Posted July 08, 2012 - 01:58:13 pm

Part 1: Chapter 2
Posted: July 08, 2012 - 01:58:13 pm

Updated: July 08, 2012 - 05:00:51 pm

The house he called home was a dome shaped Ultronit sphere; made out of the same material they made battle ship armor out of. The house had two levels and once had been a forward research outpost on Green Hell and served as his families' home ever since he was born. Roy switched on the outside visual sensor and waited for the Institute Floater that would take his parents away. The visual sensor was on a sturdy telescopic mast and inside a strong protective housing and could be steered and directed to look into any direction. On his view screen he saw the dense jungle around the house. There, a Pandora Swan attacking a flock of Gladiator Eagles. The silvery Pandora Swan attacked the much larger eagles with his razor sharp lower wings and cut one of the Eagles in mid-flight to pieces, while it evaded the barrage of arrow feathers the Eagles shot at it. The swan punctured a second with its long needle sharp beak. It was a spectacular display of raw nature. It did not matter what his parents thought, he was a Greenie!

He was very proud of this fact and he knew everything there was to know about his home planet. Green Hell was the second planet in the Maxwell System. A luscious green garden world that looked inviting like any other garden world when seen from space.

Long time ago, it had first been discovered by the old Saresii and they called it Mrtgtha in their language and it meant Murder-all. The Saresii never bothered to come back, thousands of years later the Sarans rediscovered the world and lost several exploration teams and called this world Imthe-Seth which meant Death World.

Then after Terra ascended and the Union was formed a Union explorer ship came this way and another attempt was made to explore this world. Garden world with a breathable Nitrogen Oxygen atmosphere were rare and valuable to any expanding society. Again the Planet proved deadly to those who landed on it, no one of the survey teams returned alive.

Unlike the Saresii or the Sarans however Terrans were much more stubborn and could not leave it at that. It was even suggested at one point to P Bomb the world from orbit and then Terra form it, but instead of doing that it was decided to research what it was that made this world so dangerous.

Instead of scientists and explorers they send Ultra Marines next and they managed after losing some men to clear an island of its vegetation and sterilize it of anything alive and establish a permanent base. Scientists returned and with them came technicians and service personnel, then their families and finally shop keepers and small businesses and the small island base grew first into a town and then a small city called Ant Hill. The Planet became known as Green Hell

Jungles covered sixty percent of the surface. Instead of real oceans the planet had an almost uncountable number of large and small lakes, vast swamps and slimy bogs. There were a few rugged mountain ranges and cool less overgrown poles.

What made Green Hell different from any other planet was its vast abundance of life forms. Every single living thing on this planet was a killer and had an array of body weapons deadlier than anything ever encountered. The strongest organic acid ever discovered was produced by the Dragon Ants of Green Hell; the deadliest organic poison ever encountered came from a flowering bush. Some clouds were actually living gas bags that attacked with aimed lightning bolts of pure energy.

There were tiny microscopic mites aggressive as battle nannites; insects able to fly as fast rifle bullets with inch long stingers as hard as steel. Everything alive on Green Hell was lethally dangerous. Even the local moss and grass was lethal.

He saw one of the heavily armored, yellow painted floaters of the Institute descent and dock at the air lock clamps on the north side of the house.

A few moments later, with his parents aboard it soared back into the sky.

Roy smiled and locked his door. Then he opened his closet and put his micro mesh jacket over his bio-barrier suit. The Bio-barrier suit everyone on Green Hell was wearing was a one piece garment that hermetically connected with his heavy all-terrain boots. The suit was to protect the wearer from the tiny Buzz-saw Micros and similar mite like mini life forms that feasted on any organic matter with tiny rotating mouths full of teeth. Real Greenies however, like most of the larger life forms on Green Hell had developed their own defenses against those tiny pests, Buzz-Saws never really bothered him and he knew how to evade their drop shaped cocoon like nests hanging between the branches of Plague trees. All you had to do was use the a few drops of Plaque tree sap and the Buzzers thought you were a Plaque tree too.He then girded a belt around his hip with an attached holster, in it his Thompson E-Blaster. On his left he carried a Vibro-machete and also attached to the belt was his K-Bar combat knife.Roy chuckled while thinking about what his parents would think if they knew he had those things.

Green Hell had a natural gravitation of 2.6 gees above standard and all Off-worlders carried a personal Gravi-Adjuster. A device that reduced the graviton influence on the body mass to standard level; until his sixth birthday he didn't have one as he was born here and adjusted to the natural gravitation. Uncle Sam told him that carrying one increasing the gravitation would make the body stronger and every single move was an exercise. So he did carry one and he dialed it up every year a little more and now didn't even feel the constant 4.5 gee the device created. He switched it off and left it behind. Then he crawled under his bed and snickered even more, imagining the shock his parents would get as he touched a hidden contact

Part of the wall slid open and he crawled in a secret air lock. His mother would probably faint if she knew it existed. Maria his friend who was a wizard with tools had cut the Ultronit and installed this small air lock some years ago, allowing him to leave the house unnoticed.

The inner door sealed and moments later the outer door opened. He slid over the smooth curved metal to get momentum then pulled his feet under him and pushed himself with one fluid motion of the wall. His now unrestricted muscles catapulted him almost 12 meters across the vegetation free area around the house. Charles maintained that area by burning everything that grew inside that area with his blasters and he had to do that every other day.

