The Accidental Colony

By Lisa Hendrickson

A group of scientists travel to another world to study its biology and geology when an asteroid strikes the Earth and destroys the ship that was to have come to take them home again. Now, they face dwindling food supplies, dangerous animals on the plains around them, and wild weather. They must relearn ancient survival skills in a race against starvation until a rescue can come from home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Hendrickson
• Release date: Mar 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301952748

Lisa Hendrickson

I’m a self-published author with one title to my name so far. I have other works in various stages, a mystery that I will publish in August, and one I hope to have ready to publish this fall. I have no printed books as yet. I am middle-aged, fat with weird hair. I have accepted that I can’t do anything about the middle-aged part, but I am working on the fat and the weird hair. Like the majority of my writing, I am a work in progress.

Book preview

Teague O'Brennan stepped outside the dormitory door into the compound and looked at the dark clouds swirling in the air near the horizon almost obscuring the main sun. There was probably another storm coming, as if they needed that. He crossed the compound and entered the administration building. Thank God, the initial survey team had encountered the storms even if they hadn't encountered the rainy season that turned the compound into such a slippery, slimy muddy mess. He stepped through the door to the medium-sized utilitarian office space beyond. He crossed the roomful of small cubicles to his office and entered it.

He sat down at his desk and began sorting through the work on it. On the table behind him, the laser comm rattled into life. He turned to look at it. Who was calling? It wasn't time for the daily communication. It couldn't be the North America; it was too early for their retrieval ship to be checking in. It should be passing the Seeker on the route to Earth. Was it the Seeker returning for some reason? That was worrying. The laser comm rattled again, demanding attention. He got up and walked over to it. He sat down in front of the screen.

Attention Armstrong Base. Attention Armstrong Base. This is Lunar Base 4 with an important message. The voice was shaking as though the speaker was upset. The computer immediately transcribed the spoken message into text appearing on the screen, stark black on white. "The Earth has been devastated by an asteroid strike. The strike also destroyed the North America on lift off. The Seeker has not yet arrived in the Solar System. We estimate it to be four years out from the Solar System. As soon as she arrives, she will undergo refitting and sent out as soon as possible. Estimated time of retrieval is approximately twelve to fifteen years. Mars has taken over mission control, please adjust your settings accordingly. Further updates will be sent as they become available." The voice still shook. What was that person seeing? What horrors were visible to Lunar Base 4? Was Lunar Base 4 even still operational? It was four years since that man had made his report to Proxima 1.

Teague was glad he was sitting down. If he'd been standing, he didn't think his legs would support him. This was a catastrophe. The message, travelling at the speed of light had taken four years to get to them. An asteroid destroyed the Earth? What about their families, had any of them survived? How long would it take to refit the Seeker? How long before the Seeker got home? Was the work on the Seeker just starting or was it going to take longer? What about their families? Those of the expedition that had family on Earth would want to know about them. There was no way to tell them anything except that they would not be returning to Earth as scheduled. Twelve to fifteen years was a long time. They had only expected to be on Proxima 1 for eight years. Another three to five would tax their food supplies. Teague thought about that for a moment.

The interstellar ships Seeker and North America took eight years to travel between Earth and Proxima. If they had managed to develop faster than light travel it would take less time, but that goal eluded them. All that they could manage was half the speed of light. Teague looked outside his window. It all seemed so ordinary. Sean Derne was walking along the dusty expanse between the dormitory and the mess hall. Several people thought that kid was bad news, but even he would have to pitch in. What were they going to do? Could they get by on two meals per day? Was he going to have to tell them that they could only have one a day, or one every other day? How would they react to that? Not very well, Teague would wager. He wasn't all that thrilled about that himself. Still, they had to hang on until the Seeker could return to collect them. Rationing would do that for them. At least, he hoped rationing would do that. He thought about the animals on the plains. Perhaps they could supplement their food supplies by hunting some of the buffalos and gazelloids on the plains. That might put them into direct competition with the native predators, the powerful saber-toothed lions, and the swift greyhounds.

