SAND OF DEATH
Chapter 4
Julia desperately wanted to believe her own promise but found that Alonzo's distress was contagious. It settled in her mind and refused to budge or be alleviated. She decided to have a talk with Devon about Alonzo's concerns.
When she walked back to the camp she passed Danziger working on the DuneRail. He was bent over a small object in his hands and muttered angrily below his breath. Julia realized she hadn't given him his ration yet and quickly filled a cup with water to take to him.
Gratefully he drank and thanked her. His long hair hung limply across a face wet with sweat. Dirt streaked on his cheeks.
"Any progress?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation. He grumbled something unintelligible and smoothed his thumb over the dusty surface of the conveyor in his hands. Then he rubbed his fingers together and gestured for her to come closer.
"Have you ever seen dust like this?" he asked. She peered at his digits. A black smear showed on them.
"It looks like soot," she replied. "I didn't realize the dust was that fine." A little surprised she stretched out her hand and rubbed some of the dust on her index finger. The desert sands were a dull gray, like old ashes. Could it be possible that this entire area had once burnt? She brought her finger to her nose and smelled.
"It doesn't smell like soot. It doesn't smell at all. I wonder what it is."
"I don't know," Danziger replied. "And I don't really care. Except that it's nasty stuff. It's clogged the conveyor in the Rail in no time and probably worked its way into the other vehicles as well."
"Can I have a sample of this?" she asked. "I'd like to know what it's comprised of."
He brushed off some more of the soot-like particles in her hands and she walked away to get her diaglove.
The fine dust only served to add to her worries. When she scanned it with her glove it turned out to contain various metal components besides the plain, yet very fine sand of the desert floor. Another sample, taken arbitrarily just outside the camp showed the same results. And those minerals could be deathly to any life form when ingested in larger quantities. Julia began to understand why the Terrians named the desert sand of death.
* * *
As they were ready to move out the next morning, Julia went through the assembled group handing every member of the Eden project a moistened rag.
"I want you all to tie this cloth over your nose and mouth while we're traveling," she addressed them.
"Great!" Uly called. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he tied the rag over his face. "We'll look like bank robbers," and he crooked his thumb and index finger pretending to 'shoot' at Yale. Julia marveled at the child's ability to see an adventure in anything. She wished she could step over her concerns as easily as the kids did.
"It'll keep your lungs clear of dust," she continued her lecture.
Below his breath Morgan Martin mumbled something about healthy station air and oxygen masks.
"We must try to stir up as little dust as we can. That means no speeding." She wiggled her fingers at Alonzo. The pilot was prone to pushing the ATV to its limits as if to make up for the loss of flying. He screwed up his eyes in mock horror but Danziger grinned widely.
"Grounded at last," the mechanic growled at him. Playfully Alonzo jabbed him in the ribs.
Julia smiled as she saw this display of good cheer. Apprehension still ran underneath the surface but everyone appeared ready for another day of travel. Alonzo was in a much lighter mood since he'd expressed his frustration that he couldn't clearly translate the Terrians' messages. Both Julia and Devon assured him they took his warnings serious. They promised him they'd be extra careful while crossing the sands. Anxiety still shone from his eyes but at least he'd stopped moping and worked as hard as ever to get them to their destination safely.
When Julia finished her lecture the large Rover slowly set in motion, Cameron at the wheel. The other vehicles followed, spread out so as not to concentrate the dust the wheels threw up, no matter how careful the drivers steered. In front of the vehicles those on foot walked slowly but steadily. As they moved forward, the landscape around them gradually changed. The last of the scarce vegetation disappeared; not even lichen crusted the ground. Here and there a small rock jutted up out of the ground, but mostly the floor was covered with the fine, dark sand. The low-rolling hills flattened out until at last they walked in a shallow depression reminiscent of a large bowl. The scale was so huge that it was imperceptible to the human eye.
While they walked most of the travelers remained silent. Rocks were few and far between but stumbling over them could result in an ugly fall. Everyone was immersed in his or her own thoughts and concentrated mainly on putting one foot in front of the other. So when Bess called her she startled Julia out of a deep reverie.
"What's on your mind, Bess?" Julia asked. The Earth woman frowned behind her mask. Her hair was held back with a ribbon and a piece of cloth covered her head.
"This place," Bess answered and motioned vaguely about her. "It reminds me of Earth. Of the holovids I saw of areas so contaminated that nothing could live there anymore." Bess was silent for a moment. Julia watched her attentively.
