Colonization (The Seamus Chronicles Book 3) (2 page)

A meal. I should have known that Mom would want to make sure we all ate. Dad and I weren’t gone for much more than ten minutes. When we got back to the cargo bay it had transformed.

Several of the boxes were lined up and had a tarp over top of them. There were smaller boxes placed along the edges for us to sit on. Some cups were in the middle of the makeshift table and Mom, Grace and Sofie were off rummaging through another set of boxes.

Over in a corner Remmie was asleep on Liam’s chest. It looked like Liam had his eyes closed too. It seemed peaceful enough; we could have been at an airfield in Middle America waiting for an air show.

Dad pulls a folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket and inspects it closely. After a minute he starts to walk into the stacks of boxes and bins. He’s reading labels and I am astounded that my Dad is the one using logic to find things while Mom tears through random boxes hoping to strike it rich.

Before any of the girls get back to the table Dad returns with a pitcher and a few bottles of water. He fills the pitcher with most of a bottle of water then pours the little bit left into his mouth. I’m almost positive that he’s going to go fill the bottle with water from the lake.

“Paddrick, these labels are all wrong.” Mom is back and she is waving her packing sheet in Dad’s face. She must have seen Remmie sleeping because she is keeping her voice very low.

“Are you looking at the third column?” Dad says to her calmly.

“I thought we were the first column!” Mom yells in a whisper.

“The space plane is the first column. They had the best chance at…” Dad trails off.

“Thanks.” Mom answers and heads back to the stacks with a better chance of finding what she needs.

I didn’t stick my nose into the inventory list for supplies. I wanted to, though. I remember hearing Liam talk about the fact that Dad wanted to keep separate lists for each plane. The thinking was apparently that if the people on board didn’t make it at least whoever found the ship could find where everything was packed.

He never thought about where the list would be kept or how people finding the plane would know where the list was. Plus the two big birds were packed with basically the same things and the space plane was packed with a subset of stuff.

It was Liam’s idea to keep one list and note the differences in location in a column for each craft. Unfortunately he didn’t think to use different labels. Even plain English labels would have been more useful. My brother used numbers. Worse, he labeled the boxes before they were put on the plane.

Lunch is just the first example. Canned soup is in boxes 103 through 143. On our plane they are stowed aft left. On the space plane they were stowed center right. So mom was center right looking for boxes with between 100 and 150 and found nothing.

I know we’ll be able to figure things out, but inefficiencies kill me.

Grace comes walking back to the table and pours a glass of water from the pitcher. I can see that she’s sweating; it’s getting hot in here. Suddenly I remember that we still have no idea if the lake water is potable. We need to inventory and conserve every ounce of water we brought with us.

“Dad.” I say, keeping my voice hushed.

He doesn’t answer me, just looks at me and lifts his eyebrows and turns his hands so the palms are up. This is his lame sign language for ‘what?’ Before all this, when we would see him in public he would do this to us across a crowded room. Somehow he thought we could come up with the sign language for ‘You’re embarrassing me, find your seat and stop making a scene.’ Even though we never talked about it.

“We need to conserve water.” I’m not playing the sign language game with him.

He nods in reply.

That means nothing. Agreeing that we need to conserve water and taking steps to do it and tell the others is what I’m looking for, but I guess I will deliver the message.

We brought both a desalination plant and a distillery. I know we can turn bad water into something we can drink, but I don’t think Dad understands how long it will take to increase the yield of either process. If we have to process water we will get a few gallons a day, but there are so many of us that it won’t be enough at first. If we have to purify water to drink we are going to be thirsty, starting with a buffer would help.

Rather than spend more cycles worrying about the water I decide to act. From the makeshift table I grab the empty plastic water bottle and turn to head out the back of the plane.

Before I reach the edge of the ramp there is a loud boom that echoes through the cargo hold. The noise is familiar but I cannot place it. There is no crack like in an explosion; it’s gentler, like a deep drum.

