Page 108 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

means of contacting this scout vessel. I’m as curious as you are about all this.” She gave the order
over her desk intercom and fired up her private coms “You get back to your crew and I’ll take it from
here.” Klute headed back to Coms and Melissa made contact with the High Council on Terra Prime.

Inside The Veil
The world was called Keteria by its inhabitants; it was a solitary body orbiting a star of
similar size to Sol, but which burned far brighter because of the excess of hydrogen in the Gas cloud.
The planet was shielded from this fierce radiation by dust
that was trapped in its upper atmosphere and strong
Ionising layers. It had two small moons about a third the
size of Terra’s moon and in concentric orbits as far out as
that satellite. One of the moons had a ring of ice particles
that would glint when caught from the right angle. The
other moon was composed mostly of ice itself. This led to
complex tidal ebbs and flows on Keteria’s sea. This
covered most of the world’s surface, there being only
one polar land mass about the size, in area, of the former
continental plate of Africa and Eurasia combined. The
land mass had a long promontory that reached
southward into the sea. Despite the intense radiation and
because of all the upper atmospheric dust; the planet had a tropical climate and only two seasons,
because of its angle of inclination. The day lasted approximately twenty-six hours and its year
around four hundred days. The occasional tropical storm wreaked havoc along the coast, but inland
it was the central jungle that caused most of the changes in weather patterns, being atop a plateau
formed by the plug of a long extinct gigantic volcano. Rain fell regularly over this jungle and fed the
rest of the continent with water by three great meandering rivers supplied by lakes that were
replenished by the numerous waterfalls from the plateau. The clouds seemed to be trapped in a
constant circling motion around the planets strong magnetic pole. Speculation was that the core was
molten iron, but it was not certain. It would appear to be a paradise, were it not for the venomous
local life, both on land and in the sea. On land; there were cockroach-like insects that sprayed toxic
acidic enzymes, a kind on marsupial rat that drank blood and, like a vampire bat, injected an
anticoagulant that meant any human bitten by it would almost inevitably bleed to death. No higher
life other than large grazing animals that bore an uncanny resemblance to pink, hairless Mammoths
was to be found on land. The sea had more life forms. Assorted Fish; with razor sharp spikes riddled
with toxic venom, of various sizes. Something like Dolphins that were carnivorous and attacked huge
Sea serpents that were feeders on the various giant Kelp-like plants, and Jellyfish that electrocuted
their prey into submission, these were found to be edible if one avoided the parts that produced the
electricity. The list went on.
Despite all these hazards, the survivors of the expedition had made the planet their base;
creating settlements on the coast, on the promontory, and some farming communities inland near
the lakes. They had also found the world rich in mineable minerals and metal ores so an industrial
base had been set up to utilise these resources. On the whole; they had a good life, albeit a one
trapped away from the rest of the Galaxy. Isolated and trapped within The Veil. A mineral found
near the wall of the plateau had unique properties, protecting any vessel coated with it from the
Space-Time distortions within The Veil. The expedition had brought with them two vast factory ships
to manufacture products needed by colonists. With the resources shipped up to them from Keteria;
they could create just about anything that was needed. Adding to the resources was a huge annular
debris field orbiting around the star, easily mined for other vital materials. Thus, the survivors were
able to thrive. They had given up on exploring the plateau jungle long ago; it being a dense mass of
gigantic tree ferns and cycad type plants. Local grasses and crops were rich in starches and some
shrubs had saps that were not only non-toxic, they were full of sugars and proteins. Some of the tree