Roland liked the kid’s sense of humor. “Never too soon for ill-timed jokes. I’m off to find a latrine.” The word sounded like it fit the rough colony life.
“Don’t get lost,” Tony warned him with a smile.
He’d almost forgotten how strange the planet appeared, and when he unzipped the tent flap, he staggered from the door as he was greeted by red grass. Was that even possible? He tried to remember his lessons on chlorophyll and photosynthesis, but didn’t recall much. He was smart, but he’d never taken an interest in botany.
The sun was behind him, and his shadow stretched long as he emerged outside, raising his hands in the air and bending forward to shake out the stiffness from his spine. He found himself smiling as he surveyed their camp. Massive sections of Eden were scattered around the piles of tents, and a few people were sitting by a fire fifty meters away. One of them waved to him; he thought it was Val. She was probably watching the tent, waiting for Tony to wake up.
He waved at her in return, and tried to remember where the washrooms were. He saw the row of portable stations to the left, far enough from their camp that no one had to worry about being downwind from them. Carrie had said there was technology integrated that rendered sewer systems a thing of the past. He hadn’t pressed her on it, and was content to take her word for it, so long as he wasn’t responsible for digging ditches like the ones in the old World War One books he’d read.
The walk was brief, and Roland didn’t encounter anyone along the way. It was far more advanced in appearance than the porta potties from home. A light flickered on, obviously solar-powered, and when he flushed, the station vibrated briefly. It also smelled pine fresh.
When he was done, he spotted a section of their ship along the outskirts of camp, this one with the number five painted on the hull, and he walked toward the chunk of the vessel, wondering what was inside. Carrie had said they needed to charge, and he saw that this one had a rover-sized device plugged into the rear edge of it.
“Rollie, you’re going to find yourself in the brig, my old friend,” he told himself as he searched for the entrance. There it was: a thick double door in the hull. He hadn’t noticed any exits while inside the ship, but they were probably kept out of sight of the passengers.
There was a metallic plate near the doorway, and Roland used his fingers to pry at it, finding that it swiveled to reveal a console screen. It requested a code, and he pressed in the one Kendra had memorized from Carrie’s tour of the cryo facilities. The door hissed open.
Roland stood there, staring into the piece of Eden, wondering if he was sealing his fate if he dared go inside without a blue suit. Not only that, but Kendra had asked them to play along for the time being. The truth was, they had nowhere else to go. Keller and the guards held all the power. They had the supplies, the weapons, and most importantly, the food and water.
Against his better judgment, Roland stepped inside, the lights flickering on at the movement. He noted it was Deck Ten, a section passengers weren’t allowed access to. He needed to be quick. If they were done charging this piece of Eden, the blue suits would be there soon to remove the device and charge the next in line.
He was inside a common space, computers lining the walls like an open concept office building. He expected to find a frappe maker and a ping-pong table if he kept searching. He sat in front of the first computer screen, and found there were none of the locks and barriers of the consoles on the passenger levels.
Roland grinned as his fingers raced over the keyboard. He found what he was searching for: video footage from the crash. Wasn’t it convenient that their emergency exit from cryo had happened right at their destination? What were the chances there would be a meteor shower outside Proxima the moment they arrived? Roland wasn’t a statistician, but he estimated the odds were very poor.
The footage didn’t reveal much. He only saw a few explosions, and Eden breaking apart as escape shuttles sped swiftly from the main body. The cameras were at bad angles, unreliable in capturing what had really occurred.
“Hound,” he said, seeing one, smaller vehicle move in a different direction. “Where are you?” He tried to locate a tracking system, and a few minutes later he was successful. All but one of the shuttles’ blinking tracker icons appeared in the same vicinity on the black and white map of their valley, but one was further and closer to the mountain range, in a direction that Roland thought of as north of them. That had to be Hound’s. Why had it flown so far away?
