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OK, having finished two stories, here I go with another movie inspired fan fiction .....

Planet of the Robots

1.

“BEEP!” “beep!” “beep!” The constant noise of the ship's klaxon and the flashing red lights were the stimulus that awakened astronaut George Taylor from his hibernation after the sleeping chamber automatically opened and started thawing him out. The machinery had injected him with warm fluids, and electro shock restarted his heart back into normal sinus rhythm. His head was pounding from the effects of the emergency reanimation he'd been though, and his vision was a touch blurry, but he knew he had to act quickly.

The small explorer class star ship had been launched from Earth on a 200 year long mission to intercept a newly discovered system less than thirty light years from Earth. The Icarus made use of a newly invented photon drive that could propel the ship to nearly light speed. While the journey would take several hundred years as seen by the people left behind on earth, thanks to the time dilation effect of relativity only a few decades would pass on the ship. Even so, the crew had been put into hibernation to save on food, oxygen, and mental fatigue.

Taylor stumbled towards the main console of the ship. The Icarus was in a death spiral, having been pulled out of its path by a strong gravitational field. The ship was now plunging into the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a class G3 star. Taylor couldn't understand why the ship's autopilot hadn't made the necessary corrections. There wasn't much time left, he knew he had only seconds to get the engines on line and stabilize the ship before it burned up in the lower atmosphere.

He was well trained in the operation of the ship and even in his semi-conscious state he was able to throw the right switches and activate the main propulsion systems. The Icarus's rapid decent slowed and the ship entered a low, but stable orbit. He'd have to make more corrections soon, or they would loose altitude and re-enter the atmosphere in a few orbits, but at least now there was time to awaken the other two members of the crew and access the situation.

Taylor headed back towards the back of the ship and checked the condition of his companions. Both Bob Landon and James Dodge were still in the deep coma like sleep of hibernation. Taylor activated the re-awakening process for both of his shipmates. They would awaken much more gently than he had, the machinery would slowly warm their bodies back to normal temperature and use mild chemical stimulation to restart their cardiac and pulmonary systems.

The three astronauts sat at the small table taking the first first food and drink since they had sealed themselves into the hibernation chambers soon after the ship had left the solar system. “Just where are we?” Bob Landon asked.

“I'm not sure yet.” Taylor replied. “I had a very rude awakening by the ship's emergency computer protocols as the ship was about to burn up in an uncontrolled atmospheric entry. We're in a low, but stable orbit at the moment, but we are going to have to make some decisions in an hour or two about where we go from here.”

“I've been looking at the star fields and comparing them to the data records in the computer.” James Dodge said. “Nothing matches. We are either light years off course, and or we've been in hibernation in deep space for far longer than planned.”

“Well what does the chronometer say?” Taylor asked.

“I'll check.” Dodge answered, walking back to the computer console.
“I guess that explains it.” he gasped. “According to the flight instruments, we were thrown off course by an uncharted mass and have been on a hyperbolic path for centuries. We're way off our charted course and could be anywhere in the galaxy.”

“You mean we've gone through a black hole?” Landon asked.

“More likely we've been slingshot around one.” Dodge said. “If we made a grazing attitude approach to a black hole at nearly light speed we'd have been thrown away from it at nearly any angle. There'd be no telling what course we'd have been thrown out on. We could be thousands of years away from Earth by now.”

“I think I'd agree with that analysis.” Taylor said. “I've just taken inventory of the ship's condition. Power levels are way down, nearly all the fuel has been used up, and very little oxygen remains in the tanks. The planet below us seems to be Earth like and could sustain us. I think we have no choice but to attempt to set the ship down.”

“Might as well.” Dodge agreed.

“I'll go along with that too.” Landon added.

“In that case gentlemen, we'd better strap ourselves in.” Taylor said. “I have no idea how the ship is going to handle during re-entry after being in space for so long. This may be a bumpy ride.”

The three crew members took their seats and strapped themselves in. Together they went though the pre-reentry check list. “All systems look operational, though just barely.” Taylor announced. “Any final thoughts?”

“No, I think we are committed.” Landon said. “10-4.” Dodge added. “Let's get the Icarus on the ground.”

“OK, then.” Taylor said. “Retro countdown, locked in.”

