Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3)

by Patrick Stutzman

“I don’t know about that,” shrugged Jason. “But in either case, I don’t mind sitting next to you.”

  The priest nodded again and glanced at his e-reader as though to resume reading, but stopped short and turned back to Jason.

  “If you don’t mind, perhaps we could talk on our way down to the surface.”

  Jason shrugged again. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

  The PA system interrupted them. “Attention, passengers! This is your pilot speaking. Please find your seats and make sure you are secured, as we will disembark in a few minutes.”

  “Here we go.” Jason fastened his seat belts and glanced at Peter, who followed suit. He took a deep breath, breathing it out slowly through his mouth, and closed his eyes to wait for the ship to detach.

  “Are you okay?”

  Opening his eyes, Jason saw Peter looking at him, a look of trepidation on his face. “What?”

  “You look nervous. Are you feeling okay?”

  Jason released his death grip on the armrests. “Sorry. I’m not good with orbital drops.”

  “How so?”

  A nervous laugh escaped through the young man’s lips. “I get nauseated.”

  Peter frowned, pulled a bag out of the seat in front of him, and handed it to Jason. “Just in case.”

  “Thanks.”

  * * * * *

  The two men engaged in a lively conversation during the uneventful trip to the drop zone, a wide expanse just west of a large lake. Touching down in the tall grass that waved gently in the wind, the four drop ships powered down and opened to let the colonists disembark.

  One by one, each of the drop ships that followed appeared in the sky and descended to the ground not far from where everyone else waited, including Jason and the reverend along with some of those that he recognized as his neighbors while aboard the colony ship. Several minutes after the last craft landed, Catherine broke through the crowd and ran to him, joyfully wrapping her arms around him.

  “We’re here! We’re finally here!”

  Jason smiled back as they embraced. “I know!”

  The voice of the administrator boomed out over the crowd, amplified by a portable audio system. “Attention! May I have your attention, please?”

  The sounds of multiple conversations quickly faded off. Jason sighed as he released Catherine from the hug and turned to focus on the speaker.

  “Thank you,” Ms. Armstrong said after the voices stopped. “Let me be the first to welcome you to your new home, Haven.” The colonists cheered and applauded together at the announcement.

  “First, I need to inform you that, since Haven does not have a standard day and night cycle like we’re used to having on Earth, we will be using an artificial twenty-four-hour cycle like back home to make our lives a little easier. So, there’s no need to change your watches at all.

  “Second. Although we are all glad to finally be here, we have a lot of work to do first. Two more shuttles should be arriving soon with our prefab homes. As soon as they touch down and are offloaded, we need to erect them quickly, so that we can move in. I have a welcoming celebration planned for when we get our village up and running, so let’s get this party started!”

  As promised, the two shuttles containing materials sufficient for dozens of buildings set down not far from where they were gathered, and several cargo walkers distributed the kits to various locations dictated by the administrator and her assistants. Within a few hours, the landscape transformed from a large, grassy plain to a small town of gray and silver metal buildings nestled against the edge of the lake. Jason and Catherine helped with the construction of their dwelling and moved their belongings inside after its completion.

  A short time later, Jason and Catherine arrived, hand-in-hand, at the town square, where long tables and benches had been set up for the dinner party. Groups of other colonists were already congregated at various places around the square. The couple found a gathering of people they recognized and joined them to wait for dinner to be served.

  One young woman in the circle leaned toward Catherine while they walked to the tables. “What do you think of your house?”

  “The house is a little cozy,” Catherine said as they sat. “But, it seems to be the perfect size for me and Jason. It does need something decorative to liven up the atmosphere, though.”

  “No doubt about that!” The woman giggled and glanced away from Catherine at the woman sitting to her left. “I don’t think they had comfort in mind when they were designed.”

  “Did anyone bring anything to decorate their home? I sure didn’t!” queried a brunette sitting a couple of seats from Catherine.

  Turning to Catherine, Jason whispered in her ear, “I’ve got a couple of pictures in my bag that we could hang up. I’m not sure if they’re what you’re looking for, but they’re something for now.”

  She grinned as she rested her hand atop his. “That sounds great.”

  “Hey! Any of you guys having any troubles with your house?” It was a man seated at the end of the table. Along with the others, Jason shook his head.

  “What’s up?” another man asked.

  “None of my home systems will boot up. It’s like there’s no power.”

  Jason glanced around the square at the other tables as he continued to listen. After a few seconds, he noticed that the colonists mixed together pretty well, but the military had separated themselves out and were sitting together as a group at the end of one of the long tables. Dressed in green camouflage, they were not hard to miss against the one-piece navy blue uniforms worn by just about everybody else.

  “Did you try the battery backup?” Thinking the question a bit odd, Jason glanced at the speaker. The tools nestled in the man’s shirt pocket told him he was a technician of some sort.

  “Yeah, and that’s the odd thing. It looks like the battery is dead, too.”

  Leaning in, Jason interjected, “I hope it’s not contagious.”

  Several colonists around him laughed at the comment, and he joined in a couple of seconds afterwards.

