Neodymium Pyrrus and Kerk 1 E-Book

Stig Granfors

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Pyrrus and Kerk
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 306

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Neodymium, the rare metal on the planet with the same name, is sought after. Not only on Earth but also by the cruel pirates who cross the universe in their merciless pursuit of prey. In addition they have found out the well-kept secret of the space colony. The small colony on Neodymium is attacked and the survivors escape into the wilderness and further into the jungle. One of them hides on the dark side of the planet, where he gets help in an unexpected way. Thus starts a ruthless battle over the dominion of the planet. This is the first novel about the space adventurers Pyrrus and Kerk, whose motto is: 'It will get better.' 'It was a dwarf planet in the middle of the Andromeda Galaxy. Neodymium. An insignificant planet if it had not been for the riches. Neodymium was only one of many similar celestial bodies in the broad belt of habitable planets.' 'A tribute to Harry Harrison and his Stainless Steel Rat.'

Leseprobe

Neodymium Pyrrus and Kerk 1

Neodymium Pyrrus and Kerk 1The threat from spaceThe cliffThe riverThe jungleThe dark side of the moonThe shadowsThe breakthroughThe instructionsHuntedKerkThe fireplaceThe Ark of the CovenantAnother experimentThe campThe secretThe powerful weaponThe prisonersA new weaponA farewell giftThe traitorThe agreementOganessonThe nightmareRighteousnessThe cargo shipDeath PlanetFactsCopyright

Neodymium Pyrrus and Kerk 1

Stig Granfors/Marcus Granfors

 Science fiction

© 2020 Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

Original title: Neodym – Pyrrus och Kerk 1

Translation: Stig Granfors and Mathias Granfors

https://stiggranfors.jimdofree.com/

Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Helsinki, Finland

Print: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany

ISBN: 9789528026488

Books by Stig Granfors

Non-fiction

Civilisationens gåtor (2005)

Skapelsens gåtor (2006)

Livets gåtor (2008)

En skön ny värld (2010)

Historiska gåtor (2019)

Biologiska gåtor (2019)

Fiction

Liv (2011)

Glimt av hopp (2012)

Skärseld (2013)

Strid (2014)

Botnia (2015)

Varningen (2017)

Hotet (2019)

Books by Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

In Swedish

Neodym – Pyrrus och Kerk 1 (2020)

Västvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 2 (2020)

Östvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 3 (2020)

Sydvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 4 (March 2021)

In English

Neodymium – Pyrrus and Kerk 1 (2020)

"And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend

You don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction

No, no you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction."

Eve of Destruction

P.F.Sloan/Barry McGuire 1965

The threat from space

It was a dwarf planet in the middle of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Neodymium.

An insignificant planet if it had not been for the riches. Neodymium was only one of many similar celestial bodies in the broad belt of habitable planets.

The pirate leader checked the navigator. One day left of the long journey. It would be a quick job. It should not cause any difficulties.

In and out.

Then off.

To Earth.

The pirate leader once again quickly flipped through the navigator and its presentation of the planet. Neodymium was actually something as unusual as a moon with its own moon, but was still called a planet because of its size. The planet, like Earth, had many volcanoes, valleys, vast plains, a dense jungle at the equator, and ice caps at the poles. No more active volcanoes. The navigator described that once upon a time there had been large amounts of free water on the planet. A lot of it was now left in the form of ice, both above and below the surface.

One day on Neodymium was marginally longer than on Earth: 24 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds. One year on Neodymium was 687 Earth days, twice as long in other words. The tilt of the axis at twenty five degrees meant that Neodymium like Earth had clear seasons, which however lasted almost twice as long as the Earth’s seasons due to the longer year.

Neodymium was about 230 million miles from its sun and had an even orbit. It was rich in minerals. And one of these was the most valuable of all in the universe. On Earth one would pay a fortune for the rare mineral.