Damn! It suddenly struck him that he was going to have to be the one to tell them. That was not something he was looking forward to doing. How did you tell someone something like this? He hoped that his voice didn't wobble like the man who'd sent the message. He'd have to call a meeting so that he wouldn't be telling people repeatedly, that would just be a nightmare. He also had to make sure that everyone got the same message. Gossip had a way of changing the story as it went along. There was also the danger that someone wouldn't hear the news. Ignorance might be bliss, but it could also be deadly. No, it was his responsibility to tell the entire expedition at one time. He copied the message transcript to his hand held unit. He might as well be ready to communicate it to whoever wanted a copy. Then he reached for the radio. Gerhardt and Derne had to be recalled from Aldin. The substation would have to pool its food supplies with the main base. It was the only way they would all survive.

Armstrong Station to Aldrin Station, please respond, he said into the microphone attached to the comm unit.

Gerhardt here, came the welcome response. Good they were inside the station. That made it easier. What's up Teague?

Raoul, is Larry with you? He couldn't say it even to Gerhardt, one of his closest friends. He would have to spit it out sometime. He hoped that he wouldn't choke when he tried to tell the gathered personnel.

Yes, of course, why?

Pack up and get back to Armstrong, Teague said. Bring all your supplies; I'm closing down the substation. It was too abrupt, he realized. It was going to make them ask the questions that he didn't want to answer. They were going to make him say it. He had to resist that.

Teague! Larry Derne's voice replaced Gerhardt's. We've located some very interesting plants here, and I...

Larry, the decision is final, Teague said. Get back here.

How serious is the problem? You had to hand it to Gerhardt; he was quick on the uptake. He might just make Teague say it.

Very serious, Teague said. I don't really want to get into it on the air, but I need you all back here as soon as possible. Don't worry about the dwellings, just secure them, and bring all your supplies back to Armstrong. Be here in two hours. Armstrong out.

But what? He turned off the radio, cutting off Gerhardt's question. He didn't want to hear their confusion. They wanted answers that he didn't have yet. He turned back to the comm, turned it back on and set it for intercom. He'd better make sure of his audience. This was not good news and he really did only want to deliver it once.

Attention all personnel, there will be a meeting in the mess hall in two and a half hours, this meeting is mandatory for all personnel. There, that should give him time to come up with the words to tell them everything they'd once known was gone. It would also bring people running to find out what was going on. He wondered if he should lock himself in his office until Larry and Raoul got back to Armstrong.

Dr. O'Brennan? Too late to lock the door, he turned to see Shara Stewart, the expedition's entomologist in his doorway. What's this all about?

I would rather tell everyone at once, Dr. Stewart, he said.

"Is it something about the North America?" she asked.

Probably, he said. Look, you'll have to wait until I tell everyone in two and a half hours. She looked as though she wanted to protest, but subsided when he turned away from her. Close my door when you leave, would you please? He held himself tensely until he heard his door close behind her. This was not the way he'd envisioned his tenure as Expedition Leader twelve years ago when they'd left Earth for this fantastic opportunity to study a pristine ecological system.

Their purpose in coming here was purely scientific. They wanted to know about animals and plants native to a planet that was not earth. Even Mars had transplanted Earth flora and fauna. This was a brand new world with a brand new ecosystem. It was an adventure like no other in human history. Now that adventure had turned to dust. It was a struggle to survive.

How long would their supplies last? Water was not an issue, they could easily purify the water in the stream to the south of the base and they would be fine there. That is, if the predator they were sure lurked in its current was too small to see them as prey. The foodstuff was what bothered him. How long could they survive on what they had? They probably had time to learn the skills they would need to hunt on the plains. He worried next about the primitive weapons they had. There were no rechargeable energy weapons; they only had the projectile weapons the Academy had sent with them.

Who knew that they might need energy weapons to catch food? Could they do that with the projectile rifles and pistols? How many of them did they have? Did they have the means to make more? He made a mental note to ask Alden about that after the meeting.

