Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it...right, dont want to get sued, so, All rights to CW
Thank you SOOOOO much for those who keep coming back and seem to wait for me to post, not to mention those who have taken time to write a review...hint, hint, nudge, nudge. I will keep trying to post every few days so please, please, PLEASE keep the comments coming. I am not getting into new story territory so I don't want to lose the right feel for each character as I develope this. In saying that...Enjoy the new characters...and here we go!
Chapter XIV
Echo and Miller had made good time as they worked there way in a sweep pattern from the ship, using the radio like a compass keeping them in a direction where the reception was good, or steadily better. Neither felt the need to make idle conversation either so they walked in companionable silence just speaking to point out something interesting or to adjust their direction.
Echo started to feel more calm and centered the longer they walked as she realized it had been to long since she has really stretched her legs and was out tracking. She missed the quiet and smell of green and dirt mixed with sun and a gentle breeze. It had never been quite as sticky or warm on Earth that she could remember and it didn't take to long before she could feel the trickle of sweat down her neck and back, but this was what she needed. Space, physical movement, and distance between her and Bellamy.
Her head knew that she was the one the pulled away from him first, and he wasn't even around when it happened. Madi and Clarke had been talking in the church and she had just listened. She listened to what Clarke hadn't been saying and what Madi was telling her. On top of that, the way Clarke reacted to hearing Bellamy was alive, and that she always cared for him. She wanted to snap right there, but she managed to keep her feelings in check for fear of pissing off the guard and getting herself shot. Then, on the ship, he pulled her back into the leadership role as if nothing happened, that she didn't leave him to die.
Miller motioned for her to adjust their line and she nodded, momentarily brought out of her thoughts. She took a moment to look where they had gotten to. The trees were thinning out and she could hear some kind of fast moving water in the distance somewhere. She was just hoping they didn't have to cross it though. With the trees thinning out the suns were getting much warmer on their backs and high in the sky. Echo looked over at Miller and could see the sweat trickling down his neck, "Hey, let's stop before we have no more shade and take a break. We have covered some pretty good ground so far."
He nodded and slowed as he approached the next tree, "You think they have met up with The Colony yet?" frowning a little as he squinted off in the distance like he saw something.
Echo followed his gaze for a second and didn't see anything, "Most likely, if not very soon." She responded casually. They had managed a cool, brothers in arms type acquaintance, but he was incredibly guarded, hardly speaking to her. She didn't mind so much, but after being on the ring, she seemed to develop more of a desire to be included other than being the loner. "Feels good to be moving and have open space again." She commented trying to open a bit of conversation.
He just nodded, eating some of his ration pack and downing most of his water. He was just happy to have some kind of purpose. He never quite understood why they woke him, other than being with Jackson. He didn't really serve a purpose on the ship as he didn't know about electronic, or computer code, or engineering. Jackson had taught him a few things medical wise, but they had Clark as back up, so he had just fumbled about for the better part of 2 months not really having anything to do or feeling like he belonged in the group anymore.
He glanced sideways at Echo as she ate quietly and thought about what she had been through. She had been a grounder spy her whole life and then went up to space and lived on the ring for six years, just to come back to Earth and be banished again and then be a part of the group that saved civilization. "So, what do you think of this new planet?"
She slowed her chewing and tried not to convey how surprised she was that he was starting a conversation with her, "Hotter than home." She said offering a little smile and looked up to watch a strange flock of birds fly through the trees. "So much to relearn." She said quietly.
Her comment made him frown, "How so?" He asked genuinely curious as to what she meant.
Echo took a couple minutes to think, "Before, I would track and be on my own for long stretches of time." She started slowly to explain. "Now, every sound of the forest is new, I don't recognise the animal tracks or calls. I can't tell if we are being followed." She downed some water and shrugged as he pondered what she said.
"I guess so. I suppose we will need to rely on instincts for now." He said as a shiver ran down his spine. There was no wind and it was still hot, but the hair on the back of his neck started to raise and he glanced at Echo. All she did was arch her eyebrow at him.
