Canticle Blue

5. Per'sa Island

Music - Voices In the Liquid Air by Tim Story

At first light the following morning, the crew of the Onekotan sighted Per'sa Island. The inner crater was not visible at that distance, but the dark, steep slopes of the outer caldera, the peaks of which were snow-covered, were unmistakable. Some lower areas showed lighter coloration, probably due to vegetation, but nothing noticeably green. As passengers were served a generous, early breakfast, the airship began a slow circling course in order to approach the island from the east. At the same time, the buoyancy and balance of the drop-ship was checked for a final time. Two thirds of the expedition supplies had been loaded onto the Lo'an before leaving. Os Andis would accompany them on the first drop.

As they drew near to the island, the inner lake came into view. Rain squalls could be seen sweeping slowly across its surface, and banks of fog hung against the inner slopes. There was floating ice in places, and the north-facing shore of the caldera lake was covered with it. But the landing beach, which appeared to be covered by small stones rather than sand, was open, as they had hoped.

When the Onekotan made a final turn into the wind, a short radio exchange ensued with Shei in the Lo'an, and both gondola doors were closed. The connecting walkway between the ships was withdrawn into the Onekotan sub-floor, and all mooring lines between the ships were disconnected. The Lo'an propellers then spun briefly in reverse, and the drop-ship slowly backed away and began to descend.

A crewman explained the landing procedure to Os. "You'll need to stay in your seat so the ship stays trim. As soon as we're down, we'll deploy screw-anchors into the gravel, if it's deep enough. Then we'll attach mooring lines to them to hold us down. Even with the lines, we won't be able to unload your supplies until we get the buoyancy adjusted. We'll be taking on water for ballast and drawing off helium from the ballonets if we have to. But once we get the lines in place, it should be all right for you to step out, if you want to do some looking around."

To Os, the passenger compartment of the Lo'an was surprisingly quiet. There was very little wind noise as the ship drifted down, and Shei spun the ship's propellers only when needed. He used the descent time to make a mental survey of the landing area, looking for previously unnoticed signs of occupation and temporary shelter. There were no large trees in sight, but he quickly relocated the stream he had seen in the images. A small amount of water flowed onto the beach, apparently from the base of a cliff, and he wondered if there might be a cave opening there. So he radioed back to the others that he would like to have a look at it as soon as he was allowed to leave the ship.

Geddes took the call and answered, "That sounds fine to us, Os. But take your time. If you see anything that looks out-of-the-ordinary on the beach, be sure to flag it. Get as many pictures as you can. If you have time to send some to us, that would be great."

"Will do, Geddes. I've got a few flags with me and will grab an imager when we land."

When the Lo'an was within 300 feet of the beach, Shei turned it parallel to the cliffs to allow as much landing room as possible. Then she used the propellers to stop all forward motion and rotated their nacelles to the vertical position to slow descent. When the ship was just a few feet above the beach, crew members set the screw anchors without leaving the ship. Once mooring lines were attached, they winched the Lo'an to the surface.

The first thing Os noticed when the doors of the Lo'an were opened was the crisp clean air, and then the smell of the sea. As he stepped out of the ship, the cold was not nearly as bad as he had imagined. But it was probably just above freezing, so he closed his jacket. At least there was no wind at the moment. The smooth beach stones gave way beneath his feet, and It was difficult walking. It would be even harder moving supplies. They would just have to be patient and hope it didn't rain any time soon.