What was she talking about? What storm? I looked at the mural, where the waves were washing over one of the ships. That must have been a horrible day, to have just landed with the hope of a new world and to lose so much so soon.
She continued,“Only the Falcon, carrying 1,035 people landed safely.”
I remembered our history of those ships. They were named after raptors: Hawk, Eagle and Falcon, because those birds were greatly admired, could fly far distances, and survived under harsh conditions. The three spacecraft going to Akiane had been similarly admired.
By her silence, I knew it was my turn to speak. “What happened to the Eagle?”
“It exploded as it orbited Akiane.”
“The Eagle was supposed to carry DNA to breed livestock and farming seed,” I said.
“All was lost,” she said.
“Building a colony twenty-seven light-years away was to be Earth’s greatest scientific achievement. But people on Earth didn’t agree on how the project should be run. When nothing was heard from Akiane, they took their money away. WSC no longer had the funds to continue the project,” I said.
She only stared at me, as did everyone in the room. That feeling of saying the wrong thing in front of the class swept over me again. But instead of a classroom of ten, there were hundreds of disapproving people. The little girl in me wanted to run. I placed my arms on the table and leaned close as in an effort to keep me anchored to my chair.
“No one ever planned to abandon you. It was thought, hoped, believed that you would survive and send word to Earth about your situation.” I stopped to take a breath. I didn’t think they believed me. I took a deeper breath and kept speaking. “If they had heard from you, it would have reignited the project. Then it would have been easy to raise the money and rescue you.
“But when no word came, it was assumed all had perished. The hope of colonizing space beyond Earth’s solar system also died.
“Three robotic ships were sent, one at a time, years apart just in case there were survivors. The ships carried food and equipment. Each ship also carried new communication equipment. Earth did not receive one transmission from any of them. Each ship was sent here to take survivors back to Earth. You were never abandoned.”
“You lie!” someone yelled. “Only one ship came.”
I kept my eyes on the girl. I thought if I pretended it was just the two of us, I could survive this. “I don’t know what happened to the other ships,” I said. “I wasn’t there.”
The crowd didn’t like my answer. A murmur of objections closed in one me.
“All I know is three ships were sent,” I tried to speak over the crowd. “I don’t know what happened to the others.”
“Of the 2,038 that began the journey, only 852 survived.” Nu Venia looked so sad, I might have thought her immediate family had died.
“Before we were completely settled, people died of broken hearts from longing for home, and others died of the severe cold. When it was learned we would never return to Earth, more committed suicide because of despair. Then we were overcome by a deadly disease. Officially, 419 of us began this colony you claim as yours.”
What could I say? Akiane truly was theirs. What claims did WSC have? Billions had been spent to discover the planet, travel here, and build the habitat, but only the colonists had died and suffered to make their home.
“Tell us why you abandoned us,” someone demanded.
The crowd agreed with loud shouts.
“We didn’t abandon you,” I said. “We thought you were dead.” Still, there was more to it than that.
Log of Father Joseph Striken
Harrie’s Story
Second year, day 132
Harrie has come every day and has marked close to one-meter square with her scratching.
I got a handheld rake to help. I knelt, sat on my legs, leaned forward, and braced myself with my left hand. With my right hand I loosened dirt several centimeters deep.
Harrie came and sat next to me on my left side. She leaned against my leg and stuck her head between my left arm and chest. No matter how many times I pushed her away, she came back. So I let her stay.
Gardening
“What are the two of you doing?” Faris asked.
Joe sat back on his heels.
Harrie pulled away from him. She looked up at Faris with a wide doggy grin, her tongue hanging out and her tail happily thumping the ground.
“We’re gardening,” Joe said.
“Why? We have hydroponics inside. I thought we were leaving the land outside for native plants,” Faris said. She folded her arms over her chest and cocked one hip. She was annoyed.
“I think we are cultivating a native plant,” he said.
“Which one?”
“I have no idea.”
“Then why bother?”
Joe shook his head. “It seems to be important to Harrie.”
Faris stood for a long while. “Have you deserted me for the priest?” she asked Harrie.
Harrie barked once.
“I think that is a no,” Joe said.
“I’ve always heard that one bark meant yes and two meant no.”
He didn’t know the captain well. Joe didn’t know if she was joking or serious. “I’m sure it’s just a temporary situation. She’s still loyal to you. I’m just helping out.”
“If you are looking for work, Father, I have plenty of suggestions.” She wasn’t joking.
Now he wasn’t sure what to do. She was captain and had the right to order him to stop.
“I. . .ah. . .It seems important to Harrie.” He knew it sounded strange; it was strange to him. He really couldn’t explain it.
“Mmmm.” Faris didn’t look pleased. She stood for a seemingly long moment before she shifted her weight. Finally, she said. “Carry on.”
To his surprise, Faris hadn’t ordered him to stop. Instead she stood and watched.
Joe leaned forward, braced himself with his left hand, and raked at the ground. Harrie slipped back into her place.
