Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize (3 page)

Yesterday, I discovered something very strange. An unfamiliar metal building that was burning. There was destruction all around this building. I heard someone calling for help with words I could not understand. I found him trapped underneath part of a wall. It had collapsed on his leg. I helped him to get free. He kept telling me words I could not understand. I led him out from that terrible place that was a scar on the valley. I gave him my blanket so he would be warm for the night. The next day he went to the burned building and we discovered the dead body of one of his people crushed against a wall. It was terrible. We buried him outside, covering him with stones so the animals would not eat his dead carcass. The stranger went back inside the building, into a room and found a small box and he attached it to his shoulder. We returned to our camp and after speaking into that small box he was very tired, so he fell asleep and is sleeping right now. Tomorrow, I shall try to communicate further with him. Perhaps I can learn some of his words and maybe he can learn some of mine. We need to try to understand each other. I will stay here for a few days. We will eat from the fruit trees and vegetables that surround us until he is able to travel. Then I will go to my uncle’s village where he can get additional help from the healers. Perhaps my uncle will further advise me in how I should proceed. This person looks unlike any person I have ever seen before. His skin is pale grey, his eyes are yellow and he is very thin with long legs and arms. I would like to know more about him.

I know all of this needs to be reported to the grand council of elders. I will do so when this person has regained his health. Perhaps he will travel with me to speak with them. This is all I know. I will continue to keep my log entries regularly when possible.

The next day, Victor noticed that the person who rescued him was trying harder to communicate with him. So, he decided to also make similar efforts, along with him. First he would try to learn his language. Then he would try to teach him some of his. The native seemed to be intelligent enough to accomplish this. It was certainly worth a try and it would pass the time in a constructive way. They started off with simple common things like: Fire, sky, stick, rock, dirt, water, food and so forth. By the end of four days of near constant efforts, he was feeling much better and could hold a rudimentary simple conversation. The native kept indicating that the next day they would travel away from here. Victor was okay with that. He was tired of looking at the wreckage of the shuttle anyway.

He had already examined the records of the shuttle stored within his mission recorder. It had been linked to the shuttle’s computer during the flight back to the
Venture
. Malfunction and pilot error had caused the hatch to open. The records indicated that when the pilot lost consciousness he unintentionally changed their course. This is why they found themselves burning up in a rapid descent through the planet’s atmosphere. Hopefully, civilization on this planet would help him to contact his people above.

That night Victor could hear the sounds of various animals nearby. By the sort of sounds they were making, he could tell that some of them were larger animals. Even larger than him. He hoped that none of them were dangerous.

Chapter Two: The Village

The next day, was very pleasant for Victor. He was now even more aware of his surroundings and he had not realized that this planet was very beautiful. In fact, it was paradisiac in every sense of the word. There was no need to worry about food. Plenty of fruit bearing trees could be found everywhere and the fruit was full of sweet juice. So, the need for water should not present a problem for them. Even the vegetables could be eaten raw. Certain roots Taerg would pull up from the ground, brush off the dirt and eat them where he stood. He would always share and Victor enjoyed them all, they were bursting with wonderful aromas and flavors like nothing he had ever tasted before. Nothing on Homeworld could compare to this. Everything there was grown in greenhouses. It was all refined, packed and preserved to avoid waste. Unfortunately, it seemed to avoid taste as well. Here, there was fresh, sweet and juicy sun warmed fruit. He did miss his caffeinated malt drink though. Perhaps this native would introduce him to something he could use as a substitute.

They now knew each other’s names. Taerg had a bit of an accent when he said his name.

“Victoor, would you like something to eat?”

“Victoor, do you want to drink?”

Victor said to himself, “Close enough, I’m probably not pronouncing his name exactly right either.” Although they thought each other had very strange ways, they were gradually becoming friends. Sometimes, they would make each other laugh. Most often this was because someone had made a mistake. Typically, it was Victor, for the reason that this was not the planet he was from. He was unfamiliar with many things here, including the extra weight caused by the gravity of the massive planet he was trying to stand on. His leg injury did not help with that one.

They would take turns talking in each other’s language. One day it was Victor’s turn to teach Taerg. The next, it was Taerg’s turn to teach Victor. They were kind and patient with one another and because of this they both learned very rapidly. Victor admired Taerg’s warm personality, his peaceable character and his patience. He was never attempting to boss Victor around or treating him as a subordinate inferior. His impression was that Taerg viewed him as his equal. Victor liked this. Finally a friend he could talk face to face with, without authority getting in the way. He felt grateful. Taerg had saved his life, when he pulled him from the wreckage. He would always remember this and feel indebted to him for it.

