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The crew wished each other a good landing and each took their own capsule, which then closed, and the main computer brain took them into space and then sent them to Malonga first.
First, the capsules with people entered the atmosphere, then land vehicles, cargo transport, and then the cargo itself landed. To the ground, all and all, flew safely.
The spaceship "Flying Ferix", remained to fly in the orbit of Malonga first.
The planet had the necessities that normally support life. Fire and water, the change of day and night, air and organic soil. All this was on her, so the landing of the crew, nothing over dangerous did not portend. It spoke of an ordinary uninhabited planet.
When the last atmospheric analyses were completed, the capsules opened and the people came out. The landing was chosen by the main computer brain, using all possible landing algorithms, that is, the landing place was specially selected, taking into account the least possible danger to the crew and the location of the landing capsules, within the average visibility of a person.
– Yes, you are mocking me, I have not seen such a thing… – there was no limit to Timba's admiration, there was no end, he continued to describe vividly and colorfully the rapture of the world of Malonga the first.
– Dr. Vella, I think we have a case like the one on the Ribonne, a disease called the gaze of millions. Birds, from the ancient history of Raibonne, mentioned by the Pillatec civilization, about which the myth has come down to us, – Tomaka suggested.
– Yes, you are right, commander, it is, this is the "view of millions". Our eyes now see what is not given to an ordinary person. Simple rays of light from an object are refracted billions of times before they reach us, on the retina of the eye. In this case, it slightly disorients a person in space, he sees vivid images of something that simply does not exist in reality, – Vella replied, trying hard to control her state.
– I, too, heard about the million, how her gift of all-seeing, became a doom for her. The Pillatecs, fearing that it would become a new kind of evolution, more developed, then took and destroyed all the birds, chicks and eggs, families belonging to the genus millions, – said Pythons.
– Friends, I personally see such beauty for the first time and it's cool! Not counting Raibonne, of course, – Timba said, looking around the area.
– This condition, temporary, will soon let everyone go, apparently, was caused by the overload of our light-sensitive organs. Now, the brain will start to filter out everything superfluous and we will start to see, as we always look, – Vella encouraged everyone and only Timba, only disappointed with this free high.
It took about half an hour, as the false colors began to disappear and everything around came to the intergalactic norm of perception of bodies. Timba, no longer so happy, but only grumbled and for some reason, pressed himself on the eyeballs, apparently trying to still maintain the effect of millions.
The terrain was not very different from Raibonnovskaya, which greatly facilitated the process of work on the placement of things and the creation of a temporary base for the expedition. The specially burned part of the clearing began to serve as a starting point for the crew and a gathering place at the end of the group's hike.
Here, it has been standing for a long time, good stable weather, a little dry, but quite tolerable. A light breeze, slightly bends the tops of the trees, the crowns of which glow with green and red, yellow and blue flowers. Sometimes, from the thicket, you can feel unguided glances, most likely small animals, frightened by the new neighborhood, with unknown people who have flown here.
A variety and a huge number of flowers that have grown around, happily shimmer, in the resulting glades, between the fishing lines. Insects in the grass, working hard to form small empires of power, in their tiny, short lives.
In the blue sky, birds are constantly flying and from time to time, you can even see their love scenes, then severe battles for territory.
Although there are no people, high-rise buildings, or smart cars on Malonga One, there is a fuss of those in whom life is located and it always seems to flow. For the crew, the fauna appeared in a completely different form. Not a cold planet, but a kind place, almost a second home. The pleasant energy was felt everywhere.
Large blocks of stone, sometimes cutting through glades, stand like statues created by natural factors. The silent witnesses of time, its constant companions, parts of the structure of the universe, rest here on Malonga One.
Next to the expedition base, there is a small river. Clear water, which does not hide the water world and you can easily see the fish and swimming plants living there. And the water itself, warm to the touch, charming and excellent!
