Project Columbus: Omnibus

by J. C. Rainier

  “I don’t know,” Neil sighed. “It’s not like we ate every particle of food in those bags. Sooner or later it would have to start rotting. Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea.”

  Neil, on the other hand, was quite talkative. Cal knew almost as much about him as he knew about Hunter or Alexis. Neil didn’t restrict his conversations to his life story, either. Before they had left the camp, Cal had never heard of Rocklin, California. Not only could he now point it out on a map, but he knew where to get the best pizza in Rocklin, how far UC Davis was from Neil’s home in Rocklin (which caused Cal to question his sanity in commuting every day in college), and where every fault line within five hundred miles of Rocklin was located.

  And the rocks, Cal thought. He really loves rocks. Maybe a bit too much.

  Elaine rolled her eyes at Neil. “What, you think a little mold’s going to hurt you?”

  “It might. You never know what mold from this planet can do. We haven’t had a chance to study it.”

  “It’s not just mold,” Josephson added as she sat down across from Neil and propped her rifle against a log. “We don’t know what anything out here can do. That’s why we’re burning our trash right now. You never know just what might come lurking because it can smell the garbage.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Elaine scoffed. “What, you think some sort of native raccoon is going to jump up into the back of the crawler and go rooting around?”

  “Well, those might not be big enough,” Cal said as he stretched his hands out to warm in front of the fire. “But a bear sure would. And that’s sure as hell something I don’t want to wake up and find in the bed.”

  “Glad to see someone gets it, even if it’s just the mooch over there,” Josephson said, jerking her thumb at Cal.

  Cal rolled his eyes and shook his head. He turned his gaze back to the fire, analyzing the glowing embers deep within that shimmered from bright red to black.

  “Well, aside from the smell of burning plastic,” Neil chimed in, “I’m glad to be sitting here. Nice warm fire, the stars coming out, and look at that. Two moons. I could get used to this.”

  “Don’t. We’re only going to make a fire every few days so we can burn our trash. Otherwise we’d be inside bedding down for the night.”

  “Aww, come on, Mom,” Neil teased. “Let us kids play.”

  “I’m not here to let you play. I’m here to keep the mission rolling.”

  “Seriously? Come on, Lieutenant, I’m not saying I want to throw my sleeping bag on the ground out here, but we should at least take advantage of the opportunity. You know, get to know each other. Maybe tell some ghost stories.”

  “I’m not here to be your friend either, Chubs.”

  Cal glanced around the fire. Neil looked like a child whose toy had been taken from him, while Elaine seemed lost in thought as she looked up into the inky sky. Josephson poked at the fire with a long, thin stick, stirring around the embers and spreading them out.

  His mind went back to the journey on Michael, and how Josephson continually demeaned and threatened him. Yet here she sat, just a few feet from him, still casually throwing insults at those around her. He caught sight of the dark barrel of her rifle as the pale light made it dance in and out of the shadows.

  She doesn’t seem to like Neil either. Maybe it’s not just me, he reflected.

  “So,” Cal said, clearing his throat after his first word. “I wonder. What could possibly be so wrong in one woman’s life that she pushes people away and belittles them all the time?”

  “Stow it, McLaughlin,” growled Josephson.

  “Could she be insecure? Nah, with so much confidence, you know she’s the life of the party. The go-to girl for conversation.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Or maybe she’s sore about something. Hmm. Drew the short end of the stick and got assigned to the same crew as some whacko kid that she can’t stand? Doctor Taylor’s pet?”

  “You’re asking for it, numbnuts,” she snarled and bolted to her feet. “Knock it off.”

  “Or what, you’ll call me names? Threaten me like you did back on the ship? Jesus, it’s no wonder you haven’t made captain yet. I’d have thought you would have figured that out by now.”

