“I dissected a few plant specimens and put them under a microscope,” said Constance. “It’s pretty much as I expected. Form follows function. I expect that life throughout the universe will follow much the same pattern: ranging from simple cell structures to more complex organisms. Li Li is the geneticist, but I expect she’d agree.”
“Of course, genetics is just a matter of chemistry. I’d say there are universal laws concerning the basic biological structures, DNA, RNA, viruses, bacteria, cells. However, each planetary ecosystem will have different evolutionary pressures and pathways. Earth went through massive climate change and suffered the occasional catastrophic meteor impact. Some volcanic eruptions caused significant changes, all of which lead to quite distinct biological eras. This planet may be in something like Earth’s Carboniferous period.”
“An era of plants and lower order fauna,” Archimedes agreed, although everyone had heard the theory many times.
“But we don’t know what happened on this planet,” Akoi said.
“No, of course not…” Li Li paused and changed the subject. “Listen, if people think the camp area is safe, can I lose some layers? I’m sweltering in this humidity.”
“Um, well, I guess that’s a reasonable request. It is hot,” Akoi said. “We disrobed on the beach to enter the water...”
“Well, I certainly didn’t pack a bikini,” said Anne.
“We’ve discussed this. No-one is prudish…”
Li Li laughed. “I wasn’t proposing to go completely native, well, just not yet. I was only thinking of getting rid of these boots.”
“You must make regular checks of your skin,” Prosperous warned everyone. “There are some nasty parasites that can enter the body through the feet: hookworm, roundworm, that sort of thing.”
“Yes, be especially careful of any abrasions and cuts,” said Constance.
“Of course,” said Li Li as she undid her boots, pulled off her socks and rolled up her trousers. Everyone followed except Archimedes who remained cautious. When people looked at him he shrugged his shoulders. “I had a gastric worm when I was young, most unpleasant.”
When she had tossed her boots to the side she placed her toes on the ground and wiggled them to feel the grass. “Been wanting to do that all day.”
“And especially don’t forget to turn your boots upside down and shake anything out,” said David. “Standard bush safety still applies.”
Everyone nodded that they understood.
“And sleeping bags,” said Anne. “I once had a rattler in mine.”
“I don’t imagine I’ll be sleeping under covers tonight,” said Li Li.
“The days and nights are longer here, which means there’s more chance for the night to cool, especially if it is a cloudless night. It could be quite crisp by early morning,” Junji advised.
“Now there’s an interesting evolutionary pressure,” Li Li mused. “I’d forgotten about the 29.5 hour days. It’ll play havoc with our circadian rhythms until we adjust. So where was I?” said Li Li as she untied her shirt so that it fell open allowing the air to circulate whilst keeping her breasts covered.
People again took her lead and loosened their shirts and rolled up sleeves. David went a step further and removed his entirely, quickly followed by Prosperous. Constance shrugged her shoulders and muttered, “ah, what the hell, might as well. If the boys can do it, so can the girls. I’ve been sweating like a pig all day.” She calmly removed her shirt to reveal full, slightly pendulous breasts with pierced nipples.
“Ah, Connie, you pierced too,” said Junji has he removed his shirt to reveal a surprisingly taught stomach, a large koi tattoo on his back and pierced nipples sporting thick circular barbells.
“Nice one dude,” said Constance. “You are full of surprises. Anything else pierced?”
“Maybe,” he said in a way that suggested it wasn’t his only piercing.
Li Li laughed and joined them. “New planet - new rules. I thought it would take at least a few days. What is the English saying – in for a penny, in for a pound?”
“But only in the camp vicinity.” Akoi commanded as she took off her shirt. “Outside we protect our skin, agreed? And yes, for those who don’t already know. They are ritual scars.” She raised her chest and turned so everyone could get a good look at the rows of dotted scars.
“Very cool,” said Anne sighing with relief as she undid her shirt to reveal a medium-sized tattoo on her left shoulder.
