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    Death Planet Tourist
    Death Planet Tourist
    Death Planet Tourist
    Ebook460 pages7 hours

    Death Planet Tourist

    By K. P. Walker

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    About this ebook

    An intergalactic tourist is intrigued by the mystery of Death Planet, but when he arrives he finds that he's not alone. He encounters thousands of other “tourists”, alien species from near and far meddling in the lives of the local humanoids. It seems that each species is striving for the key to the dark power that overshadows Death Planet. The Tourist seeks to solve the mystery of the planet, but unlike the other species who are eviscerating cows and implanting their alien genes into the inhabitants, not at the expense of the locals, they have enough trouble already - from themselves. When the tourist discovers the purpose and scope of the other species projects he must hurry to forestall the total annihilation of the local population - twice. As Star Wars is based on Buddhism, this is a Christian-based interplanetary fantasy, for general entertainment only. Book 2 reveals the advent of a very deadly claimant of Death Planet. Book 3 recounts the horrific aftermath of the alien invasions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherK. P. Walker
    Release dateSep 28, 2015
    ISBN9781310688287
    Death Planet Tourist
    Author

    K. P. Walker

    If you are not a Christian read the free book Divine Prerogative in order to understand the only real choice that is available in this world. If you want to know if the Bible is true read my free book The Great Question. If you want to know why humanity is on this planet read the free Universe and Beyond. If you want to learn about why the world is the way it is read the free SIN - Rebellion Within. In my free book Bride of Christ I identify the seven groups of people that populate the seven churches spoken of in the last book of the Bible called the Revelation to John. It is important that Christian readers download this book for it contains instructions (commands from Jesus) for Christians worldwide to follow. It is imperative that these instructions be shared as widely and with as many people as possible. The time for its fulfillment I think is near, and you will find out how near by reading the free Doomsday Timeline along with The END has Begun, Tribulation and ANTI Christ. If you want a scare read SATAN. If you want to know who Jesus is read CHRIST.For your greater edification I have provided for sale a four-book series on the Bible starting with the Old Testament in Plan for Life and ending with Revelation in The Living End. The other two books cover the Gospels and Letters.I hope you will find some enlightenment and encouragement in my writings.

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      Book preview

      Death Planet Tourist - K. P. Walker

      The Tourist

      Contents

      Forward

      Prologue

      Chapter 1 – Arrival

      Chapter 2 – History

      Chapter 3 – The Race

      Chapter 4 – Planet Earth

      Chapter 5 – Pedigree

      Chapter 6 – Knowledge Centers

      Chapter 7 – Tenet Centers

      Chapter 8 – Government

      Chapter 9 – Thumper

      Chapter 10 – Target

      Chapter 11 – Seminary

      Chapter 12 – Corroboration

      Chapter 13 – Life

      Chapter 14 – Liberation

      Chapter 15 – Attacks

      Chapter 16 – Warnings

      Chapter 17 – Calm

      Chapter 18 – Conflict

      Afterward

      Forward

      Adam was laughing so hard his stomach hurt. The people on the stage were like madmen, chasing each other around the chairs. The hypnotist had them all believing that they were chickens and that someone had been stealing their eggs. It was now their lot in life to find out whom. Only a few minutes earlier these tourists had all been acting like members of a crazy music group performing ridiculous gyrations for the audience.

      Adam and his brother Zack had been watching the Las Vegas act for over an hour. The hypnotist finally ended the manipulation of his willing subjects. He told them they would be feeling wonderful as they rejoined their family and friends. As a parting act of mischievousness the hypnotist gave them a post-hypnotic suggestion. He told the participants that when they heard the word ‘alien’ they would immediately spot tourists from other worlds in the audience. They were to stand up and point out the aliens to everyone.

      As the people from the stage blended into the audience Adam wondered how people could allow themselves to be made to act like such fools. And that they had actually volunteered to do this was astounding. Several digital recorders had been set up to capture the silliness and for a price these would provide proof of what the people had done. Adam was amazed that the people would not remember anything unless the hypnotist told them to remember. The participants sat and Adam overheard a young woman near him deny having been hypnotized at all. Just then the hypnotist asked, Are there any illegal aliens in the audience? A dozen people including the woman who had denied having been hypnotized leaped to their feet and began pointing out the visitors from outer space.