The pirate leader smiled. A lazy life lay before him. He was already fantasizing about what to do with the money. But he kept this secret to himself for the time being. The less his companions knew the better. They were only useful fools.

However he would have to share part of the profits provided they didn’t leave witnesses behind. No one in the colony was allowed to survive. This must be a secret operation. And it would remain a secret.

Fast in and out.

The colony would be taken by surprise.

In and out.

No, no difficulties at all.

The cliff

Pyrrus was too late. He found the lifeless body of the guard lying with a broken neck on the wet cliff, which glistened cold in the moonlight. The sharp rock that had been used for the attack lay on the ground with remnants of blood and worn skin. The guard had been his friend, his confidant, and now he lay with lifeless eyes staring into the empty nothingness. Pyrrus grimaced in despair. What was not allowed to happen had happened. This was the end for them all!

From the heights he saw the enemy approaching the camp below. There was nothing he could do. Everyone in the camp was sentenced to death. The enemy took no prisoners. He shouted out loud. It was a shout of repressed anger and frustration. He immediately regretted it. A patrol of six warriors saw him and turned around. They raised their arms and grinned viciously, changed direction and began the climb up to the height, where Pyrrus stood. He felt trapped like a rat in a trap. He had only a few minutes. With his injured leg he could not run as fast as the trained warriors below. He felt helpless when he saw the strong superiority. The only option was to escape. Climb the steep cliff and then over the rocky ground into the wilderness.

He got his legs moving.

Not fast but persistent.

The enemy didn’t seem to pursue fleeing people for a long time. The pirates knew they would get their prey sooner or later.

The colony’s resistance was fragile. It was barely noticeable. Their planet had been invaded surprisingly and easily. The colony was about to be wiped out and the precious mineral would soon be in the possession of the enemy. Pyrrus and his colony members didn’t have proper weapons. The few survivors had fled into the wilderness. And the wilderness was barren, dry and cold. It was hard to survive there on your own.

Pyrrus stopped and stared again at the approaching warriors. Then he suddenly twitched as if waking up from a bad dream. Pyrrus heard screams from the camp. The slaughter had begun. The six warriors below him moved quickly and purposefully. He had seen the leader before. A large beast looking giant that moved surprisingly smoothly between the boulders on the way up. Pyrrus felt the panic spread in his body. The legs suddenly became brittle like jelly. His heart was pounding. And his neck tightened as if someone slowly strangled him. It was suddenly impossible to breath.

Concentrate on breathing!

Breathe slowly.

Let go of the panic.

Breathe!

How much time had he left? Not long judging by the warriors’ rapid advancement. He threw fist-sized rocks at them. A sharp rock missed the leader, but hit the warrior next to the leader. This warrior had climbed as fast as the leader, but now he suddenly lay unconscious next to a large boulder. But that didn’t significantly hinder the progress of the others. The rocks ran out. Pyrrus understood that he had to leave. He swore and limped away over the short opening to the steep rock wall.

At a young age he had accepted a challenge and climbed up any cliff wall easily like a mountain goat. It had been easier than he had thought. This wall had also many notches and openings, which provided an excellent attachment for hands and feet. And the cliff wall was not steep but sloping a little forward.

The problem was that he was now twenty years older and had accumulated extra fat. He was simply in poor condition and also had an injured leg. But he had no choice. The only escape route was uphill.

The cliff wall led obliquely upwards about seven hundred feet. An accustomed mountaineer would have described the cliff wall as varied with an interesting mix of small climbing problems and challenges interrupted by pleasant shelves, where you could rest and enjoy the view. It hardly required more than normal balance and mobility as well as a not too intrusive sensitivity to dizziness. But Pyrrus became a little dizzy from the mere thought.

That’s why he looked at the steep cliff wall not only with a mixture of fear and horror but also with respect.

Climb with a constant rhythm, he told himself.

No breaks.

Calm, steady movements.

And do not look down.