"Well, time to keep moving?" She asked, acting as if nothing had changed and leaned down getting the gun from her pack and moving it to a better position.
Miller caught the movement and followed suit as he packed up his rations and peeked around. Echo may not have recognized the sounds of this forest but she was very familiar with the lack of sound and the flight of birds away from where there was danger.
Clarke slowed with the others as the sound of voices started to filter through the thinning trees. They were supposed to meet Krass and his group in a clearing and camp all together for the 48 hours as they got to know each other. She could pick out higher tones of female voices and the lower males to which sounded like about 8 people in his group. Indra and Octavia flanked Madi and Clarke and they all carried an air or wary calm as movement started to be seen through the trees with the smell of fire and cooking food.
They must have had scouts that had been watching the women approach for the last while, but it wasn't long before there was a whistle and shout that alerted Clarke to the announcement of their official arrival. As they neared a large figure came into view and Clarke could only assume it was Krass. He was taller than the average man, and she estimated him to be close to six foot ten, and somewhere, most likely, in his early 40s with slightly greying, dark brown hair cut short, but just long enough that it winged out a little behind his ears. He had a commanding presence and Clarke took notice that he wasn't lanky for his height, but well muscled as if he did manual labor, not politics, and he wore a tight smile that didn't quite reach his green eyes.
Clarke smiled back at his greeting and the rest of his group hung back, she assumed, so as not to be to over imposing at their arrival. "Lucian Krass, I presume?" She asked to begin introductions, "I'm Clarke Griffen." And she stepped forward, reaching out her hand.
He tilted his head to the side in a curious manner and slowly reached out his hand to her in the same manner. Clarke smiled as he seemed baffled as to what to do with her greeting so she closed the few inches between their hands and gripped his firmly. He smiled at her gesture, "Yes, Lucian Krass. Sorry," he started as Clarke let his hand drop, "I was expecting someone….a little older, I guess." He finished tentatively looking at his hand that she shook with slight curiosity.
His voice was gravelly and smooth at the same time with a slight accent that sounded foreign to Clarke and she could tell that there must be some further languages that must have been spoken by this group. "Hopefully my age won't effect our talks?" She said a little tighter than she meant and saw him tense slightly in response. "Let me introduce my group." She said putting her smile back in place to alleviate the tension she created. "This is Madi, Octavia and Indra." She pointed out one by one.
They nodded their greeting and Krass motioned for his group to come forward. There were six including him, four men and two women, all well built and all taller than average. They approached, the men on his right side and the women on his left. "This is Shaun, Avin, and Bran. And this is Rowan and Taya." He said starting from the outside working in on each side.
Shaun and Bran seemed around Krass's age while Avin appeared to be much younger, in his 20s, maybe, while both of the women couldn't have been much older than Clarke. Shaun bore a striking resemblance to Krass with same green eyes and almost identical hair color, but he had it shorter in almost a brush cut. Bran was the shortest of the men, but still must have been close to six foot seven, and had soft brown eyes, but a wicked scar that ran the length of his right cheekbone and long black hair that was pinned back at the nape of his neck. Avin seemed to hesitate the most with the greeting, looking over the women skeptically. He was nearly as tall as Krass but had white blond shaggy hair that seemed to float around his face almost like a glowing mass, while his bright blue eyes seemed to keep drifting back to Octavia who Clarke could feel was stiffening beside her.
The women were much more open in their postures, Rowan with her dark brown, curly hair that was halfway down her back smiled openly at the group, brown eyes bright and welcoming, while Taya was a female mirror image of Avin, with white blonde hair, fair complexion and striking blue eyes. It was Rowan that piped up, breaking the cycle of nods and hellos, "Where are our manners, you must be tired from you journey. Come, let's get you settled with something to drink." She said and gestured back to the clearing.
