The Old World

1

With the passing of the first day which was roughly a twenty four hour cycle the crew of discovery were distraught. They had no way of contacting their homeworld and no way of ever returning. It was Parker who found it in himself to rise to the challenge and step up as a leader and role model, however, so too did Phillip, who wanted more to continue the mission they were assigned. Parker was relieved they had survived at all and paid less attention to Phillip's ideas. It was then that Parker took up his greatest idea as leader; to begin his log. From here the story was told.

"I was assured then. That our safety and well being would last once we planted our beacon and slept in our rovers. We had lost Captain Anderson and his right hand man and second in command-Eric. But we mourned them well and held them a funeral along the beach with two fires lit for them. The fires rose and the ashes burned into the sky as we said our goodbyes, looking off to the sea where they now lie among the alien creatures of the deep which we have yet to discover.

"There were only eight of us. I feel that it is such a low number, but then I remember that we are the only humans here, and indeed, that is a truly large one. All humans are together in this very location communicating amongst each other.

"The men and women got along just fine with each other. If the species were to colonize and repopulate, then it would be in our best interests for us colonists to find matches. The human and earth life embryos were still buried beneath the waves within the cold storages of the ship some miles off the coast. But we were confident that we would one day return beneath those alien waves and find what we could and bring them ashore. In doing so, we could continue our mission. But it was all a matter of time and waiting. Phillip was more pushed and pressed than I. He wanted to scout and map the areas east and south which led to arid highlands and desert hills. Indeed we saw river beds and shells along the beach. This world was beyond a shadow of a doubt inhabited.

"As time dragged on and we found ourselves questioning the reality of our situation, Phillip declared, 'I'm going east into the hills for exploration. Come with if you dare, I may not return for a few days depending on my find.'

"I had no choice but to join him, as did Evan who couldn't leave my side, it seemed.

"'Well,' Phillip began, 'we're here to stay, at least for now. We should map the area, find a more suitable place to establish a base. We will need fertile soil and an examination of the native life.'

"The woman named Zoey stood from her squat position in the sand. 'I will come,' Zoey said. 'I spent most of my simulation studying geography and biology. I should be with you when you explore.'

"That was four of us and only that much would be permitted to leave the base. The rest of the crew stayed behind as we set off eastward towards the unknown. It was still morning, nearing noon but we had great faith in time as we estimated we could reach the hills and be back before the night.

"As we marched through the sands and came upon those desert hills we soon saw in the distance the mountains that were stained black. The dark sand they were made of absorbed the light which shined upon them and they stood proudly in the desert as what appeared to be a volcanic wasteland among the choppy and smaller desert hills and cliffs and valleys.

"We followed the dry riverbeds which were obviously seasonal rivers and soon found that the largest one flowed from the Black Desert.

"'We are truly stuck here,' Evan said sadly behind us.

"'Yes but we must do the best we can and hopefully make a better place of this hellish landscape,' Phillip replied.

"'You won't miss the people back home?'

"'I never had much going for me back home. Why? Do you miss someone back there?'

"'I miss the people... Have you not thought about the fact you will never see anyone again? Besides us?'

"'Am I sensing fear? Do I hear the complaints of someone who is not ready to look forward?' Phillip stopped and turned to Evan. 'We were selected for this mission, Evan. We didn't have to join, we had a choice. Why are you so focused on the past? What grieves you so much? You know what you were getting into when you agreed to this expedition. You knew exactly.'

"'That I did. But...-'

"'But nothing. You are here now and we have to focus. The world we left behind is nothing more than ruin by now. The people who sent us here wanted us to continue our species' legacy. We all agreed to this mission. We all agreed to carry this torch into the unknown.'

"Zoey could not restrain herself. The young woman was brazen. 'Well what's the matter with you? Don't you have half a mind to think of all the people we left. All faces we'll never see. Your parents? Do you not care about anyone?'

"Phillip took a long and hard stare at Zoey. With a stiff lip and hard face he replied, 'I never found what I wanted back home... There was nothing there for me...'

"I knew that Phillip was smart and strong and he was a good candidate for a leader but he was lacking in empathy. He said it himself. He came from a hardened military background. Perhaps the war had done him in. Perhaps he saw and did things he didn't want to do. Perhaps he was simply born the way he was, not caring much about other people. But I thought that was simply too smart for his own good. He was a do'er, that was no question, he could take action, but he was more a thinker and dreamer. He found no happiness at home among the billions of other people. He saw the cruel and sadistic actions the human species would unleash upon each other and he hated them for it. He hated himself, he hated the human population, he hated our inventions and creations, and he hated our religions which strengthened the feuds. He wanted to colonize the stars. He wanted a better world. There was a shining light in his eyes when he unveiled his truth.

"We quickly became surprised as we assumed that we were not to find life anywhere in the dunes which we crossed neither the absolute hell of terrain which he came upon. But instead, we entered the Black Desert with curiosity, we climbed the hills and found ourselves at the tip of one of its black and deathly volcanoes and we saw a crater infested hellish landscape but with its own twist on life. The sands were grey and black and there were craters every mile. Volcanoes jutted out from the desert sands and black rocks and obsidian were scattered about the place. In all this chaos and darkness, Evan made a discovery.

"'Life,' said Evan.

"I and everyone else turned to him as kneeled before a desert shrub near the cliff of the crater. He placed his hand on the shrub, caressing it.

"'My god,' Zoey mumbled.

"'There too,' I pointed down the crater to its center, where a colony of shrubs were growing.

"We were glad that we had found life on the planet, but the location was not one for settlement. After we enjoyed and congratulated ourselves on the discovery of alien life, Phillip was first to ask the question, 'We've found life, and there'll be more to come, but this is no place for settlement, neither is the beach.' We searched the horizon as far as we could see but all there was was desert. 'The sun is past noon and we have to decide whether to return to the beach or continue. Our supply packs can last us three weeks, almost a month.'

"It wasn't easy but the clear answer in our adrenaline rush brought on by our recent discovery was that we had to keep going. 'The question is,' Phillip continued, 'do we keep going east? Or north? We came from the south west, based on the direction the coast went I assume the coast continues for some way to the south east. I'm guessing we'll end up right back at the beach if we go straight south. So what will it be?'

"Evan and I knew Zoey could best answer in her knowledge of geography. 'You're right about that,' Zoey said. 'We continue east then. Best to go one direction in case of emergency.'

"'I feel as though we should first return and have ourselves a rover for this expedition.'

"Phillip had made a great point. But his comment would soon go unacknowledged when Zoey spotted the dragon."