EARTH PLAN

by David Sloma

  The computer noticed this and studied her more closely, as she was different than the man, not just in her body but in her emotions and actions. Though not so different that she didn’t exhibit some of the same emotions and think some of the same thoughts as the man did. She didn’t like to be kept in the room either and looked for a way out, in her gentler way. She also showed signs of sadness that she was alone.

  The computer knew all this by studying her body language and also by reading the frequency of her thoughts, which it had been programmed to do; the Watchers were vast in their knowledge. The Watchers would be very interested in these humans and their advanced emotions, the computer thought.

  The computer decided the Earth woman and the Earth man should meet, and see if they would be happier together. If the meeting was successful, the computer might do the same thing with the many other humans it had in other rooms, en-route to the Watcher’s world. But for now it would try the experiment with just the two and see how it went. The computer didn’t want to risk its entire collection of humans on an action that could go wrong. No, it would test it first.

  The door to the woman’s room started to open slowly.

  The noise made the woman jump, as she had been nearly sleeping, dreaming of what it used to be like when she was not kept in a metal room. She had much the same reaction as the man had, the computer noticed; scurrying away to the back of the room, as far away from the moving door as possible. She put her arms against the back wall, trying to move it, or just get away, but she couldn’t.

  The door rose up to its full height and stopped. Silence once again reigned.

  The woman looked at the opening the door had left, and she immediately wanted to run through it. But where did it lead? She didn’t know and wondered. It may be worse out there, she thought. But it was too much for her to resist, and so she slowly took an exploratory step towards the door, then back again. But the door didn’t move.

  She did this a few more times, and still there was nothing, no movement from the door.

  Finally, she ran through the doorway, thinking she would take her chances with what was on the other side, rather than be stuck in the room any longer. She was glad she did, because after the dark corridor she ran through, she could see green ahead. Trees and grass, she thought. She hoped.

  She was right, and she stepped out of the dark, metal corridor onto green grass, with brightness shining down from above. But it was not like the Sun she knew, and not like the Earth she knew. Still, it was better than being in the room, and there were no things that were attacking her. And it was daytime, it seemed.

  She cautiously took a few more steps onto the grass, peering around. It felt good on her feet, and the suns, or whatever they were, felt warming and nice on her skin. She wondered why there was more than one sun, now, and why they were smaller—but she didn’t worry about it too much. She sighed, as she felt a measure of freedom and relief that she’d not had since she’d been taken on the ship.

  She moved around the field and took some fruits to eat that she could find. She saw some of the small animals and thought about how they might be to eat. She felt a craving for meat, as she had not had any in some time. Neither she nor the man had been given any meat since they had been on the ship. That would mean killing the animals the ship had taken for samples, and that was too risky to do, as there were not a lot of backups of the animals.

  There were live animals of each type the ship could find, and also some had been put into cold suspension for safekeeping. The ship was able to synthesize amino acids into a protein food substance that was grown from algae on the ship. This it fed to the humans and the animals onboard. The ship kept careful watch over its charges, scanning them, seeing that their basic bodily requirements were met, despite what they might have been used to eating.

  The woman sat in the tall grass, eating an apple and looking around. She saw some larger animals running through the field, some buffalo and gazelles. She looked for any lions that might come by and kill some of them for a meal, but saw none. And she would see none; the ship kept the predators quarantined so they would not kill off the rest of the animals that had been set out in the field.

  The man, who was on the other side of the field, heard the hoofs of the animals and also looked up to watch them. He thought about hunting them, but he had no spear or rock to throw. It would be very hard to catch any of the animals without those. He did still have his stick. Maybe if he could make it sharp on the end? He tried, but the stick was thin, likely to break if he tried to use it to hunt.

  He felt dejected and was about to give up and have a nap when he saw a naked woman walking in the grass, coming his way.

  His first reaction was to duck down and hide. He lay down in the tall grass. Who was she? What did she want? Was she carrying any weapons?

  Slowly, he moved his head up until he could see her again, hoping she could not see him. He wanted to be able to surprise her and jump out when she got close. Then he’d see if she were friend or foe.

  Through the tall grass he watched her. He liked the way she looked. She was an adult but on the younger side, slender and attractive. She moved with grace, running her hands over the grass as she walked. She looked happy to be walking there. He didn’t blame her, as it was better to be walking there than to be stuck in the room. He wondered if she had also been kept in a place like that, and if she had also been dragged in here by terrifying creatures. Then, she was only a few steps from him.

  He jumped up and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her down.

  She screamed and hit at him with her fists. He let her go and threw her away from him a few feet. He watched her, and she backed up, afraid. He raised his hands to show her he had nothing in them, no weapons. He saw she carried nothing. Feeling less afraid of her, he sat down and watched her. She was good to watch.