  A loud slap pierced the air as Josephson snatched her rifle one-handed by the barrel and hoisted it from the ground. For a moment there was almost dead silence, with only the crackle of the fire to be heard. Cal watched her stern, hardened gaze fixate on him. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth twitched. Her hand shook, rattling the rifle, and her knuckles turned white as if she was trying to strangle the life out of her weapon with her bare hand. Then, without warning, she turned away and walked quickly to the crawler. As she turned, Cal could have sworn he saw a tear on her cheek.

  Oh, hell. What have I done now?

  “That was rude, Calvin,” Elaine said, shattering the silence.

  “What? She had it coming,” Neil retorted. “It may have been a bit harsh, but Cal did us all a favor there.”

  “Are you kidding me? I know she’s a bit rough around the edges, but that was uncalled for.”

  “What, like her calling me ‘Pudge’ or ‘Chubs’ all the time is alright?”

  “Guys,” Cal interrupted. “Let it go. I’m sorry that you had to see that, but it was a long time in coming.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Elaine.

  Cal sighed and rolled his shoulders backward. He looked up at the sky, at the myriad of pulsating stars, and the bright, mostly full Persephone. Though the sheer number of stars he could see was far fewer than on Michael, the presence of a moon in the sky was something that brought a certain comfort. He took a deep breath, relaxed, and spoke to the scientists.

  “I don’t know how much you know about me, Elaine, but I’m not supposed to be here. My dad got me onboard the ship, but he wasn’t able to come with me. The first time I met Josephson I wasn’t exactly…”

  “Wasn’t exactly what?” she asked after a few seconds.

  “Lieutenant Josephson was the one that informed me of my father’s death. It was accidental too; she had assumed that I already knew. I didn’t react well, and shoved her. I didn’t really even mean to, I was just really upset. I knew this was a mistake, and I apologized for it the first chance I got.” Cal paused a moment to compose his words. “I’ve apologized many times, in fact. But every time I’ve seen her when there wasn’t a superior officer around, she has picked on me, bullied me, and threatened me. What you saw tonight was me finally having enough. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I saw her treating Neil the same way, and it pissed me off.”

  He brought his gaze back down from the heavens and looked at his companions around the fire. Both were staring into the flames. Neil nodded slightly and adjusted his glasses, while Elaine sat on her hands and shuffled her feet.

  “Well,” Neil said. “I didn’t particularly like all the name calling that she’s done over the past few days. For what it’s worth, thank you. Thank you for that little part of you that stuck up for me, even though I never asked.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I had no idea that’s what it was,” Elaine blurted. “I… I just thought she didn’t like me. Or Neil.”

  Cal could see the glint of tears rolling down the botanist’s face. “What happened?”

  Elaine wiped her hand across her cheeks and took a breath. “I just thought at first she was being a bit of a hardass, like those drill sergeants in the movies that ride their recruits hard. It was starting to get really lonely and quiet up there, which is weird when someone is following you around with a gun. So I tried talking to her, but she’d keep yelling at me to ‘stop picking daisies’ and to ‘hurry up, flower girl.’ Then she started in with the names.”

  Cal slowly rose and walked over to Elaine, jerking his head at Neil on the way over. He got the hint, and followed Cal. They sat down on either side of her, and Cal put an arm around her shoulders.

  “Don’t take it personally. She’s
probably more bark than bite, anyway.”

  “It’s not just that,” she continued, choking back tears. “I miss Danny and Gloria. I miss Trevor. I want to go back to the ship.”

  “Are they your family?” Cal asked.

  She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. “Trevor is my husband. Danny and Gloria are my kids. I know it’s only been a few days, and we’re supposed to be out here for weeks, but I want to go back. I can’t be out here that long.”

  “I know how you feel. I’m missing someone back at the ship, too. It sucks to be out here, but we’ll get to make up for lost time when we get home, I’m sure of it,” he said, giving her a gentle hug.

  Neil threw his arms around both of them, which felt very awkward to Cal. It lasted only a couple seconds, and both Elaine and Cal glowered at him afterward.