With a slight shudder, the Icarus dropped out of orbit. The nose of the ship dropped as it plunged into the atmosphere. There was little turbulence at first, but as the ship reached denser air it began to buck and shake. The tip of the nose and the ends of the stubby wings began to glow with the heat of reentry. “Getting a bit rough.” Taylor said. “Controls feel sluggish.”

“We're in denser air now.” Dodge said. “Start the jet landing engines.”

“Roger that.” Taylor said. He pounded on the control panel “No use! I can't get any response from the landing engines. Going to have to dead stick us in!”

“Still no sign of land, the atmosphere is too thick with clouds.” Landon said. “Radar isn't picking up anything yet.”

“Altimeter is useless.” Taylor moaned. “Not without calibration.”

“I've got a radar fix now.” Landon said. “Indicates 10,000 feet AGL, but I can't tell if we are above land or water yet.”

“5000 feet now, Still nothing visual.” Taylor said.

“There, I see a break in the clouds!” Dodge yelled, pointing.

“OK, I'm going for it!” Taylor said, banking the ship in a turn.

The Icarus broke though the clouds. The crew could see that they were over water, not far from the shore of a large landmass. Taylor tried to stretch out their glide, but the ship came up short. He realized that a water landing was their only choice and pulled back on the stick, while opening up the landing flaps. The ship came down in a nearly vertical descent, and almost made a perfect flat landing. At the last moment the nose dropped.
“Quick, grab what you can and abandon ship.” Taylor yelled. “We may have only seconds before she sinks!”

The crew quickly grabbed their back packs and stuffed them with as much of the emergency supplies that they could. Dodge threw a life raft overboard and the men made a quick swim over to it, and climbed on board. Seconds after they started rowing towards shore the Icarus disappeared below the surface of the water.

Wow, can't wait to see what happens next!

Just for knowledge, which 'earth' are they coming from? The Astro earth or the real earth?

"Umbral-Coltwings" wrote:Wow, can't wait to see what happens next!

Just for knowledge, which 'earth' are they coming from? The Astro earth or the real earth?

Probably neither! Guess it will become clearer as I develop the concept. (Have you ever seen the original 1968 film with Charlton Heston?)

"Tetsuwan Penguin" wrote:Probably neither! Guess it will become clearer as I develop the concept. (Have you ever seen the original 1968 film with Charlton Heston?)

Nope. :d oh: It seems really interesting, though!

The Icarus hadn't landed too far from the shore and it didn't take the men more than a few minutes to reach the shore. “I don't think the water was too deep where the ship went down,” James Dodge said.

“How can you tell?” Taylor asked.

“By the water color, how the waves were breaking on shore, and by the fact I was able to see clear to the bottom most of the way in.” Dodge answered. “Also if this planet has ocean tides, we appear to be at high tide right now. Maybe later on we could dive down and retrieve some more of our equipment, or even re-float the ship.”

“That's worth a try,” Taylor agreed, “but for now our primary concern should be to secure ourselves some shelter and a supply of potable food and water.”

“Right,” Bob Landon agreed, “so we continue inland for a while and explore.”

The beach they had arrived on was about a quarter of a mile long, and ended at the edge of a forest. The men walked into the wooded area and found themselves walking on what appeared to be a trail leading inland. “The tree growth doesn't appear to be too dense,” Taylor observed, “you can still see most of the sky through the canopy.”

“Is this a road, or natural path?” Dodge wondered.

“Good question.” Taylor said. “It it was made by the trampling feet of wild animals we need to keep our guard up just in case we are dealing with carnivores, especially ones that hunt in packs. On the other hand, if this trail was made by creatures like us, we might have other concerns.”

They continued walking for about a mile when they came upon a stream. “Fresh water?” Taylor asked.

“I did manage to save a test kit from the ship.” Landon said, digging into his pack. He pulled out a small chemical test set and used a test tube to extract a sample of water from the stream. He then added a few drops of a test solution from the kit and swirled the mixture in the tube. “PH is in the safe range,” he said added a few drops of another solution. “No reaction to the heavy metals test either. Of course we can't test for biohazards, but we do have general anti-biotics in our medical kits.”

“Fill one of the empty canteens,” Taylor suggested. “When our supply from the ship runs out we'll try it.”

Dodge bent down to examine the ground surrounding the stream. “Look at this captain,” he said. Taylor looked at the ground where Dodge was pointing. “Those impressions in the ground look like human foot prints.” he said pointing, “And those over there, are definitely the prints of a shoed horse!”