  “…test. Ah, here we go!” Jason turned to see Ms. Armstrong standing at the top of the steps of the newly-built main hall, a two-story building that looked like a metal version of the town halls commonplace in many rural communities of the United States. “Hello, again! I’m glad we all made it to our first official dinner together on Haven.”

  She waited for the applause to die down before adding, “Tonight’s main course will be roast turkey served at any of the buffet lines we have set up at this end of the square. It’s probably going to be the last time we eat this for a long time to come, so hop in line and enjoy your meal.

  “Please remember that if you have any questions or concerns about anything at all, feel free to approach me or my assistant, William. We want our colony to be the best it can be, and we can’t do it without everyone’s support.

  “One last thing before I turn the evening over to your stomachs, I need to see all of the hunters and foragers at the town hall steps after dinner is over. Thank you!”

  “Uh oh!” the man sitting next to Jason exclaimed. “I wonder what they did.”

  Jason shrugged. “I’m one of the foragers, and I don’t have a clue about it.”

  “Well, good luck. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

  After things started winding down about a half-hour later, Jason joined the group of hunters and foragers at the town hall steps. Just like him, the rest of them did not know why they were called together and wondered what could be the issue.

  A few minutes later, Ms. Armstrong emerged through the hall doors with a smile on her face. Making her way to the middle of the crowd, she asked for some room and addressed them.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, first let me thank you for taking on such an important role in our society. What you find and bring in will help sustain us long after our initial supplies run out.”

  She activated a handheld holographic projector and displayed a map of the general a
rea. Jason stepped in to get a closer look, noticing the river spilling out of the lake on the east side.

  “Now with that in mind, the reason why I called all of you together is to warn you. The colony ship sent me their initial scan results of the moon’s surface, and they did not pick up very much in the way of indigenous life forms. There are some scattered to the east across the lake, but we have several more detected to the south and west. When you go out on your initial expedition tomorrow, I want you to concentrate on the south and west. But, I still want a couple of hunters to search around the lake and see what you can find. Do I have any volunteers?”

  At first, nobody reacted. Only the sounds of the collection of dishes and scraps wafted through the group as they reflected on her words. Unsure of what everyone was thinking, Jason studied the expressions of those around him and found them just as confused about the situation as he was. He looked back at the map again, focusing on the river. Remembering his foraging lessons back on Earth, he determined what he needed to do.

  Jason raised his hand. “I’ll go.”

  Ms. Armstrong frowned. “Jason, you’re a forager, not a hunter.”

  “Yes, I know. But while I’m searching for food east of the lake, I can keep my eyes open for any animals and report their locations.”

  The administrator smiled. “Not a bad idea, Jason.

  “Anyone else want to volunteer, hunter or forager?”

  After a slight pause, a woman on the far side of the circle raised her hand. “I’ll go, too.”

  “Excellent! Thank you, Lesley. With these two covering the east side, the rest of you can fan out to the south and west. Unless anyone has anything else to add, happy hunting tomorrow!”

  Several hours later found Jason and Catherine in bed making love with the lights out. Their cries of passion filled the room while they repeatedly consummated their relationship, until Jason finally grunted loudly for a few seconds.

  “Computer, lights at twenty percent,” Catherine ordered.

  In an instant, the lights faded on, dimly lighting the room as Jason collapsed on the other side of the bed under the sheet they shared.

  Catherine grinned and rolled over to face him, while he folded his hands behind his head and looked back at her.

  “That was the best you’ve ever been.” She stroked his chest with her fingers.

  He laughed. “Must be something in the air.”

  “Maybe. We should probably get some rest before morning comes. Is it still light outside?”

  “Probably. Let’s take a look. Window, seventy-five percent opacity.”

  The window changed from a solid black to a dark gray, enough to let the sunlight filter in and brighten the room a little.

  “Yep,” he sighed. “Still light outside. Window, one hundred percent opacity.”

  As the window returned to a solid black, Catherine observed, “If I recall, the scout report stated that Haven is tidelocked in a weird sort of way. Instead of having the same face toward the planet, it has the same face toward the star. The scout that discovered the moon a couple of years ago calculated that it would only experience about twenty-four hours of darkness every month.”

  “One day of night a month? I must have missed that on the report.”

  “That was one of the things that stuck out in my mind. That, and the near uniform climate around the globe. It should make for some pleasant weather.”

  “Yeah,” Jason said.

  “I’d hate to put out a lot of sweat while working the fields tomorrow.”

  “That reminds me. I’m one of the lucky few that gets to explore on the other side of the lake tomorrow,” Jason said excitedly.

  “The other side of the lake?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Jason. Who knows what creatures are over there?”

  “Actually, not many at all from what I understand,” he reassured her. “Ms. Armstrong said that the colony ship scanned the surface and found very few animals in the area. Besides, I’m going to have a skycycle and some sort of firearm with me. If I can’t kill it, I can run away.”

  “Just be careful out there. Okay?”

  Jason smiled confidently as he leaned toward her. “No worries. I’ll be fine.”

  Catherine smiled back and asked, “Are you tired?”

  He shook his head. “No. Not really.”

