Blue Planet Rising (Pebbles in the Sky Book 2)

by Jeffery Bagley

  Kristy thought for a moment. “Only, if he will answer questions without you having to give information in return. I think we can get away with that if Earth asks.”

  Brianna nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll explain that it’s very important for us to do this expedition and that the rest of the crew will be working on preparations to raise food.” She turned to make her way down the hill.

  “Brianna,” Kristy called after her.

  Brianna turned around and looked back up where Kristy was sitting.

  “You’re going. Don’t tell anyone else yet,” Kristy informed her.

  Brianna waved in excitement and ran the rest of the way down the hill and into the main dome. She made her way around to the classroom.

  “Hello Brianna, you did not answer me on your PA. I am not detecting any signal from it. Is it damaged?” Odysseus asked.

  “No Odysseus, I turned it off. Humans sometimes like privacy and don’t want others to hear what they are saying,” Brianna said.

  “Your dictionary explains privacy is to be alone, not with others, or to shield one’s self from others. Why do you do this?” asked Odysseus.

  “Humans sometimes don’t like to be around others. If we’re doing something that requires concentration, maybe using the bathroom, having sex, or something similar to that we like privacy,” Brianna explained.

  “Humans have to concentrate very hard to expel waste or to…have sex?” Odysseus asked.

  “No Odysseus. We just don’t do those things in front of lots of other humans. Did your creators not like to have privacy sometimes?”

  “If a creator…did not like to be around others there was concern that they…were…they had damaged thinking processes. A creator did not like being alone. Sabbas especially, did not like being alone,” Odysseus told her.

  “Odysseus, some of us are going on an expedition to the sea. We need to find out if there is…indigenous biological life in the sea. Did the creators know of any life in the ocean beneath the ice when this planet was frozen?”

  “Information exists that indicates that there was known... microscopic life forms. It was…scientifically proposed that there were more advanced life forms, but samples had not been taken that allowed a detailed analysis,” Odysseus told her.

  “Odysseus, I’ll be out of contact with the base camp while we’re at the sea. You’ll not be able to talk to me on my PA,” Brianna told Odysseus.

  “Communications could be routed through the second, smaller satellite that’s in orbit,” Odysseus said.

  “That satellite isn’t a communications satellite Odysseus. It’s a weather monitoring satellite,” Brianna informed him.

  “It’s possible to alter the programming of the satellite so it could relay communications while it was over this area of the planet,” Odysseus said.

  “No, Odysseus. You mustn’t be altering the programming of human equipment. That makes people upset when you do things like that.”

  “Odysseus needs more information. There are data sets that are incomplete. The human camp server did not contain very much data.”

  “We will get you more information, Odysseus. We’ll talk about this when I return,” Brianna told him.

  “Will the other humans talk to Odysseus while Brianna is at the sea?” he asked her.

  “If they have time they will Odysseus. They’ll be very busy. You must be patient,” Brianna said.

  “Odysseus will wait for humans to come talk. Goodbye, Brianna.”

  “Goodbye, Odysseus,” Brianna said as she rose to leave.

  Chapter 42

  May 15th, 2047

  Elpis

  The ground expedition to the sea was ready to leave at first light. David was going to be driving, Jason was going along as the expedition leader, Sarah was going in case there were any medical problems, and Brianna was going since she was the only Xenobiologist. The group had loaded up the heavy ground transport as well as the trailer for the trip. They were taking one week’s supplies and a whole trailer of sample containers and analysis equipment.

  The team members that were staying behind to mind the camp were gathered around the transport to see them off.

  Kristy was giving them some last minute instructions. “Jason, we will probably lose communication with you after a couple of hours. Our digital channels are pretty much local and line of sight. I would like you to put up a balloon antenna every six hours or so while you’re gone for updates. We’ll keep a watch on the communications station around the clock in case you need to contact us. You have about fifty kilometers to cover so if you average about ten kilometers an hour you should have no problem making it to the bay by dark. Your team has five days on site and then you’re to return back on day seven. If you encounter any problems at all, let me know.”

