“I think I’m going to need that bath now.” She tells Talon.
“Actually, we have a dilemma here.” Cassie states. “Not only do we need a pail to fetch the water; we need something we can heat it in without burning the container.”
“I could go back to the ship,” Talon suggests. “And get some metal to make a flat grill. But what can we use for a pail?” he asks.
“I’ve got metal containers we can use in the greenhouse, assuming they’re not damaged.” Noah answers. “They were made for space travel.”
“It sounds like we could make this a dual-purpose trip, then.” Talon answers. “Both Noah and I can go back to the ship for what we just discussed, and also we could test the shuttle pod.”
“Makes sense.” I comment. “When would you like to leave?”
“We could leave at first light.” Talon answers. “How about it, Noah?”
“Yeah. Might as well. I’ll check the comms on the shuttle pod while we’re in flight.” He answers.
We all head down to the stream to wash off the pig grease.
“Just remember Talon and Noah. We can’t trust that blue haze portal. I recommend a very short flight, and then both of you return and report.”
“Agreed.” Talon replies. “The hike up should be easier to follow since Noah marked the path and we’ve cleared most of it.”
“We’ll expect you back in probably four days. But to you it will mostly seem like two.” I tell them. “Well build a couple of more huts and the girls can weave some hammocks.”
Once again, we all sleep on the ground. Again, I keep the fire burning as protection for everyone. The next morning Talon and Noah awake early and head back to the ship for the tasks they have volunteered for.
THE FLIGHT TEST
Noah and I head back up the canyon to return to the Genesis.
We look for the ropes Noah tied and they all seem to be well-placed.
“Nice job, Noah. What made you think of this?”
“I have a very high-case of self-preservation.” He remarks. “My mother left my father and me. Dad was older. Much older than my mother. She married too young, I guess. Sometimes if I didn’t take charge, things never got done.”
“How about you, Talon? Did you have any family?”
“I grew up with a family...Mom, Dad...but they died twenty years ago in a boating accident. “My sister lived in Nadon with her husband and two children. I haven’t seen them in two years. I’m sure they’re gone now.”
“Did you have a girlfriend?”
“I was so career-minded in becoming a doctor and my scientific interests that I failed to socialize like I should have. That and I’m a little shy with women, I admit.”
“Come on. The Great Talon? Shy? I don’t believe that.” Noah comments. “I thought you had everything going for yourself. You could have any woman you want with your lifestyle.”
I laugh. “You’d be surprised, Noah. It’s not that easy.”
We walk a ways and I think of seeing Noah and Deonna together. I saw Deonna place her hand over his earlier.
“It seems to me you’re favored by Deonna.” I remark.
“Maybe...” Noah says. “I certainly wouldn’t mind. Technically, she is available. But is she ready for that, yet?”
“So you are attracted to Deonna,” I ask.
“Of course I am. I’d be crazy if I wasn’t, wouldn’t I?” Noah states. “What about you? Are you interested in her?”
“I won’t stand in your way, Noah. If you and Deonna are happy together, that’s what is important. She needs someone. She needs to be happy.”
We’ve been hiking for two hours and we come to the steeper part of the shelf where we previously stopped on our way down the mountain.
“I like this valley.” Noah states. “Good farm land.”
“Says the man with.....”
“Watch out, Talon!” Noah yells. He pulls me as something lunges at me.
“What was that?” I ask.
“You just about walked into it.” Noah states. “It was as long as a pole but about four inches thick. And it had fangs. I think you were supposed to be breakfast.”
“My thanks, Noah. I wonder if it’s poisonous.” “Doesn’t matter,” Noah states. “Not if it eats you.”
We continue up to the switchbacks and streams. The water is much colder now. All the more reason we need to build better shelter, I think to myself. I begin to plan to keep my mind off Deonna. It looks like Noah has won the prize, I lament. Some things never change.
We finally reach the emerald lake. Looks like it’s snowed up here a bit. But it’s not deep. We reach the Genesis and pass through the blue haze.
“The weather on this side is much gentler now.” Noah comments. We head outside of the ship and a good deal of the snow has melted.
“Let’s get this door opened to the shuttle pod.” I suggest.
Normally, in space you could climb into the shuttle pod, flip a switch, and the shuttle would eject into space. But since we’re not in space we have to open the door and lift the large pod from its storage place. It’s surprisingly light.
“It’s getting too late to do a test flight, Noah. Let’s spend the night in the ship and take the test flight in the morning.”
Noah agrees. The ship is warmer and we find rations for dinner and breakfast. It rains during the night. But no wind, thankfully. We rise early, eat and head to the pod.
There are two doors to the two adjacent seats, one on each side of the shuttle. We each climb in. There is a display panel in front of each of us. We pull our doors shut and buckle in.
