Brunning Divide

Episode 1: Unwelcome Guests - Part 3

There wasn't a sufficient natural source of water in Brunning. The vast valley we lived in was a wasteland that saw rain twice a year if lucky. When the Fortitude Hibernarii faction conceived Brunning they could have sent us the tech to easily generate water and lots of it, but they didn't. All part of the greater vision of the experiment. Instead they sent an advance team of humans to Erimia, the planet of sand and hate, to locate an acceptable site to start a new colony. That advance team put in the groundwork for us and the other eight families that followed my father to this dead planet.

My father said no planet was truly dead. That was the epitome of Absolom Floros—a determined optimism that found potential in every situation. His relentless and contagious attitude kept the whole damned colony running. Contagious but not universal.

Outside, I found myself scanning the fields and wasteland beyond. Scolding myself. Spiders are nocturnal, get back to work, Xander. The work kept my mind busy and I dove into it as hard as I could.

By midday we serviced most of the pumps that fed water through subterranean pipes into Brunning—cleaning the solar cells and mucking out any built-up sediment inside the pump housing. My father tried to send Jamus back home a few times. It didn't work, Jamus refused to go and plodded on with the work. Silent. Despite everything, the morning passed quick. Jamus and I leaned against the shaded side of the Larkin's barn, taking a water break while my father, with his head in the Larkin's pump, made some final adjustments.

Unoccupied, curiosity itched at the back of my mind about the morning's events. Jamus had been quiet—something not normal for my little brother, but understandable given the circumstances. My father, content to work in silence, had barely said anything, only the occasional greeting to the other colonists. I tended to passively seek my knowledge. With a little patience and a mixture of keeping my head down and my ears up, I easily stayed informed. 

That is, if anything ever happened and I couldn't remember anything even remotely interesting happening in the last few years. 

But now, not only were the spiders back, but they'd already killed someone. And nobody was talking about it. People were working in their fields or homes like normal. Brunning was a fragile machine and we were its fuel. Despite tragedy, work had to go on for us to survive.

Survive. Ha.

"This is pointless." I wiped at the salty residue left on my forehead from my evaporating sweat and winced as some fell in my eyes. I splashed water in my eyes, cleaning them.

Jamus wiped at his own eyes.

"Use the water. Rubbing makes it worse."

"Huh?" He looked at me with red eyes.

"Here," I said, tossing water all over his face, "let me help you."

He sputtered and wiped at his face.

"Your face is clean isn't it?" I laughed, happy for some form of levity, while he wiped at his face. "You know, you should be more grateful."

Jamus glared at me, water dripping off his nose. "Jerk." He picked up his water bladder and walked toward the Larkin's house. "I need more water."

"Get me some water too?" I tossed my water bladder. Jamus ignored it and kept walking. "Whatever," I said.

The low whirring sound of a pump starting up told me my father had finished. I turned to him and got blasted in the face with warm, gritty water. I tried to yell, but choked until the water stopped a couple of seconds later. "What the hell?"

"Oh, sorry Xander." My father chuckled. "I thought I heard you ask for water and I had to clear the line before I hooked it up to the barn again... and well, in the name of efficiency I thought I'd help you out." He smiled and closed the access hatch to the pipes in the ground.

Scraping silt out of my hair, I scowled at him. "Right. So helpful. You done?

"Yep." He looked at the sun's position. "Your mother should have lunch ready." He brushed some sticky mud off my shoulder. "You will have to clean up before she lets you in though."

"Ha ha."

"You know, you should be more grateful." My father took a drink from his own water bladder. His smile shrunk, the weariness back. "Speaking of which, where'd Jamus go?"

"Went moping off for some clean water."

My father nodded to himself. "Well, let him be. Some wounds take time." He clasped my shoulder. "You know that. He'll need your help."

"Lot of good that will do. Spiders are gonna kill us all anyway."

My father tensed a bit. I hoped he would say something reassuring, counter my bleak outburst. He didn't. He hefted his tool case onto his shoulder. "Your mother is waiting."