Domus Read online

  If there is anything hostile down there then we are ready for them.

  There is only one part of the Dweller development that we had overlooked. I am sure Sarah has noticed it, too, but she hasn’t mentioned it before. It is a big issue should we find the planet inhospitable and our weapons incapable - we cannot get the Dweller back onto the Marauder once its drill has sunk through the crust. This Dweller was only meant to land, not to fly.

  “Seekers, this is CETI. Captain Reed would like you to assemble at the bridge immediately.”

  Just in time. The Dweller is ready to go.

  Sarah and I take the stairs up, and I am not surprised to find Evangeline waiting for me at the door to the bridge. Sarah gives me her ‘death look’ and storms off ahead. Evangeline links my arm with hers, not through my choice, and we enter the bridge.

  All of the Seekers are lined up and ready. The two of us fall in on the end of the line.

  “Seekers,” starts Captain Reed, “welcome to the rest of your lives.” I can tell there is something wrong. Reed looks glummer than usual, even for him. “I must tell you one final thing before we take the jump.

  “Eight of us set out on this journey, but only seven were initially scheduled to land. Captain Racker has to stay on board the Marauder to monitor the Dweller’s vitals from here. This will only be for a short period of analysis , and then our friend will join us on our new home.”

  I can feel Evangeline’s smile from here; I can feel it pointed at me, searing into my flesh and reddening my left cheek.

  “This was always part of the plan,” Reed lies. I know it is a lie. “It is paramount to the Seeker Project that Racker stays here to alert us and evacuate us should there be any issues on Domus. Any issues, and Pilot Racker will swoop down in the Marauder and pull us out. It is an important task, taken up by an important man.”

  Why is he lying to us? There is no evacuation procedure, and there never has been. The landing was a one off; I know because the Dweller cannot be moved once it has drilled into the water table. The drill’s hydraulic arms also act as an anchor, and there is no release.

  Sure, we could snap the drill off and cram her back onto the Marauder, but we would lose access to clean water on the next planet. And water is not an easy to find resource. And the Marauder was always meant to orbit Domus as a satellite, sure, but not with Racker left on board. This must be why he is so apprehensive now. He is creating a plan B ad hoc.

  Racker moves to take his familiar seat in the cockpit. I would say that he fit into a familiar groove, but his arse is too scrawny to have made one. Maybe this whole hero act was cooked up by the two of them to impress Evangeline, because I know that when we have landed, there is no coming back.

  “Simon, Sarah, is the Dweller ready?” asks Reed.

  Sarah steps forward. “She is ready, Captain. I have checked her status, and she is prepped for launch. I have noticed that part of the botanical garden wing does not fold away properly. Simon and I have discussed it and agree that it is not a paramount concern. The worst scenario is that we lose that particular section on entry, but I would certainly suggest waiting until we know that all conditions are optimal.”

  The Captain shifts his weight from one leg to the other. “Doctor Barros, Doctor Yun, how are the conditions outside of the Marauder and on the ground?”

  Yun steps forward now. “Outside conditions are optimal; no debris scheduled to hit for as far into the future as we can see.”

  “How big is that window?”

  “It is a window of just two days, sir. It is a small window, but the Seeker Project team back home identified this planet as having little to no meteor or dust collisions.

  “The ground readings are calm on the chosen mass, reading warm and still. There is one problem, but it is not too much of a concern; we have now lost audio on both of the ground probes in addition to the visual that was lost on entry. They cannot see or hear, but we do not believe this to be a detriment to the other results. You have the green light from us, Captain.”

  Captain Reed moves and walks our line. “This is it. CETI, please ready the Dweller, and make sure you are connected to both it and the Marauder. Seekers, take your positions for launch. Racker, keep us alive, and we will see each other again, friend.”

  I take the stairs two at a time to the loading bay, going as quickly as I can to try and loosen Evangeline’s grip, but she is persistent. She squeezes my arm. “I’m scared, Simon.”

