The Planet Kestra was one of the most inhospitable little planets I had ever been assigned to. Miles upon miles of green sands - to say nothing of murderous quicksands for the unwary - and towering red mountains. Three of us stood on the surface. Dark Jade Hooper, Captain Jim Brodrip - and myself Toby Vance, all identical in our silver atmosphere suits, but certainly having nothing else in common. We were going through the sand with sieves, searching out the terrains' Rock-beetles.

"Gotcha!" Brodrip grunted, pulling one of the fist-sized mutants out of the ground. Then he flipped it into a sack containing three others.

"Right, he ordered, "two more should do it. Keep digging." And we set to the task with a will, wanting to get back to our base before nightfall. At night, the Skaargs came out: Dingo-like creatures with grey, spiked bodies and crocodile-like snouts. In packs, they could strip the flesh from a man in minutes. Our laser-weapons would soon take care of them, but the consequences of being suddenly outnumbered didn't bare thinking about.

It took a further ten minutes to unearth another two beetles, then it was back to camp with weapons drawn. On Kestra you kept your wits about you. After all this was - until a couple of years ago - a penal colony where the worst type of criminal was transported. Without doubt, a mixture of the terrain and the wildlife had wiped them all out... but you never knew!

Back at our camp - a silver-domed building about the size of an old circus tent: from above it looked like a silver mushroom sticking out of the sand - we dumped our specimens outside the door of professor Janet Sanders, then retired to the recreation room where I got a large carton of coke. Hooper went for a shower and Brodrip lit one of his foul-smelling cigars.

"Reckon I'll head for the VR room after," he said between puffs. I shrugged, sipped my coke. I sometimes felt that if the planet didn't get us, the boredom would.

"Code 7 again, is it?" I asked. Brodrip barked with laughter.

"Man's got to have a little R and R," he replied. Rest and recreation, to captain Brodrip, meant having sex with any number of simulated VR women. They were hardly attractive, and they didn't even feel natural. But sometimes, out in a desert, you can build up a head of steam, and - I suppose - even an animated doll was better than nothing.

"I'll pass on that one." I drank my coke and retired to my cabin. Relaxing music started up, I stripped, showered, dressed in denim shorts and a grey T-shirt. Then I drank a beer and made my way to the specimen room. Janet had shed her white overcoat and now lounged about in a blue vest and jeans. An attractive woman with a less than flattering crew-cut. But with the temperatures on Kestra, everyone had shaved their heads.

"Research coming along?" I asked.

She shrugged. "So so."

She'd already set up the chess pieces. I took a seat and was in check-mate eighty two minutes later. After that she cooked us a pleasant - if synthetic - supper. We ate in silence. Somehow, conversation had dried up.

"Shall we go to the opera?" I suggested. "We haven't seen the Turandot programme yet. Or we can go to an Elvis concert. Would you like that, Janet?"

She smiled. "What I'd like," she said, "is a little bit of excitement."

I knew how she felt. But it was better for her here than it was for me. As a particle physicist I was somewhat surplus to requirements now. Janet was an Exo-biologist, Hooper an astrophysicist. Brodrip had no such fancy title. He was just a pilot. He was being paid well - as were we all - but after four months we just wanted the mission to end. Just two months to go, but time passed slowly on Kestra.

The simple meal filled a gap. Then we went to the recreation room and attended an Elvis concert. For two hours we put Kestra and its barren environment out of our minds; but, as ever, there was always tomorrow. 

*

We rose early ... by Earth time. Kestra had a permanent twilight zone and we were working right in the middle of it. The sky was of a dark purple and extremely sparing with the light that it allowed to filter through. We all dressed in our silver atmosphere suits, ate a large breakfast, then donned helmets and left the dome. For the last few months we had been avoiding the Skaargs. Now we were hunting for them!

"Hey Vance, you ever used a laser weapon before?" Brodrip yelled through his speaker.

"I'm a scientist, not a soldier," I replied.

"Hold it at arms length when you fire. It has a kick that'll break your shoulder. Still, it'll turn anything you hit inside out."

"Well it would if it was set on level five. Mine's set on three."

Level one would stun, level two would injure. You set it on level's three, four or five depending on how much. damage you wanted to inflict on whatever you were going to kill! In this case, damage had to be kept to a minimum: it would make the beasts easier to dissect.