“Let’s see if she still works.” I comment as I push a button. Happily, it hums and resonates. “I believe if I push this forward it will just hover.” The craft rises about three feet from the ground.
“It’s working!” Noah cries. “Here’s the comm,” He adds. “It looks like it just sends out a beacon signal. There’s no way to send a message with this thing.” Noah then activates the beacon. “Who knows? Somebody might find us. Where did you learn to fly, Talon?”
“Korban taught me.” I laugh. “And I’ve watched him as well. Not much more to do between locations, you know. Up we go.” We go up about 2000 cubits and look around. We can see mountains for about 30 parlongs and view endless snow. “It’s nice to be in the air flying again! I’ll set our present coordinates, so we’ll still be able to find the ship when we return.” I continue.
“How high does this thing fly?” Noah asks.
“Well, it’s made for space.” I then pull the stick towards me to continue going up.
“I’m just thinking maybe if we go high and stay in the same area, we can see more.” Noah says.
“Won’t work,” I tell him. “We’d have to compensate for the planet’s rotation.”
I then compensate in my navigation for rotational purposes. “Ready? Let’s go up and take a quick look.”
“300 parlongs, Talon. Not bad. Wait a minute, Talon,” he says. “I thought this was supposed to be one large continent. Take a look.”
I look and notice the one continent has broken into four or more continents.
“When did this happen?” Noah asks.
“I’m thinking we’re in another time period, Noah. Korban was right. We’d better go back.”
We descend, returning to the Genesis wreckage to find Korban and the two women waiting for us.
We exit the ship and the three of them approach us as we get out.
“You’ve been gone for two weeks,” Korban tells us.
“Two weeks.” I’m astounded, as is Noah.
“This portal is too unpredictable,” Korban states.
“Korban, listen to me,” I continue. “We went up 300 parlongs and we could see the continent. Only the one continent is now four continents.”
“How could that have happened so quickly?” Korban asks.
“I think it’s safe to say we weren’t around when it happened because of the time po
rtal. The original continent must have broken up or separated, then drifted apart.” I speculate.
“There goes our chance for a rescue,” Deonna mourns.
“I think that eliminates the possibility of recovering the Life Seeds as well.” Korban adds.
“The shuttle still gives us an advantage of exploring the area, even on this side.” I tell them. “I would like to check out those other continents, myself.”
“Sounds exciting,” Deonna says. “You could check out the local inhabitants to see how they’ve progressed as well.”
“We’d better start down the trail again everyone,” Korban advises, “Before our camp is dismantled by wild pigs or something worse.”
“So we were gone two weeks?” I ask. “With all of the time we’ve been here for the last few minutes, things have probably changed since you came to find us.”
HOME SWEET HOME
Front Deonna’s View
We’ve hiked up the mountain again to see what happened to Talon and Noah. I’ve been so worried about them. We finally find them landing the shuttle pod as we arrive. We’re now heading down to our little compound.
Korban, Cassie, and I have set things up nicely. It’s well organized. I can’t wait for Talon and Noah to see what we’ve accomplished. All of our storage is suspended from the center ceiling to keep it safe from anything that creeps in. Korban and Talon spear some fish and they cook our dinner. We all sit at the table and enjoy the fish.
“From what we could see,” adds Noah, “On the other side of this mountain ridge is the ocean. And there’s a northern continent as well. The other continents lay to the east of us. There may be others. It was a short trip.”
“It would be interesting to find other humans,” I state. “Or maybe they’ll find us.”
“We have plenty of time,” Talon remarks. “We should make the best of it.”
“Let’s do a hike over that ridge to the ocean,” I suggest. “I’d like to check out the sea life.”
“Alright,” Korban acknowledges. “We can do that tomorrow. It may take a couple of days.”
“You three go,” Talon says. “We’ll keep the camp safe and do some more work. I want to try building a hut using clay.” Talon is also an architect. He tells how to make bricks and fire with something called a kiln. If we can make bricks, we can build better housing, which would be even more comfortable.
The next morning Korban, Cassie, and I set out for our excursion over the ridge and on to the ocean. Korban made a boat for the three of us to float down the river. It should shorten our journey. He also has brought his spear with him. We float down the river about ten miles when I see humans.
“Korban, stop the boat,” I say. “Pull us over to the side, quickly.”
Then we hear voices. We hide. “It looks like a hunting party,” Korban remarks. “They look like us, just in primitive dress—short robes and head dresses.” The natives cross the stream, carrying spears and fishing lure like Korban does. Their clothing is an interesting, colorful fabric and their faces are painted. I am fascinated by them.
“It’s too early to make contact with them.” Korban advises. “They might be hostile.”
