Chapter 3

The two-foot hop off the speeder felt quite strange due to the powerful gravity on Tegra 7. The scientist twins stumbled slightly and the medic toppled forwards onto his stomach. I felt superior in that moment, though I knew it was temporary. Soon the other three would be ordering me around and discussing complex biology concepts. I relished the moment however with light-hearted laughter.

Dr. Borzinski rose back to his feet silently. At that moment I regretted my actions and attempted to amend any damage done by offering my assistance to help set up the equipment.

“It’s all ready to go,” Edward replied. “We will release the probes now and explore on foot for a few hours. As long as we don’t stray too far from the clearing we will be safe.”

“And we’ll gather some samples too. Basics like soil, water and plantlife,” James added.

I nodded in response and walked several steps towards the closest tree. It was quite different to anything I had seen before. In height, it was no more than nine feet. But the trunk was so wide that I could barely reach my arms around it and touch my hands together on the other side. It looked very squat and plain, with no branches protruding from the trunk. Instead, the tree was covered with long, skinny scarlet leafs hanging by short stems. Despite the vast foliage, the coal black bark of the tree was very visible between the deep reds.

And then I noticed blue hiding amongst the dark colours of the tree. I pulled aside a few leafs to find a thin, veiny vine hiding in the dark. The exposure to sunlight caused it to curl slowly towards shade and safe refuge. Although I wore protective gloves, I withdrew my extended hands in fear that the vine would touch me. This time it was the others who laughed.

I had not noticed them approach from behind. James had already pulled out a few vials and began gathering samples of the vine, grasses and soil. After fastening the cap of each, James would pass the vials to Edward who promptly labeled it accordingly. He then stowed them away in what seemed to be a meticulously planned order. The organization symbolized nothing to me.

“The probes have found a lake west-northwest from here. One kilometre at three hundred and six degrees,” Dr. Borzinski said as he stared thoughtfully at the probe monitor screen in his hands. “Let’s see what we can find in an aquatic environment. Did we bring scuba gear?”

“No not yet, we must conduct primary analysis on each body of water before we dive in ourselves. The acidity and nitrogen levels must be known before proceeding just in case we require specialized gear,” answered Edward.

“We must also be sure that the lakes and rivers are not inhabited by large carnivores,” James added, “If all goes well we should be able to go in a few days’ time. We’ll let the probes get a head start too.”

I nodded again in agreement as if my opinion mattered, “I’ll need appropriate gear for a dive as well. Just in case the probes don’t do their jobs, you’ll want me armed.”

“Yes of course, that too,” Borzinski said, shouldering his pack and following the Keels who had already returned the sampling equipment into their bags. Together we set off through the forest at a brisk pace without stopping to inspect other plant life. I figured we could easily gather these samples on the way back to the speeder. The lake was of more interest to the group.

I personally loved the oceans, rivers and lakes of the universe. The purple waters of Hebia, the bright sapphire of the Caribbean on Earth, and the majestic waterfalls on Morlin that fell gracefully where gravity seemed to barely pull. Nothing could compare to the awe I felt by the raw silence under water. Peaceful and exhilarating at the same time. The feeling of complete freedom, like time stood still.

It was a hot day on Tegra 7, the thought of water brought longing of the refreshment it could deliver. The golden sun beamed down from a cloudless sky, and without a breeze to cool us, we quickly began to sweat. Double-weighted equipment made each step harder. I longed for a gentler gravity, somewhere that allowed me to wield a ray gun as easily as if it were a toothpick. This was more of a challenge for the others though. I led the way, cutting a path through thick grasses while climbing a modest hill that stood between us and the lake.

The view from the hillcrest was spectacular. Red and orange forests as far as the eye could see, intermingled with deep blue lakes and jagged mountains as black as coal. In the valley below lay a small lake surrounded by grassy fields of yellow in all directions. The image in front of me burned through my mind and I was transported to another world.

I was twenty-two years old, back home for the first time since my inaugural departure with the IEI. I had been given ten days off between assignments, and Earth was on-route to my next destination. It had been almost three years, 1062 days to be exact, since I had embraced Amber last. She was my girlfriend throughout my teen years, the girl I envisioned a future with and the first person I ventured to find upon my return.

