Emerald

Nursery

Mil concentrates on the spot Dray is heading for now. The transmission shows a lighter green patch in the dark green of the forest. This indicates either different species or younger plants. Carefully, Dray approaches in a loop. Koshi is right, the trees are a lot smaller here than in the vicinity. Watercourses cut through the area in a dense but irregular network. At this distance, Mil is not able to discern any indications of an artificial order or deliberate cultivation.

"You're still too far away, Koshi. I can't judge if this really might be a nursery. It could as well be a glade cleared by a natural event, a bushfire or something. It should look similar as soon as young trees start to fill the gap. It certainly would help to know if this smaller trees belong to the same species as you can identify in the forest surrounding the area and if thy are all of the same age approximately. Can you get me a series of samples?"

Koshi agrees. Dray holds the shuttle stationary above the treetops and rotates it 360 degrees around its axis on the search for a possible landing site. Finally, she hesitantly suggest a solution.

"I might set down on the pond over there. The shuttle is equipped for water landings. This surface seems to be reasonably calm, and there are only a few of Mil's Emerald-duckweeds and some of this ugly pale bag-plants."

Mil smiles. She asks herself why she had an issue with the pilot during training and the first part of their voyage. Now both of them get to use their true talents, and suddenly they get along much better. They even accept each other as competent partners. Amazed by Dray's skill, she observes her bringing the shuttle in position above the pond. Slowly the pilot lets it drop and finally sets down with only a slight splash. Little concentric waves ripple the surface of the water. For Mil, they seem to move a bit too slow, as if the water were a tad more viscous than on earth.

Koshi's voice sounds distorted. Probably he already wears the suit and protection mask.

"We've landed, the shuttle floats just fine. I'm going to get some leaves and drill cores. This allows me to test Carlos' enhanced drill. Dray stays with the shuttle."

Carefully, Dray manoeuvres the craft nearer to the bank. Now it seems obvious that the trees here are a lot smaller than those at the ship's landing site. Koshi switches on his mask camera. As soon as the transmission starts, Mil's eyes remain glued to the screen.

The captain succeeds in jumping from the hatch unto the bank without bogging down. He checks repeatedly all directions while moving slowly into the forest. The trees seem to belong to the same few species Mil already knows, with the only difference that most of them reach not much higher than Koshi's head. Their slender trunks measure only a few centimetres in diameter. The captain plucks some light green leaves and systematically takes drill samples from a series of different trunks.

The new drill is far more efficient than the first one, and soon, Koshi has collected more cores than he can carry in his suit pockets. He packs them into a bigger bag and deposits them together with the drill on an aerial root. With free hands, he advances carefully further into the young forest. Mil starts taking notes. She doubts that the trees have been planted and cultivated. The forest looks far too natural, idyllic almost. The floor is littered with fallen leaves and there is no substantial undergrowth, exactly like in the woods surrounding the landing site.

Soon, Koshi reaches the next waterbody. There is no possibility to cross it, so he turns around. He is already halfway back to the landing site when Dray calls him hoarsely. She sounds concerned.

"Koshi, you should head back to the shuttle. Something strange is happening here."

Andrej reacts quickly. With a few commands he fetches the transmissions of the shuttle sensors unto the main screen of the lab. From the corner of her eye, Mil sees Koshi running back to the pond on the side screen. In passing, he grabs the drill and her precious samples.

All around the shuttle more of the greenish-white baggy plants rise from the murky depths of the pond like deformed bubbles. Soon they cover most of the surface. They are bigger than the sorry dried example lying on Mil's lab table. With a giant leap Koshi lands gasping in the open hatch.

Over the speaker, the observers can hear the hissing sound as Dray hastily seals the entrance. Mil tightly grasps the armrests of her chair while the pilot pulls up the shuttle and holds it suspended a few meters above the surface. Immediately the pale bags fill the space where only moments ago the shuttle floated. Then, one after the other bursts open to set free a cloud of fine blueish-green dust. A light breeze carries it lazily over the once again calm surface of the pond. Mil observes the whirling dust cloud with fascination. Her voice is a mere whisper.

"Spores, transported by the wind. This finally explains the matter of reproduction."