“Who isn’t marked in some way?” asked Li Li, surprised by the revelations.
“Native American totem?” asked Akoi nodding toward it.
“Raven.”
Akoi waited, expecting more of an explanation.
“It’s a long story. Maybe one night around a campfire… A dream…”
“Spirit dream?”
“Something like that.”
Everyone had followed suit, glad to have some relief from the humidity, all except Archimedes. Again he shrugged his shoulders. “If there are bugs they’ll come for me. Mosquitoes seem to have a penchant for pale Englishmen.”
People smiled at his self-deprecating humour.
“I’m not sure there’ll be any,” said Constance. “Remember, predation and parasitism co-evolve with prey…”
“Yes, like human lice. I know,” Archimedes replied. “There may be nothing like mammalian blood on this planet and therefore nothing has evolved to feed off it. But if there is, it’ll find me.”
“Perhaps you should act as the canary,” Junji joked. His mood changed as he had a thought. “Hey, we’ve been so busy paying attention to all this novelty to notice what’s missing,” said Junji suddenly.
“What do you mean?” asked Anne.
“No bloodsuckers. No shit feeders. No flies. Has anyone encountered anything like a fly or shit today?”
“No,” said David. “Nothing like it. That’s a plus.”
“We’ve been so busy looking for the big threats, we forgot about the small annoyances,” said Prosperous folding his shirt neatly.
“Now that’s an experiment,” Junji laughed. “Someone should drop a turd and watch what happens.”
Akoi and Anne turned up their noses.
“No, he has a point. It could tell us a lot,” said Li Li. “On Earth sheet is food for a whole range of species.”
David laughed. “Well, you wanted to sheet in the woods Li.”
She pursed her lips and frowned at his teasing. Her protest was unconvincing.
“It is conceivable that this planet might be more benign than Earth,” observed Archimedes. “But I’d rather err on the side of caution.”
The group disrobing seemed to change their mood immediately. They became more relaxed and began to lounge rather than sit. The women didn’t feel self-conscious being topless around the men. In part out of defiance and in part because the men were genuinely nonplussed. Both David and Prosperous had tribal backgrounds and were used to it, Archimedes was gay and Junji’s sexuality was still a mystery.
“You were saying Li,” Akoi prompted.
“Yes, um, so I took a look at the soil. I’ve washed it and separated it. Nothing unusual: a mixture of sand, clay and organic material. I’ve got some cultures growing in a Petri, had a look under a microscope. Same basic cell structures. I’d say it’s very fertile. Exactly what you’d expect really.”
“So we’re closer to confirming the New Zealand hypothesis. No higher order predators,” said Prosperous.
“Or middle order…” added David.
“And maybe not even lower order,” Li Li interrupted. “As I recall New Zealand only has one native venomous spider, the katipo, and it is rare and non-aggressive.”
“A provisional hypothesis, remember that the disaster on Pangaea happened on the third morning. I want to survey wider before I will relax security.” She patted the rifle at her side. “We still have to be vigilant.”
“So tomorrow we send out drones to do an aerial survey and map areas
of interest, then break into teams to explore by foot?” asked Archimedes.
“Yes, a little further each day,” added David. “Eyes open at all times.”
“Right, well I guess people will be feeling hungry. As I recall Junji and I drew first shift…” said Prosperous.
“What’s on the menu?” asked Constance knowing the choice was limited.
“Rice, vegetables, tofu and I packed some of my special rayu sauce.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the camp completing experiments, writing up notes and recording vid reports. As the evening approached it became even more humid and people changed into shorts. Prosperous arranged a schedule of skin checks. There were no immediate rashes or small bite marks. He was beginning to think that this planet really was a paradise. He did not know of any place on Earth where one was free of flies, ants, bees and a whole host of biting, stinging, annoying insects.
As the sun began to set Anne jokingly suggested they build a campfire. She hadn’t really considered that it would be a serious task.