  She moved back farther, staring at him, her mouth showing her teeth. She made hissing sounds and spat at him. But she missed him, and he looked at her, amused. They sat like that, looking at each other for a while.

  Finally, when neither of them was attacking the other, they both relaxed a bit. He got up and looked around, wanting to see if there were any others coming their way. There were not. He also looked for animals, but there were none close by.

  He looked at the woman and waved for her to follow him, then he walked off in the direction of the pond. He wanted a drink and to take a swim; it was better to get cleaned off before mating, he knew. He walked across the field and looked back at her.

  She had stuck her head up in the grass and was watching him go. She looked around and saw no one else. Feeling a bit scared to be left alone, she slowly, and reluctantly, stood up. At least he had not hurt her, and she didn’t think he would. He looked kind of friendly, she thought. Also, she wouldn’t mind mating with him, if it came to that.

  She followed him to the wooded area and was nervous to go in, as it was darker there with the dense growth. But the man turned back and waved to her again, so she went.

  When they came to the pond her heart filled with joy, and she saw the man go and jump in. He came up to the surface with a big smile on his face, and she had to smile back. She took a running jump and flung herself into the water, feeling better instantly as it covered her. It was the first time she had been able to swim in what felt like a long time—she didn’t even know how long she’d been kept there, it was hard to tell.

  They swam, and the man saw she was enjoying herself. He moved closer to her, and she swam away, still wary of him. But he kept coming, slowly, until she had nowhere to go, cornering her against the bank. He touched her shoulder with his hand. His touch was soft this time, gentle.

  She liked how it felt to be touched by him, and she let him put his arms around her. He hugged her, and she hugged him back. She put her head on his shoulder and cried a bit, as she didn’t know where she was, or why she was there and just wanted to go back to her home and her people. He kissed her head, and that felt good.
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  The computer registered that tears were falling from her face, and both of their heart rates and respiration were up. It seemed they were agitated or excited, or both. The computer sent a puff of tranquilizer into the air vent near the humans. They breathed in some of the gas and did get a bit more relaxed.

  Then the man had her by the hand and was pulling her out of the water, as she seemed to be falling asleep. He took her to a shaded place under some tree boughs, where she started to recover. She put her arms around him, and they kissed for a while. Then, excited, he proceeded to climb on top of her and began mating with her. She did not resist him and didn’t want to; she enjoyed what he did with her. It felt good.

  After, he lay beside her, sleeping. She enjoyed his arm being around her, happy that he was there. He was one of the few things she liked about being on the ship, even if she didn't know it was a ship. She just thought it was a strange, new place.

  And then she was able to relax more, with him near her. He felt warm and this comforted her and made her want to sleep. She closed her eyes and slept, too.

  CHAPTER 6

  It was another dawn when the man and the woman woke up in each other’s arms. He was glad to see that she was still there, as some of the other women used to run off after mating. They hugged each other again, and he felt the urge to mate once more. They did so.

  After, they went for another swim in the pond, then gathered fruit to eat.

  As they were sitting and eating, the man noticed something moving across the field.

  It was far away and moved fast, but it was no animal like he had ever seen. This one was silvery. He didn’t know it, but it was one of the robotic carts, sent out to retrieve any animals that had gotten injured.

  The robot scooped up a deer that was on the field in its large metal arms, the animal having already been sedated by tranquilizers in the air. It carried the animal towards a door, rolling smoothly on its metal tracks, bringing it inside so it could have its broken leg tended to.

  The man took an instant dislike to the robot glittering in the lights from above. He felt like it was invading his territory. He grabbed his stick and ran after it, yelling. The woman watched, wishing the man would just sit down and finish his fruit.

  The man crossed the field quickly, making for the robot carrying its load. The robot was moving more slowly than usual due to the added weight of the heavy animal. The robot sensed that the man was getting close and that he was not in a good mood. The robot opened a compartment and out shot a directed cloud of calming mist.

  The man was coming at the robot so fast there was no way to avoid it, and he breathed in a big gulp of the calming air. Then, the man fell down, laughing at the robot and the deer. He was laughing so hard that he was crying, and his stomach hurt.

  The robot scuttled into an open door and took the deer into some unknown place in the ship, a medical room the man and woman had not seen before. The door closed, and the robot was gone.

  The woman had been watching, fearful. She had seen many men die in the past like this on Earth, running after someone or other. She could see the man was on the ground after running to the robot, and she feared the worst.

  She walked to him, thinking she might find him dead or badly hurt. But to find him just laughing was something she had never encountered before. The man’s laughs were infectious, and she found herself starting to laugh, too.

  Soon, she was rolling around with him on the ground, laughing and hugging. This led to another mating session, and it was even better than the last time they did it.

  When they stopped mating, the man got up and went to the wall where the door had been. They could both see the outline where the door had closed over. He ran his fingers over it and pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t move. He started to get angry and pushed harder into the door, banging it with his body.