  “We all are,” I say with the fakest smile I can muster. Sarah is going to grill me later for spending time with Evangeline, but it really isn’t my fault, not this time.

  “Racker was sat next to you during the dummy runs, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Well, now that he is not coming I wondered if I could sit in his landing seat. I need a big, strong arm to squeeze if I get scared.”

  “You need to clear it with the Cap.”

  She doesn’t. I climb into the Dweller and take my seat, and she has already slithered into the one next to mine. She is an attractive woman. Slim, eastern European-blue eyes, and wavy, dark brown hair, and there are lumps and bumps where I like lumps and bumps, but she is starting to come off a little too crazy now.

  It was fun at first. It was fun to annoy Racker and make Sarah jealous, make her want me more, but now it is becoming too much.

  The brilliant white walls of the Dweller recreation room remind me of the dentists back home. The lights are brilliant white, as are our seats, the floor tiles, the ceiling, the walls, and all our faces. The rec room is the only one open to us now. It is strengthened for the landing and at the head of the Dweller. The white is a contrast to all the black we are used to, and I hope Domus will be too.

  The Captain takes his seat. I am still slightly jealous of him, not for his chiselled Marine Corp face, blue eyes and Hollywood smile, but because of Ximena Barros. She was his chosen one, and Ximena was stunning, a real exotic beauty. And she is the only female that has paid me absolutely no notice whatsoever. Still, at least my hair isn’t grey and thinning a little like the Captain’s.

  “This is it,” whispers Captain Reed. “CETI, count us down for launch.”

  “I’ll do it, Cap,” fizzes Racker’s voice over the speaker, the big hero. “Good luck down there, Seekers. I hope to see you all soon.”

  Evangeline’s nails dig into my skin so hard I think she has drawn blood. I’m not going to let the others see, but I’m terrified too.

  “…Five…”

  “…Four…”

  “…Three…”

  “…Two…”

  “…One. And launch. Goodbye, and God bless.”

  There is a clank of metal and the hissing of escaping air. My ears pop, and my head starts to throb along with my arm. There is a jolt, and a rumble…and then nothing. We are just falling through space. The Dweller feels almost weightless, like it is full of helium and floating.

  The anxiousness passes. We all exchange uncertain looks, but we share them with expectant smiles. Captain Reed unbuckles his harness. “CETI, status report please.”

  “My pleasure, Captain. The launch is successful. We have entered Domus’ orbit at an expected rate. Seeker vital signs are good, pulses are returning to a normal rate.”

  “CEIT, please raise the shutter.”

  “With pleasure, Captain Reed.”

  The blind I installed over the screen at the front of the Dweller slowly starts to rise up. All I can see is blackness at first, then the occasional star and distant nebula. And then Domus comes into full view, and what a view it is.

  I’m not a man to show my feelings, but this is poetic. Domus seems to radiate blue. I can see her clouds, her land masses, and her huge oceans. In my mind I can already hear the birds sing, taste the fish I’ll catch in her waters, and feel the tickle of grass as I run my hands through it. I cannot wait to explore her outdoors and build my castle here.

  The view even forces Evangeline to let go of my arm
so she can hold both hands to her gaping mouth. The Dweller is full of full smiles and full of hope. We are ecstatic. Twenty years of travelling, no, drifting, and we finally have a purpose.

  Captain Reed presses a button to the side of the great view. “Can you see what we see, Racker?”

  “I sure can, Cap, I sure can. You better save some for me, guys! Don’t go and enjoy all of her without me.”

  “I’m dedicating this view to you, Racker. Without you, without our pilot and guide, Domus would still be a dream. Without you, the Seeker Project would just be a group of middle-aged has-beens in a tin, floating randomly through space. This is all you, Racker. I will make sure we handle the next part as efficiently as you have. Out.

  “CETI, please provide a further status report.”

