Venus Warning & Other Tales

I am especially grateful to my wife, Sheryl, for giving me her opinion about the stories in this volume and for correcting my grammatical and spelling errors.

Members of the California Writers Club Tri-Valley Chapter helped me a lot, providing me with ideas on how to improve my tales. Some of these people include Patricia Boyle (now president of the chapter), Gary Kumfert, Shelley Riley, Eloise Hamann, and Kris Rogers.

My friend, Michael Mewhinney, served as a beta reader for the mystery novella, The Knight Prowler. He gave me some very good suggestions.

I hope I haven't omitted anyone. Any errors in this book are mine and mine alone. I hope my readers will enjoy the tales in this volume.

Science Fiction Section

Tale 1

Venus Warning, a novelette by John G. Bluck

copyright 2017 John G. Bluck

Chapter 1 -- The Struggle for Life

Ruthless sunlight baked Figar as he lay on the burning hot mud. It was rapidly thickening and soon would turn hard. His lizard body was ill-suited for the abrupt change in climate that was underway.

Figar had stopped to rest by a jagged boulder. He drew his deadly dart pistol, and leaned back against the rock that protected him from enemies that had followed him.

Figar's head fell forward into a fleeting sleep for mere seconds. Suddenly there was a high whining as a swarm of meter-long beetles attacked, jarring him awake. He fired his dart gun, killing three of the huge beetles in quick succession. Gun smoke loitered in the stifling air. His fast, accurate shooting scared the remaining insects. They retreated out of range. Struggling to his feet, Figar resumed walking toward the lake. All he could think of was diving into the clear water and drinking his fill.

Skeletons of dead trees on the horizon and the blazing sky were constant reminders of the drastic changes the planet had suffered. The sky had turned from bright blue to dull orange in just a few weeks -- while the temperature had risen from a comfortable ninety-five degrees to a deadly 135 degrees. Extreme heat already had killed most of the planet's plants and animals.

Packs of ferocious razor-back beetles hunted those animals that still lived, following them and waiting for them to weaken enough to be killed and eaten.

Figar was dizzy, light-headed. He struggled to remain alert. At least a hundred hungry beetles stalked him, just out of range, waiting for his collapse. The large insects could run thirty markons a cycle, as fast as any land animal on the planet.

Though dumb, the beetles were smart enough to wait for Figar's near death so they could safely rip off his green scales and drink the moisture and blood from his body. Each of the ferocious creatures had 138 small, scalpel-sharp teeth that could slice Figar's body into easy-to-swallow chunks.

Figar's tough feet were bleeding. He was not used to walking out of water on land, but his inner strength carried him on. He was slender – three meters long and 164 lutons in weight. Handsome, green scales covered him, and dark-black, glistening eyes hinted at his extreme intelligence. He had survived while millions of other beings had died in the last few weeks. Nevertheless, if within a few hours he did not reach the lake located one markon away, he would be finished. The beetles were regrouping, getting ready to make a coordinated attack upon him.

Chapter 2 -- The Lake

Figar's blurry eyes gazed slightly downhill at the lake and the ribbon of green vegetation on the edge of its beach. Was his mind fooling him? Had his thirst concocted a mirage? To stop too long where he rested was suicide. Failure to reach water meant a slow, painful death.

The beetles made disturbing siren-like cries that rattled Figar's nerves. These giant insects became excited when the broiling wind shifted, carrying the smell of blood that seeped from Figar's blistered feet.

The lake was now a blurry vision to Figar. His mind wandered. Unsteady, he dragged himself forward step by step with great determination. The smell of dead bodies permeated the hot air. The stench no longer nauseated him, as it had in the beginning, three weeks ago.

His sun-cooked scales burned his insides. He knew he must get to the lake and submerge himself to dissipate his body heat. His long, pink tongue was swollen and hung out of the side of his mouth.

