SAND OF DEATH
Chapter 7
The storm didn't last long. By Yale's reckoning, less than an hour passed before it became quiet outside and the canvas hung limply. Little by little the inside of the makeshift tent brightened until the people huddled beneath could see each other again. Despite their precautions, they were covered in a thin layer of gray dust. Julia swore beneath her breath when she saw what state everyone was in.
Slowly they climbed out of the Rover's bed to stare at their camp. Or rather, what was left of their camp. A thick layer of sand half-covered the tents; most of them had collapsed. Only the med-tent was still standing. The Martins' tent had disappeared altogether; what had been packed into a crate before the storm hit were the couple's only possessions left. The Rover was buried in sand dunes that reached halfway up its wheels. And everything was coated with a thick, sticky layer of dirt.
Devon lowered herself from the cabin, stupefied horror playing on her features. She motioned for the children to stay inside while Bess followed her out. She left the Earth woman in Morgan's arms as the Martins clung together for support, and went in search of Julia.
"Try to breathe superficially," the doctor warned while the grains settled around them. Coughing, hacking and spitting dust the humans wandered around, trying to take it all in, gathering their meager belongings. The looks on their faces, the blank eyes, might have been featured in newscasts about survivors of Earth's natural disasters.
Devon followed Julia to the med-tent, where she stood taking in the devastation inside. Fortunately, Julia hadn't yet had the time to unpack when the storm hit, so most of the priceless equipment was safe inside the boxes. When Devon approached Julia was digging out, almost literally, the suction tube she had once used to clear Danziger's lungs of flower pollen.
"Julia," Devon called. She was taken aback by the despondency in Julia's blue eyes when she turned to look at her. "How serious is it?" Devon asked.
"I don't know, yet," Julia said. "We're all coated in that soot. We need to wash it off, and that will deplete our water supply. We must hurry to the lake Alonzo found. We need more water than we have left." She motioned to the tube in her hands. "I also want to clear everyone's lungs as well as I can before we move out."
Devon nodded. "Okay, do what you have to do. I'll go talk to Danziger, see how soon we can leave."
* * *
Miraculously, the covers on all three vehicles had held and protected the engines from the worst of the storm. Still, it wasn't until after nightfall that they were ready to travel. Which was a blessing in disguise. They had used up their water supply sponging themselves, trying to wash as much of the deathly mineral particles off their skins. Traveling at night would at least be cooler and keep their need for fluids to a minimum.
Under normal circumstances Devon never allowed them to travel at night; the risk of damaging the vehicles was too great. Yet this time circumstances were far from normal. Their needs were too dire to worry much about the vehicles or injuries. So, just as the larger moon peeked over the horizon, they set out towards the small lake. Barring accidents, they should reach it by mid-morning.
All through the night the travelers walked in silence, everyone immersed in their own somber thoughts. They gingerly placed their feet, pushing themselves, ignoring cramped muscles. They had to reach the water while they were still able to keep going. They only stopped for brief periods of time, to rest their legs and sip at the last few drops of water to moisten their dry mouths.
To their right the sky paled, changing from dark purple to light pink to bright blue while the sun lifted itself from the horizon to begin another day of relentless torture. Sweat started to break out on Devon's brow and back and it got harder and harder to properly lift her feet. Every once in a while someone stumbled when fatigue and dizziness made them lose their balance. Julia, who was doing better than any of them, hurried from one to the other, to encourage them, to push them, to keep them going.
Finally, Alonzo croaked a shout and pointed up ahead. In the distance the lake he had discovered the day before glistened in the sunlight. "Thank God," Devon muttered and with renewed vigor she staggered forward in the direction of the lake.
"Stop!" Julia yelled when Alonzo and Baines, who were walking ahead of the others, fell to their knees and reached to lift water in their cupped hands. They turned to stare at her, confusion and puzzlement in their eyes.
"Why?" Baines said, his voice gritty with the dust in his throat. "You told us yourself we needed water to drink and wash."
"I want to test it first," Julia said.
"She's right," Danziger agreed, and Devon also nodded.
"Remember what happened to that water bottle John dropped into a lake?"
Baines shivered involuntarily and inched back from the water's edge. He did remember seeing the remains of the bottle. They all did; Danziger had brought it back to show to everyone as a warning.
Julia knelt near the edge of the water. She stretched out her arm, gloved fingers hovering closely over the surface. The diaglove beeped. Her shoulders slumped; her whole posture was oozing the desperation she felt. She let herself fall back onto her behind.
"Now what?" Morgan whined. "I want to drink. I don't feel so good."
"If you drink this," Julia said in a flat voice, "you're as good as dead. This water is rife with the same minerals that are in the dust."
"Oh no," Devon gasped, also sinking to the ground in despair. "This was our last hope." Was this how her dream would end? With them dying here of thirst and mineral poisoning, at the edge of a lake with undrinkable water?
