“No, take a moment,” said Yasmin. “Soak it in. Look, smell, listen. We are on a fucking new planet man. Just look.”
They heard a screech and then a whir and they all dropped to the ground terrified. When nothing happened they laughed nervously. “Look,” said Yasmin pointing to a glimmer of gossamer in the near distance. “I think it’s got four wings, half-way between a bird and dragon fly.”
“Wouldn’t four wings give it more lift in this gravity?” asked Axel.
“Well, we can tell you’re the geologist,” Yasmin laughed. “It’s actually all about the density of the atmosphere, not the gravity.”
“Come on, let’s set up the periphery and the camp. First things first,” said Anthony.
“Aye, aye Cap’n,” said Marta with a wry smile.
They worked as quickly as they could, finding it difficult not to be distracted with some new sight or sound. In two hours they had set up an electronic periphery of four poles connected by lasers. If these were broken an alarm would sound and a bright light would turn on, hopefully scaring away any nocturnal predators. They pitched two tents, one for sleeping and one to store equipment, then they rested for a meal: a special high protein, nutrient rich freeze dried formula heated over a gas fire.
“I don’t think we’ll have trouble finding water or local food sources,” said Marta. “It would seem this planet has evolved in a very similar way to Earth, same basic primary organisms but pushed along slightly different evolutionary paths.”
Yasmin nodded. “I reckon that after a week of camp food we’ll be ready to try the local vegetation. I am sure there are tubers and herbs in this valley. I can’t see why there wouldn’t be.”
“You know what?” said Axel. “I think I’m about to be the first human to take a shit on an alien planet.”
“Well don’t forget to neutralise it, we don’t want to leave any strange Earth microbes behind.”
The rest of the day was devoted to a survey of the immediate area, principally as a form of orientation.
“It’s the same but different,” said Marta. “Like my first trip to the Australian bush; same forms but oddly different… Look at this,” she said to Yasmin. “It’s as if moss got an evolutionary advantage and developed into a larger species.”
“Yes, like bamboo is a grass,” Yasmin added as she stroked the complex filaments of a large bush. “There’s bound to be plenty of plant protein, carbohydrates. The question will be over minerals and vitamins and toxins… and taste.”
When the sun began to set they worked their way back to the base camp. Marta squatted to piss, laying down the hunting rifle. Yasmin drew her breath.
“You know it’s sterile, we’ve gone over this…”
“It’s not that,” said Yasmin. “I’d be nervous about an alien insect biting my twat.”
Marta laughed. “I don’t know, maybe it’s the extra oxygen, but I’ve got a good feeling about this. I think the human genome will be so alien any local microbes will be confused.”
Yasmin shook her head. “The worst viruses have jumped species. You know that. It is more likely we are sitting ducks.”
“What does surprise me,” said Marta standing and adjusting her clothes, “is the lack of animals.”
“Damn,” said Yasmin. “Now my bladder is complaining. But it’s not odd at all,” she said as she squatted. “They will have seen us and are treating us with suspicion. They’ll be there, further into the forest and out on the plains. Maybe in a day or two a few curious species will come sniffing around the camp. Even predators won’t attack until they’re confident. Don’t forget many species only eat specific species. It’s instinct, part of an evolutionary protective strategy – treat all things as potential poisons, unless of course, you are very hungry or you are intelligent enough to be too curious.”
Marta laughed, “yeah, like us.”
They walked back to the camp and joined Axel and Anthony, who was carrying a large reddish globe. “A fruit I think. Smells rotten. Found it on the ground.”
“Reminds me of a cross between a pomegranate and a paw-paw,” said Marta taking a closer look. “Several days decay. Were there others?”
“They were more decayed. This may have been one of the last of the season.”
Marta smelled it. “Hmm, hints of cinnamon, turmeric, probably spicy, bag it, it has potential.”
The evening was spent heating another freeze-dried meal, drinking Earth water and setting up some basic equipment. Marta was in a rush to look at the cell structure of some of the specimens they had collected. She was bent over a microscope when Axel called her out of the tent. “Come, you have to see this.”
She came out into the air and shivered with the chill. Overhead a large flock of bird-like creatures were in flight.”
“Wow,” she exclaimed.
“No, not that. That!” said Yasmin pointing to a distant hill where a large six-legged grazing creature was walking along the crest. “That’s huge, bigger than a mammoth.”
“And that,” added Axel pointing to the sky and a small pink moon, full and glorious, rising over the same hill.
“Got it,” said Anthony putting down the camera.
“You know we have naming rights; like the first explorers. Who wants to name the moon? Should we keep to the classical theme?”
“No, I name it Bob,” said Axel.
“Very funny. How about Rhodon, after the Greek for rose, because of its pink colour.”
Everyone shrugged their shoulders. “We haven’t even named the planet yet,” said Anthony. “Seems premature and unnecessary to me.”
“What about the mammoth?”
“Who was the first to see it?”
“Yasmin.”
“So how about megasextus yasminus?”
They stood there for a moment watching strange stars pop into view as the daylight faded and they faced a long fifteen-hour night (and, because it was summer, a subsequent seventeen hour day - by the end of the week their circadian rhythms would be well and truly out of alignment).
