Author notes: First of all many thanks to Allison for her thorough beta of this lengthy story, and for not letting me get away with a lazy solution to my self-created mess :). I never like to spell out the answer to every single question a story might raise but I hope I have left you with enough clues to fill in the blanks using your own imagination. I've worked on this story on and off for several years and my writing style has changed as I learned new things. I hope it doesn't show through. Finally, I also want to thank Lia for her encouragement and suggestions after I posted the prologue several months ago. I hope you're not disappointed in the final product!
SAND OF DEATH
Prologue
It was just after noon on another scorching day in a string of long, hot weeks. From its perch high in the bright blue expanse the sun smirked down upon the weary group of travelers until sweat ran down their backs in rivulets. The land was flat, devoid of trees and brush. In the far distance outcrops of pale rock shimmered in the heat. No clouds were visible and the only protection from the sun's relentless touch was the small patch of shadow cast by the TransRover. Several makeshift canopies fluttered in the wind; the people had put them up to keep the worst of the glare away and now sprawled beneath them. Every day during midday they broke to wait out the hottest hours before trekking another couple of miles in their quest to reach New Pacifica.
Devon leaned on the DuneRail peering at a printed outline of the area. She was busy plotting their course for the next couple of days. With a disgusted motion, she folded the map and pushed it away. Then she threw up her hands in exasperation.
"These maps are useless," she complained to John Danziger. "They're either incomplete or unreliable."
Danziger pulled the map to him and stared down at the rumpled chart. The paper had been folded and unfolded so often that it was torn in several places along the creases. A sudden gust of wind threatened to blow it out of his hands. He tightened his grip on it, causing another tear. He swore beneath his breath before straightening the map on the DuneRail's front seat and squinting down at it.
Devon watched him study the lines and scribbles on the sheet. His dirty blond hair hung around his face and a tiny frown of concentration creased his brow. She realized again how important his opinion had become to her. She'd rather swallow her tongue than admit it, but his constant questioning of her decisions helped her stay focused.
In their early days on the planet Devon relied fully on the maps and didn't take kindly to suggestions from anyone except Yale. Over the past months of travel, though, as the data turned out to be unreliable, she'd come to accept and value other people's suggestions. Especially John Danziger's. He had a knack for finding the best course on the sketchy maps, the easiest paths for the vehicles to travel.
"What kind of map is this anyway?" he grumbled. Among the green patches that indicated woods, and shades of gray that meant mountains, a roughly circular area was left blank. Or not so much blank as featureless. No rivers or streams, no hills, no forest. The area was only a few miles from the group's current position and their path would take them right through the middle of the white void on the map.
"We can't simply continue to follow this course," Devon said. "We'll hit that area in a day or so and there's no telling what we'll find."
"We could go around," John muttered and tried to gauge how far the uncharted area extended.
"We could," Devon sighed. "But the straightest course towards New Pacifica is right through there. Going around will add weeks, if not months, to our travel time. And in thirteen months the Colony ship will land. Or have you forgotten?"
"Hold your horses," Danziger rumbled. "I was just thinking out loud. I'd say we find a place to temporarily camp, then send a scout team forward to see what's up with that," and he jabbed one finger in the middle of the white nothingness.
Chapter 1
The travelers trudged forward until dusk that day. At least the wind let off by mid afternoon so they were spared the constant assault of flying dust. Scratched and dented, the large TransRover lumbered along steadily, preceded by the smaller vehicles.
"Devon, when are we going to make camp?" Morgan complained. "It's nearly dark. We are way past our usual time to halt for the night. And I'm hungry."
He did have a point; usually they stopped with an hour or so of daylight left. They used the last light to set up camp and find enough fuel to keep several fires going through the night. Despite the heat of the days, the nights were chilly. Smoke from the fires also helped keep the bugs away. And everyone relished a cup of coffee in the morning. Coffee, however, was left in limited supply, as were most of their rations. They often added berries and roots from the local vegetation that Julia declared edible to their diet.