  “What, no hugs for the guy who doesn’t have someone back at the ship? I see how this works.”

  Cal’s jaw dropped open and he was at a loss for words. A moment later, Elaine burst into near hysterical laughter, and slapped the portly geologist on his arm. He smiled and gave her a light squeeze across the shoulders.

  “Cal’s right, though,” he continued. “Once we get back to the ship, we get to play with all the lab equipment and see what kinds of fun stuff we brought back from our little trip here. And that means we get to stick around at home for a bit.”

  Home. Alexis’s smile came to his mind, and he thought about how he would fulfill his promise of their first date on the planet.

  A streak of blue caught his attention in the branches beyond the fire, followed by the shriek of a raptor. The light flared up along the sides of the bird’s body for a mere second as the bird took flight into the woods. Cal’s jaw dropped and he gasped.

  “See?” Neil beamed. “Did you see it?”

  “I did,” Elaine replied. “Wow. What the hell was that?”

  “I’m not sure,” Cal added.

  But I wish Lexi was here to see it.

  Capt Haruka Kimura

  3 April, Year of Landing, mid afternoon

  Camp Eight

  The green mass stretched on the ground started to look more like the heavy storm curtain that adorned the front of the Palm Palace. Haruka smiled and reached for another leaf from a small, domelike pile nearby. She folded it lengthwise between two fingers and slipped the tip into the edge of the weave, then pulled it through and upward. The coarse fibers scratched along her skin like fine sandpaper, and yet her grin widened. For the first time since the band of survivors from pod eight arrived at the beach, she felt a swell of pride from seeing the fruits of her labor.

  For the first time in what seemed like months, she was well enough to work on a task that she knew would directly contribute to the growth of the village. The third building to be constructed was nearing completion. In a matter of a day or two, Troy’s crews would be ready to put the final touch on the modest hut: its door.

  In reality, the “door” that was to be utilized was no different than what the Palace or Dr. Petrovsky’s clinic utilized, which was a thick, tightly woven mat of palm. The thin leaves that fanned out like hundreds of feathers from each palm frond were deceptively tough. One of the other colonists had discovered early on that if they were woven tightly enough, they were both waterproof and extremely resistant to wind. For this reason, they were incorporated in not only the doors, but the roofs as well. They had been tested as a matting material for bedding, but because of the rough texture of the final product, the colonists stopped producing the beds after only six were made. All six could be found in the clinic; Dr. Petrovsky insisted that they find use instead of being thrown out.

  The doctor was a prudent man, and he had a way of persuasion that Haruka admired, even when it meant that he was forcing her to rest for a day or two. The idea of reusing materials was quickly implemented in the village; it had not even required Dr. Petrovsky’s special political skills to enact it. With so few manufactured supplies available, reusing anything that was salvaged was better than trying to make something from scratch.

  After weaving a dozen more leaves into the edge of the door, she stood up and stretched. Knots in her back complained as she twisted from one side to the other. She closed her eyes and her hand rose to the back of her neck in a futile attempt to rub away the tension. Haruka then rolled her neck slowly from side to side. She felt two pops, followed by an odd combination of a momentary pain and immense relief.

  “Captain Kimura,” she heard James say softly.

  Haruka opened her eyes and met his gaze. She was taken aback when an unusually clean, baby-faced man looked back at her.

  “James?”

  “Yeah?” he replied.

  Haruka stumbled and stammered as she tried to search for her words. “Your… beard. What happened?”

  He ran his hands down his smooth shaven face. “Ah, that. I have some news for you. Will found another cargo pod out in the jungle. Looks like it’s mostly toiletries. They brought back a couple crates worth of supplies with them and he’s marked the location in case we need to go back.”

  “Interesting find. I assume they brought back soap?”

  “Of course. It felt good to clean up a bit, even if we don’t have hot water.”