We set off into the range of mountains in the East, in particular the pyramid-shaped one known - inevitably - as The Pyramid. As we trekked there in silence I considered the circumstances that had driven me out here. Just over a year ago I had been happy, content with my life. I had a good job lecturing, was newly-married and my wife was expecting our first child. But the child - a beautiful girl - had been born with a rare genetic disorder. The cure was expensive, way beyond my means. Then the offer of this assignment came up - payment in advance, all the money I needed for the treatment. Before leaving on the shuttle to earn all that pay I was informed that the treatment had been successful and that my daughter, Misha, would grow into a healthy, happy girl. It was some consolation for missing out on the first six months of her life.

So now my whole life was centred around this depressing wasteland known as Kestra. We trudged up the steep hill, hoping to stumble upon a Skaarg lair. A prolonged shoot-out was something we wanted to avoid at all costs. Our weapons had to be reloaded and we only had a limited number of laser disks.

The trek was bland and unadventurous, one inch of terrain looking very much like the next. The Pyramid rose before us in a steady incline that was nonetheless hard going on the legs. We stopped halfway up, calfs screaming for respite, and took refreshment - in this case a thick liquid that tasted like orange juice. Then we pressed on. We came across the first of the caves about a third of the way up, but it was too small to be a lair. Roughly ten by twenty meters inside, it was searched in seconds: then we rested again and pressed on. With the cloying atmosphere on Kestra you wouldn't risk over- exerting yourself.

Then I felt the first drops of rain on my helmet and knew that the trek was about to be halted. "Lets get to the nearest cave, Brodrip shouted, and we hastened forward. It didn't just rain on Kestra, it deluged. By the time we got to a cave, less than five minutes later, we were staggering through the storm both deafened by the noise and blinded by the ceaseless blanket of water that seemed to engulf us. The respite was wonderful. I pulled out my atmosphere indicator and we pressed on into the cave until it registered 'all clear'. For some reason, the atmosphere in the caves was less charged than it was out in the open. I assumed it was something to do with underground springs, but I had yet to investigate that far.

"Right," I said, "all clear. Let's take these helmets off."

We did, and Dark Hooper produced some rations out of his backpack. Thick square biscuits, blue and orange boiled sweets, and a large thermos of coffee. We ate in silence, the ever-increasing rain sounding like millions of pebbles being dropped onto a steel roof. What a wonderful planet this is, I thought with irony.

"Gee, " Brodrip said at last, "Weather's great, wish you were here. And I thought it could rain in Boston."

"I'd settle for Boston," said Janet, shivering in her suit. "If only we could have found a body."

This had been the nub of our mission. This system had been discovered many moons ago. Two suns, four planets. Of these four, only the twin planets of Kestra and Masada seemed habitable. However, as there seemed no point in colonizing them - and as the atmosphere seemed conducive to human habitation (and, indeed, had enough minerals and resources to support life) - it was decided, by the powers- that-be, to use it as a penal colony from which there could be no possibility of escape. But then, one year after the transportations had begun, Kestra and Masada were dragged out of their orbits, possibly a result of the twin suns crossing each other. Various probes had failed to register any forms of life whatsoever. In effect, the criminals had been sentenced to death. A little enough loss, you may think, for a population of the vilest killers on Earth,' but time, and considerable expense, had been invested into a series of industrial plants that were to be built on Masada, hence this expedition ·. to see if the planets really were an ecological write-off.

But it hadn't been easy. No human bodies had been discovered, which is why we were studying the atmosphere and fauna. It was our conclusion that the criminals had died in the change of climate, and that the natural inhabitants had fed on their cadavers. But how come THEY had adapted?

After an hour the storm died away and we emerged into the gloom. In the distance, the form of Masada seemed to dominate the sky. At this point I remembered the eclipse that was due anytime now. Once every two years, one of the twin planets crossed in front of the sun, blocking out the other planet's light. This time, Masada would be crossing in front of Kestra.

"The eclipse," I said, "I'd forgotten all about it."

Brodrip just shrugged. "So we'll get a little excitement," he said, and that was all the interest he showed. Nonetheless, as the twin planet started to cross the sun 5 path we downed our equipment and sat on rocks to watch. Back at base, a number of instruments - set to record the phenomena months ago - came to life. For all the worlds, it didn't look as if we were going to see much: as Masada's perihelion took it into a direct line between Kestra and the dominant sun, the difference was minimal. The light on Kestra was so dim that there was little difference between night and day at the best of times. But this time there most certainly WOULD be a difference.

