Beyond the Stars

Deja Vous ~ The Re-union

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.