The Re-union

The prison ship and its robots gathered up those of us who survived the tremors and flooding and brought us here, to this strange deserted planet. They dumped us with some provisions and left again. Apparently they returned to Earth to look for more survivors and gather whatever they could salvage. It hasn't returned yet and we've no way to contact it.

It's only been a month since it left, and already I've come to miss what I took for granted back on Earth. Television, microwave, washing machine, mobile phone - not that any of that'd be much good here without electricity to power them. Hell, I'd settle for having four walls and a flushing toilet; having to carry a bucket full of shit the half mile to the septic pit every morning is becoming a real drag.

I keep telling myself that things could be worse. Sure, life is hard, but I'm alive.

Better yet, and against all the odds, my kid sister survived too. I couldn't believe it when I found her a week after we set up camp down by the lake. I literally bumped into her when Tom dropped a worm he was using as fishing bait down my back. It was as I was jumping around, trying to dislodge it from my top, that I knocked her and the bucket of water she was carrying off the narrow ridge and into the lake. It was undoubtedly the best moment of my entire twenty-eight years.

Dr. Morrow and my little sister, Trixie, have managed to set up the computer systems they recovered from his lab the night the quakes hit and destroyed our home planet. He's commandeered the only vehicle the ship left us with as a power source for his equipment. The solar panels that cover the outside of it generate just enough energy to keep it all running.

Trixie's been mega excited this week. She's taking me into the lab to see the results of their first experiment in the morning. I must admit that her excitement is rubbing off on me. The ramifications of their research could make all the difference to our survival on this new desolate land we've had to call home.

Great pillars of rock protrude from the ground like giant monuments, jutting out of the dessert sand and stone for no apparent purpose. We don't know how they got here but Daniel's theory is that they were left here by another race of beings that lived here many years ago. His theory makes sense, but also raises the question of where this race of beings are now and why they left.

We chose to make camp at the base of the enormous pillars around the lake, mainly because of the shelter they provided against the ferocious winds that appear out of nowhere and dissipate almost as quickly.

During the day, the twin suns raise the temperature from bitter sub-zero to something respectably warm. It's not enough for my skin to fry, but I've developed a decent tan. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but skin cancer isn't something anyone gives a stuff about anymore. Trying to find enough firewood to keep the frostbite at bay when the suns' set, is more of a concern. With nothing but a flimsy tent to shelter in against the elements, every scrap of firewood is another few minutes I don't have to get up close and personal with the five people I currently share it with. It would seem that good hygiene has become something of a luxury. We no longer have the luxuries in life.

The only clothing any of us own are the stuff we had on our backs the night the Earth moved and the bundle given to us when we stepped of the ship. It contained a pair of military issue boots, one size fits all sweat suit and a brown woollen hooded cloak. Like I said, life is hard.

******

"Hurry up, Harley," Trixie shouted through the tent flap. "There's already a chip in it. At this rate you're gonna make me miss it too."

The scrape of her boots on the course sand was a dead give away that she was fidgeting, probably bouncing from one foot to the other - half with agitation at me trying to find my other boot and half with excitement.

"Got it," I said, as I stepped outside, tipping the boot upside down and giving the sole a couple of hard slaps. There are some funky looking spider things that Doc says are harmless, but I'm not taking any chances that one of the little blighters have decided to make a home in there.

She grabbed my arm and dragged me forward before I even managed to get it on my foot. "I swear, if I've missed her hatching, I will kill you."

"How do you know it's a she?"

She stopped and looked at me with a glare that asked if I was seriously expecting her to answer that question. I stared back.

"It's a clone. Of a hen."

"Right," I muttered. "Clones are identical copies."

She rolled her eyes and continued walking at her usual brisk pace. "Providing there are no deformities, Doc says we can start processing some of the other animals by the weekend."

"That's great news. What about the seedlings? Are you having any more luck getting them to grow?"