I am the world, Figar, a voice screamed in his sizzling brain. Figar squeezed his eyes shut. You and others like you caused billions and billions of deaths because of your greed. Now, I'm barren, and life cannot exist on me for long! The utterance seemed to echo inside his skull. The planet yelled shrilly, Why didn't you listen to your inner voice, Figar? Why? Why?

Figar opened his eyes. He saw his beautiful wife, Tara, and their four small children dancing in the air. But he knew that they had died despite his greatest efforts to save them.

A wave of remorse shook his body. If only he had stood up as a leader on his two rear legs years ago. He should have declared to the scientific community that their world was destined to die unless they took drastic, immediate action to reverse the planet's runaway heating.

Chapter 3 -- Memories

Just months ago that damn Dr. Gill had threatened him, finally cajoling him into keeping quiet about the danger of how their planet could become an oven.

You'll only upset the directors of the academy, Figar, Gill had said. Then I'd have to discharge you from the academy -- not because I'd want to do so, but because they'd force me to do it. Don't be a fool.

The planet is heating much faster than the directors suspect, Figar had told Gill, "and hot, deadly temperatures may result. We need to act now before it's too late. The atmosphere is gaining carbon dioxide. We must stop the burning of the black, liquid mud at once."

Look, Figar, Gill had said, you've got it made. We're paying you well, and that'll continue. We can talk to the directors of the economic council and outline how they need to reduce burning and gradually shift to hydrogen fuel. They can't do it too fast. They have too much invested in pipelines and refineries. They can't switch overnight, Figar. Gill smiled.

Okay, Gill, Figar had said, even though his guts had shrilly yelled at him to say no.

In ten generations, carbon dioxide had risen from less than one-half of a percent of the lower atmosphere to three-quarters of a percent. It was enough to heat the tropics to lethal temperatures.

Deep lakes and the oceans contained thirty times as much dissolved carbon dioxide as the air. That trapped gas would escape when much of the water evaporated. Increased water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was forming a thick blanket of insulating air. It would trap even more heat close to the planet. Figar had theorized that this additional heat would free yet more carbon dioxide from the evaporating water. In the last few weeks his theory had become reality. The planet was heating like an oven.

Chapter 4 -- Beetle Attack

As he walked, Figar sucked on pebbles to stimulate his salivary glands. The added saliva kept his mouth wet. An hour later, he found a small section of a canal that still contained some brackish water, one talon deep. He drank the dirty water and splashed it onto his body to cool it.

The day lasted 117 rest periods, so the setting sun would hang in the eastern sky for a long time. But, at last, the blinding, yellow-orange orb would dip under the eastern horizon. Until then, he would have to face the burning heat all the way to the lake. Luckily, the beetles were not intelligent enough to get ahead of him and then attack. Still, he had to be alert. There could be more of them ahead.

All of a sudden a stinging pain in his tail snapped Figar back to reality. An unusually large razor back beetle, almost two meters long, was drinking blood from where the filthy creature had torn away one of Figar's protective, green scales.

Using his powerful tail, Figar flipped the monster thirty feet away. The ugly beast hit a rock and squealed, gravely injured. Soon, the insect's voracious companions sucked the dying beetle's body dry.

Figar sat on the scorching ground. There he would die as nearly all of his kind had died, unless he forced his body up from the hot dirt, and struggled to reach the lake. It shimmered below him, down the steep hill.

Chapter 5 -- Forward to the Lake

After struggling to his feet, Figar nonetheless was ready to draw his dart gun. Its brown, plastic holster and pistol belt matched the color of his now glazed eyes. He touched the weapon with his right front claw, and the feel of the gun's handle gave him confidence.

Twenty dart cartridges remained in his bandolier. That was enough to hold off the fluid-sucking beetles until he reached the lake. He smelled its water.

The broiling sun baked Figar's eyes while the persistent beetles continued to tail him, just out of range. Now just a hundred paces lay between him and the shimmering lake. Unexpectedly, Figar saw another lizard rise from beneath the water where he had been cooling himself.

