A team of fore-colonizers crash landed on their way to the first confirmed earth-like planet. Running out of supplies and exposed to the perils of the planet, the team must use their wits when one of them becomes the pawn of hostile resident creatu...
"How long will it take us to travel near the Three Peaks?"
Alice's apprehension was understandable. She couldn't see the reason why we have to travel to the Three Peaks, about 1500 kilometers from here. Although the season of the swarms has somehow ended, she still feels it's dangerous to travel, even with our hovercraft. Our hovercraft remains in good condition, but some parts have started to show rust and these things Alice have been worrying about.
"About a whole day, if we don't tarry long."
I was basing my estimate using our hovercraft's cruising speed. "We'll return to our camp tomorrow morning. Let's bring enough provisions."
"I really do not understand why Remi wants us to bring Paolo to the Three Peaks. He said it's dangerous there."
Alice called our child in classical Italian. Somehow, she's getting confused. She must have gotten Tommy's knack for calling people their names in another language.
"I can't see his reason, too. But he kept on assuring us that he'll not be harmed."
"Why does he not answer us, even in telepathy?"
"I really don't know. I guess we just have to do what he said."
"There you are again. Can't he just answer our questions? Why does he have to make it very mysterious for us?"
I didn't answer. I feel that if we don't discuss this much and start on our way, things will be over immediately.
But whatever I think doesn't escape from Alice's ability to read my mind. She got furious. Even without saying anything, I could feel the rush of disappointment and anger, which she knows also doesn't elude my reading.
Alice turned her back. She's trying to suppress her anger by breathing deeply. She knows the consequence of staying angry for too long.
When she turned around, she said.
"I think you're right. If we get there, Remi will explain everything. He never asks us anyway to do something that'll harm his mission or us."
With that, we went to the clearing we made for our four hovercrafts, boarded one and sped away. The hovercraft is made of Titanium alloy, so they are free from rust. Some parts of it were made of steel, so they started to rust. Lim was thinking of replacing or fitting them with Titanium.
Lim and Minny stayed behind. They need each other and it is almost three months till her day. We took everything she needs from the Auxiliary and Provisions section of our already abandoned ISS Sophos spacecraft.
The hovercraft starts to lift and our already growing camp gets smaller as our vehicle propels us forward to our destination, I couldn't get the feeling of disappointment out of me. Perhaps Alice's disappointment remains and it still affects me.
"Are you still mad at me?" I asked.
"No. Just frustrated. I'll get over it, Pete."
Alice closed her mind. It takes a lot of effort to do that, but it is obvious that she doesn't want to talk.
Alice is carrying Pablo. She kept on saying that the boy looks so much like me. It's probably true, since the picture I brought with me in the spacecraft showed shows a black haired, fair skinned, lean, little boy.
It took us a few minutes to arrive near the Discovery river where we slowed down our vehicle and traveled upstream. Although it'll be a few days before the start of our full year cycle in this planet, the planet doesn't show "seasons" that I used to know. Its only seasons are the foggy season, when nearly each day for almost three months, fog-storms cover the entire surroundings with white thick clouds and the clear season. After the clear season, swarms of insects cover the grasslands, eating the old grains of the grasses.
The cycle seemed natural enough. Many grains have fallen to the ground, and they will germinate at the start of another fog season. The insects merely clean the grasslands to pave the way for the germinating grasses beneath those tall wilting old grasses. They also decimate the rodent and lizard population, which may have increased abundantly. The surviving ones immediately populate the area. Oddly enough, the rodents prey on insects that live on trees. These insects, which Alice called fire ants live on top of trees. They are eaten by the lizards when a lot of them are still young and the millions that survive later, fly, mate and eat. Their cycle makes the planet's system balanced.
As the hovercraft cruised along the shallow river, the spiky bushes that grow along the banks were gradually replaced by the grasses that the fire ants feast upon. The plants are tall, more than a meter high but the growth is not too thick, although they can still make land travel a bit harder. Alice suggested that we plant and harvest some of the grains that look and feel like rice. We found out that they taste quite well, and a little bit stickier than wheat. The plant is like a cross of rice and wheat. We called it Oryza wheat. The plant looks like giant rib grass but the head produces grains. They grow naturally at the border of the grasslands near the forest.
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