Being on the planet involves a lot of mysterious and unusual things, which may not be seen on Raibonne, despite all its similarities with Malonga the first. Although here, the same trees grow, but they are not the same, a little thicker and longer. This is how it happens, with the whole world around us, in space, on the planets, the views change.
Gathered in a quickly assembled one-story building, the crew of the "Flying Ferix" began to discuss the latest tasks of the assigned expedition.
– Today, we are going to our planned place, which is, as everyone knows, a day's drive from here. As you understand, we can't land directly on that point, because of the underground, non-stone terrain there, which is bad for landing, – Tomaka said.
– Our first task now is to get to the point, find a denser ground and launch the assembly and preparatory transport, – he continued.
– The scouting robots are back, nothing dangerous has been detected, so we can work calmly and confidently, – Dr. Vella told Tomake.
– That's good. I think everyone is ready to work and if no one needs medical help or no one has changed their mind, then we continue our expedition, – Tomaka said.
The crew went to their places, and an hour later, to the edge of the forest, a logger flew up, followed by four land vehicles and another, working transport. All these actions were carried out according to the "Traffic Map", so the crew only had to be bystanders until the arrival point.
Lesolom launched the gears and spikes with which he clears the path and headed forward to the set point. Its metal tentacles began to grab the animals menacingly and throw them into a circular hole in the belly, which began to suck everything into the car like a light vortex.
The whole expedition and its equipment followed him, along a cleared, fresh, cut strip, where just now, there was a forest, instead of which, nothing now remains.
From the side, you could see how a huge iron machine, breaking almost into splinters, trees and stones. On the ground, a terrible monster crawled, devouring everything in its path, blowing up swirls of gray dust. And even, it is impossible to imagine that there is a force that can stop this forest break.
But the truth is that this is just the appearance of one side of the picture, and on the other, if you look, the canvas is white. Lesolom, absolutely safe car. It's just an ordinary metal dispenser for the materials he found. And what falls under its gears, spikes and tentacles, everything is immediately analyzed by the computer and transferred to special compartments. Part of the non-live mass is immediately processed into fuel or return cargo, and the live, along the conveyor, is sent to the cargo compartment and there, unloaded into special cages. The procedure of his actions is thought out to the smallest detail and does not harm anyone. The gears will not crush you, no thorn can pierce you, and the tentacles will not kill the living. This is a brilliant invention of cargo-handling machines, which, while it does not require modernization, will serve people for more than one generation.
All the cars began to move forward, leaving nothing behind.
– I certainly won't, – Tomaka said.
– No, I won't, – Timba said, too.
– I'm very happy about that, because I'm the only girl here, – Vella said, more boldly.
– Of course, the only girl, our princess, – Tomaka said.
– Thank you, but I'm not like that, just a good doctor, – Vella replied jokingly.
– So, we spent a day in space, and already the tackles have gone, – Pythons laughed.
– They would have sent him out to cut wood, and then, when they had cleared everything, they would have caught up with him. And what are we, following him? – Timba asked dully.
– You can not, suddenly a failure or something! It will go away for a few days ahead, then chase after it, return it, – replied the Python.
– Yes, I agree, it's better to go quietly after him than to look for him and fix what he makes, – Tomaka said.
– I see, this is done to keep our brains from boiling, – Timba said, and laughed.
– That's right, – Vella said, laughing.
In such a casual conversation, the crew drove all day, according to the calendar of Malonga first, that is, the entire distance, to the designated point.
On the spot, upon arrival, the logger stopped. The crew breathed a sigh of relief as they settled themselves and installed the equipment and supplies they had brought with them.
Huge but thin metal pipes, covered with glass disks, like mushrooms, grew everywhere. Inside, each of them has already begun the process of pumping out everything of value from the ground. The air was filled with sharp and ringing sounds, coming from invisible cracks in the pipes, from the white and gray colors of the gases. They were like thousands of nuclear explosions rising to the sky in an instant. All the living things around him had almost disappeared, leaving only the grating of metal and the clouds of vapor that covered everything. Work is done!