By nightfall they reached a small copse of scraggly trees. Devon decided this was a good place to set up their temporary camp. The gnarled trees would provide some shade to protect them from the brunt of the sun's heat and a modest spring provided fresh, albeit slightly salty water.
Quickly the tents were set up. After months of practice everyone was so well versed in their task that they could set up or break camp in twenty minutes.
"Uly, why don't you and True go find some more wood for the fire?" Devon sent her son on an errand. "But stay near the camp," she added a warning. The boy rolled his eyes in exhausted tolerance, then did run off to find Danziger's daughter.
Devon sought out Morgan. Bess had sent him to chop vegetables for the stew she was preparing. With quick flicks of the knife Morgan chopped the roots to small pieces. He was proud of his handicraft.
"Morgan, John is going to scout out the terrain ahead tomorrow," Devon said. "I'd like you to go along with him."
"Me?" Morgan exclaimed, aghast. "On a scout with, um, Danziger?"
Devon knew he was still uncomfortable in the mechanic's presence, despite the months together. Although things were better since he'd come clean, Morgan hadn't forgotten the look of pure murder he'd seen in the man's eyes when he pulled the lever that dropped the escape pod away from the plunging Roanoke.
"Yes," Devon replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It's your turn."
"Can't Alonzo go?" Morgan asked. "He enjoys exploring. I don't."
"I want Alonzo to try and contact the Terrians," she answered. "Maybe they can provide information on what to expect further along the way."
"Wonderful," Morgan muttered below his breath. "Fly boy gets to sleep while I can go bounce around in the heat with that boorish Neanderthal for company." He turned back to his work and violently hacked at the roots.
Devon pretended she didn't hear him complain. Morgan was a notorious whiner but he'd proved his worth to group several times. Like everyone else, she had learned it was best to simply ignore him when he started off on another of his rants.
* * *
When Bess' vegetable stew had satisfied their hunger the kids were sent off to bed. The grown-ups gathered around the campfire. A branch snapped, sending multiple sparks crackling into the night sky. While they gazed at the flickering flames the unmarked section of the map dominated the conversation.
"It's no surprise," Morgan stated. "We've already found out the hard way that these Council maps are totally unreliable. Mountains that aren't supposed to be there, lakes that are gone. So what's one blank spot more or less, huh? Maybe Julia knows what's there?"
"Morgan!" Bess said.
Julia shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes darted from one member to another to finally rest on Alonzo. She felt secure in the knowledge that the Advance group had forgiven her after her betrayal but she didn't like to be reminded of those days.
"What?" Morgan asked, offended. "She did work for those people."
"Morgan, if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to your wife and shut up," Alonzo said. He scowled at the bureaucrat.
"People, let's stick to the topic at hand," Devon cut in before things could get ugly. "Maybe there's something out there that the Council doesn't want us to know about. But it's just as likely it's another omission in their files." She turned to her former tutor. "Yale, do you have any information on this area that's not on the map?"
"I don't know," the tutor replied. "Let's see."
He extended his hand and drew back the sleeve to expose his robotic arm. He switched on the hologram display and a picture of the planet hovered over his hand. As the projection slowly rotated they looked at it in wonderment. No matter how many times they'd seen it, they were still awed by the grandeur of the planet, the green of its wide landmasses and the blue of its seas. The last time they'd seen Earth, when they left the stations, the planet had been shrouded in a yellowish brown haze of pollution.
"This is where we are now," Yale pointed and a small red dot started blinking in the hologram. He expanded the projection to zoom in on the area ahead. The picture quivered then steadied once more. But Yale's projection also remained blank. That is, the hologram showed green which indicated land. But no landmarks appeared. No lakes, no rivers, no mountains or hills. Nothing but a flat green.
Devon glanced at Yale. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Devon," he said. "This is all I have."
"What the heck does that mean?" Baines said. "Yale's projections have been wrong before, but they never came up empty."
"It means," Danziger remarked dryly, "that we will be doing some real exploring. And he and I," he pointed towards Morgan who evaded the mechanic's gaze and stared into the fire instead, "are going to be the pioneers."
