Tales From The Triple Suns (Chapter Nine)

The planet, called Srizaer by some long gone settlers, was beautiful.  Trees were a deep green and the grass a lighter shade, almost emerald in the early morning sun.  Light blue skies were clear overhead, and provided just a hint of breeze that made it a pleasure to stand there and watch.  The ground was a deep brown, with stones that ranged throughout the colour spectrum.  A river glinted in the sun off in the distance, displaying small water crystal rainbows along the horizon. Two suns graced this planet, with the first raising around five in the morning, then setting approximately twelve hours later.  The second sun rose nearer to noon, but only remained in the south-east sky for about nine hours.1

The area we were to set up the agro-community in was on a field of small rocks.  It was unsuitable for growing, but made a great base for the buildings.  The ground was porous, which would allow any rainwater to seep in and join the water table.2

First order of business was unloading everything.  The transports had a four-day window of opportunity before they had to leave.  The set up had already been mapped out after extensive consultation with geological and topographical charts, and less than two kilometers from the colony was to be the growing area.  Sheltered on one side by a medium sized mountain, and by the river on the other for irrigation, it was rock free and promised to yield a rather large first crop.  The area was ten kilometers by ten, and, although not overly large when compared to other agro-communities, was merely a test run for the first growing cycle.  If things evolved like they had planned, then it would drastically enlarge the growing area, and more communities would be added to compensate.3

Specific teams were sent out to set up the water supply and aggregate the land in preparation.  The remainder of the settlers and set up team worked with the transport crew in unloading and setting up the buildings. The replacements for the power cells that had been used during the dust storms had arrived already, and been temporarily left with the scientific crew, waiting to be picked up.4

By evening, nearly half the buildings had been set up, and most of the supplies removed from ship and placed in storage.  The wells for water had been tapped, and awaited buildings to hook up to.  Aggregation of the massive field would be finished by late afternoon of the next day.5

Most people returned to the transports for the evening meal, although some opted to take their food and eat out under the stars.  Craig and I were among that group.  We sat under a massive tree that they had decided to leave standing, and ate quietly.  I don’t remember ever being so tired, and I could have fallen asleep right then.  I watched people walk around, most grateful to be able to breath real air.  Small lights on top of two meter high posts acted as streetlights, but also caused an eerie glow on things.  I jumped slightly as one of the farming animals made a noise in the dark.  Early the next morning, they would be transferred to their own area for breeding and other purposes.6

Craig finished his meal and leaned his head back against the tree.  “Man, I’m tired,” he said.  “Haven’t worked that hard in years.”7

I nodded as I leaned against his shoulder.  I eyed my plate, and its half-eaten meal…I was hungry, but too tired to eat.  “I’m too tired to move,” I said and yawned.  I looked up at the expanse of stars and blinked as my eyes threatened to close for the night. I snuggled closer to Craig as he put his arm around me.8

“What do you think?”  Craig asked.9

“It’s beautiful,” I replied and covered another yawn.  “How cold does it get at night.”10

“This time of year…uhh…maybe two degrees cooler than it is now.”11

I nodded…perfect sleeping weather.  “Any predatory nocturnal animals?”12

“Not that I’ve been informed of,” he said.  “But, if there are any, they most likely won’t come near the colony.”13

“Good,” I whispered, then fell asleep against his shoulder.14

~~~~~~~~~~15

I woke up the next morning, still tired, very sore, and in my bed on the transport.  I sat up, wondering how I got here, since the last thing I remembered was talking to Craig outside.  I was still in my clothes from the previous day, and I glanced at Craig as he lay sleeping on top of the sheet, still in his clothes from yesterday.16

I was tempted to stay in bed, but decided that needing a shower outweighed sleep.  I grabbed my things and went into the small bathroom, punched in my temporary code, took a look at how much shower time I had, then turned on the water and stepped under the spray.  I didn’t care if I had ten minutes to shower or two…this felt wonderful.  I kept an eye of the small timer as I washed my hair.  As it ran down to two minutes, I decided to just stand there and let the water run down my body, taking most of the aches from yesterday with it.17

I blinked as the timer suddenly jumped up to twelve minutes, then smiled as the door opened and Craig stepped in behind me.18

“Need someone to wash your back?” he asked innocently.19

~~~~~~~~~~20

Everything had gone more or less smoothly, as the rest of the buildings were off-loaded from the transport.  The living units had been set up, and only the medical clinic remained.  It had been discovered that one of the walls had cracked during shipment, so it was removed, fixed and awaiting the remainder of the building so it could be reattached.  The building was placed on its foundation near the repaired wall, and ropes were attached to help guide the wall into place.  21

A group of people, including Craig, situated around the wall, then began.  I watched Craig as he lifted, the muscles moving under his black T-shirt, his strong hands grasping the wall through black gloves as sweat glistened on his arms.  He looked so magnificent that I was tempted to call him away for some ‘in-depth discussion’.22

