Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize

by Armstrong, Charles W.

  After his warm shower, his legs felt stiff and weak as he slowly walked over to the closet to put his clothes on. The alarm was still ringing in his ears causing his headache to throb. It would continue to ring until the last person woke up. His hands were shaking as he opened the latch to the closet door. He gazed in the mirror at his pale grey face. His yellow eyes were bloodshot. He looked so tired. How could he be tired after three years of sleep? He shrugged and headed off to get something to eat.

  While he was eating his first meal in three years, he tried to block out the frivolous conversation he heard all around him. They all seemed like shallow morons to him. Everyone was overeager to get going with their plans, get off their mothership and step on real soil again. Even if it was not the soil of their home world. This, in itself was understandable. However, Victor was a man that wanted to do things properly, according to protocols. The protocols were put in place for good reasons. One of those important reasons was for everyone’s safety. Why did they not realize this?

  He took another sip of his caffeinated malt drink, designed to make revival a little easier for them all. An effective remedy, made from the dried grain of a plant native to Homeworld. He was starting to feel a little more energetic and his headache was starting to subside. He was pleased that the alarm was no longer sounding.

  Victor was among two others assigned to be the first of this fleet to land on the habitable moon. They knew it was habitable according to the reports of the earlier scouting mission sent to investigate this solar system. He stared out the viewport. The view pleased him, a slight smile started to form on his face. The moon was very beautiful. Lots of green and quite a bit of blue. A perfect place that he could call home at last. He would build his home far away as possible from the others so he could concentrate on his research. Homeworld was overcrowded and packed with too many inhabitants. He wanted to spend his days without having his neighbor observing him cutting up his food and putting each morsel into his mouth.

  After he finished his meal, he was to report to his two commanding officers on the bridge. Captain Daniel Anderson and his minion –Commander Joseph Robertson. He was not looking forward to it. Captain Anderson was a very intelligent individual, though that did not make him a good person. Commander Robertson was really the captain’s puppet and the strings were almost visible. It was pathetic. He knew they would try to make him fear them and quiver in his boots, in their presence. He was not the sort that would grovel at the feet of people like that and they hated him for it. He glanced at the time display on the back of his hand. His meeting with them was only fifteen minutes away. It was a ten-minute walk to the bridge. He sighed as he got up from his cushioned chair. “I might as well get going,” he said, “for it’s time to make my stand in the face of the powers that be.” He shook his head as he realized that no one acknowledged he had spoken.

  When he walked onto the bridge captain Anderson said to him, “Welcome Mister Marcus. Commander Robertson and I have been waiting for you.”

  Victor glanced at the time on the back of his hand. No, he was still four minutes early. He was not late. He sighed inwardly. This was another tactic to exert authority over him.

  “There is no reason to wait anymore sir, for I am here,” he said firmly, “ahead of schedule.”

  “You have been briefed about your mission to the surface of the moon, but I just wanted to make one thing very clear to you. As soon as you perform all your scans of the environment, you are to report your findings immediately to me. I do not want you to get distracted with other things that scientifically are appealing to you. Find out if the place is safe and report this immediately to me. Do you understand?”

  “Of course sir. However, I would not be distracted by such things.” He looked directly into Captain Anderson’s eyes and said, “I can be trusted to carry out my duties efficiently according to protocols, so I see no need for this reminder.”

  “I am just making sure that you do not delay in your duties.” The tone of his voice now changed to one of exasperation as he said, “We all want to finally set foot on the moon below. You must want this too.”

  “Of course I do sir, but I am not a little child that gets easily distracted. I recognize the authority that the both of you have, but I will talk straight into the face of anyone that I feel is treating me like a four-year-old. As you mentioned at the outset, I have already been briefed and therefore I already know that I should report to you my findings on the moon. This will be done according to protocols set up by people who exceed your authority and nowhere in my instructions from these individuals was I told to rush things. So, when I am satisfied that the moon below is completely safe, you will be the first person that I report this to.” Victor thought, “He is probably upset because I don’t respond in fear like all of his other subordinates. Too bad for him.” The commander and everyone else on the bridge was looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces. Except for Captain Anderson, he was rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

  “Report immediately to the launching bay for pre-launch preparations. You are dismissed.”

  “On my way sir.” He smiled as he left the bridge and said out loud, “That went well.”

  In the launching bay everyone was rushing around frantically. He was making his way across the walkway when a lifter almost ran into him. He yelled at the driver for taking a shortcut across the clearly marked pedestrian path. He shook his head as he continued on. He said loudly, “Someone is going to get hurt!”

  When he climbed aboard the large shuttle he noticed the pilot and co-pilot looking at him and shaking their heads. “Now what is wrong with them?” He thought.

  “It took you long enough,” said the pilot, “we have been waiting for ten minutes.”

  “That’s strange,” said Victor, leaning ahead with his face about six inches from the pilot’s nose. His voice now became louder and angrier as he continued, “because I’m two minutes early for this launch. What is wrong with you? Have you followed all protocols in your pre-launch checks?”