      Adam saw one man stand, raise his arm and then stare at it with obvious wonderment at what he was doing. He sheepishly lowered his arm as he looked around the room to see if anyone had caught him acting so strange. He sat, obviously no longer under the control of the hypnotic suggestion. The others were loudly identifying the visitors from around the galaxy. Adam was a little annoyed when the pretty young woman near him pointed at him and yelled, There’s one. A Martian! The green man with orange eyes. Obviously everyone was suspect, even a relatively good-looking man, as he thought himself to be. He had thought her somewhat attractive when he had first spotted her, but now he changed his opinion.

      After the show Adam returned to his brother’s apartment not far from the Las Vegas strip. The apartment was hot. The temperature had been 108 that day, average for the summer. His brother had moved to sunny Las Vegas from rainy Seattle only six months earlier. Now Zack was only a five-hour drive away from Phoenix making visiting easy. It still rankled Adam a little that the woman had identified him as an alien. He wondered what had made her finger him. No one had accused Zack of being from outer space; and he actually worked with space technology.

      Aliens were a comparatively big topic in Vegas. A former Governor had designated a highway north of the city as the Extra-Terrestrial Highway. It passed through Rachael, a very small town just north of the super secret testing airstrip of the Air Force. Adam had visited the small town of Rachael with Zack only last week. He had been told a secret plane called the Aurora was being built with technology gleaned from flying saucers that had crashed in the U.S. in the past. Adam was doubtful. His brother who works in Area 51 had told him nothing. Adam thought the stories of aliens were complete foolishness. He figured the people who said they had seen something extraterrestrial were acting as though they had been hypnotized, a sort of mass hysteria. These people wanted to believe so they hypnotized themselves. None of them could remember having been hypnotized because there was no hypnotist on a stage to tell him or her to remember. Adam thought it was something like he who makes the rules wins the game, and the UFO chasers could make up anything they wanted.

      Zack was forced to turn on the air conditioning to cool the apartment. Adam was restless as he tried to sleep. Eventually he laughed at the thought of being accused of being an alien from Mars. He hoped the young woman had purchased a copy of the show so she could see just how stupid she had acted on stage. Well, he had paid to see the act so he was partly to blame. A thought jolted him so that he sat up in bed. Maybe the hypnotist had in reality hypnotized the whole audience including himself into imagining they had seen all that silliness on stage. What if the people on the stage had actually been alert and laughing at the audience all the time he thought he was laughing at them. As he drifted off into a restless sleep he thought maybe he should have purchased a copy of that revealing recording to see what had really happened.

      Prologue

      Good, but odd, said Gurrk as he turned the viewing chamber over to his brother Turrach. It is apparent that in the not so recent past the local species has endured a lot of interference by extra-planetary species, even to the extreme of extensive societal manipulation. This is good because the historical record did not indicate that they had solved the mystery of this planet, but odd because advanced species have invested so much effort in such a primitive, even infantile species. I am compelled to repeat, 'this is odd.'

      Turrach entered the viewing chamber in his spacecraft cabin for his turn at the historical records provided courtesy of something called the Penta-Species Historical Society. This in-transit information dissemination is something we have never encountered before. This tourist planet we are approaching must be something unique, Turrach said as he activated the display and began the historical record entitled 'History of Species Interaction in the Planetary System of the star Tzo - specifically its rocky planets Mrtz and Ertz.' The presentation began with the introduction of a famous explorer named Paxmarr. Turrach was already familiar with Paxmarr since he was a fellow from his own home planet Arretz, but he endured the whole history anyway. Paxmarr was an exploration archaeologist who was searching all the habitable planets to classify life forms of the galaxy. He experienced electro-magnetic trouble and landed his hedron on Ertz at a place in pre-Gall where cave dwelling inhabitants worshipped him. He repaired his hedron, but only got to Nazca where more repairs were required. Turrach had made a study of this planet as a preparation for this visit so he knew that the giant figures of the arachnids and other creatures that were constructed there had not been made to help Paxmarr find the inhabitants again, rather to frighten him away.