“Was that a sonic boom?” Dad is beside me looking out of the cargo hold and up at the sky.

I scan the sky but I’m not sure what I’m looking for. It’s difficult to determine the direction of the noise. What we heard was reflected off several different surfaces.

Then I see it, a tiny dot moving at a high rate of speed and coming directly for us. The spec in the sky grows larger with each second; soon we will be able to detect a shape.

“There.” I point, realizing Dad still has not picked up the object that likely made the boom.

As we watch it approach for a few seconds I go through the possibilities. Most likely it’s either the space plane or the other C-5. But why did it take them so long to get here? We’ve been here for a few hours at least.

“We didn’t make a boom when we entered the atmosphere, that has to be the space plane.” Dad leaves the cargo hold and steps out onto the alien landscape.

My father walks clear of the plane and looks back at the lake that stretches out from the nose of our craft. He then turns and looks at the object coming towards us. It’s not clear to see that it is the space plane, but whatever it is, it’s not slowing down.

“They’re going way too fast. I’m not sure how far it is across this lake, but my guess is they will be landing wet.” He says before running back and disappearing inside our plane again.

While he’s inside I can’t stop staring and I wander out into the heat, looking up at the space plane as it approaches.

Before I realize it the plane is overhead and gone. I could see the flaps were fully deployed and the elevators are struggling for lift. Someone is flying the plane, which is good news, but it’s not reacting the way it would in Earth’s atmosphere.

I remain watching way off into the lake and Dad emerges from the plane with a yellow bundle. He turns to follow my gaze and we see the space plane disappear into the horizon. If it made a splash we could not see it.

Frantically Dad begins to unroll the bundle and spread it out. I can see the shape of a life raft emerge while my father runs around the outside looking for something. My first thought is that he’s looking for a paddle, but then I realize the raft needs to be inflated. He pulls on a red tab from between the folds of material and a hissing sound is quickly followed by the appearance of structure.

Once the life raft is inflated dad starts to muscle it closer to the water, he should have dropped it closer while it was deflated but that’s not a helpful tip at this point.

“Dad.” I call out to him.

My dad pauses and looks back at me with the question in his eyes, he doesn’t need the hands.

“You don’t even have a paddle. They have to be miles out there. You can’t get there in time to do anything but hurt yourself.” I’ve come so far in the way I talk with my father.

“So we let them die?” He stops his movement and stares off at the lake.

“We keep ourselves alive. Let’s hope they saw our plane and survived the crash. If they made it, getting ourselves established with food, water and shelter will be the best way to help them.” I know it’s true but it feels awful to hear.

He leaves the raft and slowly walks back toward me. I can see the sweat on his forehead and his shirt is colored dark. I can feel the heat rising and I am sweating as well, even though I didn’t work the way my father did.

“Did I hear a sonic boom?” Henry has appeared at the edge of the cargo ramp.

I like Henry. He has been asleep since a few minutes after we skidded to a stop. Regardless of the fact that Mom, Jane and I drove this journey, he felt that being in the captain’s seat made him responsible for the well -being of those on board. Henry was awake from the first warp jump until we were all alive on the surface of the alien planet.

Without knowing Henry for very long I like to think that he is the type of person I would have grown up to be. I love my dad and would never consider it an insult to be called ‘just like him,’ but I’m far more precise than he is. On the other hand, Henry is sharp, detail oriented and focused.

“Yes. They’re in the water several miles out.” I answer him, trying to be explicit.

His face doesn’t contort but I can see from the distance in his eyes that he is working through scenarios. Just because he is not reacting frantically on the outside does not mean he is disinterested in the well-being of our peers.

“Do you think they saw our plane? A rescue attempt seems unrealistic. They’re best chance is if we make it easy to find us.” He speaks after a few moments.

“They flew directly overhead. It seemed like they were aiming for us so I would say yeah, they saw our plane.” My poor word choice accidently implies a flippant attitude.

