Pangaea- Eden's Planet Page 4

  The morning of the seventh day, with Captain Mercer still in an induced coma, they returned to the task of completing the bio-dome. They turned the top section until it was securely sealed with the middle. This was accomplished with a spring mechanism in the top section that forced the top section to spin slightly. It was an easy task. But with the job done, several of the crew were still restless, and didn't want to be confined to the ship, knowing that one of their friends was lying in a bed with a severe injury.

  "We're only a few miles from the sea," Colonel Peterson said with a smile, "and we are becoming more acclimated to the heat, what say we take a look at the ocean?"

  Three faces lit up in sudden glee, and Major Cooper slapped Roger Manning on the back, saying:

  "Let's start the ATVs, Roger, and give these folks a ride to the beach!"

  "I'm sorry, Major," he shook his head. "This is the Seventh Day, and we are commanded to rest today. I'm not going anywhere."

  "The seventh day?" Major Cooper asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

  "God rested on the seventh day, Major," Sheri smiled. "Don't you remember?"

  Grimacing, Major Cooper asked, "Do you really think God cares one way or the other what day this is, Manning?"Come on, who'll drive the other ATV?" he asked."I'll drive it, Major, Colonel Peterson smiled. "We need this little excursion from our troubles! Are you sure you won't come with us, Manning?"Shaking his head, Roger Manning sat down in the shade of the Galileo Two in meditation, while Doctor Terrill remained at Captain Mercer's side.

  Colonel Peterson and Sheri Thompson rode off in one of the all terrain vehicles, while Major Adam Cooper and Professor Carl Plymouth left in the second. They were headed west in the direction of the ocean, speeding across an ancient desert, kicking up sand that had yet to feel the footsteps of mankind.

  Chapter Four

  Panthalassa

  As the ATVs drew closer to the ocean, they could feel the dampness of the sea in the air, and there was a foggy mist on the far horizon. As they approached the coast, they could see the blue water in the distance, and a wet spray sprinkled their faces, to evaporate almost instantly from the harsh heat as their vehicles sped onward beneath the scorching rays of the noonday sun.

  Soon, they could hear the waves breaking on the distant shoreline, and saw the wispy mist that hovered in the air above the coastline. Even with the sound of the pounding waves breaking on the shore, there was an eerie kind of calm silence as they parked the ATVs many yards from the breaking waves.

  "There's something strange, and alien about all of this," Professor Plymouth said, as they stared in awe at the ancient sea.

  "Panthalassa," Major Cooper said. "One continent, Pangaea, and one ocean, Panthalassa. Why should any of this be normal, Professor?"

  "There are no birds," Sheri Thompson said softly. "That’s what’s wrong with this scene, Professor. There should be birds singing."

  "Birds didn’t existed in the Permian Period," Major Cooper told her.

  "But look at the scene,” Colonel Peterson sighed. “This could be the coast of Massachusetts, or one of the Great Lakes. You can see giant boulders breaking the surface of the water in many places, like some post cards I've seen in tourist's shops. And look at those cliffs to our left, and how the beach curves back further to our right. This could be any coast, anywhere in our own time!"

  "Except for the lack of birds," Sheri said. "Where are the seagulls, feeding off the fish from the sea?

  "But look," she pointed out, "there are Sea Lilies, Sea Snails, and Horn Coral, all of which are long extinct species in our own time."

  "I bet I could get a marvelous tan on this beautiful beach," Major Cooper said. “I’ll just pretend we’re on Malibu.”

  "I haven't been for a swim in months," Carl Plymouth said, starting to take off his clothes. "If the Sea Lilies and those snails don't mind, that is."

  "Professor, we didn't bring any bathing suits!" Colonel Peterson gasped.

  Shrugging his thin shoulders, the professor said, "I don't see the beach patrol, Commander! Just include my shamelessness in my next evaluation report."

  Running barefoot and naked to the shoreline, the professor jumped into the cool sea and started swimming out a ways, and then dived below the surface, coming back up shortly holding a shell in one hand, as he laughed joyfully.

  “A seashell from the Permian,” he smiled. “I wonder how much New York’s Museum of Natural History would give me for this?”

  Sheri Thompson giggled suddenly, and also began disrobing, her clothes falling in a pile at her feet.

  "Sheri!" Colonel Peterson gasped, startled. "Don't be so shameless!"

  "What the hell!" Major Cooper laughed, as he began stripping off his own clothes.

  Sheri was now running towards the water, completely naked, and laughing like a mischievous teenager, when Professor Plymouth suddenly began screaming in terrible pain. The young girl stopped suddenly, staring intently at the man in the water, and then she yelled a harsh warning:

  "Professor, get out of the water immediately. There's danger we can't see in there!"

