Down
in the cargo hold, you open the small con. The vidis, panels, and
controls are all dark. Flipping on the power, you see things come to
life.
You
sit in the small pilot’s seat, noticing the safety belts. The belts and
locks look secure and clean. “Meko, has been maintaining these.” you
think to yourself. The electronics and hydraulics are easy to maintain
when you are doing the rest of the ship, but safety belts and security
harnesses. No one remembers those unless you are working on the ship’s
safety systems. “I bet if I checked the escape boats, they would be
ready too.” you say aloud with a more confident feeling.
You
pull up the cargo engine checklist on the vidi. Slowly you go through
each item. You are glad you have time to do this. It is helping you
remember your flight training, and it is reinforcing where everything is
located and how it works.
You send a link up to the Con. “Hey, can I power up the cargo engines for a quick test?”
Helm
responds, “Give me a minute. I will turn off main thrusters. Angle the
cargo engines to act as auxiliary thrusters when I give you the word.”
“Will do.” you respond. You set the nav point to match the current heading, and have 0% power.
“Hit
it” he calls. You put power to all of the small maneuvering engines.
You see all engines are live and ready. You add thrust to only the ones
that won’t change your heading. Slowly you increase the thrust in those
until you get to 100%. “No warning lights, no issues. Ok. dropping
thrust and turning it back to you.” you announce, as you follow the
checklist to return the engines to the “ready” status.
You
glance at the time and check on the cargo. The animals seem nervous and
restless. “That’s crazy. They don’t know what’s going on.” you say to
yourself. “They felt the cargo engines kick on.” Skipper says from the walkway. “They might not know what’s going on, but they know something different happened. Any problems or issues?” “Nope.
I was worried, but once I fired things up, it felt familiar. I’ll be
ready if we need.” you say as you stroke the soft wooly fur of a safo. “I will let you do your checks on the cargo. Call if you need anything.” she says as she leaves.
After
checking all the pens and cages, you go back to the cargo Con and strap
yourself into the seat. On the vidi you watch the ship’s movement and
link up to Helm, “Everything is ready in the cargo hold.”
You hear a quick “Glad to hear it. We are almost there.”
Then a ship wide link goes out. “Ok, everyone, we are almost to the planet. Cargo checked in. Let’s hear from everyone else.”
You listen in as Kurgio, Meko, Skipper, and Navs all say they are ready.
The
artificial gravity and inertial dampeners prevent you from feeling
changes to the ship’s position, but you watch it on the screen as you
head for the nearest pole of the planet.
The
planet is ringed with orbiting debris, both natural and man-made. “Uggo
engineers will have to come up with a plan to clear all of that before
more colonists can land.” you think.
Warning
alarms sound through the ship as you hear and feel things hitting the
outer plates. “Hang tight. We are going in. Skipper and Cookie, when I
give the word, separate and drop. When you land, turn on your beacon,
and we’ll find you.”
“Got ya’” you respond.
“5….4…3…2…1…. Release.” you hear.
Even strapped in you feel a change in movement as you are released and engage your own engines.
You
are entering atmos. You push your engines, so you control your entry.
You don’t want to be a tumbling cube, but to slow your momentum and your
direction so you use gravity and not let it control you. You focus on
your trajectory. You see why Helm wanted you released, because you are
over the lands the terraformers had already finished. You see plants,
trees, lakes, and rivers. You aren’t sure if things are safe, but they
all look more hospitable than barren rocks and deserts.
You look for a landing pad, or some place relatively flat to land.
Increasing
the power to the engines, you slow your descent and use maneuvering
thrusters direct you. There looks to be a grassy plain at the edge of
hill country.
“If
I put down there, I might be able to let the safoj and kaproj eat
something that isn’t hay and feed.” mutter to yourself. Checking the
readings, the atmos is high in oxygen, and nitrogen, with other
elements. “Yep, the terraformers must have a couple of atmos processors
if the air is already this pure. But I don’t see them or any
settlements.”
You
focus on landing and set it down as soft as you can. Clicking on the
beacon, unstrapping, and getting to the cargo hold, you see that some of
the animals are shaking and nervous. There are a number of broken ovoj
and more manure than you remember.
You send out a link on the vidi. “Made it safely. Beacon is on. I’ll try to send a link to the client.”
What
bothers you is you don’t see the Libereco on your vidi. They might be
out of range or had comms problems. Heck you might not be transmitting.
You slowly exhale a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, then
grab a water bottle from stores.
Using
your minividi you call “This is Cookie from the Libereco. We have your
livestock. We have turned on our beacon.” But you aren’t really sure
that you are connected to anything. You don’t hear or see a response.
“Well,
lets just get some fresh air.” you say as you drop the main ramp and
open the airlocks. Warm fresh air rushes in, replacing the stale, smelly
air of the hold.
You just sit down on the ramp and sip your water.
Looking
out over the grassy plain, you don’t see anyone or any animals. But
then again the ship would have scared away any wildlife.