It was interesting at first: no more, no less. We had long since gone past the stage of being awed by the sight of a planet hanging large and clear in the sky. But then came the glow, followed by the diamond ring effect you would see during an eclipse on Earth. But this was a little more dramatic. The light grew intense, then a beam shot down, resting on the tor. As we watched in disbelief, a dark bubble appeared ... then seemed to burst, cascading down the mountain like flowing lava. In a moment of panic we jumped on our rocks. Within seconds the thick, oily substance was flowing past us revealing a most unexpected horror; hundreds upon hundreds of human skeletons: arms, skulls, legs, all floating on the surface like victims of a flood. How long we watched this grisly parade I couldn't say, it seemed to go on for an age. Then it was gone, leaving a black, viscous scar down the face of The Pyramid. I jumped down and collected a sample. Now we knew where over five hundred men had gone. As to what had happened to them ...

"Let's get to the top of this hill," Brodrip barked, and recklessly marched on ahead, forcing the rest of us to follow.

At the peak we were confronted by a gaping maw of a cave, jagged black rocks making it look like a Demon's mouth. Inside, our torches revealed a tunnel; obsidian-black and perfectly smooth. It had to be man-made - if 'man' were the right word. We glanced at each other, uncertainty written on all our faces. In the end, Dark Hooper broke the silence.

"Well, we came to this planet to find out what made it tick. I've a feeling that we'll find the answer inside this mountain. Agreed?"

I looked down the tunnel. Whatever had happened had been - for some reason - timed to happen at this moment. Had some sleeping entity been awakened? I put this thought into words and Brodrip replied (as I knew he would); "Well there's only one way to find out."

Did I have the sense to argue? Did I say no, lets get as far away from here as possible, preferably off this lousy planet altogether? No, I just followed him into the cavern, guts churning like one of those old-fashioned spin-dryers. This was surely taking research too far!

Down we travelled, deeper and deeper. Even the dismal terrain of Kestra would be better than this. Eventually we emerged into a huge, dome-shaped cavern. In the middle of this lair was a lake of the viscous black fluid we'd seen cascading down the pyramid. Clearly, it had been bubbling away down here for several years, waiting for the eclipse to release it. Whether it was an indigenous element or a manufactured product was impossible to say, but as I looked at that bubbling mass, several bodies floating on its surface....

I was standing halfway up The Pyramid, watching the planet Masada passing in front of the sun. The diamond ring appeared, the beam of light shot down - and I once again jumped on my rock as the black fluid cascaded down the face of The Pyramid, its gruesome cargo trailing along in its wake.

"Lets get to the top of this hill." I looked to Brodrip, then once again jogged up the hill after him. We reached the top, looked down the cavern ... and right on cue, Hooper exclaimed, "Well, we came to this planet to find out what made it tick. I've a feeling we'll find the answer inside this mountain. Agreed?"

Well of course we did, and of course we trudged down the tunnel - and I found myself looking at the river of black fluid, several bodies floating on its surface...

"JESUS H. CHRIST, WHAT THE HELL …"

And that was when all Hell did break loose, Skaargs bounding towards us from the rocks and crevaces. We opened fire, cutting them down while retreating back up the tunnel. After we'd cut about a dozen of them down they warily backed away and we were able to break into a run. We didn't stop until we reached the surface, then we used our weapons to seal the cave. By the time the mouth collapsed the Skaargs had regained their courage and were coming after us, but they were too late to stop us sealing them in.

We set off down the sloping face of The Pyramid as fast as we could, our weapons depleted. All we could think of now was getting back to our base and safety. The Hell with the Skaargs and the Hell with Kestra. We'd risked our lives enough for one day. 

*

"Yeah, go figure, right? How am I gonna explain what happened in my report?"

Brodrip was looking to us for inspiration. Just what caused us to relive a full half hour of our lives would, I'm afraid, remain a mystery. All we had were theories, but those theories are certainly worth recording.

"OK," I said, "Bottom line, we experienced a time-warp. There's no proof, but I think the phenomena we experienced has happened millions of times in the past."

