The Intrepid Begins

Day 431

Amy Brewster stood in the shower for a few minutes before getting out. One reason was to help dry, but the main reason was that this was the only time she had to herself every few days. She sheeted the loose water with her hand into a small extendable drain for recycling. She stroked the warm rust-resistant metal. It would be a while until she felt its warmth again and she would miss it dearly before then.

She stepped out into the tiny washroom, took a deep breath and donned her shorts and sports bra. There was a standard-issue uniform she could wear, but she along with everyone else had forsaken that rule long ago. She slid the door open and went into her small quarters. There was a meeting in just a couple of minutes so she hurried through her small room, opened another door and stepped into a hallway. She was almost run over by the Technical Director, Roger Maxwell.

“Damn these narrow halls!” Roger exclaimed as he stumbled.

“Take it easy, Roger.” Amy said. “Our schedules are just synchronizing, that’s all.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Roger said.

Amy waved Roger ahead and they walked down the hallway to the meeting room. She noticed Roger was looking down as he walked. She shook her head and looked out one of the port windows. She saw portions of the outer frame of the ship, along with the faint, bluish glow of the light drive. It was the same view as always. If she wanted to see the stars and universe beyond the glare, the only way was to use the specialized scope on the navigation deck. No wonder Roger looked down.

They reached the meeting room and Roger opened the door. He let Amy in first then went in after her.

“Roger, late as usual.” Daniel Mansfield, Senior Officer said. He was standing near a monitor with some images on it. Susan Blakemore, Astrobiologist, and Jacob Stintz, Cosmogeologist, sat in two chairs at the table waiting, tapping finger and nodding respectively. Roger took a seat near the door.

“We aren’t that late, Daniel.” Amy said as she sat down as well.

“No, just barely. Shall we begin?” Daniel asked as he sat down as well. He shuffled some papers around and cleared his throat.

“This is day 427, well into the second half of our journey, and I must say we are doing well by anyone’s predictions. Now, let’s go over the reports so we can all get to our system checks, maintenance and experiments. Amy?”

“Oh, me first?” Amy rubbed her chin. “Well, things as you say are going pretty well. All electrical and mechanical systems seem to be operating optimally and the minor fluctuations in the light drive are barely above 1% of normal.”

“You call that minor?” Roger interjected.

“Under the circumstances, yes.” Amy countered. “You remember the yearly report. These fluctuations are perfectly within estimates. Even if our trip was double what it is…”

“Now don’t say that!” Susan exclaimed.

“I’m sorry.” Amy said. “But even if...the fluctuations would max out at 5%...maybe 7%. Both are relatively safe perturbations.”

“I do remember that report.” Roger said. “And I recall precisely your estimates. I consider them to be on the safe side. Perhaps your extrapolations…”

“Director.” Daniel interrupted. “Are you suggesting that our Chief Engineer is making faulty reports?”

“No.” Roger spat. “I’m merely suggesting that she may be overlooking certain long-term effects of continuous use of the light drive.”

“Susan, what do you make of Roger’s comments?” Daniel asked.

“Well, there is no need to say that we all know that the light drive is an experimental device. Need I remind everyone of our overall mission and the need for haste?”

“Nonsense, but could you elaborate on any long-term biological effects to which Roger may be referring?”

Amy crossed her arms as Susan pursed her lips and looked down in thought.

“There is some speculation of cellular effects from exposure to the light drive field, but the theories are shaky and experimental proof is absent.” Susan said.

“Roger?” Daniel asked.

“I think that it may be too early to put such concerns on the priority list.” Roger said.

“Very well. Amy, please continue.” Daniel said.

“I think I was done.” Amy said.

“Roger, you’re up.” Daniel said.

“Well, I am primarily here to prevent and solve problems, so I would say things are going fantastically.” Roger said.

“Roger, there is no need for that tone, but just let me tell you as your friend. I’m glad that we don’t have need of your immense experience. If things did go wrong, I have every confidence in your abilities. Does anyone here disagree? I didn’t think so. Now, Susan, it’s your turn I believe.”

“As you’ve said, Daniel, things are going very well.” Susan started. “Everyone is basically sticking to their diet and exercise routines and I must say I am impressed at the creativity in keeping the routine fresh. Sleep and brain patterns look good in everyone, so everyone can just relax.”

“Good one, Susan.” Amy chuckled.

“Thanks. I’ve been making substantial progress on the potential sequencing of our destination. With available data, the results look very promising. Food stores and environmental parameters are well within range.”

“Very good. Jake, you’ve been awfully quiet over there.” Daniel said. “How are things?”

“Pretty good, Daniel. Thanks for asking.” Jacob said. “But seriously, my simulations and experiments are going great. I never thought I would be able to accomplish this much research while traveling.”

“Yes, you have utilized the processors almost to capacity for some time now.” Daniel said.

“Oh, I could use all of it easy, but I need something to do later.” Jacob laughed.

“Is that all?” Daniel asked.

“Yep.” Jacob said.

“Any more thoughts before we dismiss?” Daniel asked. “I see you have been doing some doodling, Roger.”

“Indeed.” Roger looked up from his paper. “I think, going back to my previous point, that we can avoid two problems with one small environmental change.”

“Please explain.” Daniel said.

“Well, as we all know we are going to be much younger than our peers when we return, and trust me when I say there is risk associated with long-term exposure to light drive fluctuations. With me so far?” Roger looked around.

“If you are suggesting what I think…” Susan started.

“I am.” Roger said. “I want to increase oxygen percentage in all air systems by as much as 4%.”

“Interesting.” Daniel said. “Any comments?”

“I think we could all use the energy boost.” Amy suggested.

“Now that’s what I like to see. Roger, this is much more constructive than belittling Amy’s math skills.”

“So you are on board?” Roger asked.

“I want fully fleshed-out opinions from everyone at tomorrow’s meeting.” Daniel said. “Anyone want to add anything else before we conclude? Very well, have a pleasant day as usual, everybody. This meeting is adjourned.”

Amy milled around as everyone left except for Daniel. He always left last and she did not want to get to her tasks right away. She looked at his strong hands as he gathered up his documents. She quickly tried to think of something to talk about before Daniel looked up at her and smiled.

“Is there anything else, Amy?” Daniel asked.

“Well, about what Roger said, it kind of got to me.” Amy said.

“About your extrapolations?” Daniel asked as he walked around and sat next to her.

“Kind of.” Amy hesitated and noticed Daniel’s hand on the table next to hers. “How do we know we are doing the best we can? We are so used to each other, I’m afraid we would let mistakes go just so we won’t get into arguments. It’s almost as if the only thing wrong is that there are no real disputes.”

“Amy.” Daniel said. “We were picked, technical experience aside, primarily for our capacity to be civil with each other. You know that. If it’s an anomaly for humans to be kind to each other, then I think it would be a mighty fine anomaly to live with. You would be the last person I’d expect to hear this kind of talk from.”

“I know. I read all the psychology reports too.” Amy sighed. “I think maybe this is something I never knew about myself. I feel like I have something new growing inside of me.”

“You regret being picked for this mission?” Daniel asked.

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Amy said. “It just feels like something is missing.”

“Perhaps we can plan some new activities.” Daniel said.

“Why can’t we have other types of activities?” Amy asked as she put her hand on Daniel’s.

“Amy. It is true we are both single. But you know as well as I do why we can’t start a physical relationship.” Daniel said.

“Do I?” Amy asked.

“We can’t compromise the mission.” Daniel said. “We can’t compromise the future of our race.”

“But three more years?” Amy asked.

“Look, once we get to our destination, we will all be so busy that that won’t even cross your mind.” Daniel said.

“That a lie.” Amy said. “I know you think about it.”

“Well, I’ll admit sometimes I think about it.” Daniel said. “But I have so many things to do to keep this ship in order…”

“I know.” Amy said. “Will it ever be the same as it was? Will it ever be like it was before we ruined everything?”

“That’s our job, Amy.” Daniel said. “That’s why we have to stay strong.”

“Right.” Amy said as she took her hand away and stood up. “I’d better get to my duties. I don’t want to fall behind schedule.”

“It is funny.” Daniel said as he stood up. “We have all this time until we arrive, but we have almost no time for ourselves.”

“When?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know.” Daniel said.

“When?” Amy pressed.

“Maybe…maybe when we complete our mission.” Daniel stammered.

“I guess that will have to do.” Amy said.

She walked out and stroked Daniel’s back as she left. She quickly walked down another hallway to her monitoring station. Her heart was fluttering from her encounter with Daniel. It was weird because she never considered him to be especially attractive. He was a colleague and the commanding officer, but something was changing inside of her. She wanted more than just the tedium of another day. She wanted real intimacy.

She reached her station and settled into her chair. The walls were transparent and from time to time somebody would walk by or call through the intercom system. She ran simulation after simulation of the impacts on the crew and the ship’s life support system of a small oxygen increase. After several hours she began to understand what Roger had deciphered in a moment during the meeting. The impact on their cellular systems would be negligible and the ship could handle it with ease, and she realized that Roger was almost exactly right with the proposed four percent increase. She heard Roger knocking and turned around in her chair.

"How long have you been standing there?" Amy asked.

"Long enough. Now you see what I was saying?" Roger pointed to the display.

"It is compelling." Amy chewed her lip. "It seems I underestimated the mutation capability of the higher-energy fluctuations. But we may actually be causing more damage with the increased respiration rates."

"Immediate damage, yes, but you have to remember that the light drive affects gametic cells as well. Increased natural respiration is the best thing I’ve found to counter the effects of the drive. I’ll take a case of cancer any day over sterilizing myself."

"Have lots of prospects lined up do you?" Amy teased.

"Are you kidding? We’ll all be global heroes when we return. I’m sure we’ll all have our pick of awaiting fans, and I’d hate to save and relocate our species just to be the seedless old know-it-all."

"You must have put a lot of thought into this. Now I know we have it too easy when you plan your return before we even reach and quantify T-42."

"Heh. Problems here on the ship aren’t really problems; they are sections in my troubleshooting manual. The real problems are the ones we haven’t encountered, the ones we can’t imagine and haven’t prepared for. We still hardly know anything about T-42."

Amy saw Susan round the corner as Roger said this and she walked over.

"You techies conspiring against us lay-folk?" Susan joked.

"Just sorting out this oxygen proposal." Amy said.

"Say, Susan, you are the foremost expert on our destination." Roger said. "Any new details other than the fact it has water?"

"Oh Roger, you always want the answers before anyone else."

"What about its atmospheric composition? Am I going to have oxygen withdrawals if we land there?"

"Tell you what, Maxwell, when the new data sets come in and if you aren’t busy, you are more than welcome to analyze the data with me."

"I can’t wait." Roger said.

"Well, you have to. We are two weeks out from the updated figures from auxiliary detectors."

"What about the ship sensors? They’ve been streaming data for months now."

"That garbage?" Susan scoffed. "It’s junk. Another unfortunate effect of continuous use of the light drive I imagine."

"You run it through any filters?" Roger asked.

"Oh yes but I always end up getting different results." Susan shrugged.

"Must I do everything around here?" Roger threw up his hands. "Why didn’t you mention this earlier?"

"I was just going to wait until we got usable data from our Earth satellites."

"Come on. Show me this garbage data before something else breaks around here." Roger walked on ahead and Susan followed him.

"You two have fun." Amy waved as she turned back around to look at her simulations. She punched in some new figures and hit run. She rubbed her chin and looked around to make sure she was alone. She then looked down at her belly and rubbed it with the tips of her fingers.

