Eleven days after the first landing, the remaining crew and passengers on the New Dawn landed on Wenobek. Their descent from orbit was uneventful. Drachcirn and Ecurben had found an open area with few trees. And they had the benefit of clear weather and no rain.
Ecurben stepped out of the descent vehicle and inhaled the fresh air. The vertical setdown made unloading easy. His Advance Team had already set up a perimeter. The landing site was not far from a wide river.
Drachcirn exclaimed,” Sir. Can you believe this place?”
“It's more than I expected. I only hope we are alone.”
Ecurben issued orders, and soon, the crew, with help from the Advance team, were getting the lander unloaded and erecting the half-dome habitats.
Drachcirn had programmed the New Dawn's navigation controls to take the ship out of orbit several hours after their departure. The automated controls put the New Dawn on a flight path toward Wenobek's star, where gravity would pull it to a fiery end.
Adnilla and the other medical specialists allowed the passengers to take their time getting off the lander. Most stayed on the lander until early evening. A few needed assistance and spent a night in the medical center. Fortunately, none had died from the G-forces endured during reentry.
Ecurben and Drachcirn didn’t know how far the second landing site was from the first. They had a general sense of the direction, but that was all. And the first group didn’t know anything about the second landing. Each colony was on its own.
That evening, the Advance Team built a large fire, and most sat around it gazing at the star-filled sky. Being back on firm ground made most feel the most challenging part of their adventure was behind them.
Ecurben walked to the middle of the colonists enjoying their first night in their new home and got their attention.
“Seeing the stars of our galaxy above is a beautiful welcome. Just maybe one of those points of light is our star, Jua.
I know many of you are still adjusting to gravity. You’re not alone. All of us are. Spending more than a year in weightlessness weakens all of us. Do what you can and try to spend as much time as you can walking around.
Our priority is exploring the area and finding local plants and animals. Tomorrow, we will send out patrols to scout the area. I will instruct them to avoid contact with any life forms they encounter. We don’t know what lives here and what danger they may pose. Don’t wander far!
The patrols will look for plants and animals. The science lab will check out the samples they bring back. We have to adjust to local food.
We have a lot to do to ensure our survival. Your effort will make that possible. Enjoy tonight. Tomorrow, our work begins.
When the first patrols returned the following afternoon, Cariden, the Advance Team leader, reported what they had seen.
“Our settlement is in an expanse of primarily rolling grassland. A heavily wooded area is about a day's distance directly away from the river. So far, the patrols have not seen any form of intelligent life. They delivered several food samples to the lab and saw a herd of large animals in the distance.”
Eating prepared meal packets for a lifetime made the idea of eating plants and animal meat hard to accept. The variety of tastes and textures was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Only the Amilikuts adapted quickly. Most resisted the first few times. Ecurben reduced the quantity of food brought on the lander to force their acceptance.
The river was wide enough to be a barrier to any threat from that side. Very few Tridonians knew how to swim or use a boat on a large body of water. The Amilikut, who often lived in or near wilderness lands, were less intimidated, and a few even knew how to swim.
Four Days After Landing
Ecurben had formed an executive council of senior officers and leaders from the three classes. And, like Nireem, he insisted that there be no class distinctions in the second settlement. Ecurben wanted everyone to feel he heard their views.
Today was the second meeting of the Executive Council. Each day after the morning meal, they got together.
“Odraciron.There is something wrong with the solar panels in Half-dome Five. The wall chargers aren’t working,” Ekelon reported.
“I’ll get one of the maintenance guys on it,”
“Several have asked me if we have located the first settlement,” Esojon said in his quiet, assured way.
“No.Not yet. We think from our landing path the settlement is somewhere across the river. So wider exploration is needed, and first, we must find a way across.” Ecurben answered.
“I’ll send out two patrols, one up the river and one down,” Cariden offered.
“And look for more plants and fruit. They are most in demand,” Adnilla suggested. That vine with bluish berries is very popular.
“Why don’t we send out several groups to look for food? They don’t have to be from the Advance Team,” Ecinajee offered. She was an outspoken, single Rebizut woman.