Whatever you do, don’t look down!

He took a deep breath and gathered himself mentally for the difficult task. The first phase gave a good idea of ​​what to expect. Climbing was more difficult than he had thought and he almost gave up before he had barely started. Suddenly he wished he was twenty years younger. Or thirty. But he continued.

The following nine feet on the other hand were easy. Crevices and edges at a suitable distance from each other helped him upwards. So there were easier and more difficult parts on the cliff wall. But the constant howling from the wind did its best to tear him free from the wall. However he refused to give up his position. Soon he tore his hands and felt a burning pain in his arms and shoulders.

His panting became louder and louder the further up he came and his strength was running out already after thirty feet. He swore loudly. To run would have been so much easier. But it wouldn’t have been the wiser choice. The warriors ran faster than he. On the cliff wall he had at least an equal chance.

His whole body trembled at this point of exhaustion and he gasped for air with rustling and panting breaths. With great effort he forced his thoughts away from the pain and the desire for rest. The climb was already starting to become a single long nightmare. He looked down and immediately regretted it. The dizziness got hold of him and almost forced him to let go. The temptation to dive into the abyss and fall straight onto the sharp cliffs below was great.

Do not look down, only stare at the wall!

He stared at it, at every rock and at every crevice.

Studied it in detail.

Became one with it.

He slowly continued to climb upwards.

Upwards.

That was the only thing that mattered.

Hurry up, inch by inch.

Left hand.

Right leg.

Right hand.

And drag the left leg after you.

And then the left hand again.

Repeat the movement.

And repeat it again.

Whatever you do, do not look down!

Instinctively he regained his composure, tried to forget the pain from the injured leg and clung to the cliff wall with both hands at the edges and the few holes he found.

The old knowledge of mountaineering appeared in his brain and this memory helped him. Remember the balance, keep a suitable distance from the wall and do not stick to it.       

Glide up smoothly like a lizard, advance constantly.

No breaks.

Slide!

Slide!

He heard voices from the foot of the cliff. This time he forced himself not to take a quick look down. He suspected that he was already high above the attackers. A feeling of joy and elation went through his weary body. Despite all the warnings he thought he could afford a quick look down. The joy disappeared. The leader began to climb quickly and the distance to Pyrrus decreased astonishingly fast.

Pyrrus swore at his recklessness and his sudden pause. Of course the warrior leader was a better climber. Now Pyrrus had also come out of rhythm, which slowed him down further. He again pushed away the dull pain from the injured leg and resumed climbing.

He climbed slower than before. The mountain side suddenly became steep. Or was it only his imagination that played a prank on him? It became harder to climb. The climb changed into an uninterrupted and endless struggle with sore fingertips and the right leg as support. It was a climb with nervous movements, always careful but overall infinitely laborious. But he dragged himself upwards inch by inch. Never in his entire life had he met such a challenge and he knew he would never climb the wall again. The climb was pure madness. It was a climb that pushed him to the limit, took on all his skill, all his courage and all his strength and far more than that. He had never thought that he or any human being could possess such reserve powers, such resources beyond the reasonable.

Nor did he know from what source he had actually received this power that led him to where he now stood within close reach of the goal - the top. The fear seemed to give him unimaginable powers. At the same time he realized that his mind had been in complete denial of thoughts and feelings during the climb. He had only climbed and climbed mechanically.

The leader below him was now also panting. But it was a different panting. Not heavy and strained but light and expectant. As if the warrior was waiting for a reward after the hard climb. The leader approached Pyrrus faster than expected.

Pyrrus dared again take a quick glance down. The sight filled him with horror. The knife, which the leader had between his white teeth, was red with blood. It had already come into use. The teeth flashed in an evil grin. Pyrrus froze with fear. He could not take it in anymore. He cast longing glances up to the top as if he was expecting help. But nobody offered him support. He was all alone with his enemy high up on the cliff wall.

