The Colony Ship Eschaton: The entire ten book series, page 9
“This is truly astounding,” Jamie stated as she looked from one wonder to another.
“These are some of those living plants we heard about. They are far more fragile in touch than I expected.” Michael ever so carefully felt the edges of the serrated flat part of the plant. “Leaves?” Then he saw a small tube, about a hand’s breath long, holding up a disk shape. The disk was about double the size of his fingernail. That tube holding the disk rose from the middle of the green leaves. As he gently turned the disk he saw that it was not green like the leaves but was a bright yellow color and about the size of his thumb nail. “It is so pretty,” he commented.
“Look how many of them there are,” Jamie said as she pointed at the green expanse. It was nearly filled with green leaves, and poking up here and there were the tubes holding up the yellow disks. “Flowers. Gorgeous yellow flowers.”
The yellow disks were pointing away from the door area and were sort of aimed at the wall of greenery. Michael thought of the receiving dishes he had seen in some of the dome equipment. These flowers were like a biological version of a parabolic dish. But as Michael and Jamie looked closer, they realized that the green wall was not a solid thing but was made up of a multitude of different kinds of plants and vines and bushes and trees. Scattered among that was light. So much light. Light shining among and through and in places, even shining down in beams of light that struck the ground. The light was warm and bright and nourishing.
“We should set up the teleporter right now!” Jamie exclaimed. “We can cut what we need from the back wall or those stairs. But it is all so amazing.” She looked again at the walls of green foliage. It was easier to see the different plants which comprised that wall, now that her mind had registered that it was living and growing plants.
Jamie took a few steps toward one of the beams of light that was penetrating the canopy of green. As she did, she kept looking around and finally looked back toward the door. The door was set in a permalloy wall which was very high, but the green canopy obscured her vision from seeing all the way to the top of wherever that wall ended. The metal wall was smooth and unbroken except for the door. But that metal wall hardly interested Jamie as she looked back at the plants and trees and foliage. She was in awe.
“There is not enough room right here for the teleportation receiving pad," Michael said still squatting. “We would have to remove all those, plants.” He paused and looked around and then down again. “Yes, I think these are flowers,” Michael said as he let loose of the yellow disk and stood up. He walked over to Jamie and continued. “I must say it again: John told us about the biological habitats, but I thought he was exaggerating. Now I know it was no embellishment at all. I can hardly believe my eyes, or nose.” He sniffed deeply and coughed just a bit as the fragrance was strong.
Jamie stood directly in one of the beam of light. “It is so warm, and it feels so good,” she said in a dreamy voice. The red in her hair was more vivid, and the light on her face seemed to soak into her skin. Her freckled face shone, she closed her eyes, and her mouth upturned in a slight smile. She had never looked more beautiful to Michael.
As she stood there basking in that light, a shadow passed over. Instantly, her eyes were open and she asked, “What was that?”
Michael had seen the fleeting shadow as well, but had no explanation for it. His mind went though all kinds of different scenarios, but he was baffled. Then he thought of the old records John had showed them of the woman being eaten by a giant plant. “Is there some danger here? What did you see?”
“The light was warming my face, and I could see reddish yellow through my closed eye lids. Then something blocked the light for a moment, and then the light was back.” Jamie said wariness in her voice. Her eyes darting side to side as she looked at the biome around her.
“I think we better find some kind of cover, I am not sure what is here. Remember John warned us of predators,” Michael said and took Jamie by the hand. They walked back toward the door. “Let us sit here and observe for a while more, so we do not rush into something. If we set up the teleportation pad here, we will need to somehow make a cleared area.”
Just then it happened.
15 life in all the wonders
The shadow passed over them again, and both Jamie and Michael shot toward the opening they had cut in the doorway.
“Jamie, get inside there!” Michael yelled as he gestured toward the opening.
She dove through, followed quickly by Michael.
Jamie turned back around and looked out through the cut open door. Jamie said: “That is an animal! A flying animal! Look!” She grabbed Michael by the shoulder and stopped his retreat into the hallway. He turned around.
There it was, standing in the midst of the green leafy plants with the yellow disk flowers. It was a creature. It stood on two tiny legs. It was about ankle height. It had a black head and an orange chest and brownish sides. It cocked its head at them for a moment then dipped its head down into the green. The head popped up and the creature hoped a few short hops and repeated the dipping process.
“It flew right at my head. Is it dangerous?” Michael asked, and reached to unbuckle his projectile weapon.
Jamie put her hand on his and restrained his action of drawing the weapon. “Watch a bit more and see,” she said. “There are others as well.”
