Bleak Page 8

  Ben answered, “Three hours, six minutes; we are on the dark side now. Which is the water side. We want to aim for the large land mass.”

  “Three hours,” Nate said. “Puts the blue moon about two hundred thousand miles away from Noah. Which is about a hundred thousand miles closer than our moon. That explains the wide coastlines. High tide has to be massive and dangerous. Our moon controls the tides. Imagine what that blue thing does to the water on Noah.”

  “Blue thing,” Curt chuckled, then turned serious. “You know what’s really awesome? We get to name them. We’re the explorers here. We get to give the names. We should give them something cool.”

  “For now, we can just stick to blue moon and white,” Finch said. “At least it looks that way.”

  “Boring,” Curt added.

  “This is amazing,” Finch spoke in awe. “I mean … it’s so much like Earth.”

  “We are not alone,” Sandra stated. “We always knew there were other planets like Earth out there. We just needed to find them.”

  “It could be one of dozens of exoplanets found with the right photosynthesis,” Nate said. “Trappist System … or better yet, this could be Kepler 452B. It’s in a habitable zone. Conditions right for liquid water …” He pointed at Noah as example. “It’s about fourteen hundred light years away from Earth. The ESI or Earth Similarity Index point eighty-three. Which means eighty-three percent of it matches Earth. It’s terrestrial, and green is vegetation, which typically means oxygen.”

  “It’s obviously not tidal locked,” Ben added. “At least we don’t think so.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Rey.

  “Means it’s like Earth’s moon. One side of the moon always faces Earth. A lot of those Kepler type planets were tidal locked. One side always faced the sun. With any exoplanets it is hard to determine if there is a magnetic field like Earth. Which is needed to protect it from the sun.”

  “And …” Nate added. “Does it have an atmosphere, and is it conducive to light?”

  Finch faced the team. “We can talk, we can educate each other until the blue moon rises and falls. But whether we can breathe the air, drown from the skies, walk on the soil, or fry up from radiation are all irrelevant, because it’s not going to matter if that planet is hostile to life or not. We don’t have a choice in the matter,” he said. “In three hours … we land.”

  Part Four: The Arrival

  FOURTEEN

  The primary body of land on Noah was an easy target. Nate estimated its landmass to be close to fourteen million square miles. Curt joked that they should ‘aim for the middle’ when looking for a place to land.

  It wasn’t a matter of aiming. The landing site had to be perfect. An area long and flat for landing and takeoff, plus optimal exposure to sunlight.

  The northern most part of the landmass was white, indicating ice, so Finch set a course for the eastern coast, south of the frozen tundra, and while close to the coastal area, far enough inland to be clear from what Nate believed would be dangerous tides.

  Taking a page from Rey’s paranoid book, they all suited up for the landing.

  They knew the second they began the decent the planet had an atmosphere, though what it consisted of remained to be seen.

  The entry was smooth, with Finch switching to airplane mode to find a feasible landing spot. It depleted most of their power, leaving them moments away from a powerless landing.

  Finch wanted to land in a desert area which was twenty miles south from their resting spot. That wasn’t feasible given the power situation.

  They landed in an area that was sandwiched between a wide beach and rolling green hills covered in plants and trees. Though flat, the surface was littered with large rocks that weren’t seen from the air.

  It was a rough and bumpy landing.

  Rey bounced in her seat so hard, she got an instant headache. She swore then and there, never again would she travel in space. Not that she’d get the chance.

  She expected excitement and enthusiasm when they landed, instead, everyone was silent, taking a moment to catch their breath.

  Finch was the first to take off his helmet. He inhaled then nodded to Curt. “Internal life support?”

  Curt reached up to his controls. “Initiated.”

  “Solar panels.”

  Curt pressed a few more buttons. “Deployed and charging.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Ben said through the helmet speaker. “We definitely have gravity.”

  “What is it?” Nate asked.

  “Give me a second.” Ben undid his helmet and lifted it off. After undoing his belt he stood. “Yep, we have gravity.” He walked to his work station behind the seats.

  Rey didn’t need a scientist to announce they had gravity. She felt it. Her stomach felt weird and every part of her body seemed to experience the blood moving through every fiber of her muscles. She removed her helmet when she saw Nate do the same and listened to the shop talk between them. Here they went again. All doing their jobs and Rey had nothing. She had none. Yes, she was given a crash course for everyone else’s job, but she was like the understudy in a play. Waiting in the wings for something to happen.

  “Dr. Gale,” Finch called him. “I need a reading.”

  “Right away, Colonel.” Nate stood and like Ben went to his work station.

  “Dr. Anderson, prepare medical,” Finch ordered.

  “Right away, Colonel,” Sandra replied.

  “Curt, life?” Finch asked.

  Curt shook his head. “Nothing. At least not here.”

  “What’s our gravity, Ben?”

  “Eight point seven Gs,” Ben announced. “Pretty damn close to Earth’s nine point two.”

  “I always wanted to be a little lighter on my feet,” Finch joked. “Dr. Gale?”

  “Oh my God,” Nate said.

  “What?”

