Childhoods Lost (Sentinels Saga Book 2)
Page 38
Gustav let out a sigh of frustration. “Don’t you people get it?” he said. “This planet is just too convenient. Everything about this world is set up to make it perfectly suitable for us. The planet’s distance from its sun … the single moon to stabilize its axis of rotation. Now this,” he said, pointing toward the water samples. “There is no justification for the composition of this atmosphere, Jüergens. The complete absence of plant life on this world means there should be far less oxygen present in the air.”
“We’re all aware of that, Gustav,” Jüergens said. “But clearly the atmosphere is what it seems, or we wouldn’t be breathing it right now. Is it possible there’s some sort of geological process that releases oxygen into the air?”
“Not in the amounts we’re seeing here. And even if that proved to be the case, it wouldn’t do much to change my perception that this whole situation seems alarmingly suspect. Doesn’t any of this seem suspicious to you? Doesn’t it just feel wrong, Jüergens?”
“On the contrary,” Jüergens said. “Everything about this feels absolutely right. I sensed it the moment we pulled into orbit. Some of the others have told me they feel the same way. Are you telling me you don’t feel it as well? Like a swell of energy flowing through your body, telling you this is where all of us belong?”
After a few seconds of contemplation, Gustav lowered his head and nodded. “Alright,” he said, “I have to admit, there’s something about this planet that seems to elicit a certain sense of euphoria. But that’s just part of what makes this so suspicious. It’s like the old warning about things that appear too good to be true. This planet fits that description like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
“I understand your concern,” Jüergens said. “And you may be right to have your suspicions. If this planet was intentionally set up for us, as your allusions would seem to suggest, then it’s either a trap, or it’s a gift. If it’s a gift, we’d be fools not to take advantage of it. It it’s a trap, I think it’s safe to assume we fell into its clutches a long time ago. Either way, my guess is we won’t be leaving. So let’s just try our best to make a go of it here.”
“With that in mind,” Gwen interrupted them, “I’d like to hear what Lena has to say about her samples.”
“Well,” Lena said, “overall, I would say things look very promising. I think it shouldn’t take very long at all to establish a healthy population of plankton. After that, it’ll be just a matter of gradually introducing the higher lifeforms.”
“What about the soil?” Jüergens asked her. “Have we analyzed any of those samples yet?”
“Yes,” she said, “the soil near the lake bed is obviously too salty, so we took some samples from a ridge to the west of here. There should be no problem growing a variety of plant life. All we really have to do is spread the seeds around and wait for a rainstorm ... like that one over there, for instance.” She pointed to a line of dark clouds in the distance. A flash of lightning suddenly appeared on the horizon.
Jüergens kept an eye on the storm clouds for a moment and determined they were going to pass by to the south. With the sun’s last rays now starting to fade, someone had fired up a generator and set up a series of portable lights to illuminate the area surrounding the canopy.
Gwen pointed up at one of the lights and said, “Doesn’t it seem odd not to see any bugs circling around? Back on Earth, you’d have gnats, and moths, and mosquitos converging the instant you turned the light switch on. But here, there isn’t a single flying speck in sight. It just reinforces the feeling of how foreign this world actually is to us.”
“Yeah,” Jüergens agreed, reminiscing about summer evenings back on Earth. “Never thought I’d actually feel homesick for bugs. But it does seem kind of strange not to see them.” Behind him, he heard the laughter of several young children as they ran to and fro between stacks of equipment, enjoying their first taste of the warm evening air on a world they would soon learn to call their home. One of the young girls stopped beside him and looked around as if trying to locate her parents. She’d been just an infant when they’d left Earth, so had no real memory of living on that world. He stooped down and picked her up in his arms. Her eyes were heavy and ready for slumber. He gave her a friendly smile, and asked her, “How do you like your new home, Kirsten?”
She looked around at the scattered stacks of equipment and the people who were busy trying to organize things. As yet, no one had bothered to pitch any tents. “Where are we going to sleep?” she asked.
Jüergens looked out toward the darkening horizon, at the vast expanse of open terrain. No boundaries, no borders, no territorial claims. A world of endless possibilities lay ahead of young Kirsten. “Anywhere we want to,” he answered her. “It looks as if we’re going to have plenty of space.”
2
The story will continue in Cosmic Thunder.
Excerpt from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Excerpt from Inferno by Dante Alighieri.