“I was inside getting the life raft. I didn’t actually see them pass over. But I agree with Seamus, it looked like they were aiming for us, we should assume that they saw our plane.” My dad finishes his sentence looking at me with displeasure.

“There should have been flares with the life raft. Did you bring them outside?” Henry asks dad.

“No. I thought they should be kept safe in case we need them someday.” Dad shifts his weight.

“Well I bet the guys in the plane that just crashed think we need them now.” Henry answers and then walks back into the cargo hold.

Henry did not need to search for the flares, when this became his ship he learned within thirty minutes where all the safety equipment was located. Less than a minute after disappearing into the plane he emerges with two flares. Walking clear of the plane he points one flare up into the sky and pulls the string. A soft thump is the report and I can see a small ball of fire race upward. Moments later a bright red star burst explodes above us.

“They should see that.” Dad says, nodding in approval.

“So should anything else on this planet.” I say, realizing a fear that had been suppressed.

“I’m going to assume that you’re referring to the other C-5 unless you have something else you need to tell me?” Henry has a slight smirk on his face.

We have not discussed the possibility of non-plant life existing on this planet. While the odds are low, the fact that we are still alive makes them higher.

“We can’t rule it out, but I have nothing to share. Let’s hope there are survivors with the other C-5 and they saw that.” I answer, trying to be careful with my words.

Henry is sweating now too. I catch him looking up at the sky and squinting. Even though I am assuming it’s nighttime it is still bright.

“Seamus, did you notice if the Space plane was intact or if it showed any signs of distress?” Henry is running his hand over the back of his neck.

“It seemed to be intact. I did notice that the flaps were fully deployed and the elevators were pointing up. My assumption is he was struggling for lift. The atmosphere here is very thin, I can see you’ve noticed the heat, they just didn’t have enough wing surface to account for the mass of the plane.” I’m not an aerospace engineer, but at the end of the day it’s physics so I understand what was happening.

“Yeah, I noticed that when we came in. This,” he says motioning to the plane in the mud, “is not how I like to land my ship.”

The combination of time and stress has left us all exhausted. Once we’ve eaten a poorly rationed meal everyone scurries off to find a place to sleep. The plane that once seemed so cavernous is starting to feel cramped.

I find myself up near the nose of the plane. My theory is that the water on the other side of the hull will keep this area cool, or at least cooler than the rest of the plane. I fade off to sleep wondering how we can calculate the length of a single day and the duration of a full year. I’m a genius, but I’m in awe of how ancient humans were able to achieve such accurate calendars.

A drop of water on my nose wakes me. Looking up I see condensation on the aluminum ceiling above me. I was right about the water outside keeping the hull cool; it just didn’t significantly transfer to the interior.

Seeing as I am too hot to sleep anymore, I get to my feet and stare at the nose of the plane directly in front of me. On the other side is one of my reactors. I’m not sure what state it’s in but I know that it’s underwater. I doubt that we brought any scuba gear or even a mask so that I would be able to see anything to work on it. I hate just leaving it there but right now I can’t think of why we need to take the risk to retrieve that particular one, so there it will stay.

Thinking about the need for a reactor leads me to the back of the plane. The other reactor is above the water and I should have no problem disconnecting it. Getting electricity so we can have a few creature comforts might make the whole transition a little easier.

The rear cargo ramp sits open and I look to the outside. A massive pale blue bubble is rising up where I had expected to see a sun. There are several craters clearly visible, leading me to believe that this is our new moon. But I thought that I had seen a different, smaller moon when I first walked out of the plane.

Taking a few steps off the cargo ramp I search the sky for a second moon. When I can’t find it my eyes fall to the surface of Locus, our new planet. There, almost directly opposite the rising moon, is a sliver of light. The first moon is setting directly opposite the rise of the second. It is a mystical sight and I feel like I am living in a fairy tale.

Nearly perpendicular to the orbit of the two moons I catch a glimpse of the sun rising. It is a deep red in color, and noticing it makes my skin feel even warmer. With the thin atmosphere and the strength of this sun we may not be able to live outside during the day.