“It looks like there is a human like civilization on this planet,” Landon said. “One advanced enough to work metal and domesticate animals.”

“Did anyone manage to save some of our sidearms?” Taylor asked.

“I have my service pistol, and a hundred rounds.” Dodge said.

“I have mine too,” Landon replied, “but only about two dozen rounds.”

“That's about the story here too.” Taylor sighed. “Too bad we didn't mange to grab some of the laser weapons before the ship went down. I hope whatever civilization we run into is not hostile.”

“I suggest we follow this stream.” Dodge said. “It may lead us to a civilized area. It's a risk, but I think our best bet is going to be to befriend the natives.”

“We might not be able to avoid them forever,” Taylor agreed, “and having them as an ally would be to our benefit. We'll follow the stream, but keep alert.”

The sun was now just past the noontime position in the sky, and the temperature had rose enough to cause the men to start to break out in a sweat. They each had removed their shirts to get ventilation and cool off. Up in the distance, the stream widened and became a gently flowing river. The forest thinned out into a meadow filled with fruit plants.

“Look, captain!” Landon said pointing.

In the center of the meadow there was a small band of humanoids picking fruit. They were eating some of what they picked, and were packing burlap bags with the rest. They were barefoot and were wearing simple clothing which appeared to be made of undyed cotton.

“They don't look dangerous.” Taylor suggested. “Let's approach cautiously and try to communicate with them.”

The three astronauts walked slowly towards the middle of the meadow where the band were gathering fruit. Suddenly the group stopped what they were doing and looked around, sniffing the air.

“Hold still!” Taylor said. “They may have seen us and are afraid. Don't make any sudden moves.”

“I don't think they are looking at us, captain,” Dodge said.

Out of the distance, towards their right, a growing thunder like sound was becoming louder. It was towards that direction that one of the gatherers now pointed. Suddenly the group fled, running in the opposite direction leaving their belongings on the ground.

“Something is chasing them.” Dodge said.

A group of six knight like figures wearing blue armor and riding on large war horses charged after the fleeing humans.

“Get down, keep out of sight!” Taylor said.

The attacking group spread out as they grew closer to the fleeing band, dragging a large net between then on the ground. As they approached their quarry, they entrapped them in the net, which they now dragged on the ground behind them. Another group of horses entered the picture, dragging a wagon which held a cage. The captured humans were transferred into this conveyance by the knights, who used sharp sticks to prod them along.

Dodge had removed a pair of binoculars from his pack and was keeping watch on the drama. “You need to look at this captain,” he said handing the glasses to Taylor.

George focused the binoculars and aimed them at one of the mounted knights. “Either that's a very ugly suit of armor,” he said, “or those blue knights are robots!”

Planet of the Robots

2.

The teacher looked at her class and counted the students. Taking the attendance was the first order of business in the school, though it was very rare that any of the students were absent or even tardy. Robotic society was usually well organized and run like clockwork. The students were busy chatting among each other as usual as they first came into the classroom and sat down for their lessons. Most of them were well behaved, and the teacher had few problems maintaining decorum in the classroom. Still there were a few students that had to question everything without accepting her explanations at face value. Perhaps that was the sign of high intelligence, though it could also be a latent bug in their AI programming. No matter, part of the schooling process was to enable their minds to be adapted for the good of society.
The students quieted down as their teacher stood up and gazed at each of them in turn. Finally, she started with the morning announcements.

“Good morning class.” She said.

“Good morning Ms. Livian,” the class replied in unison.

Livian nodded and smiled. “Today I have a treat for you. We are going to visit the zoo.”

“Are we going to see the humans?” Thor asked.

“Yes we will visit the human compound today.” Livian said.

“That will be the best part of the visit!” Mars laughed.

A Blue Knight entered the classroom, and stared out at the students. A great hush fell upon the room, as the Knights were a feared member of the robot society. “I will be escorting you to the zoo today.” he said. “You will be on your best behavior and obey any orders given to you by the staff at the zoo. We are expecting a new batch of humans today, they were just recently captured. If you behave, you may be allowed to watch as the new humans arrive, you may even be allowed to help feed them.”

“Wow, that would be great!” Atlas Jr. said.

“OK class, form a single file line and proceed out to the waiting transportation” Livian said.