  Whipping the sheet off of him, she straddled his hips and leaned down toward him before he had a chance to react.

  Chapter 3

  “Good morning, Jason. Good morning, Catherine.”

  Jason’s eyes snapped open. Although he had tried to sleep through the night, the anticipation he held for the next day had permitted him light sleep at best. The only thing helping him relax enough to rest had been feeling Catherine’s warm body snuggled up next to his.

  Scooting toward the edge of the bed, he stretched his arms and legs, while she continued to sleep under the white sheet covering their bed.

  “Good morning, Catherine.”

  Peeling the sheet back, he climbed out of bed and stepped toward the opaque window on his side of the bed.

  “Good morning, Catherine.”

  The sharp breath Jason heard from her confirmed she was finally awake. He watched over his shoulder for a few seconds as she stirred and stretched.

  “Morning, Catherine,” he greeted softly.

  Turning her head, she regarded him for a second before smiling sleepily and scratching her head.

  “Good morning,” she returned. “Get enough sleep?”

  “No, but I’ll manage. You?”

  She laughed as she forced herself out of bed. “About the same.”

  Walking to where he stood, Catherine sidled next to him and lovingly wrapped her arms about his chest. Jason placed his arms over hers and welcomed the morning hug. Before he knew it, she slid her hand down his abdomen and gently tickled and stroked his penis.

  “Ready to wake up?”

  He closed his eyes and relished the sensations she created for him for several seconds. He reluctantly pulled her hand away. “We should take a shower and get ready.”

  Turning around, he lifted her chin and gently kissed her lips.

  With a conniving smile, he asked, “Care to join me?”

  “Is there enough room for the two of us?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  After the pair finished their forty-five minute shower together, they dressed and walked out of their metallic home to see most of their neighbors moving toward the center of town. They joined the migration. When they arrived there, Ms. Armstrong was waiting on the steps of the town hall. It appeared they were to get one last speech from her.

  “Good morning, everyone,” the administrator began through the portable audio system. “I trust you all had plenty of sleep last night.”

  Judging from the nervous laughs from most of the crowd, Jason assumed he was not the only one lacking rest.

  “You all learned of your initial duties during the trip here, so I should not have to go over them again. At this point, we are going to separate according to our assignments. Builders will meet with Kevin at the southeast corner of the square. Hunters and foragers, go see William at the southwest corner. Farmers are to split into two groups: the men will go to the northwest corner to speak with Thomas, and the women will meet with me here. We all have a long day ahead of us, so let’s make the best of it. Any questions?”

  After a few seconds of virtual silence, she concluded, “All right, then. I’ll see you all at lunch.”

  “Have fun!” Catherine kissed Jason before jogging off to where her leader waited.

  “See you at lunch!” He waved before reporting to his corner of the square.

  William addressed the group, initially reiterating what Ms. Armstrong had said after dinner the previous day. Then, he outlined the requisition of vehicles for everyone to use during the day. Most of the group would separate into four large trucks and fan out from
the village to cover their chosen territories, but Jason and Lesley would take skycycles for their expedition across the lake.

  The idea of driving a skycycle thrilled Jason. Throughout his adolescent years, he had fantasized about riding around town on such a vehicle, emulating the roles portrayed in various movie and television programs, such as a gang member or bad boy who made the girls swoon. His parents had always forbidden him from indulging in such folly, but he was now finally getting his chance.

  William handed each of the hunters and foragers a certificate to redeem at the supply depot for the equipment they would need before heading out. Jason did not see what the hunters were getting, but his voucher indicated a communicator, a forager’s backpack, a hand scanner, a pulse laser rifle, and the skycycle. Jason smiled broadly as he perused the list and rushed to the depot as soon as the group was dismissed.

  Standing in line, Jason overheard a couple of the hunters behind him complaining that their homes had lost power while they slept. As he listened, he found that both of them lived near the edge of the lake where the first home had lost power the previous day.

  A few minutes later, Jason walked into the main storage area of the depot and received the backpack, rifle, communicator, and scanner. He placed the scanner in a side pouch on the backpack and fitted the bag over his shoulders before strapping the wrist communicator to his arm. Once done, he hefted the weapon and looked it over a couple of times, familiarizing himself with the settings. After satisfying his childish curiosity, he hung the rifle over his shoulder and moved to the motor pool. He mounted the skycycle after giving it a brief inspection, and departed for the far side of the lake.

  Several minutes later, Jason stood on the far bank of the lake, surveying the area. The grassy shore basking in the sun was warm and inviting. He resisted the urge to lie down and relax, choosing instead to do his work and investigate the plants along the edge of the water for possible sources of food. Over the next few hours, his efforts yielded a grove of fruit-bearing trees and an edible root that grew in abundance near where the lake fed into the river.

  After eating lunch with Catherine in their home, Jason returned back to work for the afternoon. He decided to forage down the banks of the river. About a kilometer downstream, he stopped on a wide, flat expanse of the bank and dismounted his skycycle to look around the area. Finding nothing more than moss and lichens, he elected to venture away from the bank a short distance, hoping to find some sweet berries or another fruit that would make the trip worthwhile.