Someone knocked on his door. Now who was coming to bother him? He sighed, supposing that it was inevitable that they would want answers as soon as possible. You couldn't make an announcement like the one he'd just made without people coming to ask questions.

Doctor O'Brennan?

You will have to wait until the meeting, Campbell, Teague began.

It's not that, Trevor Campbell said. He walked into Teague's office. It's just that I just went over the latest satellite data and there's a hell of a storm forming to the east. The storm, of course, severe weather was just what they needed on top of everything else.

How bad?

Bad. Trevor Campbell was a slim man with blond hair and green eyes. He looked like a good wind would knock him over, but actually loved getting out in extreme weather. On Earth, he'd been a storm chaser, one of that rare breed of weather scientist that was borderline crazy. It could spawn some tornados. His green eyes sparkled suddenly. I could be the first person to document a tornado on another planet. We haven't had this big a weather cell in the four years we've been here.

I'm sorry, Campbell, Teague hated to pop his colleague's hopes, but you can't chase it. What I have to say at this meeting is very, very important and will affect everyone, even you. At the other man's crestfallen expression, he relented somewhat. "You do have two and a half hours to set up a remote monitor of the storm cell. All I ask is that you keep an eye on the time and be there for the meeting." The younger man grinned and bolted from Teague's office. Oh to have that kind of energy again.

He sat down at his desk and tried to come up with a speech that would devastate his expedition without plunging them into complete despair. He wasn't sure that he was up to it. He wasn't sure that anyone could do that. All of his life, he'd been in control of his professional life, and now that control was slipping. This news was going to be painful for everyone on Proxima, with the exception of the saber-toothed lions on the plains. He smiled at the thought. Were the lions scavenger enough to risk coming into the compound and eating the fallen scientists? He thought about the possibility of starving to death. Would there be enough of the scientists left to tempt scavengers? Why was he thinking of stuff like that? He turned back to writing his speech. They would survive until the Seeker arrived to pick them up. They had to.

CHAPTER 2

Molly Lafontaine viciously chopped several stalks of celery until she had a cupful of the chopped vegetable and added them to the mound of carrots she'd just chopped moments before. She added chopped mushrooms to the mound of carrots and celery. Then she melted butter in a saucepan and added it to a stockpot, then stirred in minced onion, salt, and bay leaves. When the onion was translucent, she added the chopped vegetables. Five minutes later, she added dry wine and increased the heat to bring the mixture to a boil then she added the chopped mushrooms, some dill weed, turkey broth and the barley that she'd cooked previously. She brought the entire mixture to a boil and then reduced the heat and prepared to let it simmer for the next hour and a half. The soup course was complete. She moved to the oven and checked on her main course, roasted chicken. The birds had a bit to go before they were cooked thoroughly. She would have to turn down the heat while they were in the meeting. It would limit the possibility of the birds burning. Really, this was unacceptable. She would have something to say to Dr. O'Brennan when she got the chance.

She'd no sooner gotten the birds in the oven that than Teague O'Brennan had announced a meeting in two and a half hours. Was this supposed to be a luncheon meeting? What did he mean that it was mandatory for everyone? She suddenly realized that she was afraid of what Dr. O'Brennan had to say. His announcement was unusual. He'd never made this kind of announcement before. Thinking a moment about it, she thought that it was a certain note in his voice that frightened her. She wiped her hands on her apron and considered going to his office to demand that he tell her what was going on. She was sure that she wouldn't be the only one to do that. There would probably be a crowd in his office. The question was did she really want to know. There had been that note in his voice.

