Chapter 2
(Alonzo Solace)
We are the Eden Project. Two hundred forty eight days ago we crashed onto this planet. Now we continue our journey, traveling across this vast continent towards New Pacifica, the rendezvous site for our approaching colony ship. Each day is similar to the one before it. We walk, we make camp, and then we sleep. Only to wake up the next morning to repeat the cycle.
Life on this planet is hard. It continually challenges us. Just when we think we've mastered survival skills, it throws us another loop. Between the hot weather, limited water rations and dwindling food supplies, tempers were short.
Some, like Walman, volunteered for this scouting trip just to get away from the others and break up the monotony of the routine. Danziger was equally anxious to move ahead to locate a mountain pass, though I suspect his primary motive was far more personal. As for Morgan, who knows why he tagged along. If he was in the dog house with his wife, Bess, the entire camp would've known about it.
As for me, I'm just a restless spirit. I can't stay still too long. I only wanted to stretch my legs.
Danziger and Morgan can be a volatile combination. From the very start, I suspected that this might be an eventful trip.
Day 248
Alonzo lowered the jumpers and then raised them, once again, to ensure that he wasn't imagining things.
"What is it, 'Lonz? Any signs of a pass? Or water?" Danziger asked. As the terrain became more rugged, it only re-emphasized the need to find safe passage for their vehicles to travel through the approaching mountains.
"No." He readjusted the instrument. "It looks like a space ship. But I don't recognize the design."
"What?" Morgan Martin's eyes grew wide and he dropped the cup he was holding, water splashing out.
"Morgan! We're rationing water!" Walman irritably reminded him.
"A ship? Could that mean a Council ship?" Morgan stammered.
The governing body of the space stations, the Council, had already attempted to sabotage their mission in many elaborate ways including bombs, undercover agents, and insidious biostat chips planted inside their heads, unbeknownst to them. Despite being twenty two light years away, they were a powerful group who still influenced events, even on Planet G889.
"I don't think so. This looks old. Really old. It almost doesn't look like one of ours."
"Aliens?" Morgan gasped.
Alonzo laughed. "You've been playing too many VR simulations, Morgan. I've flown all over the galaxy. Other than the native inhabitants of G889, the only sentient beings I've ever encountered have come from the same place that we did." More to himself he added, "Still, it is strange."
"There's always a first." Morgan's hands shook nervously. As he noticed, he clamped one hand over the other to stop the motion.
Alonzo rolled his eyes towards Danziger, who grinned in response. Morgan Martin, their resident government liaison, was always blowing something out of proportion.
Danziger borrowed the jumpers to take a look for himself. With some trepidation, he added, "It does remind me of Franklin and Elizabeth's ship."
They had encountered the grounded Council ship only a few months before. A shudder passed through him. He hated to think about that place and all that had transpired there.
"No. I remember when those babies came out and I can tell you, this one isn't the same." Having participated in multiple cold sleep runs, Alonzo was considerably older than his youthful appearance belied.
Danziger took charge. "We need to investigate. Could be a security risk." He clamped Morgan on the back a little harder than was necessary as the men walked towards the Dunerail. "Let's go."
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"What is it?" Walman stared at the odd vehicle. Instead of wheels, the unit had treads resembling an old fashioned tank. The top portion was encased in a thick transparent material. The seats inside appeared suitable for human occupancy. A bubble opening rested on top, which could possibly serve as a gun port.
"I've never seen anything like it," Alonzo added.
Danziger was getting spooked. His time on G889 had shown him that things could go really wrong, really fast. Even colorful spring flowers had proven to be deadly here. He drew his Magpro closer to him.
Keeping his voice low, he advised, "Let's see what we can find out. Alonzo, you and Walman go to the left of the vehicle, on the other side of the clearing. Morgan and I will check out this side. Keep your weapons handy and your gear on. Avoid making contact until we can learn more about the situation."
Alonzo and Walman nodded in agreement and set off.
Morgan squeaked a meager protest which was ignored. The thin man hid behind Danziger's bulk, which suited John just fine. As much as he despised Morgan, keeping him close by his side might ensure that man didn't mess things up. The two men crept towards the clearing.
Once they passed the vehicle, Morgan gasped and pointed.
Danziger's eyes widened. Two men and a gorgeous blonde woman were standing about a tall tripod. Some sort of energy beam emanated from it, directed towards the ground. In some ways, he was relieved their visitors appeared to be human yet other aspects about this scene confused him.
Something wasn't quite right. The strange vehicle. The tripod device. Danziger was an expert mechanic who knew how to jerry rig most anything. He'd had experience rebuilding mining equipment as well as building and repairing space ships and space habitations. He had no knowledge of the equipment being used here. And the people…
"Warning! Warning! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" a loud mechanical voice boomed.
