“We found out from the vessel’s records that the collapse happened twelve million years ago, your years, during an Earthquake,” mentioned Gahneo to the three humans in the group. As they approached the ship, it was easy to see the large agape hole caused by the crushing roof. The two suited aliens made their way through the rubble and entered the vessel, followed by their human companions. The inside of Silargh’s ship was a mess. From large boulders to small mounts of debris, dead over grown plants, and broken artifacts were littering the floor of hallways and rooms everywhere. The small party kept on, making their way through the rubble, toward the main cockpit. The large room appeared intact, but was covered in a fine layer of dirt and dust. Gahneo approached the Zarfha, and after an elaborate display of hand gestures, awakened the large white sphere. Some of the chairs, lying on their side on the floor of the ancient vessel automatically reset themselves, hovering in their upright position. Jorh and Gahneo sat down and began an intricate hand dance, focusing again on the Zarfha. The following light show, now quite familiar to all, began and a beautiful three-dimensional view of an ancient valley began to form all around the five explorers.
“That’s quite interesting,” thought François. “So, we’re all in the ship outside, right now, in this three-dimensional projection, experiencing what Dedrick, Ladli and I witnessed about an hour ago, as we relived what happened to the ship in the cave, seventy million years ago. Talk about messing with your head.”
“I have to admit, it’s pretty weird. It feels like a strange dream,” agreed Sabrina.
“If you think of it, it’s like seeing yourself on TV watching an old movie.” Dedrick was correct, but the three-dimensional projection made the whole experience confusing, especially due to the three time events occupying the same space. Those in the present found some of the objects and beings moving around them, to pass through their bodies, like ghosts. The sensation was quite eerie to Vera.
“We never found out what happened to Silargh and his passengers. Now, the ship’s Zarfha can finally tell us.”
These were the events that had followed the difficult landing of the ship; a story that even Jorh and his companions had never been able to see until now. They knew Silargh’s ship had never made it back to Mars, but what had happened to him and his people had only been speculations. The Kahnu’s telepathic abilities could be used across vast distances, but not from one planet to another.
The valley of giants
The valley was silent. The sun was almost gone by now, and the evening sky was slowly laying its soft blanket of dusk over the quiet landscape. As the last crimson rays of sunlight filtering through the mountain tops were slowly fading, the quiet sounds of the jungle below were making their entrance, one by one, on the stage of another beautiful cretaceous night. Coastal winds still had enough energy to make their song heard among the trees and bushes, and here and there, strange sounds could now be heard. A few chirps, up a giant tree at the foot of a hill to the right; a big splash in a lake to the west. Gliding above a cliff to the east, a few enigmatic looking birds, several times the size of the largest condors ever recorded in modern human history, were screaming their prowling “quacks.” The rummage of animals passing through bushes down below, would randomly stop, and then start again. An occasional roar from a Rapetosaurus reverberated in the distance.
Nearby, two Masiakasaurus were scoping the area. Their eyes scrutinizing the grounds, searching for food, they were making loud snorting sounds. Walking swiftly through the bushes with agility, they were soon focusing their attention on the mayhem ahead. They had been drawn to the place when, a few hours earlier, they had witnessed a giant fire ball zooming across the sky, followed by a devastating thundering crash. Now, in the calm of the early evening, animals were starting to show themselves, curious and drawn by others. If anything, they were seeking a potential meal. At the bottom of the hill, a wide path had been forced through the jungle. Trees and vegetation had been crushed and ripped out of the ground in a long straight line that revealed a tortured landscape full of debris. The path left by the scraping and dragging of the huge alien ship, when it had force-landed, was obvious. The terrain was bare in places, accentuated by deep parallel trenches, dug through rocks and earth, over several kilometers. Smoke and fumes, still rising from fires burning here and there, could be seen all along the mowed corridor the ship had carved. The entire scene was attesting to the violence of the crash. At the end of the giant runway, a gigantic white mass, unrecognizable and definitely not of this world, rested, partially buried at an uncomfortable angle, its front-end stuck in the ground under a pile of rocks, dirt, and vegetation. The vessel was leaning on its right side, and its back was rising above the floor of the landscape substantially. Purple gases were escaping from beneath the wreck. Even five hours after the event, the heat emanating from the spacecraft was still preventing animals from venturing too close.
Slowly making passes above the wreckage, a young Pterosaur, intrigued by the oddity, was attempting to land on top of the strange structure, when a side panel suddenly moved, releasing a column of smoke with a loud whooshing sound, sending the animal back in the sky, its large wings flopping away as he screamed a treacherous “croaaak”, and disappeared in the night. Inside the Aruk cockpit, Silargh was trying to get his bearings. At first disoriented through the haze of colors and shadows moving about, he started to regain his vision. Bathed in purple light, the confusion of crackling noises, passengers shuffling around, and occasional vibrations, made him realize where he was. He was in the ship, alive and seemingly uninjured. He was still secured to his seat thanks to the magnetic harness in the back of his suit. The purple hue of the walls around him told Silargh the atmospheric controls inside the ship had not been compromised by the rough landing. Any malfunctioning of the life support systems, or any hull breach, would have caused the ship’s internal walls to turn to green. As long as they stayed purple, they were safe; at least as far as that was concerned.
He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but he knew it had been a while. He could hear some of the passengers’ thoughts and feelings. A few were already moving about the ship. Most were scared, disoriented, and worried about their own situation. He needed to assess the damages to the vessel, and everyone’s state of health. He knew Tehe had not returned to her seat before the crash. He attempted to locate her.
“Tehe? Tehe? Are you OK? Where are you?”
But Tehe did not respond. Still a bit disoriented, he got up and began looking for her. He soon could sense that most of the passengers with him in the cockpit, ten or so, were OK. A few were still coming out of their groggy state, but no one appeared physically injured. He moved on into the belly of the vessel. Those still in their own quarters, seemed to have fared the best. He checked the Time-Frost room before reaching the cargo bay. She was nowhere to be found. He finally got to the infirmary. He instantly knew something was wrong. Someone was badly hurt. He entered the room to find Tehe lying on top of Berhis’ body, clutching to him, her face buried in his chest, moaning.