“How are we going to accommodate that many people, that quickly? We can barely support ourselves here right now!” Garrett exclaimed. “They’re all going to have to work.”
“I agree.” Idris nodded. “If we’re going to make this work, we’re going to need great planning, and every person who lives here is going to have to pull their own weight. We will need to make that clear. I assume that these people we will be receiving would do anything to have a second chance.”
“It’s a good thing we are going to have more help. We’re going to need a lot more, and different housing, it sounds like,” said Ronald Walsey. I remembered him from the very first meeting we’d ever had on Earth. “We will have to start looking into more basic, simple housing. We’ve been working on beautiful homes for everyone here, and that's going to have to change.”
“Listen, we are going to have to make some sacrifices,” Idris began. “I know we all envisioned how it was going to be here. This was supposed to be our world. It still can be, but we have to be willing to give up some of our ideas of the future to make room for more people.” He paused. “Who’s willing to do that?” His eyes searched the crowd.
We all had been wishing that we could help everyone back home in some way, and now we were going to get the chance. I stood up. It happened so quickly, I wasn’t even fully aware of what I’d just done. I just did it. I stood there alone, looking around at my peers who did not rise with me. “This isn’t about us anymore,” I said. “This is about creating a better world, one where people want to help each other. We don’t have a choice, but I think we should make the choice to rise to the occasion! When have you ever been tasked with saving the world? Ever? I don’t know about you, but it sounds like this is the right thing to do.”
Before I would have never taken a stand. I was shy before, and not a people fan. Since getting to know my teammates, though, my views had changed. This was my family.
Garrett rose up beside me, followed by Jane, then Ronald. Soon enough, everyone was standing together, looking towards Idris, smiling.
“Let’s do this then!” Idris yelled. Everyone raised their hands and cheered.
Chapter Twelve
Everyone got straight to work, preparing for the new workforce that was on its way to Circadia. The TV crew worked on building as many ‘wattle and daub’ huts that they could manage to give people a place to stay as soon as they arrived. Having something to keep busy was key to keep from going insane, and it gave the newcomers a leg up on the new planet. Three hundred huts was a lot, but they intended to make quick work of it.
The nutritionist teams began planning how to feed all of the people that Circadia would soon become host to. There wasn’t enough of the freeze-dried vegetables for all of us, and we were unsure what they would be bringing with them, if anything. The amount of pigs we had brought would be sufficient, eventually, but not at the moment. They needed time to reproduce and multiply, and they couldn’t do that efficiently if we were depleting their numbers rapidly. So, the edibility testing began on native plants from Circadia, quickly followed by testing to see how much protein was contained in each plant.
The edibility testing was primitive, at best, taken from basic survival skills that used the same principles. First, they started by fasting and only drinking water for eight hours. After the eight hours were up, they would take a plant that grew abundantly and deconstruct it into pieces: root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit. They would then rub one part of the plant on their skin rigorously and wait for fifteen minutes. If there was no reaction, they would determine how they would cook it. If they intended to boil it, they would boil the plant and then hold it on their lips for fifteen minutes. If there was no burning or tingling sensation at this point, they would then hold it on their tongue for fifteen minutes. If there was no reaction, they would chew it and hold it in their mouths for fifteen minutes. If there was still no reaction, they would swallow it, and wait another eight hours to gauge a reaction.
If at any point there was any kind of reaction, they would rinse, dilute, and induce vomiting. It was a long and tedious process, but necessary since there were no books on the plants found on Circadia. They had to be sure that the plants they would be eating and feeding people would not poison the population. For the most part, it seemed that there were quite a few edible plants native to Circadia, but after weeks of testing, the nutrition crew looked grotesque. Many had blisters on their lips, and some looked like they’d spent their lives vomiting for hours upon end. With a little more than ten people working on the project, quite a few edible plants were found. We thanked them for their service, though it didn’t feel like enough.
They worked with the chem team to determine proteins available in the plants by testing the nitrogen levels. All protein contains nitrogen, so they tested for that one specific element, and this gave them an idea of how much protein was available.
The chem team was everyone’s resource.
After the third day of testing, it became regular to have fresh veggies and leafy greens available to us during meal times. Berries from Circadia were my favorite. All of them were pungently sweet and delicious.
The architectural group began harvesting more supplies for housing, and this took up the bulk of their time. They would be responsible for housing, not only the four-hundred people about to be on this planet, but countless immigrants from Earth seeking solitude from the nuclear fallout. I could only imagine the amount of stress that they felt.
Continuing on their strenuous task of setting up solar panels, the solar team was hard at it. Since electricity was so important, and the solar panels were flat, they were allowed to take many of these solar panels with them. Walking past an entire field filled with solar panels felt futuristic and basic all at the same time. It was beautiful. Natural, but modern. It gave me a lot of hope for the future of Circadia, seeing the energy fields.