Day 443

Amy walked the narrow hallways of the Intrepid. She knew every nook and cranny of the vessel and that fact disturbed her more and more every day. The others were huddled in the instrumentation room pouring over the new planetary and atmospheric data from T-42. She recalled two years ago when she was informed that she was on the short list to be a crew member on this mission. She was ecstatic and vowed to herself that she would do everything within her power to be aboard this ship. She was in awe of its propulsion system even if she was one of the foremost experts on its function.

She kicked the metallic wall and cursed her naivety. Her competitiveness got her here and now her wanderlust wanted to get out. She grimaced as the pain in her foot faded and she slid down and sat against the wall in front of her room. She felt like screaming and crying and hitting and flailing all at once, but instead she just whimpered a little like a child. She tried to remember walking on the green grassy hills of her youth, before the climate started to throw its tantrums. She could see the greenery, hear the birds and wind and the leaves, but she could not in the slightest feel the warmth of the sun on her face or the dirt between her toes.

She thought about her friends and family back around Earth. Over seven years to them have passed since she left and she suddenly felt great pity towards them. Many conflicts erupted in the months leading up to the launch of the Intrepid and Amy couldn’t bring herself to imagine an Earth now that was better off than when she left. They all expressed their love and told her not to worry about them; she was helping to save the human race after all. She wondered if she was doing any good at all. She thought that maybe going to Earth and helping people work together would have been a better plan.

She heard footsteps and wiped her eyes before she caught sight of Jacob Stintz.

"Hey there." He said. "I didn’t even notice you had left. The data looks really promising."

"That’s great, Jake. I’m surprised you aren’t building some new models."

"All in good time. I figure Roger and Susan deserve some computing time after all the time I have used."

"I don’t even think Roger needs the computer." Amy mused.

"You know…" Jacob said sitting next to Amy. "You just may be right about that. I’ve never seen anyone solve complex equation systems so fast…and in his head!"

"It’s a shame he’s here and not on Earth." Amy said.

"What do you mean? He’s the best diagnostician I can think of, probably the only one of us that had his place here secure from the get-go."

"Oh, it’s nothing." Amy lied.

"Amy." Jacob sighed and patted her leg. "We are all homesick. We all regret on some level leaving Earth behind when the circumstances were so dire. But we are bringing back what we couldn’t achieve there, a promising future. T-42, man I hate calling it that, has the potential to be the home for countless more human generations. Would you rather everyone stay there and die in the collapse? We have the greatest responsibility, to ensure that humans survive beyond our one little planet, and I for one am proud to bear that responsibility."

"Yeah…" Amy hesitated. "I think it’s just this routine getting to me. I know what is going to break or need maintenance before it happens. I based my life around engineering and fixing systems, but it seems like in here nothing is broken…except for me." She put her face into her hands.

"Hang in there, girl." Jacob sighed. "Human kind is facing its greatest test and fortunately or unfortunately, we have to pass it for everyone. Now why don’t we go to the Automation Bay and run some tests. I’d hate to get to T-42 and not be able to see it from the surface. You know those robots better than anyone and I have a feeling we may need to make some modifications."

"Yeah sure." Amy stood up. "I certainly can’t just sit around."

"Nope, can’t do that." Jacob agreed. "Too much willpower on this ship. Oh, you know what, maybe later I can show you some games I’ve been mocking up in my spare time."

"Computer games?" Amy shook her head. "Spare time?"

"Well…you know." Jacob headed down the hall. "Sleep doesn’t come as easily as it used to. Maybe we are all stressed out a little more than we want to admit."

Later while Amy and Jacob were finishing virtual-tasking the shuttle and surveying swarm robots, Susan, Roger and Daniel arrived with tired looks.

"Here you two are." Daniel said as they entered. "I should have guessed."

"Done with the data analysis already?" Amy looked up from an interface she was modifying.

"Already? It’s been half a day." Susan stretched. "Time flies right?"

"I guess so." Amy was pleased that so much time had passed. She indeed felt comfortable with mechanics and instruction sets.

"We are all overdue some sleep." Daniel said. "Wrap it up here and then get your zees."

"Sure, just let me get to a stopping point." Amy said as she typed.

"Here’s mine." Jacob said as he hit a few keys. "Goodnight, all."

"I’m out too." Susan said rubbing her eyes.

Roger followed the two out and Daniel approached Amy. He looked at the various landing crafts and robotics and nodded.

"You really are in your element here. We are blessed to have such a talented person such as you."

"Right, right. I’m almost done." Amy said.

Daniel walked behind Amy and placed his hands on her shoulders and caressed them.

"You know I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day."

"Oh?" Amy asked still concentrating on the algorithms.

"About other…activities." Daniel said.

Amy stopped typing and let Daniel rub her shoulders for a moment.

"But what about procedure? You know the complications that could arise…"

She felt the warmth from his hands soak into her and welcomed the calculated pressure on her strained muscles.

"I think…maybe we could take things slow. No need to rush anything." He said.

"Have you approved this proposal with the others?" Amy asked.

"Ha, very funny." Daniel said. "I figured since everything we do is public knowledge, maybe this one thing could be just between us."

"So." Amy said as she got up and faced Daniel. "How slow do you want to go?"

"Not slow enough." Daniel said as he took her face, leaned in and sweetly kissed her cheek then her lips. She pulled away for a moment to look at his face. She smiled and started crying in joy. He pulled her to him and held her.

"I’m sorry." Daniel said almost crying too. "I’m sorry I waited so long."

"It’s OK." Amy said into his shoulder. "I had a few more days at least before I went totally crazy."

They both laughed a little at this and continued to hold each other. Outside the closed door, Roger peered into a viewing screen at the new couple. He stroked his beard as he watched them embrace for a while then he plodded to his room.

Day 541

Amy lay in her bed with eyes closed. She could feel Daniel’s warm body next hers under the blanket and she almost felt at home. Daniel was reading to her one of his favorite books, a sci-fi thriller from the last century. They had indeed been taking it slow, not even sharing a room until a week ago. It started with small surprises and gifts, kisses when no one was looking and many projects worked on together. They quickly realized that keeping it a secret would not work, so they broke the news as nonchalantly as they could. None of the other crew members were surprised and Amy remembered blushing when they told them, something she’s never done. Everyone seemed to not have any problems with their relationship and she couldn’t feel any luckier.

"You catch that last part?" Daniel asked again.

"I’m sorry. Your voice is just so relaxing. You could read the technical manual and I’d fall asleep."

"This part is crucial to the plot. Can you even tell me what happened in this chapter?"

"What is this, a test? I’m sorry. I’ll listen this time. I promise."

"I’ll paraphrase. So the main character has gone down into the sewers to follow a trail of an unknown substance. He brought his equipment with him but…"

They heard an alarm beep loudly. Daniel was up and tossed down the book before donning his shorts. Amy followed suit but a tad slower. Before Daniel could hit the intercom, Roger’s voice rang out over the speaker.

"All hands, all hands! Report to Drive Operation on the double!"

"Shit! Of course this would happen right now."

"Think it’s anything major?" Amy asked.

He was out the door before he could answer and she followed. Even running in an emergency, Daniel seemed at ease, as if this was all part of a training exercise. Amy began to ponder every possible malfunction that would result in the sounding of the alarm. Something major and none of them would have heard the alarm. Anything else and the computer would no doubt adjust on its own. Her head was spinning with possibilities when they arrived at Drive Operation. Roger was sitting at a console furiously tapping away at several keyboards. Susan was pacing near the doorway and Jacob loomed over Roger. Daniel rushed to the console.

"What is it, Roger? Report!"

"It’s a major catastrophe, sir!" Roger wheeled to another console and tapped away some more.

"I need more than that! Amy, get in here!" Daniel pointed at the consoles.

Amy pushed Jacob out of the way and sat in an empty chair. She scanned the readouts and began to isolate the problem. The system wasn’t responding as it should and she felt a bead of sweat run down her brow.

"It’s in power containment, Daniel." Amy spat. "I think…a component has failed. I’m just trying to pinpoint the failure."

"No, it’s the subsystems, not power containment proper." Roger consolidated some of the data on his display.

"I see now. It’s in the feedback regulation." Amy pointed. "Let me just…"

All of a sudden all of the consoles went dark and the lights dimmed and almost went out.

"For Pete’s sake, is it under control?" Daniel asked as calmly as he manage.

"I don’t know…" Amy stammered. "It doesn’t make sense."

The lights flared and the monitors came back on, this time with a different display. They looked around the room as the holographic display began to take shape in the room around them. Amy calmed down and put her hands over her mouth when she saw the words.

Amy and Daniel, happy three month anniversary! We love you!

Daniel stood speechless as he looked around his friends. Amy got up and pushed Roger as she did.

"Jake?" Daniel turned. "You were in on this? Susan? You too? I don’t know what to say."

"I just did the coding. It was all Roger." Jacob said.

"I’m sorry, you two." Susan said. "We all needed something to break the routine."

"Has it already been three months?" Amy asked.

"Seems like much longer on this end." Roger said with his hands behind his head.

"What a way to start the day." Daniel said relieved.

"Oh, wait until you try the cake." Susan said as she retrieved a container from a drawer.

"This is really too much, you guys." Amy said.

"Come on. This is what our mission is about. Humanity, relationships, love. Is anything even worth saving if we don’t have these things?" Roger asked.

"Roger…I could kiss you." Amy said.

"I’ll pass, thank you. But about that cake." Roger got up.

"Sure, but first the happy couple." Susan served Amy a piece and kissed her on the cheek. She served Daniel a piece and kissed him on the lips.

"That’s all you get." Amy said as she pulled Daniel to her.

"Anyway, let’s eat!" Daniel said.

They ate their cake and Daniel and Amy thanked the others again for the party. After eating they each left until Roger and Jacob were left alone with the cake.

"I think they enjoyed that." Jacob said as he took a bite.

"Indeed." Roger said.

"So? How many problems you think we avoided with that little soirée?"

"Actually I think we might have caused more than we solved."

"Aww, don’t tell me that." Jacob put down his fork.

"But don’t worry. We have a while before they start showing up."

"How long a while?"

"Months, years…who knows?"

"I thought you did."

"So did I, Jake, so did I."

Day 607

Susan paced in the Remote Instrument Bay, fiddling with some notes she had made for herself. She moved the meeting from the usual room because of all the time she had spent here processing all the planetary data from T-42. She had arranged some chairs to give a more formal mood, but she tried not to focus on that. She heard the door and waved everyone in.

"Please, sit down, everyone. Thank you for being so punctual."

"We are all looking forward to this, Susan. We know you’ve worked very hard."

"Thanks, Daniel. Well let me get started. I’m sure you are all well aware of some of the planetary data relating to T-42."

"This stuff again?" Roger snorted.

"Roger, I’m sure there will be a question and comment section at the end."

"Yes..." Susan continued. "There will be. Anyhow, for today I’ve compiled all of the available data from T-42 into a brand new model for review."

Susan pushed some keys on a panel and a holographic planet appeared in the middle of the room. Susan peered at certain portions of it in turn.

"Excuse me…just noticing some things. As you can see and probably already knew, T-42 is covered mostly by water. Although less than 5% of the total surface area, the land, I should say islands, have a composition remarkably similar to Earth. I just have to say, none of this data would be useable if not for Roger. This level of data analysis I never would have believed possible if not for Roger here doing it day in and day out."