      Paxmarr’s visit had been 30,000 Ertz orbits ago. His report of this solar system said there was an ominously strange milieu on this planet that was worth investigating. What was more, the inhabitants had a characteristic totally unlike any other humanoid species he had classified. This too was worth investigating. Paxmarr traveled to many star systems. His visits inspired many galactic species to investigate the mysteries he had discovered. The first planned expedition to Ertz was 15,000 orbits ago by one of these species. Ertzer primitives drew pictures of that species on cave walls in pre-Iberia.

      About 10,000 orbits ago the Corbazlantan came to Ertz in large numbers. They selected a very large island in an ocean and established a colony. The colony was designed to look and function somewhat like the primitive settlements around the ocean. Although, unlike those other lands the island was fully powered. Brilliant white structures had heat and light. The colonists chose not use their interstellar hedrons for planetary travel, but became masters of the sea with their technologically superior sailing ships. They traded simple or rudimentary technology for influence. To one group they provided knowledge of planetary rotation to predict seasons and solar eclipses. To another group they gave gunpowder and basic rocketry. Primitives from the trading lands were invited to visit the island. To the primitives the island was a place of the gods. Turrach was familiar with the Ertzer concept of a deity, but to him a deity was an unfathomable hypothesis. He was astonished that any galactic species would divest itself of so much of its exceptional technology to live amongst a technologically inferior species even if they had been treated like gods.

      They had created an ideal society, but slowly and unexpectedly an alien and perverse nature overcame the Corbazlantan. They became increasingly violent and set out to conquer the lands they traded with. Their carefully created society began to crumble as duties were frequently neglected or abandoned. One of those important duties was to maintain the power source. Consequently a massive power surge occurred and the subsequent explosion initiated a series of earthquakes that violently and quickly turned the colony and island into rubble. The temblors continued until the island cracked into pieces. The ocean rushed in and as the shaking continued the island disintegrated, then rapidly disappeared into the sea. Nothing remained of the colony the primitives called Azlantas.

      Ertz began to be visited regularly by many species starting 3,500 orbits ago, even though there were only a few visits every 100 orbits. Languages and cultures were recorded. About 2,500 orbits ago, the Habriol made contact with the primitives. They did not attempt to colonize rather they tried to teach the primitives to achieve a higher culture. They set themselves up as gods and oracles to give direct instruction. Success seemed achieved with the creation of the city-state. It all went well until a warlike neighbor almost ended the experiment. This neighbor wanted to conquer. The Habriol saw that this neighbor could be of use by spreading their implanted culture everywhere this primitive conquered, so they supported him. At one point the conquering was going too slow. So they intervened by assisting his army using the power in their hedrons to knock a large hole in the wall of a city called Tyre that the primitives were investing. Even such assistance as this could not expedite civilization amongst this humanoid species. They eventually abandoned all activity on this project.

      Two thousand orbits ago the Corbazlantan selected another project site. They had come to the conclusion that they could not survive on Ertz because there was a force on the planet that corrupted their being, so they removed themselves from prolonged exposure to the influence of Ertz. Turrach wondered if this was the ominous milieu Paxmarr had found. The Corbazlantan set up a base on Mrtz. Their new strategy was to slowly transform a select group of primitives by gene replacement and cultivation. This way they could colonize by proxy. This group of primitives slowly became passive to the Corbazlantan presence, even subservient to their direct commands. This group lived in the tropics. The Corbazlantan visited this project four times an orbit, twice when Tso crossed the equator making the day as long as the night and twice when Tso was farthest from the equator. Turrach recognized these as equinoxes and solstices.

      This group called themselves Olmecs. They built temples to worship Tzo, the local star, as the god that was represented by the Corbazlantan. For 900 orbits this relationship worked well. The breeding program progressed slowly and the Olmecs became orderly and tractable. The priests were taught astronomy and agronomy. They were taught that they came from caves on Azlantas, a glorious island where white houses gleamed. The fanciful thoughts and artificial histories worked to provide a source of pride and a reason for cohesion. They eventually taught them about the lodestone compass and about zero as a number. The Corbazlantan also gave them a calendar and taught them how to determine when they would be visited.