  The pilot backed up a little, obviously intimidated, realizing that this scientist was not a pushover. “Yes, we have. Let me just ask control if we can leave a minute early.”

  Victor shook his head while saying, “Why are you in such a rush? We have the rest of our lives gentlemen. Someone is going to make a fatal mistake.”

  He was correct about this, although he did not realize that he would be so directly and adversely affected by his inadvertent prediction. The trip to the surface went fine. Victor made sure he was thorough with his scans and sample tests of the environment according to the regulations for such. Captain Anderson could wait until everything was done properly. The pilot and co-pilot were impatiently waiting around scrutinizing everything he was doing. He looked at them and said, “Do you know how to perform these scans and sample tests gentlemen? No, you do not. So, I would advise that you go back aboard the ship and wait for the all clear signal. You know, that this is what you should be doing. I am the only one that is supposed to be out here at this time, according to the proper procedures that have been implemented for your own safety. Why are you not obeying these protocols?” They reluctantly went back aboard the shuttle murmuring something about how long he was taking.

  When he was completely satisfied, he switched on his communicator and said, “This is Victor Marcus reporting to captain Anderson. Please respond.”

  “This is Captain Anderson. Report.”

  “All scans and sample testing have been completed and all results are positive indicating that we may proceed with our mission. It is safe here on this moon.”

  “Thank you Mister Marcus for finally reporting to us this important piece of good news. Report back to the Venture immediately.”

  “Yes sir,” he said as he gave the all clear signal to the pilot and co-pilot. They had been eagerly waiting while looking at him expectantly. However, when they came out Victor said to them, “You might as well go back inside bec
ause we have been ordered to return to the Venture.” They both sighed and went back inside and prepared for another launch, this time from the moon.

  Once they left the moon’s atmosphere and were returning to the mothership, Victor breathed a sigh of relief. He was thinking that his mission to and from the moon was a success. However, the pilot failed to recognize a mechanical error with the hatchway doors until it was too late. After the shuttle had left orbit and they headed toward the Venture, for some inexplicable reason the hatchway opened. (Later Victor would discover while examining the records of the flight that the pilot switched off an alarm for the hatchway.) The co-pilot quickly took off his restraints and tried to get to the manual controls to close the hatchway doors, before they all died. Unfortunately, he lost his grip on the railing and he was sucked out of the shuttle into space. At that moment Victor knew they would die if he did not do something fast. Near the floor, he saw a long coiled up cable tucked into a pouch on the wall. He reached down and pulled it out. His lungs were already aching and he was starting to see spots in front of his eyes. It was freezing cold. He quickly tied the cable to the leg of his seat and the other end to his own leg. Then he unbuckled his seat restraint. He stood up, started to walk, while holding onto the seat and whatever else he could along the way. He made his way to the manual controls for the hatchway. His eyes were blurry because they were watering, reacting from the sudden cold temperature. He defiantly blinked the tears away. As he reached out with one hand, he noticed that frost was starting to develop on his fingers. He felt the tears freezing to his face. He forced his sluggish fingers to properly work the controls. The hatchway finally closed causing his ears to feel a popping sensation. Victor’s vision faded completely leaving him in cold darkness. He had the distressing feeling that he was falling endlessly and then, nothing.

  As he regained consciousness, the falling sensation was replaced with other pain. After what seemed an eternity, Victor finally opened his eyes. His head was aching terribly and his shoulder was hurting as if someone had hit him with a big stick. For some reason he was gasping for air. The module he was in was violently shaking. A feeling of vertigo was causing it to spin before his eyes and there was a loud roaring sound coming from outside. It was no longer cold in the shuttle, in fact it was stiflingly hot. How long was he out? A wave of intense nausea came over him and he vomited. As he resumed gasping, he breathed in some vomit. He started to cough uncontrollably causing his eyes tear. Forcibly, he gained control of himself once again. Blinking the tears away, he crawled to where the pilot lay unconscious, slumped over in his chair. He was leaning against his restraints. Victor stood up unsteadily and grabbed the pilot by the shoulders and shook him. The pilot’s eyes fluttered open and then grew wide, obviously remembering their dilemma. Pulling away from Victor’s grasp, he leaned forward trying to regain control of the shuttle desperately working its controls. Realizing his effort was too little, too late, in desperation he yelled, “Oh no! We have entered the planet’s atmosphere, we’re burning up! Get back to your seat and fasten your restraints. Prepare for a hard landing.”

  The landing was more than just hard. Later, Victor would learn that the pilot was killed instantly in the crash landing.