The leader was now only a few steps from Pyrrus. In a few seconds he would lash out on Pyrrus’ feet and win the battle. The leader understood this, because his big wolf grin became wider. It spread all over his face. A vulture circled high above them and followed with interest the spectacle below as if it knew the outcome was worth the wait.

The leader took a short break on a small ledge. Pyrrus also stopped. He had used up all his strength and could barely breathe anymore. His arms and legs trembled. Pyrrus pressed his hands hard against the cliff wall to end the shaking. His fingertips bled and Pyrrus realized he was done. This was the end.

He glanced down. The distance to the ground was perhaps three hundred feet or more. Pyrrus wondered if he dared to take the risk. However he had no choice. He let go of the cliff and slid quickly down. The leader was taken by surprise. Pyrrus’ feet hit the shoulders of the opponent with a heavy thud. The warrior leader lost his grip and crashed with a scream of surprise to the ground. There was no chance he would make it. The warriors below jumped away as the flying body struck the rocks below with a muffled sound. Pyrrus felt the shock all the way up to the ledge, where he barely hung with his fingertips tightly embedded in the uneven cliff wall.

Outraged cries and curses hailed over him from below. Heavily he pulled himself up again, found a place in a crevice with his healthy leg and slowly rose upwards. One hand at a time he slid steadily uphill, passed a smooth rounding on the wall and let his legs hang freely in the air for a moment.

He didn’t understand how he managed it.

It felt like being weightless.

Where did the strength come from?

Was it pure desperation?

He found a new crevice. With his fingers he carefully tugged away soil and grass and pebbles until his hands got a firmer grip. He lifted his knee in search of a foothold for the last steps. He longed for the freedom that waited on the top of the cliff. It took an eternity to climb the last distance and he was shaking with exhaustion when he finally swung over the edge.

His legs and arms were numb. They would not work for a while. He lay on his back and looked up at the sky. The vulture was still circling above, as if it was disappointed that the fattest prey had survived. The thought made Pyrrus suddenly feel nauseous and he spat out over the cliff edge. Half-digested pieces of food and fresh stomach acid ran down the wall leaving a yellow stripe on the surface.

The warriors still stared up at him, but they didn’t follow him. They talked for a while and then the warriors disappeared one by one to look for another way up to the top. The leader’s body was left lying where it had fallen. The enemy didn’t care about dead opponents and apparently not about their own fallen. Pyrrus despised the warriors with all his heart and cursed them to the other end of the universe.

He looked up at the sky.

“And that applies to you, too,” he muttered as he watched the vulture still circling above him.

But the vulture no longer cared about Pyrrus.

It was already aiming for another prey.

The river

The enemy had arrived a few days earlier and quickly occupied their beloved home planet. Neodymium was actually a moon to the planet Helios in the middle of the Andromeda Galaxy. The moon had a pleasant climate in contrast to the mother planet and most importantly: large amounts of the expensive and rare metal neodymium. It was used in energy-saving products such as solar cells, LED lamps and wind turbines. The generator in a wind turbine required very powerful magnets. And the by far best magnets contained the metal neodymium. In total up to 50 kilos of neodymium were needed to build a modern wind turbine.

The small colony had started as a settler society – one of the Earth’s many space projects fifty years earlier – and the colony members had made the moon theirs with very hard work. They simply called the lunar planet Neodymium after the precious metal, which was first found scattered over the surface of the planet in abundant quantities but which was now extracted from mines in the nearby hills. Pyrrus belonged to the second generation and no new generation seemed to be born due to the brutal attack from the pirates.

Contact with Earth had been broken for a long time and new spaceships had not appeared in the last two years. In normal cases a cargo ship appeared annually at the end of December. But now nothing. Messages had not been answered and the emergency signals didn’t get a respond. And no ship. They had suddenly realized that they were alone in the universe, cut off from the rest of humanity. Left to its fate. Being so completely isolated from the outside world had been frustrating.

