‘As the sun is going down, we may as well stay here for the night,’ Glyn said, ‘and after a meal, we’ll plan what we are going to do. We can’t just stay here, the land is barren and when the food runs out, we’ll starve. We must find some area where we can harvest food as we did on board the ship.’
‘How do we know where to look?’ someone asked, ‘maybe it’s all like this, and then what’ll we do?’
‘Can’t answer that, it all depends on what we find, and where. There is life in the lake, so there should be other life as well. We’ll just have to look for it,’ Glyn replied.
‘Haven’t seen any plants as yet, do you think there’ll be any, somewhere?’ the same voice asked. Glyn didn’t answer.
Several of the party had already sat down on convenient lumps of rock which were scattered about the plateau, and the rest soon followed their example, the camp for the night had been established.
An excited call from Arki quickly got everyone’s attention.
He had disappeared into a pile of rock at the back of the plateau, only one leg sticking out to show where he was.
‘I think I’ve found some water, want to check it out Glyn?’
As Glyn wriggled in among the rocks beside Arki, the others crowded around the periphery of the opening, eager to see if it was drinkable.
‘It looks clear, and there’s no sign of the green colour we saw in the lake. Shall I try some?’ asked Arki.
‘Just dip your finger in and taste it first.’ advised Glyn, feeling he should do the testing.
‘It seems just like the water on the ship, as far as I can tell, there’s no nasty taste to it.’ said Arki.
‘Right, if you feel like it, scoop some up in your palm and hold a little under your tongue for about a minute, then spit it out. That way any contaminants it will be absorbed into your system quickly. If there is no reaction in half an hour, then it should be all right to drink.’ Glyn hoped he had given the right advice.
The pair scrambled back out of the rock pile and sat down with the others, all thirsty, dusty and tired. Two of the smaller children began crying, not understanding why they couldn’t have a drink despite their parents best efforts.
With the half hour up, according to the time keeper on Glyn’s wrist, Arki went back to the rock pile and quenched his thirst, smacking his lips as he emerged, which didn’t help the others who had to wait another half an hour to be certain there would be no reaction to such a large intake.
It was getting duskish when the time was up and Arki hadn’t keeled over, so Glyn gave the go ahead to drink. How no one was killed in the scramble to get into the rock pile was a miracle, as tempers were beginning to fray at the long delay, the reason not being fully understood by some.
As the water was only a small trickle and not easy to reach, it was some time before everyone had had their fill, and then the question of food came up.
‘Right, I’m going to open my pack first to see what it contains. Remember, these are emergency rations, and when they’re gone we have no more and no way of getting replacements.’ Glyn sounded very serious, trying to drive the point home well and truly.
He undid the clasp at the top of the pack exposing a folded data sheet. A quick glance at it told him he had better read it out loud to the others after they had eaten, and felt a little more secure in their new surroundings.
Glyn pulled out the first food pack, a squat square device with instructions printed on the top. In the failing light it wasn’t easy to read, but he did his best.
‘It says here, pull the tab at the top, extending the container to its maximum height, and fill with water to the level marked. Wait three minutes for the food to reconstitute. After eating, fill the container to the mark again with water and drink. This is a minimum liquid requirement. Everyone understand that?’ he asked, looking around. It seemed they did, and were eager to get on with it, a queue soon forming at the rock pile.
Scooping water from the little trickle in the rocks was inefficient and time consuming, and nearly as frustrating as waiting to see how Arki faired with his water test, but eventually everyone managed it, having little option.
Glyn waited for the caustic comments to fly forth, as the food wasn’t exactly what they were used to, but hunger had made the assembled company a little more appreciative than usual, and the only sound to be heard was the occasional click of teeth as a softer than normal piece of concentrate was encountered.
As they queued up to fill their containers to the required level with water, a little light conversation began, and Glyn then knew that the first day on Earth for the travellers had turned out quite well, all things being considered.
By the time all were seated again on their chosen piece of rock, it was too dark to read the data sheet he had found in his pack, so he advised the assembly that he would do so next morning, as it may contain some information to enhance their well-being in their new surroundings.
The temperature began to drop as the last flickering rays of the sun died, and darkness crept across the rocky landscape like a silent soft black cloak. One of the younger children began to whimper at the unaccustomed conditions, but a few soothing words from a parent eased the situation as they did their best to find somewhere not too hard to lie down on.
‘I think we should all huddle together to conserve warmth, don’t you?’ asked Arki quietly.
‘That’s a good idea,’ replied Glyn, ‘it could get a lot colder by morning and we’re not used to such temperature changes.’
‘I think you should put it to them, as you’re the leader,’ Arki added.
Glyn looked at him questioningly in the dim light, but Arki just nodded his head, firmly. Glyn cleared his throat nosily.
‘I hope I haven’t woken anyone up.’ and the chorus of groans with ‘you’ve got to be joking.’ confirmed the fact that he hadn’t.
‘May I suggest that we all huddle together to conserve warmth, it is likely that it will get a lot colder before morning, and as yet we have no way of protecting ourselves from such a heat loss. Place the packs in a line along there, as it will act as a wind break, and then lie down this side of it.’ A cool draft had begun to flow over the plateau, with the promise of more to come.
Once the shuffling and grunts as the odd stone found a soft body part died away, the occasional snore was the only sound to break the otherwise stillness of night, keeping those unfortunate enough to still be awake in that state.
The early dawn found that a few, in the middle of the heap had slept a little, while those on the outside were distinctly bleary eyed and not a little grumpy.
Glyn had been one of the first to be up and around, and had managed to enlarge the tiny pool where the trickle of water had collected, so that is was now much easier to obtain a reasonable supply. He also reread the instructions of his food package again, and found that it was designed to provide enough nutrients to last for twenty four hours, not that it took away the pangs of hunger, which all were feeling.