      The gene program at first produced some extreme, even bizarre physical manifestations in the Olmecs as the Corbazlantan genes spread through the population, but these characteristics were constantly counteracted with new genetic sequences. Mental and emotional aberrations were the most difficult to detect, but the Olmec priests became the de facto arbitrators of accepted behavior. There was one development that was beyond the power of breeding and social control, the penchant for killing. It first began to show in the priests and kings. The priests had decided that since the messengers from their star-god were always seeking reports about the deformed and weak they would please them by reporting fewer individuals. They sacrificed the remainder of the deformed and weak to their god. The sacrifices increased in number and thus required an expanded resource pool. The situation devolved to the point where for the final 100 orbits of the existence of this experiment the priests were sacrificing the best and the brightest, literally destroying the patient careful genetic manipulation by the messengers. The Corbazlantan had continuously tried to correct this perverse compulsion-attribute. When they finally conceded defeat, they implanted the story into the Olmec religious tradition that they would return one day. Their multi-colored flashing hedrons would bring their black bearded faces once again. Then they chased the Olmecs out of their cities. They scattered them in all directions. Those abandoned cities were never lived in again.

      For 700 orbit’s the Corbazlantan let the Olmecs diffuse and mingle with other primitives. They hoped that the implanted genes would be further normalized into the general population. They thought their mistake had been in having too small a population to insert genes into. They watched as the Olmec descendants built an impressively orderly large city centered on a large pyramidal teocalli dedicated to Tzo. They also saw that the administration of the city was predicated on fear, and abnormal death was commonplace. The Corbazlantan did not interfere when other Olmec descendants descended upon the city killing the inhabitants, before they occupied the city themselves. Turrach was perplexed by the Ertzer predisposition for violence and extermination and thought this was another great mystery to be examined.

      It was a great celestial event that the Corbazlantan used as a flash point to start another effort to establish their alien genes on Ertz in a new indigenous host. The light from the supernova of Cetovan had reached Ertz. The Corbazlantan selected a cohesive group of Olmec descendants living in the north by a lake called El Guaje. They started them on a trek south. This group was only the nucleus of a population they needed to sustain genetic implantation and manipulation. On the way they added many other Olmec descendent groups and herded them all along in a great migration. They had them start a new city built on a rudimentary island in Lake Texcoco. It was meant to recall the memory of their manufactured ancestors that lived happily on Azlantas. The primitives called the city Tenochtitlan.

      The Corbazlantan individuals that actually met with the primitives presented themselves this time as the sky god and creator. Most of the indigenous primitives called them Quezalcoatl, but some called them Huitzilopochtli (Sun god). The primitives called themselves Mexica (moon), the reflection of their sun god, because the Corbazlantan had told them not to tell anyone they actually came from Aztlan (Azlantas). As before, the priests were the points of contact. The priests exercised power and the Corbazlantan exercised control. After many Ertz orbits were completed, the Mexica proved to be as inwardly corrupt and outwardly captivated by violence and blood spectacles as the Olmecs. The Corbazlantan tried different gene combinations to eradicate this blood lust. But after much effort, there was no improvement.

      The Mexica had embraced death, killing through ritual sacrifice (ostensibly to keep Tzo in the sky), but consequently disrupting the development of the gene pool. One of the later kings rewrote the Mexica history and religious rites to remove any mention of the Corbazlantan. The black bearded Corbazlantan withdrew from any further interaction with them.

      Turrach noted that the history of species interaction with this planet's population included the statement that Ertzers have a common tendency to ascribe phenomena they don’t understand to the presence of an unseen god. They do this out of fear or awe, which gives way to ritual which is supposed to please or appease the unseen. This they call religion. Some of the species take advantage of this fear. Turrach wondered why these four species would want to take advantage of anything on this planet where everything revolves around death. The Penta-species must have found something astounding here judging by their presence in the thousands. And 'penta' means five. Turrach wondered if all five species could have been contaminated by that ominously strange milieu?