Roy grabbed the branch of a Tantalus Oak, with two only two fingers of each hand, avoiding the 5 inch long thorns; Thorns that were hard enough to pierce steel and drooled with a deadly nerve poison that paralyzed a human sized being in mere seconds.

He swung himself over to a Trappers Palm, oriented himself for a mere heartbeat crouching on a branch, just above the sticky substance that covered the trees trunk and its branches below. The Trapper Palm glue instantly bonded with anything that came into contact with the sticky goo on a molecular level and then tiny creatures akin to the Buzz-Saws would come and disassemble and devour whatever had been caught in the glue.

Roy filled his lungs deep with the warm almost hot steamy jungle air. He loved the musky, moist odor. The Jungle was full of smells and scents, some pleasant, some sweet and fragrant, yet others putrid and foul. Yet every smell signaled a different plant or animal and knowing the smells was part of being able to stay alive out here. For most of the things he had no names, and he was fairly certain his parents hadn't seen or cataloged a fraction of what he knew and seen.

Out here he felt alive and right as rain, there was no doubt, no hesitation. He was one with the Jungle and somehow he felt as if he was one with the planet. He used all of his senses to the extreme. He listened to all the noises and sounds, he felt and touched. Some of the deadly trees and lethal plants had parts that could be eaten. The flower butts of the Nightmare cactus were delicious and had a nutty fresh taste. All you had to do know was where to touch and not to be showered with tiny needles. A beautiful orchid like plant as big as a man, he had no name for it, had liquid nectar inside the funnel shaped leaves that tasted like a mixture of honey and orange juice, to get it without getting killed took some skill that was all.

Out here he could feast on a hundred things, without being poisoned, killed or paralyzed.

This was his true home and he knew how to act and behave. He didn't need an eight ton energy shielded Armor suit to stomp through the jungle only to sink into a mud bog and be cracked like and egg after the energy ran out. He was a Greenie.

There was a sense, a feeling of being certain without any doubt. This sense told him what to do, that alerted to imminent danger and told him on an instinctive level what to do and how to behave.

This sense, this knowledge he absorbed somehow by an unexplainable osmosis directly from the planet. Everything here was a deadly killer, but that didn't mean everything was constantly killing. It was more like a careful delicate balance and life and death kept itself in balance out here, just like anywhere else. Waltzing through all of this in an Armor suit disturbed that balance and directed everything on that intruder to kill it, to neutralize it so the balance was restored. All this he just knew, he didn't know how and it was not book knowledge or the knowledge cramped in his mind by Cerebral uploads in school, it was a knowledge that could not really be put in words or expressed in writing. It was different.

For most of his way he remained in the upper level of the jungle, far above the actual ground. The dense foliage provided a much safer route and he could pass over mud bogs, water holes and the burrows of Kill Diggers.

He estimated he had covered two or three kilometers from the house and was now deep in untouched jungle, when he heard the tromping sounds of a Stomper breaking through the thickets. Roy crouched on a thick branch and waited until he could see this magnificent eight legged beast with sixteen barbed tentacles on its front end that could plug anything eatable out of trees and a tough crystalline armor protecting it from most of the plants and attack modes of smaller creatures.

Roy put his hands before his mouth and mimicked the mating call of a Water-snake Bull and laughed silently as he watched the Stomper turn in panic and disappear back from where it came. Of course it was still five months till the Water snake mating season begun, but the Stomper didn't know that.

Greenies were split in the opinion what was the most dangerous life form on Green Hell. One side believed the Water Snakes were the undisputed kings of this world and had no real natural enemies.

Water Snakes spend most of their live in the huge fresh water lakes and only during mating season bulls would be driven out of the lakes by the strongest one and seek other water bodies for their home, slithering many miles through the jungles and fighting with other snakes over a water hole or lake. Then they would mate with a female and produce one or maybe two little snakes.

Water snakes reached tremendous size. Roy had seen bulls of over 45 meters and perhaps eight or nine meters thick. Water snakes had a scaled skin that was almost impervious to any attack; they could spit a Gelatin-like material and ignite it with a static discharge in their mouth. The stuff burned even in water. In addition to that Water snakes could spread their scales and eject small poisonous darts with the force of a high powered rifle. The darts made of the same diamond hard substance as their scales. Those darts were poison tipped and even a slight scratch could kill a fully grown Stomper

Roy once observed a Water snake shooting Arrow wasps out of the air just for fun, demonstrating its accuracy. Roy believed Water Snakes were at least as those Terran Dolphins he had to learn about in School.

Other Greenies he knew were convinced Dragon Ants were the undisputed kings of the jungles.

Among the many ant like species living on Green Hell, the biggest and most dangerous were the Dragon Ants. These little monsters grew up to 2 inches and their ant hills swarmed with millions of them. Biologically they had not much in common with Terran Ants of course, the Green Hell version had eight legs and had both an endo- and an exoskeleton to support their bodies in this higher gravitation. Their mandibles made of a biological carbon compound that was almost as hard as diamond and truly razor sharp.

The acid produced by these ants was strong enough to eat through any known material except Compacted Ultronit. The ants mixed two components of that corrosive liquid by spraying it out of two holes in their bodies, to prevent of being dissolved by their own acid.