"I'm sorry," Alonzo murmured, as if it was his fault for finding the lake in the first place.
Everyone followed Julia and Devon's example and dropped to the ground, their limbs no longer strong enough to carry them when their last hopes melted like snow before the glaring sun.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Danziger asked.
Julia shook her head. "I don't know how to purify this water," she murmured. "We can kill microbes by boiling it but these poisons? It needs to be filtered and that will take far too long, with the equipment I have."
"I may have an idea," Yale spoke softly. Devon looked up at her old teacher and friend. His skin had turned a ghastly gray instead of the deep brown it used to be. However, he still possessed a dignified grace when he met her eyes briefly before turning to Julia.
"Perhaps boiling this water will work also," he said. "If we can find a way to distill it. We need to condense the steam as it rises and put the resulting water into our containers. These minerals have a higher boiling point. The water vapor will be pure. At the very least it will give us water to drink."
"It might work," Julia nodded pensively and Devon allowed herself to feel a new glimmer of hope.
"If the steam is pure," Mazatl ventured, "then perhaps we can cleanse ourselves too."
Julia frowned and looked at him. "How would we do that? It would take forever to get the amount of distilled water we'd need for washing up."
Mazatl shook his head. "Not like that. Sweat huts," he said. "Like my people used to do centuries ago."
"Mazatl is right," Yale agreed. His voice was stronger now, infused with new hope. They all gathered close around him when he called up a holovid upon his hand. The image wavered slightly, due to the fine sand that affected the robotics in his arm, but it was sharp enough to make out a tiny building. A small fire burned inside, heating up rocks and as they watched someone poured water upon the stones, causing a cloud of steam to rise and fogging the air. "The ancient Romans used the same methods in their bathing houses. I think in our case a tent would suffice."
"I don't know," Morgan murmured. "Wouldn't that mean we would all have to be... naked?"
"I'm afraid so," Yale conceded with a chuckle.
"Come on, Morgan," Bess said, patting his arm. "This is not the time to be prudish. We--" Her voice was cut off by a coughing fit.
"Let's do it," Devon decided, putting an end to the discussion. It wasn't as if they had much of a choice. This rather unorthodox method might be their only chance. "In the interest of modesty, we'll put up two tents. To the left of the Rover the women and to the right the men." They didn't have a tent big enough to hold everyone anyway.
TBC
Chapter 7
The storm didn't last long. By Yale's reckoning, less than an hour passed before it became quiet outside and the canvas hung limply. Little by little the inside of the makeshift tent brightened until the people huddled beneath could see each other again. Despite their precautions, they were covered in a thin layer of gray dust. Julia swore beneath her breath when she saw what state everyone was in.
Slowly they climbed out of the Rover's bed to stare at their camp. Or rather, what was left of their camp. A thick layer of sand half-covered the tents; most of them had collapsed. Only the med-tent was still standing. The Martins' tent had disappeared altogether; what had been packed into a crate before the storm hit were the couple's only possessions left. The Rover was buried in sand dunes that reached halfway up its wheels. And everything was coated with a thick, sticky layer of dirt.
Devon lowered herself from the cabin, stupefied horror playing on her features. She motioned for the children to stay inside while Bess followed her out. She left the Earth woman in Morgan's arms as the Martins clung together for support, and went in search of Julia.
"Try to breathe superficially," the doctor warned while the grains settled around them. Coughing, hacking and spitting dust the humans wandered around, trying to take it all in, gathering their meager belongings. The looks on their faces, the blank eyes, might have been featured in newscasts about survivors of Earth's natural disasters.
Devon followed Julia to the med-tent, where she stood taking in the devastation inside. Fortunately, Julia hadn't yet had the time to unpack when the storm hit, so most of the priceless equipment was safe inside the boxes. When Devon approached Julia was digging out, almost literally, the suction tube she had once used to clear Danziger's lungs of flower pollen.
"Julia," Devon called. She was taken aback by the despondency in Julia's blue eyes when she turned to look at her. "How serious is it?" Devon asked.
"I don't know, yet," Julia said. "We're all coated in that soot. We need to wash it off, and that will deplete our water supply. We must hurry to the lake Alonzo found. We need more water than we have left." She motioned to the tube in her hands. "I also want to clear everyone's lungs as well as I can before we move out."
Devon nodded. "Okay, do what you have to do. I'll go talk to Danziger, see how soon we can leave."
* * *
Miraculously, the covers on all three vehicles had held and protected the engines from the worst of the storm. Still, it wasn't until after nightfall that they were ready to travel. Which was a blessing in disguise. They had used up their water supply sponging themselves, trying to wash as much of the deathly mineral particles off their skins. Traveling at night would at least be cooler and keep their need for fluids to a minimum.