His leg felt a lot better now. The bruise was fading and the wound showed no signs of infection. Taerg had explained that if he was feeling well enough to travel, they would walk to his uncle’s place in a small village that was only a few miles distant. He agreed that he was now capable of making such a journey. He still used his walking stick for support, although he knew that soon he would not need it. The gravity here was a fair bit more than he was used to, even more than on Homeworld. Nonetheless, he knew that his muscles would strengthen and he would adapt gradually to this new environment.

It was mid-afternoon when they approached the village bordering the marshland. Victor noticed the young children staring at him as they entered the village. He made a funny face and they ran away, only to return and follow at a distance.

“They think you look different,” said Taerg, “like a thin sick man with yellow eyes.”

Victor laughed and said, “I never could fit in with the crowd.”

“You are too smart to go along with the crowd anyway, so you might as well not fit in with it.”

“I suppose that’s a good way to look at it.”

“Yes, you look good. Don’t worry Victoor.”

Victor chuckled and shook his head.” Taerg just smiled back.

“Here we are,” said Taerg, “my uncle's place is that one.”

This village had a large central building that Victor surmised was for meetings. The houses –each with a yard and garden all branched off from this central building. With some minor differences, everyone here essentially looked the same. Victor noticed that they were very muscular. The females and the males both had broad shoulders and thicker chests. They were shorter than he was, but not overly so.

Taerg’s uncle did not look much older than Taerg himself. He was friendly like Taerg, although a little more serious. This was probably due to his responsibilities in the village. His name was Dnarg Yrautcnas. After greetings, the first question Dnarg asked was, “Where do you come from?” Given the circumstances, this was a difficult question for Victor to answer. So, he gave him an answer that would be more easily accepted.

“I come from a land far away. I am from a people you do not know.”

This answer was also hard for them to accept, for the reason that they did not think such a people existed. All of their villages were connected by paths or rivers. There was regular communication between them. They had confused looks on their faces when he told them this. On the other hand, it was better than the looks of total disbelief he would get from telling them the exact truth. From his experience with Taerg, everything off planet was vague. The sun was the sun. The moon was the moon. No other details were needed other than their relative positions during the day and night for timekeeping purposes. How do you tell a people like this that you’re from another planet? They would not even understand what another planet was. Taerg thought that the shuttle he crashed in was a building. This was the predicament he was in. So, he decided he would gradually teach his new friend Taerg, some astronomy. Just the basics at first. He would start with their solar system, by explaining simply how it worked. Then he would branch out from there. Taerg was patient and eager to learn new things. He would be a good student. They would begin tomorrow, as he too learned about their village life.

He was hospitably treated as a guest at Taerg’s uncle’s place. They even gave him a small room to stay in. As Victor got ready for bed he felt calm and content with these people who treated him, a complete stranger, so well. He decided to make a video report log before he went to sleep.

*              *              *

Before Taerg went to sleep that night, he made another entry in his log:

I have gained another friend. This strange person from far away has told me many strange things about his people. He is so frail, weak and sickly. I thought it would be very difficult to learn his words, but he has taught me well. He is a very smart individual. I now understand some of what he says when he talks into that small box every night. Tomorrow, I will ask him why he points into the sky when he talks of his people from his home land. My uncle seems to like him. He has asked me to learn more about him and his ways. He also reminds me to write everything down in my daily log. He explained to me the importance of keeping records once again. He says this is how we learn and grow as a people. I would like to do this anyway, because I sense that my new friend knows many things that we do not know. Sometimes he appears to be frustrated and then chooses words that are simpler for me. So, I intend to show him that I am capable of learning everything he can teach me.

When Taerg awoke the next morning, Victor was already up and around talking to the villagers. After a quick breakfast he asked Victor if he could teach him more about his people. However, Victor said he wanted to teach him about what his people had learned about the sun, the moon and the stars. Taerg did not know why Victor wanted to do this, but he patiently agreed.

“First,” said Victor, “what shape do you believe your sun has?”

“It is round.”

“Round like this or round like this?” Victor was holding a plate in one hand and a child’s play ball in the other.

Taerg hesitated and started to point to the plate. Victor shook his head seriously and dropped the plate. The ball remained in his hand. He held it out to Taerg. Taerg took it in his hand and shielding his eyes with the other he looked up at the sun. “How do you know this?”

“My people are great learners and have discovered many things. Your moon is round like this play ball too. When you look at the moon tonight will it look the same as it did yesterday night?”

“No, it will look different.”