  Jason nodded his head in understanding. “Maybe we’ll get a mess of fish for supper. You guys try not to get into any trouble while we’re gone.”

  “I’m not sure that we would want to eat anything you catch,” laughed Master Chief.

  “Just clean it before you bring it home,” Donald added.

  The four of them climbed on the transport. As they started to pull out, Brianna’s PA beeped. “Goodbye, Brianna,” Odysseus said over the communications channel.

  “Goodbye, Odysseus. We’ll talk when I get back. Remember what I said. Do not re-program any human equipment while I’m gone.” Brianna gave Kristy a knowing look and Kristy indicated she had heard the exchange.

  “Maybe we’ll have a decision from Earth regarding Odysseus by the time you return. Have a safe trip,” Kristy said.

  …

  The first three hours of their trip was uneventful. Jason rode in the front of the transport while David drove. Brianna and Sarah chose to ride in the third seat bench which left an empty bench between the men and the two young women. Jason would occasionally turn and look back at them but the women would just smile and wave to him and go back to their private conversation. Whatever it was they were discussing, it involved a lot of laughter and sidelong looks at Jason. Jason finally gave up trying to understand them and turned to the front. David looked over at him and grinned.

  “Don’t even try to understand,” David said.

  “Understand what?” asked Jason.

  “Women. Why do you think I joined Space Force? I was married for three years and gave up on that. We got divorced and I volunteered to join Space Force. When I transferred from the blue water Navy, I went from riding in the back of airplanes to riding in the back of spaceships,” he laughed.

  “That’s quite a change,” replied Jason.

  “Not really. I do the same job. You still have hotshot pilots flying the things,” he said kiddingly.

  Jason was about to reply when David brought the transport to a halt. In front of them was a swath of green across the barren landscape. The green vegetation was in stark contrast to the greyish brown hills they had been skirting around since they had left the main site.

  “It looks like another seed probe came down near here,” Jason said.

  Brianna jumped out and walked down to where the edge of the vegetation area started. Kneeling down she looked closely at the fringe of grass.

  “This is another seed probe site,” she called. “I would like to get a few samples of the soil here under the plants.”

  Jason got down off the transport and went around to the trailer and picked up half a dozen of the plastic specimen containers. He walked over and squatted down beside her.

  “You want me to help you dig up some soil for your samples?” he asked.

  Brianna looked over her shoulder to where David had gotten out of the transport. He was leaning against the back of the transport sharing a canteen of water with Sarah.

  “The last time you did that, I lost my virginity” she said.

  “You were beautiful that day with dirt on your face,” he replied. “You’re even more beautiful now.”

  Brianna blushed. “I don’t think
you can lay me down on the ground here,” she said demurely.

  “You’ve been avoiding me the past few days,” Jason accused her.

  “No, I haven’t been avoiding you,” Brianna sighed. “I’ve been avoiding doing what I know we’ll do if we’re alone. The sneaking off in the night seemed so wrong.”

  “We don’t have to sneak around,” said Jason. “We’re both consenting adults and since you’re not in Space Force there aren’t any regulations that get in the way.”

  Brianna stood up and stretched her back. “It’s not regulations I’m worried about. It’s the laws of nature. If you were not aware, our entire supply of birth control injections was destroyed when the two supply ships burned. If we keep having sex, then it’s very likely that I will end up pregnant. That would probably not be a good idea. Not only would it be dangerous having a baby here, but it would disrupt our mission and cause all sorts of problems. NASA would probably never allow another female to go on a mission again.”

  Jason looked away. “So you’re saying that we need to put our relationship on hold for four whole years?”

  Brianna reached down and pulled his chin up. “I’m saying that we need to be very careful about when and what we do. I’m not saying that I don’t have very strong feelings for you.”

  “I could get Beatrice to do a vasectomy on me,” Jason suggested.