  “With pleasure, Captain. The thrusters will engage in thirty seconds. Please re-seat yourself and prepare for landing. Time to mission zone is three minutes after thrust. I must close the view, Captain, for full integrity must be ensured at time of impact. Seekers, please brace for landing.”

  The Captain takes his seat, and the Dweller’s shutter rolls back down.

  This is it—a new life, or sudden death.

  The Dweller suddenly stops feeling weightless. It now feels like we are in a dead weight, quickly sinking to the bottom of an ocean of treacle or gravy. There is a rattle outside, and Sarah and I instantly exchange a look; it is the botanical garden wing. We had tried to cram too much Dweller into too little design space, and that wing didn’t lock down like it should.

  Given the reports that predicted Domus’ possible vegetation, it is hopefully the best thing we can stand to lose.

  There is more shaking now, and rattling. Pressure is building up inside my head to a point where it feels like it might explode… and then it stops.

  The blind slowly starts to roll up, and the outside is an amazing blue—blue skies and fluffy white cloud. We are in the atmosphere, and it feels good. The metal sides of the Dweller are already warming up under the brilliant sun. The Dweller is horizontal now, and we are harmlessly drifting towards the Domus crust by parachute.

  “Brace yourselves everyone!” shouts Captain Reed, and then we hit the floor with a thud.

  I let out a sigh, and I’m glad no one else heard it. My main responsibility to the Project is now over, and I can relax a little. I feel like a proud parent; the little Dweller has done it.

  Liu Yun

  We have done it. We are on the surface of Domus.

  After years and years of planning, those of us that form the mobile part of the Seeker Project have finally found a new planet to call home. I think of the family I left behind, and I wonder if they are still clinging to life in the Kunlun Mountains. Millions of Chinese people died when the waters rose. Only the people living close enough to the mountains had survived.

  It was my father who had pushed me to join the Seeker Project. Himself a scientist, he knew the importance of continuing the human race, even if it was only for a select few. And it is every parent’s dream for their children to outlive them. He pushed me, knowing that he will never know whether I managed to achieve that dream for him or not.

  I know they would all be proud if they could see me now. It is Chinese tradition to pass on legacies to their young, and this will be my legacy. My only wish is that Doctor Lawson could have been here to see the Seeker Project through with us. But he is part of my legacy that I will not exclude from the annals. I will make sure every future generation knows that eight left home, not seven. I will keep his name alive in story, in songs, and poems.

  He was my love. It doesn’t shame me to think that we sinned against the Seeker contract.

  I struggle to undo the safety buckle with my shaking hands. I have not been sleeping too well since we lost Lawson to his cancer. Evangeline, who insists that no one call her Doctor Nikosa, prescribed sleeping pills, but they didn’t help. I turned to CETI for pain killers, but she has stopped them now. She knows too much, far too much, and it has yet to be revealed just how much of what she knows has been relayed to Captain Reed.

  I seem to be the only Seeker wary of the AI. I was there when Doctor Spielerbürg’s team unveiled CETI, and there was no mention of her platform evolving and growing. But she can, she has. CETI has learnt and adapted. The first few years on the Marauder saw us Seekers having to do all of the work. Racker did all the piloting, and we did the rest. Now, CETI does almost all of it, like the ninth Seeker.

  She can see everything. She knows my secrets and every detail of my life for the last twenty years. There has been no escape from the cameras, from the speakers, from Big Brother. It does not seem to bother the other Seekers, but I am afraid, afraid of what else she might become.

  CETI must even know what Doctor Lawson and I did before his passing.

  We knew it was against protocol. It is written as one of the ‘sins’ in the Seeker Project contract that we all had to sign the day we chose to become Seekers. But what did the leaders of the Project leaders expect? Lawson and I were perfect matches for each on their say so. They pushed us together and told us to keep apart. We couldn’t keep her hands off each other. The others seem to have a restraint, but we didn’t. We were weak. We held out as long as we could, but I don’t regret it.