The modular Expedition Crew Room, further MEEP, was installed by robots, in the center of everything that is happening here, for more convenient guidance over the working moments. At the level of the glass disks, an equally large glass ball appeared, and this was the MEEP. From all the disks, wires and cables, ribbed and smooth pipes, stretched to it, through the air, it all combined into one working cycle.
The crew went up to the MEEP and immediately gathered in the last compartment, with a glass outer wall.
– This is a moment of bliss, – Timba said.
– Is this what we've been waiting for? – Vella said, ignoring Timba's words.
Everyone stared through the glass, their eyes frozen. This is what they needed. They felt like giant needles digging into the ground and tearing it from the inside, sucking everything in. The material, part of the Malonga first, twisted like minced meat, is flowing out of it now, into their pockets. A truly mesmerizing moment!
– I feel like a thief! – Tomaka said.
– No, you're wrong. We're not thieves, we'll just take some, – Pitons corrected Tomaku, reassuring him of their honest intentions..
– That's right, here later, everything will be restored anyway. Is it bad that we will be happy with this? – Timba asked Tomaka, without any remorse.
– Later, later, later. Okay, we're here for this, and we'll take it home with us. And now, I ask everyone to go about their personal business, – Tomaka ordered.
– I need to go to the men's room, – Timba said, and, satisfied, the first one disappeared from the compartment.
– I've picked up some biological specimens along the way, and I'm going to do some magic with them, – Vella said.
– If you find anything unusual, let me know, – Tomaka commanded.
– All right, – Vella said, and left.
In the compartment, there are two people left, Tomaka and Pythons.
– I want to congratulate you on your brilliant work, – Pithons said, and reached out to shake Tomaka's hand.
Tomaka secured the handshake with his own hand and smiled slightly at the Python, accepting his congratulations.
– We will have a lot of common and interesting things ahead of us! – Tomaka promised Pithons.
– I, too, think so, but in business, there are breaks. Therefore, I suggest that we finish our conversation later. The body needs to rest, – said the Python, tired with age.
– Both body and spirit, – Tomaka said good naturedly.
Their hands parted and they went to their respective compartments, which served as their rest room.
Although they, the crew, did not see each other, their thoughts were the same. Why? Because they're messy! Then they imagined themselves as princes, in the case of Vella-a princess. Then cool tycoons, with a lot of money, in general, rich people. And, Timba in his compartment, on an air folding bed, even visited the role of a wizard who lives without hard work, in his world of magic and fantasy.
To them, the sun is bright, and the sky is clear, and inspiration is inside! Benevolence! Now, their capital was rapidly increasing, automatically transferring them from a deplorable state to a club of rich people. Bliss comes and the planned dreams begin to gradually come true.
Vella, having worked her magic with the test tubes, saturated with the daily difficulties of the expedition and the jokes of the crew members, sank unnoticed, in the color pictures of the dream, trying to predict her immediate, secure future.
Pythons did not sleep, he settled comfortably in a rocking chair and also began to dream about money, about girls and gambling, because he had almost become a rich man, the elite of society. And perhaps he will buy himself a special building somewhere and retire to his work, because in his youth he dreamed of creating what would remain, paired with eternity.
Tomaki's room, darkened by artificial light, weighed on his mind a little now, but he ignored it. Relaxing his gaze, Tomaka stared far into space, through the wall, into the vast darkness and emptiness, until he fell asleep.
Chapter 4. Crew capture
Everything would have continued like this, but the sky was pierced through by flying disks, resembling one plate covered with another. And there were quite a few of them. The experience of those pilots, and these are living people and biorobots, was high and they did not make a single accident in the sky. With great speed, these black disks whirled around the MEEP, assessing what was happening here.
The crew had long since woken up and was now watching through the windows of the MEEP as unfamiliar objects flew around the building, flashing their bright lights. It was easy to guess that the intentions of the guests were quite hostile, especially as indicated by their pointed weapons in the direction of the MEEP.
