The Distant Crater

By Dan Clyburn

The second book in the Forrest Family series introduces Tim Forrest, the twenty-year-old son of General Mark T. Forrest, from The Dart Game. Tim is on his first solo adventure away from their home planet of Crystal, on his way to the primitive planet known as Occupied 9503.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dan Clyburn
• Release date: Nov 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301864775

Dan Clyburn

Dan is seventy five years old, he worked all his life as Equipment Operator, Master Mechanic on trucks and equipment. Lift school when he was fifteen, and pursued an outdoor life. Many stories he could tell about the mountains, and the people he worked with, and knew. Hunted and fished all his life, fresh meat for the table. He has read thousands of books, authors like, Louis L’Amour, Edgar Rice Burroughs, are just some of the authors he liked the most. Their grammar wasn’t so good, but they had a fleet of editors. Because of his school day’s, and the work he pursued, Dan’s grammar is not the best. If you are one of those that has to have perfect grammar, you just as well go away now. But he tells his stories in a straight forward way, you will understand his work. Read his true stories book called ‘Young Dan and HORROR-able People’ some of the things he tells will make your heir stand on end. It is an exciting book about true things that happened during his school days. He has four fiction books, The Dart Game,-The Distant Crater,-The Far, far away Planet,-Gods of New Eden are all on Kindle. And will soon be on Smashwords.

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The Distant Crater

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Dan Clyburn

All rights reserved

Fiction

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PROLOGUE

The second book in the Forrest Family series introduces Tim Forrest, the twenty-year-old son of General Mark T. Forrest, from The Dart Game. Tim is on his first solo adventure away from their home planet of Crystal, on his way to the primitive planet known as Occupied 9503. This planet is inhabited by primitive peoples, and has been left undisturbed at the order of the interplanetary government. Travel to this planet is forbidden without permission, and no modern technology can be left on the planet except as directed by the Outer Planet Police.

When General Mark Forrest was very young his father, Timothy Samuel Forrest, was marooned on the planet. A passing freighter heard the distress signal from his lifeboat, and he was picked up several years later. On his return he fought to have the planet protected as a primitive planet, and won. The Outer Planet Police then installed monitoring satellites around the planet.

War had interrupted the monitoring of the planet, and the planet was unmonitored until Tim’s father took command of the sector. Mark had gone over the old records and found that some of the satellites had gone off line. Records from one satellite showed indications of settlements made by the Goreans in the great crater, which had been formed by a large crystal meteorite. If the Goreans were there it would require the interplanetary government to send war craft there to destroy them, as they were at war with them.

As a general in charge of all the outer planets, General Mark Forrest was sending Lieutenant Timothy M. Forrest on a mission to determine if the Goreans really had settlements in the crater, before he decided to send the war craft out. Tim would land where his grandfathers old maps showed he had been. Tim would find out if his grandfather was still alive and the people there might be of some help to him.

His grandfather had said he had married a woman there. Tim carried the old maps his grandfather had made, and also maps from the satellites. The spacecraft that would carry him to the planet’s orbit would not land on the surface, but would release a landing craft; the pilot would then replace the missing satellites. Tim would gently glide to where the maps showed his grandfather had lived.

In a year or so another window would open that would enable another space ship to come through, and Tim would then be picked up. Some of these windows did not open for several years, but in time, a window would open close enough to the planet for a ship or a fleet of ships to come though.

Tim was trained in survival and fighting skills. Mark is confident in Tim’s ability to deal with whatever he finds.

Tim fights wrongdoers, and the invaders from across the great lake. Tim wasn’t trained only to defend--he was taught to attack. He fights so there can be peace among the people, and will use whatever means he has to do so, including firearms, knives, bow and arrows, or bare hands. One of his favorite weapons, the dart, is a small throwing knife that is weighted and finned to stick point first and most of the time has deadly poison on the blade--a poison that kills in four heartbeats. No holds barred.

Table of Contents

Chapter One----The Distant Crater

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

About the Author

Chapter One----The Distant Crater

Back to Top

You’d better get ready, it won’t be long now, George said, the pilot of this spacecraft, and one of his Dad’s best friends. He was on his way to replace some satellites around this planet they called Occupied 9503. Tim was sent to explore the crater and he would try to find his grandfather. He was not to take any modern gear with him. He would stay until the next ship came this way, which would most likely be in about a year.

Tim’s grandfather had been marooned on this planet for several years, and had gotten to know the primitive peoples that lived here. After his grandfather had returned to the planet Crystal, and reported that primitive people lived there and the government had laws that made it illegal to interact with the inhabitants, and they decided to place satellites around Occupied 9503 in order to make sure no one landed there without permission. They wanted the civilization to develop culture and technology at their own pace without any outside influences.