Under normal circumstances Devon never allowed them to travel at night; the risk of damaging the vehicles was too great. Yet this time circumstances were far from normal. Their needs were too dire to worry much about the vehicles or injuries. So, just as the larger moon peeked over the horizon, they set out towards the small lake. Barring accidents, they should reach it by mid-morning.
All through the night the travelers walked in silence, everyone immersed in their own somber thoughts. They gingerly placed their feet, pushing themselves, ignoring cramped muscles. They had to reach the water while they were still able to keep going. They only stopped for brief periods of time, to rest their legs and sip at the last few drops of water to moisten their dry mouths.
To their right the sky paled, changing from dark purple to light pink to bright blue while the sun lifted itself from the horizon to begin another day of relentless torture. Sweat started to break out on Devon's brow and back and it got harder and harder to properly lift her feet. Every once in a while someone stumbled when fatigue and dizziness made them lose their balance. Julia, who was doing better than any of them, hurried from one to the other, to encourage them, to push them, to keep them going.
Finally, Alonzo croaked a shout and pointed up ahead. In the distance the lake he had discovered the day before glistened in the sunlight. "Thank God," Devon muttered and with renewed vigor she staggered forward in the direction of the lake.
"Stop!" Julia yelled when Alonzo and Baines, who were walking ahead of the others, fell to their knees and reached to lift water in their cupped hands. They turned to stare at her, confusion and puzzlement in their eyes.
"Why?" Baines said, his voice gritty with the dust in his throat. "You told us yourself we needed water to drink and wash."
"I want to test it first," Julia said.
"She's right," Danziger agreed, and Devon also nodded.
"Remember what happened to that water bottle John dropped into a lake?"
Baines shivered involuntarily and inched back from the water's edge. He did remember seeing the remains of the bottle. They all did; Danziger had brought it back to show to everyone as a warning.
Julia knelt near the edge of the water. She stretched out her arm, gloved fingers hovering closely over the surface. The diaglove beeped. Her shoulders slumped; her whole posture was oozing the desperation she felt. She let herself fall back onto her behind.
"Now what?" Morgan whined. "I want to drink. I don't feel so good."
"If you drink this," Julia said in a flat voice, "you're as good as dead. This water is rife with the same minerals that are in the dust."
"Oh no," Devon gasped, also sinking to the ground in despair. "This was our last hope." Was this how her dream would end? With them dying here of thirst and mineral poisoning, at the edge of a lake with undrinkable water?
"I'm sorry," Alonzo murmured, as if it was his fault for finding the lake in the first place.
Everyone followed Julia and Devon's example and dropped to the ground, their limbs no longer strong enough to carry them when their last hopes melted like snow before the glaring sun.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Danziger asked.
Julia shook her head. "I don't know how to purify this water," she murmured. "We can kill microbes by boiling it but these poisons? It needs to be filtered and that will take far too long, with the equipment I have."
"I may have an idea," Yale spoke softly. Devon looked up at her old teacher and friend. His skin had turned a ghastly gray instead of the deep brown it used to be. However, he still possessed a dignified grace when he met her eyes briefly before turning to Julia.
"Perhaps boiling this water will work also," he said. "If we can find a way to distill it. We need to condense the steam as it rises and put the resulting water into our containers. These minerals have a higher boiling point. The water vapor will be pure. At the very least it will give us water to drink."
"It might work," Julia nodded pensively and Devon allowed herself to feel a new glimmer of hope.
"If the steam is pure," Mazatl ventured, "then perhaps we can cleanse ourselves too."
Julia frowned and looked at him. "How would we do that? It would take forever to get the amount of distilled water we'd need for washing up."
Mazatl shook his head. "Not like that. Sweat huts," he said. "Like my people used to do centuries ago."
"Mazatl is right," Yale agreed. His voice was stronger now, infused with new hope. They all gathered close around him when he called up a holovid upon his hand. The image wavered slightly, due to the fine sand that affected the robotics in his arm, but it was sharp enough to make out a tiny building. A small fire burned inside, heating up rocks and as they watched someone poured water upon the stones, causing a cloud of steam to rise and fogging the air. "The ancient Romans used the same methods in their bathing houses. I think in our case a tent would suffice."
"I don't know," Morgan murmured. "Wouldn't that mean we would all have to be... naked?"
"I'm afraid so," Yale conceded with a chuckle.
"Come on, Morgan," Bess said, patting his arm. "This is not the time to be prudish. We--" Her voice was cut off by a coughing fit.
"Let's do it," Devon decided, putting an end to the discussion. It wasn't as if they had much of a choice. This rather unorthodox method might be their only chance. "In the interest of modesty, we'll put up two tents. To the left of the Rover the women and to the right the men." They didn't have a tent big enough to hold everyone anyway.
TBC