Free Alpha 1472 by Eddie Hastings Page A

outcrop of rocks which the y thought may afford them a more sheltered place to hide and to plan their reconnoitre. As they ran along the beach the beeping sound in their ears slowed in frequency until it completely stopped. They could feel their feet drying on the sand and by the time they were safely hidden amongst the outcrop they were completely dry.
    The outcrop was a collection of huge jagged boulders that had, sometime in history, been part of a major landslide from the surrounding cliffs. This, however, was not a part of recent history and there was no danger of further subsidence from this rock formation. J.D. was fascinated by the structure of the rocks and spent a few minutes inspecting them. As he came around the back of one particularly huge outcrop he came across a small cave which stretched back into the cliff base some ten to fifteen feet or so, the cave roof was about seven feet tall and the cave was completely dry.
    “Mary, come here”
    He said to no one in particular. As he spoke Mary heard him perfectly in her ear and started around the outcrop to meet him. When she found him he was inside the cave with his arms outstretched displaying his find.
    “Are you guys getting this” he asked,
    “Yes indeed, it looks like an ideal place to use as a shore base” answered Travis, who was bringing the find to the attention of the captain. Daniels looked at the monitors and agreed. “Good find guys”
    It was time for them to move on, and so, cautiously they made their way to the back of the beach scrambled over a small hill and began to make their way inland. They had travelled approximately five hundred meters when they were contacted from the shuttle.
    “Ok guys its time for you to split up now so decide who is going which way and we will keep in touch individually, J.D., Anne is going to monitor you and Mary you have me” said Travis. With this Mary and J.D. shook hands and started to walk in different directions. Of course they would still be in contact via the earcoms but for the first time they suddenly felt very alone.
    As he walked between the trees looking for some sort of path to follow J.D. was taking in all of his surroundings, the trees, the plants, the little creatures that were flying around when all of a sudden he disturbed a somewhat larger creature which ran though the undergrowth disturbing the surrounding foliage and giving out a warning shriek. Almost simultaneously J.D. let out a shout of his own and it was obvious that it was a yell of fear. Instantly his head was filled with at least three other voices,
    “JD…… what’s happening? Are you alright? Speak to me……JD”
    Somewhat breathless he explained what had happened, told everyone to calm down and realised that although he was feeling somewhat foolish, they had all just had a minor wake up call to the fact that they were in a strange place and should be on their guard at all times. He bent down, grasped his knees and took two or three deep breaths, stood up shook his head and continued on his way.
    The further inland he walked, the more he noticed that the lush greenery was becoming thinner and thinner until finally it almost disappeared completely and he found himself standing on the edge of a topographically different area. In front of him the scene was barren, a rock strewn desert landscape that stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see. He stood motionless for a while; the sun was starting to get hot, what he wouldn’t do for a pair of decent sunglasses, shading his eyes he scanned the horizon trying to decide which direction he should go. He bent down and picked up a small handful of sand and threw it up into the air, some of the grains caught on the light gentle wind and flew of just to his right ‘well that’s as good a direction as any’ he thought and started to walk in the same direction that the breeze was blowing. As he walked the day grew hotter.
    He had been travelling for about an hour when