Checking
the area around the hold, the grass looks to be a type of prairie
grass. “Ma and Grana would have probably known for sure.” You say as you
image with your minividi. The readings go into details about a
terraform type of grass planted for livestock and other grazing animals.
Going
up the ramp you start pulling out some of the unused pens and make a
small corral. Then you move the kaproj and safoj into it. They appear to
be happy to be on ground and able to eat fresh grass. You also take the
kokidoj cages and move them into the fresh air. “Sorry, but I can’t let
you out of the cages. I can’t have you running away on me.”
You start getting the manure off the cargo floor to the storage tank. It is a dirty job but never gets easier.
“Halloo, are these your animals?” you hear a voice call up the ramp.
Turning around you see a person, might be a man or a woman. They are skinny with ill-fitting clothing and short cropped hair.
“Hi. No, these are for a client, so I am getting things ready for them.” you say walking down the ramp.
“Oh. I was gonna see if I could buy or trade for a couple of them. I could use a kaproj and a couple of kokidoj.” They say as they look at the animals in the pen.
“I am Cookie.” you say as you get closer and extend your hand. They take it and shake it. “I’m Kris.” “I
can’t sell any of them. But If you need other things, I might see what I
can do.” you say. “Are you a freeholder or a part of a community?”
They shake their head. “I’m
alone. I got a place up by the hills. There’s game there and a small
garden. The plan was for a group of us to stake our place and build it,
but we encountered problems during planetfall.” “Would you like a water?” you ask.
“Sure, I’d like that.” they
respond. You still aren’t sure if they are male or female but out here
it really doesn’t matter. “Follow me.” you say as you lead them up the
ramp. Pulling another bottle from the stores, you hand it to them. “Here
you go.”
They look around. “Do you have power tools and generators? All I have are hand tools. When the pods batteries died, I stopped using my minividi.” “Don’t you have a mechanic or someone who can repair things?” “Not tech. I am good with my hands, but I don’t really have the skills for that.”
they say. You slowly nod. “I understand. I grew up knowing a lot of
people like that. Hard workers, and skilled in what they needed, but
didn’t know or like using tech.”
You pick up your minividi and check for any responses.
“If
you are waiting to hear from anyone, it might be a while. Links don’t
really send well. Something about the satellites were all destroyed, and
the wrecks in orbit cause interference.” They comment. “If you have a spare solar generator, and can help me, I might be able to have a stove and heat that isn’t firewood.” “Give me a minute.” you say. You know that Meko has a few back ups squirreled away.
You pull out a collapsible panel, a converter, and a few cables.
“I have these. What do you have to trade? If you aren’t using tech, you don’t have valutos.” you say with a smirk. “Oh,
I have them on my minividi, I just can’t transfer anything because no
power. I have hides, herbs, and fresh veggies I can trade. We can go to
my place, and you can pick what you want. I can help you get the animals
back in the ship before we go.” “Why? Are there predators? Or folks who might come by and steal them?” you ask. “No
one who might steal them. I don’t really see no one ever. But there’re
predators. This planet has its own lupoj, vulpoj and agloj. They might
try to eat what’s in the corral.” They respond.
“Ok.”
you say as you start pulling the cages in first. It's harder to get
the safoj and kaproj back into their pens in the hold, but luckily you
have help.
You raise the ramp and lock it.
They
carry the panel and cables and you carry the converter. You check that
you see the beacon on your minividi so you won’t get lost. “Yes, the
beacon is clear and visible.” you think to yourself as you follow them.
You
go from the flat plains to rolling hills. You don’t really see any
trails or paths, Kris seems to know where they are going. The hills have
bushes and trees, and slowly you notice faint trails, probably made by
animals.
“Not too much further.” They say.
Then
on the next hill you see a rough-hewn cabin. The roofing is metal
plating from a ship, but the rest of it looks to be hand made including a
stone and clay chimney on the side.
“Home sweet home.”
they say. You notice a large garden which looks to be watered by a
series of small trenches. “That is a nice garden. And I like your
place.” you say. “Thanks. As I said. I can do most things by myself, but having some tech from time to time would be a blessing.” they say.
“So where is the pod?” you ask.
They set the panel and cables down. “It’s up that hill. Would you like some water before we go up?” They go inside and return with a couple of durasteel cups with cold water.
You sniff the water, and it doesn’t have a smell. Sipping it, it tastes fresh and cool.
“It’s good water. Before the pod died, I did a scan of the water and soil. It’s all good. The terraformers did a good job.” They say as they drink deeply from their cup. “I fill things up from the local stream and catch and keep rainwater. It’s not much but enough for my needs.” You
remember your folks doing similar things when you were little. Filling
up the cistern, using hoses, pipes, and ditches to bring water to the
garden and home. You close your eyes and drink deeply. It even tastes
similar.
You
shake your head to clear away the memories. “Okay. Let’s check out the
pod.” At the top of the hill, you see a crashed landing pod. Larger than
an escape boat, but not by much. It looks like it has been there for jaros.
“Well,
the good thing is that you get plenty of sun here so if we set the
panels here, we can directly power the vidi of the pod. Or use its
converter as a power relay.”