Now they realized with cruel insight that the pirates took advantage of this isolation. It was easy to attack the colony and no help was to be found. The colony had few weapons and the camp was probably wiped out by this time. The pirates didn’t seem to take slaves. They came only for the mineral. The neodymium was easy to collect from the huge mounds the colony members had piled up. But Pyrrus understood that the real motivation of the pirates was the other mineral. The secret!

One of the large neodymium mounds was easily visible from the top of the cliff, where Pyrrus stood. He let his eyes wander over the vast landscape. The silvery-white soft metal reflected the light of night all the way to the wide and rapid river at the edge of the horizon. Beyond the river was the jungle and further away the desert that bordered the dark side of the moon. The river was dangerous, as was the jungle, but the eternal night darkness on the other side was a place to be avoided. The shadows lived there and no one had yet survived a meeting with them.

Pyrrus climbed laboriously down the slope and limped on over the wide strip of desert. A few hours later he reached the river. It was surprising calm this time of the day. The dangerous water snakes were not visible. Luck was on his side. But he had to swim over to the other side. And if you wanted to survive, you had to swim quietly and gently. No splashing with your hands. No loud kicks with your feet. The large snakes mostly slept on the bottom of the river, but if they were awakened they were overwhelming opponents. With their sharp fangs they paralyzed the victim and then easily pulled the prey under the water. The smaller water snakes didn’t have as large jaws as the larger snakes but they had instead deadly venom. The best thing was to let them all continue with their sleep.

Pyrrus took off his boots, tied the straps together and put the boots around his neck. Then he waded quietly into the water. It felt warm and comfortable. He swung on his back and swam slowly over to the other side. His feet followed the easy rhythm.

No splashing.

No sound.

He barely dared to breathe.

Slow and easy.

The other side approached quickly. He had chosen the crossing with care, the narrowest section of the river. He came over unharmed. As quietly as he had went down into the water he got up.

At that moment a spear landed near him. A bit to the side and it had nailed his hand to the ground. He rushed up over the river bank and threw himself behind a boulder. The warriors had found him. How had they tracked him so quickly? He peeked through a crack in the boulder and got the answer. Two large, long-haired dogs sniffed the ground. One dog growled angrily. A new spear followed but this only hit the boulder with a scratching sound.

Another spear came at him.

Thud!

It struck right in the middle of the boulder.

Pyrrus grabbed one of the spears. Now he had a weapon. If only they could throw a knife too. But no sharp-edged knife came.

The five warriors gathered down by the river and prepared to swim across the river. Pyrrus quickly picked up a handful of rocks and threw them all into the water at once. The reaction was immediate. A large water snake had woken up and in a spur of a moment attacked the warriors on the river bank. It bit the nearest warrior with its long fangs and pulled the pirate under the water. Only a small ripple on the surface of the water showed where the warrior had disappeared. At the same moment two other snakes appeared and each grabbed a space pirate into the water and disappeared.

The other two pirates fled headlong up the riverbank. But they were slow, paralyzed by fear. Not a sound came over them, when they found themselves surrounded by four giant snakes, each swinging its giant head back and forth as if to hypnotize its prey. The split tongue played on one while the others contented themselves with showing their huge fangs.

The warriors cringed in fear and didn’t make a sound. Only the silent hisses of the snakes were heard. They played with their prey. Pyrrus watched in fascination the deadly spectacle. One of the warriors finally reacted and made an attempt to take a leap to freedom. The dogs came to the rescue and temporarily got the snakes out of balance. The warrior almost escaped. But he only managed to take a few steps. Suddenly one of the snakes was there and struck his fangs into the warrior. The huge snake held the struggling body in a firm grip. Then it swung towards the river with the prey still in its gap, dived into the murky water and disappeared. The remaining warrior made no attempt to save himself, he knew he was doomed. The snakes no longer cared about the dogs, they only circled the warrior. It was as if they were betting on who would get to do the final kill.