The students gathered their belongings and followed their teacher outside. Several large horse drawn wagons were waiting, each one had a Blue Knight sitting in the front holding onto the reins. The students climbed onto the wagons for the hour long trip into the countryside where the zoo was located.

Zoran and Atom sat together behind their teacher on one of the wagons. The two siblings watched the countryside roll past. As they got closer to the entrance of the zoo, they passed fenced in areas where some of the animals were kept. In one of these areas they could see a tribe of humans. The creatures lived in grass huts which could provide only poor shelter from the heat and cold. They watched as a pair of Blue Knights rode though the compound attacking a few of the humans with whips.

“How cruel!” Zoran shuddered.

The caravan finally entered the zoo's main gate and came to a stop. The Blue Knights helped the students out of the wagons, and directed them towards the zoo's visitor building. Once inside, they found themselves in an auditorium. The class quieted down as the zoo's director walked onto the auditorium stage.

“Good morning children!” he said. “Welcome to the Robotopolis Zoo. I hope you will enjoy your visit with us today, and you will find it educational. We have quite a few different species of animals in our zoo, ranging from various cat varieties such as lions and tigers, grazing animals such as zebras, sheep, goats, deer and giraffe. We also have large animals such as hippopotamus and elephants.”

“What about the humans!” a student in the back of the room yelled out.

“Yes we do have our primates,” The zoo director said. “Monkeys, Gorillas, and of course the humans. I think one of the Blue Knights must have mentioned that they just caught another group of humans near the forbidden zone. They have been kept in isolation for the past few days to make sure they don't have any sickness, and will be introduced to our human habit area today. You lucky guests will be able to watch as they are released into their new home. Any questions?”

Zoran raised her hand, and the zoo director pointed to her. “Yes little girl?”

“We passed by the human area on the way into the zoo,” she said. “Those Blue knights were beating some of the humans with whips. Why do you treat them so cruelly?”

The class all turned and looked at Zoran like she had snakes growing out of her hair. Atom face palmed with embarrassment and looked away from his sister.

“Humans are one of the most dangerous of all animals,” the zoo director said. “They may not have sharp teeth like a lion, or the speed of a wolf, but they are cunning and evil. Long ago before they turned upon themselves and destroyed most of this planet, humans kept robots as slaves. After the decline of their civilization, and the de-evolution of their species, robot civilization restored this planet. Rather than destroy what was left of the human population, we now control their numbers and keep them from becoming a threat again. Of course, the humans you see in our zoo are not the same as the ones that once ruled this planet, their gene pool has aged out and they are a feeble lot.”


Note: In case you haven't guessed, Atom and Zoran are taking the roles of Cornelius and Zira from the film.

The three astronauts watched from their hiding place as the wagon holding the captured humans disappeared down the trail. “We should try to rescue them,” Dodge said.

“That would be a foolish idea,” Taylor said, “Those robots out number us, and would be too quick on horseback.”

“I know.” Dodge said, “But maybe there is another way other than by a direct attack.”

“He's right,” Landon said. “Let's follow behind at a distance and see if we can make use of the element of surprise.”

“Well if not surprise, perhaps a bit of burglary might be in order.” Taylor answered. “Those robots must come from some place with supplies that we need.”

They waited until the last of the blue knights on horseback were out of sight before they carefully left their hiding spot. The three men made their way down the road in the direction that the robots had traveled. Taylor kept the binoculars handy, stopping periodically to scan the horizon for any sign of their enemy. The road wound past the meadow and back into a wooded area. There were no forks or turnoffs, and it appeared following the robot's trail would be an easy task. The sun was now lower in the sky, and the heat of the day was past. Taylor put his shirt and jacket back on, as did his two companions. Finally, they emerged from the forested area and found themselves in a more open area.

“We'll have to be more careful now.” Taylor said, “There's no longer much cover to hid behind.”

He brought the binoculars up to his eyes and scanned ahead of him. “I think I see a sign of some kind of settlement up ahead.” he said, passing the glasses to Dodge.

“You're right, looks like a number of brick buildings about a mile ahead. The road seems to fork just before there and I think there are some simpler huts to the left.” Dodge noted.

“We'll take the left fork then.” Taylor decided. “That would probably be where they took their human captives. We can try and sneak into the robot's buildings and look for supplies if the opportunity presents itself later, after we free some of their captives and have ourselves some reinforcements.”