When an ant colony was on the march to new grounds, nothing was spared or safe from their attacks and a battle between a Water snake or a Stomper caught by an ant colony was a horrible and fascinating spectacle.

One of the few places that was ant free on this world was an island almost in the center of the largest lake. It was there Union Marines established the first permanent base; over the years it grew into into the city Ant Hill, the only city on this world.

True Greenies were fiercely proud of their world and everyone had a favorite "monster". Water Snakes and Dragon Ants were the clear favorites and there was the Snake Fans and the Ant Lovers and the discussion just what lifeform was the most dangerous on Green Hell was a common subject for endless discussions and friendly banter.

Roy had not made up his mind and was of the opinion that there were many life forms on this planet yet to be discovered.

While he was musing about ants and snakes he ducked fast to avoid the net of a Moolax-Spinner, huge brown arachnoid beasts able to electrify their almost invisible nets with deadly voltage. The filaments of the net were only a few molecules thick and could cut through almost anything. He didn't even realize he had pulled and shot his blaster a few seconds later to kill a Vamp-Fly that came to close to be avoided until he had the weapon back in its holster.

Roy didn't shoot or kill for sport or fun, only when it was necessary. Everything on Green Hell had an arsenal of natural weapons, poisons and acids to their disposal. That did not mean that every life form was trying to constantly kill everything else. It was more of a careful co existence. Roy's blaster was his stinger and he used it only if necessary.

Three years ago, sponsored by a popular extreme sports magazine and a sports outfitter sixteen extreme sport athletes of the so called Top Toughs answered the challenge of a loudmouth GalNet host.

That host, a Takkian named Akrun Nokhar challenged Green Hell's reputation of being the deadliest worlds in the known Universe. He offered 5 million credits to anyone running from Ma Swenson's boat house to research-outpost seven. RO-7 was only ten kilometers from Ma Swenson's. There were twelve such outposts around the western hemisphere of the planet, the house Roy called his home was one of those and officially designated RO-9.

Despite warnings and the objection of the Ranger Service, Nokhar managed to get a federal court order allowing him to proceed. Two Pertharians, eight Saturnians, nine Takkians, two Stellaris, three X101, even a Nul and a dozen others participated.

It was a terrible disaster and loss of life. One of the Saturnians made it a whole kilometer but fell prey to a Burrow Digger.

One of the X101s had to find out that Dragon Ant acid was strong enough to eat his tough metal skin in seconds. Only a Pertharian survived but severely wounded when the Ranger found him.

Akrun Nokhar could not be held responsible, he was one of the Takkians participating in the race; his crystalline outer shell was later found and identified to be his.

Of course it was on the news GalNet-wide for several weeks and no one questioned the dangers of Green Hell from that point on.

Sometimes Roy wished he could have participated, so he could have shown these arrogant Off-Worlders that Green Hell was as beautiful a world as any other, but then his parents would have found out that he really was outside almost every day and grounded him forever. They never knew that it was him however who found the Takkian's shell a few days later and told the Ranger where it was.

While the Galaxy had mostly forgotten about this event, I had cemented Green Hells reputation and prevented any further foolishness...

At Gillian's Pup, which was a local tavern at Ground level Plaza of Ant Hill, they still talked about that Extreme Sport challenge of course. While not openly admitting it, because the loss of live was not supposed to be a source of satisfaction; Greenies were glad it actually ended that way. It would keep Off-Worlders away. The non scientist community of Green Hell, those who called themselves Greenies, didn't care all to much for Off-Worlders, who always knew everything better than the locals and then died a few hours later.

Gillian's Pub was owned by Melissa's grandfather and Roy and his friends often went there after school to get a bag of fish and chips that were so delicious.

Only a few Greenies, mostly the Shop keepers and the two Hotel owners wished that Green Hell would grow and see more visitors and tourists.

He had reached a spot halfway between the house and the Shore rocks where he was going to meet his friends. This area had lots of Strangle veins and Buzz Saw nests and it was better to be on the ground.

He carefully avoided a Mortar Toad that hopped across his intended path so it would not shower him with hundreds of little flesh eating toads catapulted from pockets in its back.

Then he ducked and crawled under a dagger bush with its steel hard and needle sharp leaves. Every branch was under tremendous tension and would release at the slightest touch. A dagger bush branch had dozens of underarm long needle sharp barbed spikes and the force of the released tension was enough to drive those spikes in the though armored skin of a water snake and of course mortally wound a human.

Right after that bush he almost run head first into an all black huge beast. He panicked for the duration of a heartbeat. His sense of danger had failed him and did not warn him of this beast. He froze at the spot, not moving a muscle. The animal in front of him didn't look like any animal he had ever seen on Green Hell. No animal he knew was so completely black!

This animal was covered with short black fur, except around the neck area where the fur formed a thick mane; it had four legs and a boxy brutish looking head, with two ears and small horns on the crown of its skull. Roy estimated it to be perhaps 140 centimeters tall from ground to its back, the head slightly higher attached to the torso by a short but massive neck. The animal was perhaps 300 centimeters long and had a short thick tail. The muscles of the animal were well defined under that black luscious shining black fur and it gave the being a massive and incredibly strong appearance. It had two eyes that glowed dark red and had no visible pupils. The short broad snout was topped by flaring nostrils. A pair of long canines emerged from the upper jaw past the chaps and extended at least 40 centimeters past the lower jaw.