His muscles rippled as the group heaved the wall partly up, then got their hands repositioned under to place it against the other walls.  The braces were put in place, and others moved in to secure the broken wall in place.  Craig stepped back as he ran his forearm along his forehead, then turned and started to walk away.  He went behind one of the buildings, and I went back to what I was doing.  I looked, startled as the music they were listening to changed from something soothing to something definitely not soothing.23

Craig smiled as he walked out form behind the building, and went back to helping repair the wall.  Ah, yes, Mr. Heavy Rock was at it again.  I had to admit though…the music did make things move quicker.24

Craig glanced up from his work, saw me watching him, and gave me that sexy smile.  I must have blushed, because he started laughing.   I gave him a mock scowl and went back to what I was doing.  I picked up a metal box to carry into the agro-colony office, and turned at the same time Mark was walking out the door.  We banged into each other and I started to fall back.  Mark grabbed for me and only succeeded in knocking the box from my hands as I fell ungracefully on my butt. 25

“Ow,” I said, and started to laugh.  Mark held his hand out, and I took it as he helped me to my feet.26

“You okay?” he asked while trying not to laugh.  I nodded and he bent down to retrieve the box.  He open it to check the contents, and satisfied that nothing had been broken, passed it back to me.  “It’s all fine,” he said.  “Just Craig’s stuff anyway.”  He leaned forward and whispered.  “You didn’t break that ugly blue coffee mug…next time drop it harder.”27

I laughed as he walked away, then continued on my way into the part of the building that was to be their main office for the next year or more.  Mark had been right, that blue coffee mug was ugly…I’d even go so far as to call it hideous.  But, it was Craig’s favorite mug, so I learned to live with its looks.28

I was putting boxes on various desks when the door opened.  I looked up, smiling when Craig walked in.29

“Mark said you tried to break my mug,” he laughed.  “You okay?”  30

I rolled my eyes and gently rubbed my behind.  “Just bruised my pride.”  I held the offending mug up.  “And not one scratch on this…thing.”31

He motioned to the wall, and the rest of the building beyond it.  “You get everything out of our quarters on the transport?”32

I nodded.  “Yes, Mr. Greybourne.”  He ignored the sarcasm in my voice and walked through the adjoining door and into our new home.  I wasn’t really impressed with the idea of living in what was a glorified office building, but that was the way it was planned on all agro-worlds.  The one leading the set up was to be near the company offices for business sake, and the best way to do that was to place their living quarters and offices in the same building.  To me, it just seemed like some cheap way to conserve space.  I had already made it very clear to Craig that the two sections were to be kept separate.  I didn’t want the office business spilling over into the living areas.33

If all went well with the growing, then it would soon be busy with official from the Alliance of Planets here to check on different aspects and to set up a sort of selling point to distribute the food stuffs to various points in the system.  I didn’t want numerous people traipsing through what was to be our home.   Craig, on the other hand, needed some convincing of my views.34

~~~~~~~~~~35

”Come on, hon,” Craig said as he helped me pack up our belongings on the transport. “How’s it gonna look if not one dignitary is allowed in my home?”36

I sighed and continued putting the clothes into the bags.  I wasn’t in a good mood, and really not up to having this conversation.  I mumbled something under my breath.37

“I’m sorry…didn’t catch that,” he said in a voice that showed he actually had heard what I said, but wanted me to repeat it.38

I turned and faced him.  “I said, ‘I don’t care how it looks.’”  He nodded and went back to what he was doing.  We were silent for a few minutes, which made me feel bad about what I had said.39

“Mind if I ask why you don’t care?” Craig asked, his back to me.  “Or would that piss you off even more.” 40

I stopped short delivering a rather nasty rebuke.  He didn’t deserve the bitchiness I was handing him.   “My parents were big on social gatherings,” I said.  “Especially my mother.  I don’t think I got to spend one weekend with only them my entire childhood.”  Craig turned to look at me, his expression a mixture of curiosity and interest.  “It was usually some business partner that I had never heard of, or some dinner to work out some business proposal.”  I went back to putting clothes away.  “I love my parents…and miss them…but I got so sick of playing the perfect child…do this, do that…entertain some spoiled rich brat while their parents talked with my parents.”  I turned to look at him.  “Anyway…been there, done that, see no reason to repeat it.”41

Craig chewed his bottom lip slightly as he thought.  “But I have no choice but to…”42

“There are always alternatives,” I cut him off.  “Lemme see the plans for the…building.”43

“Mark’s got them.”44

“Then go get them,” I ordered, not caring how bitchy I sounded.  He glared at me, muttered something and started for the door.  “I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically, “I didn’t catch that.”45

“I know,” he said as he opened the door and stepped out.46

“Jerk,” I said to the closed door.47

Twenty minutes later, I opened the door to a knock and took a small envelope from one of Craig's associates.  I went back to the bed, opened it and took out a small disk and piece of paper.  ‘Plans are on the disk, file #27’ the note in Craig’s handwriting said. ‘Sorry I pissed you off, and I don’t want to get into this tonight, so I’ll be back later.  Love you, Craig… P.S. Whatcha wearing? ‘ I laughed, and put the note down.  I was sort of relieved that he was going to be gone for a while.  I hated fighting with him, and this gave us both a chance to cool off.  Knowing him, he’d probably gotten dealt into some poker game that always seemed to be going on below decks.  But, I felt sad that I had basically chased him away by my attitude.  I shrugged, thinking that if he wasn’t used to me sometimes being bitchy by now, then he would never get used to it.48

I put the disk into my notepad and looked the plans over carefully.  It was a larger than average domicile, with a living area of five rooms on one side, and office space on the other.  There were more than ten offices, and five areas on the upper floor that were labeled ‘guest quarters’.  I ran a stylus along the screen, circling the dining area in our section that was to double as sort of a function area when needed.  That was what I was objecting to.49

Then, it hit me.  I sat up as the perfect idea surfaced, and hastily sketched it down so I wouldn’t lose it.50