* * *
Julia Heller couldn't sleep. She turned restlessly on the bunk. Her shirt clung to her back although the night air was cool. Morgan's remarks evoked memories she thought long since forgotten. Memories of the Council, memories of Reilly. And she was concerned about the missing data on the map. When the Council realized they couldn't stop Devon Adair in her quest to save her son, they fed her misleading information about G889. When Eden Advance arrived on the planet -crashed onto it- their knowledge of their new home turned out to be incomplete at best and totally erroneous at worst.
Next to her on the bunk, Alonzo shifted and muttered incoherently. He was in a deep sleep. She sat up and studied his face. In the moonlight filtering in through the partially drawn tent flap, she could see his eyes moving rapidly beneath his eyelids. He was dreaming; Julia suspected he was having a Terrian dream. As the pilot began to toss on the cot she climbed off and left the tent; she didn't want to disturb him.
Mazatl was on watch, sitting near the fire. Luma lamps marked the camp's perimeter and stars twinkled overhead in the night sky. Julia walked over to the fire.
"Can't sleep?" he asked her as she approached him.
She shrugged. "Alonzo is having a Terrian dream," she explained. "And this uncharted area worries me."
She shivered. But whether it was from the chill in the night air or from apprehension, she couldn't tell. She hugged herself and stepped closer to the flames.
"If the Council didn't want us there, they wouldn't have left it blank on the map. They'd have drawn in an impassable swamp or forbidding mountains to keep us away."
Mazatl nodded.
"I don't know about the Council," he replied. "But I don't like this place. It's... I don't know, spooky."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he said, drawing out the words. "Something's wrong. Haven't you noticed how silent it is here? Just listen."
Julia cocked her head to listen more closely. Summer nights on G889 were filled with noise. Small rodents scrambling through the brush in search of food. Insects buzzing around the Luma lamps, or sizzling to their deaths if they came too close to the fire. The occasional cry of a night bird would sound in the distance. Tonight, though -- her eyes widened as she realized what Mazatl was talking about. The night was utterly silent. The only sounds she heard were the crackling of the fire and the lazy flapping of the tarp over the TransRover's cargo bay.
TBC
SAND OF DEATH
Prologue
It was just after noon on another scorching day in a string of long, hot weeks. From its perch high in the bright blue expanse the sun smirked down upon the weary group of travelers until sweat ran down their backs in rivulets. The land was flat, devoid of trees and brush. In the far distance outcrops of pale rock shimmered in the heat. No clouds were visible and the only protection from the sun's relentless touch was the small patch of shadow cast by the TransRover. Several makeshift canopies fluttered in the wind; the people had put them up to keep the worst of the glare away and now sprawled beneath them. Every day during midday they broke to wait out the hottest hours before trekking another couple of miles in their quest to reach New Pacifica.
Devon leaned on the DuneRail peering at a printed outline of the area. She was busy plotting their course for the next couple of days. With a disgusted motion, she folded the map and pushed it away. Then she threw up her hands in exasperation.
"These maps are useless," she complained to John Danziger. "They're either incomplete or unreliable."
Danziger pulled the map to him and stared down at the rumpled chart. The paper had been folded and unfolded so often that it was torn in several places along the creases. A sudden gust of wind threatened to blow it out of his hands. He tightened his grip on it, causing another tear. He swore beneath his breath before straightening the map on the DuneRail's front seat and squinting down at it.
Devon watched him study the lines and scribbles on the sheet. His dirty blond hair hung around his face and a tiny frown of concentration creased his brow. She realized again how important his opinion had become to her. She'd rather swallow her tongue than admit it, but his constant questioning of her decisions helped her stay focused.
In their early days on the planet Devon relied fully on the maps and didn't take kindly to suggestions from anyone except Yale. Over the past months of travel, though, as the data turned out to be unreliable, she'd come to accept and value other people's suggestions. Especially John Danziger's. He had a knack for finding the best course on the sketchy maps, the easiest paths for the vehicles to travel.