"Not so good. A parasite keeps eating the fresh shoots. Lucas is struggling to keep them under control, but with no pesticide or knowledge of its natural predator, it's not looking promising."

"Our supplies are still good though, right?"

Trixie shook her head. "With over 300 mouths to feed, they won't last long."

"How long are we talking?"

"As it stands, six months. Once the animals are cloned and we start feeding those too..." She let her sentence trail off. Her inability to finish said more about the time scale than words ever could.

The door of the transport opened with a hiss, making Doc look up from his notes. He waved us in with an eager hand.

"You're just in time." He smiled as he pointed to the little blue ball that wobbled about in a brightly lit clear tank. "She's getting impatient. I say she'll be out in a minute."

I watched in fascination as something poked out and in on the side of the ball, pushing little blue chips off.

"Why is the shell blue?" I asked as, what I recognised as a beak, pushes out of the small hole again with a cheep.

"Aw, come on Gerty. You can do it," Trixie crooned with her face pressed to the tank. "Because it's a thin clay cast of a golf ball." Her singsong voice continued with her reply to my question.

"Oh."

My sister had a knack for making me feel stupid. I wanted to ask why the egg was a cast of a golf ball and where she got the golf ball but I held my tongue.

She looked up at me and caught me biting my lip. "You need a hen to lay an egg. Gerty has been grown from a tissue sample, not a fertilized egg." She waited for my brain to process the information. "We had to simulate the eggshell for the embryo to grow. The first few batches died after a week in the broth."

My gaze followed her pointing finger to a shelf above her head where several jars of, what looked like jelly beans, floated in a thick liquid.

I snorted. "Well that's hardly surprising, how are they meant to breathe in water?"

Doc smiled. "It took you two seconds to realize what took us a month to figure out. Without the shell to allow an oxygen exchange, the embryos failed."

"Okay," I muttered, still with no idea what they were on about.

Frantic chirps, followed by a distinct crack had us all turning our attention back to Gerty as she pushed herself free of her make-shift shell. She lay on her back and panted for a few seconds before she rolled over onto her feet.

Trixie clapped her hands excitedly. "We did it!"

"You did it," Doc confirmed. "Now let's hope the other samples work too."

Once Trixie had set Gerty's tank up with food and fresh water, she took me around to the other side of the lab where we found Lucas with his head in his hands.

"Still nothing?" Trixie asked.

He dragged his hand down his face with a weary sigh. "No. I don't know what else to try, Trix."

I stood awkwardly to one side as Trixie wrapped her arms around him in a hug. As his hand moved up her back, I noticed one of those funky spider things making its way toward her hair. Without a second thought, I swiped it away before either of them noticed. Trixie has had a deep-rooted fear of spiders after she saw a close up picture of a tarantula when we were small. From what I've heard, Lucas is even worse. I said nothing to either of them.

*****

Later that afternoon, I got talking to Rick down by the lake. He was setting up a couple of fishing poles in the hope of having something other than slop for dinner. I accidentally let it slip about the shortage of food and the problem Lucas was having growing crops.

"Maybe we should think about exploring further a field," he said. "Maybe we can find another source of food."

"What, just the two of us?"

"Nice as your company is Harley, I was thinking of asking the lads."

I narrowed my eyes at him and he did the best impression of backpedalling I've seen a bloke do in while.

"As well. I was thinking of asking the lads as well. Tom, Ray, Dave, you, me and Jess, if she wants to come."

I nodded, satisfied with his response. "I'll ask her. When are you planning to leave?"

"I... I don't know. I've only just thought of it. I need to ask the guys too. Sort out what we can carry with us and organise an advance on our rations."

"I can organise the rations and probably get the bags to carry everything from Trixie. Providing we can talk the others into going, we can take the tent for shelter. Do you know where we're heading?"

He pointed to the opposite side of the lake where the mountain hid anything that lay beyond. "We'll start by seeing what's over there."