What was that about? He'd really sounded upset. What could have upset him so much that he'd disrupt their routines? She had work to do and she didn't have a lot of time to sit in a meeting. She'd signed on as the expedition cook although with her culinary skills, she could have had her own restaurant anywhere on Earth or Mars, but she'd chosen the adventure over the accolades that were her due as a premier chef. Now she wasn't so sure about the adventure part of it. Not if it meant sitting in meetings. She glared at the clock in her kitchen. Chickens were broiling and the soup was simmering. She was nearly ready with the midday meal. She wondered if she could afford to take a little time to dash off a note to her daughter Jeanne, studying medicine at Olympus University on Mars, before she had to drop everything and attend a meeting that probably wouldn't concern her. It couldn't possibly concern her, could it? She wasn't sure anymore. The serious tone in Dr. O'Brennan's voice still bothered her. Why was the meeting mandatory? Why did everyone have to attend? A flurry of activity from the doorway to the dining room had her turning in that direction.

Did you hear? Curtis Hill, one of her assistants rushed into the kitchen. She frowned at him. Where had he been? When had he wandered off? What the hell was going on today? Was everyone going crazy today?

I hope you have a good reason for deserting your post, she said using anger to cover her rising fear. Where have you been?

I was outside talking to Mary Hartford, said Curtis. She said that Shara Stewart said that Dr. O'Brennan wouldn't talk to her, kicked her out of his office, and locked himself in. Why would he do that? What did that mean? What had happened? Something had happened. She was sure of it. Dr. O'Brennan didn't seem the type to hide in his office. This was not normal. She was frightened, even more than she had been before hearing Curtis's news. Was it even true? Sometimes gossip magnified the most insignificant things.

She tried to bury her fears in the preparations for lunch. If she could get as much ready as possible, this meeting wouldn't delay lunch by too much, depending on how long it was. Dr. O'Brennan should have asked her before scheduling her mess hall for a meeting. She had a lot of work to do and her staff needed to have the hall sparkling for lunch. Now they had to rush to make it presentable for a meeting and then clean it for lunch. What had he been thinking of? Not her schedule, that was for sure. She settled back into her annoyance, while tamping down her fear. How had he managed to frighten and annoy her at the same time? She'd always prided herself on her even temperedness. She wasn't one of those temperamental chefs that abused their assistants. She glanced over at where Curtis was talking earnestly to his colleague, Gil Fuller

Curtis! Gil, she beckoned to them, you two get into the dining area and get breakfast cleared up before that dratted meeting. The man probably had an exciting theory that he wanted to share. Why had she thought cooking for a bunch of scientists would be an adventure? She suddenly noticed they were still standing there. What are you waiting for, get going! She turned back to her kitchen. We have to get everything ready for lunch before this meeting. I have no idea how long it will last, so we have to get moving on lunch and get as much done as we can before this meeting so that we won't have to delay lunch. They'll all be screaming for it at noon. If any of it ended up burnt or otherwise inedible, she'd make sure to direct all complaints to Dr. O'Brennan.

CHAPTER 3

What do you suppose all that was about? Larry Derne watched Raoul Gerhardt set the microphone to the comm down on the desk. Larry was reed thin with prematurely gray hair receding back across his head. Raoul shrugged. Obviously, he didn't know the answer.

It's bad, he said. A big beefy man, he was the antithesis of Larry. His hair was still black and thick. Larry was envious. Teague isn't given to panicking and that com call was as close as I have ever heard him to panic. Larry nodded, understandably.

I know, he said. Do you think Sean had something to do with it? Sean, one of Larry's sons, who joined the expedition after the death of his mother a mere month before they were due to depart, was never far from Larry's mind. He's not a happy boy, you know, not like Mike and unlike his older brother, not prone to trying to earn his keep, I'm afraid.

I'm sure that Teague would have said something, Raoul said. If your son was involved in whatever the problem is.

I worry about him, he said. Mike doesn't cause any problems. Have I told you that Mike seems to be headed for a career in medicine? he went on without giving Raoul a chance to say that he had, numerous times.