Chapter 6 -- The Mystery Figure

Hello, the mystery figure standing in the lake water yelled to Figar in a familiar voice.

At first Figar could only manage a croaking, choked sound. Then, weakly he said, Hello. Coughing, he waved. Then he recognized Gill, Dr. Gill, a living demon, standing in the water.

Anger boiled throughout Figar's body. His aggression was something he could not control. Gill had persuaded Figar not to disclose his theory at the annual meeting of the worldwide Academy of Sciences a half of an orbit ago. Gill had blocked Figar from presenting convincing evidence of the impending runaway planetary heating.

Gill had said no one would believe the danger was immediate. He had said he would end Figar's career if Figar were to present proof that would cause fear and panic. Figar mumbled to himself, Could anyone stop the death of the planet now?

A sluggish dust devil formed a small funnel cloud. Figar heard it whistle and then shriek, No, nothing can stop the death now, Figar!

Figar walked as if in a trance. He stopped five paces from shore. Broken glass littered the beach, sparkling like diamonds. The razor-sharp shards kept the hungry beetles at bay.

Gill smiled. Figar, we must be the only ones left for markons.

Yeah, my wife and four children are dead, thanks to you, Figar said, his voice crackling with dryness and pain.

The dust devil's voice interrupted Figar's thoughts. You might as well end it now, Figar. Figar! Do it. Do it!

Chapter 7 -- Eye for an Eye

Slowly, Figar drew his heavy pistol and aimed at Gill.

Figar, what the hell. . .

You deserve to die, Gill, Figar muttered as he stepped into the water, leveling his weapon, aiming at Gill's head.

For God's sake, Gill pleaded, don't do it, please. Figar slowly squeezed the trigger. The dart struck Gill in the forehead with a smack. He fell forward and died instantly. The body splashed and floated. Blood streamed away from Gill's forehead wound and floated in rivulets through the lapping waves.

Figar stared at his smoking pistol. The gun smoke smelled good. He was content. He dropped down, splashing and then submerged near Gill's body. Figar lifted his head from beneath the surface and drank the murky, hot water. It was more than a hundred degrees. He fell asleep in the shallows with his head against a rock.

Chapter 8 -- Onward to Venus

A spaceship destined for Venus, on the first mission to deliver human beings to that planet's surface, departed from Earth in 2086. As the ship ascended, the pink beam of the super particle rocket was so bright that spectators could see its vibrant glow hundreds of miles away from the old Kennedy launch site.

All systems good, said Captain Chuck Carter aboard the ship. Live radio and TV distributed his reports of the progress of the ship to a worldwide audience. The television picture first showed a close up of the ship's engines igniting and then switched away to show a young female reporter. She wore a short skirt and stood in a grass field as the ship soared into the dark blue sky far above and behind her.

After the mother ship goes into orbit around Venus, six astronauts, half of the crew, will enter the Lander, television journalist Ruth Reeves said. These six explorers will ride the descent ship down through the stormy upper atmosphere of Venus that contains sulfuric acid. The upper atmosphere also has winds that can blow three times faster than an average hurricane on Earth. After descending through this ferocious gauntlet of powerful storms, the Lander will reach the much calmer lower atmosphere and land in the far north of the planet.

The TV picture switched to a video that showed astronauts dressed in very heavy spacesuits that were much like deep-sea diving suits.

On the planet's surface, special, heat- and pressure-resistant spacesuits that include super-strong, fusion-powered air conditioning units will protect the astronauts. The suits can safeguard the explorers from temperatures of more than eight-hundred degrees, Reeves continued.

An artist's rendition of the Venusian surface popped onto the TV screen.

The atmospheric pressure on the surface can crush an ordinary spacesuit, but the special Venus suits are able to withstand more than ninety times Earth's surface pressure, Reeves said. Though the winds on the surface are only two or three miles per hour, astronauts will find it difficult to walk because of the thick, highly compressed air at ground level. Since Venus is about four-fifths the mass of Earth, the astronauts will weigh somewhat less on the cloudy planet. A series of still pictures of the rocky surface appeared on the screen.