“Have these people come from the Life Seeds, I wonder. Or are they native to the planet? So many questions. There is no way to tell.”
“Even if they come from the life seeds, they would adapt to their environment.” I add.
The hunting party crosses and takes off in a southerly direction.
“This means there is a village nearby, doesn’t it?” Cassie asks.
“Why don’t we just study them from a far?” I ask. “We don’t want to provoke them.
“Eventually they may discover us.” Cassie adds.
We wait a few minutes and then proceed to float down the river.
Occasionally, we encounter little rapids. Some of the rapids are too harsh for the boat. We get out and walk the boat around the rapids. After many hours, the river grows wider. The canyon opens up to a larger basin area.
“Look at that huge bird.” I remark. After a while the basin then opens up into a huge lake area. Korban stays to the side of the lake instead of crossing it. He does this in case there are more natives in the area. When we make it to the other side of the lake, we can see the mountain range behind us. They are quite large and beautiful. We continue our quest to the ocean.
We pull over for the evening and find a place on the river where the trees and undergrowth will hide and protect us. Then we unpack our blankets and set them out while Korban gathers fire wood. Again, Korban cooks us some fish on an open fire. We warm our hands by the fire when Korban spots something coming up in back of Cassie.
“Cassie, don’t move,” he says. He uses his spear and the creeper wraps itself around the spear. He throws it over into the river. Both Cassie and I panic.
“I think it might be smart if we each take turns keeping watch.” Korban suggests.
“Agreed.” Cassie returns.
“I’ll take the first shift.” I volunteer.
Korban follows my shift. Nothing notable happens. Cassie takes the last shift. I fall asleep quickly, and I dream about Talon. We’re laughing and he kisses me. What? So pleasant. I wonder if it is a sign.
The next morning we eat rations, pack and shove off. The ground is much flatter now. The river also gets wider opening into a very large bay. We can’t see the other side. I’m enjoying the trip, but I notice I am getting sunburned. Korban pulls out a cream that we put on our arms and faces.
“We’re more exposed to the elements out here,” he advises. We find a beach and walk the boat to the shore. “I think this is as far as we should go for now.” Korban remarks.
“It’s wonderful,” Cassie says. “The water is so clear I can see my feet. Look at those fish.” The fish are all different colors: yellow, golden, and rainbow colored fishes.
“So many varieties.” I state. “Look! We have turtles! Over in the water and on the shore. They seem to be laying their eggs.” I note.
“This bay could run for a hundred miles and we’d never reach the ocean.” Korban remarks.
I sit on the beach watching the waves come in. Then I see something jump.
“Did you see that?” I exclaim. “Now, that’s a fish!”
“Hmmm.” Korban comments. “Perhaps the men and I could come back on a fishing expedition for the larger fish.”
We walk a ways down the beach through the water. It feels good.
Both Korban and Cassie strip down to underclothing and decide to swim. The small waves hit their backs.
“Come on, Deonna.” Korban calls. “You need this as much as we do.”
I’m conservatively shy and I refuse to strip. But I walk towards them and get pushed by the water. It knocks me over. I laugh. More fish keep jumping out of the water. We also spot white birds flying over the bay, sweeping down over the top of the water. One bird catches a small fish and flies off with it. We walk back up to the beach and sit on the sand to dry. How warm and wonderful it is. I could live here, I think to myself. Finally, Korban comes to his senses and suggests we start the return trip. I’m sad. I wish the others were with us.
We carry the boat back to the water and push off. We observe more birds, and see small furry creatures with tails swimming across the river. We finally come to the large lake and Korban chooses to navigate the opposite side of the river on our return trip.
“It’s getting dark. Let’s set up camp here for the night.” Korban suggests.
“I’ll take the third shift.” I tell them as Korban fries more fish for dinner. I sleep well and dream again. This time I dream about Noah.
“What?” I wake up immediately. I’m anxious and confused.
The next morning Korban spears some fish again.
“I think I’m going to hunt for wild pig when we get back. I’m tired of fish.” He rants.
We set off on the river again; but this time we’re fighting a current. Korban pulls over to t
he side.
“What’s going on?” I ask. Korban picks up some dead wood and begins carving.
“Paddles,” He replies. “We need paddles to go up this stream.” Cassie and I watch. It takes time. When we finally set out again, we each have a paddle to help us go up the stream. Finally, we can see the mouth of the canyon we had previously come through. Occasionally, we have to get out of the boat again and hike over rocks carrying the boat. Later, we come upon a large, furry creature fishing in the river. Korban stops the boat to give the animal space. It is mostly brown with a white face, and has black rings around its eyes. Although it stands on two feet at the stream, it walks away from the river on all four paws. I don’t remember ever seeing this creature on TerraNorre.
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