"Julia, you are keeping track of what's around us, aren't you?" Bess came to the point. "I mean, you'd tell us if there was something in the air or dirt that's bad for us, wouldn't you?"
"Of course," Julia tried to put her mind at ease. She waved her left arm that was covered with the diaglove. The contraption blinked silently. "I'm continuously scanning. You're right to worry. We're doing fine so far though."
As Bess fell back with her worries more or less alleviated, Julia began to pay more attention to her surroundings. Bess was right, the terrain was odd. She remembered the night in the grove when Mazatl made her aware of the lack of night sounds.
She sought out Alonzo in the group of travelers. She spotted him driving the Rail with Uly and True crammed in the passenger seat next to him. The backseat of the vehicle was loaded with boxes, tents and a couple of the collapsible water tanks. Even from the distance and despite the facemask she could see the wary look that marked his features, his eyes darting around constantly trying to scan all sides at once. She thought about calling him on Gear to ask if he'd heard from the Terrians when Devon called out their midday break.
* * *
After they'd finished their simple lunch -semolina bars flushed down with water- and started to break up again, Devon searched for Uly. Despite the heat, and Julia's warning about not disturbing the dust, he was running around with True, laughing as he tried to catch the older girl. Devon felt a surge of gratitude as she watched her son play uninhibited. Gratitude to the planet and the Terrians for healing him. They gave her the son that she'd always envisioned Uly could be. Still, Devon worried about him. He was only a young boy and they were crossing an unknown planet with dangers lurking everywhere.
While she watched him the boy tripped and fell flat on his face.
"Uly!" she cried in alarm and ran to him. He waved at her that he was okay and bent over the obscured object in the ground that had made him trip. When she came closer she saw him dig out an oval-shaped stone. He squinted close at it and wonder flushed his face.
"Mom, look what I found," he called. Devon crouched near him and stared at the object. It was a black stone, its surface gleaming dully in the bright sunshine. Then she noticed what her son had already seen and her eyes widened: etched in the stone was the image of a tiny fish skeleton, every single fish-bone printed clearly in its dusty surface. Cautiously she took the stone from Uly.
"What is it, Mom?"
"I don't know, Uly," she replied and peered closer at the fish-image in the rock. Slowly she rubbed her fingers over it, the engraved bones rough beneath her touch. "It is amazing," she muttered below her breath.
"Maybe Yale knows. Or Julia," Uly continued, bouncing up and down in excitement and eager to get the object back. She handed him the stone.
"Yes, they might," she replied. Without a further word the boy hurried off to find the tutor or doctor to ask for answers. Devon followed in a slower pace.
"That is a fossil," she heard Yale tell the children as she came to the small group clustered near the TransRover. "A fossil occurs when an organism is caught in sedimentary rock."
When the children gave him blank stares, he explained, "When this fish died a long time ago it was covered with dirt and sand. The dirt later compressed to form a new rock, the rock Uly found. The fish's body dissolved a long time ago. Only the imprint of the skeleton remains, like it was stamped in the rock."
Alerted by the excited cries of the children most of the group came to see what was happening. They ah-ed their amazement at the tiny fish imprint. Julia activated her diaglove and scanned the stone.
"It is very old," she said. "About a million years -- Earth years."
"How did it get here?" True wanted to know. "This is a desert. There are no fish in a desert."
"Ah," Yale replied and straightened into his tutor mode. "Probably this wasn't a desert centuries ago. I think it was a lake once. Or maybe a sea."
"You mean that all this was covered with water?" Morgan asked. He looked around uncomfortably as if expecting a large body of water to surge and swallow him at any moment. "That we're walking on the bottom of some ancient ocean?"
"Exactly," Yale nodded.
"What do you think happened?" Alonzo asked. His face was filled with a curious wonder that momentarily replaced the worried frown. This planet never failed to surprise the travelers. "Why did it dry up?"
"It could have any kind of cause," Yale answered. "Maybe the climate changed. Maybe a landslide interrupted the inflow of water from the rivers."
"I remember a story from Earth," Bess said softly. "About a huge lake that dried up. It was our fault. People drained the lake to use its water and it got contaminated with pesticides. In the end the water was so poisonous that nothing could live in the lake anymore. Then it dried up."
"Ah, yes," Yale sighed. "The Aral lake in old Russia. That event set in motion the collapse of the delicate balance of nature on Earth."
"Well," Morgan said, "it couldn't have been anything like that here, could it? I mean, we're the first civilized people here, right?"
A couple of the crew nodded their assent but Alonzo muttered below his breath, "Depends on your definition of 'civilized'."
