Grow
Page 3
We all sat and listened to everything Idris had to read from his sheets of paper, saving our questions until the end.
“That’s it,” he said. “Except there is one thing not on here that I have heard circulating that I feel you all need to know about.”
We listened intently.
“The planet didn’t just happen upon its name. Scientists originally called it E23b2. Civilian scientists and nerds, frankly, noticed something odd happening on the planet when it arrived. They caught that the planet ‘shuts down’ occasionally,” he said.
“What do you mean it shuts down?” I asked.
“A planet can’t just shut down,” said Spencer.
“Well, they say it has its own circadian rhythms, or so it seems. They were not sure exactly what they were seeing. It looked like the plants were reviving, and then everything died. Then it all came back again, then it died only two months later,” he said. “There were videos of it all over at the time, but the governments quickly had them removed. Somehow the name Circadia stuck.”
“Why would the government want the videos taken down?” Jane asked.
“I don’t know that answer. If I did, I have a feeling I would be upset,” he said. “But I intend to find out what causes it while we’re there, how we combat the problem, and why the government wanted to keep it from us. Okay?”
Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement.
“Now, onto the launch time,” he said. “Here are your tickets to New Zealand. This is where we will launch. It’s under wraps right now so that the public doesn’t flock to the launch site and cause a scene, but it will be public knowledge when it airs.” Handing out the tickets one by one, he shook his head. “Crazy ass people... Anyway! Its summer in New Zealand right now, so it will be a little treat before we head off for the new planet.”
“When are we leaving?” Smith asked.
“Soon! We leave in two days for the launch site.”
The shock could be felt amongst everyone. No one said a word, but we all looked down at our feet and took a deep breath.
“Not what you were expecting, I know, but it had to remain confidential for many reasons.” He waved his hand out to everyone apologetically. “Now, here is the very important part. I know that you will all need supplies for what you do. When you request supplies, please realize that we have a weight limit, and a budget. Not every wish will be granted, so make sure you only ask for the things you really have to have, and then realize that you will most likely only have half of those things provided for you.” There was a collective sigh. “Here is a sheet of paper. List five items, and please be very specific.”
Smith looked at me and nudged my shoulder with his. “I feel like we’re going to a deserted island and only get to bring five things with us.” He winked.
I couldn’t even laugh with him, or at him. I was not pleased. I was used to having state of the art equipment at my disposal at all times. How was I going to do soil testing? How could I possibly bring enough fertilizer with me to cover an entire planet? What were they thinking?
“Bring those sheets of paper with you to New Zealand. They will collect them there and you’ll obtain all the supplies while you’re taking flying lessons,” Idris added.
“Flying lessons?” asked Spencer sarcastically.
“Well, you don’t just get in a spaceship and go, dumbass,” Idris said. “Anyways, meeting adjourned.” His eyes flashed open as he waved goodbye. It was easy to tell Idris was done.
Landing in New Zealand was a breath of fresh air. The warm breeze and the sun felt amazing on my skin. Everything was green and smelled fresh. I quickly grabbed my bags from baggage claim and walked to the exit. A driver with my name stenciled on his sign waited for me. It was something new and gave me butterflies. I was important.
We drove through the center of Auckland, away from the airport and towards the north. We drove for an hour, into the absolute wilderness of New Zealand. All the towns we went through seemed tiny, like villages, until they were no more. Rolling green hills and cliffs surrounded us.
“Are we getting close?” I was getting nervous.
“You’re just a loose unit here, aren’t ya?” the driver asked in a heavy New Zealand accent.
I had no idea what that meant, or even exactly what he said. “I’m sorry, what?”
“A loose unit? You know? Have no idea what you’re doing here?” he said, annoyed.
“Oh!” I answered, exasperated, “Yeah, no, no clue!” I couldn’t contain the laughter, because he couldn’t have possibly been more right about me.
He laughed at me, but looked from side to side and twiddled his thumbs on the steering wheel. “You’re one of them important ones, right? I know we ain’t supposed to know, but I’ve drove too many of you out here to not get some kind of idea,” he said quietly.
The driver’s comment made me feel guilty, like a heavy burden had just been placed upon me. “Yeah... I guess so.” I squinted my eyes to meet his.
Finally, pulling into a long, paved lane that appeared to disappear over the hills, I noticed the tall fence surrounding the perimeter with “KEEP OUT PRIVATE PROPERTY” signs posted every ten feet. When we reached the top of the hill, I saw two very large buildings, and what looked to be a rocket, but there didn’t appear to be a ship attached to it. To be honest, I didn’t know what I was seeing. I definitely wasn’t a rocket scientist in the least.
The fence gave wide berth around the entirely white facility so that the grounds took up at least twenty acres. Bright green, freshly cut grass spanned the entire expanse, and guards patrolled the fence’s perimeter.
The driver pulled up in front of the second building and stopped the car. Just as I reached to open the door, he stopped me by gently putting a hand on my arm. “I know you all think this is just a big joke, but there are some us that will probably never get to do what you are doing, just remember that?” he asked.
I nodded, and he let me go.
