Chapter 4: Tychy

~~ September - Week 37 & Tychy Week 2 ~~

They spent the week in orbit around Tychy.

They sent down a probe for samples, and a second observation probe in a closer orbit than the current one was. They sent a sample probe to Tychy’s moon as well. Nicko wanted samples to compare to the ones from the Asteroid Belt.

They were now getting clear pictures of the surface of Tychy and speculations were rife. The scientists were still trying to work out precisely what level of development she was at. They believed Tychy had been bombarded several times since being in its current orbit, but the ecosystem appeared to have been stable for some time.

The common consensus was that it was in an age similar to our early Triassic period. Thou how it had developed to this stage, if it had only been in this orbit about 50 to 100 million years, they didn’t know.

The probe had identified several large animals on the main continents and in the sea. They hadn’t however found any evidence of human-type occupation. If there was sentient life, it was either at an early development or entirely different from humans.

They concentrated on the valley on the island they were thinking of setting the domes in. They planned to explore other areas later. The primary tree growths in the mountains appeared to be similar to conifers and cycads with ferns mosses and fungi as the dominate ground foliage.

There were swampy forests in the low-lying areas, and the plains were mostly small flowering plants, ferns, vines and even several species of grass. They also picked out large floating beds of some form of seaweed.

Sean organised the landing party. Lee knew he wouldn’t want to include her, but she told him straight out, she was going down to the surface too.

He went to argue, but she gave him that gentle smile she used when she was sure her presence was required. He was smart enough to know the argument was over before it started. This only worried him more.

Lee and Cath Cheboi, the botanist, was the only two civvies on this trip down, the rest being Sean’s team. Three large rivers split the valley indicating the island had good rainfall.

They had decided that the top northern portion that was about 10km by 35km was the best place to set up. Two large creeks split an area off in the central-western portion that was about 2km by 5km. It had a hard rock area surrounded by dark soils and low growths.

Sean’s team thought this area would be easier to fence to keep the local wildlife away so they could work safely on building the domes. They decided two days spent enclosing a 1km square area, (100 ha [hectares] or 247 acres) of land, could save a lot of grief later. Nicko, Essco and the Captain agreed this was prudent.

The fence was a 2m high mesh roll that was unwound off the low platform. A post ram was mounted on the back corner. As the platform moved forward, the pickets were inserted into the ground and the mesh wound off behind it.

Clips fed into a clip gun were used to hold the fence to the star pickets. Every fifty metres or so, depending on the terrain a heavy steel post was used for stronger support. Four gates at the centre of each side were to be included. An electric fence mounted at 60cm and 150cm were to be clipped on to the outside of the fence.

With the team of eight, they thought they should easily do two klicks a day. Lee was assigned as the driver of the platform. Minnie’s primary job was lookout unless she needed to be swapped for one of the other tasks.

The first trip down was for samples. They also decided to map and layout, where the fences and the domes would go. They would set up the dome-tent and take the loaders and the fencing platform down as well.

If the environment proved hostile, it simply meant they would have to stay in their suits. The valley was just in the tropical region, and it was into autumn here. It was still warm, but not that hot that it was uncomfortable.

It would get cooler as their eight weeks on the planet wound down. They would have to watch their hydration levels, and exposure to high UV as the atmosphere on Tyche was thinner than Utopia’s.

The transporter hovered ten to fifteen metres off the ground, and Terry blasted a 100m area where they were going to set up camp. He then landed on the highest flat point within the zone they expected to occupy.

Terry set up the monitors, and a quick scan showed the area clear of anything larger than a mouse. Sean wasn’t happy with the spot for the transporter. So, he and Gary got the loaders out and flattened a new area at the back of the blasted zone.

DT set up the equipment to survey the best spot for the placement of the domes. Lee and the rest started unloading the equipment for setting up the dome-tent away from where Sean and Gary were working. Half an hour later, Sean had Terry blast the new area again and set down the transporter again.

They had decided not to stay on the planet for the first couple of nights. Once the fences were up, and anything identified as hazardous within the zone was eradicated, they would move down.

As they planned to plant grains and other plants, they had collected from Utopia and their own stores, they would sterilise the area. Some of the scientific crew were not pleased and didn’t want the local ecology altered.