Timothy’s grandfather had disappeared again a few years before Tim was born, and it was known that he had gone back to the planet. Some of the satellites went offline at about the same time, which would have allowed him to slip through the monitoring net undetected. When a necessary repair trip was scheduled, Tim’s dad, General Mark T. Forrest who was in charge of this sector, sent Tim to go in and do some exploring. To do that, he needed to find the people that his grandfather had lived with when he was marooned there, to see if Timothy had returned and was still living. He also might know if the Goreans were in the crater. Tim had government maps to help him, and also maps that his grandfather had made. Other than the maps, he only had some survival gear, as he wasn’t supposed to take any modern equipment in. The only thing that would tell the next ship where he had landed was a beacon that he would set up when it was time to go home.

Tim sat in the Lander, the craft that would get him safely to the planet’s surface, ready, as he would ever be. In a few minutes George would release it and Tim would have to glide it in, as it had no power. His equipment was all aboard and once the Landing craft was released, he was on his own.

How long now, George? He asked over the intercom.

About another fi-- Missile! George screamed.

He felt like he’d been kicked, as George boosted the Lander out of the launching bay, much too violently. It went into a tumble, and he saw a flash, but didn’t know what it was, as he was too busy trying to gain control. Through his windshield he saw the larger spacecraft for a second; it was smoking, and looked like the belly was gone, right where he had just been. Then he lost sight of it, as he needed all of his attention to get full control of the Lander. It was tumbling, but finally started to catch some air. He put it in a dive and then pulled it out slowly, and started circling, trying to see if he could tell where he was. He had practiced on one of these Landers with the same load but it felt heavy now. Maybe he’d overloaded it, with all the gear he had brought. He’d weighed it all, down to the last pound, and although he had loaded it to the maximum, it shouldn’t be overloaded.

What are you going to do now? A voice said.

Terry! Where did you come from? Tim said, surprised by Terry’s voice. Terry was his older sister by almost eleven months and wasn’t supposed to be here.

I thought I’d tag along, just to keep you out of trouble. She said.

You may have gotten us both in bad trouble; the Lander feels too heavy.

Oh come on, I only weigh 115 pounds!

You lie-- you weigh 127 pounds. I’ve seen your records. I suppose you brought some gear?

Well, yes, a little bit of gear. And those records are supposed to be locked.

He was still circling. Coming out of a cloud, he saw mountains, and thought, ‘This is no good, I need a level spot.’ Then he saw a small lake; if he could make it, he’d need to go down fast. In between the mountains, he couldn’t take a chance on making another circle and maybe being unable to get back to the lake again.

Hang on sis, this is going to get a little rough; we’re going down too fast.

At the last second he flared the wings, bringing the speed down. They still hit too hard and the Lander skipped on the lake, and then slammed into a patch of tall water grass. It hit something hard and spun around, before coming to a sudden stop in a patch of knee-deep water and grass. He pulled a lever and the top of the craft blew off. He saw that one wing was gone. The Lander was made to use only one way, and in a few hours, after it got wet, it would start to disintegrate. In a few days’ a short grass would start to grow on it, and continue to grow for one or two seasons until the native grass overtook it. Landing in water would make the initial breakdown faster.

We’ve got to get all of our supplies off this thing, it won’t be here tomorrow, Tim said. If you have your weapons, get out and scout around, but don’t go too far. Someone might have seen us come down, and they might not be friendly.

I’ll do that, but don’t forget my stuff, I packed some behind yours, and some of it is in the hollow space in the tail, Terry said.

It was hard work carrying all the gear through the water, grass and mud. It took him most of the day just to get it to dry ground. The Lander was starting to disintegrate; it was turning into a slimy mess, making it hard to get their gear out. Terry had found a good lookout point. She came back once, to eat, and then Tim sent her back out. She did stay long enough to make sure he got her stuff. She’d brought almost as much as he had; it was just luck that they had made the landing, without crashing worse. He thought this was as close as he wanted to come to a crash, with one wing was gone.

He whistled for Terry to come in. They needed to find a spot where they could make a cache for their gear and make camp for the night. There were large evergreen trees and some of them had branches that hung to the ground. Terry had found one of these not too far away, and had gone in under the branches to see if there would be adequate shelter.

There’s enough room under there for all the gear and then some. And it seems like it stays dry under there, She said.

Alright, but we need to make more than one cache, just in case someone does find it. Right now I want to eat and rest for a little while, so grab a load and go out to that tree, Tim said, Since you invited yourself along, you get to be the cook.

After eating, Tim lay on his back under the tree to rest for a while. He discovered the tree had what looked like shelves where the dead branches had fallen onto the live ones. Climbing the tree, he found a shelf about twelve feet up that was big enough for both of them to sleep on. It took Terry and him just a little while to bring enough of their gear from the landing site to survive with, in case the site was discovered during the night.