“Let me show you why.” Victor took the ball from Taerg’s hand. Using one of the village writing instruments he started drawing the shapes of continents and oceans on it. Then he held it up before Taerg and he said, “Yesterday night.” Then he rotated it some more and said, “Tonight.” He then rotated it some more and said, “Tomorrow night.”

Taerg took the play ball in his hand and also rotated it. He said, “Victoor, you have explained the five faces of Nevah. A very old story we sometimes tell our children before they sleep.”

“Would you like to know more?”

Taerg eagerly nodded his head and so, it went on from there. He was a good student and gradually he realized that Victor was not from his planet at all. After three weeks Taerg had learned much of the basic knowledge concerning his solar system but was now asking questions concerning stars and planets elsewhere. Victor noticed the people of the village looking at them strangely when they were talking about these facts. Perhaps someday, Taerg would teach these things to them.

“You keep calling the planet you are from Homeworld,” he said one day, “but surely you have a real name for it, like we have for ours.”

“I know you are named after your planet.
Paradise
is a very fine name for a planet. I can’t think of a name better than the name of your planet. The name of our overcrowded planet is
Kastat
. It is from an ancient expression we no longer use, meaning to throw seed on the soil. Signifying the start of the planting season. It is supposed to be a celebration of new beginnings.”

“That sounds like a good name,” said Taerg.

“Yes, but most of us simply call it Homeworld.”

“If you are constantly travelling between the stars, I suppose Homeworld is appropriate. Especially, when you have other worlds to go to. How many worlds have you settled on?”

“Including Homeworld, so far we have colonized two planets and seven moons all from seven different solar systems. However, none of the planets are as large as yours and none of the moons are as large as your moon.”

“So, you are a very numerous people. Is this why you have come here to this world?”

“No, Taerg we do not take over people’s planets with them on it, we have strict laws against taking such invasive actions.”

“Why are you here then?”

“That is a question that I think you deserve to know the answer to. We knew that your moon is uninhabited. It has plentiful plant and animal life, therefore making it an ideal place to start a new colony. We are the first here to arrive for the colonization of your moon. However, there was an accident on the shuttle that I was on and we crash landed on your beautiful planet. Thankfully, you pulled me from the wreckage, so I owe you my life.”

“You do not owe me anything Victor. I thought I was helping you out of a burning building. I know you would have helped me if I was in trouble too.” (“He is more correctly pronouncing my name,” thought Victor.)

“True, I would have, but that is only a hypothetical probability in my mind. It has not actually happened and so is not relevant.”

“Victor, sometimes what you think in your mind, can be as good as done.  So be careful what you think.”

“Now that sounds like wise words, from a wise man.”

Taerg smiled, but his smile quickly faded and he said, “Victor, I will have to report what you have explained to me concerning the colonizing of our moon. I will travel to the grand council of elders in the central city to tell them. They need to know these things. I am not qualified to make any decisions in this matter.”

“I would expect no less,” said Victor, “you need to look out for the interests of your world. This is also why I have told you this.” Victor knew that he was not really supposed to tell anyone on this planet the plans that they had to colonize the moon. Nevertheless, he felt that they should know anyway. They were a harmless, peaceable people and deserved to know what was growing above their heads on their own moon. He knew this revelation would get him in trouble when those up top found out. Still, these people needed to be informed of these matters. Victor knew it was the right thing to do, so he did not feel guilty about it. He would have to carefully explain all of this in his daily recorded log that he was keeping.

His personal video mission recorder was the only bit of technology he still possessed. It was an amazing device. It had practically endless storage capacity. It could operate similar to a set of binoculars. It was linked to the shuttle when it crashed, so it contained all the records including the audio and holographic video of that mission. With it he could project a holographic view of the video already recorded. Its batteries never completely discharged. It constantly recharged automatically using solar, heat, and movement as its energy sources. A sturdy piece of equipment that would last many years. He had it recording at all times (except when he slept, it turned off due to lack of movement). Normally he had it attached to his shoulder guard. It pointed in every direction he looked. When he talked to someone it recorded that person's face for identification purposes.

Even though he could not proceed with his research, he really enjoyed this paradise planet and the wonderful people on it. So far, he had been in this village for three weeks. He never saw one single argument break out between anyone. The natives did not even raise their voices at one another. It was truly remarkable. Whenever people needed a decision made between two different parties they would take the matter to the village council elders. These were experienced individuals who were very much respected for their wisdom. They helped people come to an amicable arrangement for their concerns that they could not resolve for themselves. The matter never escalated, because these decisions were respected by all. These people had simple lives. They did not take one another before the council to use the system to take advantage of their fellow villagers.