“Handles better than anything I’ve ever operated! Can’t wait to see how it is in the atmosphere!” Brad exclaimed. He had a look of pure joy on his dark, well defined face in the light of the control panel. “This thing’s incredible!”
I had Captain Pierce on the beam and he was much relieved to hear Brad’s comments. “I hope it goes this smoothly all the way, and I really appreciate those of you who have taken this mission.” And with that he signed off, though we knew we’d be monitored at all times.
We hurtled on toward our destination, disturbed only by the occasional course shift to avoid obstacles or adjust after such changes. The new alloy used for the hull of our craft was resistant to small particles and the ship even generated its own magnetosphere to protect us from solar radiation.
Our new Impulse Drive System, IDS, gave us much better control for changing directions or even slowing down, but still had the regular jets for landing. After two sleep cycles we were approaching Five. It looked cold, and the data from the probe, said it was forty degrees F only 600 miles from the Equator. We set our landing for 200 miles from the equator in hopes of being a little warmer.
The ship was smoother entering the atmosphere than our previous landing, though I don’t know if it was the difference in the ship or because Brad had more experience than on the last one.
So much of this world was ice that we couldn’t tell if there were oceans or just large lakes, but there seemed to be land all the way around the planet at the equator. The air was thin and we needed respirators to go outside the ship. That was going to limit how far we could go from the ship until we designed some sort of portable compressor to wear until we terraformed the planet. We got straight into our work finding out what we could in a short time.
We were near a lake, and went to collect samples to check for living organisms. Josh and Ira went with me. The land around us looked pretty bleak, nothing growing in sight. The temperature here was 55 degrees and to us that felt chilly; we were hot house raised. Our surroundings were craggy and mountainous: if anything lived here, it would have to eat a diet of rocks!
We walked to the lake’s stony shore, perhaps a quarter mile away, with a few vials to fill for testing. Ira took a vial and dipped it into the water with his bare hand before I could stop him.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled too late. “Use the tongs; we don’t know the composition of that liquid or what’s in it!”
By then his vial was full and his hand out of the water. “It’s cold,” he said, a little startled. “I didn’t even think.”
We filled the other vials using the appropriate precautions while Ira cleaned his hands with an alcohol swab. I heard a splash, and saw ripples spreading in the water about 50 feet from shore.
“I think there’s something living in the water, what else could have made that splash?” I said, a little spooked.
“I threw a stone like Tom Sawyer,” laughed Josh. “Sorry.”
I was too relieved to be anything but amused myself, and we rushed our samples back to the ship and poured a vial into the analyzer and gave the others to Doc Hebron to put under the microscope to look for living organisms.
“Just plain water according to the analyzer, but with oxygen level is actually quite a bit higher than I would have expected,” said Nettie. She looked up and smiled. “It looks like Ira will probably live to old age after all.”
“There are bacteria in the water too, so maybe not,” said Doc, leaving Ira looking stunned.
“Are you serious?” He asked.
“About the bacteria, yes, though they don’t look too threatening.” She laughed. “That’ll teach you to pay attention to protocol.”
Private Hester Freemont came rushing in the door with a container in her hand. “Look what I found!” She squealed excitedly holding the jar up for all to see. “It’s a little snake, I think. Found it under a rock.”
It was about three inches long and slimy, with little feelers on one end.
“I think it’s more of a slug,” said Lee, turning the container in her hand. “Between that and the bacteria in the water, I’d say that life is about where Earth life was four hundred million years ago. The lack of plant life out of the water suggests it, though this thing must have a food source, probably algae?” She trailed off, thinking aloud.
Brad poked his head in the door, and passed two sample jars up to Nettie, each with a little water and small crab-like creatures in it. One creature was almost a crayfish shape, the other like a lumpy rock with legs; definitely exoskeleton. “How did you not see these while getting the water samples?” Nettie asked.
Brad said, “They’re all over the shore line!”
“For some reason I think we were too intent on getting the samples to realize they weren’t rocks.” I answered with some humility. “That’s a good camouflage.”
“I’ll bet they dove for cover or froze in their tracks because of the stone I plopped into the water,” said Josh, remembering his Tom Sawyer imitation.
“It’s time to go out and do some serious testing of the minimal breathing equipment we’ve brought along; without that, our information will do little good in convincing our neighbors to leave Sne-az alone,” said Lee. “I favor the assist tube, like those used in Sick Bay when someone is having trouble breathing. It’s just an assist, but should be more than enough with the atmosphere already at 60 to 70% of normal for us.”
We were still using the airlock, but the pressure difference was so minute that it only took about two seconds to equalize. As I stepped out of the lock, I was the first to breathe the thin atmosphere with only the oxygen assist. It was chilly and dry; crisp was probably the correct adjective. I shut off my oxygen supply to get some idea of how much assistance I really needed. It wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it would be, providing I wasn’t exerting too much energy. I started to walk toward the nearest hill and after twenty or so steps I started to feel the oxygen deprivation. I turned on the flow valve and felt the improvement almost immediately. “Yes; I think this will be adequate for survival,” I said to Lee through the headset, “though we might need to add a little water vapor to the flow; the air is really dry.”