Only now he notice the dark metal band around the beast's neck with short cone shaped metal spikes in even intervals all around its colossal neck. It was something man made, it was a collar! Roy sighed and relaxed, this was not an animal native to Green Hell.

It was quite obviously a pet, a tamed animal. Terrans especially, but other cultures as well found joy in keeping domesticated Pets.

Domesticated life forms were unknown on Green Hell, as no foreign life form could survive the Jungles even for a few moments. Ranger Salomon had a tank of fish in his office, but those were the only off world animals Roy knew of.

Unbeknownst to anyone and kept as a big secret, his best friends secretly kept Green Hell animals as pets, unknown even to their parents of course.

His friends, especially Norm often teased him, that he was no real Greenie as he had not managed to befriend a local life form. Norm theorized that this was the ultimate proof and hallmark of a real next generation Greenie.

He reached out and touched the animal and said, "Are you lost, Partner?"

The animal opened his terrifying maw and for a moment Roy thought he was done for, but instead of being maimed or bitten in half, a huge blackish tongue appeared and licked him straight across his face, the big black tongue was dry and felt like a metal sanding disc.

At the same time he received strange new and foreign images in his head. He saw space, stars, and planets. He saw Green Hell as it looked from orbit and then he saw himself touching the animal and he felt a sudden wave of warmth and affection.

As Roy's mother was a native of Phantasm, and like most Phantasians she was gifted with Psionic powers, he was no stranger to Psionics. Anja his grandmother, he had seen her only twice in person, communicated her affection for the then small boy in a similar way.

His father, Paul Masters was seven points below the Heidelberg Psi Index threshold where Psionics usually emerged in a being.

Roy did not inherit any of his mother's side abilities and his HPI at 56 was well below the level of any Psionic ability.

Like every Union kid, his HPI was tested and determined the day he entered Union School. It was part of the Psionic Power registration act of 3210 that required everyone's Psionic ability to be tested and if such abilities existed trained and registered.

Due to this fact he immediately knew these images were of such nature and came from the black beast. H was still quite unprepared and surprised by the sudden Psionics and he sensed that the animal was quite intelligent but somehow unable to communicate in any form of language other than mental images.

Roy petted the animal's immense shoulders. While the black fur felt as soft as the finest Velvet, Melissa had a dress that felt that way, the body and the muscles felt as hard as Ultronit.

The animal lowered itself to the ground so Roy could pet it easier and he felt waves of affection and pleasure from the animal.

Roy could not help but smile and he said, "I like you too. Let's see if we can get you home! This is no place for an Off-world pet. Do you belong to someone?"

As Roy asked this question he received a mental image of himself as if the animal wanted to say, I belong to you.

Roy opened his wrist com and dialed for the ranger station. It took only a moment and Ranger Solomon's face appeared. "Hi Roy," the local lawman greeted him with a broad smile on his face. "Bob is already at that secret meeting place you guys always hang out and I am sure he is waiting for you already."

Roy said to the father of his best friend. "Good afternoon Mr. Solomon. I am on my way to see Bob and the others. I was calling to ask if anyone reported a missing Off-World pet. I think they call them dogs or something like that."

The Rangers forehead wrinkled upwards as he answered. "What a strange question, Roy. No there are no such reports and there could not have, as Off World pets and animals are not allowed on Green Hell. Don't tell me you are outside again!"

"Well I am sort of a little, but not really far. I was just curious if someone misses a pet."

"Your father is going to have a field day with me if he finds out I know that you are outside."

"I told them that I am Sir. I told my parents I went outside many times."

He sighed. "Anyway be careful out there. As for your question no there are no reports of missing animals of any kind reported to the Ranger Network of this entire quadrant, including Green Hell. The only Off World animals I know are a swarm of Gold Fish in a tank in my office and they won't go anywhere."

Roy asked. "How big does a Terran dog get?"

"I never saw a real dog, Roy so I don't know. Whatever you see isn't a dog and you better stay way clear of it. Maybe you should consult GalNet."

Roy closed the call saying. "Thank you Mr. Solomon and I will do that, I mean check GalNet." He switched to GalNet and connected to the Encyclopedia Galactica site, made a picture of the animal and asked the Computronic to run a visual search pattern. He never had to wait more than a few seconds for any information request, but this time it took almost a minute and the Computronic responded: "No life form cataloged that matches the visual search criteria. Do you wish to make a new entry?"

"Not at this moment. I need to collect more data first."

While he did all that he committed a deadly mistake, he had remained for too long on the same spot and did not pay much attention to his surroundings.

An Insecto-Saurus broke through the thicket and was preparing for an attack.

His sense of Danger did warn him but he had been distracted. Normally he would have had no problem to avoid an Insecto, his trick imitating the Snake sound would not work because Insectos had no hearing and attacked Snakes if they thought the snake was small enough for them to succeed.

His blaster was also useless, because it was not powerful enough to burn fast enough into the crystalline armor of the Insecto and reach any vital parts. Insectos never had their heart at the same spot and their small brains were well protected and he had seen Insectos continue to fight for several minutes even with a completely severed head. They were as tough as Stompers, and twice as fast. His mother once compared an Insecto-Saurus to a mix between Scorpion, Praying Mantis and Raptor Dinosaur.