"What kind of map is this anyway?" he grumbled. Among the green patches that indicated woods, and shades of gray that meant mountains, a roughly circular area was left blank. Or not so much blank as featureless. No rivers or streams, no hills, no forest. The area was only a few miles from the group's current position and their path would take them right through the middle of the white void on the map.
"We can't simply continue to follow this course," Devon said. "We'll hit that area in a day or so and there's no telling what we'll find."
"We could go around," John muttered and tried to gauge how far the uncharted area extended.
"We could," Devon sighed. "But the straightest course towards New Pacifica is right through there. Going around will add weeks, if not months, to our travel time. And in thirteen months the Colony ship will land. Or have you forgotten?"
"Hold your horses," Danziger rumbled. "I was just thinking out loud. I'd say we find a place to temporarily camp, then send a scout team forward to see what's up with that," and he jabbed one finger in the middle of the white nothingness.
Chapter 1
The travelers trudged forward until dusk that day. At least the wind let off by mid afternoon so they were spared the constant assault of flying dust. Scratched and dented, the large TransRover lumbered along steadily, preceded by the smaller vehicles.
"Devon, when are we going to make camp?" Morgan complained. "It's nearly dark. We are way past our usual time to halt for the night. And I'm hungry."
He did have a point; usually they stopped with an hour or so of daylight left. They used the last light to set up camp and find enough fuel to keep several fires going through the night. Despite the heat of the days, the nights were chilly. Smoke from the fires also helped keep the bugs away. And everyone relished a cup of coffee in the morning. Coffee, however, was left in limited supply, as were most of their rations. They often added berries and roots from the local vegetation that Julia declared edible to their diet.
By nightfall they reached a small copse of scraggly trees. Devon decided this was a good place to set up their temporary camp. The gnarled trees would provide some shade to protect them from the brunt of the sun's heat and a modest spring provided fresh, albeit slightly salty water.
Quickly the tents were set up. After months of practice everyone was so well versed in their task that they could set up or break camp in twenty minutes.
"Uly, why don't you and True go find some more wood for the fire?" Devon sent her son on an errand. "But stay near the camp," she added a warning. The boy rolled his eyes in exhausted tolerance, then did run off to find Danziger's daughter.
Devon sought out Morgan. Bess had sent him to chop vegetables for the stew she was preparing. With quick flicks of the knife Morgan chopped the roots to small pieces. He was proud of his handicraft.
"Morgan, John is going to scout out the terrain ahead tomorrow," Devon said. "I'd like you to go along with him."
"Me?" Morgan exclaimed, aghast. "On a scout with, um, Danziger?"
Devon knew he was still uncomfortable in the mechanic's presence, despite the months together. Although things were better since he'd come clean, Morgan hadn't forgotten the look of pure murder he'd seen in the man's eyes when he pulled the lever that dropped the escape pod away from the plunging Roanoke.
"Yes," Devon replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It's your turn."
"Can't Alonzo go?" Morgan asked. "He enjoys exploring. I don't."
"I want Alonzo to try and contact the Terrians," she answered. "Maybe they can provide information on what to expect further along the way."
"Wonderful," Morgan muttered below his breath. "Fly boy gets to sleep while I can go bounce around in the heat with that boorish Neanderthal for company." He turned back to his work and violently hacked at the roots.
Devon pretended she didn't hear him complain. Morgan was a notorious whiner but he'd proved his worth to group several times. Like everyone else, she had learned it was best to simply ignore him when he started off on another of his rants.
* * *
When Bess' vegetable stew had satisfied their hunger the kids were sent off to bed. The grown-ups gathered around the campfire. A branch snapped, sending multiple sparks crackling into the night sky. While they gazed at the flickering flames the unmarked section of the map dominated the conversation.
"It's no surprise," Morgan stated. "We've already found out the hard way that these Council maps are totally unreliable. Mountains that aren't supposed to be there, lakes that are gone. So what's one blank spot more or less, huh? Maybe Julia knows what's there?"