I saw Nettie and Ira carrying a small metal cylinder, about two feet long, toward the lake (as we decided it was, because it was fresh water). I walked over to join them.
“What’s up?” I asked as I approached.
“We’re launching the submersible to see what’s down there in the depths.” Answered Nettie. “Come join us.”
As they set it in the water, I could see the weird little creatures scrambling out of their way. How did we miss them on our first trip to the water’s edge?
They were in the water to their knees, in order to launch the thing and I worried that something was going to grab them and pull them in. I drew my Laze pistol just in case.
“Let it go,” said Brad from the ship. “I’ve got it now.”
As they stepped back out of the water, the little thing dropped out of sight with a soft humming noise. It rose back to the surface 30 or so feet away, then dove again out of sight.
“Do we have to stay here the whole time?” asked Nettie.
“No.” Answered Brad. “You can check out the area or come back to watch the monitor with us if you prefer.”
“I was heading over to that hill,” I said to them, pointing toward the nearby ridge. “I thought I might get a different perspective from the top; might see something of interest.”
They both followed as I headed off in the original direction I had been heading. We climbed the hill, sweating from the exertion in spite of the cool temperature of the air; but finally we reached the top. The view was definitely worth the climb. In the distance were tall ice-capped mountains looking like the Himalayas on Earth, while the immediate area was more akin to, maybe, Earth’s desert southwest. There was a river in the distance that flowed toward the lake, but disappeared from view behind the hills before it got there. Clouds were
building in the sky and I thought it might be rain coming; that I’d love to see. Can you imagine—real rain! I guess to Earth people that would sound ridiculous. I think that was the first time I actually realized: I was not an Earth person; we were no longer Earth people. After twelve generations we were asteroid people or better yet: Starborn! There were more differences than just our cultural experiences. Our average height was about 5 ft. to 5 ft 6 inches while our records showed people use to be a good half a foot or more taller. Our environment had changed us physically and emotionally.
On the way back down the hill, Ira bent down to examine something sticking out of the ground. He kicked it loose and picked it up.
“My stars!” He exclaimed. “It’s a chunk of metal; too old to be from us.”
“Maybe one of the lost starships made it here after all,” said Nettie.
Olga came over the comm. “What did you find?”
“It’s a six inch curved metal bar, definitely man made, but looks too old to be from us. I’m on my way to bring it in now; be there in about five minutes,” Ira said as he turned for the ship.
Nettie and I stayed behind to scavenge the area for more pieces, just in case. It was the first time we were alone together since she was in Sick Bay and I think we both realized it at the same instant. Thinking the same as we so often did, we shut off the sending mode of our comms and started to talk in private.
“I’ve missed you,” she said, looking down. “I was wondering if you were avoiding me.”
“Funny.” I responded, looking straight into her eyes. “I was wondering the same thing about you. There’s been no time to talk since that day in Sick Bay, after I thought I’d lost you. You’ve got to know how I feel about you.”
She smiled a really big smile and put her arms around me and held on tightly. “I was so afraid you were just reacting to the moment and that it wasn’t real,” she said with a bit of an embarrassed giggle.
“There’s nobody in the universe I’d rather be with than you; you know.”
And she kissed me, and even with the oxygen hoses in the way, it was the best kiss I’d ever felt.
“I love you Nettie,” I said, and meant it. I think I always had.
“I love you too,” she said.
I could have stayed that way forever but for the interruption by the comm.
“Have you found anything else, Eric?” Asked Olga from the ship.
“Yes.” I thought; but turned my comm back on send mode and said:. “We’re still looking, but nothing yet.”
“You might try looking at something other than each other,” said Ira, looking back over his shoulder from the ship.
“That was embarrassing.” Chuckled Nettie, with her comm. still off.
We began to look around as we were supposed to be doing, but after a few minutes we gave up and strolled hand in hand back to the ship. To the two of us it was the best day ever.
As we entered the ship, everyone was gathered around the small table checking the object Ira had found. There were no markings, but two holes drilled, one in either end as if it might have been connecting something together. Private Mike Dermot was holding it and commenting on its possible uses, being an engineering student, and a good one at that.
“It could be from one of our earlier colonial ships, I suppose, but I didn’t think any of the others came toward this system,” he was saying. “It looks like the rock formed around it, and I would say it’s been here longer than we’ve had space travel; but we can’t be sure until we can run tests when we get back home.”
“Better seal it in a packet until then.” Ordered Olga. “We don’t want to contaminate it by handling it too much, which we’ve probably already done.”
Mike did as ordered, but the item was a source of much discussion and debate for the rest of the trip.
Brad was the only person occupied with the submarine during all of this and suddenly we became aware of his absence from our debate when he called to Olga to come have a look at something on the screen.
“If that’s not a pack of fish, I mean big fish, in so many colors; and look at the plant growth, almost like an underwater forest of real trees!” Brad was describing the scene before all of us on the screen. It was amazing.