The two men froze, with Danziger clutching the Magpro more tightly.
Once again, John Danziger had never seen such a unit. Presumably it was a mechanized work robot. The unit stood almost six feet tall, constructed mostly of a silver metal. Its body form didn't mimic humans, rather it was composed of a cylindrical unit. When it had spoken, a light flashed behind a bubble-like chest panel. A smaller clear bubble comprised the head. Extendable red claws served as the hands, while treads similar to the vehicle allowed the robot to walk about.
Rather than panicking or grabbing a weapon, the taller of the two men walked directly towards Danziger and Morgan. "Hello." He extended his hand. "I'm John Robinson."
Startled, Danziger straightened to his full and formidable height to meet the man's gaze. "Danziger. John Danziger." With some reluctance, he took the man's hand to shake it.
"Let me introduce you to the others," John Robinson gestured amiably towards the man and woman gathered about the tripod.
This guy was even more trusting than Adair, Danziger thought. Normally, he'd play it safe and keep the other half of his party concealed. Yet no weapons had been drawn even though John Robinson had some sort of gun in his holster. Danziger wanted to keep things friendly. Besides, their robot had probably detected the rest of the group anyway. He called to them. "Come on over, 'Lonz."
Alonzo and Walman stepped towards the group from the other side of the clearing. "That's Alonzo Solace and Mark Walman." The two men nodded as they approached. As an after thought, he added, "And this is Morgan Martin."
John Robinson smiled warmly. "This is our pilot, Major West. And my daughter Judy."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Judy." Walman edged closer, having trouble taking his eyes off of her.
Danziger noticed the younger man introduced as Major West, didn't care for that.
Alonzo also seemed to fall under her spell. "You don't normally run into such a beautiful woman under such circumstances."
Judy blushed charmingly as Major West objected.
"Now, wait a minute."
Yep, the Major was definitely starting to squirm. Danziger chuckled to himself. Why did love turn men into complete saps? He could understand Walman making an ass of himself. He'd been alone for too long. But what was with 'Lonz? His steady, their doctor, was one of the most beautiful and highly intelligent women in their camp. They had a good thing going. Then again, the youthful looking dark haired pilot had always been partial to the ladies. It must be hard to turn that type of response off; for him it must be more of an innate reflex. Thank goodness poor Julia wasn't here.
Judy was a stunning young woman. Slim with long blonde hair, and a heart shaped face with a well proportioned figure and sparkling blue eyes. The fact that she was wearing such an odd outfit – a purple mini-dress with a bright yellow tunic along with slim lavender boots, only seemed to enhance her beauty.
Most of the members of Eden Advance hadn't been able to bathe for days due to water restrictions. The majority of their clothes had been salvaged from cargo stores. Sometimes things fit, sometimes they didn't. Even his favorite print shirt he was currently wearing was starting to fade. They all made due as best they could. In contrast, Judy was…so clean. They all were.
The two men ignored the Major's hot glare.
"And this is our environmental control robot," John Robinson added.
Danziger nodded, wondering why the automated unit was being formally introduced.
"It's a pleasure," the robot responded.
"So, how long have you been on this planet?" Walman's eyes stayed fixed upon Judy yet her father chose to answer his question.
"About two weeks. We crashed…due to some unfortunate events," John ruefully looked towards Major West whose features grew even tenser. "How about yourselves?"
Uncharacteristically, Danziger felt drawn to this man. Something about him exuded honesty. He wanted to believe the man was as forth right as he seemed. Yet, Danziger's skeptical nature held fast.
"We're here to colonize this planet. Or at least, some of us are." Danziger tried to catch Alonzo's eye but he was too busy showering compliments on Judy. The poor girl's cheeks flamed crimson.
"Where are you from?" Robinson asked.
"Space Stations."
"I'm not familiar with them."
"Wha-" As Morgan started to comment, Danziger shot him a warning glance to shut his mouth. Didn't he understand that information was power?
"What about you? Where are you from? What's your mission?" Danziger asked, more intently.
"We're from a planet called Earth. In many respects our mission is the same as yours, colonizing a new planet. We're bound for the Alpha Centauri system once we complete our repairs to the Jupiter 2 and refine sufficient fuel," John Robinson explained.
Earth? It wasn't possible. How could he be from Earth and not be aware of the Space Stations? It couldn't be. Yet the man seemed completely sincere.
"What type of fuel does your ship use?" Danziger probed.
"Deutronuim."
He wondered if he'd heard him properly. "Do you mean deuterium?" That would imply a fusion driven reaction.
"No, deutronium. We mine the ore then process it." He gestured to the tripod.
Before Danziger could continue, Alonzo's voice intruded.