  * * *

  Taerg woke up to the sound of someone groaning. He sat up, the sun had already risen. He remembered that he had a guest. He must see to his wounds. He walked over to the man to examine his condition more closely. His injuries appeared to be cleaned well enough. The person was sitting up with a pained expression, his face was pale grey and he had yellow eyes. He looked at Taerg and said something pointing to his sore leg. Taerg had never seen anyone that looked like this before. This person was different, he was thin with long legs and arms. His skin was light grey and his eyes were yellow. Of course Taerg still wanted to help him, he would never hold someone’s appearance against them. He could see that the person mostly had minor cuts, scrapes and bruises. His leg was a little more serious, but at least it was not broken. There were no wounds serious enough that they would have to stop the bleeding. The bleeding had already stopped by the time Taerg found him trapped in the building and they were all cleaned up now. The strange person did not look as miserable as he did last night. By the way the man was gesturing, he realized that this individual wanted a walking stick, so he made one for him. He seemed happy about that, so he nodded his head and gave Taerg a big smile. Once again the man gazed at the building and said the same two words he had uttered the night before with the questioning tone. Taerg did not understand, so he shrugged and held out his hands. The man said the words more slowly for Taerg. He decided he would repeat the man’s words. “TTHHEE PPIILLOOTT?” The man smiled, nodded and pointed to the building. Taerg could see that this person was very intelligent, so he decided he would try to learn more about him. He was hobbling around leaning on the stick looking at his surroundings. As he looked at the burned metal building he frowned and started limping toward it. His leg was obviously not broken. It was injured in some other way, otherwise he would not be able to walk at all. His hands and face had dark blotches on them. His pants were full of bloodstains, but there was also some on his shirt. He was making grunting sounds with each step toward the burning building. He seemed very determined as he forced himself onward. Reaching the burned metal building, he went inside. Taerg followed him and saw that he was trying to open one of the doors inside with one hand while leaning on the stick with the other. The door was stuck, so Taerg helped him and together they were able to open it enough to squeeze through. Inside was a shocking sight, there was another person who somehow had been crushed up against the wall. It looked like the wall with the windows had crushed him against another wall with a chair in between. The poor person’s skin looked so pale and he could see that he had bled out all over the seat and floor. Taerg gasped, it was a terrible sight. The person hobbled over to the dead body, examined it, then with a grave expression on his face he sadly gazed at Taerg. With tears in his eyes he shook his head. Taerg did not need words to understand what that look meant. It said, “I am sorry, but he did not make it.”

  It took them three hours to pry the dead body out of there. The stranger took some interest in a small box attached to the corpse’s shoulder, but it fell to the floor in pieces. So, he just left it lying there where it fell. They took the corpse outside and buried it under some stones that they found all around the wreckage.

  The stranger hobbled back into the unusual building and entered the same chamber where he had been trapped beneath part of the wall panel. He began to rummage around looking for something amongst the debris scattered around the room. He was there for a few moments when he triumphantly made a declaration. He appeared in the doorway with a smile on his face and a small box in his hand. He attached it to his shoulder guard and began to limp his way back to the camp. When he got there, he was breathing heavily. Sweating profusely, he went to the blanket that Taerg had provided the night before and sat down on it. He pulled up his pant leg, undid the rag he had tied around it and examined his bruised, swollen leg. There was a cut in the center of the bruise that curved irregularly. It was about four inches long. He cleaned the rag in some water Taerg had supplied and he retied it onto his leg over his wound. Letting go of his pant leg, he spoke into the small box on his shoulder for a few minutes. This was a peculiar sight to Taerg. When the injured man was done, he lay down to sleep. Then, in only a few moments he was once again sleeping. Taerg decided that he would stay here for a few days until the person was healed enough for travel. This fascinating stranger had not even had any food yet, only a little drink of water. He would make sure the person had something to eat when he awoke. Taerg decided to search for some food before the sun set. His uncle’s place was not that far away, only a few more miles. After the person had recuperated enough, he would travel there where he could be helped further by the healers. He took out his log writings to make another entry.

  Yesterday, I discovered something very stran
ge. An unfamiliar metal building that was burning. There was destruction all around this building. I heard someone calling for help with words I could not understand. I found him trapped underneath part of a wall. It had collapsed on his leg. I helped him to get free. He kept telling me words I could not understand. I led him out from that terrible place that was a scar on the valley. I gave him my blanket so he would be warm for the night. The next day he went to the burned building and we discovered the dead body of one of his people crushed against a wall. It was terrible. We buried him outside, covering him with stones so the animals would not eat his dead carcass. The stranger went back inside the building, into a room and found a small box and he attached it to his shoulder. We returned to our camp and after speaking into that small box he was very tired, so he fell asleep and is sleeping right now. Tomorrow, I shall try to communicate further with him. Perhaps I can learn some of his words and maybe he can learn some of mine. We need to try to understand each other. I will stay here for a few days. We will eat from the fruit trees and vegetables that surround us until he is able to travel. Then I will go to my uncle’s village where he can get additional help from the healers. Perhaps my uncle will further advise me in how I should proceed. This person looks unlike any person I have ever seen before. His skin is pale grey, his eyes are yellow and he is very thin with long legs and arms. I would like to know more about him.

  I know all of this needs to be reported to the grand council of elders. I will do so when this person has regained his health. Perhaps he will travel with me to speak with them. This is all I know. I will continue to keep my log entries regularly when possible.