It was pointed out to them that they did not intend to alter it any more than they had to. One of the reasons they had selected the island was to reduce their footprint. There were still eight continents and hundreds of other islands they did not intend to touch before they were explored.

Another reason for this island was the strange signal, but most of the crew didn’t know about this. The fact this island had extensive mineral deposits didn’t hurt either. If Earth decided to mine here, the ecology would be affected more than what they planned on this trip.

The crew got the tent up and the immediate electric fence. Gary with DT as his guard got out a linger. They were soon plotting the fence line. Then they concentrated on the area for the domes and deciding how they would place them.

Sean, Lee and Cath headed off in a northerly direction towards the nearest creek to collect samples. While Juanita, Minnie and Qu headed west towards the mountains.

The largest, flattest section of land was between the creeks and rivers. Most of the flatter and rocker areas had small flowering plants vines and mosses growing between the rocks. There was evidence that the plains had once been covered by forests.

However, the change to a dryer climate had obviously affected these growths, and the areas were mostly covered in lush low growing plants in the fertile soil. Cath thought they wouldn’t have any problems planting here.

The two groups happily collected bits of everything. Cath kicked over what appeared to be a rotting log. Next thing she knew, she was on her arse on the ground. When she looked up, Lee had what appeared to be a huge scorpion that was about 30cm long, impaled on the end of her extended wand.

Sean hadn’t even seen her move. One second she was beside him, the next, she was holding up her prize.

“Oh, my goodness,” said Cath. “Look at the stinger on that thing.” She quickly got up and checked herself over.

“Be careful what you kick, Cath,” Lee said with a grin.

Sean pulled out one of the larger thick sample bags, and they managed to get the nasty looking critter in it. Lee poked around with her wand, found a smaller scorpion about 10cm long and zapped it. They put it into the box.

“I don’t think I killed it, so mark it as, ‘Alive’. Dewa is going to love them,” she told Sean with a big grin.

Cath also found some unusual fungal growths, so bagged she them as well. They moved on closer to the creek. As they entered the edge of the forest, growth leading to the river, Lee stopped them.

Sean immediately palmed his pistol. He hadn’t heard anything. He handed the Zapper pole to Cath. Lee had also extended her wand. Sean had tensed up in response to Lee’s actions.

They heard a rustle in the fern growth. Then they heard a high-pitched scream and a thrashing in the undergrowth. Sean went to go help the creature in distress, but Lee indicated no. More screams pierced the air, followed by more trashing and snapping of the undergrowth.

All three felt a cold shiver go up their spines at the screams of the dying creature. After a while, it stopped. It was deathly quiet for several minutes. Next, they heard crunching, ripping and gulping sounds. The hair on Sean’s neck was hackled.

They waited quietly until Lee motioned them to move. Sean had Cath stay behind him, and they slowly and quietly advanced to the edge of a small clearing. Sean stood there and just gawked at the monster.

He had no idea what it was eating. But it was defiantly a relative of the crocodile family. It was enormous. It stood at nearly a metre tall and was about 12m in length. Its legs were sturdier than modern crocodiles on Earth, and it was very agile in the lighter gravity of Tyche.

‘Shit! I hope the fences are going to be strong enough,’ he thought at Lee.

Lee motioned a retreat, and they moved back out of the forest. Lee hugged Cath and rubbed her back. She was shaking like a leaf.

Sean looked at Lee, “We are going to need bigger guns and a stronger fence.”

“Hopefully with colder weather coming she was stocking up to move further south,” she said. Sean hoped so as well.

They moved further north and entered the area again. Taking samples as they went. They got to the creek, which was about 40m wide. It was slow-flowing, and Lee and Sean looked carefully for mudslides. They didn’t see any. Hopefully, the big mama was only visiting and didn’t have relatives nearby.

They took their water samples, and Sean tossed out a tightly woven throw net. He let it sink to the bottom, hoping it didn’t snag and pulled it back in. He got a good haul. It took them a while to untangle the collection of fish and things.

Sean made Lee stay on guard. He and Cath recognised several different crustaceans’, snails and slugs as being similar to Earth varieties. Other wiggly things had them baffled, but they bagged and tagged them anyway.