Roland thought he heard a sound from outside, and closed the program before tapping the console to sleep mode. He rushed to the exit, hopped outside, and shut the doors. He heard voices talking loudly as they neared this section of Eden. His heart pounded as he ran around the exterior hull, away from the conversation.
He realized he’d neglected to slide down the metal door-control cover in his haste, but it was too late for that. He couldn’t stick around waiting to see if they noticed.
Roland’s legs carried him quickly toward the tents, moving as fast as he could without running.
“Someone’s in a hurry,” a woman said, and he stopped in his tracks. It was Kendra’s big sister.
“Good morning, Carrie,” he said, attempting to keep the fear from his words. He forced a smile, feeling self-conscious.
“I’m glad I found you. We have a big job for you. I hope you’re up to the task,” she told him.
This was it. She’d seen him once again spying on things. He was going to be escorted to a quiet place and shot in the back of the head. “I’ll try,” he mustered.
“Everyone will have a role in the setup of camp, but yours is very important,” she told him. She was standing close, and people were moving around behind them, heading from their tents to the makeshift mess hall they’d erected late last night. He could already smell coffee brewing. What a luxury. One day on an alien world, and they were running hot water through ground beans from Earth.
“What is it?” he asked, trying to keep his focus on the conversation. “The important role.”
“Water treatment,” she told him.
“Water treatment? That’s not my forte,” he said, wondering if it was a distraction to keep him occupied.
“I don’t seem to recall janitorial expertise on your resume either,” she said with a laugh. “Maybe you’d prefer cleaning the latrines to water treatment?”
“Uhm… I do love hydration. Count me in,” Roland said. “Do you mind if I have something to eat first?”
“Meet me by Eden Three after you have a bite. We have a lot of supplies to transfer to the water’s edge,” Carrie said, walking away. She stopped another man, and Roland overheard her mention soil testing to him. Roland thought he remembered hearing the man was a farmer or agricultural professor or something.
Their one thousand people had felt like fewer on board the ship, mainly because Roland had only seen select groups in the spacecraft. Here in the valley, the majority of them had arisen from their tents, and were either heading to or from the mess hall. This was the real thing. The beginning of a colony. It was almost impossible to imagine that their group would spend the rest of their days in this location.
“One thing at a time,” he said to no one.
The mess hall was basically an oversized tent, constructed by some blue suits and hovering drones in the dark the night before. It was spacious inside, and a few folding tables were erected, placed in neat rows under the white canopy.
“Over here, Rollie,” Tony called, and Roland saw his friends. It was strange to think of them like that. Under normal circumstances, he would never have met or conversed with any of these people, but given their dire and extreme situation, he already felt like they were family. Closer than that, if he was being honest, because family wasn’t always a good thing.
Kendra sat beside Andrew, her arm draped in a sling. Tony and Val were eating food off each other’s plates, and Diane was biting into a strawberry and humming an unfamiliar tune.
“D
id you guys hear your duties yet?” Rollie took a seat across from Andrew, and the Marine shook his head.
“Not me,” Andrew said.
“Carrie told me to focus on healing, but in the meantime, I’ll be helping her direct the personnel,” Kendra said.
“What about you two crazy kids?” Roland asked the teenagers.
Tony shrugged. “As long as it’s not cleaning dishes all day every day, I’ll be happy. Apparently, they have a better system once Eden is dismantled and restructured. At least, that’s what I heard the guards saying.”
“Has anyone seen the blueprints?” Andrew asked.
“Not yet,” Kendra said.
“I’m wondering if they’ll let me build a cabin in the woods,” Andrew said. “A little place to call ours, hey, Val?”
“You mean away from everyone?” his daughter asked.
“Sure. I’d rather be chopping wood, or whatever the hell this planet has to offer, than be a cog in Hound’s machine,” Andrew said.
“Already going rogue. I thought we talked about this last night,” Kendra said softly.
Andrew frowned. “Sorry. I’m taking things too far. I just… I’ve never done well relying on people.”