      Turrach continued to peruse the history. Approximately 1800 orbits ago the Habriol again began to visit parts of the planet. The Ertzers saw their shimmering or radiant translucent bodies as angels. The Habriol enhanced this image by approaching the Ertzers in a fog they created. The fog made their intensely brilliant hedrons more diffuse and ethereal. They also tried to alter the violent actions of the Ertzers using their own physical presence to inspire the primitives to achievement. This tactic alone proved inadequate, so they resorted to gene implantation to augment their project. After 100 orbits of effort in Europe, they produced a warrior chief named Constantine. One day when he was preparing for battle they approached him in a hedron. They froze the fog and the brilliant lights of their propulsion system created a diamond-dust solar halo around the hedron. Constantine thought his star god Sol Invictus had visited him. This visit manifested in him as institutional narcissism that gave him the impression that he had a special connection to this god and that he had special insight into everyone’s religion. The Habriol liked this influence since it eventually resulted in some degree of peace whereby their genes could spread in a predictable manner. But the slow pace of this gene infusion did not suit the Habriol.

      The Habriol decided to use a population of primitives that had been forced to survive in a harsh environment. It was anticipated these Ertzers called Bedu could absorb a greater infusion over a short period. These primitives also thought they were interacting with angels, but there were others who only witnessed the hedrons. Those primitives said the Habriol were jinn, the keepers of paradise, who were up to mischief. Neither story hurt the genetic infusion efforts.

      To spread genes faster through the sparse population they imbedded the gene that caused an intense desire to mate. The primitives did increase their mating activity, but subsequently had to hide their females from the eyes and noses of the other males with the gene. The pheromones were irresistible. Unfortunately, the intense and rapid gene transplantation had a deleterious effect on the males. As in the case of Constantine they became religious zealots, but with a brutal bloodlust. The Habriol sought to counteract the violence, but it soon transformed into a mass movement culminating in a conquering army. The Habriol once again withdrew as they watched the army successfully spread their own genes by slaughter and domination.

      This same formula was used on another nomadic population. This led the Habriol to Northern China 700 orbits later. The outcome of the effort was the elimination of the religious component. After 100 orbits of effort they were successful, but could not eradicate the urge to conquer. Death seemed to be the inevitable result of an Ertzer life, no matter whether left alone or reprogrammed with visitations and gene enhancements.

      The Gorgol have visited the planet regularly for 1700 orbits. Their interaction with the primitives has been limited mainly to agitating and baiting in order to frighten and torment. The trail of their involvement can mostly be seen in the wood carved images of the gods of Africa and in the gargoyles on the building façades of Europe. Turrach thought this activity showed a great disregard of the locals and of typical protocol for advanced species' interaction with inferior ones.

      The Bukymon conducted night visitations starting 900 orbits ago. They have the ability to appear to the primitives as shadows. They are interested in family sized group social interaction. They have thousands of family projects throughout the tropical region of the planet, plus many more in the temperate areas. They have also conducted gene implantation to enhance communication with the primitives. Night visitation would certainly facilitate secrecy thought Turrach. Why would this species be interested in anything the Ertzers did, especially being involved in such a patchwork fashion? Maybe they were trying to cover as much area as possible to maximize their project. Turrach still wanted to solve the mystery he came to investigate, but now he thought all these species’ activity was also worthy of some investigation, at least to reveal their projects and goals.

      Interesting, but odd said Turrach to Gurrk. This is the strangest tourist planet we have visited. What is all this interference by galactic species with the indigenous species? What really enticed all these species to this planet in the first place? It can't be simply the mystery we have come to solve, so there must be something very important here that we are not aware of. It might be that all five species are still active on the planet. I think the presentation of this history before our arrival could be to condition us for something unprecedented on other tourist planets. It could also be that by presenting this history now they are attempting to justify the continuance of all these meddling projects, said Gurrk meaning that they are still here making mischief. There certainly seems to be subterfuge in presenting this history to us even before we arrive. Whatever their reason at least it has prepared us to have fun as we find out what is going on there. I agree, said Gurrk still, something odd is happening there, and these five species with a long history of interaction on a tourist planet is an unexpected complication, nonetheless they may make our visit to this planet even more interesting, especially if they have something to hide. I just hope that they do not attempt to manipulate us like they do the local species.