Adnilla liked Ecinajee and added, “Good idea. It will get more of our people involved.”
“OK! Ecinajee, recruit volunteers for the food search. And, Cariden, have your guys look for food sources, too, but let's scout the river farther. Go out two or three days.” Ecurben rose to signal the meeting was over.
Cariden watched as his two teams set off to explore the river. His parting instructions made it clear they must find a way across. The men in each party carried sleeping blankets tied around their backpacks. It would be their first time staying away from their settlement overnight. Several in each group carried hunting rifles they had brought with them. The Advance Team leader wished he was going.
It took little to enlist four groups to search for food. These fanned out across the broad expanse away from the river. Curiosity and the novelty of it all made the food search more of an entertainment than a job.
Ecurben found Drachcirn sitting on a log washed up by the river. He was worried about his friend. Drachcirn had been quiet during the meeting. He was uncomfortable with losing his life as an astronaut.
“Drachcirn. Have time to talk?” Ecurben asked to engage his friend as he walked over.
“Yeah,” came a dejected reply.
“What's bothering you? “
“I’m an astronaut. I don’t belong here. I know about space and navigation,” Drachcirn mumbled.
“Hey, I miss space too. But I need your help. You’re smart and have an instinct for anticipating problems and figuring out what to do. Here's a challenge. We need to figure out how to navigate down here. On Tridon, we had satellite signals and computer maps for directions. How do I tell the other settlement where we are? Our patrols don’t stray far for fear they can’t get back. I can’t lead our people without your help!”
A challenge always hooked Drachcirn. He loved to solve problems.
“Thanks, Ecurben. I’ve felt useless. I’ll try to help.”
“Figure out some way to map locations. We need more than it was upriver or downriver. Right now, everything has gone too well. Everyone thinks living here is easy. But, you and I know the calm comes before the storm,” Ecurben said assuringly and then walked back to the cluster of half-domes.
Drachcirn's mind was absorbed with his new challenge. He thought about how they navigated in space and found their way back to Tridon. Then he remembered what he had left in the descent vehicle and headed that way.
It was late afternoon when the first of the food searchers returned. Several had filled packs. Moving over the uneven landscape under a bright sun had been exhausting for most in the group. Ecurben saw Ecinajee talking with several who had just returned, and he walked over to greet them.
“Looks like you had some success,” he ventured.
“Yes, We found a patch of plants. Some had soft red fruit, but most were small, green, and hard. She cut one of the red ones open. They are very juicy and full of little green seeds.”
Ecurben realized he was looking at Ecinajee and not the fruit. He quickly shifted his eyes, but not before she noticed. Inside, she was smiling.
“Have the food science guys check it out. They look inviting,” Ecurben said, trying to suppress any emotion in his voice.
Another young woman held up a bunch of plants, each with a long, tapered root. “Ever see anything like this?” she asked.
“Not that color,” he grinned. “Most everything here is different.”
The conversation brought back his memories of a thumb-sized yellow berry they had on Tridon. As a young boy, he could eat a bowl full. It was one of the few foods that weren’t in the form of a prepared food bar.
Speaking to the group, Ecurben said, “You all have done well! Thanks for your efforts. Once our food scientist gives the OK, gather quantities to feed everyone.”
“We only saw one large patch of red fruit. However, the plants with long, orange roots are everywhere,” one woman volunteered.
Later, Ecurben talked with the other groups. Each returned with several new finds. One brought packs stuffed with cylindrical leaf-covered stalks that contained rows of yellow seeds inside. No one had ever seen anything like it.
After the evening meal, Ecurben walked down along the river's edge. He watched Wenobek's star, now more than halfway down to the horizon. Many had already started to call it Jua after Tridon's sun. He realized most didn’t think of Jua as the name of a star. Instead, it was what they called the star that greeted them every day.
Today was another step forward. The community was getting closer to food self-sufficiency. More of the colonists were accepting it.
Ecurben found himself thinking about Ecinajee. There was something about her that made him want to be with her.