  It started with a kiss goodnight, and then a fumble in the shower room. When we found out about his cancer he begged me, begged me, to not let him die a virgin.

  The Captain has never mentioned it, but I know that CETI must have told him that the med-bay had supplied me a pregnancy test. I have since come to regret celebrating the negative result. At least then part of Lawson would have lived on into the new world. I regret it every day now, but the painkillers help.

  The tablets do nothing for my shaking hand though.

  Simon finally unbuckles my belt for me. He has a look of pity in his big green eyes. Does he know about the pills? Do they all know? Captain Reed moves to the door. “CETI, please open the Dweller door. The Seeker Project is ready to greet Domus as our new home.”

  “With pleasure, Captain.”

  The door slowly winds up, and great light pours through the opening. It is something I have not witnessed for years—sunlight passed through a planet’s protective atmosphere. It stings my eyes slightly, but I am euphoric. The craving for my pills completely dissipates, and I crave more of Domus instead.

  Captain Reed is the first off the Dweller, followed by Doctor Barros, then Sarah, then Simon and Evangeline, arm in arm, and I finally climb out last.

  My eyes are not ready for what greets them. Our chosen land mass of Domus is similar to home but better. There is no human influence here, just sweeping mountain ranges, forests to our front, and a clear blue sea at our back. Everywhere I can see is natural and untouched by the parasitic nature that we humans possess. We have landed at the perfect place to start a new life.

  The trees remind me of home before we ruined it. I have never seen leaves so green in my lifetime. The mountains are capped with the whitest snow, and the brightest flowers and berries line the forest floor. It is as if someone had turned the colour and contrast levels up on my eyes.

  “Seekers, fall in,” commanded Captain Reed. “Doctor Yun, please would you explain to the team our location and its reasoning.”

  “With pleasure, Captain Reed. This site was chosen due to the closeness of the sea for fresh water and fish, and also for its location to the forest for supplies of wood and other potential food sources. It is the smallest land mass, which will mean we should have her mapped in the shortest time. We are on the western side of the land mass, and the dense forest will protect us from any potential… hostiles.”

  “Hostiles?” asks Simon. “What kind of hostiles?”

  “Well, we do not know exactly.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “Early probes picked up many small heat sources and movement details. They are different to warm bloodied organisms at home, so we have optimised all of the equipment
to trace for internal heat, movement, and vibrations. The results have yielded a lot of life-forces, some of which are small. And some are, well, bigger.”

  “How much bigger?” asks Simon. “I mean, cats are big compared to ants, and elephants are big compared to cats. So how big are these things compared to us?”

  “The signatures were bigger than ants and cats. We had hoped that the landing probes would have picked up a visual or recording of the larger sources, but they didn’t.”

  Captain Reed steps forward and cuts us both off. “Enough scaremongering, Simon. We all knew the risks, and that is why we have an armoury and why we all received military training. The Seeker Project will not fail because Domus has a few giant rats running around.

  “Doctor Yun, Doctor Barros, please begin to unpack your equipment, and get the beacons triangulated. The sonar will help us see anything that comes near from the forest or sea. Simon and Sarah, you start scouting the area, and begin making our maps. Mark any landmarks and points of interest, and note any resources you might find. Take whatever you feel necessary from the armoury. Evangeline, I want the med-bay in the Dweller up and running in less than one hour.

  “I will commence the drilling, and my aim is to have water, clean or ready to purify, within the hour. Comms are down until the beacons and the Marauder have calibrated, so do not seek too far, Seekers.

  “And one last thing. Welcome to your new home.”

  Doctor Barros is far better than me at the technical equipment and laborious work. I watch as she unbolts and unfolds panel after panel before re-bolting them to the floor. The hydraulic drill whooshes and clicks when it drives every bolt firmly into the floor. Barros circles and clicks and whooshes until the whole observation wing is alive with dials and screens.