It wasn’t long before everyone was ambulant, trying to get the stiffness out of their joints and a little warmth into their bodies by briskly walking up and down the plateau.
There were a surprising number of food pots in each backpack, and Arki and Glyn thought it might be judicious to start the day with a meal, just to get everyone in a good mood and feeling better for what they intended to propose.
A little queue built up at the watering hole when Glyn announced the good news, and soon all were munching away on their concentrates, grateful for something to fill their empty stomachs.
‘If you will all close around here, I’ll read out from the data sheet found in the top of my pack last night, I think it might contain answers to some of the questions most of you would like to ask.’ The sun had now broken the horizon, and a little warmth from its still weak rays cheered everyone up, and the group formed as requested.
Glyn cleared his throat, which was becoming a habit prior to making an announcement, and one of the younger children whether by design or accident, mimicked him with a degree of accuracy that brought a chuckle from some of the adults, and a resolution from Glyn not to do so again, if he could help it.
For this document to be available to you, there must have been a terminal breakdown in the project, and now is the time for the true purpose of the project to be revealed to you, the survivors.
A very long time ago, it was evident that Earth was going to be engaged in a war which would most likely terminate life as we know it.
The only hope for the survival of human beings as a species was to isolate a few in conditions where they would be untouched by the holocaust which was to come. It was reasoned that Earth would be unable to support human life for many years into the future, and so some method of prolonging the life of the species had to be found.
The only viable system we could find was to breed many generations within the safe environment we intended to create, and so the project ‘Star Search’ began.
A natural cave deep within a mountain range was enlarged to hold the ‘Star Ship’, which was in effect a self contained and self repairing series of chambers to sustain life for many generations to come.
It was so designed to recycle everything, as there would be no means of bringing in new materials.
It was deemed by the psychologists that the true state of things would be too much for the mental stability of those involved, and so the subterfuge of travelling to a new home among the stars was devised.
The choosing of the original occupants of the life capsule was the most difficult task for the organizers of the project. The blood types had to be compatible so there would be no problems of incompatibilities with the progeny of future generations, and the genetic make up of each person had to be as near perfect as possible.
Any faulty genes present in the first generation would compound in future offspring, and as there were only twelve males and females, the problem would be exacerbated as time went on with such a restricted gene pool.
The project would have been terminated when the outside sensors detected a return to near normal life on the Earth’s surface, but for you to read this, there must have been a major failure in the system, and the Earth may not have regenerated sufficiently to sustain you.
There is nothing that can be done by the project to ease the situation. You are advised to conserve your rations of food, using them only in emergencies. Only eat that which you recognize from the hydroponics gardens, until you devise some means of testing new food sources. Water should be plentiful, but make sure that it is clear and has no taste.
If the generations have bred true, you will be able to eat fruit, grain, berries and vegetables, and some fish from salt water. Your digestive systems are not designed to eat the flesh of animals, as was done before the project began, but this may change over many generations in the future.
It has been calculated that the areas around the equator of earth will most likely be the first to recover from the disaster which has been predicted, and a journey in a southerly direction is advised to maximize your survival.
We cannot forecast what, if any, life forms will survive to greet your emergence from the project. We anticipate that there will be heavy mutation of any species which do survive, and these may not be recognizable when compared to those contained in the data banks of the project. Extreme caution must be exercised when encountering any mobile life forms, and anything not easily recognizable in the way of food sources must be avoided until a means of verifying their safety has been established.
The restraint on reproduction has been automatically removed, and only applied when within the project to limit the numbers the system could sustain. You may now breed as frequently as you wish, in fact this is the main purpose of the project. Only do so in any numbers when you have established a suitable and sustainable new homeland.
A limited number of simple tools have been included in the packs to help you create shelters from inclement weather and make other accessories to enhance your lives. Look after them well, they cannot be replaced once lost or broken.
We, who began Project Transplant, wish you, the representatives of our peoples, the best of good fortune. May you survive, multiply and subdue the earth again, but please do not make the same mistakes we have done. Learn from our follies, and go forth in peace.
Glyn looked up from the sheet and saw most of the listeners had moist eyes, and he had to brush a tear away to see them clearly. The utter silence which pervaded the plateau was unnerving, and he had to break it.
‘Well, now we know the truth, we know what we must do. Does anyone have any questions?’
‘Yes, How do we know where south is?’ asked Arki, thinking that if he asked a question, others might follow.
‘Well, er.' began Glyn, trying to reason the answer out. ‘You may have noticed yesterday that the sun sank over there,’ sweeping his arm across the heavens and pointing to the west, ‘and this morning it rose over there. So when it’s at its highest point, then that must be south.
‘I don’t think the sun will ever be overhead here as that only happens at the equator, or not far from it. Therefore if we take our bearings at the sun’s highest point and keep going south until it is over head, then we shall reach the equator.’ He felt pleased with himself, not a bad explanation straight off the cuff, he thought.
‘What happens if the food runs out?’ someone asked.
‘We mustn’t let it. We must do our best to find other food sources, and only use the concentrates if none can be found.’
‘Why can’t we go back to the ship, there’s plenty of food there and the chef always produces meals on time, and I thought they were great.’ Brendon wanted his say.
‘When we left the tunnel yesterday, the roof fell in. I think it was intended to do so to prevent us returning, and to make us go south. Anyway, the whole structure was breaking up as we left, so I doubt if the chef survived.’ Brendon, who asked the question looked decidedly crestfallen and began mumbling to himself, he didn’t want to believe the truth and Glyn realized he may have a difficult situation on his hands if others joined in.