Pyrrus decided not to wait for the inevitable result. He ran with the spear in his hand away from the river, away from the horror, to a safer environment – if there was one on this side of the planet. The dogs stopped barking. The last thing he heard was a pitiful howl from one of the dogs and then the splash from the water snakes, when they finally dived into the river. All undoubtedly with a prey in their jaws. But Pyrrus had escaped. He thanked his good luck.

Silence reigned as he reached the edge of the jungle. He had been walking all night. At the horizon the first yellow-shining signs of another sunrise appeared. A new day dawned. This part of the universe continued with its usual rituals without caring about the cruelty that had happened.

Pyrrus found a banana tree, sat down to rest and munched distractedly on the not fully ripe bananas. He was hungry but the food didn’t catch his full attention, because there was so much to think about, things to plan. What would he do? Their opposition was divided. They had no weapons. All he had was a spear. The pirates had the upper hand. They had won. He grimaced angrily. It was hard to admit the fact.

Exhausted and weak he fell into a restless sleep.

He dreamed of yellow and black snakes chasing him across the plain. Despite all the running he got nowhere. The snakes surrounded him waiting to attack. Why did they not attack? It was the metal in his hand. The silvery-white glittering pieces caught the attention of the snakes. They no longer saw Pyrrus; they only saw the shining mineral in his hand. He swung the pieces back and forth and the snakes followed the slow movements of his hands.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

He threw the neodymium at them.

At that moment he woke up. It was morning. He jumped up in fright but immediately sank down again, when his injured leg protested. What had awakened him?

It was a warning sound from a lonely bird.

Titi-tjerr.

Titi-tjerr.

Where did it come from? Pyrrus got to his feet with the help of the spear. In one hand he held a rock ready to throw it at any enemy that was about to attack him. But it was only a wild boar sniffing nearby.

Pyrrus crouched down behind the tree.

Meat!

Proteins!

He tried to make himself as small as possible. Yes, the wild boar came forward and sniffed at the banana peels. Unsuspectingly the wild boar chewed at the remains. The animal didn’t notice the threatening figure and didn’t see the spear until it was too late. By then the spear had already penetrated the bow of the boar and pierced its heart.

Pyrrus cut up one side of the pig with the spearhead and carved out two large pieces of meat. He collected dry twigs and dry grass and made fire with the help of a piece of neodymium, which reflected the rays from the sun. He didn’t care about the pirates. Food was more important. While the pieces of meat slowly fried over the fire he went to look for a stream. Very soon he found what he searched for. He lay down on his stomach and drank until he was no longer thirsty. When he returned the pieces of meat were already ripe and he greedily ate them as if he had not seen food for several days. Which was true, because he had eaten only the bananas the day before and that could hardly be called real food.

What to do? Continue into the jungle or return to the colony? After careful consideration he decided to continue into the jungle. Maybe he would find fateful comrades who had taken refuge there. He refused to believe that he was the only survivor.

Such is the human instinct for survival.

Humans believe in the impossible even when the possible does not exist.

They refuse to consider defeat.

They see hope where there is no hope.

And they see light where there is no light.

The jungle

The climate in the jungle was the same as in any other tropical rainforest, hot and humid. The cold nights of the wilderness were an unknown concept here. There were two main seasons on Neodymium, the rainy season and the three to five month long dry season, but even during the dry season, the dark rain clouds sometimes accumulated over the jungle and covered the area with large amounts of rain. During the rainy season the weather was obviously very wet with rain showers throughout the day, the heaviest in the afternoons, evenings and nights.

Now the dry season had started and the weather was sunny and warm. But inside the rainforest the climate was mostly humid and Pyrrus was preparing to get even wetter than he already was. A large part of the moisture in the rainforest came from the bushy leaves of the trees, which evaporated water, which then mixed with the atmosphere and contributed to the formation of new rain clouds. This cycle was repeated at regular intervals from day to day, season to season and from year to year in a perpetual cycle that never took a break.

