Day 1 Evening - Karen Adams Pt 2
Karen sagged to take a seat on the log. She only barely managed to do so without sitting with a thump. Then she gestured to the log and looked up at Pauline. “This is a really uncomfortable log, so don’t go expecting me to lie back. And it gonna kill my neck to look up at you. Sit.”
Pauline nodded and took a seat. She could tell Karen was paying the price for trying to retain her composure. The woman would have done it until it killed her rather than lose face. Karen might not want to admit it, but she had quite an ego. Sometimes it got in her way.
“Yeah, yeah I know,” Karen muttered. “Bad habits die hard. Remember, I’m used to being superhuman, invulnerable. Going from that to needing a walker is just a big stretch. And don’t remind me. My choice, I know. I’m not regretting it. I just wish we weren’t down in a valley for all intents. The forest blocks a great view of the ocean.” Karen loved watching sunsets.
“Well, we did need to get off the beach and to some sort of cover.” Pauline pointed out.
“All we are doing here is using meat shields. The remains of out mothership sticking out of the water are pretty hard to miss. And it won’t take much to figure out the native would have seen something and investigated. The only reason the Consortium hasn’t show up is a lack of military strength to make the trip. The planet has taken its toll on them. When they show up it will be using enslaved natives.”
Pauline winced a little. “Yeah, we humans might be considered a plague.”
“We are. At least SHE thinks so.” Karen nodded.
“Who?” Pauline felt cold prickles down her back. There was something in Karen’s tone that said the woman was finally getting around to talking about what was really on her mind.
“The alien scientist that taught Miyakani English. We are messing with her experiment. I am guessing she was the one who adjusted our flight profile.”
“What!” Pauline looked a little alarmed. “What do you mean?”
“She looked to see if more were coming – a logical move. Then she aimed us to land on this part of the planet. I am guessing it was for a reason.”
“There is no way anyone could do that. Way too many variables.”
“Not as many as you would think. She didn’t choose the exact location. Our own systems did that. What she controlled was WHEN we would crash. Planetary rotation, our necessary actions to arrive, the degradation of the ship all did the rest. Besides, I don’t know anyone besides me who could have used Admiral Hamilton’s command codes after he was dead. Noone ever removed them.”
Karen continued. “The Consortium must have taken off after our final trajectory was chosen with a later generation ship. At least I am fairly certain they are Consortium. I have picked up weak signals with characteristics of Consortium closed comms. Amaretta’s questions about spirits are probably right on the mark. I think diseases wiped out most of the Consortium colonists. The same is going to happen to us. I am estimating an 80% casualty rate just for disease in the first years – at least.”
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