Going Home Part 1

“All systems are a go for shuttle departure.” Mazer’s electronic voice announced sounding the all clear to depart. “Be well, survey team Beta 8923.”

The salutation following the all clear caused Controller Sev to raise her eyebrows. The overseeing computer complex seldom acknowledged the people it directed. It simply dictated the course of each person’s life, the laws all humanity lived by, the goods to be manufactured and sold, the exploration of the universe, the expansion of the Coalition, the celebrations observed… all aspects of human life.

“Controller, I really must protest. We have not completed a full survey of the planet. It is against protocol to land prior to completion.”

“Your protest is noted Computer Specialist Grange. Mazer chose this location and the go ahead to land. Are you suggesting I disobey Mazer?

Silence was Grange’s only response, which suited her. He had been a pain in her side since the Thinkers insisted she include him on her team. At this point she couldn’t help but wonder what they would have done if she had refused to take him. Mazer had ordered this expedition and nobody refused Mazer’s orders. 

“Here we go.” Security Officer Miln said as she ignited the thrusters.

The craft eased off the deck and moved toward the open bay doors. Controller Sev’s hands tightened on the ends of her chair’s armrests. She inhaled and held her breath as the shuttle crossed the threshold entering the void beyond the ship’s exterior. Will I ever get comfortable with the drop down to a planet’s surface? She asked herself as they began the descent toward the surface of the blue-green marble of a planet below. A planet so far away from the known space of the Coalition there wasn’t any possibility of interference or rescue. The team, now separated from their ship, were on their own in a way none of the others had ever been before.

She made the effort to exhale, easing her breath out slowly. She focused her thoughts on the anticipated wild landscape she would find below, the warm ground beneath her feet, the blue sky above. She forced herself to relax, the muted sounds of a working flight crew registering, slipping into her awareness as the craft entered the atmosphere bringing the sensation of motion back to the passengers. In short order the planet below resolved from broad brushstrokes of color to definitive patterns of greens, browns and blues to identifiable features of prairie, forest, mountains and lakes. The landscape sped beneath the shuttle as they headed for their predetermined landing area.

Relief coursed through Controller Sev at the thought of being on the ground again. She glanced around the cabin to see if the others had picked up on her anxiety about the drop. This was a new team for her, put together after a yearlong struggle to get the resources and the clearance needed to proceed from the humans in charge of fulfilling Mazer’s directives. The Thinkers were unexplainably resistant to this trip. It wasn’t until after she agreed to their team recommendations that they placed the mission on the launch schedule.

A sharp shift in motion brought the ship to hover above a grassy field. Officer Miln adjusted the controls and they settled to the ground with a gentle pressure. The pilots began shutting down the engines while Controller Sev released her harness and made her way through the cabin to the hatch. She again felt her annoyance at being ordered to include two security personnel on her team, Captain Bremmer Darrow, the image of the archaic man of action with little to say and Officer Kat Miln, her lithe body and green eyes reminiscent of her mythological namesake. At least she had an engineering background and could help out with the equipment. They took up billets she could have assigned to additional science staff, scientists that would have made mapping and identifying archeological finds easier. Instead she had been limited in her selection, both in numbers and in experience, Intern Soren in her junior year at the university had yet to be part of an off planet excavation and Computer Specialist Hanson Grange, an intense, indoors kind of man whose training in computer science was not the typical route archeologists took in their studies.

She slipped her second skin down over her face, letting it mold its self over the exposed surface of her body. Designed as a barrier between humans and the viruses and bacteria of the natural world, second skin was worn by all humans outside their climate-controlled homes, cities and vehicles. In recent years there had been a growing push to make the wearing of a second skin mandatory from the moment of birth regardless of how well the dwellings of humans were sealed against the environment. It was not a point of view she agreed with. Once everyone’s protective skin was secured she opened the hatch and stepped out of the sterile atmosphere of the shuttle into the clear fresh air of a pristine world rich with the scents of plants and soil. She walked a few steps away from the bottom of the ramp and stopped. She listened for a moment to the pleasant hum of insect life, closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, getting her first feel for this out of the way planet. A sense of familiarity and belonging swept over her more intensely than on any other planet she had visited in her long career of searching for long buried evidence of humankind’s journey throughout the universe. Perhaps this was the place where it all started? The home world Mazer had started pushing the archeological teams to find.

“This looks like a good spot to set up base camp, a bit of a rise and a nice view all around. Easy to defend, Controller.” Captain Darrow said coming up beside her and studying the landscape.

“Yes, this will do.” Controller Sev said uneasy at his assessment of the site based on his perceived need to defend it. “This area, with the ancient joining of two major rivers and fertile soil would have been a solid location for a settlement.” She gestured, sweeping her hand toward the vista before them. Beside her Captain Darrow crossed his arms, not saying anything. She glanced over at him, nodded her head and turned away.

The others had started unloading equipment and setting up canopies under which they placed worktables in anticipation of finding artifacts. As the afternoon wore on the chaos of boxes and crates coalesced into the order of an efficient workspace. Off to one side, in keeping with a tradition established by Mazer when the first archeology teams were sent out to search the stars for ancient human planets, an area had been stamped flat and a pit, ringed with stones brought up from the riverbank, had been dug. Now with the sun settling in the west the crew cleaned up, sitting down to dinner and discussion of work assignments for their three-month stay. The growing night was held at bay by the lights mounted in the support structure of the canopy overhead. Controller Sev listened to the chatter of the others as she watched the landscape around them fade into the dark.

In the distance an eerie howl rose above the whirring of insects inspecting the fine mesh screens separating them from the potential human prey within, raising the hair on the backs of necks, stopping the conversation. Captain Darrow rose to his feet, his hand resting on the grip of the stun pistol at his side and studied the darkness as the howl faded away. The group sat in silence. When another howl was not forth coming Intern Soren gave vent to a nervous chuckle.

“It seems humankind hasn’t evolved as much as the Thinkers claim if one howl can throw us back to our primal responses.” She said rubbing the goose bumps on her arm.

“Some of us less so than the others.” Computer Specialist Grange said. He stood up. “I’m turning in.”

Controller Sev watched as he lifted the netting and made his way across the ground to the shuttle. The sight of his stiff back as he entered the shuttle brought back to mind her first impression of him. A person she would not willingly choose to spend an hour with much less the months of preparation, travel and work associated with an archeology survey team in the field. Someone rigid and unyielding enough to possibly be a hindrance to the mission. But as the decision on who made up her team became less and less her choice, she conceded to the demands of the Thinkers that Grange be included.

The sound of laughter brought her attention back to the conversation of the others and Captain Darrow’s stories of adventure on the various security details he had been assigned to. She joined in, sharing stories of her own about past missions, letting the group enjoy a relaxing evening before the demands of the fieldwork consumed their time.