I suspect that there isn’t much time but I want to explore. My eyes follow the edge of the water off into the distance. Something feels different about the water but I can’t decide what. Following it back to my feet I turn to see where it meets the fuselage off our downed plane. Now I know what feels different, the water has risen almost a foot since we were last outside.

Part of me thinks or hopes that this is a ripple effect from the space plane crashing in the water but I know that there is no way it would have had this large of an impact. I think about how water could move without anything acting on it and for a few seconds I’m puzzled. Finally, it hits me: tides. The water is rising in conjunction with the moon, the tide is coming in.

Thankfully the water is not rising fast. I decide to head out for a walk and explore a little more of our surroundings. Carefully I follow the edge of the water with my back to the plane.

Our new landscape is stunningly beautiful. The dark brown dirt I’m walking on is starkly contrasted by the crystal clear water of the lake. In the distance I notice that the greens of apparent vegetation are interrupted with a variety of reds, oranges and blues.

Having never studied or cared about botany, I have an uninformed opinion that flowers are more complex than leaves. This means that life on this planet is beyond “basic” vegetation. Could these plants reproduce based solely on wind or do they need insects to pollinate them like on Earth?

Early human explorers were naïve about things like invasive plants and animals. We are educated enough to know that what was a simple string bean plant at home could become a wild, destructive life killer here on Locus. But we’re not here as explorers, we’re here as refugees.

While I walk I think about ways that we could minimize our impact on this planet. Humans destroyed the Earth for all intents and purposes; we don’t want to destroy a second planet. I can remember when my dad coached my sisters’ soccer team. He would say to them ‘The first time you make a mistake is an accident, the second time you make it is a habit.’ We shouldn’t make a habit out of destroying planets.

Oddly I don’t remember a time in my life that I felt this relaxed. My dark energy reactor consumed me for years. Everything that happened was either slowing me down or causing me stress. Obviously the apocalypse was pretty stressful, as was realizing that I needed to invent warp drive to evacuate Earth.

Now there is nowhere to go. Fearing the unknown is easy, but after several hours here we haven’t been attacked or threatened. It seems we are safe and have the opportunity to simply live and live simply. We need to establish a colony here and focus on building a responsible society, that’s it.

My lips form a smile as I think about playing Sim City with my dad. He used to insist on having a theme; Jimmy Buffett songs, Formula 1 teams or NFL players. We could spend hours arguing about how to zone our city for the best growth. Dad liked to separate the manufacturing buildings from the residential ones with a commercial zone. I preferred to have a different zone on each corner of a block. My roads were always straight and formed a grid; his were always crooked with twists and turns.

Sweat is pouring from my forehead. I’m not walking fast but the heat is intense and only seems to be getting worse. It’s definitely time to turn around and go back. Further ahead of me there is something rising up out of the ground. It’s the first thing I’ve noticed that’s higher than the water and something tells me it doesn’t fit. I’ll make that the end of my walk and then go back.

With each step the object before me grows taller. I can see that it is rectangular in shape and from a distance it appears to be rather precise. My pace quickens and I want to inspect this thing in detail.

After a few minutes of walking too quickly for the heat I am close to the object, I’m going to call it a monolith. It’s made of some kind of stone and it appears to have perfectly square corners. Unfortunately, it is about three feet into the water.

The water is what we were looking for in a habitable planet, why am I so afraid of it? Stepping into the water would cool me off, I’m sure of it, but I can’t do it. My intellect tells me that the water is clear and I can see there are no dangers nearby. My instincts tell me that crocodiles can hide in plain sight and attack their prey at the water’s edge.

Instead of moving closer to the monolith I take a step back from the water. I don’t think touching the thing will provide any stunning insights. A visual inspection will suffice, and calm nerves will provide a more reasoned analysis.

“Seamus!” Sofie is walking briskly towards me.

I face her and wait until she is closer before I speak.

“Hey, why didn’t you call out before?” I ask when she is still a few yards away.