What he first noticed were of course the trees. From the air the jungle looked like a consistent and uninterrupted green blanket that stretched beyond the horizon. But when Pyrrus entered the jungle he noticed the incredible complexity of the jungle with its huge variety of tree species. The forest was divided into different layers. At the top of the rainforest, perhaps ninety or one hundred feet above the ground, sun-thirsty giants stretched up to the sky. They formed the seemingly impenetrable forest roof. However some individual trees grew even taller, up to one hundred and fifty or almost two hundred feet in height. These tall trees formed small islands above the forest roof and had extensive root systems that helped support the trees during merciless storms.

Fortunately storms rarely occurred on Neodymium. The planet was generally safe. But noisy thunderstorms occurred occasionally and these tropical storms could get even the bravest man to shiver if he didn’t understand to seek proper shelter.

The most common trees were rubber trees, different nut trees and Sapucaia trees. Under the top layer there were a couple of layers with shade-tolerant trees, palm trees, figs, and mahogany. A large number of plants that lived on other plants grew here too, orchids, mosses and lichens. Everything was connected with an extensive network of vines. The plants offered a wide palette of shining colours.

The lowest level in the rainforest was almost without exception completely in the shade. Such little light reached down to this level that few plants survived there. It was therefore surprisingly easy to travel on foot in large parts of the rainforest. However some parts were denser. Here you had to hack your way through thorny bushes, dense ferns and insidious vines.

The colony members had so far discovered about a hundred different mammal species in the jungle. Most of them were small bats and small rodents. The absence of large mammals was noticeable. Many of the animals were active only at night and others lived high up in the trees, where they could hide from prying eyes. The surveyors had therefore hardly revealed everything about the wildlife of Neodymium yet. Many of the mammals were also very shy and withdrew long before a human approached.

However, there were plenty of little monkeys and birds. The rainforest was filled from morning to evening with their chatter, chirping and screaming. The jungle was a single long racket of different sounds. It could sometimes be overbearing. But the advantage was that when the sound temporarily stopped you knew that danger was on the way.

Pyrrus had not seen or heard of dangerous predators in the jungle. Only the water snakes in the river were dangerous on Neodymium. A herd of large black toucans blocked his path and he walked in a wide circle around them. They plucked nuts and seeds from the ground with their large and showy beaks. He also saw colourful macaws passing by in hundreds or even in thousands in the openings he crossed. There were no reptiles here but still an abundance of more or less poisonous frogs. But the frogs mainly thrived in the wet fields. If you stuck to the dry section of the forest you were usually on the safe side.

As in all rainforests the vast majority of animal species consisted of insects. And some of them were really annoying. The smallest insects irritated Pyrrus the most and he noticed it didn’t help to wave your hands. It only made the insects more and more interested in his blood vessels. The fact that they were slightly more colourful than their counterparts in other parts of the jungle didn’t put him in a better mood.

He smeared himself with blue clay. He covered his face and neck, which were the most exposed parts. It helped. It was also important to be on guard against the many aggressive ants he saw now and then. The best thing was to hike quickly and purposefully and cross the rainforest in as short a time as possible.

On the other side was the next desert and after that was the dark side of the moon.

The eternal darkness everyone avoided.

The shadows.

Pyrrus trembled with fear. The invisible shadows were not violent as far as he knew, but they were to be avoided at all costs. To meet something you could not see, feel or hear was among the most frightening thing a human being could encounter. Were the shadows real? No one knew for sure. Still they existed. One could sense their presence. Sometimes you got a light push or felt a sweeping breath, sometimes you heard a deep sigh as if it came from far away but still you could hear it very close to your ear.

