Jal and Luk were amazed. Thirty-one people had gone through the extensive climbing training and the numerous camping trips. Only one had decided that he wasn’t capable of making the trip.
The group set up camp at the base of the mountains and held a celebration the day before they were scheduled to start out. Luminary Hari Yagyasan made a short speech thanking everyone for their dedication to making the expedition successful. The other Luminaries had come, along with a Protectorate historian leading a band of photographers. They had set up cameras in several places and had done a short interview with each expedition member.
The Luminaries had decided that publicity for the expedition's departure would be limited. If it had been released suddenly on the news, it could be disastrous. They had announced the approval of funds for scientific expedition. During the weeks of training, they had "leaked" information slowly regarding its purpose and who had been chosen to participate. University professors discounted the idea that there was anything valuable past the mountains. It had been tried before and likely would fail. The idea of hiking, rather than using the technological advancements available, was preposterous.
Other scientists were interested in the possibilities and wondered if the Luminaries were searching for ways to augment, what they thought was, a ridiculously increasing world-wide budget. Maybe they would find something valuable, and the various taxes could be lowered. A different group of scientists and educators knew that a science expedition would be more effective if it were done slowly; new animals, plants, and resources would be studied more closely. They were aware that the Protectorates didn't always release new scientific information because they were afraid the planet's resources would draw opportunists who would exploit them for personal gain. A few pictures of unusual formations, plants, or animals would be released slowly to the public and only with a luminary's permission.
For today, the Luminaries had decided to take individual pictures, respond to a few questions, and minimize the send-off. When the group returned, it wouldn't be as shocking to the public. The members who returned would be celebrated as heroes for the Protectorate.
After the historians, the publicity staff person, and Luminaries left, the expedition members were given free time to make final preparations. A meal was slowly cooked that afternoon and that night everyone went to bed early.
***
Luk and Golsho watched as Luminary Rup Dev and Andi Bandro, a scientist from Capesia, unhooked their safety harnesses and stepped aside. Andi would be helpful in identifying reptiles and dinosaurs if they came across any. She had been on numerous expeditions to various planets and was a well-known scientist. As the next pair moved up the mountainside, team members put a pulley system in place. Those who were below would strap together the backpacks and supplies, then move them using the pulley. This worked fairly efficiently, considering the size of the group.
At the midday meal, Chetan Loe objected strongly when Jal and Dr. Gyasi announced that they had gone far enough for the first day. “I thought you wanted to get there as soon as possible,” the blue-haired Tresdon complained.
“We’ve already had this conversation, Chetan,” Jal reminded him. “We’ve created a plan that will increase the number of hours we are moving forward by an hour or so each day. Once we get past this initial phase, we’ll be on the move for most of each day.”
At the end of the first week, the expedition stopped for a full day of rest. “Look!” Morti, an environmental scientist, exclaimed at the morning meal. “There’s a herd of some sort of hoofed animals over there.”
“They appear to be some sort of deer.” After a short discussion, several people consulted with Jal and Dr. Gyasi. Slowly, the humans approached the herd and observed the animals.
Eventually, the scientists moved on to observe different, smaller mammals they discovered in the area. Smaller study groups had been organized over the half-year of training and preparation, and they went off to study and catalog some of the plants, trees, and animals. One group took soil samples and collected rocks.
Many video records were created that day and information flowed from the expedition through the satellite information system. It went to the scientists who had gathered in the Protectorate Enclave laboratories around the planet.
A small group of people clustered around the food supplies that were available. The entire company had agreed to live on foraged food as much as possible, so the agricultural scientists, herbologist, and horticulturist went off to collect food.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Another cadre determined that the hoofed animals that grazed nearby would be an acceptable food source. Sidi Chicat and Chetan Loe, the Tresdon adventurers, had already been out scouting the countryside. They proposed a hunting plan that would take down several of the animals. The hunt was easy and uneventful. That afternoon, the hunters butchered and prepared food for a big meal. The leftover meat was cut into strips and hung over poles to dry in the sun.
Over the next two weeks, the expedition lengthened the time that they spent hiking daily. In the valleys between the mountains, the various teams foraged as they went along, and if a group of wildlife was spotted, scouts would be sent out.
A few people began to complain that they were bored. It was mostly Sidi and Chetan. They had agreed to come along because this was an unexplored territory and they had grown up hearing the stories of monsters beyond the mountains.
“You fooled us,” Sidi said to Jal one night as they sat near a campfire. “There are no monsters here.”