Two more of the flying animals landed among the greens and yellows. All had similar orange chests, and brownish sides. A moment later, the first creature hopped a few more times, spread its two wings, and flapped them quickly. It flew away and was lost among the plants. The other two pecked at the green plants a few more times, but then departed in a similar manner.
“It was a flying animal. If I remember John correctly, that was some kind of a bird.” Jamie explained. “John said that the air was filled with flying birds, and the water filled with his swimming fish.”
“I guess he was correct. Were they hunting us? John said colorful things could deliver venom. What else is out there?” Michael asked. He was far more shaken up by the overwhelming sensations he was experiencing than he expected. All the odors. All the sights. All the colors, and all the movement. For he had noticed that the plants, trees and such were gently swaying as the air moved. It was all overwhelming.
“Michael,” Jamie grabbed his head and stared into his eyes. “We must find a place to set up the receiving pad. We know there is a habitat here, and that life exists here. We must get it set up.”
“Right,” Michael responded and concentrated on thinking about what to do to set up the teleportation pad. “If this area is patrolled by venomous flyers, perhaps a different area would be better.”
“Okay. We will need a bigger area than right here to set it up anyway,” Jamie gestured at the hard floor around the door. “We will need to find a more open spot, or make a more open spot. We need fifteen meters on each side of the pad.”
“So we search out a safer place,” Michael said. “Who knows what predators we might encounter trying to clear out this area. Also, we have not seen a room or corridor large enough for the receiving pad yet either.”
“Follow me, but keep alert. We cannot be lulled by the beauty into becoming victims,” Jamie said as she crawled back out and into the habitat.
Michael pulled their backpacks from the hole in the door. Slinging them on, they carefully looked around again. Seeing no immediate threats, they began to walk over the green plants on the ground, keeping watch from side to side for possible dangers. After a few paces they were near the trees. The upward parts of the trees were covered with a hard brown outer surface. It was very rough to the touch. Looking upward they saw that the trees arched over their heads and branched out in all directions. The ends were covered in the green leaves.
Two of the orange breasted flying animals soared by. Michael and Jamie ducked and watched, but those birds did not attack.
“Come on. They may not be predators, or they were just protecting that area with the yellow flowers,” Jamie said. She smiled at Michael. “This is all so exciting, and I know we will succeed. Life is here and thriving!”
“It would take a lot of effort to clear these large plants,” Michael stated. “I am sure a molecular torch will cut one down, but pushing enough out of the way to make the pad will be tough. There might be a clearer area somewhere nearby.”
“No forest goes on forever, right? A better building site will result in a quicker assembly of the receiving pad,” Jamie agreed. “Then our people can come here.” She gestured toward where there was a bit less ground cover and they weaved their way through and around the trunks of the trees.
Other growing things were about the same height as they were, but were widely spread at their bases. The kinds of foliage were two to three meters in diameter at the bottom and pointed at the top, sort of a cone shape, and densely covered in sharp wire-like spikes. At the peak of the cone shape they could see small brown pods of some kind.
They stepped around the trees and continued onward through the forested area. The light became dimmer as they progressed. The ground was easier to walk over, but the canopy overhead was much more dense. The ground became covered by fallen leaves and needles from the various types of trees. It was spongy and soft to walk upon.
They saw a few more birds flying between the trees, and, once, something ran from under a tree and was off and away. All they saw of that was a white bobbing tail and a blur of movement.
“This is so strange, and so different.” Michael commented. His voice betrayed the anxiety he was feeling.
“Keep it together, and we will get this done.” Jamie said and squeezed his hand to assure him of her presence.
They were becoming quite exhausted. They stopped and set down the packs. They again consumed a food ratio and some water. They toileted near one of the trees. They started up walking again.
“There must be a break somewhere,” Jamie observed. “That area by the door was the most open place, a glen if I remember the term correctly, but it is still too small for the receiving pad.”
“That location did offer access to permalloy back there. We will need that to make the receiving pad’s grid,” Michael replied. “I suppose we could cut down some trees around that, then hide them on the stairwell to clear a large enough area. Do you think the entire habitat is one large forest?”
“We should keep scouting. I really doubt the whole place is so densely covered with foliage, but it might be,” Jamie said.
After some time, they noticed that the light was fading even more and it was becoming dimmer and dimmer in the forest.
“This biome must be on a day night circadian cycle. I know I need to sleep again,” Michael said. “How are you faring?”
“I too am tired. How long can this go on? I have never seen so much green or so many different living things. It is far better than any of John’s visual recording or his stories. Imagine what he will say when he sees all this!”
