Beka's eyes flew open when the turbulent waves of the exploding Andromeda Ascendant vibrated the tiny escape pod the four were crammed into.
"Just a dream," Beka reminded herself. She took a long deep breath and tried to calm the fluttering of her heartbeat as reality found its way back into her mind.
It was one of a cycling of dreams she had been having for the last three years or so. Or at least she thought it was three years. No one was really certain any longer. They now measured time by the changing of the season on the planet where they had been making their home since the fateful day the crew had abandoned ship. The dying ship sacrificed herself to kill all of the attacking Magog which were decimating her crew.
Beka took a steadying breath before throwing back the covers of her bed and getting slowly to her feet. She shivered in the coolness of her 'room'. She quickly donned her clothes and slipped her worn boots on her feet. She could hear the sounds of the others moving about through the tunnel just outside her makeshift door. Beka pulled her long hair into a ponytail before quickly braiding her long locks. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on before struggling to shift the privacy screen, that she called her door, out of the way. She stepped into the tunnel just outside the tiny alcove in the rocks that she called hers. She manhandled the privacy screen back into place and took a look at the worn 'hinges' that kept it in place. They needed to be worked on or replaced. There was no time to waste now. It was something she could fiddle with during the long days ahead.
Beka smiled and greeted the Andromeda crew she passed as she made her way down the corridor to the main cavern they now called home. As she walked through the cavern, there was a lightness and excitement running through the being moving about in there. They were talking and laughing and some were singing. There were males and females, young and older, mixed with a few infants and a couple of young toddlers. They were living and enjoying life even after all the hardships they had endured.
A scout had returned a short time ago to alert the camp that the hunting party had been glimpsed through a pair of worn out binoculars. The scout guessed the hunting party would be back by nightfall. It appeared the hunt had been successful by the slow pace at which they were moving. The sleds appeared to be piled high with meat for the upcoming winter. Those crew tasked with butchering and preparing the meat for long term storage were gathering together to plan out their next few long hours of hard work. It was up to them to process all the meat for the entire community. One mistake resulting in the spoilage of food could mean the difference between life and death, and success and failure of the camp.
Beka moved through the milling people as she made her way to the tunnel which led to the cavern system entrance and the surface of the planet which they had lived on for the last three years. Beka paused at the entrance of the tunnel and looked out over the narrow valley they called home.
Mountains rose from both sides of the valley. A river wound its way through the middle. In the winter it was frozen over. In the spring it ran fast and deep with the spring melt of the snow and ice from the mountains. In the summer it ran much slower and several deeper pools of water formed between the faster ripples. In the fall a rainy season usually filled it up a bit more. The water ran clear and cold for most of the year unless rain caused it to turn cloudy.
Wide flat plains on both sides of the river ran until their reached the base of the mountains. Currently, the plains of the far side of the river appearing to be turning shades of red and orange and yellow with just the faintest hint of brown. The faintest browns signaled the coming of winter when the ground would be brown and dead until the floods in the spring brought it back to life.
The plains on this side of the river were similar except for the garden areas that dotted the landscape closer to the mouth of the subterranean cave system. Makeshift fences, which had been maintained throughout the short growing season, were beginning to show their wear as the last of the crops were being harvested. Once harvested, the crops would be prepared for long winter storage. For the coming days, watertight containers would be submerged in the cold waters to preserve the food inside. Soon, the snow and ice would come and the food stores would be moved to the old escape pods which would act like freezers in the winter keeping the food frozen but protected from any animals still out braving the winter's wrath. Other escape pods would be used as smokers to cure the meat the hunting party would soon return with, hopefully in abundance.
Windmills dotted the landscape as the wind lazily turned them. During the windier times, the windmills created energy which was stored in batteries for use inside the dark caves. Harper had set up the system using the batteries from all of the escape pods that made it to the surface.
Beka looked around and found Trance a short distance away at a pen which had been erected just this past spring. Inside were some small four-legged mammals that fed of the native vegetation that grew abundantly in the valley. Many of the plants in the valley were not good for Humanoid consumption. These mammals could digest the plant materials and their milk could be used for the crew. Nearby was another pen which housed some winged fowl that fed off the plants and bugs that were abundant in the spring and summer. These fowl laid eggs which were consumed by the crew as well. During the warmer months, the animals had remained outside to feast on the native vegetation and insect life. In the cold, snowy winter months, they were to be housed in some of the caverns closer to the surface where the crew did not reside. The animals would feed on grasses and plants from the plains across the river which were harvested and dried to stay preserved through the winter.