  Haruka nodded. She imagined being able to brush her teeth for the first time in ages. She even had a fleeting daydream that a bath would somehow be able to wash away the cruel purple blotches that marred her skin from her neck to her toes.

  “Have we had any luck on our project with the workshop pod?” she asked.

  “You mean finding a way to power it? No, I’m sorry. Without some sort of a generator, we can’t make any juice.” A wishful sigh escaped from his lungs. “I haven’t come across anything that we could salvage that would be able to make the windmill idea fly. And even if there was, there’s a whole chicken-and-the-egg problem. Troy needs a way to make a mast that’s both thick and straight enough to support the sails without them binding.”

  “Well, I’m sure you won’t give up. With a little luck, Will and his boys will find one of the equipment pods. I’m sure one of those would have what you’d need.”

  “Probably. It would be nice to get the machinery in that pod up and running. I never thought I’d be so eager to see nails being manufactured.”

  Haruka moved over to a smooth boulder jutting out of the ground a few feet away and slowly lowered herself onto it. She glanced at the curtain that she had been weaving earlier while sitting on the very same boulder and wrung her hands together, making the nearly raw skin on her fingers ache.

  “We don’t have any iron. You know that.”

  “True, but I don’t need any if that equipment’s still in good shape. If we find an equipment pod, a generator’s not the only thing I’ll be able to strip and reuse. There’re others that you’ve mentioned that I think I can use to set up a crude recycler. It’ll be slow, but we could pull apart that hulk on the beach and turn it into usable material.”

  She leaned back and imagined James unbolting a locker door from the innards of the dead pod. “Wouldn’t that be something.”

  “Well, if it stays this quiet around here, I might just see if I can get the pod’s radio working again.”

  The words were a cruel jab. It had been exactly one week since Haruka had killed Lon Carney, though rumor had it that some colonists felt it was an execution. Those that had been present knew better; Haruka only fired when Carney went for his rifle. Still, there was a small but vocal element that firmly believed it was an execution without trial.

  Even so, the focus of the colony was no longer on the threat that Carney created, and the progress that was being made in the silent wake was telling. It was also an indictment of how much damage a single crime did to the colony. Not only when it happened, but for the entire time that it took to bring closure to the matter. Haruka turned away and looked off into the distance at a nearby hill, which each day was being stripped of a little more of its vegetation to make
room for a farm. She watched as a palm swayed back and forth much farther than any of the surrounding trees before it toppled a minute later.

  “Did I say something wrong?” James asked at last.

  “I’m sorry to have taken away your favorite job,” she sneered.

  James knitted his eyebrows and they shot skyward. “Huh?”

  “I’m sorry that you feel you have so much time on your hands since Carney’s gone.”

  “What? Wait, that’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  James waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Nothing. I was just saying I’d like another crack at the pod. I think I might be able to get it going long enough to see if there’s anyone else out there listening.”

  “Don’t knock yourself out,” she retorted. “Lieutenant Marsolek has his orders if something goes wrong. And assuming the other ships landed where Raphael’s beacon landed, the pod’s transmitter isn’t strong enough to talk to them. Only Raphael’s was.”

  He nodded and gave a weak smile, but Haruka could tell that her response had let a little wind out of his sails. An awkward silence descended. Haruka decided that she didn’t want to be smothered by it, so she grabbed another palm leaf and turned the frayed, incomplete bottom edge of the storm curtain to face her.

  “Since you brought up Carney,” James said, shattering the silence. “We may have a problem with that.”

  “He’s dead,” she said coldly, slipping the tip of the twelve inch long leaf into the weave.

  “Yes, he is. But I’m afraid the issue’s not completely put to bed.”

  Haruka sighed and her shoulders slumped as she looked up at a single white cloud high in the sky. “What now?”

  “I’ve heard some mumblings about how you handled things too harshly.”

  I doubt Luis would have agreed.

  “Alright. What have you heard?”