Zak had curled himself over Pixie as if protecting her from some sort of onslaught, as if the ceiling might fall. It was more than Shana could take. “What can I do?” she asked Tanya, who shook her head again.
“Please get Zak out of here. I need to take care of Pixie.” At this, Pixie wailed harder. Tanya gave Shana a long look, then leaned forward and gave Pixie a shot in the arm. Almost instantly, she calmed down. Tanya turned seamlessly and injected Zak as well. He too relaxed.
“C’mon, Zak,” Shana muttered, “let Tanya do what she can.” Zak allowed himself to be pulled back to the control room, while Tanya took care of the unpleasant task of removing the lifeless fetus; she knocked Pixie out first, and then kept her sedated for a couple of days, as every time she awoke she seemed unable to do anything but cry.
Zak did the best he could under the circumstances, by letting Pixie know that the timing had been off and they’d be able to have a child as soon as they had a new home. It didn’t help, of course but it was all anyone could do. Time would have to heal her.
The time spent traveling to the third planet seemed to take forever and tempers were getting short. They argued over almost everything and didn’t even have the distraction of passing the forth planet because it was out of position for a pass. As the third planet began to grow in their view screen it looked more and more like Earth with its polar caps, continents and oceans. During the last couple of days of their approach, moods slowly improved with the prospects of being able to settle somewhere, even if only for a while.
Pixie came out of her room, finally, groomed and looking tired but steady.
“Sorry for all the ruckus,” she smiled wanly at the group.
Shana jumped up and hugged her. “You cause a ruckus any time you want to, little pixie,” she said.
Pixie hugged her back, then pulled away and in a business-like manner, asked, “Alright, somebody give me an update on what we’ve got here.”
Kelsan laughed out loud.
“Elton, pull up the vids for the lady, let her see our next potential planet!” The view was beautiful; a big blue marble growing bigger by the minute.
“It’s incredibly beautiful,” gasped Pixie. “It was worth waking up for.”
Everyone smiled; it was good to see Pixie back.
Finally the day came, that they entered into orbit and began scanning and getting good views of the surface. It was more promising than they had dared hope. As they circled the planet, they saw a number of active volcanoes, numerous islands, some of which were volcanic in origin, but no obvious signs of civilization. There were trees and abundant animal life, some in herds like the typical grazers, and grassland, deserts and huge mountain ranges. There were jungles near the equator as well as the deserts and if not for the lack of cities and villages, it could have been Earth or Reesh. Or Untra, Elton reminded them, when Zak made this observation aloud, and this sobered them up quickly. They were determined not to idealize anything until they had sufficient data.
The recorded temperatures on Three ranged from well below zero at the poles to about one hundred ten at the equator, actually closer to one twenty in the desert.
After several orbits they picked a promising area to land. It was their preferred location where rivers— in this case, three—converged and emptied into the sea.
Their chosen landing spot was about seven hundred miles north of the equator and about six miles from the ocean. They’d have landed closer but the delta was too close to sea level and with tidal influence and possible river flooding they decided it was better to start at a higher elevation. It was a half mile to the smaller of the two major rivers and well above any expected flooding during a potential rainy season as was likely to exist there. The nearest volcano was almost a hundred miles away, and the tectonic plates were far off shore so the area should be stable enough for secure living.
They landed in a small clearing where they’d see any large approaching threats with ample time to react. The significant small wildlife and birds spotted from above meant that there were bound to be predators. As soon as they got set up for staying a while, they’d send out a few drones to see what was in the nearby hills. The real exploration of the planet would have to be done with the saucer looking for other potential sites for dwellings in the future and also, to see if anything resembling early humans existed on the planet. So far, they’d seen no evidence of higher sentience, but it seemed unlikely that a planet could have all they’d seen so far without something of an advanced nature already existing there. They made every effort to avoid getting overly hopeful.
