Chapter Seven

PAWS FOR THE PLANET


"PROFESSOR TINY MUDPATCH CLIMBED THE STAIRS AND STOOD IN FRONT OF THE BARRAGE OF MICROPHONES ON STANDS....."


"Well," began Faz, "What's the plan?"
"This way," said Mel, "I've already stocked the Echameleon mini-shuttle with everything we need."
The bears walked briskly through what seemed like a maze of metallic corridors. Every five metres the lights in front would switch on automatically, triggered by their presence. Simultaneously the lights behind them would switch off, giving the place an eerie feeling of being watched and guided along.
They turned left through an automatic opening doorway into a small chamber. in it were three doors, each numbered 'One', 'Two' and 'Three'.
"Here we are," said Mel, "Shuttle Number One." She placed her paw on the touch pad, and with that the door to Shuttle Number One opened.
"After you," said Faz with a smile.
"Thank you," replied Mel. Through they went into the small interior of the shuttle, where there were two seats facing a front space screen. Once they were buckled in they clicked open the communication channels. The shuttle control panel came to life with various coloured lights and bleeping sounds.
"Ready for take-off," said Mel into her intercom.
"Launch when ready," came the reply from Commander Savreth. Then, the two bearonauts felt a shudder, that was followed by a heavy 'clunk' sound as the two large doors in front began to open in the middle, sliding back to reveal the outside.
"Ah, Space," smiled Faz.
"Yep. Let's go," said Mel. The noise of the mini-shuttle's engines rose to a whirring sound as the shuttle rose up off the deck, and then slowly moved forward out of the Echameleon.
"Shuttle clear," said Mel.
"It's all up to you two now," said Savreth.
"Engage engines," said Mel.
"Engines engaged," replied Faz, pressing a sequence of buttons. With this the shuttle slowly accelerated away from the Echameleon.
"Setting co-ordinates for Earth's inner atmosphere," confirmed Mel. Shuttle One glided away from the Echameleon, deflecting around the moon towards Earth.


Mudsey checked the readouts from his computer panel.
"Shuttle One coordinates set for Earth. She's on her way, sir."
"Good," said Savreth, "What they leave behind should have the humans wondering what on earth is happening," he laughed, then shouted, "Pumps!"
"Sir?"
"How long to fix the continuum chambers?"
"Oh, maybe two days."
"See if you can do it any quicker. Taggs will help out if you need him."
"I'll try my best, sir," replied Pumkinn.


"So, Mel, what did you say the plan was?" Faz asked again.
"What?" said Mel, coming out of her reverie.
"The plan."
"Oh, yes - I was just thinking about that. It's quite simple really. We are going to locate the forest areas destroyed by the Diluspheres, and then plant some various strains of vyne-tree seeds."
"Your joking," said Faz, beginning to laugh.
"I know. I only wish we could be there to see their faces!" They both giggled at the notion, as the mini-shuttle silently zoomed its way through the Earth's upper northern atmosphere.
"What's that?" said Faz looking at the space screen in front of him. Mel looked up.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "That's the northern lights of the aurora borealis. Basically it's where the Sun's radioactive particles interact with the Earth's magnetic field - creating a spectacular light show. Isn't it beautiful?"
"It sure is," replied Faz.
"The two bearonauts circled around the Earth several times, locating the areas that had been damaged by the Diluspheres.
"This is one fantastically beautiful planet," said Faz, "a galactic paradise. Hey, I'd love to come here for my holidays sometime." Mel looked at him and laughed.
"That must be the last one," said Mel, quickly pointing towards the Earth's surface. Faz looked out. Amidst a beautiful forest was a large barren area with no trees on it whatsoever.
"Those Diluspheres sure do a lot of ugly damage. It's like a ginormous scar," said Faz.
"Okay, now that we've located all the areas, let's go back round and sow some seeds," said Mel.

"First," began Mel, "we'll take soil samples, and then decide which strain of vyne-tree seeds will be best to sow."
Shuttle One hovered above the ground. Within seconds a sample had been analysed: the soil scooped up by the shuttle's 'sample spoon'.
"Okay, let's sow the first seed," said Mel. The mini-shuttle shot back up into the sky, turned and then headed towards the barren area.
"This is the bit I like," smiled Faz. In his hands was a small console with four buttons on one side, and a rod in the other. Through the space-screen Faz could see the damaged area, and with his console he could quickly move the target cross around it, pinpointing exactly where he would fire the next seed directly into the ground.
"Fire!" he said, smiling. Mel tutted at him.
"It's not a game," she said.
"I know but it's fun all the same!"
Bam! Bam! Bam! From the shuttle's semi-automatic gun, the seeds were fired into the earth's surface.
"Right," said Mel, "that's that one done. Let's move onto the next."
"Yeah!" shouted Faz, "Let's go." Mel tutted again.
"You're like a big kid sometimes," she muttered to herself. Faz was grinning like a cheezy cat.