Inside, a group of scientists gathered in a huddle discussing whatever their team was designated for. I only caught pieces of the conversation, but from the sound of it, they were part of the chemistry crew. Their big to-do on Circadia was to test the air and water. We believed it had an atmosphere and water like ours, but we needed to be sure. After that, they became the jacks of all trades for whatever was needed.
Tucked away, to the right side of the white room, was my team. Apparently, I was the last one to arrive. When they saw me, they peered over, bugged eyed and shaking.
“What’s the deal? You guys look paranoid as hell,” I said.
“What’s the deal? Are you serious?” asked Garrett, and veins bulged from his forehead as he spoke.
“Am I missing something?” I asked.
“Everyone wants to know what you put on your list. Only three things of each of ours have been accepted, and they said they may be making more cuts soon,” said Spencer.
“Oh, yeah, no big deal. Here it is.” I handed my list to Garrett.
Garrett’s face imploded. An intense shade of red rushed across his cheeks like a tide, and then moved down his neck. Not once removing his eyes from my sheet of paper, he began to shake.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked too calmly.
“Nope.”
“Two things. Just two,” he said. His knuckles whitened as he grasped the paper.
“Yep. That’s it.”
The paper dropped from his hands and floated down to the floor. He didn’t move to pick it up, so I bent down nonchalantly and stood back up before smiling at him.
“Please explain to me your ignorance before I give in to the network’s deepest desires and cause a scene. Please...” His groveling was comical, but no one else but me seemed to think so.
“It’s easy. You all have what I need already,” I said. The returned blank stares indicated I needed to elaborate. “Well, I’m guessing Smith requested a microscope, right?”
“Yeah,” he said.
He nodded.
“Now, I can do some soil samples with that, along with the kits I requested that are super lightweight and non-flammable. The non-flammable part got tricky for me. How the hell am I supposed to grow crops without fertilizer, right? But then I got to thinking, I have some of the best fertilizer around because Spencer has pigs! Lots of them!” I shouted. “I figured the chem guys could help me out with any minerals or chemicals that may need to be added to the pig shit to get it to what it needs to be for fertilizer.”
I could see their faces beginning to sag.
“They already guaranteed that I would have all the seed I needed to start a large crop production, so that was covered. I wish that I could bring a combine up with me, but figured that was a no go, so we will have to have some manual labor to harvest. I’m not pleased with that, but we'll figure out a good system.” Everyone on my team only stared at me with pursed lips and sour faces, but I continued undeterred. “And there really was no way around watering the crops, so I asked for two center pivot irrigation systems. Unassembled, of course, so they don’t take up a whole bunch of room. The assembly is going to be interesting, but I’ll figure it out!” I exhaled heavily. “So, that’s why only two things. I figured if I only asked for two, I was sure to get them...”
Spencer, Garrett, and Smith had nothing to say, they just turned and walked away. Jane stuck around, though.
“That was awesome! You outsmarted the system, and those idiots! Pretty smart, if you ask me,” she said as she, too, turned and slowly skipped away.
Chapter Five
The outpost situated in the middle of nowhere was quite accommodating. There was a full-service cafeteria with delicious food, a couple of dormitory halls, and a few living areas equipped with TVs, games, and movies. Anything you needed was provided there at the outpost.
All of this was connected by long hallways and passages, so that you never had to go outside or to a different building. Each hallway had its designated theme or design, and purpose. The hallways were named alphabetically: ‘Hallway A’, ‘Hallway B’, etc. It took forever to remember which hallway was which, but we caught on.
We got to pick our roommates within our teams, as there were only enough dormitories for people to sleep two to a room. Jane and I paired up immediately. Spencer and Garrett paired up quickly as well, leaving Smith to fend for himself.
“Who am I supposed to stay with? There’s five people on this team.” asked Smith.
“I figured you and I would bunk together. It’s a lot better than me having to bunk up with the film crew—on my end, at least!” said Captain Idris.
Smith looked to us and frowned.
Spencer walked by casually and slapped Smith on the ass. “Good luck, he snores a lot!” he said as he gave Smith a wink and continued walking.
“How do you and Spencer know each other?” Jane asked Idris.
“Oh, we’ve known each other for a long time. When I was deployed in Afghanistan, Spencer was responsible for creating hospitable environments for livestock growth. I was commanding officer at the time, so we ended up working together every now and then. It was... interesting to say the least,” Idris said. He raised one eyebrow, then said, “The man never really knows when it’s not a good time for a joke. He’s good at his job, though, I’ll give him that.”
Spencer heard him from all the way down the hallway. Raising his hand in the air in the form of a thumbs up, he yelled, “I’ll take it!” without ever turning around.
IT TOOK FOUR WEEKS of flight and zero gravity simulations to prepare us. The days were long and grueling. All of us were exhausted by the end of each day and ready to give up. Our brains were jammed with information, our bodies pushed to their limits.
For sixteen hours we would sit in class, practice emergency drills, read more, listen more, and do more drills. Lectures would last for hours. Scenarios would be outrageous and unrealistic. They wanted to prepare us for the worst possible scenario, but I was sure we were already living it.
