Day Zero, A.K.A. Landing Day:

I‘ve been thinking about shaving before waking up the captain and the rest of the crew and passengers but this place...it looks cold. I think I might keep most of my facial hair if they let me. Still have to wake people up, though. Can’t land this thing alone.

Are those orbitting rocks dangerous? Oops...yes they are! I must be careful with shield energy, we will need it to make it through the atmosphere. And this is some fat atmosphere there…

Day One

When I asked the captain about my beard yesterday she asked me what I meant by beard. I think she was making fun of me only because I’m still fourteen. Speaking of Earth standard years. Well, she’s barely twice my age herself. Is that too much of a difference?

At least I’m know nobody hates me. They should all be grateful, I guess. After all, I’m the little prodigy that identified this inhabitable rock in the night sky of our home planet (Do we get to think of it as home planet now? Cool!) and only a few months of travel away! With water on the surface, breathable air, gravity pull within 1.1 g (that still means we’ll feel as if we never get out of the gym), only slightly longer rotation period, and low but bearable temperatures, it is unbelievable luck.

We’re all staying on the ship today. Captain’s orders. Waiting for reactions from local intelligence to the UFO we must seem to be to anybody not us. Also, getting used with walking in our new conditions. My legs feel quite heavy. My heart feels light. I will have many friends here.

Day Two

They all hate me.

People can’t stop looking in what small mirrors or other reflective surfaces they brought with themselves. They only seem to care about the way each muscle and soft tissue on their bodies sag in the 1.12 g. (All right, a small miscalculation on my part, but hey, we can move!) They even demand the captain turn back the zero gravity fields on the ship but she will have none of it since we’re to save as much energy as possible. The nuclear batteries won’t run forever. We’re breathing local air now. Do people realize it’s even harder when you hold your breath in front of a mirror?

Fortunately, the task force has...well, tasks. Suited up and ready for a scouting mission. I will volunteer and join them. That will take me away from the ship and the ungrateful crowd.

Day Three

We have to climb a mountain summit no matter which direction we take. Which is quite tiresome in this gravity and this alien atmosphere. I only said the ship would be better shielded and closer to natural resources if we landed on that plateau. It was the captain that authorized the order. And thanks for that! Those winds blasting above the southern summit would have blown us away as soon as we stepped out. And the weather keeps getting worse. Good thing is, once we’re over that northern ridge, we’ll be going down and that will be much easier on our thighs, and knees, and lungs.

I wish I had more facial hair.

Day Four

Over the ridge at last. We still have radio connection with the colony ship and that’s a good thing. Because we decided to call for vehicle support after all.

The vehicle convoy hailed us on the radio as we had just reached the low point of the valley beyond Murphy Ridge, as my colleagues had mockingly named it in my honor. The convoy was stuck, a circuit molten and power leaking. We have to go back over that summit again. On foot. At least we left some of the heavy luggage at a temporary camp, well fortified in deep snow and ice blocks.

Day Five

We helped the support crew repair the crawlers. Not enough energy left, though, so we’re sending them back to the ship. We’re only taking some delving equipment and probes with us.

The weather is suddenly turning warm and some thawing process is starting. I just hope our camp beyond the ridge was built over solid ground. We don’t have the time to get to it before nightfall and we’re exhausted, anyway. We’re making a new camp. If only there were caves on this side. I remember seeing a few entrances on the other.

Day Six

The thaw continues. Obviously, our old camp was built over a frozen waterfall, not so frozen anymore. Quite roaring in fact. All equipment promptly swept away. On the bright side, this valley seems like a good place to establish a base.

We’re hailing the captain. This shall be the place. It will cost a lot of the remaining energy for the ship to hop over here and then it will be disassembled and used for the construction of the base. Some batteries will remain working for a while. Some plantations will be designed…

I’m observing a herd of some large and hairy animals, things like the bisons of old legends! And smaller creatures flying above the herd. It’s a good sign!

I can’t wait to explore the caves. But we need to meet the ship first and help with setting up the colony.

Day Seven

I can’t believe we’re having this discussion. When you discover a planet, it’s the custom to have it named after you. It was a strange feeling at first but I got used to it. But now that we’re here, there are a lot of folks who feel we don’t need to stick to Old Earth customs. (Yup, we call it Old Earth already!) And the problem is, there are those who feel a name like Murphy is not the most fortunate a choice. As if I had a choice! Oh, we’re talking about the planet here. All right, fine with me. Call it something generic if you wish, like Alpha or something.

I don’t care! I’m going spelunking. Finally!

And the Captain O’Connor’s younger sister, Harriette, decided to come with me! I feel my luck changing.

These caverns literally glow. It’s a good thing we brought our radiation suits with us. There’s so much uranium here, we’ll be able to power up other ships at some point in the near future. Well, we must build them first, but...We must get to mining as soon as possible. The best thing is we don’t need to fight some indigenous species for resources, the way it happens in old books and movies. I would hate it if we had to become the ruthless colonists humans were often depicted as.

Wait, what...? Are those drawings?

---

This story is my entry for NextColony SCI-FI "RPG Story Contest" #3 - THE ARRIVAL ON ALPHA

---

Yours,

Manol Donchev

A @steemfiction author

...negotiating banner...

...

link
Image by @ediblecthulhu