Beka waved at Trance when the purple girl looked in her direction and waved. Beka made her way towards Trance but was sidetracked when she heard her name. She turned and saw Harper yelling to her and waving her in his direction. Instead of visiting with Trance, Beka headed in Harper's direction.
"What's up Harper?" Beka asked as she approached the blonde engineer.
"Not much Bek," Harper replied as he gestured toward the deeper surface cave just behind him. "Who would have thought yours truly, an engineering god on the Andromeda, would be the king of poop on this little world."
"You've got it working?" Beka raised her eyebrows as she looked behind Harper. There was some kind of contraption behind him that was made out of two of the old escape pods and a punch of other bits and pieces from pods that made it to the surface.
"Who knew that all of that animal poop could be useful," Harper nodded as he wiped his hands on a torn up piece of cloth. "It works just like the one we use for our business. Poop goes in, a little microbial action in the tank and burnable gas comes out the little hose on top. I have enough hose to make it to the lamps in the main cavern but that's as far as she goes."
"That is all we need really," Beka shrugged. "You know the deal … no one gets any special treatment. No one get special lighting. If you want to see … you want light … charge a lantern or flashlight or go to the common area."
"Well, here's the thing, I have been working on a few things. I think if I can build some kind of generator that runs off this gas, I can rig up some kind of lighting for the entire community," Harper raised his eyebrows. "No more sitting around in the near dark for months at a time or freezing your ass off to go to the mouth of the cavern just to get a little light or charge your battery."
"It would be nice," Beka pursed her lips as she looked at the contraption behind Harper. It was hard to believe they were running what little electric equipment they had off poop power as Harper called it. His genius really was astounding and Beka knew their survival and the 'good life' they led had a lot to do with his incredible creativity and genius. Thinking outside of the box always was one of Harper's things. "What do you need?"
Most of the supplies and equipment and nearly everything that made it to the surface was being used in some way or another. Everything they gathered, created or grew during the warmer months already had a purpose running up to the beginning of the winter.
"Well here's the thing," Harper looked around them as if trying to avoid actually looking at Beka.
"Harper," Beka said his name sternly knowing he wanted something that he most likely couldn't have but wanted her to get him.
"One of the overnight spotters saw something come down early this morning," Harper pointed in the direction over the far mountain.
The community had spotters at both ends of the short valley to keep an eye out for larger roaming animals that something made their way into the valley along the river. Some of the animals were larger and appeared to be carnivorous. Early in their stranding, one such animal had gotten into the camp injured a number of the crew. Tyr had finally come running with one of his guns and shot it dead. Now, after all this time, ammunition was running low and only used in the event of a dangerous animal incursion. Even hunting was done by bows and spears made from repurposed items. Fishing was done with traps, nets made of vines and bone hooks with vine lines.
The first winter season of their stranding had been hard. They had known nothing about the planet they were on. They knew nothing about the weather. When they had arrived on the planet, it had been in the warmer months. Most thought surviving would be easy in such an environment.
However, all too soon, the seasons changed. They were no ready for what the cold months had in store for them. Several of the crew died from the frigid cold as the crew tried to make their homes inside the escape pods. The next spring, they had explored the cave system and their current home had been established. Over the last year and a half, their camp had expanded to its current size and configuration. Every now and then, pieces of wreckage from the Andromeda would occasionally get caught in the planet's atmosphere and come crashing down. When the pieces could be located, whatever was salvageable was salvaged. As time went on, less and less fell from the sky. However, Harper believed there were larger chunks of wreckage orbiting high overhead.
"You know the rules," Beka shook her head, basically denying the request he had yet to make.
"I know Bek," Harper sighed dramatically. "But this could be a huge improvement to the crappy little life we have here on this piece of rock. Think of the boost in morale."
"It is dangerous to go out this late. You know the rules. All exploratory salvage is done in the late spring and summer," Beka looked in the direction Harper was pointing. No one went in that direction any more. The last time a recovery team had ventured in that direction to recover some downed wreckage, the whole team had not returned from that mission due to an animal attack.