Roland noted how Kendra’s hand fell on Andrew’s forearm and lingered for a moment. “We have your back. We all do.” She lifted it, and Roland’s stomach growled.
“Well, I’m on the illustrious water treatment team. It doesn’t get more exciting than that!” Roland exclaimed. He glanced around, making sure no one was listening, and leaned in. “I also snuck into Five this morning, and saw where Hound’s pod landed.”
“What?” Kendra barked, and clamped a hand to her mouth. “What are you talking about?” she asked, much quieter.
“I had to find out. I also saw some footage from Eden, but it was a mess of shuttles and explosions. Not much to see.” Roland drummed his fingers on the table’s top.
“Try to keep it in your pants from now on, Rollie,” Andrew said gruffly.
“Everyone listen up!” Keller’s voice carried through the mess hall.
Roland turned to see the thin man running his fingers over his goatee. “If you don’t have a task yet, you’ll be helping unload supplies today. We meet at Eden One in half an hour for directions.” The man didn’t wait for questions; he spun on a heel and walked away.
“I guess we know what we’re doing,” Tony said.
Roland rose from his seat to find some food, before it was time to start building their new life. He noticed it grow darker inside the mess hall, and glanced to the clear plastic windows stretching across the overhead canopy. Dark clouds were rolling in, and he sensed a storm was brewing. He could only hope it wasn’t an omen.
SEVENTEEN
Andrew
As per Eric Keller’s orders, Andrew went to Eden One after breakfast with Val, Tony, and Kendra to help unload supplies. A large crowd of at least a hundred people had already gathered there—everyone who hadn’t been given a specific job to do. Roland wasn’t present, however. He’d excused himself after breakfast, saying that Carrie had assigned him to water treatment.
Andrew placed a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the glare of the blue-white sun peeking over the top of this segment of the ship. He estimated that Eden One had to be about four stories high, roughly the same as all the other segments he’d seen so far.
Eric Keller stood at the top of a wide loading ramp with two armed guards. Behind him a massive set of doors began rumbling open in the lowermost level of the segment.
“This is one of the storage segments of Eden,” Eric said, his voice booming to their ears through that small silver megaphone device that he held. He turned and gestured to the shadowy chamber opening up behind him. Andrew could see that it was stacked high with crates. A pair of forklifts were driving around inside. One of them raced up behind Keller, and set a crate down with a resounding boom just a few feet behind him. Andrew frowned and glanced at Kendra. With her arm in a sling, he doubted she’d be able to do anything other than watch.
Keller went on, “Your job is to take the crates from the top of the ramp and organize them on the ground in rows and in sequential order. Each crate has a number on it. The loaders will try to give them to you in ascending order whenever possible. You must ensure one is next to two, and three is next to four. Each row should have no more than twenty crates, and there needs to be enough space for a rover to comfortably drive between them for easy loading and unloading. That means no less than twelve feet. Members of the crew will be around, and they’ll measure those distances for you if you’re uncertain. Any questions?”
Most everyone shook their heads or muttered that they didn’t. But Andrew had a question. “How heavy are the crates?” he asked.
Eric Keller’s smirk was visible even from a distance. “Why? Getting too old for manual labor, Miller?”
Andrew bit back an angry retort. “I’m asking because I notice that we have kids here, and some elderly as well. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Weights are under the packing slips on the side of each crate,” Keller replied, his eyes skipping over the assembled colonists. “If you’re not particularly strong, save the heavy crates for those who are. Any other questions?” This time no one raised their voice. “Good! Let’s get started, then!” Keller pocketed his megaphone and clapped his hands a few times for emphasis, before nodding to the armed guards standing with him.
They descended the ramp, and Andrew began shuffling up it with the rest of the colonists. Soon he was grabbing handles in the sides of the storage crates, along with everyone else. Most of the crates were heavy enough that they needed four people to carry. To his surprise, Kendra helped too, but only with her good arm.
