Chapter 8: Brave new world

I studied the scene. The view of the surface world was like a portrait framed by the rectangular opening I had cut in the protective membrane. My first honest impression was that it reminded me of a movie I had seen a long time ago. It was a blockbuster science fiction action-horror movie with a big named director and was about a bunch of space marines who landed on a newly terraformed world to find the missing colonist. In the movie, the world they landed on was dim, rainy, lifeless, and foreboding. This was similar, but you had to add muddy, windy, and cold to that description to match what I now saw before me.

Through the opening, I surveyed the tunnel beyond the membrane, and saw that it was now a fabricated tube which extended another two meters before it ended, most likely completely above the surface. The outermost segments appeared a bit dented and partially collapsed. I wondered about the damage and guessed that, with the summers being this cold and wet, the winters must be a nightmare of cold and snow. Deep snow and heaving ice had probably stressed the tunnel heavily.

The floor of the tunnel still had a good volume of mud remaining, with some extending more than halfway up to the tunnels roof. The mud near the membrane was down to a few inches above the floor and I realized I could safely cut a larger opening in the membrane. This would allow me to exit and safely remove the remaining mud without threatening to flood the tunnel and shaft behind me.

Before exiting I remembered to sample the air outside the membrane. Both the air toxin and radiation levels were higher and both readings now had attached remarks. I was instructed to avoid breathing the air unfiltered for more than three hours and I was to wash thoroughly upon leaving the current environment. As a precaution, I fully sealed my outfit; pants to boots; jacket to waist; wrist to gloves. I donned the goggles, put my hood up and replaced the respirator under the closed face flaps. Now fully protected, (I hoped!) I enlarged the cut in the membrane and stepped out into the muddy tunnel beyond. I pitched the deeper mud further outside the tunnel until I was able to leave the entry.

I found myself on the edge of a long curving hill. The upper parts of the hill were formed mostly of wet gravel and stones with some larger rocks scattered about. It looked like hundreds of years of erosion had washed the majority of the once rich topsoil away. The gullies, erosion channels and lower lying areas had patches of mud and silt; could it also be ash? I struggled my way through the muddy area near the tunnel exit and made my way up the hill to reach its crest. There, I slowly made a circle, surveying this strange world which was now my home.

The first thing I noticed was the large crater. It appeared to be about two hundred meters away and was partially filled with water. Between the center and where I now stood were a series of concentric rings with this hill being part of the outer most ring. An erosion channel cut through the circular ridge near the far side and provided drainage from the crater.

All the crater walls were gravelly and heavily eroded. I recalled Agents message describing the impact which damaged the shelter and concluded that this must be the crater from that event. Also, as I recalled from the message, it had occurred to the southwest of the sublevel which allowed me to get my bearings here on the surface with no familiar landmarks and a sun hidden by the rain clouds.

I swiveled around to face the direction which should be east and looked for signs of my acreage. Nothing. No rubble, no trees, no lawn, nothing resembling what I once owned. The view was just a gravelly, rolling plain cut with erosion channels filled with muddy runoff. There were a few boulders and mounds near where the house should have been. I realized these could have been the remnants of the concrete from the garage and house foundations.

I extended my gaze out to the horizon in all directions and it was just more of the same. Mostly flat, with gentle rolling hills cut with erosion channels and flooded depressions. No animals, birds or anything moving. No trees, bushes, or prairie grass either. I saw no smoke and upon unsealing the mask, smelled little. I knelt and looked closely at the rocks and gravel. I saw a hint of lichen on some of the rocks. I dug into the gravel and saw no sign of worms, grubs or other burrowing creepy crawlies.

Closer to the tunnel entrance and back towards where Picket’s house should have been, I detected signs of Agents surface repair work a few short decades ago. I also finally found signs of life. The slab remnants and larger rocks had lichen and the protected gaps showed bits of moss. I looked further and saw wispy grass like plants or weeds here and there in southward facing cracks. I snorted when I realized that with practically no other plant life growing, a ‘weed’ should now be better called ‘a precious bit of life’.

Studying Agent’s repairs, I noticed the rusty and corroded remains of two disabled work units, each partially embedded in the wet gravel. These units seemed to have legs instead of wheels. I noticed panels of plastic sheeting sticking up from the mud and gravel. I also saw a large area of what looked like solar panels, although, instead of being mounted on proper angled brackets, they were jumbled about on the ground, some mostly covered in mud.

Looking closer, I saw many of the panels were cracked and likely nonfunctional. There were others that did appear to be repairable which was hopeful. The rain finally stopped and I studied the clouds wondering if the sun ever made it through. I pocketed my goggles, folded back my face flaps, and took down the hood. I did keep the breathing mask on though just to be safe. Agent had mentioned toxins and I did not want to take chances.

Here and there, I saw struts exposed from the gravel, probably the remains of the structures which had once held the solar panels. Another set of struts held the damaged remains of a communications dish antenna, crumpled and facing downward. I could see exposed cabling snaking around the mess before disappearing underground.