As soon as they landed, Gemma’s Strider went out and got samples for DNA tests. It took only twenty minutes for her verdict. It was a DNA match, and the atmosphere was breathable. They opened the airlock and stepped outside. The air was fresh and clean. The temperature was in the seventies at mid morning and near perfect for the late spring season they were in the middle of.
“My god, it’s beautiful here,” Pixie breathed.
“Too perfect,” said Zak. “It seems as if there should be humans here already.”
“Nothing we can detect,” Gemma countered. “So far we’ve seen rodents and small mammals but nothing larger than a dog or house cat except for the grazers that look like bison, and a fair variety of birds and insects, but nothing to indicate a sentient species or any level of civilization or technology.”
They all knew that it would have been hard to spot primitive dwellings on their initial scans but they’d seen nothing even close to the villages they’d found on Untra.
“In those small mountains nearby, there may be cave dwellers,” said Elton. “I agree with Zak. It seems impossible that there isn’t some more advanced type of creatures here with the conditions being this close to Earth conditions, based on our experience so far.”
“Well, we haven’t had much time to really examine the area yet; something will probably turn up that we couldn’t see from the air,” said Shana. “I don’t want to get my hopes up, but imagine if this place is all that it seems to be. Can you imagine a world this ideal just waiting for us? If we could only get Prometheus here, it would be perfect.”
Tanya said, disheartened, “I expect we’ll find some sort of problem here. I’m beginning to doubt we’ll ever find a home.”
“Cheer up,” said Kelsan. “I have a good feeling about this place.”
Tanya put on a brave face but it was clearly forced. “The sooner we do some real exploring the better; I don’t want to get my hopes up again.”
“Tanya’s right,” said Shana.
“I think we should check the mountain caves for signs of life,” suggested Elton. “If there are primitive humanoids here, that seems like the likeliest place we will find them.”
“We’ll take the Wanderer,” said Shana. “Gemma, can you take us to the nearest mountains at very low altitude? Let’s try to find a cave system to investigate.”
“Okay, just give cap and I a few minutes to load a little rock for fuel before we go hovering a lot,” said Gemma.
It took only a few minutes flight to locate a sizable cave.
“See that?”Elton pointed to a worn trail leading up to the cave. It was not large, but it was certainly a sign of some sort of life.
“Shall I send the Striders to take a look?” Gemma asked.
Shana hesitated. “I don’t know. If those are our new neighbors, I don’t want to terrify them. No offense.”
“None taken,” said Gemma, and for effect her Strider stood up from the corner and gave a spidery bow to the room. They all laughed.
“Alright, we’ll all go then,” Elton said.
“Agreed. But even so, I want everyone armed to the teeth,” ordered Shana. “There could be anything in that cave.”
“I have one of the obsidian-like swords from New Reesh,” said Elton. “Should I bring it for close range if we need it?” He had been unexpectedly adept at swordplay in their physical training on Prometheus, and clearly wouldn�
�t mind having a chance to test his skill.
“It can’t hurt,” said Shana.
They stepped out of the airlock and headed uphill toward the cave, having to go single file up the steep, rocky terrain.
There were sounds coming from the cave as they got close, a sort of low-level screeching, like monkeys. They slowed their approach. Things got suddenly quiet and they stopped just about twenty feet from the entrance to the cave. There was definitely something inside.
Kelsan got out his flashlight and, waving the others behind him, slowly started in, shining the light in front of him. He suddenly stopped, and took a step back. “Ugh,” he said, looking down at his boots. He’d stepped in something.
“Well, there’s definitely something living here,” he announced over his shoulder, and carefully scraped his boot off on a nearby rock. As he did, the excrement, which had squished when he stepped in it, seemed to become brittle and then break into a fine powder, as if the friction of rubbing against the rock changed its structure.
“At least that’s easy to clean up, but what a bizarre material; we’ll have to get a sample and see what its composition is because that simply isn’t natural,” Pixie remarked, impressed.
“Yeah,” said Shana taking a phial out and scraping and bit of the powdered residue into it. This should be interesting.”
