Gaia 3

IX. Admiration

Jaleah caught her breath. The planet they had landed on was breathtaking. 

They had landed in a vast desert. Fine, golden sand was piled into tall dunes, some of which were as tall as the hills back home. Mixed in were odd rock formations of a slightly darker color that gave the planet the impression of being inhabited by mystical creatures. 

She climbed to the top of one of the dunes to get a better look. The desert stretched for miles, but in the distance, it was clear the scenery changed. In one direction, tall mountains formed bumps on the horizon. In the other, something seemed to glitter - most likely a sea or ocean.  

The sky as well was a thing of beauty. It was a deep, light blue spotted with fluffy, white clouds that seemed to form the shapes of various animals or objects. It reminded her of her childhood summers, where she had spent countless days staring up at the sky and imagining epic fantasies starring the beings who lived in the clouds. She found it very comforting. 

A small breeze ruffled her hair and picked up some sand, depositing it on top of another sand dune about a hundred yards away. As the sand flew in the wind, it gave the impression of sparks from a fire, lighting up this new, exciting planet.

It was absolutely beautiful. 

--<<>>--

"Jaleah, you gonna help us out here?" Liyan yelled, pulling Jaleah out of her trance.

 Jaleah rolled her eyes but carefully made her way down the sand dune. Halfway down, however, she slipped and slid the rest of the way down until she came to a stop right by Liyan's feet. Liyan looked down at her. 

"You'll have time to play later. Right now we have to unload the ship," she said. 

Jaleah laughed and stood up, brushing the sand off her clothes. 
"Aren't you going to ask me if I'm okay?" she asked, rolling her eyes. 

Liyan considered this. 
"Nope." 

She turned away, and Jaleah laughed. Then both joined the rest of the crew and began unloading the ship. 

--<<>>--

About two hours later, they had unloaded all the necessary supplies, and Liyan and Aedard set to work on the shuttles that would take the crew across the planet. Meanwhile, Daviron and Jaleah tried to figure out which way to go. 

"According to this compass, magnetic north is that way," Jaleah said, pointing north, "So I suggest we travel west. To the east, there's a sea or ocean, and I'm not sure we should be crossing any large bodies of water just yet. Also, given the data I've been studying, I'm ninety percent sure we landed in what used to be an ocean, but you'll have to confirm that with Zax." 

"Very well," Daviron nodded, "But I'd like to know where Karmyne thinks the Lucioni expedition's remains are, and maybe go in that direction to begin." 

Jaleah nodded, and Daviron waved Karmyne over. 

"What's going on?" Karmyne asked. She glanced from Daviron to Jaleah and back again. 

"We're trying to determine which way to go," Daviron explained, "So I was hoping you could help us figure out where Julius Lucioni's crew is. I'd like to start by finding them." 

Karmyne sighed. 
"I understand, but the calculations Carsin and I have to do to figure it out will take time. Not to mention, this is a foreign planet. Any landmarks the journal mentions are going to be hard to pinpoint from here." 

"Do you at least know where his expedition landed?" Jaleah asked. 

"Yes. We determined that their ship landed in this very desert," Karmyne replied, "But after that...we still need to figure out exactly what direction they went, and how far - "

"Let me do it," Jaleah said, "It's some basic math. I'll probably be able to figure out an approximate location if you just give me the direction in the journal." 

Karmyne shrugged, and Jaleah pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. 

"According to the journal, they went more or less west. According to the last entry, they traveled about five hundred miles." 

"Great..." Jaleah said, quickly doing calculations and looking at the preliminary map she had built from data she had previously studied. Five minutes later, she drew a small crescent on the map. 

"Is that...?" 

"Yes. That is my best estimate of where Julius Lucioni's crew is. I assume that once we get within that range, we'll be able to use other methods to more accurately pinpoint their location. I'm sure that even now, his ship's remains should give out some sort of signal." 

"That's amazing!" Karmyne said, looking impressed. 

"I should certainly hope so," Jaleah replied, "Otherwise I wasted eight years of my life in math classes." 

Karmyne laughed. 
"Alright, well, if we've figured out where we're going, I should get back to Carsin," she said, "We're still working on translating parts of that journal." 

"Did you ever figure out what disease the Lucioni expedition had?" Daviron asked. 

"Kyndle's best guess is that Colivatio," Karmyne replied, "Which is one of the diseases she made us get vaccinated for. She'll do more tests once we find the remains, of course, but so far that's her best guess." 

Jaleah nodded, and Karmyne walked away. 

She stood in silence with Daviron for a minute until finally he broke the silence. 

"Well, I'm going to go check on our pilots. Hopefully we can have those shuttles working by tomorrow. Why don't you take some time for yourself? You've already done a lot today, and we don't have anything else for you." 

Jaleah nodded, and Daviron left. 

--<<>>--

Jaleah climbed back up to the top of the sand dune and looked out to the west. It was starting to get darker, and the sun was starting to set in the west, just like at home. There was something foreign yet comforting about this planet. Sure, it may have been three systems away from home, but something felt familiar, as if she had been here before. It was ridiculous, she knew, but comforting. 

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky came alive with fire. Streaks of red, yellow, orange, and pink shot through the sky, mixing in with the light blues of the fading day and the dark blues and purples of the coming night. Soon, they would be able to see the stars. Jaleah wondered what the stars would look like on a new planet - would they look the same from afar, or would the differences be noticeable? For some reason, Jaleah got the feeling the answer was both. To her trained eye, there would most likely be some clear differences. And yet, the stars would appear the way they did at home - distant and unreachable, yet welcoming, daring the observer to reach up and grab them. 

Jaleah laid down and stared up at the sky, feeling eternally grateful. The universe had offered her the chance of a lifetime, and she had taken it. Now, there was no going back. She was going to keep chasing the universe's forbidden fruit until she had had a taste of all of them. This was her life, and all she could see on the horizon was hope and adventure. There was no going back. 

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Thanks for reading guys! Once again, I'd appreciate it if you voted on this story. And once you've done that, read on to find out how long it takes Jaleah to realize she hates camping!