Beneath Falin (On Hold)

Chapter 2

Several hours later, Terra sat with Quinn in one of the communal dining capsules. She'd changed out of her uniform and was now wearing soft, tight-fitting pants (Similar to what 21st century Earthlings might have called 'leggings') and a long, lose, dark turquoise tunic. It was a fairly common style for young women and girls on Falin. Both articles of clothing were made of fabric that wouldn't absorb water so that in the event of a flooding capsule, they wouldn't get heavy and make it hard to swim to safety.

Quinn had completely forgotten the food in front of him and was instead going on about the radiation detector and the data it was collecting.

"The amount of radiation out there is ridiculous compared to what we get down here! I'm not sure Falin has enough of a magnetic field to protect it as well as the Earth's did," he told Terra enthusiastically, his brown eyes lit with excitement. "It's about as bad as the radiation our ancestors experienced on the International Space Station back on Earth."

"So do you think that's why they say humans can't survive on the surface?" Terra asked, beginning to get a little more interested. She'd never been as excited about science as Quinn, but the surface of Falin intrigued her. None of her instructors ever gave her a satisfactory answer as to why humans couldn't survive on the surface of their planet, and that nagged at her.

Quinn shook his head. "I don't know. I don't have enough data yet to say for certain, but I think a human would die within five to ten years without some sort of protection." He paused to think, running a hand absently through his ash-brown hair. "With some sort of shelter and even a light protective suit of some sort you could probably live a relatively normal life span. Of course, that's assuming the pressure on the surface is high enough that we wouldn't suffocate, that the temperature isn't so cold that we'd freeze and not so hot that we'd incinerate." He ticked off each element on his fingers as he spoke. "Though I think slowly freezing to death is more likely seeing as we live beneath fifteen kilometers of ice."

Terra grimaced at the images that brought to her head. "Nice. I am trying to eat here, you know."

"Sorry," Quinn said with a laugh, suddenly remembering his food too. Terra laughed and took another sip of her protein drink as he practically inhaled the fruits and vegetables on his plate. Most people on Falin had never tasted meat. The farmers could get plants to grow with artificial sunlight and dirt brought from who knows where, but animals raising animals in fifteen by thirty foot capsules under water was not realistic.

The two ate in silence for a while when Terra's brother, Cade, entered the capsule. He spotted Terra and Quinn and started toward them.

"Hey Terra, Quinn," he greeted them and sat down. Cade and Terra looked almost nothing alike for being siblings. Where Terra had light brown, almost dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, Cade had jet black hair and cobalt blue eyes.

Terra gave her brother a blank look and then said, "excuse you, did I say you could sit there?"

Cade looked back at her with an equally unamused expression. "Excuse you, I don't ask for anyone's permission," he responded, though it was evident he was now fighting a smile.

"You didn't have to; I was flat out denying you permission," Terra told him pleasantly with a smirk.

"Let me rephrase," Cade said, pausing as if to recompose his thoughts. "I don't care if you give me permission or not. I'm going to sit here, dammit."

Terra laughed. "Well I guess there's not much I can do to stop you then," she observed, giving her brother a grin.

"Nope," Cade replied cheerily and then turned to Quinn. "So I take it you got the radiation device in place?"

Terra zoned out of the conversation as Quinn brought Cade up to speed on everything he'd already told her. In the middle of the conversation, however, Commander Thompson entered the capsule, jerking her from her daze.

"Quinn," she whisper-yelled and then drew her thumb and index finger across her lips to tell him to 'zip it.' Quinn didn't quite get the message soon enough, and the conversation caught Thompson's attention.

"Beck, Sole, and ..." Thompson trailed off, looking at Cade.

"Beck, sir. Cade Beck," Cade introduced himself, standing and holding out a hand.

Thompson just gave him a look of something bordering on annoyance. "Another Beck, huh? Do I need to keep as close an eye on you as I do your sister?" he asked, trying to sound like it was a joke but not really succeeding.

Terra sunk down in her chair, cheeks reddening slightly.

Cade laughed good naturedly. "No, sir, I don't think that is necessary. Terra didn't leave any defiance for me," he answered, earning him a dirty look from his sister.

Thompson nodded, and turned to Quinn. "Did I hear you discussing radiation on the surface just a moment ago?"

With her back to Thompson, it was easy for Terra to discretely mouth the word 'lie' to him.

"Uh, yes sir, we were discussing it," Quinn responded, in a tight voice.

Damn you, Quinn! Terra thought, wanting to smack him. Instead, however, she interjected. "Cade is learning about radiation in his classes right now and we were just trying to clear up some of his questions using Falin as a hypothetical example," she explained, praying that the other two would play along.

Cade and Quinn both nodded, Quinn perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

"I see," Thompson replied with a terse nod. "Well, I hope you understand it's nothing to worry about under the ice where we are, which is why we are all safe if we stay below the surface."

The three all made remarks of agreement, which seemed to satisfy Thompson. "Well then, Beck, I'll see you tomorrow," he stated and then continued on his way.

For a moment all three were silent.

"That's two you owe me, circuit brain," Terra snapped at Quinn. "I can't keep lying to my commander. That would look really, really bad if he found out."

"Ouch," Cade said, shaking his head at the name and giving Quinn a sympathetic look. Circuits were such an old, inefficient technology, that calling someone that was rather demeaning.

It also happened to be one of Terra's favorite insults. She almost felt bad for snapping after seeing Quinn's sheepish expression. Almost.

For a moment no one spoke, but then Cade interrupted the silence. "Well, I'm going to go catch up on some studying, so I'll see you guys later," he said and headed toward the open hatch. "Oh, Terra, mom wants us to be home by twenty hours. I think she wants to talk or something." With that he waved and ducked through the hatch.