TBC
Chapter 4
Julia desperately wanted to believe her own promise but found that Alonzo's distress was contagious. It settled in her mind and refused to budge or be alleviated. She decided to have a talk with Devon about Alonzo's concerns.
When she walked back to the camp she passed Danziger working on the DuneRail. He was bent over a small object in his hands and muttered angrily below his breath. Julia realized she hadn't given him his ration yet and quickly filled a cup with water to take to him.
Gratefully he drank and thanked her. His long hair hung limply across a face wet with sweat. Dirt streaked on his cheeks.
"Any progress?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation. He grumbled something unintelligible and smoothed his thumb over the dusty surface of the conveyor in his hands. Then he rubbed his fingers together and gestured for her to come closer.
"Have you ever seen dust like this?" he asked. She peered at his digits. A black smear showed on them.
"It looks like soot," she replied. "I didn't realize the dust was that fine." A little surprised she stretched out her hand and rubbed some of the dust on her index finger. The desert sands were a dull gray, like old ashes. Could it be possible that this entire area had once burnt? She brought her finger to her nose and smelled.
"It doesn't smell like soot. It doesn't smell at all. I wonder what it is."
"I don't know," Danziger replied. "And I don't really care. Except that it's nasty stuff. It's clogged the conveyor in the Rail in no time and probably worked its way into the other vehicles as well."
"Can I have a sample of this?" she asked. "I'd like to know what it's comprised of."
He brushed off some more of the soot-like particles in her hands and she walked away to get her diaglove.
The fine dust only served to add to her worries. When she scanned it with her glove it turned out to contain various metal components besides the plain, yet very fine sand of the desert floor. Another sample, taken arbitrarily just outside the camp showed the same results. And those minerals could be deathly to any life form when ingested in larger quantities. Julia began to understand why the Terrians named the desert sand of death.
* * *
As they were ready to move out the next morning, Julia went through the assembled group handing every member of the Eden project a moistened rag.
"I want you all to tie this cloth over your nose and mouth while we're traveling," she addressed them.
"Great!" Uly called. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he tied the rag over his face. "We'll look like bank robbers," and he crooked his thumb and index finger pretending to 'shoot' at Yale. Julia marveled at the child's ability to see an adventure in anything. She wished she could step over her concerns as easily as the kids did.
"It'll keep your lungs clear of dust," she continued her lecture.
Below his breath Morgan Martin mumbled something about healthy station air and oxygen masks.
"We must try to stir up as little dust as we can. That means no speeding." She wiggled her fingers at Alonzo. The pilot was prone to pushing the ATV to its limits as if to make up for the loss of flying. He screwed up his eyes in mock horror but Danziger grinned widely.
"Grounded at last," the mechanic growled at him. Playfully Alonzo jabbed him in the ribs.
Julia smiled as she saw this display of good cheer. Apprehension still ran underneath the surface but everyone appeared ready for another day of travel. Alonzo was in a much lighter mood since he'd expressed his frustration that he couldn't clearly translate the Terrians' messages. Both Julia and Devon assured him they took his warnings serious. They promised him they'd be extra careful while crossing the sands. Anxiety still shone from his eyes but at least he'd stopped moping and worked as hard as ever to get them to their destination safely.
When Julia finished her lecture the large Rover slowly set in motion, Cameron at the wheel. The other vehicles followed, spread out so as not to concentrate the dust the wheels threw up, no matter how careful the drivers steered. In front of the vehicles those on foot walked slowly but steadily. As they moved forward, the landscape around them gradually changed. The last of the scarce vegetation disappeared; not even lichen crusted the ground. Here and there a small rock jutted up out of the ground, but mostly the floor was covered with the fine, dark sand. The low-rolling hills flattened out until at last they walked in a shallow depression reminiscent of a large bowl. The scale was so huge that it was imperceptible to the human eye.
While they walked most of the travelers remained silent. Rocks were few and far between but stumbling over them could result in an ugly fall. Everyone was immersed in his or her own thoughts and concentrated mainly on putting one foot in front of the other. So when Bess called her she startled Julia out of a deep reverie.
"What's on your mind, Bess?" Julia asked. The Earth woman frowned behind her mask. Her hair was held back with a ribbon and a piece of cloth covered her head.
"This place," Bess answered and motioned vaguely about her. "It reminds me of Earth. Of the holovids I saw of areas so contaminated that nothing could live there anymore." Bess was silent for a moment. Julia watched her attentively.
