Legacy of Ages: The Colony

Chapter 19

Ela sits up in the Control Chair and exits the ship returning to the loungers outside the Hermes, and smiles at Roz. "I think I gave Shaba and the rest of the people on the Array something to think about for a while."

Roz looks up and chuckles. "I can imagine you did. All the Biologists, Ecologists along with the other Science people will be counting the days till they can get here and explore all the life in the Oceans and down below in the Canyons. Do you think the Luc's are ready for that kind of attention?"

Ela sits down on her lounger and frowns at the notion. "I'm more than a little concerned about that. I'm not sure we should be interfering with their development too much. We can't live with them because we are so different physically, and I can't help wondering if we should not set up the canyons as natural habitats for them and limit the amount of contact, we have with them."

Roz lays back and looks at the sky that is a light shade of red. "I think you're right; we could set up observation rooms in the cliff walls, complete with one- way windows that look like the natural stone on the outside. The Luc's would be safe and oblivious to their Gods observing them."

"We are not their Gods! We have just had more time to develop as a people, I would think," adds Ela, as she considers her own words. "That is the problem. We know so little about them, like why they evolved down in the Canyons instead of up here on the plateau. I think I need to study them as much as I can before the Array gets here. There are still too many unanswered questions."

Roz closes her eyes as she absorbs the sun's rays. "I think I should explore the rest of the plateau. We decided on this location from orbit, and there may be life on the other side of the ocean. I don't think we should judge the rest of the surface based solely on what we see right here at our base camp."

Ela also closes her eyes as she considers what she should do while Roz is away looking for life forms. "I think I will set up an observation deck inside the cliff about a hundred feet from the canyon floor, and then a laboratory at the very bottom to study the plant and animal life in the canyon, while you are gone."

"I could be gone for a couple of weeks; there is a lot of ground to cover."

Ela nods her head and considers what she will need. "I will require enough supplies for at least three weeks then, and what ever I need to burrow down through the rock to carve out the rooms at the base."

"OK, I will leave you the adjustable excavation circle, and the hand-held scoop; with those two you can make anything you want. It will not be as quick as a programmable tunnel tool, but it will do the job."

The afternoon is passing by quickly, so Ela gets up and starts bringing out what she thinks she will need from the Hermes before Roz leaves. The food she places in a portable Stasis Chamber, as Roz gets the tools, she will need to set up her lab and observation deck. The last thing Roz brings from the ship are a couple of small containers full of Nano machines that Ela can program from her personal screen to do what she needs. "Is the energy level high enough to get them to work?"

"I don't think you need to worry about that. Remember when we checked them the other day."

"Yes."

"Well, they have been steadily rising ever since then," adds Roz.

"Will you be back for the Light Display when it happens?"

"That I will be back for, because the base camp is in the perfect spot to see it displayed above us."

Ela smiles and nods her head, "So, is that why you pushed for this location, when we were looking for the best place to land from orbit?"

"Well it did work out as the perfect spot, didn't it? You have your Luc's right below us and I have my Light Display to look forward to, along with the rest of the planet to study."