“This planet has elevated oxygen levels…”
“If a fire takes hold…”
“We don’t know how combustible the flora is…”
“Or non-combustible…”
“It may release toxic fumes…”
“We’ll have to devise a staged experiment…”
She sighed. “So much for the romance.”
“We can all sit around a camp lantern.”
She decided to change the subject. “Props to the person to spot the first star,” she shouted as the sun began to slip below the horizon. They all stopped what they were doing and excitedly searched the sky. Archimedes was the first to spot the little point of light, followed by a second.
“You get naming rights bro,” said David.
They were in awe as the sky grew darker and more stars appeared. When the last light had faded the sky was filled with more stars than Earth skies (they were closer to the centre of the galaxy). After a few more minutes the clear shape of a spiral nebulae began to appear over the horizon.
“It’s stunning…”
“Beautiful…”
“I think those are planets Archi, they’ve got a distinct colour and they don’t seem to be twinkling,” said Constance.
“Doesn’t this system have a band of gas giants like our solar system?” Li Li asked.
“Yes, three. There’s a gap where Mars ought to be, so the next planet out from Eden is a gas giant,” said Archimedes. “It should be quite bright.”
“Like Venus,” said Li Li.
“Any thoughts?” Nuku asked.
“I rather like the convention of naming the planets after the classical pantheon. The Earth system uses the Latin names…”
“We could use the Hindu pantheon, after Akash,” said Li Li.
“Your name is Greek,” said Junji.
Archimedes nodded, not that anyone noticed because they were talking whilst still staring at the night sky in absolute wonder. “Yes, so why not name them after the brother and sister gods Apollo and Artemis?”
“Nice,” said Constance.
“So, to be consistent we could call the nebula after Olympus?” suggested Li Li.
“Why not?”
There was no disagreement.
There were oohs and aahs as a few shooting stars flashed across the sky.
“It’s so bright…”
“No ambient light pollution…”
“No cities…”
“I could stay up all night…”
“An alien sky.”
At that moment a flicker of light to her left captured Li Li’s attention. She turned and saw the forest alive with points of light. “Baise moi, merde, regarder que,” she rushed in French. “Une sorte de luciole…”
The others dropped their eyes and saw the forest dancing with light.
“Is that two colours, orange and green?”
“Two species?”
“Three, a larger reddish one, not as common…”
Li Li moved toward a flying light.
“Careful,” Akoi cautioned.
“They seem to be ignoring us.”
“Maybe they can’t sense us.”
Li Li reached out her hand and the firefly landed briefly. She attempted to cup it in her hand.
“Li Li, don’t be foolish.”
“It didn’t bite. It’s very bright. I don’t know if there’s anything like it on Earth. Merde, did anyone think to pack a butterfly net?”
“Not three species in the one place that’s for sure,” said Constance.
“Not specifically, use the small fishing net,” said Archimedes at the same time.
“The handle is too short,” protested Li Li.
“So we’ll jerry rig a long handle…” said David.
“Did we bring tape?” Li Li asked.
“Yes,” replied David, “electrical, masking and gaffer,” he said walking toward one of the tents.
They rigged up a make-do butterfly net. The net itself was awkwardly small and it took Li Li quite a few swipes before she finally caught one - to the amusement of everyone. She placed it in a jar and everyone crowded around to look.
“A flying centipede,” said Li Li. “Look, no definite legs, just many small ones.”
“It’s not insect,” said Constance. “Maybe this planet didn’t develop that particular class.”
“It has four wings and rudimentary eyes…” said Junji.
“The proboscis looks like it is designed to feed off nectar, there’s no pincers to bite or probes to pierce,” said Archimedes.
“The bioluminescence could be a mating strategy…” said Constance.
“That assumes a male/female polarity. That’s a thought. Has this planet developed sexual differentiation as a reproductive strategy?” Li Li wondered.
“What, no sex?” asked David.