"Julia, you are keeping track of what's around us, aren't you?" Bess came to the point. "I mean, you'd tell us if there was something in the air or dirt that's bad for us, wouldn't you?"
"Of course," Julia tried to put her mind at ease. She waved her left arm that was covered with the diaglove. The contraption blinked silently. "I'm continuously scanning. You're right to worry. We're doing fine so far though."
As Bess fell back with her worries more or less alleviated, Julia began to pay more attention to her surroundings. Bess was right, the terrain was odd. She remembered the night in the grove when Mazatl made her aware of the lack of night sounds.
She sought out Alonzo in the group of travelers. She spotted him driving the Rail with Uly and True crammed in the passenger seat next to him. The backseat of the vehicle was loaded with boxes, tents and a couple of the collapsible water tanks. Even from the distance and despite the facemask she could see the wary look that marked his features, his eyes darting around constantly trying to scan all sides at once. She thought about calling him on Gear to ask if he'd heard from the Terrians when Devon called out their midday break.
* * *
After they'd finished their simple lunch -semolina bars flushed down with water- and started to break up again, Devon searched for Uly. Despite the heat, and Julia's warning about not disturbing the dust, he was running around with True, laughing as he tried to catch the older girl. Devon felt a surge of gratitude as she watched her son play uninhibited. Gratitude to the planet and the Terrians for healing him. They gave her the son that she'd always envisioned Uly could be. Still, Devon worried about him. He was only a young boy and they were crossing an unknown planet with dangers lurking everywhere.
While she watched him the boy tripped and fell flat on his face.
"Uly!" she cried in alarm and ran to him. He waved at her that he was okay and bent over the obscured object in the ground that had made him trip. When she came closer she saw him dig out an oval-shaped stone. He squinted close at it and wonder flushed his face.
"Mom, look what I found," he called. Devon crouched near him and stared at the object. It was a black stone, its surface gleaming dully in the bright sunshine. Then she noticed what her son had already seen and her eyes widened: etched in the stone was the image of a tiny fish skeleton, every single fish-bone printed clearly in its dusty surface. Cautiously she took the stone from Uly.
"What is it, Mom?"
"I don't know, Uly," she replied and peered closer at the fish-image in the rock. Slowly she rubbed her fingers over it, the engraved bones rough beneath her touch. "It is amazing," she muttered below her breath.
"Maybe Yale knows. Or Julia," Uly continued, bouncing up and down in excitement and eager to get the object back. She handed him the stone.
"Yes, they might," she replied. Without a further word the boy hurried off to find the tutor or doctor to ask for answers. Devon followed in a slower pace.
"That is a fossil," she heard Yale tell the children as she came to the small group clustered near the TransRover. "A fossil occurs when an organism is caught in sedimentary rock."
When the children gave him blank stares, he explained, "When this fish died a long time ago it was covered with dirt and sand. The dirt later compressed to form a new rock, the rock Uly found. The fish's body dissolved a long time ago. Only the imprint of the skeleton remains, like it was stamped in the rock."
Alerted by the excited cries of the children most of the group came to see what was happening. They ah-ed their amazement at the tiny fish imprint. Julia activated her diaglove and scanned the stone.
"It is very old," she said. "About a million years -- Earth years."
"How did it get here?" True wanted to know. "This is a desert. There are no fish in a desert."
"Ah," Yale replied and straightened into his tutor mode. "Probably this wasn't a desert centuries ago. I think it was a lake once. Or maybe a sea."
"You mean that all this was covered with water?" Morgan asked. He looked around uncomfortably as if expecting a large body of water to surge and swallow him at any moment. "That we're walking on the bottom of some ancient ocean?"
"Exactly," Yale nodded.
"What do you think happened?" Alonzo asked. His face was filled with a curious wonder that momentarily replaced the worried frown. This planet never failed to surprise the travelers. "Why did it dry up?"
"It could have any kind of cause," Yale answered. "Maybe the climate changed. Maybe a landslide interrupted the inflow of water from the rivers."
"I remember a story from Earth," Bess said softly. "About a huge lake that dried up. It was our fault. People drained the lake to use its water and it got contaminated with pesticides. In the end the water was so poisonous that nothing could live in the lake anymore. Then it dried up."
"Ah, yes," Yale sighed. "The Aral lake in old Russia. That event set in motion the collapse of the delicate balance of nature on Earth."
"Well," Morgan said, "it couldn't have been anything like that here, could it? I mean, we're the first civilized people here, right?"
A couple of the crew nodded their assent but Alonzo muttered below his breath, "Depends on your definition of 'civilized'."
TBC