We sat quietly. Some of us nodded slowly in understanding, others stared intensely at Idris.
“We have the opportunity to change the world right now, hell, to change the universe! What we are doing is so much bigger than ourselves. You have to see that if this is going to work. Now,” his eyes narrowed, “we need to get to work.”
Pulling out a packed manila folder, Idris began to go over every detail about Circadia we had available. Its atmosphere was very similar to ours, with only a bit less oxygen. There were species of trees and vegetation that seemed different than ours, but scientists were unsure due to only seeing them through a telescope. It had all died on the trip into our solar system but seemed to be rejuvenating with the renewed sunlight and gases. Circadia had oceans much like ours, as well as lakes and ponds and streams. No intelligent life forms seemed to exist there, though.
We all sat and listened to everything, saving our questions until the end.
“That’s it,” he said. “Except, there is one thing not on here that I have heard circulating through the scientific circles 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.”
“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?”
We all nodded 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 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! It's summer in New Zealand right now, so it will be a little treat before we head off to the new planet.”
“When are we leaving?” Smith asked.
“Soon! We leave for the launch site in two days.”
We were shocked. 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 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.” 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?” Spencer asked sarcastically.
“Well, you don’t just get in a spaceship and go, dumbass,” Idris retorted. “Anyway, 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 away from the airport, through the center of Auckland, and headed north. An hour later we were in absolute wilderness. All the towns we’d driven through seemed tiny, like villages, until even they were gone. 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 Kiwi 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 my laughter, because he couldn’t possibly have 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.
We finally pulled 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 something that looked like 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.
The fence created a wide perimeter around the grounds of the all-white facility, which must have included 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 of us that will probably never get to do what you are doing. Just remember that, okay?”
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.
My team was tucked away on the right side of the white room. Apparently, I was the last one to arrive. When they saw me, they peered over, bug-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,” Spencer replied.
“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 kid
ding me?” he asked, too calmly.
“Nope.”
“Two things. Just two.” His knuckles whitened as he grasped the paper.
“Yep. That’s it.”
The paper dropped from his hands and floated 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 seemed to think so.
“It’s easy. You all have what I need already,” I said. Their blank stares indicated I needed to elaborate. “Well, I’m guessing Smith requested a microscope, right?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“And they will give it to you because it’s lightweight, and you are a biotechnologist. You couldn’t work without it.”
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 felt my voice get louder, and decided to tone it down. “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.
“The network already guaranteed that I would have all the seed I needed to start a large crop production, so that was covered. I wish I could bring a combine up with me, but figured that was a no-go so we will have to use manual labor to harvest. I’m not pleased with that, but we'll figure out a good system.” Everyone on my team 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 there are only two things. I figured if I only asked for two, I was sure to get them.”
Spencer, Garrett, and Smith just turned and walked away without saying a word. 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 was quite accommodating, even though it was situated in the middle of nowhere. 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 we needed was provided.
The entire facility was connected by long hallways and passages, so that we 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?” Smith asked. “There’s five people on this team.”
“I figured you and I would bunk together. It’s a lot better than me having to bunk with the film crew—on my end, at least!” Captain Idris answered and walked up behind Spencer.
Smith looked at us and frowned.
Spencer walked by and casually slapped Smith on the ass. “Good luck. He snores a lot!” he said as he winked at Smith 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.” He raised an eyebrow then added, “The man really never 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 the other end of the hallway. He gave us a thumbs up and 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.
We sat in class, practiced emergency drills, read more, listened more, and did more drills, for sixteen hours every day. Lectures lasted for hours. Drills and simulations were 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 away than the moon, but it will only take us three days to get there,” 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. I hesitated then opened the door, letting in the light. Jane sat up in her bed, disturbed by the sudden illumination.
“Who is it?” she asked groggily.
“It’s Smith. I’m going to see what’s going on,” I whispered in reply.
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 facility. His bright orange hair was a mess, and his green eyes looked tired and nervous. 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, then twiddling his fingers once more.
“Umm... yeah, I guess so. Jane is here,” I said, confused.
“Oh, okay, great.” He nervously walked in and I backed away.
I perched on my bed. He slumped on the other end. Jane sat up in her bed, under the covers.
“So... what’s going on?” I asked. This must be something urgent.
“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 fingers. “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 all alone on a new planet. 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. The need for companionship and friendship was still there. Sure, I knew Jane and we talked, but not much unless it was about work.
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 in enthusiastic agreement.
“We need friends, too,” she added.
Smith drew in a long breath, and then slowly let it out. “You guys are great Thank you.”
We spent all night talking. We would ask each other questions, going back and forth, and laugh at the crazy things we had done before we ended up where we were. It was interesting to learn about one another outside of work, outside of the pressure. We learned a lot, like how Jane originally wanted 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. 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 but never cracked open. The champagne got them all talking more and more.
The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series Page 3