"Please…please, I’m sorry for interrupting earlier, OK? We can pass out the PhDs when we get back home."

"Ever the modest one. Let me continue. Oh yes, given all of this water and the atmospheric readings, it is most certain that photosynthesis is occurring in regular, ample amounts. I assume that most is occurring in these vast oceans, but I do not exclude the possibility of higher level plants on these landmasses. Let me pull up the atmospheric data. There. I am pleased to say that we will not experience oxygen withdrawals upon reaching the surface. The composition is almost exactly Earth’s, a little more oxygen, same carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels, trace amounts of the usual particulates and no recorded levels of anything deleterious. I must say that I was thrilled when I first saw these results.

"Now for some comparisons. Let me pull up Earth. It’s beautiful to look at even like this. As you can see T-42 is approximately one and half times as large as Earth. Couple this with a lower than average density, from who knows what in the interior, and you get an operational gravity of 1.2 times that of Earth at the surface. Well within our capacities I think. The rotation if you look closely is somewhat slower than Earth resulting in a 30.6 hour day. The year is twice that of Earth, close enough at least. The axial tilt is smaller so I will guess that seasons and weather patterns are relatively calm compared to those we have experienced on Earth. It has a huge amount of water to regulate and stabilize everything, well, you get the idea.

"Something I think that is interesting. Let me show you. Yes, you see. This planet has two moons. They orbit each other rapidly as they orbit T-42 together. The tides must be very chaotic in some of the shoreline systems, no doubt. This along with the low to moderate levels of natural radiation from the host stars, also a binary system, lead me to believe that there is a high probability of complex life. I’m not saying we will encounter any talking monkeys, heh, but I must stress the unknown risks associated with novel plant and animal life. There could be toxins present that could kill, paralyze or main us the instant we are topside.

"Overall I must say that this planet truly is beautiful: rich air, plentiful sun and tolerable days and years."

"Trés jolie, non?" Roger quipped.

"Oui, Roger." Daniel added. "Jolie. Much better than T-42."

"She said it first." Roger pointed at Susan.

"I guess we had to name it sometime." Susan said.

"I like it." Jacob agreed.

"It does seem…" Amy stared at the display of the slowly turning planet. "…beautiful."

"That was wonderful, Susan." Daniel said. "Thoughts, all?"

"I’m just glad that we can see where we are going." Roger said.

"Speaking of which, how does the light compare with sol’s?" Amy asked.

"Well, that part is interesting. Bye for now, Earth. As you know this is a binary system. Turns out that both stars are significantly less radiant than the sun, but combined they emit a very similar spectrum to our home star. I would be surprised if we can notice the difference."

"Could you highlight the high energy section?" Roger pointed.

"Noticeably less but still present." Susan obliged.

"Might prove interesting on the mutation rates." Roger said.

"Are we planning on any serious underwater drone expeditions?" Jacob asked.

"That is beyond the scope of this meeting." Daniel said.

"I’ve already sent copies of this to each of your work folders." Susan said. "I’m glad you all liked it. I’m just so relieved that it wasn’t some frigid glacial planet."

"I would like everyone’s opinions on possible landing sites, once we’ve gotten to peruse the information that is." Daniel said enlarging Jolie.

"Less than five months until arrival." Amy said.

"How time flies, ehh?" Jacob said.

"As long as it’s not straight in the water, I’m fine." Roger said.

"Only if you’re flying, Roger." Daniel said. "Let’s all convene for lunch. I want us all to keep sharp minds these last few months."

"Don’t have to tell me twice." Jacob said as he left.

"Whoa now. Some of those rations are mine." Roger said following.

"I’m so glad you liked my presentation, but it sure got my appetite going." Susan said as he hugged Amy and Daniel on the way out.

"Landing sites?" Amy punched Daniel’s arm when they were alone. "You just can’t wait to get away from me can you?"

"It’s not like that. An unmanned vehicle will go down first to make sure the health risk is minimal and then…Amy, don’t look at me like that. OK, fine. You’re right. I can’t wait to get out of here, but it’s not to get away from you. It’s to get to there."

They both looked at the watery planet floating in the room.

"I understand, babe. I’m ready for a place to plant my feet too." Amy whispered. "Now could you lock the door? The lighting in here is quite nice."

"Is it that time already?" Daniel locked the door.

"I think we’ve gone slow enough. Besides how many times can you say you’ve had a woman after naming a new planet?"

"Well, you make a good point." Daniel approached her. "You know I may land on Jolie one day, but I never thought I’d land something as beautiful as you."

"You were always such a good guy. You deserve this. Earth deserves this."

Daniel took Amy up into his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back and squeezed him and then got down and pulled off his shorts. She pulled her shorts off as well and then pulled him down to the floor on top of her. They kissed and made love for several minutes. Suddenly Daniel stopped and kissed Amy’s neck and shoulder.

"Should I?" He asked.

"Put a baby in me?" Amy asked. "Only if you really want to."

Daniel didn’t say anything, just kissed her gently and proceeded to finish. They lay on the floor for a while stuck in the ecstasy of physical bliss. Amy pushed Daniel up and crawled out from beneath him. She pulled on her shorts and went to the door.

"I’m sorry darling but I am starving." Amy said with her hand on the lock.

"I see it now. It’s you who is leaving me. Exposed and vulnerable to boot."

"So you’re staying in here?"

"Not even close." Daniel said popping up and donning his shorts.

Day 691

Jacob was in full focus as he soldered a component in place on a modified instrument on one of the planetary probes. He switched to a tester and touched several places on the panel. He shook his head and picked the soldering tool again. Before he could get started again he heard a rap on the wall behind him. He groaned and put the tools down.

"Sorry, Jake." Amy said from the doorway. "We need your help on some nav calculations."

"That was last week. I thought that was completed."

"They did too, that’s why it’s urgent."

"I guess Dan and Roger couldn’t admit to needing my input."

"Don’t be like that. Tell you what, I’ll put in double time helping you get these robots ready."

"How can I pass on that offer?" Jacob said as he got up. "What’s the problem?"

"Something to do with the magnetic alignment. The boys can tell you more."

They walked straight to the Navigation Bay and saw Daniel and Roger sitting at control panels staring at telemetry data and small orbit simulations.

"Jake. I’m glad you’re here. We seemed to have found an anomaly in Jolie’s magnetic field data."

"Let me look here." He said as he sat in an empty chair.

"It confounds me, so it must have something to do with the planet’s interior; it’s mineral composition below the oceans." Roger said.

"I see you’ve managed to isolate the source of the fluctuations. That’s pretty incredible considering the distance the fluctuations are from the source."

"That’s all Roger." Daniel offered.

"We could orbit at a greater range, but the instruments have been calibrated for this range of distances. It would severely limit our resolution."

"They are being calibrated. There is still much to do."

"Perhaps we could change to a wider orbit and simply redo the instruments."

"No, Roger." Daniel chimed in. "Don’t forget about the manned vehicles. After we determine the safety, we will want to touch down as soon as we can."

"A proper evaluation of surface conditions could take weeks or longer. There are innumerable conditions that would disallow us to land at all. The instruments can always be modified…"

"Roger, please." Daniel cut him off. "We’ve spent all of this time plotting a proper orbit for this planet. I’m sure you know the dilemma if we fail to achieve this normally routine maneuver. This is priority. We can decide what to do with the probes and shuttles later."

"Yeah, sure." Roger said. "But nailing these high-energy cascades is ridiculous. It’s like the planet doesn’t want you to get too close."

"I think Roger is right. The interior mass seems to have large irregularities from octant to octant."

"There would have to be much more iron than is present for these kinds of surges. I don’t see it. The density doesn’t match up. The flux capacity for mineral groups is known, isn’t it Jake?" Roger thought out loud.

"I think I will leave you two alone." Daniel said standing up.

"Perhaps Amy could use some help in Automation. She might be trying to finish what I started." Jacob said staring into the monitor.

"You guys can achieve the orbit we need. Please keep us updated." Daniel said as he left.

"I never got around to learning all those mineral groups." Roger said. "I didn’t want to bother you. I know you were busy retrofitting the drones."

"It’s fine. We do need those machines fixed, but this problem is fascinating. I believe there might be some mineral structures not seen in the sol system. The density is awfully low in some spots, but like you said, the flux required is much too high for these systems." Jacob typed in a few commands.

"The dipoles necessary don’t exist with the possible element combinations." Roger added. "This planet houses a high-heat, solid state superconductor."

"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves." Jacob typed in a few more things. "This might not even be a mineral property. It could just be a result of the local conditions."

"OK, a superconducting bubble. That makes much more sense."

"Hey, man, you couldn’t figure it out. That’s why I’m here." Jacob said.

"No, I was serious. If the pulses are coming from a tenuous membrane…"

"Something in there is shorting out." Jacob realized.

"You want to bet who can find the necessary gap junction distances first?"

"You already have some estimates don’t you?"

"Just some guesses." Roger conceded.

"Well if you give me a day, I can run some tests to narrow down the possible mineral structures. I never had to learn a whole planet’s geology that fast."

"Take my processor allocation. Daniel wants this done quickly. Once I have those figures I can re-plot a course on no time."

"I’ve already taken it. Right now I’m hashing out a matrix to determine the large-scale load requirements in these structures. I doubt it’s just one large mineral mass. It has to be some sort of unique conglomerate, possibly a new class of rock. Any portion of these structures could be support mechanisms, while the impulse is carried along channels."

"Here I thought plotting our orbit was going to be the easy part."

"Here I thought I knew anything about mineralogy and geomagnetism."

"New planet. I guess we better get used to these kinds of surprises."

"There should be a reliable low-energy portion of these impulses that we can use for orbit, but there would have to be more thruster systems in place for large-scale corrections."

"The thrusters are rated for larger perturbations." Roger said.

"If we get caught in one of these larger peaks, our thrusters will not be enough."

"I see. Well I need some nourishment after trying to work around that field."

"Bring me lots of food." Jacob said typing. "I can see a path. I can’t stop now."

"You got it, Jake." Roger said and walked out rubbing his chin.

Day 733

Daniel and Roger sat in Navigation monitoring many different levels and meters and clocks and other information. Amy was in Drive Operation keeping a close eye on the gauges before the engine shutdown. Susan was in Remote Instrument waiting for the new planetary information undistorted by the light drive. Jacob was in a protected part of Automation, waiting for the signal to launch the first wave of drones.

"Four minutes to shutdown!" Daniel called over the open communication lines.

"Systems nominal. All data matches projections." Roger said.

"Amy, I want you to keep an eye on the drive after we shutdown."

"I know, babe. Everything will be fine." Amy smiled with anticipation.

"All drones ready for deployment." Jacob said.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself, Jake." Daniel said. "Let’s park this bad boy first. Three minutes, everyone."

"We’re picking up reflected data from the system, just bits really." Susan said.

"I’m seeing that." Roger said. "When it clears up a bit, run the routines."

"Will do."

"Let’s stay on point. Telemetry looks good. Looks like you guys nailed the plot."

"It was cake as soon as Jake pegged the new mineral structures."

"Two minutes!"

"It took a bit longer than a day, but I managed to get them all." Jacob said.

"Not even there and we already have a new textbook for the kids."

"Amy? You OK down there?" Daniel asked.

"You need to relax, Daniel." Amy said. "I’m fine here. One minute."

"You heard her, folks! This is it. Pulling off the expressway."

"All systems nominal." Roger repeated.

"I must say." Daniel choked up. "It has been the greatest pleasure and honor to work with the finest group of people in the whole solar system, any solar system. I love you guys."

