guess the world -
seventh series
entries 601 -

[ + links to: Guess The World guidelines - Guess The World entries 1-100 -
Guess The World entries 101-200 - Guess The World entries 201-300 -
Guess The World entries 301-400 - Guess The World entries 401-500 -
Guess The World entries 501-600 - Scene-counts ]

2025 December 7th:

Lost in such thoughts, he tripped over a small black rock that was almost invisible in the deep shadow of a larger boulder. He caught himself in time to keep from falling, then noticed that Dorn had stopped walking and was staring at an advancing object. At the same time, the ground began to tremble. Carson, looking up, thought at first that a mountain had begun to move.
  It was not a mountain, however, but a living creature somewhat like a dinosaur, as a second glance showed him. Its dull, scaly covering gave it a rock-like appearance. The thing was about fifty feet in length, and about a third that in width and height.
  Except for an elongated neck and a relatively tiny topknot, such as the human-appearing [..........] possessed, the major portion of the creature’s body appeared to be a single undifferentiated mass of what Carson supposed to be flesh.
  There were six short legs that could hardly have supported the weight of so huge an animal on Earth, but were quite sufficient here because of the lesser gravity. And set in the topknot’s forehead were hideous eyes, four of them in a semi-circle, glaring viciously...
(…)
...From the edge of the desert on, the pace of the expedition slowed down to a crawl. Carson, staring out at the barren rocks that stretched mile after mile in front of them, found it difficult to believe that this was an expanse of wasteland greater than any on Earth.
  At the horizon something seemed to rise in the air, ascend to the sun, and then come plummeting down. Carson called the attention of the leader of the [..........], a member of the purple race, to the unexpected phenomenon. It seemed impossible that any creatures should be able to make their homes in this desolate waste.
  The [..........] raised his topknot cautiously, uncovering his eyes, and stared. Again the object rose in the air, shimmering like a prism of glass in the bright sunlight, and again it swept down.
  “It is a flyer,” the [..........] said uneasily.
  “Is it alive?”
  “Very much alive.”
  It seemed incredible to Carson. A bird or a plane needed air in which to fly. There wasn’t enough air here to support a mosquito.
  The flyer was coming closer. A third time it soared upward, and then sank to the ground once more. Apparently it did not possess the ability to stay up very long. Apparently—
  Carson’s eyes were glued to the creature. It did not really fly— it leaped. That was the secret of its travel through the air. Carson imagined what a large creature possessing the leaping ability of a flea would do on this planet of low gravity, and knew he had the answer.
  The flyer shimmered like a piece of glass, because it reflected the sun’s light and heat almost completely. That was one of the best ways to keep cool on this overheated desert. Simply not to absorb heat...
  (…)
...Presently, a few feet ahead of Nora, in the space between two enormous rocks, there was a darker patch on the ground, several inches across, like a small hole dug by a miniature meteor. The girl flashed her lights at it, but the black patch reflected no light at all.
  She approached until she was almost above it. Then she saw with astonishment that the object was moving, inching along the ground at a snail’s pace toward her.
  One of the [..........] noticed her surprise.
  “They are alive, but not dangerous. All the same, it is well to keep away from them.”
  “How can they live here?”
  “There is in their bodies a liquid that never freezes, no matter how cold.”
  Haines touched her shoulder, making contact between his suit and her own, so that the sound of his voice would carry.
  “Sounds like liquid air to me,” he said.
  Nora was dubious. She turned to the [..........].
  “Is it the gas we breathe?”
  “That freezes. This does not.”
  “Maybe it’s liquid helium,” Haines ventured. "Unless the temperature got closer to absolute zero than I can imagine it could, helium would stay liquid.”
  “These creatures absorb radiations of all sorts,” the [..........] went on. “They knew we were approaching because of the radiations of heat from our suits. The light attracts them also, but it is too much for them. They can’t stand a sharp light.”
  As Nora stared at it, the black patch suddenly exploded. Where it had been, there was nothing whatever left.
  “It absorbed too much heat,” the [..........] explained. “The liquid turned into gas, the pressure inside became too great, and there was an explosion.”