!" she yelled at him and strolled to a damp seat.
She sat down and started shivering whilst trying to brush her wet hair out of her eyes. The first man just sat on the floor laughing but the second one took off his waterproof coat and wrapped it around her. Then he sat next to her and she smiled at him.
"Thanks." she said, snuggling into his dry coat.
The door burst open and an elderly, but healthy looking man marched in.
"DAN!!!!!" he shouted in a commanding voice.
The man on the floor pulled himself up slowly, still giggling. The old man walked over to him and smacked him over the head with the cane he was carrying. He fell to the ground again clutching his skull. The old man was tall and bald with a wrinkled face, but he stood straight and was wearing a business suit which would have looked good on him had he not been hosed down by the sprinklers. He leant on a cane but it was more for show than for support. His sunglasses were tucked into his breast pocket and he wore the wide hat of a planetary councilor. A stream of water poured off the brim and in front of his angry face. He pulled out a a small handheld computer and pushed a button on the front.
"Hello, Charlie?" he said to the device "Turn off the water would you." the sprinklers stopped working "Thankyou." he said and put the machine away.
"Right, now can we get on with the meeting? Thankfully it's in a different room, the councilors have already there and luckily..." he shot a glare at the man on the floor "... the sprinklers did not drench them. Now come on. Let's go."