“Let’s try this again,” Kelsan said, and started again into the cave, watching his step.
Shana was too curious to stay back, and was close on his heels, shining her own torch into the darkness. Whatever was in there, there was more than one. They both drew their pistols and set them for non-lethal as they proceeded. “There’s no point in not being prepared,” she said quietly, almost a whisper in an attempt to not scare whatever was in there. No telling what reaction you could get if you scare even a normally non-aggressive animal. Far to the back of the cave several small creatures were trying to hide behind the rocks. It was hard to get a good look at them but they appeared to be covered in grey fur and to have two arms. The rocks hid the lower parts of their bodies. They had stopped screeching and were instead making a soft simpering noise—whispering to each other? Or just scared? It was hard to tell.
“Are they a threat?” muttered Kelsan.
Shana took a step past Kelsan, and he grabbed her arm to stop her from going forward. “Are you crazy?” he snapped.
Shana had not stopped watching the creatures, however. At her move, they appeared to cower behind the rock. “I don’t think they’re a threat.” she answered, hopefully. “Let’s back up and see if they warm up to us.”
Kelsan looked annoyed, but they pulled back from the mouth of the cave, keeping their torches shining, so they could see inside.
After about an hour, when they had all settled into seated positions around the cave, and Shana was about to suggest that they give up, one of the creatures stepped from behind its rock. It shuffled slowly toward them, kicking up a fine layer of dust as it went. It stopped half way through the cave. It stood less than three feet tall and looked unlike anything they’d ever seen. Though it was covered in fur and had two arms and two legs, the arms seemed to have extra joints and swiveled in more directions than a human arm. The legs had an extra joint as well. The creature’s head was the strangest thing of all, semi-triangular or cone-like, with the point at the top. There was no apparent neck; the thing surveyed the crew by pivoting at its midsection. Another creature came up behind the first, and they both began rotating their triangle heads to get a good look at the crew, revealing three large eyes, evenly spaced around the head-cone.
“They must have great peripheral vision,” Elton said softly, so as not the startle them.
“Probably three-sixty,” suggested Shana, as she very slowly stood up, beckoning the others to do the same. She backed up a little more from the cave, and the rest of the crew followed suit. It was an attempt to get the lead creature to come closer to the light of the cave entrance. It worked; the thing didn’t seem particularly scared, now that he was out in the open, only curious. The little guys both had rather bushy tails, not too long, maybe a foot to a foot and a half. They could have been large squirrel tails, but they hung behind the creatures limply, instead of curling up. Despite their alien anatomy, Shana thought their overall appearance was akin to strangely-shaped rodents.
Shana was tempted to offer the leader a fruit bar or something else to eat but was afraid of making it ill, knowing absolutely nothing about their diet or digestive systems. There was no evidence of sentience except their curiosity and the noises they had made, which may have signified verbal communications, but was just as likely simply animal sounds.
There were no bones on the floor of the cave so it was probable that they were herbivores (or, Kelsan pointed out wryly, tidy eaters). They displayed no signs of aggression and made no apparent attempts to try to communicate with the crew, so after some time, the crew slowly backed down the hill. The creatures watched them leave.
“Now that is what I’d call some weird creatures,” said Pixie when they’d gone halfway back to the ship.
“Homely is probably more accurate,” Tanya said.
Gemma’s hologram appeared beside them. “I don’t think they’re sentient to any degree but they might be friendly after a while if nobody hurts or scares them. Frankly, I thought they were kind of cute.”
“Definitely in their behavior, looks aside,” Pixie said.
There was general agreement with her statement. “I think we need to check around some other caves and see what else dwells in them,” said Shana. “One cave isn’t enough to tell us a lot.”
“Definitely,” said Gemma. “Caves are the natural homes for all kinds of creatures, but I was glad to see some inhabited by seemingly innocuous creatures; it’s a good sign.”