"Morgan!" Bess said.
Julia shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes darted from one member to another to finally rest on Alonzo. She felt secure in the knowledge that the Advance group had forgiven her after her betrayal but she didn't like to be reminded of those days.
"What?" Morgan asked, offended. "She did work for those people."
"Morgan, if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to your wife and shut up," Alonzo said. He scowled at the bureaucrat.
"People, let's stick to the topic at hand," Devon cut in before things could get ugly. "Maybe there's something out there that the Council doesn't want us to know about. But it's just as likely it's another omission in their files." She turned to her former tutor. "Yale, do you have any information on this area that's not on the map?"
"I don't know," the tutor replied. "Let's see."
He extended his hand and drew back the sleeve to expose his robotic arm. He switched on the hologram display and a picture of the planet hovered over his hand. As the projection slowly rotated they looked at it in wonderment. No matter how many times they'd seen it, they were still awed by the grandeur of the planet, the green of its wide landmasses and the blue of its seas. The last time they'd seen Earth, when they left the stations, the planet had been shrouded in a yellowish brown haze of pollution.
"This is where we are now," Yale pointed and a small red dot started blinking in the hologram. He expanded the projection to zoom in on the area ahead. The picture quivered then steadied once more. But Yale's projection also remained blank. That is, the hologram showed green which indicated land. But no landmarks appeared. No lakes, no rivers, no mountains or hills. Nothing but a flat green.
Devon glanced at Yale. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Devon," he said. "This is all I have."
"What the heck does that mean?" Baines said. "Yale's projections have been wrong before, but they never came up empty."
"It means," Danziger remarked dryly, "that we will be doing some real exploring. And he and I," he pointed towards Morgan who evaded the mechanic's gaze and stared into the fire instead, "are going to be the pioneers."
* * *
Julia Heller couldn't sleep. She turned restlessly on the bunk. Her shirt clung to her back although the night air was cool. Morgan's remarks evoked memories she thought long since forgotten. Memories of the Council, memories of Reilly. And she was concerned about the missing data on the map. When the Council realized they couldn't stop Devon Adair in her quest to save her son, they fed her misleading information about G889. When Eden Advance arrived on the planet -crashed onto it- their knowledge of their new home turned out to be incomplete at best and totally erroneous at worst.
Next to her on the bunk, Alonzo shifted and muttered incoherently. He was in a deep sleep. She sat up and studied his face. In the moonlight filtering in through the partially drawn tent flap, she could see his eyes moving rapidly beneath his eyelids. He was dreaming; Julia suspected he was having a Terrian dream. As the pilot began to toss on the cot she climbed off and left the tent; she didn't want to disturb him.
Mazatl was on watch, sitting near the fire. Luma lamps marked the camp's perimeter and stars twinkled overhead in the night sky. Julia walked over to the fire.
"Can't sleep?" he asked her as she approached him.
She shrugged. "Alonzo is having a Terrian dream," she explained. "And this uncharted area worries me."
She shivered. But whether it was from the chill in the night air or from apprehension, she couldn't tell. She hugged herself and stepped closer to the flames.
"If the Council didn't want us there, they wouldn't have left it blank on the map. They'd have drawn in an impassable swamp or forbidding mountains to keep us away."
Mazatl nodded.
"I don't know about the Council," he replied. "But I don't like this place. It's... I don't know, spooky."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he said, drawing out the words. "Something's wrong. Haven't you noticed how silent it is here? Just listen."
Julia cocked her head to listen more closely. Summer nights on G889 were filled with noise. Small rodents scrambling through the brush in search of food. Insects buzzing around the Luma lamps, or sizzling to their deaths if they came too close to the fire. The occasional cry of a night bird would sound in the distance. Tonight, though -- her eyes widened as she realized what Mazatl was talking about. The night was utterly silent. The only sounds she heard were the crackling of the fire and the lazy flapping of the tarp over the TransRover's cargo bay.
TBC