  There was a nearby hissing sound, and they both noticed a puff of mist coming from one of the nearby vents. They ran away, knowing it would make them sleepy—or maybe die of laughter.

  The computer saw this evasion and knew they had caught onto it. It deduced that it had to use another way of subduing the humans when they got too agitated. There were several means at its disposal, like drugging their food, or shooting them with tiny darts filled with tranquilizers.

  But an easier way was to control their moods through the use of radio waves. The ship could broadcast most any type of signal it wanted to inside its cargo area. It simply had to send out the radio waves in the direction of the human or animal in question. The radio waves would alter their thoughts and brain chemistry to a more docile state.

  The man and the woman went down the wall a distance to get clear of the mist drifting in the air. The man found another closed doorway and started pounding on it with his stick and then with his fists. The woman tried to pull him away, but he growled at her and went back to attacking the door.

  The ship aimed an antenna on the ceiling at the man and fired some radio waves at him.

  Instantly, the man stopped pounding on the door and got a confused look on his face. He forgot what was he was doing and had trouble controlling his body.

  The woman was glad he had stopped, and she grabbed his arm and led him away, because he was just standing there drooling, staring at the door. She was afraid something had happened, and he had really injured himself.

  But, he was fine a short time later. The computer was just testing out the radio waves on him and didn’t want to do it for too long, or at too great an intensity and risk damaging him. So, it shut off the waves once the man was away from the door.

  The man and the woman went back to their spot near the pond and got under the thick cover of trees, laying in the shade. It was like noon on Earth, and the lights in the sky were hot. They slept, touching each other and that felt good.

  The man had strange dreams that caused him to stir and cry out in his sleep. The woman comforted him the best she could. It was no wonder he was having nightmares in such a place as they found themselves stuck in, she thought.

  After the man woke up, the woman wanted to see the confines of their world. She pulled the man forward, so he would come with her as she explored the boundaries of their large prison cell. He remembered that he had done the same thing, and while he grew frustrated with having to repeat the exercise, he was able to show her some features he had discovered which she found most interesting. There was the metal wall at the far end of the field, and the doors behind the grove of trees.

  Finally, after hours of looking around, the woman slumped down under the trees near the pond, looking despondent and sad. The man sat with her, knowing her feelings well, because he had also discovered their confinement. If they weren't outside, then where were they?

  They had no frame of reference for this new experience, and it made new connections in their brains, changing them, expanding their capacities. These changes were not intended to happen, but they of course would, as the humans were introduced to new situations and technologies they had never encountered before.

  It was a lot for them to take in and process, and they were exhausted. They fell asleep.

  The computer scanned their brains, checking to see what was wrong, as they were both looking lethargic. The new connections in their brains were picked up by the scanner that was able to get a good snapshot of their state, as they were asleep. This allowed the scanner to go deep. The findings were recorded and sent back home, as the computer's masters would want to know about this new discovery.

  When the man and woman awoke, she went to him, into his arms. She was scared now on a different level than just survival, since finding they were trapped inside something. She thought of it as a vast cave, but it was unlike any cave they had known. She clung to him for comfort, and he put his arms around her, making her feel a little better; if he could not get her out of the situation, at least she was not alone.

  It made him feel good to offer this comfort to her and brought out his protective instin
cts. He was pleased that she now trusted him and turned to him for this intimacy. It was too lonely on the ship to be alone, and it had been tough on both of them to be in solitary confinement in those metal rooms. He would sooner die than go back to such a room, and he was sure she felt the same way.

  But what to do now? There was not much they could do, except go about their lives as best they could in this altered environment. They had what they needed to survive: The cycle of the days and nights was maintained, with a proper temperature range, and they had food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe. Still, the urge to explore further, to push the boundaries of their confinement was always there, nagging at them, as they had once been free beings.

  A couple of weeks later, they got their chance to explore further, past the boundaries. And while it was something they wanted to do, they would regret it.

  Robots were working on some plumbing and had removed a section of wall. The work was done at night, as it was an emergency repair due to a water leak. The area was far enough away from where the man and woman were sleeping that the computer took no extra precautions; the humans had settled in a predictable routine, made easy by the tranquilizers that were put in their water.

  But the humans had developed a tolerance to the tranquilizers and had come awake at the sounds of the robots clanging around. The man sat up, looking in the direction of the sounds. There was nothing to see, as the robots worked without lights, able to see in the dark. The woman stirred near the man, waking up too, wanting to know what was wrong. The two of them got up as quietly as possible and crouched down, moving toward the sounds.

  They moved from tree to tree, using the thick trunks for cover as they ran through the wooded area. Up ahead, just past the trees, was where the noises were coming from. They could see in the dim light as the robots worked on the pipes, making frightening sounds. But it didn't seem that the robots were moving from that spot, so that was good, the man thought.