“So shall we camp for the night? I do not relish walking into some danger in the dark, and the lamps will not penetrate very far in all this.” Michael looked over at Jamie. “You decide, I will follow your lead, but darkness in a biological habitat might make building much more difficult.”
“You are correct. We will have to manually set up the FTL message system, and we will need sharp minds to do that. After we rest we can assess whether to keep searching or go back to that door and start clearing the area. That will work, but it will take concerted effort to prepare a site for the receiving pad.”
“I imagine the day night cycle will be similar to what Dome 17 used, but that is just a guess,” Michael said. “Fantastic! Simply fantastic. So much life.”
They unloaded the packs and stretched out on the soft needles. This made a much better bed than the hard floor in the stairway of the previous sleep period. They reclined and started to fall asleep as the last of the light faded, and the forest was bathed in darkness.
Michael and Jamie were not prepared at all for all the sounds that replaced the light. There were whistles, clicks, hoots, croaks and a symphony of various other sounds which emerged from the darkness. Those noises came from every direction and surrounded them. They both lay there in stunned amazement and listened.
“Eyes, ears, noses, and minds. Wow this is amazing,” Michael said as he rolled over next to Jamie. “Did you ever think you would see a biome?”
“It is stupendous.”
It was a long while later when they each fell into a deep sleep in the first biological ecosystem either of them had ever experienced.
16 someone visits in the night
The light of the morning awoke them. There was a slight damp dew on their exposed faces and hands. The RAM clothing had absorbed any of the water which had accumulated on other places. The light brought with it a different array of sounds and smells. New, exotic, and different, awakening in a biome was an original experience.
At first all seemed well, and they stretched and moved to limber up their sore bodies.
“Hey, where is my pack?” Jamie exclaimed.
“Mine is missing as well!” Michael yelled.
Looking around they could see nothing but the greens of the forest- the soft needles and leaves on the ground - and the light just getting steadily brighter as they stood wondering what had happened.
“The teleportation components! The fusion packs! The food! It is all gone!” Michael was bewildered and angry and frightened all at the same time. He stomped around not knowing what to do. He punched his fist into his palm several times.
“The weapons, and all the gear and gone. Someone must have taken it while we slept. We must recover it. Everyone will die if we do not get the teleportation receiving pad established.” Jamie was steady in her speech, but the lines around her mouth were tight. It was the only outward sign of the fear that was gripping her heart.
“Okay, so how do we find it?” Michael said. Then on impulse he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Bring it back! Bring it back!! Come back!!!!” He called, falling to his knees with his head tipped upward. “Bring back our technology!”
Jamie walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We will recover it,” she said it calmly and confidently. In her mind she was surprised at the way she said it, for she was deeply worried, but now was not the time to show that to Michael.
“Come on and walk for a while, and maybe we can find our stuff.” Jamie said. “Could it have been some animals? Do animals come and take equipment? Do animals smell food? Or are they attracted to certain things?”
“Only John would know that,” Michael answered. “If only I had not taken off my belt!” He punched his fist into his palm again. Then his eyes lit up. He reached up to his ear and pressed his communication system. “Roxanne? Roxanne? We really need you. Please respond!”
There was no answer.
“Michael, all we can do is search,” Jamie said, but laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
They walked onward through the forest. Soon the trees were less dense and the way was easier. They again saw a few birds, and another thing which darted away along the ground. This one also looked only like white-bobbing flash in the undergrowth.
As the trees thinned more and more they started to see the ceiling of the biological habitat for the first time. It was far above their heads. The actual ceiling was indistinct, just a presence way up there. Down the center of the ceiling, running long-ways, for as far as they could see was the source of the light. It was a brilliantly lit cylinder. It was so bright it was slightly painful to gaze at directly, and they could not see what was behind it due to the glare. As they looked at the ceiling they got the impression that it sloped away from the illuminated cylinder and down toward the sides of the habitat. As they knew from the plans of the colony ships, each habitat was an enormous cylinder with an arched ceiling cover over it. This ceiling was far different than the one they knew so well in Dome 17. The highest point of Dome 17, was miniscule compared to this vast overhead sky. They never imagined just how large a colony ship would appear until they were standing inside the habitat. It dwarfed their expectations.
As they stood, gazing up at the ceiling so very far away, they felt hopeless but were afraid to share that with each other. Both were trying to be brave, but the mission seemed doomed, and they really did not know what to do next.
So they walked on. They did find an open area, a clearing, roughly forty meters in diameter. It was exactly what they had looked for the previous day, but without any of their gear, especially the teleportation components, finding a suitable site for building the receiving pad was meaningless.