Roy, who never understood why they always compared anything to Terran life, he never paid much attention and did not know how those animals looked, but he knew the poisonous stinger of the Insecto would kill him as fast as the scissor claws or the powerful mandibles. He would die right here and now and while he was afraid to die, he did not regret it or hate the Insecto for it, this was how things went on Green Hell.

However death did not come, the black animal catapulted itself over the eight meter distance that separated it from the Insecto.

Roy already imagined to see blood and bits of black fur and was worried about his new friend. He pulled his blaster anyway hoping he might delay it somehow, but it was not necessary to shoot!

The scissor claws of the Insecto slid across the furry body without even scratching it. These scissor claws were sharp and could cut trees in half and yet they could not penetrate the black animal's skin. The Saurus screeched and hammered its poisonous stinger into the side of the black beast and it too could not penetrate, the stinger broke and drooled greenish poisonous slime.

The black beast suddenly had enormous claws coming out of the front of its paws and with them it ripped enormous chunks out of the Insectos body in a frenzied fury, the crystalline armor shattered like brittle glass, showers of blood, guts and flesh sprayed everywhere. The black beast slashed its claws so fast through the air, Roy only saw a flashing blur.

That black beast attacked with a level of vicious brutality and power like nothing Roy had ever witnessed on a planet where nature was more vicious and brutal than anywhere else.

It was over as fast as it had begun; mere seconds after the black beast had attacked the Insecto was nothing but a torn heap of shredded flesh and legs, barely recognizable for what it once was.

Swarms of Vamp Flies already buzzed around, attracted by the smell of blood. Roy knew ants would not be far behind.

He jumped over a Fire Nettle and said to the beast. "We better get out of here, fast!"

The animal instantly reacted, and followed him, sending waves of warmth and affection to Roy. There was no sense of pain or agony to suggest the black animal had suffered any wounds.

Roy caught his breath and said "Wow that was something! You sure did a number on that Insecto. I thought we are both done for."

A feeling of deep pride caused by Roy's praise emanated from the animal and a warm sensation of deep affection was the answer.

After walking beside the animal for a little while he got the mental image of him riding on the beast.

"You want me to sit on your on your back?" he asked aloud.

The image reappeared.

Roy had never sat on an animal ever, and the very thought of it was very alien to him, but for some reason he trusted that animal with his life and felt affection for it.

Just as he realized his own affection for the animal he received a wave of pride and deep satisfaction from the animal and the image reappeared, him sitting on the animal riding it.

He pulled himself up by getting a hold on the about ten centimeter wide metal collar and swung himself up on the back. He kept his hold on the collar as the animal slowly moved forward.

Roy could feel the rock hard muscles moving under the soft short fur and after a little while he got used to the flow of motions and felt more at ease riding the beast.

He examined the collar closer. It was of a dark metal like substance, but it was somewhat flexible more like memory metal than unyielding Ultronit.

Roy thought the animal was perhaps a local life form after all and just got caught in some sort of snare.

It was a known rumor that some Greenies secretly snared and trapped local life forms to smuggle and sell them to Exotic Animal dealers and the Death Sport arenas on the lawless planets in Free Space. This was one of Ranger Solomon's main tasks trying to prevent that practice.

Mr. Salomon had told Roy one evening as he was at the Solomon's for a sleep over that this was very rare now, ever since he caught a crooked Bio Institute researcher and Mr. Beamish a local smuggling Insectos and a Stomper off planet. Both men were arrested and trialed and now spend their time on a nasty Correctional Colony somewhere else.

However no animal on Green Hell, at least none he had ever seen had four legs. Life forms here had none, two, six, eight or more legs but never four.

That didn't mean much he concluded since less than ten percent of all the estimated life forms on Green Hell had been catalogued and no one had really been to the eastern hemisphere of the planet for longer than a few hours.

Again he cursed himself for being preoccupied with the black animal that he missed the Fire Nettle bush. The animal walked right over it and the fruit like pods explodes, showering the black chest fur with the deadliest nerve toxin known to man. Even the slightest amount on unprotected skin caused any known life forms nervous system to collapse in lethal convulsions.

Greenies were somewhat immune to it, still feeling the burning sensation and being sick for a few days but would not die of the exposure. Receiving such a large amount however would have been lethal to anyone. Surprisingly the dust had no effect on the beast at all.

Dagger bush branches lashing against it, the sharp thorns shattered or bend but did not penetrate or wound the animal.

Two arrow wasps accelerated to almost rifle bullet speed bounced off its skin as if hitting a rock.

It became more and more apparent to Roy why this animal could survive in the Jungles of Green Hell. It did not avoid the dangers like most other life forms did. It waltzed right over it and nothing so far affected it.

Just like a stomper, but even a stomper would have been affected by the Five-mouth centipede that suddenly appeared from its burrow underneath a Nettle bush and snapped its five pairs of mandibles into the skin of the beasts front legs. The beast's claws severed the centipede in pieces without slowing it down or having any other effect.

The animal responded to his mental directions like it was a part of Roy's body. When he wanted to go left, the animal immediately went left or avoided a danger as fast as Roy could see it. Roy once again paid full attention to his surroundings.

It didn't take long and he reached the edge of the Jungle. There was a thirty meter wide shore line beach of stone pebbles, Terror moss and Murder Grass growing between the stones, and blister crabs camouflaged as small shore rocks hiding among the gray and brownish pebbles and head sized boulders. This shore line edged the Great Lake all around.