That's good, I guess. I have to admit that I would have liked one of my boys to go into botany, but I guess I need to let them choose their own paths. That's what Joan always said, anyway. He looked downcast. I just wish Sean had not chosen one that could have landed him in prison. He looked up at Raoul who was rooting around in the supply room. He always swears that the drugs were not his and I really want to believe him, but it's hard when he won't say where the drugs came from. He took the cans that Raoul handed him and put them in a carton. "You know I pleaded with the court to let me bring Sean with me and get him away from the crowd he'd fallen in with and that had led to our estrangement. I am really so grateful to Teague. He was so supportive, getting the Academy to agree to let me to bring both my boys with me. He told the Academy that there really hadn't been time to replace me as botanist on the trip. While Michael took to the trip with excitement, Sean showed no interest in anything. He was disrespectful of everyone on the ship while we were coming here and generally causing trouble." Raoul grunted something unintelligible as he handed out more foodstuffs to Larry. Sean is a handful, but he isn't irredeemable. He frowned. He always seems to respond to Teague's orders. He ignores me. Raoul stopped handing out the food. You just need to back off a bit. Get off the boy's back, he said. Let him find his own way. He'll be fine. He's mostly likely bored. He disappeared into the bedroom of the habitat. Larry followed him, affronted. Get off Sean's back? What did that mean? He stared at Raoul who was gathering his clothes into his suitcase. Larry began gathering his own clothes and stuffing them into his duffle bag. What did Raoul know about raising sons, anyway? He didn't have any children. If Sean was bored, they needed to fill his days with something. The boy was lucky to have such a stellar group of teachers. Why couldn’t he appreciate the value of that? Some people would kill for the opportunity that Sean was living. He didn't understand his son.

Larry had come to the substation with Raoul only because Teague had promised to look after the boy while Larry did his job here at the substation. The plants on this planet were unseen by humankind, even the survey team had not ventured this far from their landing site, the location of the present base. Larry had gathered several plant specimens around the substation, excited by their newness. He would be the first to describe the animals. He had to admit that he was disappointed that Sean had not wanted to come with him. If Larry could only figure out how to get the boy to take an interest in something, it would be the saving of him.

Are you coming? Raoul's voice jolted him out of his reverie. Yes, of course, he carried his bags to the small transport truck that they had used to bring the habitats and other equipment to the site they'd chosen for their substation. Raoul slung his bags into the back of the transport truck. He looked annoyed and Larry was glad that he was not going to be the one who had to explain this to him. Now that he thought about of it, Larry wanted an explanation as well. He closed the door of the small building and locked it.

What about the habitat? he said as Raoul shoved the last box of prepared food into the back of the truck.

He said to leave everything but our supplies, Raoul stopped his loading. Larry carried his box over and added it to the growing pile in the back of the truck. He stressed that we were to bring our supplies back to Armstrong. He looked down at the food.

Something has happened, he said.

Something has happened, Larry echoed. What has Sean done?

Somehow, Larry, said Raoul, I don't think your son has done anything that you need to be worried about. He went back to the storeroom to make sure that they had loaded everything it had contained into the truck.

You think so? Larry was cheered by the thought. That would be good, wouldn't it?

I think you are celebrating too soon, Raoul said. Something is still wrong; it just won't be anything to do with your son. I think whatever happened, is very bad and very big. He heaved his bulk into the driver's seat of the truck. Get in. the sooner we get back to Armstrong, the sooner our mystery will be solved.

You really think that it's something worse?

Yes, I do, Raoul said. I think Teague is calling us back to Armstrong because something really bad has happened. If it was your son, he would have said so. He was upset; it was in his voice. You heard it. Larry had. He climbed into the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt. The ground they had to cover in order to get back to Armstrong base was rough and he didn't want an unexpected bump to toss him out the car, risking injury. The infirmary there was first class with an excellent doctor, but he still didn't want to be a patient there.

Raoul started the engine and swung the truck around for the trip back to the base. They were both silent on the ride. Larry was engrossed in trying to hang on while Raoul seemed relieved at the quiet. What had he heard in Teague's voice that bothered him? He found himself building scenarios in his head of why they were called back. Had the ship arrived early? Was that the reason? If that was the case, why had Teague told them to leave the habitat? Shouldn't they remove it in accordance with the charter they had signed to leave no lasting trace of their presence on the planet? That couldn't be the problem. If the ship had come early, why would Teague sound panicked? The ship wouldn't trigger panic. Chagrin, if it came early, but it wouldn't trigger panic.

