Flight of the Gazebo

Chapter 14 - Away Team

It was dawn on the sixth day after their arrival and a small group of people were gathered near what had become known as "The Edge" A few had binoculars and had been scanning the surrounding alien world in shifts for the last few days. They had seen nothing alarming down on the open ground next to Amblesby's cliffs or between the trees of the surrounding forest. The only movements had been from a herd of animals that looked remarkably like deer. If there were any aliens about, they were keeping themselves hidden.

A little further along the Edge from where the group were standing, a section of the cliff had crumbled and formed a steep slope of loose chalk. Even though this had created a notch in the Edge, there were still hundreds of yards from the notch across empty ground and the now dried riverbed to the closest houses.

The first rays of the weird strip of sun lit up the orange high-visibility jackets worn by the members of the group who were about to go down the slope. Besides his jacket, John wore heavy trousers tucked into thick woollen socks and chunky walking boots.

Dora glanced down the slope, then gave him a hug. "Please be careful down there."

"I will." John didn't want to think too hard about what might be waiting for them at the foot of the slope. To change the subject he said, "I can't get used to the way day and night works in this world."

"Me too. It's not only that the sun isn't round, it's the way it's always in the middle of the sky that spooks me. It doesn't rise and set like a proper sun," said Dora. She squeezed him tighter. "We need to get back home to Earth. This world is so alien. An inside-out planet."

"More like outside-in," said John.

"Stop trying to be clever. You know what I'm getting at. Don't take any risks. This world is full of unknowns. We can't assume it's anything like Earth down there at the bottom of the cliff. Even up here things are different." She was referring to the odd looking four-winged birds seen around the village. Most of the Earth birds that had been caught up in the transfer of Amblesby to the alien world seemed bemused by the newcomers, apart from the crows who took exception to the multi-winged creatures and mobbed them at every opportunity like they were opposition supporters at a football match.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. We're going to have a team of lookouts remaining at the top to warn us if they see anything coming," he said.

Dora shook her head. "This isn't Earth, for God's sake. We don't know what's dangerous and what isn't. All we can be sure of is that we haven't seen any big animals with sharp teeth, or people with spears or guns, but what if they turn up as soon as you reach the bottom? We don't even know if that debris creature thing will come back. It said we had five days to repair the gazebo, and this is day six. For all we know, it could arrive with an army at any moment."

"I'll be careful. Look, we've already talked about this and you agreed it was the most sensible course of action. We have to check out the river we've seen down there. Hopefully, it's ordinary water and not alien slime or something. As for debris creature, I think it was was bluffing. It wouldn't have let the deadline pass otherwise."

"What if it's waiting down there for you?"

"Don't worry. We'll be fine. We've got a shotgun."

Dora grimaced. "I know. But it doesn't mean I'm not going to worry. I wish I was coming with you."

"Don't bring that up again. You need to stay here and keep an eye on Montgomery-Jones. I don't trust that snake an inch. Everything he's done since we arrived here stinks and there aren't many in this village besides you will be able to stand up to him if he tries anything. Anyway, if you came along, I'd spend all my time worrying about you."