      I agree with you brother, said Turrach, manipulation aside, their actions and projects may actually add a dimension of excitement to our investigation of the mystery. In fact this may turn from an obscure but interesting mystery into a great adventure.

      CHAPTER 1 – Arrival

      The observation window became crowded with tourists as they jostled for position to get a look at the zoo. They were all talking at the same time. Their destination was still nothing more than a white dot in the distance, but their excitement couldn’t be contained as they stared at it. They jabbered about the peculiar creatures they would encounter there and about the mystery of the place. Turrach heard a fellow tourist say, It’s going to be great fun being amongst such a unique and primitive humanoid species. Another said, It’s going to be great fun rupturing the integument enveloping the mysteries on the planet. Turrach looked at his brother Gurrk as if to confirm this statement, knowing that they, like all tourists, live to embroil themselves in mysteries so as to expand their life experiences. Another voice said, I want to know how and why they exist at all. Turrach knew that this was the primary enigma of that planet in the distance. What’s more, he wanted to be the one to solve this great galactic mystery.

      As the aspect of the spacebus changed, the surface of a tan to ochre colored planet filled the observation window. The chatter changed with the scene. A voice asked, Where is the hotel located? There, northeast of that long scar. Turrach turned to see who had responded. It was a gray Eutukus. He then turned to look at the spot indicated. It should have been located over there between those four very large mountains, noted another voice. Turrach could see three very large volcanic mountains in a neat row confronting an extremely large mountain. It cannot be there, said the Eutukus with his large head wobbling on his short body. The zoo creatures probably have their telescopes pointed at those mountains all the time. You mean we might be spotted by them? Turrach didn’t turn, but detected mockery and disdain in this new voice.

      Turrach saw the tourist planet disappear over the horizon as the spacebus descended toward the surface of the lifeless planet. He looked out at the dead expanse, strewn with rocks, blown by dust and pockmarked with craters. There were no mysteries to be solved concerning this planet he thought, except whether life larger than bacteria had ever existed here without the aid of a spacecraft. His musing was interrupted by a voice. Look, the hotel.

      Turrach looked at the hills rapidly approaching and saw what looked like a big humanoid face or mask. It was odd for any structure to be marked by a visual identifier. The face slowly resolved itself into just a hill as the shadows shifted with the moving spacebus. Then the hill beyond the dissolved mask began to resolve into a skull, but it too disintegrated into defined shadows as the ship moved past.

      The spacebus was now heading southwest toward a tall five-sided pyramidal hill covered in planetary dust and sand. That is the main hotel, said the Eutukus. Turrach had never seen a Eutukus on the bus before, but this one who had been talking was certainly eager to give out information to anyone that was listening. And that one, the Eutukus indicated by pointing with his lips, is where you get to stay. Turrach saw a four-sided pyramidal hill, smaller than the main hotel. We call it the angry Pongo, because of the rock formation beside it. It looks like one of the creatures in the zoo. And over there is another hotel.

      Turrach saw the loquacious Eutukus again pointing with his lips to another four-sided, but larger pyramidal hill to the south. He looked at his brother with the only expression his species could display - a blank stare. He was challenging his brother to find out more about this hotel complex. It was huge. It had three large natural looking pyramids twenty kilometers apart and probably many more auxiliary structures. Gurrk returned the stare indicating he had gotten the message.

      Coming to experience this hotel is itself worth the trip, said the Eutukus with his large head wobbling side to side, which Turrach assumed meant the Eutukus was pleased or proud. He looked at his brother. He could see he was excited. Gurrk said to him, It is a mystery why there is a hotel at all. The Eutukus responded as if he had understood the language Gurrk spoke, Yes, usually when tourists visit somewhere there are never more than three spacebusses with no more than three hundred tourists. This hotel complex currently houses 30,000. Gurrk looked at Turrach and said, Another mystery. So many tourists in one place.

      Turrach wanted to see what the chatty Eutukus would contribute to this question so he said, It is like an invasion. Oh it could never be an invasion, said the Eutukus with his head wobbling like it was loose. There are ten species here. That was the answer, thought Turrach. No two species ever conspired for long, let alone coordinated for mutual advancement. Each would be out for itself. The best each could do is to tolerate each other with mutual distrust. Ten species on one planet would involve a high degree of forbearance. What’s more, the organization of the hotel complex would have to impose an order between species at an unprecedented level.