"Love you too, boss." Susan said.

"Dan…" Roger looked at the countdown.

"Light drive shutdown in…ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…I love you, Amy. Commence shutdown!"

Amy pressed a button on the control panel and the low hum that everyone had stopped hearing years ago ceased and everything grew much louder. Amy scanned the gauges furiously, looking for anything abnormal. She almost didn’t remember the readings without the light drive operational.

"Shutdown complete, my love. We made it."

"It’s so beautiful." Susan said over the channels. "It’s Jolie…truly.

"Telemetry looks fine." Roger said pushing some buttons. "Orbit sustained, local conditions look favorable enough."

Daniel pushed some buttons and the heavy, opaque shields slid away revealing several large windows and the space beyond. A large, blue planet was before them, seemingly motionless.

"You all should come up here." Daniel said. "See it up close."

"Drones ready for deployment." Jacob said.

"Let them loose, Jake." Daniel said.

"Sending drone recon one…now." Jacob said.

The bay doors opened and several payloads began to fall to the planet far below. Jacob looked at the blue and white of the water and clouds and started to cry.

"Drones approaching atmosphere." Roger said. "Landing sequence initiated. Susan, you hiding some data down there?"

"Come and see." Susan joked.

Amy walked into Navigation, sat beside Daniel and held his hand.

"Just look at this." Amy said. "I have a good feeling about this. I think humanity could flourish here."

"First things first." Roger interjected. "Atmosphere looks spot on, oxygen, nitrogen and all that. It’s almost no fun when you don’t have to decode the data."

"Direct readings are fine with me." Susan said.

Jacob walked into Navigation and took a seat.

"If anyone is interested, the hot seat in Automation has a pretty good view too."

"Landmass detected. Drones setting course. We should be getting some video." Roger punched some keys.

Some displays began to feed what the drones were receiving. Blue oceans far and wide were all that was shown until the drones approached one of the large islands, continents in their own right. Susan took a closer look when the drones neared the coast. She saw green everywhere inland and smiled.

"My god, it’s full of plants." Roger said.

"It’s remarkable." Susan said. "So much photosynthesis is occurring, and I expect at the same wavelengths as our plants. You see that? Everything is post-herbaceous; this planet has yet to develop woody structures. But there are flowering bodies, so there must be pollinators and such. I’m getting ahead of myself. I’d have to scan much more area and don’t forget these are massive islands. Another landmass may harbor completely different lineages."

"Roger, scout for a suitable landing site." Daniel said getting up.

"Where are you going?"

"Well first I’m getting the champagne. Then I want to determine if Jolie is safe enough for a manned visit."

"In a rush all of a sudden?" Roger asked. "The drones have launched micro sensors along the coast and inland. Biological and mineral scans should be in within hours. It will take days for a complete report."

"I want to be planet-side within the week." Daniel said as he left.

"You know, Roger. He’s going to want you on the away team."

"Tell me something I don’t know."

"That would be impossible." Amy laughed.

"I’ll tell you what I don’t know. I don’t know why we aren’t plotting a return course for Earth. If this place is habitable, we need to get back and inform everyone as soon as possible don’t you think?"

"You’re right, Roger. But passing up being the first one on an alien planet? You may be able to do that, but I don’t think I can. And you know Daniel can’t, that’s why he came on this mission."

"I think problems will be minimal if we just collect the data and then get back. The return trip always seems shorter. We get everyone here and then…then we can relax."

"You? Relax?" Amy patted Roger’s leg. "That’s a good one."

"Well, relatively speaking." Roger sighed.

Day 739

Daniel, Susan and Roger sat in the pilot, co-pilot and navigator seats of the shuttle. Roger was busy checking levels and gauges, Susan was strapping herself in and Daniel was conducting the final checklist.

"Everything looks good here." Roger said. "There’s a soft, flat patch of grass for you to land on."

"You sure you don’t want this seat, Roger?" Susan asked looking at the closed bay doors.

"No, the best view is for you, Suze."

"Amy?" Daniel said over the radio. "We’re about all set here."

"Fantastic, babe." Amy said sitting alongside Jacob in Navigation. "It should be an easy drop; great weather, perfect course, best pilot."

"Don’t forget my rock samples." Jacob said.

"I’m sure there will be some biological samples using them as a substrate." Susan said trying to relax. "The payload allowance is awfully low."

"You want to be able to take off again right?" Roger laughed.

"Maybe Jacob or Amy wants to come instead." Susan began to sweat.

"If things go well, maybe we can plan another away team before the return trip to Earth. But for now let’s just get these samples and get back." Daniel stated.

"Amen." Roger said.

"And keep your suits on. I don’t care how badly you want that fresh air, but the last thing we need is to have a close encounter of the stinging kind."

"I’m the only one with my helmet on." Roger said.

"Speaking of which…" Susan said grappling with her helmet.

Roger leaned over and helped her get it affixed.

"Thanks." Susan said as Daniel also donned his helmet.

"All right, checklist complete. Pressures look good, battery levels, co-pilot should be better once we’re landed." Daniel joked.

"I’ll be fine." Susan said gripping the armrests. "Just ready for some samples."

"It’s all you, Daniel." Amy said as she looked at many readouts. "We’ll be right here when you get back."

"OK then." Daniel said as he placed his hand on a switch above his head. "This should be fun. Opening bay doors."

Daniel flipped a switch and the two large bay doors retreated into the outer hull of the ship. Light made their visors dim and Susan held up her hands.

"Bay doors open. All clear." Roger said.

"Disengage in three…" Daniel placed his hand on another switch. "Two…one."

"Here we go!" Daniel flipped the switch and the bay opening slid out of view.

"Oh my goodness." Susan gripped the armrests again and stiffened.

"Relax, gorgeous." Daniel said. "Just like riding a bike."

"Encountering atmosphere, nothing major." Roger said.

"I can feel the increased gravity. It’s so subtle though." Daniel said. "Engaging thrusters."

Susan felt better when the shuttle was no longer in free-fall, but her heart began to jump out of her chest anyway. She couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes.

"Suze." Roger placed a hand on her shoulder. "You’ve got to calm down. He’s got this."

"I know." Susan said. "I’m trying, I just…"

"Just hang in there, darling." Daniel said, his mind concentrating on the thrusters. "I’ll have us down there in two minutes flat."

"My heart…" Susan said. "It’s never done this before. It won’t…slow down."

"Susan." Roger said as he squeezed her shoulder. "Listen to me. You are fine. Everything will be just fine. Just try to breathe. Slow out…now in slow. Good. Open your eyes and look. You’re going to be the first woman on a new planet. You should be excited. But there’s nothing to be scared of. Daniel won’t crash, his experience won’t let him. This shuttle will make it, Amy designed it herself. You know we won’t get lost, I’m here. I can’t see you, but I know you’re smiling."

"Final approach." Daniel said as he leaned into the controls."

"Heh. Already?" Susan managed a joke.

"You got this girl." Roger let go of her shoulder. "All part of the job."

"Touchdown in twenty." Daniel said.

"Deploying landing gear." Roger echoed.

"Almost there." Susan chimed.

"Piece of cake." Daniel said as the shuttle slowed and the vertical thrusters lowered them onto a flat large grassy field.

"We have touchdown!" Roger lauded.

"Good work, everyone." Daniel said flipping some switches. "Prepare launch checklist while we get some of these sample collectors ready.

"Aye." Roger said already plotting a return course and checking and double-checking the shuttle’s systems.

Daniel and Susan opened some panels in the shuttle and took out large, Tommy-gun-looking things and loaded them with large cylindrical drums of plastic cartridges. Daniel loaded a pack full of more drums then loaded another. Susan checked the collectors carefully and loaded herself up.

"Amy? You’ve been awfully quiet up there." Daniel said.

"Copy that, hun." Amy said from the ship. "Just checking conditions and everything. Great day for a visit if you ask me, but please be careful, you three."

"Rest assured." Daniel said as he finished getting his gear. "We’ll maintain radio contact and not be gone for more than a few hours."

"We all set then?" Roger asked loading himself up.

"Away team embarking on first visit to Jolie." Daniel said as he opened the door. Air rushed in and they could hear familiar wind from outside. "Ladies first."

Susan walked down the landing ramp with Daniel and Roger close behind her. She stopped for a moment before she stepped foot on the alien world, then slowly put that first foot forward and felt the familiar softness of soil under her boot. She looked up and around at the endless green. There were no trees, but some of the plants had grown to over twenty feet. The landing site was very plain so she began to search for an area with more cover and incline. All her fear was lost and she felt like a child all over again playing in the woods behind her family’s house. Everything was new and exciting and she could hardly think. The collector at her side was forgotten as she explored this new wilderness.

Daniel and Roger kept pace and took an occasional plant specimen. They attempted to find animal life, but it was either too scarce or too flighty. They continued to follow Susan and at last they came to a valley that she thought would have a river or stream. They trekked downwards through larger and larger plants until they could hear sounds of moving water. Susan slowed and stopped as she pushed through a thicket of soft leaves.

"What is it?" Roger asked from behind.

"I don’t believe it." Susan whispered.

"You guys mind turning on your suit cams?" Amy asked from far above.

"Sure." Susan tapped a switch and the men followed suit. "This is incredible."

"Is it intelligent?" Daniel asked as he peered over Susan’s shoulder.

"Why hasn’t it run?" Susan thought out loud.

"I might know if I could see what you are talking about." Roger pushed past Daniel and Susan into a clearing with a small stream.

Then he saw it. A humanoid creature, perhaps three to four feet long, reclining in the grass. It was chewing on some smaller animal, perhaps a reptile and staring right back at them. He remarked at its features; bilateral symmetry, three-fingered hands and feet, body hair, slightly pointed snout, multiple mammary glands, large ears and large head size compared to its body.

"Some sort of pig person?" Roger blurted.

"A Jolian." Susan said. "There must be others near. And look at what it’s eating. I’m sure smaller creatures would abound if we weren’t so loud and looming."

"Daniel, you should approach it." Amy suggested.

"Why me?"

"Well, it seems to be looking at you and you are in charge."

"Just try not to alarm it." Susan said. "It appears to be female, but we don’t know how different sexes act, if there are different sexes."

"This Jolian might be disappointed. Daniel’s already taken." Roger said.

"I will try to communicate." Daniel said as he flipped a switch to turn on his exterior speaker. "Greetings."

The Jolian jumped at the noise but didn’t move from its spot. It made some funny noises with its mouth and continued to chew on its snack.

"And…now you’re married." Roger laughed.

"If you can get close enough, a hair sample would suffice."

"Try to be cordial." Roger offered.

Daniel turned off his exterior speaker. "Here goes nothing."

He walked slowly out from around Susan, into the opening and crouched as he pondered towards the Jolian. He was about six feet away when he heard a noise to his side. It came from the grass but he couldn’t see anything. The Jolian also turned and scooted away from the noise.

"Susan?" Daniel asked.

"My guess is either a small amphibian or insect, under all the leafy undergrowth."

Daniel was just about to creep towards the Jolian when he heard another noise and then noticed small movements under the leaves.

"Sample?" Roger held up his collector.

"Let it come out. You don’t want to waste cartridges." Daniel attempted to approach the Jolian again when suddenly a small gooey, tubular structure poked out from the foliage. It waved one way and then another and seemed to be drifting towards the Jolian.

"It must be an appendage..no, a mold or plasmoid, fungus even. I doubt it is a tongue or something from a chameleon for instance." Susan conjectured.