After three days they began to relax. On that morning they were rewarded with the sight of a small herd of rabbit-sized six-legged grazers feeding in their field. When they saw the movement of the humans they raised themselves on four legs and stared like meerkats. Yasmin moved forward slowly, in open view. She got to within a metre of one before it sniffed the air and walked away, signalling that she had gotten close enough.
“Do you think they taste like rabbit?” asked Axel when she returned.
She turned up her nose and gave him a rude hand gesture. “It did seem quite fleshy. You can eat most meat, if you can stand the taste. It might be very oily meat, tough, gamey.”
That afternoon they walked a distance of three kilometres to the edge of a vast plain. As they stood on a hill they counted and filmed at least twenty-five species of six-legged grazing animals: the large mammoths, two species of long necked creatures grazing on trees, a large herd of smaller striped creatures and everything in-between, each filling a niche.
“See any predators?” asked Axel.
“There would be less of them and they wouldn’t be out in the open, not until they are chasing game.”
“Like that?” said Anthony pointing to a cloud of dust.
Yasmin put the camera up and zoomed in. “Yep, exactly like that. It’s two-legged, very fast, raptor-like, huge jaws…”
“A dinosaur?” asked Axel.
“No, smaller, the size of an ostrich, it has striped fur. The two-legged form is ideal for speed. It’s a whole new phylum. No, now it’s gone. Wow. This is just like fucking Africa.”
On the fourth day it rained. Marta stood outside and collected the drops on her tongue. It tasted just like Earth rain. When it had eased they ventured further into the forest. The rain had freshened everything and released a rich, heady smell. When the came over a crest Yasmin excitedly pointed to a rainbow. “A good omen,” she said.
On the fifth day they explo
red deeper into the forest. It was a hot day and both Axel and Marta stripped off their shirts, baring their chests. Anthony’s conservative upbringing seemed embarrassed by such casual immodesty. After about an hour Yasmin relented and also stripped, tying her shirt around her waist. When they came over a rise they found a small valley with a waterfall and bushes filled with berry-like fruit.
After they had searched the area and found several species of fungi and seed and berry bearing bushes, Marta announced that she was too hot and was going into the water. She started stripping.
“Don’t be stupid,” objected Anthony.
“I stink; it’s just a creek and a waterfall. I’ll go first.” Anthony turned away as she dropped her pants. “Oh don’t be such a Confucian prude. We are the only humans here. We are not going to get arrested and the animals aren’t going to be offended,” and with that she entered the water.
Axel was next. Yasmin hesitated but after she saw that it was perfectly safe she joined them. Anthony remained on the banks of the creek, nervously holding his rifle.
“Come on Anthony man,” said Axel stepping out of the water and gesturing for him to hand over the rifle. “I’ll stand guard. We all stink. Freshen up man.” And with that he finally relented.
They were in good spirits as they walked back to the camp in various states of undress, with Marta and Axel remaining completely naked except for their boots, regaling the others with their exploits naturist hiking in Germany and Norway. When they passed one of the berry bushes Marta instinctively grabbed a handful and put some in her mouth before the others saw her.
“Wow,” she said turning to Yasmin. “Delicious, intense, sweet; like vanilla and muscatel. I bet it’d ferment and make a wicked brew.”
“For fuck’s sake Marta, the protocol…”
Suddenly Marta bent over and grabbed at her throat. “Aargh, aargh,” she said before collapsing with laughter.
“This is serious. You’ve gone crazy…”
“It had to happen sometime. If we are to find food, someone had to take the first taste. It’s good, really. I can taste complex sugars, the tang of ascorbic acid.”
The others were not so sure and declined.
That night she recorded a diary entry on her screen. “It occurred to me today that if humans colonise this planet we are free to establish a new culture. We will be the sole authority. There is no church, no state. We don’t have to bring any cultural baggage, not a single irrational custom, prejudice or belief. Today it was the most natural thing to walk naked in the sunshine. I had made a rational decision. It was as safe as wearing clothes. Yet the others hesitated due to the mental maps they had brought with them from Earth. I think this warrants considerable discussion. When we finally decide what equipment we will need to bring and what to leave behind, we must remember what concepts to bring and what to leave behind. And tonight, to celebrate, Axel and I plan to be the first humans to fuck on an alien planet. Someone had to do it, might as well be me. See you,” she said blowing a kiss at the screen.
The next day brought incomprehensible terror. It happened early in the morning as they came out of their tents. It began with a bone chilling series of howls from all directions. Then without warning tall two-legged creatures ran at high speed toward the camp. They had little time to react. A rock hit Anthony in the head and he crumpled, killed instantly. Marta, still naked, screamed with shock as one of the creatures grabbed her with powerful arms and broke her neck, howling with triumph. Axel stumbled to reach a rifle and fired a poorly aimed shot before being hit with a club. Yasmin tried to hide in a tent, pissing herself and automatically describing the creatures as her headgear filmed everything. “About three and half metres tall, two powerful legs, ostrich-like, fur, possibly same phylum as the other predators, different species, two powerful arms, a long neck, fangs…”
Her description fell silent as the tent was ripped apart. She did not scream as one of the creatures grabbed her leg, lifted her effortlessly over its head and smashed her body onto the ground, breaking her neck.