“Sex must be universal,” Constance suggested.
“But not necessarily male/female. There are many strategies back on Earth. We can’t assume anything.”
“Well, we’ve certainly got our work cut out, whole new genii, phyla, class – it will take decades.”
“Am I imagining things or is it getting brighter?” asked Akoi changing the subject.
They all looked up.
“Yes, it’s a blueish, white light,” said Shunji.
“What the…” exclaimed Anne.
“Moonrise,” said Archimedes pointing to a faint glow over the cliffs.
“It’s bright,” said Akoi.
“Given the timing and the direction it’s probably full,” said Archimedes.
“Wow, more fucking wonders,” said Anne softly.
“It’s the larger, more distant moon. I remember looking at the calendar. The second won’t rise until early morning.”
They watched as a bright disc twice the size of Earth’s moon rose steadily from behind the cliffs.
“It’s so bright,” commented Constance.
“It’s an ice moon like Titan so it reflects more light…”
“Look, you can see the thin blue line of its atmosphere,” said Li Li pointing excitedly.
“Must have quite a gravitational pull?”
“It will depend on the mass. It might not be as dense as the moon.”
“With two moons there must be a complex pattern of tides…”
“It’s gorgeous…”
“Like white opal with pastel blue, cobalt and turquoise patches…”
“We don’t know much about them…”
“All the focus was on Eden…”
“Perhaps we can ask them to send a probe…”
“Is it a priority?”
“It is so bright I don’t think we’ll need torches to see. I wonder how many lux it’s emitting. Anyone know the lux reading of a full moon?”
“It varies, between point two-five and one,” said Archimedes. “But this must be around two to three, close to twilight.”
&nbs
p; “Tres romantique,” said Li Li. “Nous touchant à travers la pièce, comme des amants venus de la lune.”
“Is that a line from a poem?” asked Junji, who did not understand French.
“Touching across the room, like lovers from the moon,” Prosperous translated.
“I believe it’s a song,” said Constance.
“Oui, an American song, but I know the French version best,” said Li Li.
“We should give it a romantic name, something that speaks to its beauty,” Constance suggested.
They stood silently as more of the moon rose over the cliffs illuminating the scenery to the point that desaturated colour started to appear.
“I think there is only one candidate,” said Archimedes. “The god of love himself…”
“Amour?” asked Li Li.
“No, the original Greek, Eros, a beautiful youth – he mated in the deep abyss with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light.”
“Beautiful, who wrote that?” asked Constance.
“Aristophenes.”
“A perfect name,” said Li Li. “But that means the second moon should be called Psyche, non?”
“I am unfamiliar with these names,” said Akoi.
“Come then,” said Li Li. “Time for a night time story.”
They sat in a circle as the fireflies buzzed about and Eros illuminated the campsite in a bluish white light. Archimedes told them the story of Eros and Psyche. Little did they know the story would come to define so much about Eden.
75
Akash
He commanded the screen to close. He had just watched a report from the team on Eden. The news was very good. They had entered the seventh day without major incident. Archimedes, Constance and Anne all came down with flu like symptoms. It was nothing serious, an immune reaction to some bacteria, which their enhanced systems eventually managed to shrug off, something they had expected. It had rained solidly on the fourth day, which coincided with a form of jet lag caused by the shock to their circadian rhythms, so they used the time to rest. There was a moment of alarm later in the day at the amount of water spilling over the waterfall and partially flooding the creek. David had considerable experience with flash flooding and had suggested the landing site be on a rise, but he expressed concern about the chance of cyclones and torrential rains. Fortunately they had planned for the possibility. The current site had been picked simply for security and now that they were confident there were no higher order predators, they suggested relocating to a more open, permanent site, one that could accommodate further missions. It was further along the coast – a large bay filled with many small coves, beaches and dramatic cliffs that reminded him of the topography of Sydney and Rio De Janiero. It was ideal for a permanent settlement.
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