The Tigerman Saga

Chapter 33
The Island World
(Trouble in paradise.)

3D Art And Story Concept By: Catman Webb
(allow load time, if dial up)



Pelexis was in a deep sleep when the alarm went off,
signaling his approach to another inhabitable planet.

The ship's autopilot had already brought the vessel out of the space distortion river.

Pelexis was very excited about this world,
as it showed signs of life at a great distance.
He was concerned for all of his fellow Avatarians, although he was keeping
a close eye out for a world that would best suit his own family.

Pelexis thought the planet was beautiful, as he approached.
He thought to himself that this might be "the one".





Pelexis stepped up onto the control bridge, and made a quick instrument check.
All systems were running smooth and looked good for an effortless landing.

As he analyzed the planet, he noted it was indeed teeming with life.
He also noted that the oxygen content was a bit higher than Avataris, at about 21%.
This would pose no problem. Better to have a bit too much, than too little.





As Pelexis took the controls, and lined up for his approach to enter the atmosphere,
he couldn't help but notice how much water was on this planet.
He saw no ice either. After his last stop, this was reassuring. He was still thawing out.

Pelexis could see the planet was covered with many islands.
Basically, a water planet with thousands of islands, some quite large.
Any Avatarians choosing to migrate here, would need to hone their boat building skills.

The ship's instruments were also returning data on the gravity of this planet.
There seemed to be about 20% less gravity here, than on Avataris.
Walking, running and moving about would be easy here.

Pelexis thought about his own family, and how suitable this world might be for them.
He also realized that he would probably never be able to return here,
and had to find many more places before his mission would be complete.

Pelexis had to shake off his deep loneliness,
and focus his mind on landing on one of those many islands.





Pelexis brought the ship in, on a near perfect trajectory, creating minimal heat on the hull.
As he leveled out his approach, he began scouting out a landing spot
amongst the vast number of islands.

The sky was breathtakingly beautiful, and Pelexis saw a large island with a large beach.
A flat, hard packed beach would suffice for a vertical landing for his ship.





Pelexis landed on the beach, in a protected cove.
He was breathing air that was high in oxygen, and admiring the awesome landscape here.
Deep inside he wished he could just inform his family to come straight here, right now.
He could wait for them, and just let someone else take on the rest of this mission.

He realized though, that there was only one of these spacecraft,
and he had no choice but to continue on.
Lesser beings would probably have given in to those selfish thoughts.

Pelexis was more noble than that, and pulled himself together
and began exploring this warm and inviting island paradise.





As Pelexis hiked through the heavily vegetated terrain,
he noticed two rather primitive animals, acting rather confrontational.

He decided he would just slip behind a tree and observe their actions.
They were not very large, and might even be a meat source for migrating Avatarians.

As Pelexis watched these lizard-like animals squaring off,
he was trying to size up the opponents and make a guess on the winner.
The smaller one was toothier and more aggressive,
but the other one was larger and much faster.

Pelexis figured size would win out on this battle.





In a blinding flash and out of nowhere, a huge version of the smaller combatant
scooped up the other animal, and crushed him with iron jaws and razor sharp teeth.
Pelexis then realized he was watching the parent of a juvenile of that carnivorous species.

It took Pelexis only a fraction of a second, to turn and run.
That wildlife observation moment turned into a potential "life or death" situation for Pelexis.





Pelexis' mind was a bit buzzy from the high oxygen content of that planet,
but cleared very quickly when he saw that enormous primitive carnivore.

To make matters worse, that big fellow saw Pelexis too,
and dropped his limp prey to make chase for Pelexis.

Pelexis was able to run amazingly fast,
as he was accustomed to the stronger gravity of Avataris.

He was, without a doubt, running just as fast as he could.
He was running for his life!

Pelexis made a direct run back towards his ship.
He could feel this giant's hot breath on his back as he ran.





In the weaker gravity, Pelexis was able to leap over heavy brush and deadfall.
The giant carnivore just plowed through it, but was slowed down somewhat.

As they reached the clearing near the beach, the big lizard was hampered by the sand.
Pelexis' feet were barely touching the ground.

The ship was in view and Pelexis ran even faster as he got closer.
His head was swimming from the high oxygen intake,
but he was out-distancing the giant.





Pelexis ran into the ship and fired up the cold fusion drive, and the engines sprang to life.
He gave full throttle and wasted no time in getting off the ground.

The huge carnivorous lizard was startled, and stopped as Pelexis made his take-off.
Pelexis' heart was pounding and he was sweating profusely.

He forwarded all the data about this planet, back to his home world.

That place had creatures that were quite formidable,
and Pelexis knew that was not a good planet for his own family.

Even paradise has it's share of problems.



Click To Proceed To Chapter 34

Return To The Beginning

Visit Top Of The Rock Wildlife Sanctuary

The Tigerman Saga Show DVDs
View the Tigerman Saga from DVDs,
You may download samples from the internet.
The Tigerman Saga Show is narrated by the author,
has awesome background music, and cool special effects sounds.