“School of fish,” Olga corrected. “You’re right, though about those trees; I’ve never seen anything like them in the pictures of Earth’s oceans or lakes, and I’ve always been fascinated by underwater vids.
“The sub’s about a mile from shore and up till now, all I saw was rocky bottom and a few slimy bottom dwellers, then there was about a forty foot drop off into this!” Explained Brad.
“See the bubbles rising from the trees.” Doc cut in. “That’s where the planet gets it’s oxygen, I’ve been trying to figure that out since we got here.”
I had the task of reporting in to Captain Pierce with our findings so far though all of us had input. The general consensus was that the planet would be habitable with a minimum of terraforming, and we could make all we needed to survive during the interim period.
The Captain said we should dust off as soon as possible to find out about this planet’s moon. The probe sent there was returning better-looking data than the planet itself. “I want something to give the people to avoid this battle over Sne-az. A group of people, including some from the anthropology department, tried to jack a shuttle a few hours ago to go down to study the culture there, but they were loading everything but the kitchen sink, so I don’t think they had any intentions of returning to the ship after. Anyway; I’ve had to post armed guards by both landing bays. I don’t think they’ll want to live with breathing apparatus on Five when there’s such a prize as Sne-az, where they don’t need to terraform. Just see what you find on Five’s moon; I hope it’s better. Contact me when you get there, and don’t mention the artifact to anybody until you get back, I don’t want a lot of extra rumors or theories plaguing us till after the vote.”
With that he signed off and we prepared to take off for the moon, which was a blue/green gem in the sky. It was 3,500 miles in diameter and had oceans, ice caps and two continents and a number of islands. It looked more inviting than Five, but info from the probe was incomplete. The only thing for certain was there was oxygen and water; and quite a bit at that!
“The sub’s almost to shore; somebody’s got to go get it,” said Brad.
“I got it,” I said on my way to the lock.
Ira joined me and together we tromped down to the lake. “So you finally got it together with your lady,” he said, teasingly. “Thought you’d stay blind forever! Everybody’s been waiting for you guys to wake up and see that you’ve been a couple for more than a year already; so just wanted you to know I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks,” I said, still somewhat embarrassed as we arrived at the water’s edge. “Look; see how all the little creatures in the water’s edge disappeared under the rocks as we arrived; that’s why we didn’t see them when we first walked down here. That’s the main reason I wanted to come to fetch the sub; I had to know why we didn’t see them in the beginning.”
“Me too. Now where’s that sub?” Asked Ira, scanning the water’s edge.
Then we spotted it, about fifty feet down the shore. “Nice navigating, Brad,” we both hassled him.
The little sub was icy cold, and I was sorry I didn’t think to bring something to wrap it in or at least dry it. Nonetheless, we got it on board and packed away.
As we took off, we could see where the water went deeper by the change in color, it’s funny how things stand out once you know they’re there. My dad use to say, “That’s the nature of the beast.”
I love the feeling of taking off from a real planet; such a feeling of power; and to think, we’re the first of our people in so many generations to experience it. Damned if we aren’t the lucky ones!
Four hours later we were orbiting the moon that was more than a moon, studying its surface and looking for the most promising place to land. We
located an area about 500 miles north of the equator and began our approach. As we entered the atmosphere we started to vibrate and heave side to side. “The gyros aren’t working!” Shouted Brad over the racket the ship was making. “I’ll have to shut them down and go strictly manual the rest of the way down; there’s not much room to recover at this altitude, so you’d better brace yourselves.”
That was the last thing he said before we hit the ground. We skidded along for a short distance before we hit something solid enough to stop our momentum.
“Report!” Commanded Olga when the craft was stopped. We all responded, except for Mike. His seat belt had not latched properly, and he’d hit his head on the back of the seat in front of him. There was blood all over the front of his white coveralls and he had a nasty gash across his forehead.
Doc unbuckled her strap and started to administer first aid. “He’s still alive.” She announced to the rest of us. “But I don’t know if there’s any serious brain injury yet.”
I was already busy with the comm. system, trying to contact base, but my signal didn’t seem to be getting though. “I think we’ll have to keep trying, until the planet revolves enough to stop blocking our signal.” I informed everyone.
“It never rains but when it pours,” said Brad somewhat sarcastically. “Whatever that means; something I’ve heard in the vids.”
“Is the airlock working?” Asked Olga, then without waiting for an answer, added, “The oxygen content is 2% richer than our norm, and no noxious traces showing on the sensors. We should be OK for now, but we’d better find out the condition of the ship from outside.”
“I guess this will be our first overnight stay on another world,” I said, trying to sound more optimistic than I felt. “Our only real engineer is the only one hurt, so I guess it’s up to us for now.”
“I think he’s going to be alright,” said Doc. “But he’s gonna need watching until we know for sure.”
“I’ll stay with him.” Hester volunteered. “He’d do the same for me.”
“Meantime,” Olga said determinedly, “the rest of us had better get cracking to see what conditions we have to deal with.”
Starborn Odyssey (The Starborn Odyssey Trilogy Book 1) Page 6