No one spoke, but Joe had a strong feeling that God was pleased, which made no sense. There were more important things to do like help with building the habitat.
Why? Joe silently asked God. A garden for a dog? Why does this please you? What inspired Harrie to do this in the first place?
But what surprised Joe the most was the fact that he was the one doing the gardening. He hated gardening. He’d much rather read and study.
And yet, he could not shake the feeling that this was more important than reading his Bible.
It didn’t make sense.
Harrie’s Story, Continued
Second year, day 153
Harrie continues to come to her garden every day. She comes to the community cafeteria with Faris, but she sits at my feet. As soon as I’m finished eating, she herds me outside.
Faris says nothing. Sometimes she comes to the garden to watch, but she never helps. She doesn’t understand why I’m encouraging her dog. I can’t explain it myself.
Now that the ground is loosened, all kinds of native plants are coming up.
Harrie digs up or bites off all the plants she doesn’t want in her garden. Once I knew what she was after, I helped.
Now we’re weeding.
Faris no longer watches us. She says she has a wall to build. I should be helping, not gardening with a dog. She says she’s not, but I think she’s aggravated with me for wasting my time when there is so much work to do.
Yet, she does not order me to stop.
Two Weeks Later
Second year, day 167, 5 months
Harrie has given birth to another litter of five puppies. Once again, the puppies were born in some sort of cocoon, but this time she gave birth in her garden.
Preparing
Harrie delicately took a vine in her teeth and pulled it over one of her puppies. Droplets of a white milk-like substance dripped over the cocoon. The cocoon absorbed the liquid as if it were a dried plant s
oaking up water. She moved the vine back and forth until the membrane was totally moist. Then she released the vine, rolled the pup over, and did the same thing on the other side before starting on another cocoon.
Joe sat next to Harrie. She looked up at him and whined. He picked a cocoon up and very carefully wrapped one of the longer vines around the center of it.
Evidently, when the vine was bent it continually leaked. The membrane soaked up everything, but the substance only covered the middle of the cocoon. The rest of it remained dried. Joe wrapped two more vines, one on either end without pulling the vine out of the ground.
The entire membrane became moist and slightly transparent. They could see the shadow of a puppy moving inside.
Harrie barked her approval.
Joe wrapped each cocoon in the same way.
End of Day Log
Faris is no longer depressed. She hums. She has brought a chair out to Harrie’s garden nursery. Together they sit, watch, and wait.
Chapter 26
Rona Montgomery
The Project
IT WAS like the pot calling the kettle black. The way Olivia chastised Rona for being out of sorts. Could Olivia truly not see her own faults? Who gave her the right to point a finger?
Rona hadn’t traveled twenty-seven light-years to study dogs. She’d come to study human beings.
But what had she expected—that these people would welcome her with open arms? Yes. It never occurred to her that she’d be rejected. How was she supposed to examine people if she couldn’t even get close to them?
Rona stomped through the gardens at such a fast pace she didn’t notice that she’d crossed the bridge spanning the little creek. Ignoring the beauty of the garden, Rona plopped on a rock overlooking the pond. She didn’t even see the pond. She was too distracted.
In five days, she’d accomplished exactly nothing, and if things continued in the same manner, she never would.
And then there was Olivia.
A red dog with a white chest and belly came up to her and tried to nuzzle her hand.
“No,” Rona said. She pushed the dog away. The dog took the hint and moved on. Ah but there was another eyeing her.
There were so many of them. They were everywhere in the dorm rooms, in the work area, throughout the entire habitat. Some seemed to have attached themselves to people as if they’d become pets. They were like shadows following their new masters everywhere they went. Rona wanted nothing to do with them—any of them. And she didn’t appreciate having them forced on her.
“Olivia is good at passing out advice, like a mother hen teaching her chicks to peck,” Rona said to no one. “Who does she think she is, talking to me like that? I’m not a child. I’m fully capable of conducting my own life and making my own decisions.”
For Rona, the Akiane Project had been a lifetime opportunity, which she had almost missed. Her mother had cried and feared she’d never see her daughter again. Rona almost resigned from the team. She was on her way to do just that when she’d run into Olivia.
“You can’t let your family run your life,” Olivia had said.
Following her advice, Rona stayed in the project. Leaving her mother was the most difficult thing she’d ever done. Rona’s only consolation was that she had three sisters. Two of which had already provided grandchildren. Remembering her mother’s tearful face made Rona homesick and guilty that she’d left her.
Mathieu interrupted her thoughts when he sat on the rock next to her.
“What do you want?” She spoke with more hostility than she’d intended.
“Come like so many others to watch the lake,” he answered. “Why are you here?”
She didn’t respond. Rona had gone for a walk with no destination in mind. It was only then that she realized where she was, but it didn’t surprise her. There were few places to walk in the habitat.
Mathieu shifted his weight. He pulled his right leg up and rested his right ankle on his left knee. His foot politely faced away from her. “You don’t look well,” he observed.