“No,” Jal laughed. “Your grandparents and parents fooled you. They told you those stories so that you would go to bed and stay there.”
“Why do you say that?”
“My guess is that you were bouncing off the walls and ceilings when you were a child.”
“I would stay at Sidi’s house every chance I could,” Chetan chuckled. “His sleeping room had a very high ceiling.”
“We got in trouble almost every time we were together,” Sidi admitted. They elbowed one another. “We loved to do flips and spins, especially on the bed. We didn’t have trampolines back then. We had to make our own excitement.”
“I don’t think you’ll be bored much longer,” Jal remarked. “We should be at the mountains the day after tomorrow.”
***
“These mountains are different than the ones we’ve been through,” Sage Elvan remarked to Kees Sork, Nahee Bakin, and Diya Tak. The three geologists began discussing the differences between the rock layers that were visible. Kees was particularly interested in any metamorphic rocks they might find as he had received some specialized training that enabled him to identify the magical power that rocks and gems had. They stood together at the bottom of a rocky slope. Luk van Djik and Ladi, the female Maz were at the top, removing the last of the packs from the rope pulley.
“They are,” Diya responded. “These were formed when the tectonic plates shifted. You can see the layers way over there. The mountains were formed when the underlying part was pushed to the top. This side of the mountains will be relatively easy to cross. The ones on the far side were formed by volcanoes that stood along the edge of the plate.”
“We’ll find some fascinating rocks when we get over there,” Kees said eagerly. “We’ll have fun figuring out the various properties of them,” he said.
“Nanee, you’re next.”
The trim man wasted no time donning the climbing gear. He carefully stepped up the side of the mountain and followed the path that the others before him had gone. Midway up, he paused and wiped the sweat from his brow. “What? What was that?” he wondered. He thought there had been motion to the left. He looked again. Not seeing anything, he resumed climbing.
Zamani Tu, a petite, determined adventurer from Mazeza, began to ascend the second set of ropes. She was several meters below Nanee when he looked around again. “I’ve got to focus,” Nanee thought. “But what am I hearing? It’s a low rumble?”
Suddenly, Zamani let out a yelp of surprise.
“What is it?” Kees called up to her.
“There’s something moving down there! Look out!”
Sage Elvan and its partner, Diya Tak looked around. “We’re not seeing anything!” Diya called.
“Look left!”
The ground shook and rocks seemed to move toward one another. “I don’t understand,” Sage Elvan said to Diya. “What’s happening?”
“I’m not sure. Wait! Those rocks just stacked themselves?” Her gentle voice was filled with incredulity. “No way!”
“Um, magic. Someone’s doing magic. It must be a trick,” the Stafriez proposed. There was no one in sight.
A third rock flew to the top of the stack, and moments later, various rocks flew into the air. Nanee tried to concentrate as he climbed upward. There was a deeper rumble and he felt the rock that he was climbing vibrate. A sense of foreboding came over him and he tried to climb faster.
“Mwalllahhhhh!” An odd sound, crossed between a groan and the sound of rock on rock, came from the boulders and rocks that seemed to have joined together.
“What is that?” Sage Elvan and Diya gazed in disbelief. Rocks shot in various directions, travelling only a short distance before falling to the ground.
“What’s what?” Jal and Sidi Chikat joined Sage Elvan, Kees, and Diya. “We’re the last ones, right?”
“Right,” Diya said. “What is that?” she pointed at the rocks that swayed from side to side.
They stood watching, confused, as there was another groaning, scraping sound. “Gaalllonnph.” Again, small rocks, animated by an unknown force, flew through the air and fell.
It was some time before Nanee and Zamani reached the top of the mountain. They called out to those below, who had been observing the odd movements of the rocks. Sage Elvan and Kees hooked up their equipment to the rope and began their ascent.
The rocks moved and fell, restacked themselves, and fell again. Jal knew that it needed to stay alert, so it forced itself to look around. Fascinated, Kees and Diya couldn’t seem to keep themselves from watching the odd movements around them.
“This must be some sort of local phenomenon,” Jal finally said. “Maybe there’s something that affects gravity?”
“It’s so odd,” Kees said. “It seems to me that certain rocks are consistently returning to the same order.”
“Look at that one,” Diya pointed. “It has unusual holes in it that these others don’t. I wish I had my tablet. I’d make a visual recording.”
“Tonight, we’ll make a note of these coordinates in the reports,” Jal said. “I’ll send a message back to the scientists and ask them to run some scans on this area.”
As the last three climbers went up the mountain, the rocks formed into stacks, swayed back and forth, then fell again.