The crew hopes to find clues on the surface of Venus to answer old, puzzling questions, Reeves said, as she peered at the TV camera lens. What caused the atmosphere of Earth's twin planet to become so thick with carbon dioxide? What happened to the water that scientists think was once so abundant on Venus?

The television picture switched back to a view of the surface of Venus. The scene was a vast plain littered with rock piles. Animation showed an astronaut walking among the rocks.

In a few days, astronauts will set foot on Venus for the first time near the edge of Ishtar Terra Plateau in the north. The scene may look something like what we see in this animation, Reeves said.

Chapter 9 -- Venus Close-up

As the mother ship rapidly approached the cloudy planet, the astronauts were taking turns looking through a telescope to view the cloud tops of that world's upper atmosphere. It was a maelstrom of storms.

Near the surface the air was searing hot and contained mostly carbon dioxide. Venus was a hostile place. It was replete with acidic rain and was hot enough to melt bullets. The planet's atmosphere was about ninety times denser than Earth's at sea level.

During the twentieth century, the first spacecraft to land on Venus had not lasted very long because of the intense heat and crushing atmospheric pressure on the surface.

Time for lunch, Chuck, said Science Officer Kent Olowski.

What's on the menu? Captain Chuck Carter asked.

Sonja Radcliff, geologist, smiled and answered, White fish with tartar sauce, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, and salad with almonds.

Carter shuffled back towards the galley, his magnetic boots making a sliding noise. He accepted his food tray from Olowski, who was handing meals to the crew. Thanks, Carter said.

Like most astronauts, Carter was ambitious and driven. His relentless drive had again led him to undertake a difficult and dangerous mission. He wondered how his wife, Emma, was doing. She was always a nervous wreck when he was flying in space. He knew he was obsessed with space exploration to the exclusion of everything else including his family.

Now he was on another voyage, which could last a long time. But would his marriage last that long? Sonja was a temptation. She had already made a pass at him. She had even suggested that they meet in the massive cargo hold in a secluded corner. And if he were gone too long, Emma, too, would be lured into cheating.

Carter sat at the long metal dinner table that also served as a workbench. As the dozen astronauts started to eat, the captain began to peel the protective aluminum foil from his tray of food. I wonder if you feel as I do, he said. My gut tells me that we'll discover something unexpected and amazing. Last night I dreamed we were walking on the surface and found a city made of bright plastics. It was vivid.

Sonja finished chewing a piece of potato and said, I've been having similar thoughts, Chuck. Her light blue eyes looked deep into his eyes as if she were trying to see his soul. Her long, wavy hair was flaming red, and hung down to her shoulders.

She was a tall, athletic woman who had an alluring effect on most men. Carter began to fantasize about her.

Chapter 10 -- Dreams of Alien Life

Sonja gazed at Carter as she opened a cellophane packet of bread. Sometimes when I'm daydreaming, she said, I imagine finding piles of diamonds formed by immense geologic pressure acting on ordinary soot.

Carter nodded, fighting the urge to think of Sonja in the nude. He knew he'd better stick to mission business to keep his mind from wandering. If there is soot, it might mean that sometime in the distant past the atmosphere had been different, thinner and maybe suitable for life, Carter said. Burned plant life would make soot.

Suddenly, questions about the atmosphere were on everyone's mind. The crew began to speculate whether or not they would find evidence of past life, perhaps ancient fossils.

Carter finished eating. Maybe we'll be able to figure out why so much carbon dioxide is in Venus' atmosphere, he said.

The crew started several simultaneous conversations about the origin of Venus' atmosphere. Why was the planet's air so different from Earth's layer of gases? Why wasn't Venus the true twin of the Earth? After all, Venus was almost the same mass as Earth.

Chapter 11 -- The Descent Begins

The landing party of six entered the descent ship. They sat