The Space Explorer: Jimmy Philips and the Knot Civilization, Page 4

Chapter 4

  Blue Lava

  “How long ‘til we get there?” Amy wondered. “I’m tired.”

  The children had been walking for a few hours. But because the atmosphere is not as heavy as on Earth, it takes longer for them to get tired.

  They encountered an array of exotic plants and virtually harmless animals along the way.

  “That is one giant mutant bug.” Jimmy cried when he saw a centipede-like insect, about a foot long, crawl up a nearby tree.

  “Jimmyyy!” Amy persisted, “How long?”

  “A.R… How far are we from Suit number 1?” Jimmy asked.

  “The target is 21609 meters due south southeast.” A.R. replied.

  “How long will it take to get to the target?” Jimmy questioned.

  “Assuming we continue at a steady pace of 11 kilometers an hour, without rest, arrival is estimated within two hours.” A.R. informed.

  “Well, we can’t go without rest. That’s for sure.” Jimmy stated. He paused to think for a moment, “We should be there within three hours, Amy… assuming we take a break or two.”

  “That’s still really far…” Amy replied. “I’m hungry.”

  “Alright we’ll stop here for a few minutes and have some to eat…” Jimmy sat on the ground and continued, “But, we’ll have to conserve our food. Let me see your backpack.”

  Amy handed her bag to Jimmy and sat down as well.

  “We don’t know if anything out here is edible.” Jimmy spoke as he searched the bag for the food he had stored before. He grabbed a plastic bag that had a few sandwiches and took one out.

  Jimmy split the sandwich in half and gave one to Amy. As the children ate their food, they would hear sounds coming from the surrounding wilderness. These sounds were strange and unique, unfamiliar to the noises the children are used to hearing on Earth.

  They stayed alert by looking around for any sign of danger. Doing so, Jimmy noticed A.R. slowly crawling away from them. “A.R.!” Stop!” A.R. came to a halt. “Come back here!” A.R. turned around and strolled back towards the children.

  “How can I be of assistance?” A.R. inquired.

  “From now on, you are to remain within two meters of us…” Jimmy demanded and continued, “If we get separated by unexpected circumstance, you are to move towards target suits numbers 2 and 5. Was that understood?”

  “Understood.” A.R. acknowledged.

  “Good…” Jimmy finished his sandwich, when he heard a faint but familiar sound— the sound of running liquid as if there was a brook or a river nearby.

  “What is it?” Amy wondered as she finished her sandwich.

  “Sounds like there’s a river nearby…” Jimmy stood up and urged Amy, “Come on, let’s check it out.”

  Jimmy gave Amy the backpack as she stood up, and they ran towards the sound emitting from beyond the forest. A.R. followed after.

  The children came onto the end of the wilderness to witness a large and thick stream of dark blue liquid rushing down, apparently, from the volcano in the distance.

  The area was rocky and steep. The ground and hill sides were brownish orange in color. Dark clouds where amassing in the distance as thunder rumbled a bit louder this time around.

  In awe of the scenery, both Jimmy and Amy exclaimed, “Whooooaaa!”

  The children approached the river of strange liquid to take a closer look. They kneeled down at a safe distance.

  “This is so cool!” Astonished, Jimmy turned to A.R. “A.R. What is that liquid?”

  A.R. carefully approached the river and took a small sample to analyze. The robot turned to the children and replied, “This is mostly methane in liquid form.”

  “Cool!” Amy exclaimed. “It looks like lava, but it’s blue.”

  Jimmy looked to see how far the river stretched. “We have to cross it in order to get to dad. But, there doesn’t seem to be a way around it.”

  “This chemical composition should be harmless to humans as long as it is not consumed in large amounts.” A.R. informed. “It should be safe for you to swim or walk across depending on the depth of the river bank.”

  “I see…” Jimmy thought for a moment, “A.R., can you estimate the depth of the bank?”

  “Of course.” A.R. acknowledged and crawled over to the edge of the methane river. It scanned the area from where A.R. was standing, all the way to the other side. Then, A.R. turned to the children and said, “The bank is, on average, 0.67 meters deep.”

  “That’s very shallow.” Jimmy rejoiced, “We can walk across. Sweet!”

  Jimmy reached into one of the pockets of his backpack and said, “I’m going to take a sample to show dad when we find him.”

  Jimmy took out a small vial and when over to the edge of the river. He, gently, dipped the vial and filled it with the blue liquid. He plugged the vial and put it back in his backpack.

  “Come on, Amy.” Jimmy called his sister over. When Amy was near him he said, “Close your faceguard, Amy—just in case.”

  When both children had their faceguards down, they stepped into the river. Jimmy grabbed his backpack and pulled it over his head. He held it firmly with both hands. Then, he asked his sister to do the same. A.R. crawled up unto Jimmy’s backpack.

  As they came closer to the center, the thick liquid reached Amy’s shoulders. For Jimmy, the depth of the stream was belly high.

  One step at a time, the children kept moving until they reached the opposite side of the river bank.

  “We made it.” Jimmy said and Amy smiled, while retracting their faceguards.

  Their suits where drenched in liquid methane, but in time, they would dry off.

  A.R. picked up the signal from suit number 1 and the children followed the robot into the mountains, searching for their father.