Testament:- colonnades base

The camouflaged four winged helijet, came out of the darkness of the dome like a groggy wasp, feeling its way into the  morning light.  Slowly it arose in the pale light of the white sun. The buzzing thump of its rotor blades, scattered  many of the smaller, brightly coloured birds, whom, with both squawks and wails of exclamation, flapped their leather wings off into the middle distance of the forest.
​      ‘This is flight control, wishing those on-board flight alpha five zero a safe trip to the colonnades, over.
​      ‘This is alpha five zero, on the comeback, we are secure… thank your c-concern. Over and out. With that the ship rose high above the dome, and with the pyramid of the processor plant behind them sped off towards the blue tinted  mountainous region of the north west.
​      Kit unbuckled herself from her seat and in a half crouch made her way to the rear of the ship, to vomit in the latrine.  Bad enough that I  had little sleep the night before, but now a helijet? Jeus, these fuckers always make me sick.  Images of a terrifying clown at the controls surfaced in her mind’s eye as the song “satisfaction”, by the classical band the Rolling Stones clanged.
​       ‘We should reach the caves by 10.00 hrs S.A.T…’ It was the voice of Dekker on the hailer, ‘…it’s not a long flight, just a bit-  with a sudden raised squeal, the Heli-jet tilted wildly to the right, forcing Kit to lose her balance as medikits and loose bandages, fell from their allocated places and onto her back. ‘…difficult.
​       Kit groaned as the face of the evil clown took on the resemblance of Dekker. The music became louder
​       Draz, looking towards Kit grinned savagely ‘Ha still find theses flight’s over drops a problem?’
​       ‘Fuuugh you Draz.’  Kit’s reply echoed.  All around them sat the droid contingent, their faceplates, shiny black glass, their hands held their pulse rifles
​       Dekker dove the helijet down and into a steep bank as one and then,  yet another of the larger leather winged bat like birds skirted past.  The latter, it’s talons raised, suddenly ducked in with an attempt to grab  the nose of the ship  Everything on this planet wants to kill us.  He cursed, viciously and inaudibly.  An image of Solway with his pants down being eaten by a Grazzi entered his mind and made him giggle,  as he drove the helijet on a high curve out of its reach. Then, after looping over, he had the bright red and yellow coloured, leather winged bat-creature in  the sights of the ships twin gun phazer gun turrets.   With a savage grin he pressed the red trigger, button on his stick.  A bright beam of purple particle light cut the creature cleanly in half. Bright blue and green blood swelled and fell in hissed heated droplets as the animal spiralled towards the jungle floor below.  The other, possibly noting its mate’s death, let out a vile hiss and banked sharply away and into the forest canopy below.
​       ‘What the fuc-‘  Kit bellowed.  As Dekker cracked a crooked grin.

Half an hour later, they were in sight of the mountains dubbed the colonnades.  Kit felt it was a fair description. The mountains themselves were vast grey and mustard yellow in colour. They stood in a line, yet were  nearly circular, giving the impression of jagged uneven teeth whose  pinnacles were lost in the mist of low cloud. The gum line below their feet was the wild forest canopy that howled with alien life.   The ship flew between two scrags of rock, revealing a vast motionless lake.  Kit, who had exchanged the toilet for the seat next to Dekker gasped at the beauty that has been revealed to her, as if she and the little ship, had gone through a magic door into a land of enchantment
​      Dekker let out a small laugh  ‘Yeah, I felt that too, when I first came here.  The trouble is the beasts that live in that lake want to kill you too. Everything here, even the fuckin’ air is hostile.
​       Dekker nodded down to his left.  Kit  raised herslef up, and looed over Dekkard' shoulder.  She could just make out a platform that extended out upon the lakes surface; upon which  a series of six grey stone and metal domes rested.
​      ‘Entrance to the dig site is there. It was a miracle that we found this place at all.
​       The heliject slowly started to spin in its decent, as one of the six domes slowly pulled itself back along a line that to her appeared like serrated teeth. Under Dekker’s expert handling, the helijet’s engines were slowed and the craft came to a gentle stop upon the platform. Slowly   The dome rose up again, as night descended.  
​        ‘Okay alpha five zero, your pressure and air are okay, you are free to go. Did you have a nice trip?
​       ‘Had to slice a bat up on the way...’ he rose from the seat, crouched his way to the side panel door and slammed the release button with his fist. ‘Also the wasp took a talon to its nose. It might need a patch up before the flight home.
​        ‘Roger that fight alpha five zero, welcome to the colonnades.’
​       

  An hour later kit Draz and Dekkard  stood in a stone hallway, opposite a short shabbily dressed man  with scraggy grey hair and dark fading to grey stubble, who was not in the best of moods.
​       ‘Absolutely not!’   
​       ‘-err, professor Johnson-‘  injected Draz
​       Dekkard laughed cynically, while shaking his head, and looking at the sky.
​        ‘-Listen!' snapped Johnson  'My work here is vital, vital, to the Terran federation! I’m not some bloudy toorist guide, here to shoaw a couple, just out of their diapers or jocky shorts a-‘
​       ‘-we’re  aware of that-‘ sighed Ki
​       ‘And ,  I, I  would like to add, have received noaw such memo, from Commodore Thrace informing me of your, lets just say untimely arrival.’

The door at the far end of the hallway curled open and a balding,  slightly overweight man in his early twenties carrying  a vast amount of papers in his hands smiled gently at the gathering.
​       ‘Ms  O’Donnal?  Officer Dekkard, Captain Phillamore, a pleasure to meet you..' He offered a sweaty hand to shake the three of them as some of his papers fell to the floor in a heap.  Then he turned to the shabbily dressed man. ‘...Sir, please read through y- your latest orders from command....’ he sighed  ‘they are on your feeder.’ He turned again to Kit and Draz, ‘…Sorry, I would have got here sooner…I’ve had, had a lot to do this morning.  With an air of irritation Professor Johnson pulled his reader from his jacket pocket. He touched the screen and read the contents.
​        ‘I see…’ he looked down and then stared at them narrowly. His jaw tightened on his back teeth. ‘…I see…’  he coughed. ‘Thrace has cleared you.  From your files I see you’re the last survivors of Jupiter Way station, well, that being the case this does concern you.’  He scratched the back of his head absently ‘What you are about to see has been classified at the highest levels of Terran command. Its serious.  You understand that. And true, you might doubt what you see, but…’ he shook his head, suddenly. ‘but…its true. What the Ulni discovered-
​       ‘Ulni?’ Dekkard asked
​        Johnson sighed and looked up. ‘The indigenous species of this planet, the Ulni… what the idiots at Luminance and at Terran command call “the Grazzi…”.
​        ‘Go on.’ Dekkard muttered.
        ‘…they were once an astounding civilisation. Leaps ahead of us in art, culture, technology, everything!’  Then according to their, oh it’s better that I show you. Come one, this way, you need to see this for yourself.'