It took them almost two days to make some good caches. They lived off of their rations and were careful where they built their fires, to cut down on their chances of discovery. The next day they struck out to the southwest, deciding not to follow the small creek, but staying to the ridges where they could see well in order to watch the country around them. Going slow and studying the terrain, they went to the south, and walked up a small creek. Then they went to the west, crossing over a ridge into the next canyon. They were living mostly off of the rations they’d brought with them, but soon would have to start living off of the land. They’d killed a deer and after finding a safe place to build a fire, and they dried most of it during the afternoon and night. So that they would not have to build fires later on to cook it. The dried and cooked meat would not spoil as quickly and was easier to carry. The next night they camped under a large log, without building a fire. During the night something woke Tim up--he listened before moving, and upon hearing a low purring sound, he jumped to his feet with his fighting knife at the ready and yelling as loud as he could. A large mountain cat screamed and disappeared into the trees.

They’d been traveling for almost two days when they stopped on the side of the canyon and rested, looking for the best route to take.

How far away do you think we are from where we wanted to land? Terry asked.

A good hundred miles, at least. From the records grandfather left, it looks like we’re in the land of the Muslets, and they are not friendly people. You! They’d take for a slave, though, Tim answered.

Yeah, sure, but they wouldn’t want me for long, not after I got through cutting them up with a dart. By the way, you brought some stuff that you weren’t supposed to, you know, Terry said.

Yeah, and you’re one of those things! And yes, I did bring some other things I wasn’t supposed to, and so did you. I can get fined for having you along, along with your pistols and rifle. It sure is a bad feeling to know my sister could get me in a lot of trouble, Tim said, although I should be used to it by now.

What’s that you’ve got strapped to your back? A bow, with your arrows, a rifle and those pistols on your hips, and you are looking through a high class set of binoculars, and you’ve got your shoulder holster pistols too, She said laughingly.

I only brought what dad said I could, Tim said.

And I only brought what Eve said I should, and she will tell our mother Ruth. That way Mom won’t worry when I am missing, Terry said.

I might have known Eve had a hand in your being here. Now get your binoculars out and look about half way up that mountain, just below that white bluff. My binoculars say its six hundred and forty seven yards. What do you see? Tim said.

Terry did as he asked, then said,

I count nine, no ten men, and there are two being dragged along. Terry said.

Those are Muslets, and they have ten horses we can use from the looks of it. The two men that they are pulling are Highlanders. See their leggings? The Highlanders are the people Grandfather was with and that’s where we are headed. It looks like one has been injured and the other is keeping him on his feet, Tim said.

Maybe we can help them.

And get those horses at the same time. Come on, we need to keep them in sight. They’ll camp soon; it’s going to be dark in another hour or so. It looks like they are headed into the creek, let's hope there’s not a lot more of them, Tim said.

As they followed, they stayed as hidden as they could. The Muslets made camp next to a nearby fork of the creek. Tim and Terry studied the camp to determine the best approach to it before it got too dark. They worked their way as close to the camp as they safely could without being discovered.

Let’s eat something. We stay here until the moon comes up, I wouldn’t want to stumble around in the dark and make a lot of noise and wake their camp tonight, Tim said.

How do you want to work it? Terry asked.

They tied that one captive to a tree next to the creek. I’ll cross the creek just behind them and see if I can cut one of them loose. You go and see how close you can get to the horses. Just be careful; they might have a guard on them. If you have to, use the bow or a dart, and aim to kill, Tim said.

I think I can do that, but I’ve never killed a man before. Terry said.

Neither have I, but that’s one of the things we’ve trained for, and this is the time we have to do it, if we’re going to help those men. Now go to sleep, I’ll wake you when it’s your turn to watch. Tim said.

Psst, Tim, wake up, the moon is up and it’s shining into the creek, he heard Terry say, and as he came awake, he said.

Ok, I’ll finish waking up when I get into the creek, it must be past midnight now.

Terry left him when they got to the creek bank, going down stream to cross close to the horses. Crossing in knee-deep water, then crawled up the bank behind where he’d seen the Muslets tie the captives. The wounded man lay bound on the ground, the other man sat against a tree with his hands tied around the tree. The man flinched when Tim touched his hand, but didn’t move as he cut the bindings. Tim then pressed his large fighting knife into the man’s hand.

Tim quietly said, Wait, as he moved off to find a better place to shoot from. There was one Muslet on guard sitting close to a fire; the rest lay about in the dull glow of the fire nearby. Tim was trying to count the sleeping men when the guard got up and went toward the prisoners. He stepped close to the man Tim had cut loose and started to relieve himself on the man.