Great Lake was one of the largest open water bodies of Green Hell and to the south east about nine kilometers from here was Ma Swenson's Boathouse and from there you could take a floater and fly to the big island and the City, about 12 Kilometers from here.

Roy always wanted to walk the entire shore line all around but that would take a long time as he would have to walk over 320 kilometers to do so.

Survey soundings estimated Large Lake also to e among the deepest lakes on the planet with depths of over 900 meters down at its deepest areas. No one so far had been down there to see what life forms might live there.

The water was fresh and always cool but not very cold and it was clean and could be consumed by humans without any ill effects.

Some of the merchants dreamed that this would be a good commodity to export, as fresh drinking water was always in demand on the Galactic Market.

Six meters away from the shore was a group of nine huge boulders, pushed there by a long gone planetary ice age. These big boulders were free of ants and the lichen covering some of the spots was the only life form they knew about that had no lethal ability.

These rocks were their secret hang out and it was here they met almost every afternoon.

Roy jumped of the back of his new friend and said to it. "Wait here, Partner. I want to surprise the others!"

He felt the answer and knew the animal had understood.

He hopped and ran in measured moves between the patches of terror Moss and Murder grass like he did countless times before, always on the look-out for crabs and catapulted himself in a big leap across the water and landed on the first boulder.

His friends were already here: Norm Stevenson, the son of the Major. Maria Scott, daughter of the City Engineer. Bob Salomon, his best friend and son of the Ranger and Melissa O'Malley, her family owned the Department Store and two restaurants in Town.

Bob leaned against the brown furry body of Wobbler.

Wobbler was an almost full grown Moolax Spider, measuring about six meters across, legs included. Bob had rescued the spider from a Stomper when it was still small. Bob raised the spider and bonded with it and whenever Bob was outside Wobbler would wait for him and follow Bob around wherever he went.

Bob was the biggest of them all and the strongest of them. Like Roy he too wore his Grav-Adjuster dialed up since his sixth birth day. Bob had thick black curled hair and he had curls hanging down to the side of his temples in tradition of his family and an old Earth religion, called Judaism. He expressed is faith also by wearing a little round hat on the top of his head. Bob called it his Kippah; Ranger Solomon would wear one like this whenever he did not wear his helmet. Bob once explained to Roy the significance of it, but he forgot. Roy was not religious at all, the only concept that came close to him was the feeling he had when he was out in the Jungle.

Wobbler rose only a bit as he saw Roy coming, but relaxed again. Bob grinned. "Finally, you made it! We thought you might not show up today."

"My parents gave me another lecture and some bad news, and then had to wait until they left."

Melissa sat on top of the tallest rock. She was friends with Roy and the others ever since the first days of kindergarten when they all first met.

Roy only recently realized that Melissa was a girl and that she became prettier every day and perhaps already was the prettiest girl in town.

She had a mass of curly flaming red hair that surrounded her skin that had the same shine as the fine English china her parents kept in a locked glass case in their dining room. It had almost looked translucent. Her long lashes framed huge green eyes, over a tiny nose and beautiful shaped lips. Lately she begun to use a little make up and her lips were painted in a nice shade that matched her hair.

She wore her Bio-seal suit skin tight and her body became more female every day. Her suit had long dark green panels on the sides starting at her collar and ending in her boots, the middle was white and this color scheme somehow enhanced her curves even more.

At first it looked as if she wore a beautiful cape of silver, and an odd looking head piece with a long needle sharp point. The cape suddenly moved and Silver, her Pandora Swan lifted his sleek head turned it on the long snake like neck and eyed at Roy with hostile yellow piercing eyes.

Melissa scratched the underside of his neck and the Swan lowered his head burring it in her mass of red hair and once more only his long sharp beak was visible. Silver would barely leave her shoulders and even though it had claws hard as diamond and sharp as knives, it somehow managed never even left scratches on her delicate shoulders. The slightest scratch of these claws meant instant death as they were poisonous.

She gave Roy a charming smile.

Maria sat a little below and had her legs folded in the lotus position and on her lap was a partially dismantled blaster she worked on, her tool belt within reach. The big shoulder bag on her other side moved and the head of Snuggle appeared. Snuggle was a pelted two meter long Ninja Weasel. They usually did not appear during the day and were deadly night hunters, able to adopt almost any background color they came in contact with, blending into the surrounding virtually invisible until they attacked with razor sharp claws and poisonous fangs. It had a snake like body with only two little arms that ended in clawed paws that had the same dexterity and an opposing thumb just like a human hand. They could coil and catapult themselves over great distances and use their long scaled tails covered with needle sharp barbs like a bull whip shredding their opponents. Ninja Weasels were the natural enemy of Pandora Swans as they usually raided the Pandora Swan nests for the eggs and the young, but here the two animals' co existed within arm's length of each other.

Snuggle blinked into the sun and at Roy then returned into the bag, but not before getting a Gummy Bear candy from Maria who didn't even look up from her work, doing it.

She waved at Roy. "I am almost done with Norm's blaster."

There was nothing Maria could not take apart, repair or improve. She loved tools and tech and working with her hands.