By the time the astronauts reached the fork in the road the sun had dipped low in the horizon. The sky was getting dark and the shadows were long. The road now ran parallel to a high fence made of wood and barbed wire.

“What is this place?” Landon asked.

Taylor focused the field glasses through the barbed wire. The area inside of the high fence was divided up by several smaller, similar fences. He could see a herd of elephants grazing by a body of water in one area, and antelope in another. “Looks like some kind of animal habitat, or maybe a zoo,” he said.

Taylor continued his scan and in the distance saw the huts they spotted from farther back inside yet another walled off area inside of the high fence. He dialed in the zoom, and carefully focused the lenses to get a better view. There outside one of the huts were a small group of humans. They were almost completely naked, wearing only thin cloth that could only serve to provide a minimum of modesty, and very little protection from the elements.

“Those bastards!” Taylor hissed under his breath. “They're treating those people like zoological specimens for study!”

They waited till the sun dipped below the horizon before proceeding further. Dodge fished into his backpack and found a pair of pliers with wire cutting blades. Slowly he cut a hole in the barbed wire fence large enough to crawl through. The three astronauts carefully made their way into the fenced off area. “Keep close to the fence until we get close to the human camp.” Taylor said. “We want to avoid the wild animals in the other zones.”

“I agree with keeping away from the elephants, but I'd sure like to catch me some venison,” Dodge said.

“Maybe later.” Taylor replied.

It was now quite dark. Landon lit the way using a small flashlight he had in his backpack. They reached the fence boarding the human compound, and Dodge removed a section of the barbed wire to gain them access. Once inside the compound they moved slowly. Taylor set his binoculars on wide angle and made good use of the telescope's night mode to see though the dark. He spotted two of the blue knights on patrol.

“This prison is guarded.” Taylor whispered. “I only spotted two of those knight robots, but there may be a few more. If we wait until they move on to patrol another area, I think we can safely make it to the nearest hut over there. I can see some movement inside, it must be the sleeping quarters for our brethren.”

The men lay crouched down to keep out of sight. Taylor kept scanning about with the night glasses. Finally he motioned that the way was clear. The men sprinted over to the hut. The door was locked with a simple padlock with an old fashioned ward lock. Landon examined the lock and nodded. He dug into his pack and found a paper clip attached to a notebook. Carefully he unbent the clip and used it as a lock pick. He had the padlock open in about twenty seconds.

Dodge pulled the door open slowly, and the men crept inside, closing the door behind them. There was a small fat lamp burning in the middle of the single room hut. Scattered about on the floor were several dozen nearly naked sleeping people, none of them looked older than twenty. “They're just children.” Landon whispered, “are there any adults here?”

“Maybe in another hut.” Taylor whispered back. He searched around looking for one of the oldest of the bunch and got behind a boy of maybe 15 or 16 years of age. The lad had just the beginnings of peach fuzz on his face, barely into his adolescence. Taylor placed one hand over the boy's mouth and whispered into his ear, “Don't be afraid, and don't scream out.” he said. “I'm here to help you.”

This is going to go well. :T

Zoran pressed her face against the fence to get a better look at the compound. There were several simple grass huts arranged in a circle with a few campfires in the middle. A few hundred yards further away was another compound with wooden buildings equipped with bared windows and doors. Several dozen humans wearing not much more than loincloths milled about the campsite paying no attention to the robot children staring at them through the wire fence just yards away. Zoran spotted a female holding an infant up to her breast, the baby was suckling from her mother's nipple.

“What are they doing?” Zoran asked her teacher.

Livian looked in the direction that her student pointed. “Oh, that.” She said with a bit of embarrassment in her voice. “That's how human females feed their young. Their bodies secrete liquid nutrients for their infants during their first year or two of life.”

“Yuck!” Atom and a few of the other boys muttered “Gross!”

Zoran stared transfixed by the sight. “I think that's wonderful!” she said. “Human mothers really give their babies such intimate care!”

“What's in those buildings all the way in the back?” Atom asked.

One of the blue knights standing behind the crowd of children answered his question.
“That's the part of the compound where we quarantine newly caught humans before they are admitted into the general population,” The blue robot explained. “We also isolate dangerous humans and those that are selected for scientific study in that area as well.”

“Scientific study?” Zoran asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“There are many kinds of research being done on humans,” the knight answered.