“Don’t feel well.” She crossed her legs with her left leg facing away from him. She even turned her body slightly away. He didn’t leave.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Things. . .life. . .this place is not turning out the way I’d hoped,” she said.
“Ah, disillusionment.” He resettled himself, rested his arms on his leg, and looked out at the pond. “That can be a bit disruptive to one’s life,” he said, as if he understood.
“Any solutions, Doc?”
He gave no notice of her sarcasm.
“Well, if I had to make a quick diagnosis, I’d say you are a scientist with nothing to do.My prescription. . .find a project.”
“Project,” Rona said, with little enthusiasm. “I came here with a project in mind. I had visions of flying with the eagles. Instead I’m walking with. . .” She stopped.
“Turkeys,” he finished.
“I didn’t mean . . .,” Rona was suddenly embarrassed. “That anyone is. . .It’s just that. . .” She lowered her head.
He laughed. “Forget it. I know what you meant. But considering what you’ve accomplished so far, you learn anything yet?” he asked.
“No Matt, of course not,” she said. She didn’t even feel as grand as a turkey. She felt more like Olivia’s chicken pecking at empty ground. “It’s difficult to examine someone who won’t even speak to me.” She raised her hands and swept them over the scene before them. “People don’t even seem to exist. I come here every day. I’ve not seen anyone here but us. It’s almost as if they’re a figment of my imagination.” She paused. “And when I venture into other parts of the habitat to meet them, they run off as though I have a flesh-eating disease, or they chase me away as if I’m some demon.”
“I think they’re elves,” he said conspiratorially.
She uncrossed her legs, twisted around and glared at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes.
He leaned in and softly said, “They come while we sleep and bring us meat and take our trash. They also care for this lake and the surrounding foliage.”
“How do you know?” Rona asked.
“Know what?”
“That they take of care of this place?”
Overacting, Mathieu raised a hand to his eyes and scanned the area. He dropped his leg and lifted his feet one at a time to look under them. “Well, there are no weeds for one.”
“How do you know weeds even grow here?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t, but there are weeds everywhere on Earth, so why not here?”
“This is an alien planet, Matt,” Rona said. “There might not be any weeds.”
Mathieu laughed. “There’s a project for you. Discover the truth about alien weeds.”
“Humph,” Rona grunted, turned from him and crossed her arms over her chest.
“You’re bored, Rona, you have nothing to do,” he said.
“Aren’t you bored, Matt?” she asked.“It’s no like there’s a lot for a doctor to do when all his patients are healthy.”
“Haven’t had the time,” he said. “When I’m not being a doctor or counseling out-of-sorts scientists, Zhoa and Vong have me butchering meat.”
“Who have you been doctoring?” Rona asked.“Is one of us sick?”
“At the moment, you,” he said.
She didn’t want to be his patient. What business was it of his, anyway?
“Rona, you’ve forgotten what fun science is. That’s why you decided to study human genetics in the first place. You like studying genes, experimenting on them, and unraveling the mysteries they create,” he said. “And like every other scientist in the world, or in this case, the universe, you need a project to keep yourself occupied, keep your mind busy, and something to have fun with.”
“This is not a vacation, Mathieu. I came to work,” she said, fully annoyed. She had responsibilities; people to report to. It was important that she succeed. Everything she’d worked for a
ll her life depended on it. “Science is messy. It’s a lot of good hard work. You spend years doing research. You come to a conclusion, then someone challenges and tries to disprove everything. So you have to defend your work or start over,” she said.
“If you wanted an easy path, maybe you should have stayed on Earth and been an information technologist.”
She gave him a look of disgust.
“I didn’t want to be sexist and say ‘barefoot and pregnant.’” He shrugged and smiled sweetly.
Rona burst out laughing. “Yeah, that would be a so much easier life, giving birth, raising children, staying up all night, and let’s not forget the endless diapers.”
“So you’d rather be an information technologist?”
Rona let out a heavy snort. “OK, I’d rather be here. But I’m not having fun.”
“That’s because you’re feeling sorry for yourself, Rona.”
“Oh, why don’t you sugarcoat it for me, Mathieu?”
“It’s only been five days, Rona. What did you expect, to have completed your first project by now?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “You’re being narrow sighted.”
That was it! Rona jumped to her feet and looked down at him. “You’re no better than Olivia. I’ve worked hard to get here. What am I supposed to do now?”
“Stand around and do nothing?” he said innocently.
Was he mocking her?
“Lu wants to study the dogs,” she said scornfully. “I didn’t spend my time and money training, throughout my childhood, my entire adult life so I could study the mating habits of mutts.” Now she was yelling in frustration. She knew it wasn’t his fault. But she’d kept in for so long. And since he wanted to involve himself, well here it was.
Mathieu remained calm.
What did he care? His life wasn’t in shambles.
“And I was going to have fun, with genes,” Rona said, a bit more calmly. “My whole career is set on that study. The entire reason for my coming here was to study the colonists’ DNA. I waited my whole life for this.”
Pegasus Colony (People of Akiane: A Colonization Science Fiction Novel Book 1) Page 19