episode 3 - the desert world

7/31/2019 Episode 3 - The Desert World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/episode-3-the-desert-world 1/5

A Pulp Space Opera by Andrew Roberts

E PISODE 3 - T HE D ESERT W ORLD



In their search for the Astral Spirit, DaneTempest and Jesse Roach were confrontedby pirates in the Oberon Cluster. Despite

fending off their attacks, their craft hasbeen damaged by a saboteur, and they have

crash landed on a mysterious planet.

Even as they attempt to repair the damage to their ship, they are completely unaware

of the dangers this desert world has in store for them…



Dane groggily came to his senses. The ship’s controls were wrecked. The craft itself wasembedded in the sand.

“Roach?” he called weakly. There was no answer. He attempted to stand up. Slowly, hestaggered out of the cockpit to the maintenance hatch. Looking inside, he found Roachlying amongst burnt out wiring. He dragged him out and checked his pulse.

“Still alive.” He muttered. Looking up, he reached for the boarding ramp controls. Pressingit, he heard the sound of the mechanism lowering, but it was embedded in the sand. Helurched back to the cockpit and opened a sealed window containing a red button. Uponpressing, the front screens slid down, allowing him to crawl out of the ship. Dane picked upa scanning unit from the nearby cabinet and left through the new exit.

“The atmosphere’s breathable…” he murmured to himself as he scanned. The unit emittedseveral loud, sharp tones. Something was coming. Dane gripped his pistol tightly andducked into the space under the ship. The landing gear was embedded in the sand. Henoticed several figures approaching on bizarre looking mounts. Squinting, he noticed thatthe figures were anthropomorphic jackals. Some were wielding carbines. Others hadclubs, axes, spears, and curved swords. The group made their way to ship anddismounted. Dane noticed three of them climbing into the cockpit. As he watched, he feltsomething grab his leg. One of the jackals had spotted him and was pulling him out fromhis hiding place.

“What are you people?” he asked in fear as he was brought out. The jackals did notanswer, simply communicating to each other with barks and howls. As he was being ledaway, Dane noticed Roach being pulled out of the ship.

Several hours later, Dane found himself being taken to a large Ancient Egyptian-style city.The jackals escorted him to a palace at the heart of the city, where he was brought beforeanother jackal seated at a great throne. Seated next to him was a human female. Another

jackal was standing at the foot of the throne, his stance seeming to command presence.

“Who is this man?” the jackal in the throne demanded. Dane said nothing. He heard one of the jackals growling to the monarch. As he prepared to stand, one of the guards struck him

in the back of the leg with the shaft of his spear.

“You will kneel before King Set!” the jackal standing at the foot of the throne said ster nly.

“What is your purpose?” King Set asked Dane, “Which slave camp are you from?”

“I’m from the Mars Colony.” Dane said, “I crash landed on this barren sandbox whilesearching for a missing vessel.”

“You’re from off -world?” Set asked, intrigued by Dane’s story.

“Yes. But my co -pilot is badly injured. He needs a doctor.”



“Silence! You dare not challenge my leadership!” Set bellowed as he stood up. “Guards!Throw the wretch into the dungeons!”

Dane was picked up by two of the jackals and dragged away. Both he and Roach weretaken to a dank cell beneath the palace. A few minutes later, a third human was broughtinto the cell. He started examining Roach.

“ Are you supposed to be a doctor? ” Dane asked him. The man nodded.

“I’m just a slave to those things. ” He told him, “Imhotep has been ruled by the Anubites for a long time now. The human inhabitants are no more than slaves. ”

“What actually happened here? ”

“The world was originally ruled by King Osiris. He was a fair ruler, occupying the thronewith Queen Isis. At that time, the Anubites and the humans lived in harmony until Setappeared. He assassinated Osiris and staged a coup, and all the Anubites followed him,including Anubis, the Captain of the Guard. ”

“What will happen to us? ”

“Once your friend pulls through, you ’ll be assessed and put into a work gang. ”

“Perfect. ” Dane muttered sarcastically, sitting down against the hard walls of the cell. Ashe sat, Roach started to come to his own senses.

“What happened? ” He asked.

“We crash landed on some desert planet and now we ’re being imprisoned by a bunch of jackal people. ” Dane replied, “Now we need to find a way out of here so we can get theship repaired. ”

More time passed. Anubis entered the cell and awoke the pair.

“Dane, I need your help. ” He said quietly. “There ’s a set of ordeals that must be passedthat will allow you to win your freedom. I ’m entering you into that under orders from Queen

Isis. ” “Why? For your king ’s amusement? ” Dane asked.

“If you are free, you can help her coordinate a resistance movement. Your friend Roach isdue to be drafted into a militia unit comprised of slaves. Don ’t worry: It ’s under Set ’scommand. ”

“What are the ordeals? ”

“There is a chariot race, a pit fight, and ‘The Final Test ’. Nobody has got that far. ”

As Anubis spoke, another guard entered with a tray containing some form of meat.

“You ’ll need to eat something. ” Anubis said, “Tomorrow is an important day. ”



Dane nodded in agreement and took a bite out of the meat as the two jackals left.

The following morning, Dane was escorted to a large racetrack where several chariotswere being prepared, pulled by horse-like creatures. Among the contenders were both

humans and Anubites. As Dane prepared to board his chariot, he noticed one Anubitestanding out among the other racers.

“ An outsider in the race? ” He pondered, “How is this possible? ”

“Who might you be to ask that? ” Dane asked defiantly.

“You should show respect. ” The Anubite replied, “I am Theris, King Set ’s nephew and thefinest racer on the planet. Let the best contender win. ”

Dane said nothing as he took the chariot ’s reins. A large bell sounded and the crowds

cheered as the race began. Dane lashed his beasts and the chariot rolled forwards inalmost a blink. In what may not have even been a minute, he was overtaking almost everyother contender. He was just behind Theris, not noticing some of the other chariots whichhad gone off the track. Theris was carrying a large flail in one hand, and started swinging itat Dane.

Dane was able to avoid the swinging of the flail, but he was still unable to overtake Theris. As he attempted, something unexpected happened: He felt a throbbing pain in hisstomach. He was starting to lose consciousness. Dane immediately realised that he hadbeen poisoned the previous night. Theris was obviously not a fair player. As he tried toremain awake, his chariot began to run off course, heading towards a wall.

Will Dane be able to win the race against Theris? Or will he succumb tothe poison? If he doesn ’ t what other tricks does Theris have for him? Findout next time in ‘ The Imhotep Ordeals ’ !

episode 3 - the desert world

Documents