My team and I also began working vigorously. Jane worked with the chem team to develop explosives so we could begin harvesting metals and minerals that Circadia was sure to have. Once these were exposed, she would have a team with the new workforce that could work on forging metal, creating tools for the masses, and building materials for the architectural team. I began plotting out fields for optimal crop growth, sampling soil, and preparing the seeds for planting. I would need tools and plenty of laborers to help me finish tilling the fields and to plant the crops. To stay productive in the meantime, I began assembling the center pivot watering system with Garrett and Smith’s help. Garrett had not quite found his purpose on Circadia yet, and Smith had many things he could have been studying or engineering, but felt that his efforts were better focused helping others for the time being.
We all worked tirelessly until the landing date of the labor force arrived.
FOUR DAYS AFTER THE day we were notified of the plan, a new spacecraft arrived on Circadia. Their craft was much larger than the one we had arrived in, but it separated into ten pieces just like ours. The space team had informed us of this as they grew closer to our planet. Only observing from the ground, they were able to tell us quite a lot about what their ship was like.
We all huddled around our supply site, since we knew that Earth had its geographical location marked on the map and would not program any of their pods to land anywhere near that area. We assumed that they would land close to us, though, so that they would have help available.
While waiting, all of us decided that it would be a good idea to clean up before anyone new landed on the planet. We had dragged through mud building huts, sweat had poured from our bodies, and some of us had not done a whole lot of clothes changing. The group thought it would be best if we tidied up before we had company so that we didn’t scare them.
Wading down through the creek, the water felt cool and refreshing. Bathing was a very public affair in Circadia. At first it had been repulsive and embarrassing, but it was beginning to feel more common. Nudity on Earth was sexualized, but here it was just a necessi
ty to be clean. It was a stark difference to the way society was back home, and I appreciated it immensely.
The soap that some of us had brought felt magnificent against my skin. Smells that I hadn’t even realized I was putting off were washed away, providing immediate relief. Most people brought their clothes with them, as well, to wash them out and let them dry in the branches of the trees surrounding the cool pools.
While we were all washing, we heard a large boom from the sky, followed by more. When the pods entered the atmosphere, it made a large bang, and when they began to descend, it sounded like bottle rockets until they slowed. I could feel the anxiety hovering, and everyone began to quickly get dressed.
The teams walked together in silence through the trees and the field to get back to the supply site. How did they choose these people? I wondered. Did they volunteer, or were they forced to come here? Would they be like us and eager to help? Or would they mess up everything that we have created? My anxiety was getting the best of me. My brain wouldn’t stop. I was so ready to meet these people so that my questions could be answered.
Our teams split up to find all of the pods. Tromping through the flower weed, the agricultural and architectural team came upon a giant white pod. The pods were enormous compared to our tiny ones. Walking around it, I heard something from the top, as someone opened the hatch. It was a few moments before we saw a man stick his head out to take a peek first, then stand up and wave at us.
“Holy shit!” the man yelled. “This is amazing! Why are the trees purple?”
“We can explain that later!” I yelled back, laughing. “How many of you are in the pod? They didn’t tell us a whole lot about your group!”
“There’s thirty-five of us in here! Man are we glad to be here!” he said.
“Thirty-five? Wow! We only had five!” yelled out Smith. He looked to me, shook my shoulders, and said, “This is going to be awesome!”
“Well, how do you think we should get down from here?” the man asked.
“We just slid out of our pod, but yours is quite a bit taller,” Spencer said. “I think it’s going to take some teamwork. Have one of the guys in there lower you down, and we'll grab onto you. I think we can make it work that way.”
“Alright, give us a second,” he said.
We waited below patiently, listening to all the voices coming from inside the pod. It was apparent that the man we had been talking to was addressed as the ‘foreman’ and delivered orders. It was interesting to hear their chain of command and how it functioned. We listened as buckles were unclipped and people organized.
Finally, the man popped his head back up again. “Okay, I’m going start lowering people down. I’ll be the last down, so that'll be interesting! But we can figure that out later. Ready?” the foreman asked.
“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Jane replied.
The first person to be lowered down was a woman. She was of short stature, but very muscular. Her arms bulged from her shirt as she grabbed the foreman’s hands and descended slowly towards our reach. When the guys grabbed her, she grabbed ahold of their shoulders and lowered herself down. Very capable. She stood to the side and waited for her teammate.
The second man lowered down was tall and muscular. Extremely muscular. As more and more people dropped down from the pod, we realized this was a trend.
“Where did they get these guys from? Just go to every gym and pick the big ones up?” Smith whispered to me.
I nudged him hard. “Would you shut up?” I giggled a bit.
Once everyone was down except for the foreman, he stood atop the pod and laughed. “I think I’m just gonna go for it. Whatd’ya guys think?” he said.
“I wouldn’t advise it,” Spencer said. “It’s a long drop.”
“Yeah, I think I’m just going to go for it though,” he said.
