HDIF-INEE

Chapter ONE

            The coppery-green planet, named Hdif-Inee, is situated a couple of hundred million miles nearer to the star than Earth - about halfway between Venus and Earth.

            There are no other planets in the system of the star Hdif, except for an eccentric planet much the same as Pluto, green and definitely void of any life whatsoever. Its orbit erratically elliptical, it seems as though it was an extremely large comet caught by Hdif’s gravitational pull.

            In the Universe this system’s galaxy is situated in a very distant area from Earth, even the fastest ship ever built could not cross the gap in the time left to the Universe. A great void, trillions of trillions of trillions of light years separate this anti-matter galaxy from matter galaxies or objects from matter galaxies. At the point of the ‘Big Bang’ or ‘Liolsfa-Ijseh’, matter quickly destroyed anti-matter in countless explosions which rocked the newly formed Universe. Just a fraction of a fraction of anti matter survived, powered to time travel by other anti-matter meeting matter. That anti-matter left over, is this galaxy. Nothing will ever meet it from matter, as it constantly travels backwards in time.

            The cool blue lightning had just finished forking its path up, then down. Between the dark brown, nineteen miles high cumulonimbus and the seemingly desolate landscape of a solitary, dark and forbidding planet. The smell of ozone present in the air.

            Less than a millisecond later the low rumbling of the thunder reverberates across the landscape, making some rocks shake, disturbing the first sign of life. These creatures live under every rock, millions of them, when they scuttle, over and under, they make the rock seem alive. These are called Qindt. There is no rain on this planet, it does not need it, life survives under different laws of physics, such as the rain, there is rain but it drops upwards, out to space.

            Steely ice comets bring the water for the thunder clouds, absolutely cold and crystalline, smashing into fragments on the surface which quickly sublimate in the temperatures of the planet. The temperatures come from the dense anti-atmosphere made up of anti-gases and anti-particles, and the close proximity to Hdif. Scorching temperatures pose as no problem for the inhabitants of this planet. All life is based on anti-silicon, giving it a higher boiling point for the liquids used. The most common substance is anti-copper, which makes up the entire surface, this has oxidised and turned green, black in places. As water is needed for life on earth, ‘lew’ar’ is what life is based on here, a higher boiling point than water makes it suitable.

            Another lightning bolt blows out a section of a mountain, vaporising and melting the anti-copper, some of the Qindt dies and even a couple of the larger creatures of Hdif-Inee are badly injured. This storm was by no likely means common on the planet, they could still appear any time when there were sufficient crashed and melted comets. Standards of life are high, myriadic and a lot more life forms than Earth exist....

            This very bolt lights up a small group of travelers, huddling under an overhang in the mountainside, on their way to another city, to the East. Their fire crackling heartily in the semi-darkness.

            The following thunder crash causes one of the travelers to drop his Roentgen glasses which smash into fragments on the surface. They had felt the tingle of the anti-copper conducting the lightning bolt as far as the resistance lets it travel.

            Sheet lightning flashes between the clouds every so often, dim ones and then very bright ones. An especially bright flash lights up the whole area around them. They could be clearly seen in that brief second....

            On Earth, Humans are the dominant species, on Mars there are tiny fungi who are the only species, on this world the Bophex are the dominant species. Humans and 'Martians' are Carbon based, but all the creatures on this planet are anti-silicon based, allowing more ingenious and more complicated body structures.

            Their Evolution started in the sea, nothing special except they were descended from a five-eyed, five legged, spidery thing, that had moved in the oceans four billion years ago. This was called a ‘Gaornniov’, and did spin webs like the Earth Spider, in the sea. When they had come out of the sea their eyes slowly evolved onto different parts of their body. One is situated in the small of the double back, two facing forwards on the head and two on each side of the neck. Not long ago, about three-hundred million years, they were hunted by huge roc shaped birds called ‘Eiziacs’, giving the need for the existence of the eye in the small of the double back.

            Bophex now move around on three legs, upright, although they used to plod around on all-five’s. They have three clawed but padded feet, rather like a cat of a lion, they have no use for them now but in their history they had to hunt and catch their prey. They walk like hunchbacks, bent over and slightly limping. They have two arms, strangely like Humans, with finger-like projections from the third bend in the arm to the end of it. These all have gripper-like suckers on each one, like a robotic hand. This is to grip smaller, more finicky objects than the fingers could grip.

            On each side of their bodies there is a strip of transparent skin, which both show a violet tube, which is pulsing evenly with their life-blood. This was due to a disease, which only attack these parts of the tubes, making tiny holes in it, making them, eventually, to crack and split. Evolution solved this by making the skin transparent, letting sunlight in, which makes the disease disappear for some reason of which this planet’s scientist’s haven’t found out yet. The disease is incurable, it used to be a large problem but recently (a million or so years) the skin turned transparent.

            The skin lets infrared radiation in only on these places making the disease ‘move along’ or to hibernate in another animal on the planet. Other than the clearness of the skin it functions exactly the same way as the other green skin. (Also due to evolution in the form of camouflage.) Dark green when the being is embarrassed or light green when it is normal.

            The anti-silicon make-up of the creature allows more complicated body structures, for example the brain is highly advanced compared to Humans, and also more efficient. Small scientific advances are made practically everyday, major ones every year, so their technology is a lot more advanced than Human technology.

            They wear very smart ‘togas’ as the Romans used to wear, very loose-fitting to cool the wearer down in the heat. The material was usually green, violet or blue, depending on the mood of the wearer and whether he or she wants it cool or warm, it was artificial, made out of mixed genetic plants and minerals. To cool or warm it the Bephox just has to think, as they are all very strong telepathic and telekinetic creatures. They have very large brains, found under their shoulder area and are on both sides of the body. They can access all of their memories or knowledge when they want and they can also power small computers, stereo systems, lights, power tools and more advanced pieces of software such as yocto-chips and other software, as well as being able to move objects at a distance. They have very small vocal cords, as they do not speak a lot, due to the fact that they communicate telepathically. They have to eat a lot of sugars and carbohydrates to power the brain.

            Injuries happen but are very quickly dealt with, the medical crew are trained to use their telekinetic waves to heal flesh wounds. Also to put membranes or bones back into their right place, and sealing up the hole afterwards....

            The group all got up suddenly, all as one, packing their bags manually and moved off, to the ridge in the East. They moved upwards until they could climb up and stand on the ridge to peer over.

            They stood a second, blinking and taking in the sights, sounds and smells.

            Before them lay a vast city, sprawling and moving beneath them. This is Lejhipsi, the third largest city on the entire planet and is a centre of trade.

(c) Andrew Burgess 1997