Maria had long straight black hair and her bangs reached down to her deep brown almost black eyes giving her an always brooding somewhat sinister appearance and she often, especially when interacting with teachers or other kids used her hair almost like a persona shield she hid behind; She too begun to lose her boyish body and developed so it was apparent a nice and appealing chest line. Her suit was colored black and white. Roy wondered for a short moment why he would even notice Maria's chest and find it somehow very nice to look at, then he was distracted as Norm surfaced and climbed out of the water and onto the rocks, Zisch his Water snake slithered out of the water a second later, and coiled up behind Norm who toweled himself dry. Zisch put its head on Norms lap, fluttered its leathery head sails and as usual was soon asleep.

Zisch was a real Water Snake, a very young one still but visibly grew bigger every time Roy saw the animal. Zisch was about twelve meters long now and about as thick as a human torso. Norm had pulled Zisch out of an Ant attack, and washed and nursed the badly wounded baby snake to health again.

Norm was almost obnoxiously proud of his Water snake.

Norm was about as tall as Roy and just like Roy very athletic, but not as strong. He never had a Grav Adjuster.

"Ah there is Roy!" he greeted, "the water is wonderful!"

Roy looked across the surface and saw the half submerged head of a huge Water snake not too far from the rocks. It was Zisch's mother or perhaps its father and ever since Norm bonded with the young snake the big snake was never far from the rocks and kept watch.

Norm followed Roy's gaze and nodded. "Yes Zisch's mother is out there again, she makes sure nothing is harming me or Zisch. Of course I am a real Greenie and I would not suggest you try to go swimming! They simply don't like Off-Worlders or pretenders."

At another time Roy would have been offended as Norm lately begun to tease Roy in a not too friendly way about the fact that Roy was not a real Greenie in his eyes, due to the fact that his parents were Off-Worlders.

Roy said calmly, "So having a local life form as a pet makes one a real Greenie then?"

Norm nodded. "We are all seventh to tenth generation Greenies and now we are the first generation bonding with what others like you for example think are mindless, killing beasts. It is as if the planet and all our glorious life forms have formed a bond that cannot be understood by those who still have Off World dirt in their veins."

Melissa got angry and defended Roy with a sharp tone. "He is a Greenie just like us. Not even you would dare to go through into the actual Jungle as he does all the time."

Bob agreed: "Nine Kilometers every day. If you are so confident in your Greenie heritage why don't you visit Roy on foot one day?"

Maria snapped the last piece of the blaster she was working on in place and said. "Besides our animals don't harm him and accept him too. He petted Wobbler and Snuggle don't mind him. Even Zisch isn't attacking."

Norm sneered. "Don't get me wrong I am impressed how Roy, an Off-Worlder can navigate through our Jungles but no one ever saw him really doing it. He could hide an armor suit or something; he is just not one of us."

Bob got up and flexed his strong muscles. "Do you want me to pound your face in? What is it with you today? Roy is one of us always has been! We all know Roy doesn't have an Armor suit."

Roy shrugged. "If you want to see me go home, why don't you come along?"

Melissa nodded."Good idea, I'll call the Major and tell him his son won't be home for dinner."

Roy turned and called loud: "Partner!"

At first nothing happened and Roy feared he had left his new friend too long alone. Then the big black beast broke through the foliage, like a tracked Marine explorer tank it plowed through the dangerous foliage, crushed a few attacking crabs and neither the knife like steel blades of the Murder-Grass tuffs nor the squirting acid of the terror moss patches had any effect on it.

Partner splashed through the water and jumped right next to Roy then sitting down on his hind legs and licking Roy across the shoulder.

The others were quite shocked and surprised by the stormy approach of the black beast.

Silver flapped his wings and hissed at Partner. Wobbler had gone in attack stance.

Zisch reared up and was about to spew fire.

Even the big Water Snake in the water rose and slowly came closer. It took them a moment to calm their animals and then Melissa said, "Well, it looks like Roy is a Greenie after all. I have no idea what he found in the Jungles but it sure looks like an animal to me, a very big one too!"

Bob scratched his head. "I never seen anything like it either, but whatever it is it seems pretty tough. The Terror Moss didn't do shit to it! And not even Zisch would slither across that!"

Maria got up and carefully approached. "Does it attack or can I touch it?"

Roy petted the massive head of his beast. "No it won't attack. it likes you, you can touch it."

Maria cooed."Oh how soft its fur is! Just like Snuggle!"

Norm waved his hands."Maybe Roy is a Greenie, but that's not a Green Hell animal. I bet he bought it on GalNet. It has four legs. Nothing on Green Hell has four legs. Maybe it's a robot!"

Maria shook her head. "That's no robot! I know every robot model there is and this is not a machine."

Bob added. "How can you be so sure it isn't native? We know less than one percent of what's out there. No one really has been to the other side of the planet. Whatever it is, it walked with Roy in the Jungle and nothing off world can survive that."

Norm had no real answer to that and had to concede. "Yes you are right, it must be a native life form, it survives, but I bet my Water Snake is tougher than whatever that is! Maybe I should ask Zisch's mom to fry it!"

"I don't know what has gotten into you?" Said Melissa and she glared at him with her big green eyes and they sparkled with emotion as she continued. "Why are you so aggressive towards Roy today? We always have been friends!"

Maria slung her tool belt around her waist and closed it, and then she said from underneath her curtain of black hair. "Because we are growing up and we are not kids anymore. Norm has feelings towards you, and when you smiled at Roy it set him off. It's hormones that turn males into idiots."

Norm blushed and Melissa gasped. Maria always said things in a blunt and direct way and nothing escaped her analytical eyes and sharp mind.

Melissa stomped her foot. "You are all my friends. Please don't destroy that with petty jealousy games. I am not interested in you Norm; I mean other than being friends and neither am I interested in Roy. Can we not remain friends as we always have been even though we starting to notice that we are not all of the same sex?"

Norm sat down and said with a weak voice. "Maybe I did over react a little and I am sorry. Roy is a Greenie I know. I would never dare to make it on foot to his house."

Roy shrugged again. "Because I live out there and have to do it all the time. I bed you could do it after a while just as I do, after all you are a Greenie."

Norm liked what Roy had said and nodded. "Sorry Roy didn't mean to be such an asshole. I am sure you can bathe and swim all day long, Zisch's mother is protecting us all after all, not just me."

Maria handed Norm the blaster and said. "It's fixed and next time make sure the trigger assembly is completely snapped into place or it isn't water proof."

He took his expensive Enroe DE blaster and said. "Thank you Maria, I will."

Maria cocked her head and said with urgency. "I can hear a Floater engine!"

Everyone turned and tried to hide and duck between the rocks, but it was too late this time, a yellow and green painted armed hover tank with the logo of the Union ranger service on the sides appeared from above the Jungle and swooped down, hovering only four meters above the water surface facing the rocks. The front hatch opened and Ranger Solomon climbed out and stood on the bow of the tank, his fists stemmed into his sides and looking over them with unveiled disbelieve and amazement on his face. "I don't believe what I see with my own eyes!"

His hand darted to his service weapon as he saw the big spider rearing up behind his son and he screamed, "Son, duck there is a Moolax behind you! I have to shoot!"

Bob spread his arms. "If you want to shoot my Wobbler you have to shoot through me, Dad!"

The Ranger slowly lowered his gun and after a long moment he said, "It is true, I didn't really believe it but it is true! The rumors I heard are true! You are out here without armor suits! And now I see you play with..., with life forms no one ever survived seeing close up!"

"Armor suits are stupid and for Off-Worlders!" Said Norm repeating the words all kids used a lot when talking among themselves. Then he said. "Zisch's Mom is watching over us better than a Platoon of Marines could!"

The ranger noticed the big snake slowly coming closer, clearly alerted and ready to strike. "Good Lord!" He shook visibly and knew even his strong side arm would do him no good if the snake would have tried to kill him. It would have been too late to try to get back inside the tank. If the snake would spit fire or use her thorns he would be dead long before he managed to get inside. Then he finally found words. "The snake is protecting you?"

"Yes Sir, Mr. Ranger. We are in no danger."

Melissa stepped forward. "Please Mr. Salomon don't tell my parents about Silver, they take him away from me! I love Silver!"

He made a sad face. "I am afraid I can't do that! I am out here because I am out here on official business. There were rumors that kids sneaked out of the city and played outside for a long time, and during the last city council meeting it was decided to find out if this is true. I knew about Roy sneaking out sometimes but I didn't expect what I see now."

Melissa started crying and Maria said defiantly. "There is no law that prohibits us from being here, Sir. What business is it to the City Council?"

"Actually there is a City ordinance that requires all expeditions of individuals outside City the City force field to be registered with the Ranger Station, ever since that unfortunate stunt of those Off Worlders a few years back."

Now even Bob squeezed a few tears. "That is a rotten thing to do, Dad! We aren't Off Worlders and we come here for years. No one of us has been harmed or seriously injured in all that time and I know other kids do it too. We aren't even the only ones!"

"Son, I am the Ranger and I must abide by the law." The Ranger raised his hands. "Don't lose your faith in the system kids. You didn't break any laws and I am sure we can work things out. I will talk to your parents and I think we can convince them to change their point of view."

Norm barked. "No one is going to take Zisch away from me or tell me I can't have him."

Roy looked gloomy and said. "No matter what you will tell my parents will make them change their minds. They don't respect anything but their stupid science colleagues and they will want to dissect the pets. Tell my parents I love them but I am a Greenie and I never go back. I can live in the jungle and no one will ever find me there!"

He turned and was about to leave.

The ranger yelled."Don't run away Roy, please. I would have to stop you! My son and you are good friends and I always treated you as a part of my family whenever you were with us. So please trust me. I think I have a plan."

Roy stopped and turned back. "I respect you very much Mr. Salomon and I hope you know that, but not even you could find me in there."

The Ranger sighed. "Given the fact that I have received a call from you once over seventy kilometers into the Jungle, I believe you. Just give me a chance.

"Seeing that you have no floaters out here I assume you walk out here every day. So please be at Ma Swenson's boathouse in three or four hours and bring your animals with you."

Melissa sniffed. "And then you arrest us or shoot our animals when you got enough fire power and men together?"

He shook his head. "Of course not you should know better than that and know that I keep my word. I think that if your parents see you outside walking over a considerable distance and in the company of local life forms that not only don't harm you but somehow bonded with you will change their minds and if you can demonstrate that you have some control over your animals I will issue the first pet owner licenses ever on Green Hell."

It was clear to the ranger that the kids did not trust him completely and he said. "I give you my word, no one will shoot, capture or dissect your animals. Despite the apparent dominance of the Science Council Institute, I represent the law and that trumps it all, so please be there. I trust in you doing the right thing."