The eternal darkness was not an easy choice. But he had no choice. The pirates would not stop persecuting him. Not as long as he had the secret. Only the endless darkness at the back of the planet would offer him the hiding places he so desperately needed.

How long could he stay hidden? As long as needed. The pirates would forget him after a while. He bit his lip. No, that was only a hopeful thought, a lie. Even if the pirates were rootless, which came from being hunted in all corners of the galaxy, they would never leave the planet until they got what they were really looking for. Pyrrus consoled himself with the idea that the pirates would be captured or killed at some point. They had chosen an uncertain vocation. But now everything seemed to be going well for them. Pyrrus grimaced angrily with frustration and anger. And fear, even if he would never openly admit it.

Dark rain clouds suddenly appeared in the sky. It surprised Pyrrus. Thunderstorms were rare this time of year. But when they arose, they were always violent and resulted in long and dangerous flashes. It was as if the neodymium on the ground made the electrical discharges become extra powerful.

This time the downpour felt as if buckets of water were thrown down from the sky. Pyrrus took shelter under a tree even though he knew it was not the ideal place given the lightning.

A sudden electrical discharge in the atmosphere gave rise to the typical flare-up of light followed by a sharp, rumbling sound. Again there was a new flash, which heated the air for fractions of a second. More air was set in motion and gave rise to a new and rolling thunder.

The storm was now directly above him and Pyrrus huddled under the tree. A lightning struck a tree further away and split the massive tree trunk all the way down to the root. Minor lightning struck in all directions, also in the direction of Pyrrus, and he threw himself straight on the ground. He made it. The lightning fingers didn’t find him. They dissolved in the air. Pyrrus drew a sigh of relief. His good luck continued, although he realized that it had to end at some point.

But the danger was not over. Another flash, larger than the previous one, lit up the surroundings for a few seconds and gave the landscape a spooky, almost unreal look. The process happened so fast that his eyes didn’t have time to distinguish all the details. The lightning channel was probably several miles long. The accompanying sound made the ground vibrate. It felt like a small earthquake. The tree above him swayed alarmingly. He was already soaked by the pouring rain.

A lightning struck another tree. It split the bark from the top all the way down and burned the tree trunk down to the root. The grass caught fire. But the rain quickly extinguished the small fire and the risk of a large forest fire never realized. The lightning left only a shallow, dark ditch around the tree.

As fast as the thunderstorm started it stopped. It left behind it a smell of smoke and a lingering vapour. Soaked Pyrrus stood up, took off his shirt and twisted out the extra water. Getting the shirt back on turned out to be a challenge. The fabric stuck to the skin. But he fought faithfully with the shirt, as it was a protection against the insects that would reappear and greedily search for every piece of exposed skin.

He came to a riverbed. No snakes. He quickly jumped into the river, waded through the shallow water and climbed up the other side. The small exercise gave him a better mood. He started to whistle and got immediately an answer from the parrots around. He kicked a rock and was happy to be alive.

But the jungle continued. Invisible shadows followed him without him noticing. Still happy he looked up at the trees. He saw no fruit trees, but he had saved a large part of the meat from the wild boar and this meat would last five, maybe six more days. The meat was well wrapped in small banana leaves and hung on his back in a hastily made pack of leaves and vines.

He drank water from a small and clean stream. He looked down into the water. A tired reflection looked back. He was tall and heavily built and wore the beige trousers and blue shirt typical of the planet. The shirt was torn after the long and exhausting walk. The sleeves hung loose as on a poor beggar. Two things were particularly striking in the image. The water reflected the typical, round emblem of the colony on the shirt and showed his most personal feature, the magnificent beard that completely dominated his smiling face. But the smile was not as convincing as before and the beard had faded a little. The mirror image rather gave an image of an oppressed person with unspeakably sad and tired eyes. This sight frightened him the most.

Dark and moist eyes in the middle of deep wrinkles stared back at him. He saw a wounded and a broken creature.

Beaten.

Defeated.