another planet.’
She gripped his arm and felt his excitement as his body shook. Both astronauts craned forward as far as their seat restraints would allow.
‘Look the ramp is moving again! Moving downwards?’ shouted Scott.
She then caught hold of his hand and they peered at the strange ramp structure just 30 metres in front of them and almost exactly at their eye level.
‘There’s something on the ramp! Scott choked, ‘That’s why it moved down again – it must be floating.’
On the lower part of the ramp, a dark shape started to appear, moving upwards towards the rear of the ramp.
‘What is it, oh my God! The back of a head, with thick, curly, black hair.’ Olivia shouted, ‘And the body is dark green, how strange – it’s one of those huge leaves – it covers it completely.’
The shape disappeared behind the back of the ramp as another head appeared below it.
‘The form is just less than 2 metres in height, essentially humanoid in stance and at 5 degrees Celsius, the same temperature as the underground area from which it has emerged,’ Zec-1 informed them.
‘It’s coming around the left hand side of the ramp!’ Shouted Scott and they leaned together in exhilaration pointing at the shape as it shuffled to the edge of the ramp and facing them was .....
....... a blue, hard face with a prominent hook shaped nose and vivid green and yellow eyes. The striking form then turned and shuffled slowly in the direction of the first upper pool.
More similar forms rose up and travelled around the ramp in a procession which left the astronauts utterly stunned with disbelief.
The first body to emerge from underground reached the edge of the steamy pool and slowly unwrapped the large leaf and cast it to the ground.
‘It’s completely blue all over!’ shrieked Olivia.
‘And humanoid in shape.’ Scott added with amazement.
‘Look, it has large mammary glands, it’s female.’ Olivia pointed.
Then the creature stepped shakily into the hot pool and disappeared under the surface of the water.
Zec-1, as ever, brought them down to earth,
‘The form has many reptilian features, namely, cold-blooded, green eyes with yellow vertically slit shaped pupils and webbing between fingers and toes. The skin is scaly and of a coarse texture. The stance and limb proportions are humanoid and so far all the emerged forms are female. The internal organs are similar to those of mankind and the brain cavity is smaller.’
After about 10 minutes the leading blue female stepped out of the pool and advanced, more steadily, towards the second pool. She was now facing them as Scott, puzzled, exclaimed,
‘She has square black nipples, I can’t understand it, and there seems to be further markings on and between the mammary glands.’
‘Also, she’s wearing black triangular flaps from the waist, front and back,’ Olivia observed.
Before they could glean any further understanding, the blue female slipped into the water of the second pool.
‘Body temperature of leading form now 15 degrees and a total of 20 similar forms, all female, have so far emerged. There is significant further movement underground.’
‘They’re very muscular and well built,’ commented Scott. ‘How old do you think they are?’
‘Can’t tell, and how do we judge age on this planet?’ Olivia replied as several more forms transferred to the second pool. ‘Also they are all very similar and their stern features remind me a little of the female Amazonian warriors from history.’
‘Olivia, look, smaller forms are emerging!’ They watched as they trudged to the first pool and discarded their leaves, ‘They seem to be younger females and pubescent females from their development.’
‘Aren’t there any males?’ Olivia queried.
About 30 forms had surfaced when the first blue female left the second pool and entered the
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker