Starborn Odyssey: Voyage of the Lost (The Starborn Odyssey Trilogy Book 3)

by Haines Sigurdsson

  They continued to build up the village. For one of the planned storage buildings, they chose to try their hands at building from native lumber which meant having to set up a small saw mill near the edge of the forest, and learn how to cut trees. Most of the trees in their area weren’t really big so it took a fair number just to build a small storage unit. It turned out to be a lot harder than they expected, and too time consuming for any major projects, but at least they gained experience and knew that if push came to shove, they could do it.

  As the months went by, the fetuses were growing rapidly in their tanks and the crops and newly planted trees were coming along beautifully. The work load was almost overwhelming. Rest and relaxation was now a thing of the past!

  “Will it always be this hectic?” asked Pixie one day. “I mean, have we made a mistake in doing so much at one time?”

  “I think we’ve done what had to be done,” said Shana.

  Pixie signed. “I want to start a family of my own, but honestly, Zak and I are both so exhausted at the end of the day, we fall asleep before we even have time to cuddle, not to mention anything more interesting. It’s hard to get pregnant that way!” She laughed.

  Shana laughed with her. “Frankly, I don’t think I could handle the work load if I was pregnant; could you?”

  “Definitely not,” answered Pixie. “Maybe we should make more Striders than planned?”

  “No; I think things will be confusing enough as it is,” Shana responded. “The next few years are definitely going to test our limits—but we have to muscle through it. An error on our part or not, we’re already on the path so we’ll have to live with it. Think about it. In just a few months, we’ll all be parents—of fifty babies!”

  “I was afraid you’d say that,” said Pixie with a sigh. “Zak says we should wait to start our own family until we have the other children at least out of diapers and I suppose he’s right.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he’s right,” Shana said. “My goals are not as lofty as a family. I just want to do some exploring— it’s been too long! But that isn’t going to happen for a while either. Hey, shoo!” That was directed at Dee, who had come into the opened ship and was leaving rapidly with a handful of carrots.

  Dee leaped straight in the air and dropped some of the carrots, and skittered off away from Shana. “You come back and put those back!” Shana called after him, but he just chittered at her and kept moving. Dee and Dum were almost always around, and were not exactly banned from the ship—it was kind of nice to have them wandering about with their strange pointy heads and single-minded charm. It was a miracle that the Teddies could survive, with the presence of a number of predators big enough to harm them. Then again, despite any claws, they had means of protecting themselves. They were great climbers and could run fast enough to get away from most creatures as long as there was something they could climb. Pixie had been witness to one of the other Teddies, not Dee or Dum, fighting off a small wolf-like creature by hitting with and throwing sticks; so they could also use tools.

  “I hope we’re helping them, and not hurting them,” Shana muttered, watching Dee’s flight from her stern words. “I’d hate to stunt their evolution.”

  Pixie laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about them. They are a lot tougher than they look, probably a lot tougher and more adaptable than us.” Shana grinned in agreement.

  A month before the babies were due to be awakened, Gemma and Cap brought the Exostrider crew to life. They had the base bodies of mining robots, like Gemma and Cap’s Striders, with combined solar and nuclear power cells, which would be good for several years at a time so service wouldn’t be frequent.

  Physically, the Exostriders looked vaguely human, but only from the waist up. A genderless, metallic, humanoid torso emerged from a mining robot’s eight-legged base, positioned directly above the front legs, given them an almost centaur-spider look. The Striders’ hands had three opposable digits, like the Reeshians, and the Striders wore long cloth gloves and vests so they could gently handle the babies. They provided all the benefits of a nursemaid, with the incredible balance, agility, strength, and dexterity that their robot legs provided, and the endless energy of a non-organic fuel source. Elton early on had referred to the Striders’ “spider bodies,” but Pixie gave him such a hard look that he relented, and agreed that Exostrider was a far preferable name. The Striders’ vid-screen holographic faces were reminiscent of the crew member they mirrored, as if they were siblings. Gemma and Cap had given them each a name that was derivative of their counterparts, borrowing, with adjustments for language, a Fenninz naming pattern, as a way to honor the first alien culture their ancestors had encountered. Shana’s Strider was called H’Shana.

  The initial introductions were exceedingly disconcerting, but after a while, working side by side with the Striders, the crew became more comfortable with them. They were a cheerful bunch—like they were made up of only the best of each crew member, lacking in doubt or fear or insecurity. While the programming did help avoid such common pitfalls, the robots were still very human, but with a perfect memory and a basic Link connection to the main computer database for any additional knowledge! They did not, however, have access to the programs that would allow them to take control of any computer systems, or replicate themselves. That was a thing that it was agreed between Gem, Cap and the crew, just as a precaution against future problems like that had occurred on Earth a hundred or so years before; power could be addictive for some personalities.

  One day, while working together on setting up a small Synth in the medical lab building, one of the outlying buildings first completed, Shana glanced over at H’Shana, the gleaming spider legs working precisely and rapidly, a small contented smile on her face. H’Shana was humming.

  “I don’t hum when I work,” Shana said, bemused.

  H’Shana stopped, and looked at her body-double. “No?” She asked. Her hologram face frowned. H’Shana had dark hair and large eyes, much prettier, Shana thought, than she was. “I think you do hum,” H’Shana concluded. “In any case, I do, and that’s close enough, isn’t it?” She smiled.

  Shana laughed. “I suppose so!” She thought back to all of the data, stories, and thoughts she had poured into Gemma’s program to create this being. She decided to test it with a memory from her own secret past. No one but H’Shana, and, she supposed now Gemma and Cap, would know it. But she wondered how H’Shana would perceive it. How far did the similarities between them go?

  “Do you remember the time I snuck into the storage area of the Prometheus fetus storage compartment to see what a fetus looked like?” Shana asked, out of nowhere.

  H’Shana gave a surprised laugh. “Yeah, of course, I thought if they caught me I’d be put in detention forever,” she responded. “I still worry to this day that if they found out, they’d punish me in some horrible way!”

  They both laughed at the idea of still being haunted by a childish fear of punishment. Shana stopped and reached out to take H’Shana’s metallic and bio-vinyl humanoid hand. “I apologize for being so nervous about meeting you,” said Shana. “I honestly don’t quite know how to act.”

  “Of course I know that,” answered H’Shana. “The good part is, as I know you’re aware, from now on we’ll each have our separate thoughts and experiences; that should relieve the tension between us as time goes on. We can think of each other as separate people, not as copies! Of course, once again, I know that’s exactly what you’re thinking because we were thinking it before the transfer. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to try and establish my own identity as will you, but you also know that,” she laughed.

  “Well, at least I don’t need to explain my actions and thoughts with you,” said Shana. “It’s nice to have someone who understands and has, at least for the moment, identical priorities. We’re close to waking up the babies. And then, once a routine is settled, we can do the next exploration run; I can’t wait.”

  “I’m so afraid we’ll find something that
will make the colony unsafe or inappropriate to establish,” said H’Shana. “It’s happened so many times before . . . “she shook her head. “But enough of that. I know we have a good feeling about this place so we’ll try to keep our outlook positive.”

  “I was thinking the exact same thing,” Shana said, and then laughed a little nervously.

  “The more time we spend apart,” H’Shana replied with a half smile, “the less that will happen. I wonder if we will become very different over time, or if our personalities will evolve similarly, only with different memories.”

  “I don’t know,” Shana said truthfully. The two looked at each other in wonder. What a strange, surreal world they were living in.

  “How are the other Striders getting along with their doubles?” Shana asked after a moment. The Striders tended to separate off on their own in the evening when the humans ate; already creating some degree of separation. But it did not seem to be harmful, only practical. Why waste time watching the humans eat when they could be discussing their new lives with each other? They weren’t connected to a common memory with each other although they could make emergency contact with one another, through their Link connection. In that instance the main computer bank would assist in connecting them for survival purposes. Gemma could make the decision as to whether more access was appropriate or needed. It was good to know that she managed things like that.

  “Everyone’s going through about the same thing as we are,” H’Shana shrugged. “Except for Kelsan and Kel’sar; they are both a little wary and disconcerted by the other. Once again, I expect it’s because they are identical right now. That should change fairly rapidly as they perform separate functions, don’t you think?”

  Shana laughed. “Yes, I’m not surprised. But I’m sure they’ll grow on one another and recognize each other as separate entities.” For her own sake, Shana enjoyed the company of the other Striders. El’ken was perhaps her favorite. He had all of Elton’s sense of humor and gentleness, in almost exaggerated proportions. Of course, the Striders were programmed without sexuality, and those types of memories were not included in their programming; but they did have affection, and El’ken’s attitude made it very clear that his affection (and therefore Elton’s) for both Shana and H’Shana was strong.

  With help from the Striders, work on things progressed much more rapidly, and by the time the babies were “ripe,” as Zak put it, the colony infrastructure was solid enough and ready for use. All but seven of the initial fifty embryos had survived the entire process; of the seven, most had failed to come out of suspension at all, and one that had failed at an early stage, saddening everyone. They hypothesized that all of the non-space jumps had been too much for some of the delicate cell clusters; they were lucky to have so many successful attempts. Even with the reduction in numbers, raising 43 babies, not to mention any biological children of their own, would be no small task. But they were ready for it. At least, they hoped they were.

  At long last, the first of the children was brought out of gestation. The entire crew, including the Striders and Gemma and Cap in their robot forms, gathered in the nursery as Tanya gently extracted the first baby from his soupy gestational sac, swathing him in a blanket and carefully wiping his face. The baby was a mix of Reeshian and Earthling, with darkish skin but pale pink hair. He opened his eyes, a bright violet color, at the same moment he opened his mouth and let out a raspy, pitiful cry.

  “Oh, he’s angry,” Pixie said, reaching out for him. Tanya handed him over with a grin and Pixie looked down into his little face, transfixed. “It’s alright my little darling,” she murmured, bouncing him gently in the crook of her arm. He looked up at her and stopped crying, gazing at her intensely, as if trying to figure out if she belonged to him. They had all read to the babies and worked in the nursery over the past few months, to familiarize the babes with their voices, and he seemed to recognize Pixie’s — although Gemma and Cap’s voices were undoubtedly the ones they had heard the most.

  “Here,” Kelsan said, handing Pixie a small warm bottle of synthetic milk. “Let’s see if he likes it.” Pixie offered the nipple of the bottle to the baby and he latched onto it after only a brief moment of hesitation. Pixie looked up, tears in her eyes.

  “I want to call him Krenek,” she said, “For all of the people on Untra.” A tear spilled down her cheek.

  Shana heard Elton’s breath catch.

  “Oh,” she sighed, “Yes, I think that’s a perfect name, for a perfect baby.” The others agreed.

  And so, Krenek was the first human born on Hope. They awoke four more that first day, and then waited three weeks to awaken the next five, to ensure that they didn’t run into any unexpected issues. Shana was afraid they would become too attached to the first group of babies, and be worn out by the time the last was born, but that was not the case. Each child that was born stole their hearts as much as the first. By the time the third batch of babies was born, both Tanya and Pixie were a month pregnant themselves, despite Pixie’s earlier protestations to Shana. The Striders, who did not need sleep, handled a good portion of the childcare so the workload was easier than Shana had feared, but they were still all very busy every waking moment. They had a brood of little ones to take care of, and they quickly became the focus of everyone’s world.

  About a month after last of the Prometheus kids were born, Shana discovered that she was pregnant as well, so the pack of little ones was already going to increase. The colony was growing rapidly.

  Gemma oversaw everything, including childcare curriculum, to insure that each of the children had a fair amount of personal attention both from humans and Striders. Memorizing the baby names was a problem for humans at first, but nothing name tags and helpful reminders from the Striders couldn’t fix!

  “Oh, to have that memory,” thought Shana, enviously watching H’Shana with the children.

  Time began to move very quickly, and worries about exploration, or crystal drives, and even Prometheus, were set aside in favor of the intensive requirements of day to day managing of the colony.

  Shana was deep asleep, arms wrapped around little Ian, who, at four, looked just like his namesake on Prometheus, who clearly had contributed something to his genetics. He had been bitten by an insect, and the bite had swollen up, bright red and violent looking. Terrified, Shana and Pixie had rushed out to try to find the culprit, and Tanya worked with Gemma to control the allergic reaction. No one, till that point, had shown any allergies to local animals or plants, and they weren’t able to identify exactly what insect caused the issue. Luckily, Ian responded quickly to Tanya’s medical care, and he was fine; but they were still worried, and Shana had decided to keep Ian with her for the night. Elton slept across the bed from her, and their daughter, Lilly, was in the nursery with the other babies. It was decided that overt favoritism for biological children should be minimized as much as humanly possible.

  “Shana!” It was Gemma’s voice. Shana’s eyes popped open, but she didn’t jump up; she glanced around slowly, to avoid jostling the toddler next to her. Gemma’s hologram was next to the bed. Elton had sat up, and Shana, detangling herself from the warm little bundle that was Ian, sat up too.

  “What is it?”

  “Come to the control center,” Gemma said. “I’m gathering the others, all who can be spared; we have news.”

  “Well, that’s cryptic,” Elton sighed, standing to dress. “It’s the middle of the night; it must be important.”

  When the entire human crew, and all of the Striders except Kel’sar and Ash’Tanya, who were on nursery watch, were in the colony control room, Gemma explained why she had awaken them.

  “A space ship just passed over us,” she said calmly. “It was on what appeared to be a landing trajectory just to the north!”

  “Do you think it might be one of ours?” asked Pixie hopefully. “Is it possible that maybe the mini-saucer was able to learn to navigate, or communicate with Prometheus?”

  “I’ve receive
d no second communication from the mini-saucer,” said Gemma flatly, “And I don’t think it’s wise to expect to at this point. No, I don’t think it’s human. We may be about to find out who else is out here and if so, if they’re friendly . . . or not.”

  The idea of other intelligent life visiting them was both exciting and scary at the same time.

  “How much were you able to capture on scans?” Kelsan asked, face calm but eyes bright, ready to defend the colony if need be. “How big was it?”

  “Its mass is at least four times the mass of the Wanderer,” Gemma said.

  “Are you sure?” asked Shana.

  “That’s a definite,” said Gemma. “And its configuration and even its power source were unreadable to our system. I’ve checked our files to see if it was an insectoid ship, or even one of the ones from that more human saucer found by Prometheus’ crew years ago; no similarity there either. Wherever it came from and whatever it is, it’s completely unfamiliar—not even thrusters that give off a residue. I’m almost sure that it’s the same as the meteor we saw a few years back. If I’d had sensors trained in full fashion at that time, I would have known that was why I couldn’t find any traces before. It’s like they wanted to be seen, but didn’t want to stop and chat.”

  Shana looked around at the others; each mirrored her own stunned expression.

  H’Shana spoke up. “Do you think we could track it down if we took a quick trip around the planet?”

  “I doubt we could find them unless they want to be found,” said Gemma. “Perhaps they’ll come to us, now that they’ve done their survey flight.

  “Ok,” said Shana, “What do you suggest?”

  “We can send a probe around the area near us just in case they did land close by, but I don’t want to get your hopes up,” said Gemma. “Frankly, their technology is so far ahead of ours or at least so different that I think if they meant us harm, we wouldn’t stand a chance. We can keep our laze cannon at the ready, but I think we’ll have to let them make the first move.”