After
a bit of work you get things connected and working. Yeah, you were
right, the date on the vidi shows that it crashed almost 4 jaros ago.
Running the cables from the pod, down the hill to the house you see
where Kris is connecting them to outlets in the house.
“I thought you weren’t really good with tech?” you comment. “I’m
not. But when I built this place, I left the possibility that I’d find a
way to power a cooker and lights. So, I kept them.” Stepping
inside you see a few lights strung along the open beam ceiling and a
small cooker next to the fireplace. “This is nice and cozy.” you say
looking around. They stand next to you holding up a dead minividi. “Hopefully its memory is good. Now I can plug it in and charge it.”
“I should probably return to the hold.” you say checking the minividi. The beacon is still reading.
“No wait. It will be dark soon and you don’t want to be out there. Lupoj here pretty big and might eat a lone person.” They point to the large grey rug on the floor. It is a hide from an animal about two and a half meters long. “Besides,
I can cook. It has been a long time since I shared a mango with anyone.
Would you like some stufajo? The meat is a small local rodent and the
veggies are all from my garden.”
You see where they had a large pot in the fireplace sitting on top of banked coals.
They
take a couple of plasteel bowls and a smaller pot from a storage trunk.
Using the ladle, they fill the pot and put it on the cooker. “This will be the first meal using the cooker since planetfall.” they say.
In
just a few minutes the stufajo is hot and smells good. Kris fills a
bowl and hands it to you. There is round, flat section of tree that is
used as a table, with a ship’s chair and stool. “You should take the chair. You’re my guest.” they say, handing you a spoon. Kris sits across table from you. The food is good.
“It has been a while since I have eaten anyone’s cooking. I’m the chef for our ship and make most of the meals.” you say.
Looking
out the wooden shuttered windows, you notice how dark it is once the
sun went down. The ceiling lights aren’t bright, but they provide more
than enough light. It is almost intimate.
“If you stayed here, I’d be happy to cook for you.” Kris says. “Have you really been alone all this time?” you ask. They nod. “It isn’t too bad. But there are times when I miss not having someone beside me.”
Finishing your bowl, you stand up. “Where do I wash…” “Oh I got that.” they say as they quickly stand up taking the bowl from you.
Kris
goes to the small basin near one of the windows. A pipe leads down from
the roof with a faucet. They turn it on and wash water and a small
cloth. You walk next to them.
“I could have done that.” you say grabbing a small towel. “Let me at least dry it.”
When you take the bowl from them, Kris stops and almost blushes. “I have forgotten what it was like to have anyone around. I have been doing everything by myself for so long.” You nod and dry the bowl. “Okay. If I am not returning until daylight, where will I sleep?”
Kris dries their hands and walks over to a couple of curtained off areas. “Here
is my bed. Would you like to share it? There is more than enough room
for both of us. And here is the toilet and wash area.” They say pointing to area with a composter toilet and a shower head connected to by pipes to the roof.
You
take Kris’s hand. “Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality. Let me
clean up. Then we can talk a bit before bedtime.” They squeeze your hand
and smile. “That’s good. Do what you need, I’ll clean up the mango.”
After
using the toilet and washing up, you check your minividi. No messages
and no contact. The beacon is still on and visible so that much is
working. You might as well relax and make the best of it.
“Do you drink tea?” Kris asks as they are heating up a small kettle. “I do. What do you have?” you ask. “I grow mint, and something like lavender. I dry and store them.” “Some mint, please.” you say. She hands you a durasteel mug. Probably the same one from earlier. “Be
careful. It’s hot. But now I don’t have to worry about the fire being
too hot and scorching the outside of the kettle. I forgot how much I
missed using a cooker.”
You
sniff the mug. The strong smell of mint fills your nose. It is
definitely hot, so you carefully sip it. Hot but good. So, you sit in
the chair again.
As
the night passes, you and Kris tell each other about your pasts. You
have some similarities. Both of you grew up on rim worlds that changed
during Unity. Both of you came from people who didn’t want to live in
the cities but were forced to. The biggest difference is you signed on
to a ship and they were to be part of a freeholder settlement.
The
colony ship was smashed by the asteroids right before planetfall. Kris
doesn’t know if anyone else got to the pods. Comms was out when the pod
dropped and landed on autopilot. They tried to contact others before the
pod died, but no one seems to have landed close. So, for jaros, Kris
has been alone. Living off the land, the way their parents and grans
wanted to.
Kris yawns and stretches. “I think we should go to bed.”
they say as they pull off their shirt and place it into a laundry
basket. You notice they have a nice smooth chest and firm nipples. They
notice you looking. “Oh. I’m sorry. I am so used to being alone, I didn’t think. It’s a good thing I didn’t drop my trousers.” “No need to be embarrassed. I was just looking at your toned body. You lead a hard life and your body shows it.” “I wish my titties were full and round like yours. You’re so pretty.”
You just realized that Kris is a woman.
(Return for part 3 where you enjoy time with Kris in her cabin.)