~~~~~~~~~~51

Craig walked out of the living area and handed me one of the bottles in his hand.  I took a long drink, surprised to find out that it was a rather expensive imported beer.  Craig flopped into the chair behind his desk, and rooted through the drawers until he found what he was looking for.  He took out a disk and put it in his computer as he took a rather large drink from his beer. 52

“Done…done…yep…yep…”he said as he read the screen.  He glanced up at me.  “Checklist,” he said.  “Mark did one before we left, based on his experiences leading set up a few times.  Everything is done, except for…”  He stopped and stare at the screen.53

“What?” I asked as I took a sip from my beer.54

He looked at me in confusion.  “Last item.” He looked back at the screen and read from it.  “Ask me, but ya gotta promise not to kill me when I tell ya.”  He stood and walked to the door as I chuckled.55

Craig looked out the door, scanning the completed community until he found what he was looking for.  “Mark!” he bellowed, causing all activity to cease.  “Now!”  He walked back to his desk and sat behind it, looking every bit like a pissed off person in charge.  Mark appeared in the doorway.56

“You bellowed?”57

Craig turned the computer screen around for Mark to see.  “Ask you about what?”58

Mark smiled.  “You gotta promise not to kill me first.”59

“How’s about I just kill ya anyway, and not worry about it?”60

Mark cringed slightly.  “This is your first on planet set up, right?”61

Craig nodded.  “Yes.”62

“Well…uh…anyone tell you that you had to make a little speech to officially launch the colony opening?”63

Craig stared at him.  “Musta slipped your mind,” Craig said in a sarcastic tone.64

Mark shrugged.  “Sorry.  Anyway…anything will do…providing that you come up with it in the next ten minutes.”  Craig continued to stare at him.  “Has to be done before the transports leave.”65

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you.”66

“Immensely,” Mark said. 67

They both looked out at the crowd that was gathering around the outside of the office.  “You are so dead,” Craig whispered to his assistant, then walked to the door and looked out at the settlers, team members, and transport crew that were ready to leave.  “I’ve just been informed that I’m suppose to give a speech to open this agro-colony,” he said loudly.  “Bear with me on this…”  He paused, then began.68

“Earliest records show that man has always reached beyond the stars, searching for new places to colonize, new adventures to embrace.”  He paused again.  I though he was off to a great start.  “Since our ancestors left Old Earth over four hundred years ago in search of sustainable planets, there has been a need for colonies such as these.” He paused for a moment. “I’m not going to keep you with some long winded speech, since I’m sure most of you want to set up your new homes and maybe get some sleep.”  That elicited a few laughs.  “And I’m equally sure that the transport crew is itching to get some deck under their feet, instead of solid ground.”  He looked around.  “So, uh, I guess this officially marks the opening of the Srizaer Agro-Community…someone please think up another name for this place, and I’ll submit it for consideration.”  He smiled briefly as people applauded and the transport crew left for their vessels.69

Mark and I walked out behind him, and Mark went to walk past.  Craig put his arm out, blocking the way.  “What’s your hurry?”70

“That sleep idea sounded good,” Mark said, and tried to side step around Craig’s arm.71

“Oh, ho…not so fast,” Craig said.  “You gotta set up the entire system and double…no, triple check every file to make sure nothing went wrong during reactivation.”  He smiled evilly.  72

“Can’t ya just kill me instead?”73

“You won’t be so lucky,” Craig said then took my hand.  “I’ll be back…maybe tonight…maybe tomorrow…” He shrugged at Mark and then led me down the small steps and around the building to our private entrance.74