Cooker Island (short story)

Cooker Island was the second story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology Secret Histories. It was written by Paul Farnsworth.

Summary
Bernice is part of an archaeological expedition on an uninhabited planet. Leading the expedition is Professor Eastlight, son of legendary adventurer Sir Leonard Eastlight. Eastlight's son Richard is one of the students.

One night, Benny hears a strange sound and goes to investigate. Richard and Gavin have heard it too. They are attacked by something large and loud. They run, and Benny trips. When it moves closer, she realises that it's a fridge. She hits it with a branch and runs off. Richard shoots it. Then he shows Benny another odd sight: a thousand gas cookers roaming a flood plain.

Back at the camp, the Professor and his students discuss what they've seen. They come to some kind of conclusion that there are living appliances on this planet. Richard wants to explore, but his father thinks they are ill-equipped to handle something like this. Richard angrily states that his grandfather wouldn't have made that decision.

Richard tells Benny about his adventurer grandfather, who went missing while on a survey trip. Benny tells Richard that his father changed his mind about exploring.

As the group explores the planet, they come across several more "living" appliances and discuss the possibilities of these life forms existing through evolution. They even encounter the fridge that attacked last night.

To their surprise, they also discover a wrecked ship. It had been carrying a cargo of faulty appliances. A voice comes from the wreckage. They discover a human head attached to cables. Shockingly, it is Sir Leonard, Professor Eastlight's presumed-dead father.

His ship crashed in the jungle and he used the fauna of the planet to fix himself. Richard thinks it's great, but Professor Eastlight isn't so sure. Sir Leonard wants to turn this planet into "Cooker Island", an attraction for tourists to visit, with himself as the main attraction. He insults his son, who won't let him follow his plans. Sir Leonard has the fridge attack Richard, but Professor Eastlight sacrifices himself to save his son. Bernice kills the fridge, and Sir Leonard was killed in the attack. Benny comforts Richard. They all decide to keep this place a secret.

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Richard Eastlight
 * Professor Eastlight
 * Sir Leonard Eastlight
 * Laura
 * Gavin

Continuity
to be added