  Brianna shook her head. “Don’t get so drastic. We’ve only been here a few weeks. We can talk about this later.” She bent down to get the other samples. “Here, hold the containers while I dig these up.”

  They gathered the samples and walked back to the transport. David was sitting in the second passenger seat with Sarah beside him. “Your turn to drive Jason, I want to sight-see a little.”

  “Since when does the officer drive and the enlisted personnel ride?” joked Jason.

  “Since you became a pilot,” David yawned. He pointed to the south. The sea is that way, Lieutenant.”

  Brianna stood up beside Jason in the front of the transport. “Wagons Ho,” she yelled.

  Jason looked at her in confusion. “What?” he asked.

  “I saw that in a real old Vid flick. It means you need to get this wagon or whatever rolling. We still have a long way to go,” she said.

  …

  Beatrice found Kristy and Albert looking at some core samples that Albert had obtained from the ground not far from the base camp. They were sitting side by side and looking carefully at a magnified image of the samples. Their heads were almost touching. Beatrice smiled to herself. Kristy had been furious with Albert for opening the first dome without her permission, but in the past week they had been talking together quite a bit. “Wouldn’t that be interesting?”…she thought as she looked at them. She cleared her throat to let them know she was there and walked up to them.

  “What are you guys looking at so studiously?” she asked.

  They moved apart quickly and Albert answered.

  “We are looking at the latest core samples that I dug up. There are definitely sedimentary layers in the ground here. I am thinking that this whole plateau was once under a shallow sea and that it was raised by tetanic plates moving together. That plate collision most likely raised those low mountains to the northeast. The most interesting thing is that I strongly suspect that these layers from about here to here in this core sample may contain some fossilized organic material. When Brianna gets back I would like her to analyze these samples for any type of DNA fragments. I have not found an actual fossil or anything, but this area in question may contain the fossilized remains of simple microscopic organisms.”

  “I could probably run her sequencer,” said Beatrice. “But, if the samples can wait, it would be better to let her do it. That machine and process is the same one that her parents invented. She was probably playing with it before she was playing with dolls.”

  “They have waited millions of years,” laughed Albert. “A few more days will not make much difference.”

  “Where are Master Chief, Frederick, and Donald?” asked Beatrice.

  Kristy looked to the north. “Frederick was still having trouble with that anemometer on his weather station. He and Master Chief took the small transport and were going to fix that and fill our water tanks on the way back. Donald is at the communication station and trying to keep the hydrolysis units going. That means he needs lots of water to break down.”

  “Why don’t you come with me?” said Beatrice. “I have something to show you.”

  She led them to the green houses. Inside the first one there was a soil tray that was separate from the others. Beatrice pointed to it proudly and said, “Look!”

  They bent down and could make out a row of tiny green arches. The seeds in the tray were germinating and just starting to break the surface. There was another row of trays where tiny two leafed plants were just starting to sprout.

  “The first row is squash plants, the second row with the tiny double leaves is spinach,” Beatrice said excitedly. The germination rate is almost ninety eight percent. I think we can safely go ahead and plant our first crops in the green houses. We’ll know in about another week or so if the corn and wheat we planted outside is going to grow. If all of that does well, then I would like to prepare some containers of soil and plant the tree seeds I brought. We have Cherry, Apple, Fig, and Plum seeds. They will not be big enough to bear fruit by the time we leave, but we can at least see if they will grow. I would also like to ask Master Chief to prepare another two plots of land for planting. I think we can plant some Melons, Potatoes, and Sunflowers outside of the greenhouses under the open sky.”

  “We’re going to have quite the variety of veggies,” exclaimed Kristy. “I cannot wait to get them on the table.”

  “The outdoor vegetables are more for experimentation than anything,” said Beatrice. We’re a practice colony in a way, I guess.”

  “Experiment or not, it will beat the rations we brought,” said Albert. “Now, if we just had a cow for steaks, I would be very happy.”