"What's your secret? How do you manage to look so lovely?"
Judy giggled while Walman grinned.
"John," The Major spoke through clenched teeth. Steam was practically coming out of the poor man's ears.
"Simmer down Don. It's been a while since we've encountered others." Turning to Danziger he asked, "Why don't you join us for dinner? My wife is an excellent cook and we'd love the company."
The Major's hot stare indicated his displeasure with the plan but clearly John Robinson was in charge.
"It's a tempting offer but we've got others back at our base camp depending upon us to find some water soon."
Walman and Alonzo started to protest, when John Robinson volunteered, "Why didn't you say so? There's a stream with drinkable water only a few miles west."
Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Now if we could just find some food."
Danziger grimaced. Leave it to Morgan Martin to reveal more of their weaknesses to complete strangers.
"The pond is filled with fish," John explained.
"Fish?" Morgan said with disdain.
"Yes, they're delicious. We've eaten them for supper several nights now."
Danziger couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Most of the fish on Earth had ingested so many pollutants that they were a bio hazard. No one in his right mind would go near them, more or less consider eating them.
Judy insisted, "You must come to dinner and try them. Maybe Mother can even bake a cake." Turning to Walman, she coyly volunteered, "I can show you where the stream is."
Seeming to retain his bearings, Alonzo responded, "That would be wonderful." To Danziger, he added, "Think we could fill some tanks and bring them back to the others?"
"I'll consult with our base camp. See how urgent the water situation is."
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Devon Adair's image appeared in John Danziger's gear eye piece. Her shoulder length auburn hair lacked its typical shine, most likely due to their water restrictions. Still, her gaze wasn't as firm as he was accustomed to seeing. She turned her head to the side, coughing.
"Adair, you'd better be resting up," Danziger sternly advised. Every time Devon coughed, he worried that she was suffering from the effects of Cold Sleep Syndrome.
During her sudden, bizarre illness, they'd stored her in a cold sleep chamber on the Council ship they'd discovered. It had slowed her metabolic rate, buying Dr. Heller valuable time to determine a diagnosis and devise a cure. Eventually Devon had been revived and successfully treated, yet she wasn't fully restored. Cold Sleep Syndrome, a gradual destruction of the respiratory pathways, had been an unwanted side effect of the early technology. It had eventually killed Elizabeth and Franklin plus several other Council scientists, who had also inhabited those freezing tubes.
Devon didn't take kindly to being told what to do. "I'm fine."
"Yeah? Well, you don't look so hot." That wasn't going to earn him any brownie points but it was the truth. He'd never had a reputation for sugar coating the facts. "Have you been taking the meds Julia synthesized for you?"
"Why? I'm not sick. Besides, I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Adair," he growled. It irked him that she couldn't see she was still straddling a thin line between health and illness. One stupid move and she'd be out of commission again. He had no desire to go through that again.
She ignored his concerns, getting back to the subject at hand. "A family with their own space ship? That sounds odd. Be careful Danziger. Do you think it could be a Council trick? Could they be spies trying to get information from us about the Terrians?"
"I don't think so. But something's off. The Robinsons seem sincere but things aren't adding up. I've never heard of the deutronium fuel which they were mining. Or even their mining technology. I've never seen anything like their vehicle or their robot."
"Couldn't it just be older technology?"
His shoulders stiffened as she coughed more deeply.
"Yeah, but even 'Lonz didn't recognize it. That Council ship was almost a hundred years old but its technology was based on principles similar to ours."
"C'mon Danziger. I know you," her image grinned. "You don't trust anyone."
He held back a sharp retort. He was cautious. He knew that. He'd been burned too many times. "Yeah, I protect what's mine."
"Couldn't this feeling just be your paranoia?"
"Adair, they didn't recognize the Stations," he insisted.
"What?" she gasped.
"They claimed to be colonists. From Earth."
It was rare for Devon Adair to be speechless.
After a moment's consideration, she responded, "Send part of the team back in the morning with as much water as you can. Go ahead and take up the Robinsons on their offer for dinner and the extra containers. If you and Alonzo camp out there, there will be room to bring more water to the group tomorrow.
Find out as much as you can about the Robinsons and contact me with details. I'll have Yale search his files for any information about them or their ship, the Jupiter 2."
And Danziger, be careful. It's probably best not to challenge their unusual ideas until we figure out what's going on."
He sighed, annoyed. "Of course." He'd already figured that out.
"Be sure to emphasize that to Alonzo, Morgan and Walman. If it's some type of group delusion or hypnosis, they could become upset or even violent if their version of reality is challenged. I'll get Julia's insight on that as well.
"We'll start moving camp in the morning and catch up to you in a few days. We can recharge near the water source while we figure out what's going on." Her image disappeared.
TBC