"I say we leave and start organizing data." Roger was quick to offer.

"OK, get a sample and then we will deal with the Jolian." Daniel stood still.

"Maybe…"

Roger shot the slimy tentacle with a collector cartridge and when the round hit the blob, a shrill noise made everyone cringe. Roger noticed too late in the air, the slime that came from the thing hurtling straight towards him. He stared at the blob as he jerked his body away and he couldn’t help but notice it change color, quickly oxidizing in the air perhaps. His observation had cost him precious microseconds and his awareness caught back up as the tiny dribble landed on the edge of his helmet. He fell over almost as an afterthought. Daniel noticed the Jolian run away as he rushed over to Roger, the appendage forgotten.

"Roger, are you all right?"

"I can’t see this crud. Is it reacting?" Roger pointed at the side of his face.

"I think so, on the glass. Dunk it in the water." Daniel suggested.

"If it’s oxidizing, that may be worse." Roger walked towards the stream.

"The whatever-it-was is gone. Back into the ground I suppose." Susan poked around in the grass.

"Now I see it. It’s eating the glass." Roger said as he leaned over the water.

"Dunk it!" Daniel urged. "Would you rather run all the way to the shuttle before it eats all the way?"

"Argh!" Roger roared as he dunked his helmet into the stream. He squeezed his eyes shut, half-expecting an explosion, but opened them again as nothing happened. He noticed the reaction slowing and breathed easy when it washed off completely in the water.

"Roger? Daniel?" Amy called over the radio.

"I think I’m OK." Roger got up. "The suit would tell me if it broke containment."

"I told you to dunk it in there."

"I can’t find any trace of it around. Is there any left on your suit?" Susan walked around examining the brush and grass.

"God, I hope not."

"I don’t think so." Daniel examined Roger’s helmet and suit.

"I’ve had enough samples for one day." Roger said shooting a couple more plants.

"Ten-Four on that one." Daniel said heading away.

"Look. I’ve found some hair from the Jolian where it was resting." Susan exclaimed as she collected it.

"Excellent, now let’s get back."

Roger was first to lead the way, and along with Susan and Daniel made his way back to the shuttle. Several more samples were taken, but there were no more sightings of the Jolians or the other thing. As they neared the shuttle, Roger paused for a moment to let the others catch up a little.

"So?" He said as he looked at the binary stars passing overhead. "I guess we are going to have to start a new calendar."

"Way ahead of you." Jacob said.

Day 743

Everyone was in the meeting room summarizing the latest findings and confirmations. Susan began.

"After careful sequencing and re-sequencing of the Jolian hair DNA, I have found something…incredible. Given the difference in appearance, I understand any doubt you may have, but let me just tell you. Humans and Jolians share over, get this, 99.5%, genetic material. The morphology must be dependent on local conditions."

"Nurture won this round huh?" Amy asked.

"I’m not sure. The local environment isn’t that different, so there could be more to this. It could help prove the Transpermian theory."

"We can discuss this more later." Daniel said. "Anything else?"

"Oh yes, about the plant life. Many of the chemical pathways are almost identical to those found on Earth, a functional group here or there, yet their genetic makeup is not as related as the primate species. We should be able to make many local varieties edible in short order once we narrow down our options. And there don’t seem to be very many types that create toxins or poisons at least that we’ve found."

"Except for that pseudopod." Roger said. "It’s paradise. Let’s go get everyone."

"There are too many unknowns." Daniel said. "We need to mount another away mission to properly assess the habitability."

"So who’s going this time?" Amy asked.

"You are along with Jacob and my self." Daniel said.

"Phew." Roger said wiping his brow. "You sure you won’t need my help?"

"I’m sure we can handle it." Daniel said. "I’ve already plotted a course to set down close to the location of a suspected Jolian meeting spot. I’m sure if we can show that we mean them no harm then we will have very little trouble from them later."

"I’ve plotted multiple routes to Earth utilizing many upcoming windows."

"I get it, Roger. You want to get back to inform everyone to come here. I do too, believe me. But first we have to do this and I need your help."

"All I ever do." Roger said.

"Anyone else before we adjourn?" Daniel asked.

"The drones are almost prepped for the latest tasks." Amy said. "I’m really excited to be going down there on the surface."

"Me too." Jacob said. "I’ve made room in the shuttle for two more kilos of rock."

"Roger, perhaps you could help Susan select some genes for hybridization. We will need new variants if we are to thrive here. Structural plants as well as edibles."

"Speaking of edibles." Jacob rubbed his stomach. "Is it lunch yet?"

"We all know our tasks. Let’s adjourn." Daniel agreed getting up.

Everyone shuffled out except for Roger who kept Susan from leaving.

"Susan." Roger said. "I’ve got to tell you something."

"Certainly, Roger." Susan said.

"Well I’d like it if you could keep it between us. It’s kind of embarrassing."

"Um, sure. I mean, as long as it isn’t too serious."

"I’m sure it’s nothing, but you know me." Roger said. "Anyway, as you know I had that gunk on me from the away mission. I know it all came off in the water and my suit never registered that containment had broken, but…"

"What, Roger? You think some of it got through?" Susan asked.

"I know it couldn’t have, but just to be sure, you know how I like to be sure, I scanned the helmet and visor for micro flaws, and sure enough at the site of the reaction with that goop there was a hole, a tiny little hole, nanometers across, in the visor. You don’t think…you don’t think it got through do you?"

"I wouldn’t know. It could’ve been an inert chemical." Susan said.

"Could you run some tests on me?" Roger asked. "You know how I hate doctors, but..."

"Sure, Roger. I can do that. I’m sure everything is fine." Susan said opening the door. "And then maybe we can look at those plant hybrids."

"Sure, sure."

They stopped at the cafeteria and ate some food to remain inconspicuous, and then headed towards Medical. Susan drew some blood and attached some sensors. She took some readings and nodded.

"Everything looks normal, Roger. All your blood levels look good and there are no irregularities in any of your systems…that I can tell. You are in excellent physical condition."

"Yeah, I guess it just freaked me out, not knowing if anything got inside me. But I can relax now. You sure put my mind at rest." Roger said getting up. Now how about getting some work done?"

"Right." Susan said shifting gears. "I was thinking of modifying some grasses in order to make a bamboo-type plant for assembling simple structures and tools."

"I’m sure the nutritive content in the herbaceous plants isn’t complete. I’ll find some balanced species that will be easy to grow."

"Reinventing the bean, Rog?" Susan opened some spreadsheets.

"Basically. If I spread the traits out through a dozen or so types, it should cut down on the exploitation of a single crop. We could sow a thousand acres in one go."

"That would last us a good while."

"Lifetimes."

"Roger?" Susan got his attention. "I’m glad you could come to me for help."

"You bet. Now, let’s run some viability tests on these hybrids."

"Right. You know, I’m glad I don’t have to go back down there."

"We’re all going back after we stop by Earth." Roger said.

"I’ll feel much better with other people there…when there’s a settlement."

"Don’t get too ahead of your self. If we get these plants sorted out, we’ll have some mighty crops to look forward to when we return."

"That’s true. Decades in just a few short years." Susan paused. "I better throw more perennials in the mix."

"I wonder how Earth is doing right now." Roger said. "You think it’s collapsed completely?"

"Let’s get this done. The sooner all this is done the better."

"Yes ma’am." Roger said focusing on his work.

Day 751

Daniel piloted the shuttle to the surface of Jolie as Amy watched from the co-pilot seat and Jacob studied the navigation panels. Amy remarked at the expansiveness and serenity of this place. She sat forward in her seat and looked as the plants sped by beneath them.

"Wait until we get out." Daniel said glancing at her. "You’ll just love it."

"Landing site should be visible in two." Jacob said.

"Yep. Here it comes. Prepare for touchdown."

The shuttle landed on a small grassy hill near some thicker vegetation. They surmised that a group of Jolians were in the area, somewhere in the thickets.

They gathered their gear and Amy opened the door. They all stood for a moment unsure of who should go first.

"After you, Amy." Daniel motioned.

"You got us here. You go." Amy countered.

"I want my rocks. I’ll go." Jacob stepped in front and down the ramp. He stooped to take some mineral samples with a long tool he was holding. Amy and Daniel walked onto Jolie and held each other.

"You guys going to mill about all day? Roger asked from the ship.

"Just soaking it all in." Amy said. "Now let’s see if we can find some Jolians."

Daniel walked towards the dense vegetation with Amy beside him as Jacob trailed behind poking his tool into the ground here and there. They walked cautiously along pushing their way through leaves and stems and more leaves. Jacob managed to find a few good rock samples that he put into a container.

"It should be just up ahead." Daniel said. "Try not to startle them if find any."

"This is so exciting." Amy said.

They continued through the growth until Daniel noticed a clearing ahead and signaled for a halt. He spied through some leaves then motioned for them to follow him. They crept into the clearing as a unit and what they saw was surprising. They indeed found some Jolians, many of them, around a stream that was running into a narrow chasm in the ground. Some Jolians were eating, some were resting but most of the little mammals were engaged in intercourse. The males were taking turns copulating while the females rested on soft patches of leaves. The Jolians barely noticed the humans as they carried on about their business.

"What now?" Jacob asked.

"Should we disturb them?" Amy asked.

"Maybe we should just give them their space." Daniel said backing away.

Some of the unattended females noticed the group and approached them. They patted the crew’s crotches and then got on the ground and rubbed themselves.

"This is most inappropriate." Amy said as she stepped back into the brush.

"I noticed a small cavern back a ways." Jacob offered. "Maybe there are some subterranean species to collect."

"Good idea. Lead the way."

The three made their way about halfway back through the plants when they found the small cavern mouth. It was just big enough for a human to enter and very dark and wet. They turned their lamps on and made their way into the opening.

"Some of these caverns could open up further down." Jacob said peering at the rock. "There could be too many to explore though."

"Let’s take it slow." Daniel said. "No sense getting lost now."

Jacob marked their progress into his suit’s computer as they made their way deeper into the cave. Sure enough the narrow passage opened into a large chamber with water eroding the smooth surface. They began to notice larger and more complex drip stones the deeper they went and now many different passageways led off from this one central chamber.

"I think we’ve been scaring any animal life away with our lights." Amy said marveling at the room.

"I’ve seen several types of lithotrophs on the way down, but nothing multicellular." Jacob said as he collected some samples.

"I say we get topside before we become disoriented." Daniel said. "Roger? How are things up there?"

Daniel stood still for a moment listening. Amy turned towards him.

"Roger? Susan? Do you copy up there?" Daniel said again.

"It must be the rocks blocking the signal." Jacob said. "We should get these samples to the ship."

"Right. Time to get to the surface and make contact. But I’d like to investigate the planet a bit more before we return." Daniel said heading out.

They went carefully back up the caverns to the opening. About halfway up they started hearing noise coming from the radio. They quickened their pace and reached the surface. More noise was coming from the radio, louder.

"Back to the shuttle!" Daniel changed his mind. "Roger? Susan? Is anyone there?"

More noise as they raced through the foliage to the shuttle. They reached the hill where it was parked and waited for the door to open when Amy pointed to the sky. The noise grew louder in the radio as they looked up and saw the Intrepid far above in the sky.

"Isn’t that too low?" Amy asked already knowing the answer.

"Something is wrong. Liftoff, ASAP!" Daniel rushed inside the shuttle.