“I wouldn’t—”
Too late. Before any of us could talk any sense into him, the man did a back flip off of the pod, inverting once in the air, before landing on his heels and rolling onto his back with a thud. Quickly rolling out of his folly into a backwards somersault, he stood up. “Wow! That was awesome!” he yelled.
Murmuring under his breath, Garrett said “Are you fucking kidding me?” while looking away and rubbing his head.
“Just remember they’re here to help,” I offered quietly. “The muscles alone are enough to make me look the other way when one of them does something stupid. It’s fine.”
“Right.”
THE WALK BACK TO THE supply site was interesting to say the least. We had a million questions. What was it like on Earth? What caused everything to happen the way it did? What parts of the world were untouched? What was the chaos like? Did they think Earth would ever be the way it was? These questions plagued our mind, but we never got the chance to ask.
Unrelenting, giddy introductions of the entire group of thirty-five ensued. I had never felt such apathy for someone’s name in my life. Of course, I was interested in eventually learning who the people were, but I wanted to know how my old home was first. We had been left in the dark about almost everything, only seeing very recent news reports. I had no idea if my mother was alive, or if she was okay. I yearned to hear about what parts of Earth were left untouched, unscathed. Instead, the foreman droned on and on about his and his teammates previous accomplishments.
He told us of how they had gone into Iraq after the war and built homes for the citizens whose houses had been demolished within a week. Another story, how they tilled the fields of Africa during a drought and brought water to a starving village, drug on. In each story they were portrayed as the heroes. These stories that normally would have been interesting and exciting, angered me. I couldn’t care less what they had done before now. This was going to be different. Every once in a great while, between his babbling, someone from our group would try to squeeze in a question, just to be interrupted by another story.
Their word-vomit commenced. Spouting on and on about everything they had done in the past, how they had a long history together as a team, and how they planned to change the world up here on Circadia. For being laborers, it sounded more and more like a seal team that had shared years of battle together than anything else. Some of their stories sounded made up or embellished. Even when no one had asked questions about the details of the story, they provided them unnecessarily. It was strange, and I was tired of it.
Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Would you shut the hell up? We don’t give a damn what you did before now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice you have experience, but everything is different now. So, shut up!” I screamed. I couldn’t help myself. We were still processing the loss of everyone and everything we knew, and they couldn’t care less. I’d had enough. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then looked up. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy and dangerous. I glanced down at my feet, gathering some courage, and spoke again. “In case you were wondering about us at all, we have been in the dark about everything that happened. We have no idea why the things that happened did, we have no idea what is left. We have no idea about anything. The not knowing is killing me. I’m sure it’s eating other people up, too.” I took a deep breath once again. “You guys are the first people we have talked to from Earth in quite a while. It would be nice if we could ask some questions.”
The foreman’s expression was one of bewilderment. His eyes were wide, his jaw hanging from its hinges. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize. They didn’t tell us much about you, either. How much do you know?” he asked.
“Not much,” I replied. “We just recently got news broadcast up here. As soon as we turned it on, about a week and a half ago, the damage had already been done. They said there was a worldwide nuclear attack. They talked a little bit about the aftermath. That’s it. They didn’t really talk about what led up to it on the news. It seemed like the news reporters were either told to stay quiet about what was left or they didn’t know.”
“Oh my god... I’m so
sorry,” replied the foreman. “Whatever questions you guys have, I will try to answer. I’m so sorry for my insensitivity.”
“Okay, what started it all?” I asked.
“That’s a loaded question,” he said shaking his head. “I’m sure you heard there were four nuclear blasts. North Korea launched a nuclear attack on the US. They finally created a missile that would make it to the west coast. They wiped out Los Angeles. The US retaliated by sending a nuke over to North Korea,” he said. “That’s when Russia got involved. Russia was angry that the US had retaliated with nuclear force, and unleashed a new type of nuclear warhead that was larger and more potent than anything we had ever seen. They targeted Washington, D.C. Completely annihilated everything within a thirty-mile radius around it. Instantly melted buildings to the ground, people turned to dust. It was insane,” he said. “The US had launched a nuke towards Moscow once they knew that Russia had already launched. Damn idiots wiped each other out. Then North Korea sent another nuke to L.A. just for the hell of it. Wiped out any kind of assistance people were trying to offer. Real kick to the gut.”
I stared down at my shoes again, trying not to shed a tear. “What’s left?” I asked.
“Not much, honestly. The fallout is dangerous and covers a huge area. Especially Russia’s bomb. Everyone had to evacuate, which caused really tight spaces, which caused a lot of violence. The fallout not only contaminated the existing crops, livestock, and waterways, but they are saying we can’t grow anything in those areas for years to come. Even if we could grow any kind of food somewhere else, it wouldn’t be enough. Not only that, but even if it was enough, everything would die soon anyways due to the nuclear winter that’s coming.”
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