Beyond the End of the World, Lokians 1

Chapter 2

Whistles and tweets sounded all around. Creatures in the sky spread their wings to cut circles over base camp. O'Hara had seen pictures of Eon's fauna months prior, but watching them in action held some nostalgic majesty.

A commotion drew his attention; Swain was setting up the Lithium capacitor and chastising Marty for not paying attention to what he was doing. The captain's comm. unit dinged then. It not only displayed 15:00, but the red, flashing light indicated someone was contacting him, so he pressed a button to relay directly to his earpiece.

"O'Hara," he replied hastily.

"Hey, Captain, what's it like? I'm looking through the screen. It looks wonderful," Day's voice was cheery and awed. "We're all dying to get out there...."

"I don't know how to describe it. It really is gorgeous, but you'll all get your chance soon, I'm sure." At that time, O'Hara turned to Martinez, who was dragging out green tarps for cover. "Marty, set those up over there, Swain forget the equipment for a moment, and make sure we set up cover first. I have to disconnect, Day."

"Roger."

Swain and Martinez nudged the scientists out of their way. The geeks were so caught up in getting their gear ready for tests, they had no clue what was going on around them. Less than an hour later, the soldiers had posts in the ground, and three makeshift tents set up. Done with chores, Imes glanced over at Becker. He ran fingers through his thick, spiky hair as he approached her. She was trying to get a crate on a dolly.

"I'll lift it, you slide it under," he said without making eye contact.

"I can do this," she snapped.

Imes sighed while tilting the crate towards himself. He stood there, glaring at her. She didn't so much as glance back, but she deftly slid the dolly underneath the crate. She then hauled it over the bumpy terrain, where the nerds huddled around it. Finally, they began removing more supplies; small, foldable tables, chairs, computers, and scanning devices.

The plan was to study the soil samples Mickelson was recovering. It was going to be an all night process involving composition studies, checking for radiation, magnetism, and Carbon dating. The sophisticated equipment was very costly; the scientists had definitely dipped into Phoenix Crew's budget, but everyone from civilians to government fat cats were stoked to start colonization on an actual planet; the entire sci-fi industry was based on those kinds of adventures.

A moment later, Nandesrikahl approached the captain. O'Hara held his hand over his brow, staring at the twin orbs. Their light was not so powerful as to prevent one from directly observing their beauty.

"Captain," he asked.

"Nandy," O'Hara said and turned to him.

He scrutinized his subordinate for a quick moment. Nandesrikahl was a tall, lanky gentleman, but athletic and very bright. A smile played on his dark complexion.

"'Ow long do you think it'll take them? To return, I mean," he inquired.

"Shouldn't take too long. We'll be all set up by the time they get back, though. Why don't you round everyone up and take a look around?"

"Sir," Nandesrikahl replied with a salute.

****

Back at the dig site, the recovery team stood outside the danger zone. Furtive glances went around. Mickelson pushed his glasses back onto his face. He gave the soldiers a puzzled look. DeReaux didn't pay him much attention, but Fitzpatrick arched a brow.

"Are you going, or what?" she sniped.

"Uh, I guess," the scientist replied, meekly.

DeReaux chuckled, and said, "A minute ago you weren't even worried."