  “Air sample is in,” Nate replied. “We have an amazing cocktail of oxygen, nitrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, and argon.”

  “But is it the right cocktail?” Finch asked.

  “It’s the perfect cocktail.”

  “Breathable air?”

  “Breathable air.”

  Finch, in a rare show of excitement, clenched his fist and drew it in. “Yes.” He stood and began to remove his suit. “What are the surface conditions?”

  “It’s windy,” Nate answered. “Might be the norm. Might not. Right now it’s reading ten miles per hour with twenty mile gusts. Temperature … seventy-three degrees.”

  “Wait. What? The surface temperature is seventy-three?” Finch asked.

  “Couldn’t be more perfect.”

  “So there’s no reason we can’t just walk out there?”

  “No reason.”

  “Alright team,” Finch announced. “I don’t see why we all can’t be the Neil Armstrong here.” He walked down the aisle past Rey and to the back, speaking as he did. “One small step for man, one giant for the survival of humanity. I’m excited, I know you are. Let’s take off the suits and head out.” He handed Rey a baseball-style cap, but it didn’t have a rim.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  “I figured you should have the honor of recording all this. Camera’s on the top.” He showed her. “This button here starts it. Will you?”

  “Absolutely.” Rey took the cap and adjusted it to fit her head.

  FIFTEEN

  From the second they stepped foot onto the planet it was, Now what?

  Before that first step, air samples were taken once more. Rey was given the honor of being the second one out of the Omni, directly behind Finch. She turned on the camera keeping her head tilted up to capture as much as she could of his expression.

  “Home?” Finch said as he stepped from the Omni. “It could be.”

  Rey was nervous when she took the first step. It was solid ground. Everyone’s expression was that of being amazed, happy … excited.

  But that was short-lived.

  At least for
Rey.

  Her mind went to, Now what?

  No one really mentioned a plan after landing, as if they never expected it to be viable. Nothing was discussed about what they did once they left the ship. They spoke about remaining on the ship until the cells were recharged. How they’d live in close quarters until they could lift off again and return home.

  But there they were, and they pretty much just stood there.

  Would they perch a flag?

  Rey reached up and shut off the camera, not really sure what she should video document.

  “First order of business,” Finch said. “We have two weeks here. Our bodies are still on Earth time.” He looked at his watch. “And to us it is seven o’clock. Let’s unpack, get our gear, and set up camp for the night. We’ll begin exploration in the morning. If you venture anywhere, do so in pairs and not far. We have work. We might as well get started now.”

  The team seemed eager; Rey didn’t know what to do or where to start. She followed Finch back into the Omni.

  “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Finch asked.

  “I really don’t know how to take it. It’s just hard to believe we’re not even in the same solar system,” Rey said.

  “I think as we explore, we’ll learn a lot.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “What am I supposed to do? I mean, everyone seemed to just click into gear. I feel like a third wheel.”

  “You shouldn’t. Document.” He touched her cap. “Talk to them. Everything we do here, people back home will want to know. Ask questions. Walk outside, look around. But don’t forget to give that camera to Ben to charge.”

  “Sounds good.” Rey reached up and turned on the camera. “Okay Colonel Finch. You’re on. What is your job right now?”

  “Right now, I am in charge of unloading supplies. Tracking what is done, but mainly preparing and charging the rover for expedition.”

  “The rover is?”

  “A manned vehicle we will take. It’s a pretty big hunk of land. We’ll take in as much as we can on ground.”

  Rey thanked him. It wasn’t much of an interview, but a start. She followed him to the back of the ship and to the cargo area, where Curt was waiting by the open hatch.

  “Hey.” Curt wore a backwards baseball cap, making him look much younger than he was. “You’re our historian, I see.”

  “I guess,” she said. “So, what are you up to?”

  “Me. I have to help Finch unload, and I am in charge of setting up our camp for the night.”

  “Sounds pretty simple.” She looked left to right. “Where is the rover?”

  Hands on hips, Curt smiled again. “In about eight different crates right now.”

  “It needs to be built? Are you doing that?”

  “Nope.” Curt pointed to Ben who was opening a case. “He is.”

  Rey stepped down the ramp of the hatch and intended on talking to Curt, but she saw Nate who moved a computer tablet around as if he were aiming it.

  She took a few steps his way and that was when she finally looked around.

  They had landed in a dirt and rock area that stretched for as far as she could see. It was narrow though, with grassy like areas on both sides. To the right and left of the grass were rows of trees.

  “Pilgrims,” Nate said catching her attention.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” she asked.

  He stood next to her. “When we arrived here, I imagined this was how the pilgrims felt. First on a new land. Uncharted. Untouched. The first people to be there.”

  “Only they weren’t.”

  “No, they weren’t,” Nate said.

  “The natives?”

  “Could be anywhere. This is a large landmass.”

  “So you think there is life here?” she asked.

  “I’ll be surprised if there isn’t. Do you mind?” He reached for her cap.

  “You want me to turn it off?”

  “Yeah, could you. I just would rather not be recorded until I have factual information.”

  “Sure.” She reached and turned off the camera.