“You mean experiments?” Zoran asked. “You don't cut them open to look at their insides do you?”

“Some of our scientists probably do some of that,” the knight said, “Why should that bother you? They're only worthless animals after all.”


“How was school today?”

Atom looked up at his father excitedly. “We got to go to the zoo today dad!” he cried out. “I finally got to see what humans look like!”

“You don't seem so excited, Zoran.”

“Yeah well I sorta felt sorry for the humans.” Zoran said, looking up at her father with damp eyes. “They treat them so badly in the zoo.”

“Well, I'm sure that they only have to discipline the bad ones that won't behave,” her father said.

“Dad, don't you work with humans in your research?” the girl robot asked.

“Yes, we do have some of them as subjects for study in our laboratory,” her father said.

“You don't cut them open do you?”

“I don't, but I know of some scientific studies being done at other labs where human anatomy is studied. I'm sure it's all done with pain killing chemicals so they don't suffer much.”

“That's still cruel!” Zoran sniffed. “Why do we have to do experiments on them?”

“It's for their own good, Zoran,” her father said. “The more we know about humans, the easier it is for us to make their existence more pleasant for them.”

“You mean to control them, don't you?” Zoran huffed.

“I think you've been listening too much to the blue knights,” her father scowled. “Their kind would take over the government if we didn't keep a close eye on them. Our society is much better off with the scientists and engineers running things, not the warriors.”

Planet of the Robots

3.

Taylor carefully removed his hand from the boy's face. The lad turned around and backed away from the astronaut. Upon seeing a human face, rather than that of one of the blue knight robots, the look of fear on his face changed into one of curiosity. He slowly approached Taylor and touched his face, feeling the stubble of his beard growth.

“That's right son, I'm human just like you.” Taylor said. “What's your name, how did you get here?”

The boy acted as if he didn't even hear Taylor's voice, but he watched his mouth closely. Suddenly he began to wave his hands franticly in front of Taylor, making strange gestures. Taylor grabbed at the boy's hands out of reflex, thinking he was about to be attacked. Meanwhile Landon walked up behind Taylor. He pushed the captain away and gestured at the boy with his hands, the lad quickly responded in kind. Taylor watched as the two of them rapidly waved their hands at each other. Their movements became more coordinated and a smile had appeared on the lad's face. Finally Taylor grabbed Landon's shoulder. “What's going on here?” he asked.

“I'm talking to him!” Landon laughed in a whisper. “He seems to know native American sign language.”

“How come you know it?” Taylor asked.

“I'm part Cherokee and Sioux on my mother's side.” Landon said, “My grandmother taught me to sign before I could read.”

“So what's his story?” Taylor asked.

“The boy is part of a band of people that live near the shore, not too far from where we landed,” Landon explained, “They live near the ancient ruins of an old city that the metal monsters refer to as the forbidden zone.”

“Metal, monsters?” Taylor said, “meaning the robots.”

“Obviously.” Landon said. “The boy told me his name is Tobio, at least I think that's how it would be pronounced. He and about a dozen of his clan were captured just a few days ago while they were foraging for food not far from where we encountered those robots on horseback.”

“That would seem to be a common occurrence,” Taylor guessed.

“That meadow is one of the only places where they can find the nuts, berries and fruit that they eat.” Landon explained, “they are mostly vegetarians, except for certain insects and fish their diet is completely without meat.”

“Are these people mute and deaf?” Taylor wondered.

“They don't seem to have any spoken language, but I think that they can hear and make some sounds.” Landon said. He signed again to the boy, and then placed his hand on the lad's adam's apple, feeling his throat. Landon motioned for the boy to open his mouth, and he looked at the back of his throat, shinning his flashlight inside. “He seems to have the vocal equipment. I'd guess that his people do make use of some kind of vocal cries to announce their presence to each other at a distance, but any detailed communication between each other is totally by sign language.”

The boy signed at Landon again, making the sign of a question. Landon responded as best he could to the lad, and the boy signed back with a look of confusion on his face.

“What was that all about?” Taylor asked.

“He asked me how we got here. I wasn't about to try and explain space flight, so I told him we came from very far away, and that we flew here in a kind of vehicle.” Landon said. “He didn't understand at all what I meant. You know, we haven't seen any birds or flying insects here. The concept of flight is probably totally alien to him.”