Daniel jumped into the pilot seat while Amy and Jacob got strapped in. A red warning light started flashing and Daniel punched the panel.

"Shit! It’s in a decaying orbit; the thruster system or a planet power surge. Either way there’s no way to board that ship now."

"Daniel! Amy!" They heard Susan’s voice over the radio. "Can anybody read me?"

"Susan!" Daniel tuned to that frequency. "What’s happening?"

"Daniel! Oh god! I can’t correct the course! The system’s are all seized up! I can’t find Roger! It’s going to crash!"

"Susan! Calm down." Daniel thought as he warmed up the shuttle’s engines. "How much time until you enter the atmosphere?"

"Oh god, I don’t know…two minutes." Susan cried.

"Susan, you have to get in a descent suit NOW!" Daniel started to liftoff. "You’ve got to get out of that ship before reentry."

"But the ship, all the data!" Susan screamed.

"Now, Susan, now!" Daniel screamed. "Get in that suit and jump!"

"OK…I’m going." Susan sounded defeated as they heard nothing but noise again.

"Daniel, what are you doing?" Amy felt helpless. "What about Roger?"

"I’m sure Roger has already evacuated. We’ve got to save Susan."

"But the trajectory." Jacob intervened. "Susan could land smack in the middle of the ocean."

"She isn’t going to land." Daniel said as he worked the shuttle into the sky. "We’re going to catch her."

"She isn’t rated for that." Amy blurted. "What if she misses? Or you miss? Oh, Susan, please hurry."

"I haven’t detected any other craft leave the ship." Jacob said. "Roger must still be aboard.

"There’s nothing we can do." Daniel sped towards the ship’s trajectory. "We can’t reach him. He knows how to get out of this and any other situation."

"I guess." Jacob said. "But why not use the auxiliary shuttle?"

"No time for that." Daniel answered. "Come on, Susan, where are you?"

"Daniel?" Susan chimed in as if on cue. "I’m in the suit. This radio seems fine."

"Get to jumping girl. As soon as you hit atmosphere, deploy your chutes. Your suit should detect me as a landing target."

"Oh god, you aren’t serious." Susan said.

"Ten seconds to re-entry." Jacob swallowed.

"Susan, it’s now or never." Daniel said. "I’ll catch you, I promise."

Susan looked down through the opening bay doors and felt the release button on her suit. She closed her eyes as she began to notice the air begin to rush out of the room. She pushed the button and felt nothing at first but then heard a whooshing sound that made her stomach churn.

"Susan!" Daniel screamed. "Your chute! Open your chute!"

Susan somehow found the right switch with her eyes closed and felt a lurch upwards. She still felt like she was going very fast and just then a blip sounded on her radar with a warning.

"She’s coming in too hot." Jacob said. "She’ll bust right through us."

"Susan." Daniel said. "You need to activate your flaps and thrusters, one after another ASAP."

"Where? I don’t know…" Susan was crying.

"Hit the alarm. They’ll be right there." Daniel glanced back and forth from the sky to the dials.

Susan opened her eyes and nearly puked as she pushed the warning. She saw the flaps and pushed them, another jolt rocked her stomach as she fought nausea. She pushed the thrusters and another lurch did make her vomit, but the alarm bell went off and she felt at peace.

"She’s not steering." Jacob said. "That’s a tiny spot on top."

"Susan, are you with me?" Daniel asked. "Susan?"

"She’s in shock. I have to get out there." Amy said unbuckling herself.

"And do what? Catch her?" Daniel called.

"If I have to." Amy said grabbing a long grappling tether.

Jacob slid into the co-pilot seat and began punching commands. "Sorry, Daniel, but I have to do this."

"Compensating my reactions? It’s going to be rough anyway we do it."

Amy went into the dorsal pressure hatch and waited for depressurization. She tethered herself to the hatch then opened the door then climbed the ladder, wind pushing her the whole way. She looked up and saw Susan floating down in hurry, her small figure growing larger every second.

"Two hundred meters." Jacob counted.

"I’ve got her. I’ll try to match her descent."

"You could miss her that way. Just stay underneath her." Jacob groaned.

"Don’t worry." Daniel hissed as he grappled with the controls.

Amy tried to get to an open area as she attached the tether as she went along. She saw Susan above and tried to steady herself.

"Fifty meters! Stay with her!" Jacob yelled.

"I am!" Daniel was feeling the pressure. "It’s so damned windy!"

"Fifteen!" Jacob squealed as he looked up.

Amy couldn’t help but cover her face as Susan rocketed in towards her. Daniel’s aim was spot on and Amy was knocked into the shuttle as Susan careened into her. Amy’s visor cracked as she hit the hull, but she managed to grab one hand onto Susan’s suit. Before she could secure Susan to the tether, a gust of wind caught the parachutes and whipped Susan out of Amy’s arm. Amy released her tether and jumped headlong into Susan, tackling her onto the hull.

"What the hell?" Daniel said trying to keep the ship steady.

Amy and Susan were sliding off the ship as Amy fumbled with Susan’s suit. She saw the splattered and soiled visor of Susan’s suit and almost retched herself. She saw the edge of the shuttle coming nearer and she found the chute release. She wrenched the control and the chutes flapped off into the wind. Amy managed to get the tether around Susan and then herself while she was still lying there.

"I got her." Amy said wincing. "But I may need some help."

"I got it." Jacob said grabbing the first aid kit.

"Get them inside. We need to set down somewhere."

Jacob went through the hatch and hauled the girls in with the tether. Amy managed to help him get Susan in the shuttle and then she sat down. Jacob closed the hatch and re-pressurized it. As soon as they were back in the shuttle, Daniel looked back.

"Is everyone all right? Amy?" Daniel saw her cradling her arm.

"I think…it may be broken." Amy said starting to feel the pain. "She came in so fast."

"Dammit!" Daniel couldn’t help himself. "We’re going to set down somewhere soon. Don’t worry."

Jacob removed Susan’s helmet and was relieved to find her breathing but unconscious. He cleaned her up a bit and checked her limbs.

"Jacob, is she OK?" Daniel asked.

"I think so. I hope so." Jacob said kneeling over her.

"Then come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Jacob asked sitting down in the co-pilot seat.

"Tell me I’m not seeing things." Daniel said pointing at the radar. "The ship’s trajectory."

"No, I see it too." Jacob nodded.

"What?" Amy asked rocking back and forth trying not to go into shock. She swallowed a couple pain pills.

"The Intrepid is changing course. It was crashing, but now it seems like it’s landing."

"What does that mean?" Amy tried to think straight.

"It means…" Susan said coming around. "That Roger was right once again."

"Susan!" Amy smiled thought her pain. "Glad you could join us. What was he right about?"

"He made me promise not to tell, but now this." Susan swished some water around in her mouth. "After the first away mission, he told me he found a hole in his visor…where that goop had got on him. He was acting very paranoid like he was scared something got through and infected him. I’m afraid he may have been correct."

"A hole?" Daniel asked. "But his suit never registered the failure."

"It was nanometers across, structurally stable." Susan said. "But his actions these past few days, something just didn’t seem right."

"So you think he was infected with something?" Daniel asked.

"I don’t know, but the chance is there. I ran tests on him. He was clean, but…"

"But what?" Amy tried to stay aware.

"I didn’t consider that the infection had entered his brain. It would explain why none of the other tests came back positive."

"So that goop made Roger fake a crash? Why?" Jacob asked.

"To get Susan off the ship." Daniel said. "He’s always wanted complete control. Now he has it."

"But what about the mission?" Amy asked. "How are we going to inform Earth?

"That mission is no longer valid. As long as Roger is in control of the Intrepid, we can’t get home. Jacob, I need you to determine his landing coordinates."

"But Amy’s arm." Jacob said. "They need medical attention."

"Exactly. And Medical Bay on the ship is their best shot."

"It seems it is near where the first away mission was."

"What is Roger thinking?" Susan asked to herself.

"I don’t know, but it can’t be good." Daniel said to himself as he flew towards the landing ship.

No one spoke very much after that. Amy tried to rest, Susan cleaned herself up and Jacob kept meticulous readings of the other ship. It was nearly an hour before they sighted the ship, resting in a large field at the base of a large mountain range.

"There she is." Daniel said breaking the silence. "I doubt he’ll just let us in."

"If he even responds." Susan said from the navigator seat.

"Roger?" Daniel opened a channel to the ship. "Roger, are you there? Do you copy?"

They sat in silence for a moment not expecting a reply.

"Daniel." Roger said over the radio. "Is everyone OK over there?"

"Amy has a broken arm and Susan is very pale from her ordeal."

"That’s unfortunate. I was hoping she would make it out much sooner than that."

"What is going on, Roger?" Daniel asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Saving all of your lives? That’s all I ever seem to do."

"What do you mean? You almost killed Susan…and Amy!"

"Nonsense. I knew Susan would get out in time. I’m not sure how Amy got involved. You see. If we had returned to Earth, the light drive would have irreparably damaged our genes, rendering us all sterile or worse. Perhaps the rest of humanity could have made it back here, but if anyone deserves to preserve their lineage, it’s all of us. I couldn’t let us return knowing full well it meant no more descendents for any of us."

"Roger, we need to come aboard and get Amy looked at." Daniel pleaded.

"I don’t think so." Roger said. "I’m sure you guys are plenty mad at me, and it might take a while before you all cool down."

"No, Roger, that’s not it. We can always discuss our problems, you know that. Right now I’m concerned about my crew’s health and safety."

"I believe you all know how to set a broken bone, and if it was serious she would be in much worse shape then she is." Roger said.

"Roger, what has gotten into you?" Jacob asked.

"I don’t know what you mean." Roger lied.

"Now I get it." Susan said. "It has to do with that goop that got on you."

"That was nothing. You said it yourself." Roger sighed.

"We were all so busy preparing for another mission that I missed something. Roger, I told them about your helmet, about the hole. You might be infected after all."

"How do you figure?" Roger asked.

"The thing we encountered in the grass. It must have been a fungus of some sort. That goop it sprayed on you contained spores, spores that hate water. That’s why the Jolians are always around water sources. Another thing fungus hates is light, and if I know you, Roger, your sense of preservation is strong, perhaps stronger with this infection. You knew the light drive would penetrate your brain and deactivate whatever fungal infection you may have. And if you had to stay, you would make all of us stay…as a team. It’s taking over your brain, yet you still deny this?"

They listened in silence at the new information until Roger spoke again.

"Tell you what." He said. "I will let you have access to Medical and Food bays, but that is all. Do not attempt to fly the ship or go outside these areas. I’ll have things ready in about an hour."

"Roger, it would be great if we could talk about this in person." Daniel said.

They waited in silence for a moment then Daniel flipped off the radio.

"He went insane!" Jacob said.

"It must be that fungus." Susan smacked herself. "I should have seen it. Roger was so worried, but I just placated him and now it’s too late."

"It’s not your fault, Susan." Daniel said. "I should have not planned so many away missions. We could be headed back right now."

"You said the light drive…" Amy was nodding off. "If we can activate it, it would cure Roger?"

"That’s just a wild guess, but it seemed to rattle Roger into helping us."

"He must be at war with himself, trying not to let the fungus take over." Jacob guessed.

"I don’t see how he would allow us to activate the drive." Daniel shook his head. "There’s no way we could bypass his security. Besides, even if we did activate it, it’s useless here on the ground. We’d have to regain orbit again, not an easy task."

"Let’s try not to worry about it for now." Amy said. "We’re still alive right? I’m sure we’ll think of something when Roger lets us in there. Maybe we can talk him out of it later."