Back on Earth there were screams of horror as they watched the incoming video. A couple of people threw up. Just one person followed protocol and hit the red switch that would automatically shut the capsule’s door and send it skyward to prevent any sentient species capturing the technology. He need not have been concerned. The predators had thought it was simply a strange looking boulder; they were only interested in the strange looking creatures that had dared to enter their territory.
The deaths of the first explorers shattered the project. Trauma counsellors were kept busy dealing with shock, terror and grief. Akash put all projects on hold, thinking that he had been hopelessly naïve and that such a monumental project was beyond them.
Quietly two anthropologists carefully reviewed all the available footage. They concluded that the predators were sentient and had planned the attack. They had used weapons and devised a basic strategy. Their grunts and howls had suggested a proto-language and they concluded that this species was likely to be at the same level of evolutionary development as early hominids. The most shocking finding was that the team had been dismembered and taken back to the predator’s lair to be eaten. Their remains would never be found and returned home. They recommended that the planet be quarantined. They called the first sentient species ever encountered by humans pan gargantua and the planet Pangaea.
In the absence of direction from a clearly distraught Akash, Aviva put her contingency plan into action. In time family and friends would notice the team missing and the police might link them to Shunyata, so she had carefully constructed an electronic trail that placed them on Earth: Marta was on holidays in New York until she disappeared mysteriously a month later, there was even security camera footage of someone looking like her captured at various places. Yasmin was last seen in Sydney buying water at a service station; Axel in Strasbourg and Anthony in Hong Kong, all disappearing at different times. Various police and coronial reports gave open findings or reported them as missing persons because no bodies had been found.
Aviva salved her conscience by remembering something Marta had said, that even if she knew she would never come back, she would still go. The chance of being the first human to explore an alien world was more than worth it.
All Aviva needed to do was convince Akash.
24
Biyu
The first rays woke her. She stretched and shivered. They had fallen asleep on the headland. Her head hurt and her bladder was full. She staggered to the edge of the cliff and pissed over the edge, yawned and stretched. She turned to see Zoe folded up in the foetal position, some of her body paint smeared. Perhaps she should wake her but she looked too cute lying there naked and vulnerable. It was then that she remembered the gift she had bought. It would be a nice surprise to wake her with. She alerted her guardian and it confirmed it would take about fifteen minutes. As she waited she squatted on her haunches looking out over the morning sunlight shimmering on the surface of the sea, her thoughts flipping between the events of the night before and what lay ahead. She didn’t know how she was going to tell Zoe. She thought the next serious talk they would have would be about establishing a more permanent circle.
The drone glided into place and settled on the ground. The movement roused Zoe and she rolled onto her back and stretched. “Morning fuckbaby, oh, what’s a drone doing here?” she asked as the side door hissed open and Biyu pulled out a parcel.
“I bought you something, a gift, at the market yesterday. I couldn’t resist.”
Zoe seemed confused. “Gift? Why? It’s not my birthday or Eros Day…”
“No reason. It was just you. I couldn’t pass it by,” she said handing it to her.
“Oh baby, thank you,” she said as she unwrapped it. “Oh, it’s gorgeous,” she said holding it up, the golden light of the morning sun glistening off its translucent pink surface. “Revived Art Nouveau, my favourite. It’ll take pride of place at home. The drone can take it ther
e now and it’ll be waiting for me when I get home.” She handed it back to Biyu who rewrapped it and placed it back in the drone. When she had finished and the drone had started to lift away, Zoe hugged and kissed Biyu. “That was the sweetest thing babe.”
They kissed for a minute longer before Zoe pulled way. “My bladder…” she said as she squatted.
“Want to go down to the beach for a refreshing dip, then we can walk back and get some breakfast at the quay?”
It was a ten-minute walk to the beach on the other side of the headland. Biyu couldn’t wait to wash away the grunge of the night before. Zoe squealed with the sudden cold. Refreshed they used wet sand to help remove the remainder of the body paint. Zoe swam up to her and embraced her in the water, kissed her and reached between her legs. “You are very special babe,” she said as Biyu surrendered to her touch.
They left the water as a group of children plunged in. They let the air dry them as they walked around the path at the base of the headland holding hands. As they turned a corner the quay came into view with the majestic golden domes of Congress glowing with the morning rays.
“Babe, there’s something we need to discuss,” she said.
Zoe remained silent as she told her as much as she could from the day before.
“But I don’t understand. How can it be indeterminate?”
“I don’t know?”
“But they can’t do this…”
“Yes, they can. It’s part of the Accord, my responsibility as a citizen.”
“And what about me?”
“It’s important.”
“And I’m not important?” Zoe scowled. Biyu thought she was being petulant. “You’ve decided haven’t you?”
“I think so.”
“So what is it about, you haven’t said much…”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t,” Zoe demanded, standing her ground. “Tell me for fuck’s sake.”
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