Clarke had had a picture in her mind of what the meeting 'camp' would look like, but she never pictured the likes of what they had set up. At each end of the clearing where full structures, almost like houses, but made with some kind of soft green opaque material, big enough to house each group comfortably. The color blended in naturally with the surroundings which was why they didn't immediately notice them when they arrived. In the middle was a large fire area with chairs and behind at the back was a half structure like the ones on the end, open to the fire area with obvious cooking and prep stations.
Krass smiled proudly at Clarke's look as she took in her surroundings. "This is an old settlement site. We keep it in good condition for groups to gather for different festivities. I figured it would suit out needs?" He gestured for them to head in the direction of the closest of the green buildings. When they got to the structure, Clarke noticed that the building was green due to a thin layer of moss covering textured plastic wall that was actually clear. The moss covering it made it so that you couldn't see through where as you would have when it was originally built. She immediately thought of how Monty would have loved to see this and was struck with a lump in her throat that she quickly tried to swallow.
The actual building was rooming with low beds and some small tables to spread out on. "You should be comfortable here for the next couple of days. I will let you get settled and then you can join us for food and refreshment?" Rowan said extending her arm to the inside of the building.
The four women walked in and were left to themselves as they walked around to look at the structure. The air was cooler as the building material seemed to let a breeze through along with a small amount of the filtered sunlight and each bed had soft linens that were made by some kind of hand spun, shiny material. There was a small enclosed latrine room that had a wash basin along with a functioning flush toilet.
Madi flopped down on a bed near Clarke with a small giggle after dropping her pack in front of the little side table that matched one beside each bed. On each table was a small lamp that didn't seem to have a power cord or switch of any sorts and Madi was examining it thoroughly. "This is so exciting!" She said visibly giddy with excitement.
Octavia rolled her eyes and Clarke stifled a laugh, "It's just a lamp Madi." To which Clarke got a dirty look from Madi. She sat on the edge of her bed and rummaged through her pack pulling out the laser comm radio looking at her watch. She made her check in call and added a few details in grounder to clue in Bellamy as to their surroundings and the mood of the welcoming group.
Once that was done, they all freshened up and headed back out to the common area where Bran and Taya were working on the fire pit with some kind of animal roasting over the low flames and hot coals. The other four were in the outdoor kitchen preparing food and setting out platters of multicolored fruits and vegetables with baskets of breads.
As Clarke walked up eyeing all the food Rowan blushed, "Lucian didn't tell me how many were going to be in your party or what you may like to eat so I planned for every eventuality." Clarke smiled openly at her honesty and desire to please.
"It all looks and smells very good, but we may need to be careful how and what we eat until our bodies get used to the food." She said, mind working on the possibilities of becoming sick from the food.
Avin turned from where he was chopping, "You have healing knowledge?" He asked finally showing some kind of interest outside of Octavia.
Clarke nodded carefully, but Madi piped up quickly, "She's basically a doctor." And Clarke shot her a withering look.
"Basically?" Shaun asked walking over with an arm full of dark wood, and dumped them off to the side of what appeared to be a stove of some sorts.
Clarke opened her mouth but Madi cut off anything she was going to say, "She had lots of healing experience but no official training, so she doesn't like to say she's a doctor."
Clarke forced a laughed and put an arm around Madi, squeezing her shoulders hard as to convey that she wasn't happy with the open sharing just yet as Krass kept quiet, just watching the exchange. Clarke looked over Madis head and saw Octavia and Indra watching the group and talking low with Bran and Taya.
"Come, we are all set. Rowan can explain what each item is and you can decide if it's safe for you and your people?" Krass said in his gravely tone. As gruff as he sounded his face was open and inviting, gesturing in welcome to the food loaded table. "I hope your partner is okay after the landing?" Krass asked quietly as the approached the food laden table.
"He will be fine." Clarke responded and went through each item nodding or shaking her head to each item as the went, all loading up their plates as they went then headed to the fire and chairs to sit and eat, no one saying much as they sampled items on their plates, commenting as they went. They took their time eating, making small talk and keeping all topics superficial as they did, just learning small things about each other in the group as the suns began to dip lower in the sky.