I had better get back to work, I thought and returned to the tunnel, where I spent the next few hours in heavy labor, shoveling mud and dumping it further down the hill from the tunnel entry. I appreciated having the canteen and I had to unseal my jacket to cool off because of the exertion. I was pleased at how little mud stuck to my clothing and although I was still dirty, it was nowhere as bad as it should have been.

Once the mud was removed from the tunnel and immediate area outside the entry, I used a large towel to wipe off the residue from both the tunnel floor and myself, rinsing it frequently in a fairly clean looking, nearby pool of runoff. Another pool further away became my temporary latrine as I let the planet receive the first human piss in centuries. Here I was, not even awake for a day and already polluting the planet again.

It was now late afternoon and though the clouds seemed to thin a bit, the sun never managed to peek through. I was tired, but not nearly as tired as I would have been before the bio-suspension. I took one last long look around, then reentered the tunnel, sealing the outer membrane behind me. I left the bulk of the tools in the upper tunnel, found my flashlight where I had left it, and headed back down into the dark pit that was now my home.

I ditched my dirty boots in the lower tunnel and once in the chamber, my first thought was that a shower would feel great about now. (I wish!) I considered the issue of washing water, and not wanting to waste my drinking supply, I used a rope and bucket and pulled up a pail of water from the flooded pit by the door.

The tablet’s sensor menu had said that there was a sampling probe attachment in Crate 01. I found the probe and used it to test the water from the pit. ‘Some contamination - filter before consuming – emersion safe‘ was the test result. I figured the pit water would work fine as washing water and pulled up another bucket. Out in the lower tunnel I gave myself a towel bath, figuring doing so there would keep the dirty runoff away from the flooded pit (now my water well) in the chamber.

A hot shower ... it was not as both the wash water and tunnel were COLD, but afterward I felt refreshed. I did not fully wash and rinse the clothing because I was not sure how to dry them, so I settled for wiping the pants and jacket off with a wet towel. None of the clothing smelled yet so I dressed in the same outfit, cleaned up my bathing area and headed back to the chamber.

Supper that night was a cold glass of powdered milk and a soggy mug of rehydrated purple-bar. The milk was good and the purple-bar (again, not tasting like chicken) would have probably been better hot, reminding me I needed to get the power restored soon.

My belly now full, I spent the rest of the evening glued to the tablet, learning about the various tasks I would need to complete tomorrow. I focused on the power generation gear and the communication dish. The instructions were simple and included crude animated video demonstrations for the more involved steps. I learned how to anchor, inflate, and deploy the wind turbine power kite. Also, I learned how to connect its conductive support tether to the power cabling system and also where to tie that into the power unit controllers in the far end of this chamber. I also studied how to install the new solar panels and connect them to the power cabling also.

Next, I learned how to assemble and mount the dish antenna. There was a detailed chart of angles and bearings (the tablet had a compass function!) for setting the mount although I hoped to not need that information as the unit was self-aligning and steering once the mount had power.

As I was browsing the tablet’s inventory of the supplies and my new gear, I came across the goggles and decided to learn more about them. They were amazing! When charged, (I need power soon!) they could repel water, magnify images, see in the dark, and even record and transmit images and video to the tablet. Better, the tablet could project data back to the goggles as an overlay or full image. The wide goggle headband straps, in addition to keeping my ears warm, relayed audio to my ears. They could even amplify ambient sounds.

The last part of the goggle instructions discussed how to charge them. They could be connected to a power source directly by using wires or wirelessly charged by leaving them on a charging surface. It mentioned the flashlight as one of the possible power supplies which reminded me that the flashlight had an opening port with retracting wire leads. I’d have to remember to use it to charge the goggles in the morning. I would probably need to charge the tablet too.

It was getting near 22:00 hours and I was tired. I considered finding the tarp tent but rejected that; the crèche would do fine as a bed tonight. I readied for bed which included brushing my teeth with a toothbrush from the supplied hygiene items, getting a drink of water, and pissing in a bucket. I’d need to find the one with a lid tomorrow to use as a chamber pot. Grabbing a blanket and a pillow from a crate, I headed into the bubble and opened the crèche. I considered the temperature in the bubble and decided to risk the cool air and removed my jacket. I could always find it later if I got too cold. I made up a bed in the creche and climbed in.

Before I extinguished the flashlight, I checked its power level and saw it was still above half. I turned off the light and was pleased to find that the bubble interior still had the dim glow coming from the base of the crèche. In the dim light, I set the flashlight on the rim of the crèche, to act as a wedge in case the lid tried to close on me during the night. I snuggled in, turned on my side and was soon out like a light.

Sometime later I awoke, laying there in the dim glow wondering what time it was. I was a bit chilly, but I had slept fine and I delayed getting up, instead burrowing deeper into the blanket to warm up. On impulse I spoke “Agent” and saw my tablet light up where I left it on the jacket. Speaking an inquiry for the current time returned nothing. I’d have to check its options for voice input and response later. I sat up, reached down and retrieved the tablet, noting the time; 07:12:06 - August 23, 2523. I dug into the calendar function to find out that today was also a Monday. Yep, time to go to work.