  “I promise to let you film when I do.”

  “What are you doing now?”

  “Looking around mainly. First order was to set up my sundial.” He pointed to a rod near the rear of the ship. “I need to know how long the days are. I figure by my watch, I’ll be able to track, very primitively, how long the days are. Walk with me?” he asked. “We’re supposed to be in pairs.”

  “Sure. Where are we going?”

  “Exploring the area. Not too far though. I want to compare.” He lifted his tablet.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think this is a twilight zone world. The trees around us. They look like a hybrid of what we have on Earth. A hybrid between a larch and hemlock trees. I mean they are both part of the Pinaceae family, but still. How is that possible?”

  “How is what possible, the hybrid? Maybe it’s not a hybrid. Maybe it’s just this world’s trees and they look like what we know as a hemlock and larch.”

  “That’s a point.”

  “Or the Frontier crashed here.”

  He paused in walking. “The Frontier.”

  “Yeah, you know it was launched seventy or so years ago …”

  “I know about the Frontier. I just … why do you say that?”

  “It had seedlings, recordings, a time capsule for space,” she said. “Much like the one you contributed to, I guess. Well it was sent into space. They stopped tracking it. What if it crashed here. Farfetched I know, but if it went through the Androski and crashed here, it could have inadvertently …”

  “Terraformed.”

  Rey snapped her finger. “Yes. That. But that takes a while.”

  “With two moons, it’s more than likely the rotation is faster, anything is possible.”

  “We’ll be here for two weeks. I bet you’re excited about the things you’ll see.”

  Nate continued walking. “I am. I’m more excited about the possibility of life here or the previous civilization.”

  “And you’re sure there was one?”

  “With ninety percent certainty. Things I saw on the satellite indicated that. And if I’m right, it’s not far from where we are. Something big wiped out life here. And I think it was fast. This planet has a lot of hostilities. For example …” He showed her the tablet. “Here is a picture I took from the Omni. The land mass where we landed. We’re here … from my estimate. South of the frozen zone.” Using his fingers he zoomed in on the picture.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Our landing strip. It’s bare. No life. It extends hundreds of miles. This is it.” He pointed to the image.

  Amongst the green, the brown line looked like a road from the Omni image.

  “There’s a reason no life grows there,” he said. “It could be an active fault line.”

  “An active fault line?”

  “Something like that. It has to be something that happens over and over that prohibits growth.”

  “Sounds dangerous,” Rey said.

  “It could be. If only …”

  Both Rey and Nate turned their heads slowly to the loud sound. A whooshing sound that grew louder.

  “Sounds like the ocean,” Rey shouted over the noise.

  “Yeah, it does.”

  “I thought we landed twenty miles inland.”

  “That’s what we calculated.”

  “Has to be wrong. How can we hear an ocean from twenty miles away?”

  “We can’t. It sounds like an ocean. But have you ever heard one that loud?”

  “Not even from the beach.”

  Nate grabbed hold of her wrist and began to move quickly, almost running toward the sound, dragging her along.

  “Should we be headed this far?” Rey asked.

  Nate didn’t verbally reply. He kept pulling her.

  The sound was deep and barreling, growing louder and louder. W
hile it sounded like an ocean, it lacked the noise of crashing waves, only a pulsing, roaring sound.

  They ran through the deep tree area and all Rey kept thinking was they were never making their way back. Nate ran aimlessly, not paying attention to where they were going.

  Yelling for him to stop was impossible, the sound was so loud.

  Five minutes into the run, the temperature made a sudden drop and the trees bent inland as a steady wind gust pushed against them.

  She kept thinking, This can’t be safe, this can’t possibly be safe. With each step they moved, the wind beat harder at them and they fought the force against monsoon-strength winds. Her eyes fought to stay open.

  “What are we doing!” Rey shouted.

  “What?”

  Of course he didn’t hear her, she could barely hear herself. She was almost afraid of him letting go, for fear she would turn into some sort of Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and get swept away.

  Suddenly the shading from the trees changed and the brightness of the planet’s sun blasted them. They were nearing the edge of the woods.

  Still clutching her wrist, Nate came to an abrupt halt then shot out his arm to hold her back like a parent holding back a child in the front seat when the vehicle stops abruptly. Rey’s own arm along with Nate’s was against her chest and she still tipped forward. It was as if the world had dropped off. Had it not been for the wind pushing against them, they surely would have fallen.

  She caught through her peripheral vision Nate reaching up for her cap. He was turning on the camera.

  After inching back, Rey’s focus was down. She couldn’t help it. Even though scared, a part of her was in awe at the distance between her feet and the earth over three hundred feet below her. At the base of the cliff was a beach. Not the type she was used to seeing on vacation or in pictures, more unchartered, untouched. Littered with seaweed and other things dragged in from the ocean.

  Nate lifted her chin to get her to look forward.

  The beach extended outward for miles and the ocean was barely seen on the horizon as it blended with the sky.

  Why was it so loud?

  Then it grew even louder. Rey flinched from the noise, but the sight of it in the distance made her squint. Was it an optical illusion or was the ocean growing?