“Good to see you too. I tried last time you stopped but then you took off in a hurry. I guessed you were off in Seamus land.” Her smile is awesome.

“Sorry. I’m really glad to see you.” I have to stop being so cold.

“It’s okay, I know you’re not being mean. Liam can have his lasts, I want firsts. Starting with first hug on this planet.” She throws her arms around me and squeezes tight. Then she pulls back and kisses me deeply. This is so much better than physics.

“We are just crushing the record book.” I say with a laugh.

Sofie takes my hand in hers and we turn together to face the monolith. Her head leans back and she looks up at the top.

“How tall do you think it is?” She asks.

“I estimate fifteen feet? Does that seem right to you?” I don’t like guesses or estimates but Sofie is not one to make this point with.

“It seems proportional.” Sofie observes, reminding me that she is not unintelligent.

“I agree. It looks… pleasing?” I’m not sure how to describe it but the object looks right, like it was designed.

“Well, there were some amazing natural shapes on Earth; this is probably just some fascinating rock formation. Are you as hot as I am?” She knows I could stand here looking at this thing for hours.

Sofie kneels down next to the water and scoops a handful and splashes it on her face. Then she does it again and pours a few drips down the back of her neck. Before I can say anything she takes a third scoop and sips the water out of her hands.

“Sofie!” I scream in fear.

“What?” She looks back at me.

“We haven’t tested this water. It could be poisonous or full of bacteria.” I kneel next to her and put my hand on her back.

“Holy shit! I totally forgot. Oh my god Seamus, don’t let me die.” Sofie starts to cry and I grab her and pull her close.

After crying for a few minutes Sofie separates from me a little and wipes the back of her hand across her cheek. She stares into my eyes and I can see fear and hope and confusion in hers.

“I feel fine. We should get back to the plane, just in case I start to get sick.” She rises off the ground and stands tall.

“Definitely. I’m going to let you set the pace though. If you start feeling anything you have to tell me right away.” I tell her.

“I am totally freaking out. I can’t remember what feels normal and what feels weird.” There is fear in her voice.

“It’s going to be okay. We have all kinds of medicine on the plane, I promise you’ll get through this.” I have no idea if it’s true, but I know that the mind is an amazing thing, and if she believes she’ll be okay it will help.

We walk along in silence. While I am worried about Sofie I can’t help but search for other monoliths.

Our pace is appropriate for the heat but each step has me worried that we are going too fast or too slow. I desperately want to ask if she is feeling okay, but I don’t want her to have to think about the answer.

By the time we get back to the plane the water has risen another several inches. The moonrise and sunrise are progressing slowly. I’m momentarily distracted by the problem of calculating the length of a day here.

“Dad!” I call out when we are close.

There is no immediate response. Panic starts to creep into my brain. What if there are threats? What if something attacked while we were away and everyone is dead?

“Shh. They’re still sleeping.” Sofie nudges me.

Proving her wrong my dad walks out of the tail of the plane. He looks up at the sky before noticing us. Once our movement catches his eye he looks our way and walks over to meet us.

“The others are still sleeping. I think we’re going to have to get out of this plane and head to the green stuff over there.” He points in the direction of the foliage in the distance.

“Must be getting hot in there.” I state the obvious.

“Yeah, and it’s only going to get worse as that sun gets higher.” He says, looking at the red sphere rising behind me.

“I think the water is rising too.” Sofie says as she looks out at the lake.

Nothing in the plane was organized based on priority. I believe that Liam’s original loading had food and water in the back, easiest to get to because it was most important. After shifting things around for weight distribution the vital life giving supplies are scattered around and, in some cases, buried beneath nice to haves.

We should have brought a vehicle. There should have been a longer discussion about it at least. I realize that we could have landed on a planet with any variety of terrain, but what if we lose supplies because we couldn’t get them from the plane to wherever?

“We need to get the food out.” Dad says before turning his back on us.

Sofie vomits in a way I can only describe as forceful.