After five more caves, the worst thing they came across was a bear-creature about six feet tall when it stood, with beautiful thick fur, black and white stripes in an intricate pattern—and it ran from them.
The strange creatures they had seen in the first cave were in two others, and on further review of their anatomy, Shana could see that their arms actually came out of their heads, and that the midsection was both neck and torso. They seemed to be timid, and Pixie finally said, probably half-joking, “That’s it; I want one as a pet!”
Next, they took a trip down to the equatorial region, using the Wanderer, and there they found monkeys, but they were strictly tree dwellers and didn’t pay very much attention to the invading humans. Their diet appeared to be some orange and purple fruits growing in the trees they made their homes.
After gathering samples of the fruit, the crew took a quick trip south first, and then north, to check the life forms residing in those regions. They identified only two large animals: the short -snouted black and white bears, and a large, rusty-colored elephantine beast with a short trunk and long tusks, reminiscent of an Earth elephant (which is what they called them). The elephants seemed to range just south of the northern ice sheet, but none were seen in the southern hemisphere.
Everywhere they went there were herds of hoofed mammals that reminded them of deer, though they each sported a single long, straight horn instead of dual antlers.
“Unicorns!” Pixie said with delight.
Zak said, “We can’t call them unicorns if we intend to treat them as livestock, or even eat them.” Pixie made a disapproving face. “See!” Zak exclaimed. “You’ve just made my point!”
They felt the deer would add nicely to their own livestock, and could possibly be herded and used even before their own species were raised from suspension. The bison too would probably be a good protein source and might be made domestic eventually. The fruit tested as safe to eat, and they all agreed to try it. They sliced one up and each took a piece. “Ok, here goes nothing!” Elton said, and popped his into his mouth. His eyes began to water. “Sour,” he said.
Kelsan grunted, “It’s delicious,” and grabbed a second piece. Shana suspected he was j
ust doing it to give Elton a hard time. The fruit was sour, with a strange sweetness that was unlike the fruit she was used to. They might not make it an immediate staple, but eventually with sugar or honey added it would likely make its way into their regular diets, as they assimilated themselves into the natural biosphere of the planet.
All in all, the trip assured them that this was going to be the best world for their first settlement. Not long after their explorations were complete, which took almost a week, the probe from planet Four returned. It appeared to be almost equally habitable, with significant mineral resources and a breathable atmosphere. It, too, appeared uninhabited by any sentient beings; although Gemma reported that the probe had sampled a strong neurotoxin in the air in several locations. On review, these were concentrated over large hive-like mounds where long lizards moved in and out of multiple cave-like entrances. As long as they avoided those lizards, a colony would likely do quite well on Four; but they had decided on Three as their home.
They began building camp all over again, and sent out a continuous streaming message with their coordinates based on the stars as they could see them, hoping Prometheus would get it, and would somehow figure out how to reach them. The entire crew, when not working on construction, was working on star charts, using data recorded at each of their many jumps. It was like building a puzzle the size of the Hydrop, but with only one tenth of the pieces. Still, it was important work, and they kept at it. Nobody wanted to travel again; it was time to colonize their new home.
Hope
After three weeks of steady work, they had constructed a Synth, and had adequate shelter to begin the next phase of colonizing. It was hard to think about setting up a colony before they’d reached Prometheus, but they knew there was no other option, and contented themselves with planning to make the world—which they decided to call Hope—as perfect as possible in case the Prometheus, or at least it’s people, would one day be able to join them.
Eventually, they would need to bring some of the suspended embryos out, a few at a time, and start raising children. How many at a time was the cause of much debate. There would need to be enough at one time to allow them time to grow up and propagate in sufficient numbers for the colony to survive, but not so many that they couldn’t keep up with them all. It would be a daunting task for all concerned, considering that they had to do the same with livestock and plants so that they wouldn’t be dependent on Synth items alone.
Starborn Odyssey: Voyage of the Lost (The Starborn Odyssey Trilogy Book 3) Page 15