"What?"

"Have you ever visited a place for the first time, knowing you've never been there, yet feeling that you HAVE been there before?"

"Deja vu, ya mean?"

"Yes. But what if you had been thrown back in time. Are you familiar with the 'expanding Universe' theory? Let me explain: the Universe was created in what has become known as the 'Big Bang Theory'. According to scientist's, the Universe has been expanding outwards - something like an elastic band - ever since."

Brodrip shrugged and lit a cigar. "keep talking. I'm sure you're gonna connect the two."

"Well theoretically, just like an elastic band, it's being stretched taut." I slowly spread my hands to emphasize the point. "Anyway, you know what happens to elastic bands. You stretch them too far and ... twang!"

"'Twang'! Keep it in Layman's terms, will ya."

"Anyway, subscribers to this theory believe that it will stretch itself to breaking point, then just concertina in on itself. Quite a spectacular end, by all accounts."

Brodrip drew on his cigar, shrugged. "And?"

"And time - if you can follow this - will be thrown into reverse, the years just reeling back on themselves. That's the theory, anyway."

All this, of course, was of very little interest to Jim Brodrip.

Cheers Vance, a very interesting science lecture. But how does it explain what happened?"

I took a sip of coke. Explaining things to Captain Brodrip could be very hard work.

"Supposing you get the odd ripple in the continuum. You know, little fluctuations ... like the strings of a badly-tuned guitar."

"I think we'd notice a thing like that, don't you?" 

"We noticed it here because this is an alien environment. We're off kilter. On our own world we'd probably have leapt back and not even noticed. Like when you're travelling on a shuttle. It's going at several hundred miles an hour, yet if you flip a coin it drops right back into the palm of your hand. Why doesn't it fly back and hit you in the face?"

"Simple. Because everything is travelling forward. You, the coin ... the whole caboose. You flip the coin forward."

"Exactly. You don't notice because you're part of the motion and have no sense of it. And yet, if you were fired from a cannon at that speed it would kill you. Out of a natural surrounding, you'd notice the momentum. I think that's why we noticed the timeslip.

"Think about this. How many people have been saved by a sixth sense? You know, the feeling that they would electrocute themselves if they touched a certain wire. What if they had already touched it just before a fluctuation? In a way, they'd remember doing it ... well, without actually remembering."

You could have cut the silence with a knife. Janet and Hooper drank coke, Brodrip regarded the tip of his cigar. It was certainly far-fetched. And yet...

"Ya know, Vance," Brodrip said at last, "Not so long ago I would have dismissed a theory like that as a whole load of balony. But I've seen some things these last coupla years that defy all the laws. Christ, I don't know what to believe. But one thing's for sure: I'm not putting any of that shit in my report. As far as I'm concerned, the mission's over. This planet's not fit for human habitation; the pollution's just too bad." He drew deeply on his cigar, then regarded us through the fug. "I trust you're all going to back me up on this one?"

And there wasn't much else we could do. Talking about the expanding Universe was one thing, trying to convince people about the physical evidence of it was quite another. None of us felt up to the task. So I guess this journal is all the evidence there's going be. 

* 

I said goodbye to Kestra a few months later, never happier than to see its sphere diminishing through the window of the shuttle. I had a home to return to, a wife and child. I was just happy to see this mission at an end. Science has always had its mysteries, and I guess there's some things we'll never understand. Had I really experienced an effect of the expanding Universe? It's a sobering thought. If the Universe really has been expanding for billions of years then it must surely be close to snapping point. When it happens, will the years go reeling back like a rewinding video tape? I hope not, as I'd really hate to relive the time I spend on Kestra. We'd learned from our time there, but the planet was now officially a 'dead zone

As Kestra receded from view, Janet entered the observation deck. It was time for us to go into a month-long sleep for the journey back to Earth.

"It's time," she said, and we both managed a smile.

"I'll miss our games of chess," I said.

"We're going home, Toby."

We strolled down to the quarantine deck. Hooper and Brodrip were already in their cubicles. No saying goodbye for them, and I don't even know why I bothered. Climbing into my box I closed my eyes, listened to soothing classical music, and drifted away as the odourless gas eased me into the arms of Morpheus.

"Goodbye cruel world," I said of Kestra as sleep finally claimed me.
 
 

THE END