Once the food and plates were cleaned up, warm drinks were made and passed out, everyone settled around the fire, happily filled and all contemplative as the flames cracked and popped in the twilight. Clarke looked over and saw Krass watching her over the flames. "How long have your people been here?" She asked finally getting into things.
He leaned back in his chair, the others in the group sipping their mugs and waiting for him to speak as if he was about to launch into a story. "I am sure there has been lots we have lost over the years." He stared keeping Clarke's eye. "But best we can figure is that we have been on this planet for about 580 years." He finally admitted with a sad grin.
Clarke nodded slowly, the air around the fire now charged with the tension of the conversation. She had been thinking for days on the best way to start the conversation without having the focus on them, "We managed to find the files on the Eligis III mission, which is how we made it here." And Krass's group all started chuckling.
"First, over the years the popular name now for the ship that brought us here has changed. We now refer to it as The Arc." He explained and Clarke caught Octavia's curious look.
"I guess it's time we tell our history. I am assuming there wasn't much in that file other than the location of this planet?" He asked sitting up a little straighter as Madi leaned over in her chair stifling a yawn and leaned her head on Clarke's arm as she always did when settling in for one of Clarke's stories.
"Some of the information has been lost or changed over the years, as I said, but most has been recorded fairly accurately." He began and accepted more of the hot drink from Taya as she went around filling everyone's cup. "We don't quite know how it came to be that we were sent here, and really, it doesn't matter. But the original ship had 656 settlers on it from all walks of life, backgrounds and education." His voice was warm as he spoke of the history as if it had been told to him and by him many times.
He went on with the story, starting with the ship crashing on entry as there was no shuttle and they suffered significant losses with only 348 making it out of the wreckage. From there it was a struggle to survive and thrive after scavenging what they could from the wreckage. The ship had become known as The Arc because, along with people they had brought seeds and starter plants for basic plant strains like corn, potatoes, grains, some fruits and vegetables that had been deemed non-invasive, there had also been a store of animal embryos for a few basic species such as cows, horses, sheep and goats. However, when the ship crashed a lot of the equipment had been damaged and it took them much longer to be able to start to grow the animals.
Clarke assumed by the way he described that, that it had taken at least a couple generations to make the animals a reality and she started to wonder about the embryonic capabilities and what it meant for the level of technology they may have at the settlement. Looking around her, there didn't seem to be much to show how extensive they had developed over the years.
Krass had taken a break in his story as it was quite late and Clarke could feel by the regular rise and fall of Madi's chest that she had fallen asleep. "I think we have a lot to absorb for one night." She said politely and he nodded in response.
"Sleep. We have much to discuss tomorrow and I look forward to hearing your story." He said with an implication to his tone that made Clarke's smile tighten as she gently woke Madi and got her moving in the direction of the green structure.
Once inside, the small table lamps emitted a warm, soft glow that acted as small heat producers to take the edge off the chill in the air. Clarke got Madi tucked in and pulled out the radio to check in for the night. She kept it brief in grounder advising there may be more of an advanced technology here than they had originally figured as well as a brief overview of the conversation and evening.
Bellamy had been anxiously waiting to hear they were okay and had a productive meeting to start. He had pushed himself later in the afternoon and ended up stuck in bed again for the better part of the evening which meant he was hovering over the radio, waiting for Clarke's call. He offered his thoughts on what Clarke should say about their history and they briefly discussed how it should be phrased so it didn't come across as they were war hungry or able to make lasting alliances.
As the conversation ended, Octavia put in her comments about their safety and suggested they be more diligent with the drop ship security to be safe. Clarke and Bellamy agreed and they signed off for the night. Putting the radio away, Clarke, Indra and Octavia decided to have a watch shift, with Octavia starting it off. Indra would take over after 4 hours, with Clarke taking the last shift before dawn. As much as they felt secure in their building, they were far from trusting this new group and it had yet to be seen what exactly they were hiding.