"The longer we wait, the less predictable he will become…if it is a fungal infection."

"We have to assume Roger is no longer himself. But Amy is right. There’s nothing we can do now except plan…and count our very few blessings."

Daniel and Susan got about to setting Amy’s arm the best they could, then went to help Jacob while Amy went to sleep with the help of some medication. Jacob was focused on the schematics of the ship, trying to find something Roger might have overlooked.

"There aren’t many way to bypass these structures from Food or Medical, but if we retrieved and modified some of the drones on planet we could attempt a forced entry into Navigation. It would take much more than an hour though."

"I’m afraid Roger will have thought of that." Daniel said. "We have to assume that he will disable any piece of equipment we have to minimize the threat."

"Then what?" Susan scoffed. "We just let him win?"

"Not at all." Daniel said. "I believe that once we are in the ship, we will be able to convince him to meet in person."

"I don’t think so." Jacob shook his head. "I’m worried that once we are in there, he will lock us in those bays like prisoners."

"Medical will have the equipment to escape from the ship if it comes to that, but the ship won’t fly again if it resort to those measures."

"So we are stuck here regardless." Susan observed.

"The hour is almost up." Daniel said. "Let’s make our way to the ship and hope Roger is still willing to grant us access to the ship. Amy needs a proper evaluation."

No one said anything as Daniel flew the shuttle the short distance to the ship. It seemed normal enough, everything in its place, but Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the start of a very long stay on Jolie. He wanted to remain hopeful that they would complete their primary mission, but he also couldn’t discount the fact that Roger was the most cunning and logical person in this star system. He landed the shuttle at the entryway to the shuttle bay, hoping to keep Roger from evacuating by that method.

"Are we all going in?" Susan said still wary of Roger’s designs.

"No." Daniel said. "I will take Amy to Medical then contact you by radio. I fear Roger may try to escape, so you two will keep watch here."

"And if he comes out?" Jacob asked.

"Stop if you can. Tranquilizers, stun bolts, whatever you have to do. Just don’t kill him." Daniel said hauling Amy into his arms.

"What a day." Jacob said. "Those rock samples don’t seem very important now."

"Susan, I may call you onto the ship depending on Amy’s condition."

"Oh, great." Susan murmured.

Daniel carried Amy into the airlock and went outside. The sun was still hanging in the blue sky and gentle clouds blew by overhead. He went to the entry ramp and looked into the camera. A moment later the door opened and a ramp extended. Daniel didn’t hesitate as he didn’t want Roger to think that he didn’t trust the man. He wasn’t sure if he could, but he had to hope some humanity was left in Roger.

They arrived at Medical and Daniel took their suits off. He placed Amy on the examination table and began the auto evaluation procedure. A scanner ran the length of Amy’s body, then back again before retreating. Several smaller tools shone reddish light over portions of Amy’s body where she had been bruised or scraped. A larger tool extended and wrapped itself around Amy’s broken arm while the other tools finished and retracted. Daniel paced and tapped a few controls on a panel.

"Daniel." Roger’s voice sounded over the intercom. "I’d stop pressing those routines unless you want my systems to come online."

"Roger, you can’t keep us on this planet." Daniel said as he stopped fiddling with the buttons. "You can stay, but we have decided to complete our primary mission."

"The primary mission was to bring humanity to this planet." Roger said. "It has been completed. With the tools in this ship, the meager gene pool can be screened and modified to ensure healthy offspring."

"Jesus, Roger." Daniel sighed. "You can’t keep us prisoners. You can’t play god with the future of the human race."

"You are not prisoners. You have a whole planet full of food and fodder for you to utilize. And I assure you, I am not playing anything. As Susan said earlier, I am merely acting in my own self interest. I would never be able to forgive myself if I allowed those who arrived here to squander it by bringing the dredges of society along with them. We have paradise on a plate, yet you want to serve it up to those who weren’t good enough to make it here."

"Roger, you’ve got to resist whatever it is that is making you think this way." Daniel pleaded. "What happened to the sensible, moral, taciturn genius we all knew?"

"New planet." Roger said.

"So what are you going to do? Sit in here in your corner until the ship’s resources are depleted?"

"Not at all." Roger said. "Oh, and I think Amy’s checkup is almost complete. She suffered a clean break with minimal tissue damage. She should be fine in a couple of months."

"I thought you were my friend, Rog." Daniel said. "I thought I could trust you."

Daniel listened for what seemed like hours until he turned back towards Amy and began to suit them back up. Suddenly he felt the ship’s thrusters engage and he fell against the wall. He tried to open a radio channel but was locked out of the system.

"Damn it, Roger! What are you doing now?"

There was no response as he was forced to hold on to a safety bar to maintain his balance. He watched as Amy lay unconscious on the table. He couldn’t help but kick a table, helpless to do anything else, as he listened to the ship’s thrusters intensify.

Jacob watched the readouts as he waited for Daniel’s radio contact. After several long minutes, he noticed subsystems being activated in the ship.

"What’s he doing now?" Susan asked.

"Lifting off from the looks of it." Jacob said scratching his head.

"Where’s he going?"

"I don’t know."

"Should we follow?"

"I don’t know."

"What about Amy and Daniel?"

"I don’t know!" Jacob yelled then covered his face. "I don’t know what to do."

"Well we can’t just sit here." Susan ignored the outburst. "Let’s follow."

"I guess." Jacob muttered as he punched some commands on the shuttle. "Something isn’t right. The controls aren’t responding."

"What is it?"

"It must be Roger. Only he could lock me out remotely."

"So we are just sitting ducks?"

"It appears so." Jacob sat back. "At least I can still track his velocity."

"I hope the others are OK."

"Me too, Suze. Hey wait a sec, the path is changing. Oh shit!"

"What is it?" Susan prodded.

"He’s coming back down…right on top of us."

"Then let’s get out of here." Susan got up and fuddled with her suit.

"I can’t, the controls…" Jacob was oblivious.

"No, I mean let’s get the hell out of here!" Susan said heading towards the door.

"But the shuttle, the equipment!"

"Better grab what you can. What?! The door is jammed!"

"The other shuttle is leaving the ship. Roger, that bastard, getting two birds with one stone. He knew just how to play us."

"The door, Jacob!" Susan was struggling with the panel.

Jacob got up and threw his helmet on in two seconds. He punched some commands into the door panel to no avail. The collision alarm began to sound and a timer began to countdown from twenty. Jacob got his long metal tool from the wall and approached the door.

"Stand back, Susan."

"What are you doing?" Susan said getting out of his way.

"Getting us the fuck out of here." Jacob said as he raised the tool and hit a section of panel near the door. He struck it again and the panel dented away. He quickly slid the tool in the hole he created and pried the panel off. The timer ticked to ten as he pulled loose a few sections of cables, held the flat edge of the panel against them and struck it as hard as he could with the tool. There was a loud pop and Susan jumped back. Jacob threw the panel aside as the door fell open and he grabbed Susan by the arm.

"Move!" Jacob yelled as he shoved her through the doorway.

Somehow she landed on her feet and began to run even as she felt Jacob’s hand push her along. She tried to imagine the countdown clock too late as she felt a horrendous blast from behind her. The next thing she knew, Jacob was flying against her and both of them were thrown violently through the air for a dozen meters, the alarms in her suit were going crazy and she landed face first in the soft ground. She felt Jacob land on top of her and her breath was knocked out of her. She managed to crane her neck around just enough to see the Intrepid looming, a large cloud of smoke and debris from the bottom and not a single sign of the shuttle. Then she blacked out.

Daniel cursed to himself as he pictured the trajectory of the ship. He knew before long that it was a short maneuver, but he couldn’t reason what the purpose was. There was a large crash and he felt an explosion rock through the ship. Then he knew what Roger was doing and he almost started to cry. He thought of Jacob and Susan in the shuttle that was now obliterated. The shaking stopped and the thrusters had quit firing, and Daniel noticed that the control panels were operational again. He got up and tried to contact the shuttle. Nothing.

He suited himself and Amy then took her in his arms. He stared at her sleeping face as he made his way to the outer door. He swallowed hard as he opened the door and wasn’t surprised at the chaos that he saw. Dust and smoke filled the air and he trekked through the gloom looking for any signs of the shuttle or the others. He walked for moment more when his legs lost their strength. He almost dropped Amy as he fell to his knees. He tried to get a hold of himself and looked around desperately. In the sky, he saw a shuttle flying away, Roger’s shuttle. He took his helmet off then and cried. He cried harder when he thought of how he had let his crew, everyone, down.

Day 757 - 14

Susan gathered some roughage along the edge of an overgrown patch of vegetation. She wasn’t wearing her space suit anymore; some simple shorts and a white blouse fit to her body and her feet were bare. She filled a makeshift container and began to walk back over a hill. She stopped for a moment when she spotted their encampment several hundred meters away. The week before was beginning to fade from her being and she held out a hand. Several moments passed and she smiled. She had had awful shakes after that terrible day and was worried that they might be permanent.

She had awoken to Daniel shaking her. The first thing she saw was Daniel’s bare head, no helmet. She tried to warn him of the dangers but he just held her in his arms for a while. She felt Daniel’s exhaustion through his and hers suit and she caught sight of Amy’s form in the grass nearby.

"Daniel…" Susan managed.

"I thought you were gone!" Daniel interrupted her. "I thought you were both gone. There was nothing…I could do. I’m so sorry."

Susan saw Amy breathing softly and thought of Jacob. She pushed Daniel off of her and looked around. Jacob was lying nearby, no helmet and motionless. Susan crawled towards him, her legs unable to function. She reached out a hand to him and could not keep it still. The events caught up to her and she collapsed on her side.

"Is he…?" She couldn’t ask.

"It’s shallow." Daniel said staring at the ground. "He took a bad shot to the back and shoulders from flying debris. I patched him up as best as I could, but he hasn’t come around."

"And Amy?"

"She’s better off than we are, arm excluded. She slept through all of it, but she’s sure to wake up soon."

"Oh god it really happened, didn’t it? Roger and the ship. Roger!"

"Gone." Daniel spat. "He’s disabled the flight functions on the ship and took the other shuttle with most of the critical components."

"So we have the ship?" Susan hoped.

"Food and power and a few other things, but believe me…it’s no ship anymore."

"I see."

After that, Susan checked herself for injuries and gave Daniel a once over. She got rid of her suit since it was clear that the environment was benign. Amy did indeed wake soon after that and they filled her in on the events. She seemed to understand but didn’t respond much. Daniel and Susan tried to salvage anything that Daniel had missed and took rations from the ship. They found a spot near the ship but not too near and organized their meager belongings. The days have been long since then.

Susan withdrew her hand afraid it might start shaking again and headed towards the camp. Daniel spotted her and attempted to look like he was doing something important. She jogged the remainder of the distance and set down the container.

"Any change?" She said motioning to Amy and Jacob.

"Jacob is the same, but Amy’s fever is still too high for my liking."

"We’ll get it down." Susan said sorting through the different plants. "Some of these are incredibly similar to Earth plants. After some tests I should be able to determine if they contain any fever reducers."

"We still have plenty, but it will come in handy later. It’s just that these days are so long, it’s hard to get any real rest."

"Yes, I’ve noticed. But we just have to get past these few weeks and our bodies should adapt to the new rhythms."

"I managed to locate several water sources not too far from here." Daniel changed the subject. "I will fashion some more containers from the wreckage, but that may have to wait until tomorrow."

