Special Effects: Survival
"I don't know. People do some pretty weird things."
"Well it's not a bomb. I'm sure of that," said Brad "Its something else."
The red light pulsed, and the hum continued. It seemed like the stupidest thing, sitting there in the middle of nowhere, doing whatever it was supposed to do. It seemed to epitomize the futility of high technology.
And then, as if the pipe had been listening, it began to rise. It slid noiselessly out of the main pipe until its top was as high as a street light. Section by section it extended, like a tall, slender telescope. Turran and Brad stood back, slightly afraid but curious. There didn't seem to be any real danger. But the unusual behaviour of the pole made them back off. Carefully.
"I'm getting my camera!" said Brad.
Turran ran after him.
From the safety of the Rover the strange object seemed insignificant. It was just a very stick in the desert; a line as thin as a hair against the blue-green ocean of sky.
When Brad returned, the pole had stopped rising. Its red light was a tiny eye of light far above him. This, he realized, was going to be one of the dumbest photographs he had ever taken.
Turran posed in front of the pole while his father snapped three pictures. Then he stood behind it. And leaned against it. The pole remained exactly where it was. It was much stronger than it looked.
"What's it for?" asked Turran.
"I don't know!" said Brad "You activated it by turning the top part. That suggests to me that it was designed to be activated that way, but I have no idea why?"
Turran saw it first.
"Look! Up there!" he said, pointing.
The top of the pole was splitting four ways, splitting the flower shape as it parted. Slowly, a seam which had not been visible at first, was now running the length of the pole downwards towards the ground. The four sections of the pipe were bending outwards, curving out and descending, coming closer to the ground. Brad and Turran ran to get out of the way. They were just in time.
Each of the four sections reached the ground ,