      Turrach then dropped a word for the amiable Eutukus to pick up. Ten? The response was instant. The Penta-Species and five tourist species. The Penta-Agreement covers that and you shall hear all about it in the hotel. Another mystery thought Turrach. It was odd enough to have an agreement of any kind, but to keep it a secret until landing is outlandish, especially since it is obviously an agreement between five species to establish and maintain order amongst thousands and to impose restrictions on other species.

      These Penta-Species must have established this hotel many orbits ago thought Turrach. I hope they have not already solved the great mystery. The best course of action would be for Gurrk to investigate the Penta-Species, to ascertain what they have already discovered on the tourist planet and what they are still doing there. Then together they must expand this investigation to discover what attracted 30,000 visitors. Turrach was pleased that Gurrk would have many mysteries to follow at the hotel on Mrtz. With Gurrk occupied, this would leave the planet of Ertz to himself. Turrach knew he would have to try to find answers to the same questions as Gurrk, but he hoped that by direct interaction with the Ertzers he would be able to solve the great mystery of their planet.

      Turrach looked at the terrain outside. This was the slowest he had ever approached a planet. He wondered if it was the agreement that decreed this crawl. Since they were not near docking yet, Turrach decided to take advantage of that unfettered information source, the chatty Eutukus. Thirty thousand said Turrach. Gurrk turned and gave him a blank stare of interest.

      Oh yes, said the Eutukus who seemed pleased to be able to speak again, but fewer than half can go to Ertz at one time and then, only at night. And only a portion of those are permitted to venture into the daylight side. The Penta-Agreement is very strict. He then continued as if reading Turrach’s mind, Yes, and what do they do? Well, many agitate of course. Others play sky tag, hide and seek, wing tipping and some even get to walk amongst the zoo creatures and experience ‘face to face.’ His head was rocking side to side with obvious pleasure. You? coaxed Turrach. "Of course. I went to veen and they couldn’t tell I wasn’t one of them. I even stood in a crowd in daylight. The creatures gave me their useless coins. They are very -" he stopped speaking and scurried away as a light began flashing.

      The warning light indicated arrival. The large spacebus had docked inside a cliff face within sight of the northernmost hotel. The few remaining tourists slowly dispersed except Turrach and Gurrk who strode purposefully to their sparse cabin, moving in military fashion, as is the manner of their species. Turrach wondered aloud saying, How is it that when the Eutukus stood amongst the inhabitants of Veen they couldn’t tell he was not of their planet? He then shared his plan to glean information from the others. Gurrk was eager to begin.

      In a short while two Eutukus arrived at the door. The brothers were escorted down the narrow corridor and out of the spacebus. They entered into a dull whitish tube that led to a campus shuttle. The shuttle was spacious enough to accommodate even the largest of tourists. It had large viewing portals all around. The shuttle exited the cliff-side hangar through a large thick doorway.

      Outside Turrach could see that they had entered into a slot running right down the middle of a mountain. It seemed to have been created by the crashing of a large space rock through a molten mountain. The slot was about two and a half kilometers wide and six long. Each side of the divided mountain had a sheer two-kilometer vertical face highlighted by seven tiers of doors for garages containing the spacebusses and shuttles.

      Turrach noticed that the ground surface in the slot was light tan sand. They turned left and headed northeast. As they exited the slot he saw the surface color had changed to gray ocher with dark wind-exposed rock. Turrach became aware that the 60 tourists in the shuttle were as silent as the landscape. He could see the three hotels built into mountains. A glaze of dust covered them. The one to the north was to be his. The shuttle proceeded ten kilometers before slowly turning north for the final five kilometers to the four-sided hotel pyramid.