Ever since then, Tyr had been adamant about not going on foolish missions for pointless purposes. Tyr had been badly wounded himself in the animal attack before he had fought off the attacking animal. Trance had once again credited his Nietzschean biology for being the reason he lived when others had died on that excursion.
On the ground, Beka had noticed that Tyr was much more forceful in voicing his opinion on the direction and actions of their settlement. Long gone were the days of Tyr doing as Dylan directed. Without the need for Andromeda, Tyr was no longer beholden to keeping Dylan pleased with him.
In the earliest days of their stranding, Dylan had pretty much been useless. When he had awakened on the surface in an escape pod, he was angry that Tyr had taken the decision to go down with the ship away from Dylan. Dylan had gone through some sort of psychological issue due to the loss of his ship, the loss of his command, the loss of his identity as the Captain of the High Guard ship of the line. He was withdrawn and sullen.
In the early days, as Andromeda's First Officer, Beka had taken the lead as much as she could. At first, everyone had just looked for someone to tell them what to do.
As time passed, there were those who thought they might just know better and began to challenge Beka's leadership. Tyr had been by her side then to keep the masculine testosterone in check when someone broke the rules they had all agreed to and challenged Beka's authority to enforce the rules.
She had always been thankful for Harper's ingenuity and Trances mysterious ways of knowing all about lifeforms throughout the universe to keep them alive the first dreadful winter.
As time went on, Dylan's state of mind improved. He and Rommie both seemed to find their place amongst the crew.
However, it seemed Beka had been recognized as the leader of the group for so long, that even with the Captain recovered, the crew still viewed her as the leader of their settlement.
Dylan had been overly optimistic every time they saw a piece of wreckage coming down from the sky above. Early on, there was not an excursion that Dylan did not enthusiastically support. Dylan had been one of the most vocal of the settlers when a large piece of debris was seen falling from the night sky. As with every other piece of debris, Dylan thought that might just be the one that would get them rescued or home. On the day of ill fated departure, Dylan had been unable to go with the recovery party. It was on that trip that there was the disastrous encounter with the native wildlife. Ever since then, Dylan had become a little more cautious whenever the topic of a recovery mission was broached.
Not to mention winter was on its way or who knew how far the wreckage was and if it was even worth it.
"I'm just saying Beka," Harper shrugged his shoulders as he looked up at Beka with the face that was hard for her to resist.
"When the hunting party returns this evening," Beka finally relented. "I'll talk to Tyr."
"And Dylan?' Harper raised his eyebrows hopefully. He knew Tyr would say 'NO' because of the risk to his survival. Harper knew Dylan might just think it was worth the risk and convince some of the crew to make the journey.
"And Dylan," Beka nodded reluctantly. Rarely did a party of any kind go away from camp without Tyr and the Nietzscheans. When Tyr refused, it was always up to Beka to talk him into it. She had a way with Tyr that none of the others did. But even with their rapport, there were times when he even refused Beka.
Tyr was by far the strongest of them all because of his damn Kodiak Nietzschean genes. In the earliest days of the first spring and into the first summer, Trance had often depended on Tyr for trials of the native flora and fauna. Trance had vast knowledge of edible and inedible things but on this planet there were species she did not know or species that were similar but not quite the same as the ones she knew. Tyr often attempted new foods first. Trance was certain nothing she tried would kill him. Instead she needed to gauge if the plants and animals would make Tyr sick. If it did, there was no way anyone else could eat them.
Tyr had begrudgingly assisted in Trance's discovery of food sources for the crew. Until the first time he got violently ill for three days from consuming some sort of wild fungus. Most thought it was the fevers, chills and vomiting that pushed Tyr to no longer attempt new things. Beka knew better. It was the hallucinations that Tyr had the most issue with after his recovery. Tyr did not like not having control over himself like occurred with the wild fungus hallucinations. After that encounter, Tyr refused to be Trance's lab rodent any longer. He vehemently argued that they had plenty of food sources and did not need to discover any others. Once he put his foot down, none of the other Nietzscheans were willing to help out either.
"Thanks boss," Harper said as he gestured toward the contraption behind him. "Want to help me load this week's poop into the hopper?"
"No thanks," Beka shook her head as she gestured toward the cavern entrance. "I need to make my rounds and make sure everything is running smoothly. I'll leave you to shovel the poo."