  Beatrice frowned. “Just how would you get a cow here? Can you imagine shoveling cow manure in zero gravity in space? You better be happy being vegan here on Elpis. It’ll be a long time before you get any fresh animal protein. Being vegan is better for you anyway.”

  “I can dream, can’t I?” Albert joked.

  “We’ll start planting as soon as the other three men get back from the weather station,” Kristy told Beatrice. “Why don’t you go ahead and mark what goes where and then you can show us how and what to plant. They should be back in a couple of hours. I think I’ll go ask Donald if he’s heard from Jason and his team.”

  …

  Jason calculated they were roughly eight kilometers from the coast then the river changed directions and doubled back right into their path. Approximately an hour ago, they had reached a point where five major streams had converged and formed the river that was in front of them. The water was flowing briskly and from what they could ascertain, it was about two to three meters deep and nearly twenty meters across.

  “There’s no way we can ford that,” said Jason.

  David climbed back up the bank and removed the safety tether from his waist. He had tried to wade across the muddy waters but it had deepened to over his head when he was only about five meters from shore. “We’ll just have to follow it until it turns to the sea,” he said.

  “Damn,” cursed Jason. They had already encountered numerous delays from having to drive around eroded gullies that the rainwater was cutting into the ground. Unimpeded by plant growth, erosion was rampant on the plateau. “There’s no way we’re going to get to the sea by dark. We will start to lose light in about an hour. Let’s set up camp and spend the night here. I’ll send the balloon up with the antenna and let base camp know of our delay.”

  For once, there were actually no clouds in sight, so they elected not to rig up a tent and decided instead to sleep under the stars. While the others were digging out the sleeping ge
ar, Jason filled the balloon with helium and let it rise about two hundred meters above them. The balloon carried a small fiber optic cable and a radio repeater aloft with it. Jason used it to relay their message to the communications array at the base camp. He told Kristy that they would stop there for the night and continue to the sea in the morning. With clear skies around him, he decided to leave the balloon up so he could contact the base camp again in the morning.

  When Jason finished reporting in, the four of them ate their supper beside the transport.

  “I wish we had some firewood,” joked Brianna. We could build a fire and sing songs together.” Jason rolled his eyes and Sarah laughed.

  After it was dark they prepared to get some sleep. Brianna had spread her sleeping bag out beside Jason’s. As David was getting ready to spread his, Sarah got his attention and pointed at Brianna and Jason’s bags side by side. He got her hint that maybe the two needed some private time.

  “I’m going to throw my bag down on the other side of the transport so my snoring doesn’t keep you guys awake,” announced David.

  “I think I’m going to sleep out in the open under the stars,” Sarah said. I’ll be down on top of that little rise above the river.” She took her sleeping gear and walked down to the little hill overlooking the river.

  “I guess it’s just you and me, then,” said Jason.

  He and Brianna lay down side by side. They lay there quietly holding hands. Jason had almost drifted off to sleep when he heard the sound of the velcro seal on his sleeping back being pulled open. He felt a familiar warm body crawl on top of him. Then, Brianna’s soft mouth found his. Somehow she managed to pull his trousers off inside the sleeping bag and slid down on him. Her mouth found his again as she moved on him. She rode their rising passion until she collapsed on him as they crested in unison.

  She lay on him in contentment until he slipped out of her. She giggled, slid out of the sleeping bag, and stood up. “I need to go pee and wash off. I’ll be right back.”

  Brianna slowly followed the sound of the river down to the bank. She relieved herself and standing in the shallows, she splashed her legs and private area. On the way back up to the transport, she misjudged which side of the transport she was on and came around the wrong side. She stopped suddenly. Unless she was mistaken, that was not snoring coming from where David had spread his sleeping bag. She stood quietly and listened. She heard Sarah giggle, and then the sounds of them coupling. Brianna smiled to herself and went back around and lay down beside Jason. She didn’t mention to Jason what was going on around the other side of the transport. She snuggled into Jason’s arms and fell asleep content and happy.