I remember thinking that nothing would have changed, that Amber would have waited for my five year contract with the IEI. Selfish, that’s what she told me I was when I saw her on her parents’ front porch. I was taken by surprise when she told me she had been seeing someone for the last two years. Looking back on it I was stupid to think otherwise, and selfish.

Intense anticipation and love quickly turned to heart-stopping depression and confusion. I was hopeless in that moment and I knew I wouldn’t be able to survive amongst my family, or anyone else for that matter. I had decided I would seek solitude, and I was able to find it deep in one of the remaining Natural Reserves on Earth. With only a knapsack, the clothes on my back and the emotional cocktail stirring deep within me, I headed further and further up the mountains and away from my troubles. After a full day of walking I came across the lake that seemed to be a reflection of the one that stood below me now on Tegra 7. I had stared for hours at my reflection in the cool blue waters, dreaming of how my life with Amber could have transpired.

My intentions were pure, I will never cease to believe that. I knew we needed money and I thought that exploring the universe would lead me to my ‘purpose’ in life. In the end though it did. Those first years with the IEI were the most exciting of my life, and I looked forward to my next assignment even with the thought of Amber heavy in my mind. I was destined to travel and explore as I was born with unparalleled appreciation for the natural world. The glacial waters of that lake back home continued to be the symbolic root to which I based my life around.

The small lake encircled by yellow, only a few hundred metres away, reminded me that I had made the right choice. But it also reminded me that my plans would end here on Tegra 7. The rest was unknown.

Author's Note

The least edited chapter I have included thus far, please have patience for that. I appreciate feedback of all sorts, especially content related. And as always, I will review at least one piece of work from everyone who takes time to review mine.

Reviews

[Leo Bojalil]

Whoa, it's being a long time since I read something sci-fi related that caught my attention in such a personal level. It´s amazing your stuff in here, I like very much that you narrated in first person and how you go back and forth with the memories of the character. I'm a big fan of Space Operas and specially when the authors create an intrinsic universe where the characters can interact and also the reader discovers new worlds and basically one as a reader gets o to live in the imagination of the author taking you to wonderful and sometimes terrifying places.

About the content I very much like that you include all the specs and techy things but sometimes if you are not much into sci-fi or not be such a geeky person it might be hard to deduce what could be certain stuff that you mention but for a sci-fi fan I can tell you that is very easy to follow what kind of gadgets and tech but it wouldn't be bad that you might expand a little bit the functions or show some examples or something to be able to adapt the tech of your story into the mind of the reader but so far so good.

At a description level I like how you show to us the readers everything thru the eyes of the main character and that gives you a perfect synchronicity with the ambient but also everything is gonna be as the character sees it even thou everyone would imagine it differently, but at the end is going to be the main character vision and not the readers and that´s a good thing because you get to grow fond of the character as you go further into the story.

But yeah...Nice stuff you have here!!

[fwvalidus]

Thanks for your review! I appreciate the tips and compliments equally

[Susan McCaskill]

It's coming along! Do watch your sentences; they tend to be short and choppy. See if you can't combine some of them into one sentence instead of three. The plot and descriptions are good.

[fwvalidus]

Can you give me an example of short and choppy that you found didnt work?

[Susan McCaskill]

The first two sentences:
"The two-foot hop off the speeder felt quite strange due to the powerful gravity on Tegra 7. The scientist twins stumbled slightly and the medic toppled forwards onto his stomach."

Instead you could say:
"The two-foot hop off the speeder felt quite strange due to the powerful gravity on Tegra 7, which caused the scientist twins to stumble slightly and the medic toppled forwards onto his stomach. "

[Susan McCaskill]

One of the first things an agent or editor looks at is sentence structure, and if your opening pages are choppy, it might cause them to refuse an otherwise good manuscript!

[fwvalidus]

Ah good to know and I definitely see your point. I think the chopiness originates from the use of "the" at the beginning of the sentences more than it stems from the sentences' lengths.