“It took four days, six hours, and forty-five minutes for Apollo 11 to reach the moon in 1969. That was a long time ago. Circadia is just a tiny bit further than the moon from Earth. It will only take us three days,” the flight instructor told us.
When I heard this, my heart sank. I hadn’t been scared up until that moment. Not only were we going to go further than anyone had ever gone, but we would also be going faster than anyone had ever traveled. After NASA had shut down, private sector companies had become quite competitive. This had spurred new innovations leading to the newest ship design.
Everywhere we went, we could see the ship looming, waiting.
Late one night, once everyone had gone to their rooms, I heard a knock on the door. Wrapping my white robe around my white pajamas, I fluffed my hair and looked through the peephole. It was Smith Greene. Hesitating a bit, I opened the door, letting in the light. Jane sat up in her bed with the sudden illumination.
“Who is it?” she asked groggily.
“It’s Smith. I don’t know. I’m going to see what’s going on,” I whispered back at her.
Opening the door enough to see out, I saw him standing there twiddling his thumbs. He wore the same white pajamas and robe provided to us by the space station. His bright orange hair was a mess, and his green eyes looked tired and shifty. He wore only his socks and no shoes. From his disheveled appearance, I could tell he hadn’t been sleeping either.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Oh! Yeah... I just—can we talk? Like, can I come in?” he asked, running a hand through his hair, and twiddling with his fingers once more.
“Umm... yeah, I guess so. Jane is here,” I said, confused.
“Oh, okay, great,” he said, as he nervously walked in and I backed away.
I perched back on my bed and he slumped on the other end. Jane sat up in her bed, under the covers.
“So... what’s going on?” I asked. This had to be something urgent, I thought.
“You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” he said.
“We already do, so no worries!” Jane laughed.
“Ha! Yeah, I bet you do. Okay, well, I didn’t wanna tell the guys this, because they’ll think I’m soft, but I’m really nervous about launching next week.” He continued to fiddle nervously with his finger. “I don’t really have any friends in our group, no one to talk to, and this is kind of a big deal. You know?” He looked down at his twiddling thumbs. “I don’t wanna be on a new planet, all alone. I want to be able to talk to people, like actually talk to people about it. Enjoy it with friends, have adventures, and actually have a good time. Not like just another work project, you know?” He stopped, and sat quietly, waiting for a reply.
Jane and I both sat in the silence, looking at each other with blank stares. I knew what I wanted to say, but didn’t know how to say it. I had been lying in my bed thinking the same thing. Sure, I knew Jane, and we talked, but not much unless it was about work. The need for companionship and friendship was still there.
Jane finally spoke up. “I think all three of us need to be friends, like, actual friends.”
I immediately seconded the motion. “Yeah! We should get to know more about each other, right now. Seriously!”
“Guys, I get it. You think this is funny. I’ll just go back to my—”
“Smith, we aren’t making fun of you. I’m serious. I’ve wanted the same thing, too. I just didn’t know how to ask or say it. This was perfect, I think. For both of us!” I wave an arm back and forth between me and Jane. Jane nodded her enthusiastic agreement.
“We need friends, too,” she added.
Smith took in a long breath, and then slowly let it out. “You guys are great... Thank you,” he said.
We spent all night talking. We would ask each other questions back and forth, and laugh at the crazy things we had d
one before we ended up where we were. It was interesting to learn about each other outside of work, outside of the pressure. We learned a lot about each other, like how Jane used to want to be a cosmetologist before she became an explosions specialist. She explained that working with her dad in their family quarry had changed her mind. She lived in Wisconsin and loved rap music.
Smith had always wanted to be a biotechnologist, but was made fun of in school for being a nerd. When he went to college, people had a different idea about him. He showed us a picture from high school and I couldn’t believe that nerdy kid had turned into Smith, as he was pretty good looking.
I shared that I had always lived in Chicago, but had always longed to be out of the city
and that had driven me to pursue agriculture. I also shared the bottle of champagne I had packed for celebration upon arrival that I never cracked open. The champagne got them all talking more and more.
Somehow, we all ended up dancing the night away to Jane’s rap songs as Jane and I sung backup to Smith. It was terrible and amazing. We all needed each other, and it was maybe the funnest night of my life.
When I woke up, I realized I didn’t remember falling asleep. Looking next to me, I saw Smith’s head on my pillow, in bed with me, snoring. The shock of someone being in my bed caught me off guard and I jumped back. The jolt woke him too, and I could see from his wide eyes he was shocked as well.
“Good morning,” he said, trying to play it cool.
“Oh, yeah, hey. Good morning,” I said.
I looked over to see Jane sleeping on the floor next to my bed. I kicked her, and she woke up abruptly.
“Why the hell am I on the floor?” she yelled, then broke out in laughter. “You two are idiots, though, for real.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You had to sleep in the same bed together because you’re ‘best friends’ and there wasn’t room for me so you said I could be your ‘right-hand’ man and sleep on the floor next to you. Ridiculous,” she laughed.