Setting Stone (short story)

Setting Stone was the eighth story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology A Life of Surprises. It was written by Mark Stevens.

Plot
Benny goes with Joseph and Adrian to a seemingly uninhabited planet to investigate a series of ruins. They meet Nina, a young girl who takes Benny to a courtyard of hundreds of statues whilst Adrian takes their spacecraft into orbit due to the planet's conditions.

Benny learns that the statues were once the family and supporters of a cruel Emperor who usurped power in the name of the common people. He was defeated and his supporters turned to stone by a weapon supplied to the rebels by a race of aliens brought to the planet by a man and a woman who travelled in a blue box. Centuries have passed since then and the statues have used their collective mental energy to restore the Emperor's daughter long enough to share their story with Benny. Benny apologises and Nina turns to stone once more.

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Joseph
 * Peter Summerfield
 * Adrian Wall
 * Nina

Worldbuilding

 * The planet has a green sun.

Continuity
to be added