MAYFLOWER

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

In the twenty-second century long-distance space travel has been mastered. Humans have colonized many planets. The last Christians have left earth and settled on a planet they call Mayflower. They purchased the planet from one of the corporate states that owns the Earth and its colonies. They were told that the planet was uninhabited. It was not.

Travel to the planet takes many years and return travel is not practical. Mayflower, the planet, circles a dim star but it does not rotate. One side, where the settlers have established their towns has a permanent gloomy daylight. The other side of the planet is dark and cold yet not devoid of life as warmth seeps through the planet.

The first generation of humans born on Mayflower has grown up. They are facing many challenges to survive and establish a world free of the old-Earth.

CHAPTER ONE

He looked across the landscape and adjusted the focus wheel of the binoculars. One of the lenses was cracked and gave him multiple pictures to connect. There was no movement, not even wind to sway the sparse trees. He put the binoculars down and rested on a rock. This was to be his future. A Scout, searching empty land at the edges of the known world. His companions were a dog, that he did not know well, and a flare that was to be fired if danger was seen.

He checked again with his naked eye. His position was good. He was atop a rise and able to see across a large stretch of the featureless land. He checked his nearby surrounds. There were some boulders that he could camp next to for rest. He had been following the river that lolled along the shallow reed covered valley before he had broken away to check the hillock. The last Scout had left a wooden cross marker to show that it was a good vantage point to be stopped at. After rest he could return and follow the river to the next marker. It would be three more Earth-days. When he got back to the village the papers signed by the King and Queen would have arrived and his role would be official.

It would be a lonely career. The dog had found a bone of some animal and was grinding it with his or her teeth. He felt at the rucksack that rested against his leg and took out a food-stick. His mother had told him that the role of a Royal Scout was something to be proud of. She had not been convincing. None of the heroes of the wars were Royal Scouts. Many had been killed and many more not-returned. He bit on the hard stick. His mother insisted that they kept the villages safe by providing warning when danger roamed. The dog looked up to sniff at what he was eating.

It was punishment. That was the truth that his mother would not admit and why else would he be given one of the roles that no one wanted? He stopped his thoughts in case he remembered or pictured what he had done and crossed himself instead. He stood and spoke to the dog. "I'm going to set up the tent and get some rest." The dog's large round eyes looked at him for a moment and then returned to the bone.

The dog was assigned to him the day before he had left the village. It had sniffed, licked, and pawed him without shyness for an hour and then slept for the rest of the day. He or she was supposed to be able to smell the enemy. The dog's name was Saturn. They did not say if it was a boy or girl, and he had not checked. He spoke to it as if it was a boy.

He rubbed the dirt from his watch and checked the time. He had done a twenty Earth-hour stint of hiking and scouting. It was time to sleep. Those were the rules. Twenty hours awake and four hours of sleep. Although, he never needed that much. It was said that on the old-Earth they slept for eight. That seemed too many to believe but they had a night-time.

He set up the rust-color camouflage tent next to the rock and unrolled the bedroll that had been strapped to his back. The spot smelt of ragwort, the ever-present weed. It had grown extra high among the rocks. He was not a good sleeper which was the reason for his trouble. He changed his thoughts again, unhooked the water bottle from his belt, and took a long gulp. He felt how heavy it was and questioned if he should go down to the river to fill it up. It had been two old-Earth days since he had slept so he expected that he would fall asleep quickly. The dog had followed him. It smelt inside the tent and settled on the bedroll still with the bone in its mouth. He pushed the dog to make room and lay down. "You are supposed to guard when I sleep." He filled the cap of the water bottle and left if for the dog to drink.