Tomaka, more than the others, tensed and tried to assess what was happening truthfully. Where did these unsolicited flyers come from and what to do to prevent the shooting from starting.
"Vella, prepare a first aid kit just in case," Tomaka said.
Vella quickly ran after her and soon returned, bracing herself for the worst.
"No one needs to worry, nothing bad has happened yet," Tomaka said.
"Yes, don't panic," Vella said, her pink lips trembling.
The place already allowed all the fighters to land, so the stormtroopers did. In each such disk, there was a huge hatch, through which, now, an armed landing party was jumping.
Immediately, they formed a military headquarters, with their own, previously appointed, space commander Kaaran.
In the MEEP, a robot negotiator was sent, which, as well, could translate one spoken language to another and back. But, in our case, this will become useless in the future, since it will soon become clear that both of them speak the same, in addition to their native, intergalactic language.
On the main computer of the MEEP, an incoming third-party signal was received and the first person who heard it from the crew was Tomaka. He immediately gathered the entire team closer, in the command room, to discuss further actions.
The robot negotiator was allowed, after mandatory security procedures, to go up to the MEEP. Where immediately, they determined a common language for communicating with the arrived, unknown guests.
The robot negotiator drove into the MEEP, stopped in front of the crew and everyone saw, in the air, a translucent air man, shimmering blue-blue, clearly the commander, and immediately heard, from the laser visor translator: – I, Space Commander Kaaran, under the Emperor Maront! How dare you here arrange the extraction of our minerals, without our permission?
The Space Commander of Kaaran had spoken of fossils, but Tomaka sensed that he was being deceptive. He needed something other than a threat and a simple trial.
Although the situation, in the literal sense, in the air was now tense, the crew for some reason, did not feel an obvious threat. It was most likely a feeling of some confusion. After all, according to everyone, there should be no one here on Malonga first, except for Tomaki's crew.
"I, the commander of Tomaka space expedition," Tomaka said. "We came here, on the intergalactic ship the Flying Ferix, to work on mining. According to our agency information, this planet is not inhabited by people and does not belong to anyone. And since the rights to it have not been previously claimed, then you are now violating the law of galactic property, using your superiority over us. Restricting us and our labor, in freedom and labor activity.
– The Space Commander of Tomaka, – Timba joked softly, prefixing the word" commander"with"cosmo.
– What rights and laws are you talking about? We suggest that you voluntarily open our military access, for your escort, to the place of temporary isolation, for further negotiations, – the Space Commander of Kaaran urged the crew of Tomaki.
Tomaka looked questioningly at the Pythons, the latter only helplessly raised and lowered his shoulders, there was no point in arguing with Space Commander Kaaran, in any case, he would have to obey.
– You can't come in here and tell us what to do, – Tomaka said.
– If you don't open it and let us in, we'll have to destroy you, – Kaaran said, in a promising, military voice.
Tomaka made the tough decision to let Space Commander Kaaran into the MEEP.
– Security system, disable entry-exit protection, – Tomaka commanded, and a moment or two later, armed soldiers entered the MEEP. The mining operation immediately stopped, and Space Commander Kaaran ordered that several fast-flying, lightly armed aircraft be left on guard. The rest, departed to the side where it turns out, before arriving on the planet Malongu first Tomaki, lived standing and flying near the MEEP, the military in their fighters.
– You have violated our borders, Commander Tomaka, – Kaaran said.
– But our maps, as I said, don't show your presence here, we didn't know about you, – Tomaka said.
– This does not excuse you, you wanted to take our farm, we will now take your farm, – said the satisfied Kaaran.
– But we won't give you anything, or we won't be able to fly home from here, – Tomaka said.
–Then we'll kill your crew and take what we need ourselves, – Kaaran said menacingly.
– What do you want? – Tomak asked, in an ostentatious, calm voice.