*****

"You what?" Trixie screeched. "You can't go running off. We don't know what's out there."

Doc coughed as he entered the lab, neither Trixie nor I had heard the door hiss as it opened. He slumped down in his seat and pushed his goggles onto the top of his head. "There's something I need to show you," he said as he pulled a large book from a pile on the floor and flicked through the pages. He propped it on the stand and dug his glasses from his pocket, wiping them with his sleeve to remove the dust from the red lenses. He pushed them high on his nose and pointed to a small hand-drawn map on the open page of the book. "I found this about a year ago."

Trixie moved closer to peer over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"A map of the world. I think it's this world." He moved his candle closer to allow us a better look.

I frowned. "A year ago we were still on Earth. How did a map of this world end up there?"

"No idea," he said with a shrug. "According to the map there was a village beyond the mountain."

"Why didn't we go there when we landed then?" Trixie asked.

Again, Doc shrugged. "The lake is a viable water source and the terrain perfect for a landing strip. There are a few other reasons in here." He snapped the book closed and handed it to Trixie.

My sister pursed her lips and took it from him with a sigh. After she scanned the first and second pages, her eyes shot up to meet Doc's. "It can't be. Why didn't you say something sooner?"

I reached for the book to see for myself what had shocked Trixie but she moved it beyond my reach. "Let me see," I demanded.

She searched Doc's weathered face as if asking permission. "But how? Why?"

"I don't know and because I wasn't sure until I heard you talking. Let her see it, Trix." The heavy book slid from her hand as I took it.

The first page showed a sketch of a funky looking spider. I flicked the page over and the first thing to catch my eye was the beak poking out from an almost round shell. I frowned and read the passage.

The first time I saw this little beauty, I breathed a sigh of relief at knowing we may not starve after all, but until the crop situation is resolved, we're not out of the woods.

I flicked the page over. Another pencil drawing depicted the pillars as they would be seen from the other side of the lake.

We leave when the suns rise.

Doc gently pried the book from my hands. "That's all you need to know for now," he told me as he closed the book and placed it back on the table. "I don't know what's going on and until Trixie brought you to the lab this morning I thought it could only be a co-incidence."

My mouth gaped open. "Are you trying to tell me I wrote and drew those pictures? Because I didn't. And what about the map? How could I draw what lies beyond the mountain when I don't know?"

"Perhaps not yet, but you will." He got up and went to rummage in a box at the back of the storage room. "I found this while looking for something earlier."

I gasped and looked from his hands to the book on the table. He held an almost identical copy; the one on the table was significantly older and more tattered.

"I..." Words failed me. "But..." I cleared my throat.

Doc smiled warmly. "Take the book, Harley." My hands trembled and I shook my head. "You need to keep a journal of your travels."

"But..." Still, I fumbled for words as my mind raced. "How can you have a book I haven't written yet?"

"That is still a mystery."

"Let's say for arguments sake that I did write that other book, then why do I need to do it again? Surely it can tell us everything already."

"Because I have a feeling that if you don't write it now, that one," he pointed to the one on the table, "will cease to exist."

"You're confusing me."

Trixie laughed nervously. "Me too."

I conceded and took the pro-offered journal. How could I argue when no logical explanation presented itself?

That night, while Rick and the others chatted excitedly around the campfire, I opened the journal and contemplated what to write. My mind wandered to the most important thing in my life - my sister.

"What's that?" Jess asked, startling me from an almost trance-like state some time later.

My gaze left her face to look back at the page she pointed to, and I huffed a breath of surprise. I hadn't even realised it, but the image I'd scrawled was the one thing my sister feared - the funky-looking spider. Perhaps it was a subconscious imitation of the one I'd already seen but I didn't think so.

"A spider," I said absently.

She tilted her head to the side and mumbled something unintelligible. "The guys have decided we're leaving first thing in the morning. I'm going to get an early night," she added with a smile.

After inadvertently drawing the spider sketch, I knew what I had to do next.