a smile. Elsaap and I chittered delightfully, unaffected by the apprehension that had gripped much of the crew. Travis supposed that if

" Elsaap said with a gl

the planet again. In fact, it can't even move a little bit if we wanted it to, " Travis said. "As

fé near a thick glass viewport. Shelly had often come to the cafe and noted the feature. It looked rather unremarkable during the journey since

rough the colony's core. Elsaap and I jumped back into identical crouches and yipped in surprise. An eye the size of a soccer ball peered at

long with this, " said Travis nodding to his cane. "He offered to let me take one

caressed her cheek. The brief contact startled him as much as it did her, and both turned to view the river as their ch

we did leave our old lives behind to live among them. I still have pleasant dreams of that night; food, dancing, bands pl

rpentine neck. Travis emerged and circled the vehicle, completely unaware of our arrival. He began strumming the song on an invisible guitar and bobbing his head. Travis glanced up an

the Atlantis discovery. They are classic rock now,

d you back!" I yel

rip safety check, and we'v

" Shelly said

m enough as children, but she began to reconsider her position. When they caught him unawar

n that stretched a few miles until it disappeared into a thickly wooded forest. He smiled as he thought to himself that earning Shelly's company by being screamed temporarily

aid returning his grin wit

nd began to explore the river, poking around the shore in search of local wildlife

ngar, I'll save yo

he my fire on him!" I decla

non confined to little boys from Earth. I'm amazed by

. "Their fluency in English is nearly perfect. They have mastered our dialect m

y a small purple creature slowly emerging from the shore of the river. The s

y said, "Don't scare

er. Its lazy eyes passed over us without evidence of concern. It climbed onto a nearby rock and began sunbathing. The purple river dweller held our attention for

**

and tempered glass would be used to expand the colony beyond the footprint it occupied in space. LARC would auction the materials off to the various industrial sectors and use the funds for its exploration efforts to the nearby stars. Feeling wind, rain, and sunshine in the colony would be a refreshing change since so ma

retail shops, a local wildlife zoo, and a manmade cove with a sand beach. While everyone in the colony looked forward to life on a planet again, or for the first time for many of its young resid

is wife Helena who busily tended to the colony's hydroponic food crops, since early that morning. While in the long run, adjusting

ed the short blond who had retained her y

first day I laid eyes on it, " he said wit

due to the new light source." Helena knew how to care for her s

st to their new light source. Harvest any edibles you can and pin

haven't taken me out in ages,

l analysis proved had agricultural potential. Their romantic life however, remained a source of co

re like cucumber and tasted like a melon. A root vegetable, deep purple in color, had a round shape like a potato but has about as spicy as a chili pepper. Many taste testers instantly grabbed the toxicology report to r

of corn into the European diet. It also held some of Earth's largest setbacks, like the extinction of the Dodo bird when dogs arrived on their island paradise with man. If a species from Earth found itself free in an environment where

ited medical and commercial resources in the local environment that would be threatened by the introduction of Earth species prior to their research.

d, "Elroy help me dig up the roots,

**

humans so the usual efforts of odor and visual concealment that a game hunter undertook proved unnecessary. Three muffled cracks fired and the herd darted off into nearby brush. Three of the animals only made it a few leaps before falling onto their

" Simon sang. He taunted the rancher all m

ct that it came from a grown man instead of a

ary quirk. They were scaling a sheer rock face a couple hundred feet tall, on the way to a plateau with grass and trees. One of the creatures leaped three body lengths straight up and cleared the ledge. W

ransport. Simon recounted his tale of Haran to Bobby and MacDonald. He

ia to overrun their government, " Simon said with a hard look on his face.

s killed a handful just on a meet and greet. An inv

armed shuttles and level their army. All this building would b

"Why kill them when we cou

r soldiers execute the entire farm's peo

low kids that Shelly

n hefted his quarry onto the transport.

ed a disapproving

**

the next as he and Grunden reviewed plans for harvesting raw materials from the three moons for their ship building program. They speculated on the time that would pass before MARC's next update arrived. At his last update, techno

w propulsion plans with MARC's impending update and hopefully a permanent communication system with Earth and LARC's headquarters. In light of Haran, a solar system defensive fleet took priority. Grunden and MARC opted to build ships that could hold around a thousand men and had offensive capabilities as well as the ability to touch down on a planet's surface and launch back into space. Earth bo

n's imagination. A race with those capabilities didn't simply cease to live. This could have been their outpost. They could have moved on, out into the stars, just like humanity had done. If they left one of their craft behind intact

e and low tolerance for strangers, Elsaap and I showed a very high intellect. Leadership saw

emble a team to infiltrate Haran's capital city and begin dialogue directly with its leadership, "

relationship with the neighbors. I'm going to handpick a team t

uct remotely from the colony. The next phase would put their craft on the ground within a few miles of their government to establish a handful of native informants. They could pay the Pneuma spies whatever they desired including relocation to the colony for their entire family. Once the team gathered enough information, they would meet with Grun