Later, Mel opened up the communication channels with the Echameleon.
"Mission Regeneration complete," she said.
"Excellent. Well done you two," replied Commander Savreth, "Make your way back to the Echameleon."
"We're on our way, sir," answered Mel, "Over and out."


"Sir," called Mudsey, "It's Master Dante."
"Open the communication channels," replied Savreth. Master Dante appeared on the monitor.
"Well done, bearonauts. I've just finished reading your report," began Dante. "You have done well - destroying most of the Diluspheres, with minimal damage being done to yourselves and planet Earth. How is the vyne-tree seed regeneration going?"
"Mel and Faz are on their way back to the Echameleon. The sowing of the regeneration seeds in damaged areas is complete," answered Savreth.
"Excellent. What about the reparation of the continuum chambers?"
"Almost complete, sir. Chambers are repaired. Final analysis now being initiated," said Savreth.
"Good. Now I'd like you to stay near planet Earth for a further two weeks, and monitor the vyne-tree development, and also the earthling's response to it. Take a holiday; visit the local solar system. Have a look around the Earth planet - but stay incognito if you do. I want to make sure that things are as well as can be expected before you leave."
"What about Dilus, sir?" asked Savreth.
"We are trying to track his whereabouts now. We will have to save that story for another time. Well, bears, that's all for now."
"Thank you, sir," replied Savreth, "Over and out."




At the weather station......

"We appear to be having some freak weather conditions recently, possibly related to global warming. Thunderous streaks of lightning have appeared out of nowhere - striking, it would seem, only forested areas around the planet - causing untold damage by destroying important parts of these 'forested areas'. No one knows for sure what has caused these occurrences of weather conditions, but if they were to continue, they could have a massive impact on the Earth's global environment."


The Brazilian Subtropical Research Centre.

"Here he comes now!" a reporter, in a brown tweed jacket, shouted at the top of his voice. There was a hustle and bustle of camera teams everywhere: microphones and voice recorders held high up in the air from the crowd in front of the podium. Professor Tiny Mudpatch climbed the stairs and stood in front of the barrage of microphones on stands; BBC, CNN, plus many other of the world's reporters were here. The professor hushed the crowd and began to speak.
"Thank you all for coming today. Here at the Brazilian Subtropical Research Centre, as you know, we have had another nine reports similar to what is happening here, from around the globe."
"Professor Mudpatch," shouted a reporter, "Some say we've been visited by aliens."
"Well, I don't know about that, but what I do know is that for the past month I have been researching the amazing plants that have suddenly started to grow in these forest regions that have been recently flattened."
"Professor!" shouted another journalist, "Are these occurrences related to the Crop Circle phenomenon we see around the world?"
"Possibly," the professor replied, "but again I couldn't say for certain. I'm here to talk about these trees that are growing at an amazingly fast rate. They grow more like a vine, up to a metre a day. I've ran some analytical tests on the fibre that comes from the outer stem of the trees, and it is far stronger than any other natural fibre I have ever come across. Also, the cellulose from this plant is far more versatile than any other known. Researchers back in Cambridge, England, claim to have mixed other natural chemicals with this cellulose, which has enabled it to petrify harder than steel, possibly even diamond. They say they have also made a paint that is impossible to scratch.
"Our associated scientists in parts of Africa are claiming that a similar hybrid species of this plant is producing seeds that are as big as footballs. When cold pressed the oil can be used as a lubricant fuel for combustion vehicles. And, in its natural form, the various omega fatty acids are exactly the same as those required by the human body for perfect cell and protein reproduction. There seems no end to the versatility of these new found strains; research will be going on for years. The industrial value of this tree will, I believe, outstrip any other product on this planet."
"Professor Mudpatch!" yelled another reporter.
"Yes, you at the front," said the professor, pointing towards the person.
"Do we have a name for this plant?"
"As of yet, no, we have no idea what it is related to." Then, with a large smile on his face, he asked the crowd, "Do You?" And with that he turned and walked away....


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