CHAPTER 4

Sean Derne leaned against the outside wall of the mess hall and shielded his eyes from the bright sunshine. He knew that his dad would pitch a fit if he knew that Sean was loitering in the compound and not in his dormitory room studying mathematics or some other boring subject, but what was the point of that? What good would Math do him? What good would any of it do him? Nobody used that numbers stuff, nobody, but clueless scientists, that is. The trouble was that there was nothing else to do here, except study. God! He was bored. His dad hadn't needed to bring him here to the most boring place in the universe; he could have stayed with Bennie and his mom. He would have been fine with Bennie's mom.

She'd never demanded to know what they were doing all the time. She hadn't bothered them a bit as long as they stayed out of her hair, not like his dad, who insisted on knowing everything Sean did. It wasn't like the cops had caught him with anything that time when Bennie was careless. He hadn't taken any of it. He still couldn't figure out why Bennie had taken that stuff. He really hadn't needed any of it. It had just been junk.

Still, it had still landed him here and he hadn't seen Bennie in ten years. It wasn't fair. Here he was almost eighteen and his dad still treated him like a little kid. His older brother Mike wasn't any better. His brother kept giving him advice he didn't want or need. What made him think that Sean needed his advice? He was only four years older than Sean was. No one treated Mike like a little kid. He looked out the gates towards the endless plain. God he was so bored. Nothing ever happened here. There was nothing to do and no one to do it with anyway. There were only boring scientists and adults here. Only Johnson was cool and he would never hang with Sean. Sean was lucky when Bennie chose him as a friend when they were both seven. It wasn't Bennie's fault people didn't understand him. They didn't understand Sean either.

He looked around the compound and watched as one of the security guards came out of the infirmary, making his rounds. What a joke that was. Still, Johnson wasn't bad for a rent-a-cop. He was the coolest of them all even though Alden ran him like a drill sergeant. Alden thought he was such a big shot. He was useless here. They were all useless here. What the hell did they need armed guards for, anyway? They were the only ones here on this dull planet. Ok, there were the saber-toothed lions that his father forbade him to go out and see. He was imprisoned here in this compound. He wished he were with Bennie on Earth. They could have had some good times, if he hadn't been dragged to this miserable planet. He kicked a rock, disgustedly.

Bennie hadn't sent any messages, which was typical of him. He wasn't big on messages. It made it hard to keep in touch. Sean didn't much like sending messages himself. You never knew if your dad or anyone else was reading your messages. Bennie was careful. If he sent any messages at all, they'd be instructions that you'd better follow or he'd leave you behind. That was the way he was. Bennie was cool, a natural leader. He would have seen Sean all right. Sean's dad just didn't get it. Movement across the compound caught his attention.

Dr. O'Brennan emerged from the Admin Building and walked toward him. What the hell? Oh yeah that stupid meeting. Well, he wasn't going to any dumb meeting. It had nothing to do with him. Nothing here had anything to do with him. He shouldn't even be here. He straightened, ready to bluff his way out of the meeting. He turned to leave before Dr. O'Brennan could stop him.

Inside Sean, Dr. O'Brennan sure could move fast for an old guy. How did he do that? The meeting's mandatory for you too. What did that mean? Why was he involved? Nothing here involved him.

Yeah, right. Screw you. Sean was shocked when O'Brennan grabbed his arm and propelled him into the mess hall. He'd never had anyone do that to him before; even the cops hadn't manhandled him that day Bennie was careless. They'd only pointed out the direction that they wanted him to go. He'd gone along with them because Bennie had told him to.

I said get inside, O'Brennan said. This meeting is important and you will attend if I have to tie you to a chair. He sent Sean reeling towards the tables. He stumbled and would have fallen if someone hadn't grabbed him. He looked up at his brother. Of course, it was him. Now he was going to call their dad