"Don’t overdo it, Daniel." Susan sat beside him. "One thing at a time."

"I know, I know."

"Ohh…." Jacob groaned.

Susan jumped up, prepared a cool wet cloth and got down beside Jacob.

"Jacob?" Susan wiped his brow and neck. "Are you with us?"

"I hurt…everywhere."

"Just lay still. You’re going to be fine."

"What happened?" Jacob asked. "Where am I?"

"We are on Jolie." Daniel said kneeling beside them. "What can you remember?"

"What’s Jolie? Isn’t that French?"

Daniel covered his face and shook his head. Susan squeezed Jacob’s hand.

"Jacob, do you remember the mission? Our voyage?"

"The mission…I remember preparing for a flight, a prototype craft. Was there a training accident? Have I been disqualified?"

"Oh my poor Jacob." Susan started crying.

"Where am I?" Jacob said trying to look around but wincing at the effort. "What’s going on?"

"Listen, friend." Daniel said. "I’m Daniel Mansfield, senior flight officer of the Intrepid."

"The Intrepid. That’s it. So you got the command seat? I know you from training."

"You were chosen as lead geologist. The mission is…over."

"So it’s been scrapped?" Jacob asked.

"No, sweetheart." Susan said. "We made it."

"I don’t understand." Jacob looked confused.

Daniel pulled a small reflective disc from his pocket and put it over Jacob’s face, reflecting the ship’s image into Jacob’s sight since he couldn’t move too well.

"That’s the ship we flew here in from Earth. Took us two years. But there’s been…an accident."

"So…" Jacob realized. "This is some sort of short-term amnesia."

"I’m sorry, bud." Daniel said. "I’m sure you’ll remember. The ship’s data recorders will jog your memory. But you just got to take it slow for now."

"What accident?" Jacob asked wincing again.

"You’re my hero." Susan kissed Jacob on the lips. "You saved all of us."

"Susan isn’t it?" Jacob asked. "I guess you’re welcome."

"Roger tried to crush us with the ship. He locked us in the shuttle and landed right on top of us!"

"Roger? Maxwell? I remember seeing his name on the candidate list."

"That’s the one." Daniel said.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Susan think it may be from an infection from one of the native organisms, but don’t worry. We are well away from its habitat."

"Two years?" Jacob said frowning. "Training just seemed like yesterday."

"I guess you don’t remember that Amy Brewster was on the crew as well?"

"She doesn’t sound familiar."

"She was added late in the program, when the other engineers proved to be inept."

"Is she…where is she?" Jacob asked.

"She’s right here." Susan said. "She broke her arm, but she should be fine."

"I wish…I could do something." Jacob tried to move again.

"You just rest." Susan said. "We have all the time in the world."

"But the climate…where could we be?" Jacob still didn’t get it.

"We’re not on Earth, Jacob." Daniel said. "This is Jolie. Two suns, two moons and five whole humans on the entire planet."

"I knew it…" Jacob recalled. "I knew those composition results were very similar to Earth’s. But what about the return trip? Aren’t we to inform Earth once we’ve…?"

Daniel shook his head, got up and walked off a little way.

"You just rest, please." Susan placed another hand on him. "I’ll explain everything."

"I guess, but we don’t happen to have any pain meds do we?"

"I’ll get you something."

Susan went to their supplies and retrieved some pain relievers. She looked over at Daniel who was staring at the denser vegetation far in the distance. She took the pills to Jacob with some water and gave them to him.

"Thanks." Jacob said. "You know, I would like to look at the ship’s data recorders."

"We will. We will." Susan smiled. "’I’m just so glad to have you back. I was so worried."

"Were we?" Jacob started to ask. "Are me and you? I mean, after two years…"

"Oh, my darling." Susan kissed him again. "Yes, but only recently."

"I’m sorry I can’t remember that, but I did think you were cute since I first saw you at training. I’m glad it worked out."

"Me too." Susan cried a little. "I’m so glad."

Day 761 - 17

Amy and Daniel stood on a ridge overlooking the denser vegetation below in a valley. They were dressed simply but both of them had makeshift spears made from shuttle remnants. Amy took a swig of water with some pills and put them back in her belt. Her left arm had a cast on it but she was using it fairly well. He placed an arm around her shoulders.

"You feeling all right? We can postpone this if you want."

"No, Daniel. We have to find out where Roger has gone, if only to keep tabs on him. Besides, sitting around every day is starting to wreck my metabolism."

"I’m just glad you are up and about. You were feverish something awful for a couple days there."

"Yeah, everything is kind of a blur, but I feel much better, just ready to accomplish something."

"His shuttle headed this way." Daniel said holding a device out. "But there is no sign of him or the shuttle."

"I’m sure we’ll find something. Let’s go."

They walked down the hill into some taller grasses and weeds then the denser vegetation further down. They proceeded cautiously and even spotted some of the smaller creatures among the undergrowth. They kept on for a couple of hours and decided to take a rest in a small clearing, partly shaded from the some of the taller plants. They ate some of their rations and enjoyed the company for a while. As they packed up again, they heard a noise coming from the underbrush.

"Be careful. It could be that same creature Roger encountered."

Before Amy could said anything a small gooey appendage poked through the foliage and swayed around.

"So that’s what got Roger. It’s disgusting." Amy said backing away.

"I think as long as we don’t disturb it, it won’t expel those spores."

They couldn’t help but stare at the thing as they stayed in the sunlit areas. Daniel tugged on Amy’s shirt to follow him but she kept staring.

"I think it’s doing something."

The oozy appendage slowly pointed towards Daniel then Amy then snapped and fixed on a direction. Daniel tugged harder but Amy shrugged him off.

"Wait."

The gooey glob repeated this motion a few more times then slunk its way back under the undergrowth. Daniel crept back into the area and looked back at Amy.

"It seemed different this time…more deliberate." Daniel said.

"If Roger is infected spores from that thing, maybe…" Amy didn’t want to say it.

"You think Roger is trying to communicate?"

"I think it want us to go that direction."

"We came all this way to try to find him, so as much as I hate to admit it…let’s follow that fungus."

"It pointed back the way we came. Maybe there is something we missed."

"Someplace dark no doubt." Daniel said starting off in that direction.

They walked for a while keeping an eye out for anything out of place, but all seemed very serene in this place. Eventually they came to a small outcropping of rock. They circled around it and discovered a small opening in the rock. As they approached the opening, several small gooey protuberances got between Daniel and Amy. Amy couldn’t help but jump and she fell on her hands. She cursed as she held her broken arm. Daniel tried to approach her, but the fungi kept him from getting close.

"I’m fine." Amy said scooting into the sunlight. "But I don’t think they want me to come with you."

"This is Roger’s doing, I know it." Daniel said as shook his fist.

"It’s OK. Just get in there and find out what happened to Roger. And hurry back, I’m starting to regret what I said about sitting in camp all day."

"I can’t just leave you…"

"I can handle it. Just be quick about it."

"I love you, Amy." Daniel said readying his weapon.

"Love you too, babe. See you soon."

"Yeah…" Daniel gulped as he started into the cave.

He made his way deeper into the darkness as his dread grew by bounds. All alone in this cavern, he felt helpless and alone, but he knew he was neither. He noticed that it was much drier in this cave, unlike the one he was in days before. It was almost pitch black and he turned on a small light he had. The tunnel opened up and he found his way into an antechamber leading to much larger chamber beyond. He paused to check his equipment and his courage.

"Daniel." Roger’s familiar voice came from within. "I’m glad we could finally meet, man to man."

Daniel eased into the large cavern and waved his light back and forth. He spotted an alcove in the wall and just emptiness beyond that seemed to go forever.

"If you don’t mind, the light is a tad irritating." Roger said.

Daniel turned his light off and stood there in the utter darkness until some luminescent bacteria on the rock shone a dim green light. Daniel stood still while his eyes tried to adjust.

"Now, come closer so we can talk." Roger said from the gloom.

Daniel walked closer to the voice and slowly began to make out Roger’s form seated in a recess. He saw some appendages protrude from unseen holes in the floor and stopped.

"Don’t worry." Roger said. "They are no longer mindless. They are an extension of me. My hands, eyes and ears if you will."

"Roger." Daniel felt sorry for the man. "What has happened to you?"

Daniel then saw Roger’s form as clear as he could. His head was distended from some reason and there were those appendages covering his scalp and shoulders. Daniel felt queasy and wondered if he would make it out of this cave alive.

"I have evolved, Daniel. This time alone has given me time to think, time to adapt…coerce…even control these new parts. I can see whole regions of this planet and it is beautiful. My mind had become sharper and clearer than ever."

"That may be, but Jacob has lost his memory from you almost killing him and Susan!"

"But they are alive. And Jacob’s memory can easily be regained if you allow me to have access to him."

"I don’t think so, Roger." Daniel backed away. "I’m not sure what we’re going to do, but we’ll be doing it without your help."

"On the contrary, I believe you will need my help many times in the coming future. You see, I know what those Jolians think and feel; I have absorbed many of them. I can tell you just how to deal with them. I also know the surroundings better than all of your probes, vital information to you and your crew. I’m sure you will want portions of the ship operational again; I can help you with that."

"You can…" Daniel back away further. "But what do you want?"

"Yes, about that." Roger slunk deeper into the shadows. "I need only one thing, solitude. You see, all this commotion and light distracts me. If you and the others stay out of my hair, I can promise you safety and information that would be difficult otherwise."

"So we leave you alone and you leave us alone?" Daniel asked.

"I will be available to help occasionally. I think it is a very fair deal."

"You don’t leave us much of a choice, with the ship and all."

"I had to be certain you all didn’t go running off and sterilizing yourselves. It would be a shame for our genes to be lost."

"Dammit, Roger." Daniel was at his limit. "This is insane! You always thought you were smarter than everyone, everyone agreed and now you have to take control of an entire planet?"

"Humans have always been short-sighted." Roger sighed. "This way everything will be planned to perfection. You and the crew will create progeny and new civilization. The Jolians will provide fodder, entertainment and the supplemental gene characteristic as needed. I will continue to reside here long after you and your descendents expire, preparing for the next settlers or semi-intelligent creatures to evolve. You have to agree, this is much better than going back to a ruined planet just to end our own genetic lines."

"I don’t agree, Roger." Daniel scathed. "You’ve compromised everything we’ve worked for! You’ve betrayed your friends. I don’t even know what you are anymore!"

"I am your friend and if you satisfy my conditions I will be no threat to anyone human."

"So there’s no reasoning with you?"

"You are the one that needs a reason, Daniel. Now go before I become too befuddled. I have become quite proficient at controlling my new viscera, but accidents could happen if I lose my concentration."

"Just like the ship…" Daniel spat.

Roger said nothing but sat in the darkness. Daniel didn’t want to stay in that wretched place anymore and backed out. He turned his light back on and made his way to the surface. He found Amy where he left her and no sign of those things. He rushed to her and hugged her.

"Daniel!" Amy smiled. "I was starting to get worried. You find anything?"

"Yes but…" Daniel didn’t know what to say. "Roger is different. He’s part of the fungus…or it’s part of him. I don’t know, but it’s not natural at all."

"Did you talk to him? What did he say?"

"He just wants to be left alone. He said that we are to colonize this planet while he becomes more a part of those…things."

"So what do we do now? Maybe if we brought some lights in there, we could…"

"No." Daniel said. "All we can do now is survive…one long day at a time. Let’s get back to the others; we’ve got to stick together now.