The guard screamed loudly when the captive sliced through the calf of his leg clear through to the bone. He went toppling over sideways, and the captive again plunged the knife into his body, but this time it was the heart. More men were rising from their pallets. Tim’s arrow caught one man in the chest. A second man was coming up with a rifle, and Tim shot him with an arrow before the rifle was fully raised. Terry had joined in with an arrow placed in another one’s back. The captive with the knife leapt on one and cut the man’s throat before he could get out of his bedding, then reached out and caught another in the stomach. Terry’s arrow took out another one as Tim broke cover and drew a pistol and shot two more Muslets as they came out of their bedding reaching for their weapons. The last man stood with a sword in his hand, yelling a challenge. The captive didn’t hesitate, and threw Tim’s knife, hitting the last man in the heart.

As they were checking to make sure all of the Muslets were dead, Terry came into the firelight with a pistol in her hand. The wounded captive lay on the ground, passed out from the wound and the hard day of being dragged behind the Muslets. The second captive then turned to his friend and checked to see if he was still alive. While Tim added wood to the fire, and it blazed up giving off a good light to see by.

How bad is he? Terry asked.

He has a bullet lodged in his chest and I’m not sure if he’s going to make it, the man said.

Let me look.

After checking the man over Terry said,

Heat some water, if we can get the bullet out, he might have a chance. Get our packs, Tim, I have a first aid kit in mine and a crystal light that we can use.

When Tim returned with the packs, there was water boiling on the fire, and the injured man lay on some of the Muslets robes and bedding.

This man said his name is Samuel, but we should call him Sam, Sam, meet Timothy, but just call him Tim. It seems Sam, here, is named after his grandfather also, Tim. Our friend laying here on the ground is called Will, Terry said.

You two are dressed as Highlanders, but I don’t know you. Where did you come from? Sam asked.

Let’s just say we came from far away, and we were headed for your country. Tim said.

From far away, you came at the right time for us and I thank you, Sam said.

Hadn’t we better move out of this camp? Other Muslets might be coming here, it’s a well used camp, Tim said.

Don’t worry, the Muslets don’t travel much at night, but we should be gone shortly after sunrise, if we decide to stay here for the night, Sam said.

Terry took a sterilized dart out of the boiling water.

Help me with this, I’ll have to use this blade to get the bullet out. Hold the light, Tim, Terry said.

Shortly she had the bullet in her hand and the blood stopped. After taping a compression dressing over the wound, she said.

It wasn’t as deep as it first looked, but he’s lost a lot of blood. If we can keep him still for a few days he’s got a good chance. He’s starting to come around now. Boil some of the jerky, maybe we can get him to drink some of the broth, Terry said.

It will be light soon; I’ll get some horses and we can load this gear. Where can we take him and stay for a while where the Muslets might not find us? Tim said.

We’ll backtrack, Sam said, I saw some Youlwood trees we can stay under one of them. Most Muslets won’t go near one, their women harvest the fruit and nuts, but the men who fight don’t go in under one. But we’ll have to get rid of the horses, because they will follow them.

We need the horses. If you two will take Will and three horses, go up this creek a ways to cover your tracks before you cut back to the cliff. I’ll take the rest--seven horses should make a lot of tracks going out the way Terry and I came in. We left a lot of gear at a lake back there, and we want to pick it up. And, why don’t the Muslets go near the Youlwood tree? Tim asked.

Pigs! Under the trees there’s a mushroom that grows, and pigs love them. They bear a fruit that is good eating, with a big nut in it that I like, and the pigs really like them too. They like to shelter under them too. And some of these pigs are really mean, Sam said.

Tim, why don’t we load the dead on to your horses and you can take them with you when you leave? There were a lot of the Youlwood trees in that other canyon. You could just dump the bodies under some of those. If we clean up this camp the Muslets won’t know anything happened here, even if they should come here today, Terry said.

You think real fast, Terry, Sam said. That should work; let’s get at it, so we can be gone before daylight

How will I find you when I come back? Tim asked.

This creek dumps into the lake you are going to, after you dump the bodies in the next canyon and get your gear, go along the lake shore until you come to the next creek. Come back up it, there’s a good trail all the way. I saw some of the trees by that white bluff when we passed it, we’ll be close to the bluff. We’ll camp there until you get back. The bluff will make a good lookout point. In the meantime, I am going to see what kind of weapons they had that I can use.

It took Tim four days to pick up their gear and return. Sam stopped him on the creek trail, late in the evening.

There’s a bunch of Muslets at the camp, some more arrived today. We are going to have to climb out here to the bluff, Sam said.

How many are there? Tim asked.

"Too many, you can take my word for that, they came the day before yesterday, and more have been coming,