After about half an hour of intense work, they had finished the first two rows of twenty crates. One of the blue suits called a water break, and several of them popped a crate open to reveal canteens. They began passing them out, and a line formed in front of a rover with a giant water tank on the end.
While waiting in line with Kendra, Andrew arched his back and stretched to work some of the kinks out of his aching muscles. The gravity here was lighter than it had been on Eden or on Earth, but that didn’t make hauling one- and two-hundred pound crates any easier. He was already drenched in sweat under his jumpsuit, and that was despite the cool temperature of the air and a steady breeze blowing off the lake.
Kendra was looking off in that direction, her eyes sagging and shoulders hunched. Andrew followed her gaze to that sparkling blue canvas. A dark wall of trees with strangely-pointed tips rose high on the other side. For a moment they just stood beside each other in silence, waiting their turn at the water tank.
Blue suits walked the line, passing out ready-filled canteens at random.
“Here,” one said as he handed a canteen to Kendra. “We don’t need you passing out from dehydration.” She accepted it with a nod, unscrewed the cap, and gulped the water.
They walked right by Andrew. His gaze followed them with an unhappy scowl.
“This place is beautiful,” Kendra said, lowering the canteen and wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
“Very,” Andrew replied, but he was referring to her, not the view. She noticed his scrutiny, and flashed a hesitant smile before quickly averting her eyes.
He grinned, realizing he’d made her uncomfortable.
“You want some?” she asked, almost as an afterthought, and hefted the canteen in his direction.
“Thank you,” he said as he took the canteen and drank the remaining half of the water.
Eric Keller’s voice came crashing through the peace and quiet of the moment, snapping orders at people. Andrew turned to look and saw that a group of armed blue suits had gathered to one side of the storage segment. Keller was agitated, gesturing beyond the lake and talking to them in a clipped, hurried fashion.
Andrew passed the canteen over to Kendra and said, “Wait here.”
�
�Where are you going?” she called after him.
He chose to hold his tongue rather than raise his voice and draw everyone’s attention to whatever was going on. Striding up behind Eric, he tapped him hard on the shoulder. The smaller man flinched and spun around, his hand on his gun.
Andrew smiled thinly at that. “Someone’s jumpy.”
Keller blew out a breath. “What do you want, Miller?”
“What’s the posse about?” he asked, nodding to the group of armed crewmen gathered in front of Keller. “Did something happen?”
Keller hesitated, his eyes pinching into slits.
“Well?” Andrew prompted.
The other man sighed and waved vaguely to the far edge of the lake. “One of the storage sections is lost. Eden Two. The tracking beacon malfunctioned, but the nav logs from the other sections show it landed somewhere over there, at the foot of the mountains.”
Andrew noticed a wall of dark clouds rolling in. It looked like one hell of a storm. Strange to see a thunderstorm building this early in the morning. Then again, what wasn’t strange about an alien planet?
Andrew estimated the distance to those mountains—a quarter-mile down to the lake, maybe half a mile to the other side, then probably ten or fifteen miles of trees after that. “That’s a pretty decent hike from here,” he said. “I assume we won’t be going there and back carrying storage crates to our camp.”
Keller snorted. “No. I’m taking a team there to fetch it.”
Andrew arched an eyebrow at him. “On foot?”
“Yes, on foot. We don’t have any aircraft, and the rovers won’t get through those trees. They’re too thick.”
“No aircraft...” Andrew repeated, slowly shaking his head. “You’re joking, right?”
Keller sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m not.”
“That’s a hell of an oversight for an alien colony, don’t you think? No air support?”
Keller seemed to draw himself up with that. “Space and weight were extremely limited on Eden. Would you rather we had left agricultural supplies behind? Or maybe some of the colonists? We have all the necessary components, so I’m sure we’ll start building aircraft soon.”
Final Days: Colony Page 13