      The shuttle approached the pyramid near its base where large doors could accommodate a shuttle. One opened. No light was scattered onto the planetary surface that the telescopes on Ertz could detect. The door closed quickly after the ship entered. They all disembarked and entered the hotel. Turrach was now standing in a very large room with a very high ceiling. The walls and ceiling all had a wood façade. There were also grandiose wood columns around the outer edge of the room. Turrach had never seen a hotel, let alone a structure made by an advanced species that was covered in wood. Obviously none of the other tourists had ever seen such a place either, as they were all gawking at the room. Some Eutukus that were standing nearby began to take groups of guests to their rooms. The Eutukus in charge of the group with the brothers began to speak in an Ertzer language saying, We patterned our hotel after the grand style observed on Ertz. Of course, their hotels are not as grand as this one, he said with his head wobbling, but we wanted you to get the feel of the uniqueness of the great and mysterious planet you have come to investigate. To heighten your experience everyone at the hotel speaks in the dominant language of the planet. I am sure you have all learned it. Please become acquainted with the history of this hotel by absorbing the recording provided in your accommodation. And note that no one may visit anywhere unless he is totally familiar with the Penta-Agreement provisions. These guide your actions and behavior especially while visiting the zoo. The Penta-Agreement demands strict obedience. Failure to comply will precipitate prompt expulsion from this star system.

      Turrach and Gurrk looked at each other. They had always had free rein. Never had they experienced restrictions of any kind. Turrach didn’t like the feeling. They walked down the plush carpeted floors and hallways. It was an odd experience to not have a solid floor under his feet. Turrach wondered what purpose the carpet served to Ertzers. They took an elevator to another floor. The Eutukus assigned each one to a room commenting, Each room has a bed. If you have not yet perused the material on the zoo creatures, I will tell you, as his head started to wobble, they sleep on those. Yes, they actually become immobile and semi-conscious for a third of their evanescent existence. But for your convenience there are also rejuvenation chambers for those who are unable to adapt to the Ertzer accoutrements in the room.

      Turrach was given a room right next to Gurrk. Look, there are doors connecting all conterminous rooms so you can visit with ease, said the Eutukus. Turrach wondered if the pleasant, accommodating, almost obsequious manner of the Eutukus was a genuine characteristic of his species or an act. As the Eutukus left Gurrk walked in through the adjoining door. These rooms are probably monitored, Turrach said to Gurrk. Speak in our family dialect. They stood looking out the dusty window at the very cold planetary surface. The horizon was bright dusty beige, but he guessed the thin atmosphere would look almost black if he could actually look directly above his head. He thought that if there had not been an interesting planet nearby no one would ever have stopped on this planet. To the northeast and right next to his hotel Turrach could see the hill that was supposed to display an angry Pongo face, although from his angle it looked simply like another of the many sharp-sided pyramidal hills that cover this area of the planet. He looked to the southeast. Twenty kilometers away, across the dark ocher dirt, he could see the main large dust/sand camouflaged five-sided pyramidal hotel. Almost directly south was the other hotel. He could also see a long mountain between the two pyramid hotels. Look. Do you see it? He saw movement near the long mountain. Yes replied Gurrk I will add that mountain to my list for investigation.

      Turrach looked at the room. It also had the veneer of dark brown polished wood. The bed seemed a great waste of life. He said, I will rejuvenate. Gurrk gave him a blank stare of acknowledgement, then left. Turrach removed his outer garment and entered the rejuvenation chamber in the back of the room. He selected a nutrient vapor and chose the Penta-Agreement to review while his body was engulfed in the nutrient fog. As his body began to absorb the vapor his mind relaxed and began to rapidly assimilate the details of the Penta-Agreement.

      After the termination of the auditory presentation of the Penta-Agreement the nutrient also ceased. Turrach stepped out of the chamber and saw his naked body in a full-length mirror. His light green skin looked a little deeper lime colored. His tousled red hair was a few shades brighter than the rocks of Mrtz and contrasted nicely with his skin. Turrach turned as his brother entered the room through the adjoining door. Your fully nourished color has returned brother. As Turrach put on the gold outer garment that was standard issue for all nonPenta-Species Gurrk continued, Let us compare understanding of the agreement. Since it was written in a language of the Ertzers it obviously serves to deceive. Yes, these Eutukus are clever. We must never be off guard in their presence, cautioned Turrach.

      The agreement provisions give administration of the hotel complex to the Eutukus. Their ubiquitous presence is certainly witness to that, observed Turrach. "It could

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