  The old man fought his way out of the water, struggling furiously, brushing at something invisible on his body, his face a mask of excruciating pain. Falling to the sandy beach once he was out of the water, he screamed even more, scratching fiercely at his body. Now, large red blisters appeared on several areas of his body, and it was these that he was scratching, as if trying to remove the ugly, dark blemishes.

  "We've got to get him to the doctor, and fast!" Sheri yelled, trying to pick the professor up.

  Major Cooper scooped the old man up in his strong arms, and raced for the ATV, glancing cautiously at the terrible sores spreading over the wrinkled body.

  Sheri grabbed her clothes in one swoop as she and Colonel Peterson leaped into the second vehicle. They were quickly racing madly back towards the Galileo Two with a new patient, a look of grave concern on Sheri Thompson's face.

  When they arrived back at the ship, they found Roger Manning and Doctor Terrill both standing outside the Galileo Two watching the desert sand fly beneath the wheels of the ATVs, concern on their solemn faces.

  Major Cooper lifted the naked body of Carl Plymouth out of the vehicle as it rolled to a stop and rushed for the ship, Colonel Peterson and Sheri Thompson only a few steps behind him. The professor had mercifully passed out from the pain, but he was still breathing, though with extreme difficulty.

  "What happened to him?" Doctor Terrill asked, concern showing in her eyes.

  "I don't know," Major Cooper admitted. "He was in the water, alone at the time. He'd only been there a few minutes."

  "We didn't see it, whatever it was," Colonel Peterson said.

  "I think it was a jellyfish," Sheri moaned. "It was invisible in the water. It must have fallen off when he came ashore."

  “Jellyfish!" Doctor Terrill ejaculated. "Dammit, we don't have any antitoxin for jellyfish venom!"

  "You can stop the pain, can’t you? We've got to do something for him," the commander said.

  "Bring him to my make-shift hospital ward," Doctor Terrill told them. "I'll do what I can for him."

  They quickly sat up a second cot beside Captain Mercer, and the doctor hooked an IV to the comatose patient, and added several vials from the refrigerator.

  "What are you going to do for him, Doctor?" Colonel Peterson asked.

  "I'll try to flush out his system," she told her. "It's all I can do. In the meantime, I'm feeding him a lot of morphine for the pain. There's nothing else we can do right now."

  "We can pray for him," Roger Manning said.

  "You pray for him, Manning, but not in here! Now, get out of my hospital, all of you, and let me do my job!"

  Reluctantly, they left the doctor alone with her patients, and returned to the control cabin. A silence gripped the four as they tried to find something to occupy their minds. Major Cooper saw what he suspected was a tear in Colonel Peterson's eyes, and
tried to soothe her.

  "It's not your fault, Evelyn," he said. "The professor—none of us—was thinking today. We needed a distraction, and the beach sounded like a good idea. Carl took his own chances when he went skinny dipping in the ocean."

  "Not my fault?" she asked. "Just a week out, and already I've lost a ship, landed on an uncharted planet, let one man lose an arm, let another man be bitten by some poisonous prehistoric sea creature! But it isn't my fault? Then whose fault is it? Manning's God, maybe?

  "No, Major," she shook her head. "I am responsible for everyone's safety on this mission. If something happens, it is my fault!"

  "Let it go, Colonel," he told her. "The mission is over, finished. We're on our own out here, you are no longer responsible for any of us."

  "Have you forgotten our little talk before we left, Major?" she asked. "What I said then, still goes today," she argued.

  Smiling softly, he told her, "If we ever get back to civilization, you can court-martial me. Until then, I am responsible for my own actions, be they successes, or failures. I'm not questioning your authority, Colonel. But in this present situation, you've got to give us our own freedom to think and act for ourselves. If we make a mistake, it'll be of our own doing, not yours."

  "The Major's right, Colonel," Sheri said. "We were all selected for our knowledge in certain areas. Your primary command was the Galileo Two and the mission to Mars. That has all changed now. Even though we may be on Earth, we are in an alien environment, and it will take all of our intelligence to survive this hostile planet. You will need our help as much as we'll need yours."

  "Captain Mercer was erecting the bio-dome when he had the accident," Colonel Peterson said, "under my orders."

  "But you said it yourself, Colonel," Major Cooper told her. "It was an accident. An accident is just that, it's no one's fault."

  "Hell, I was ready to follow the professor into the sea," Sheri told her, "and living organisms are my specialty. I should have known better. Before we jump into anything else, we had better examine the animal life of the habitat beforehand."

  "The professor got carried away," Major Cooper added, "and we were caught up in the moment with him. When it comes to intelligence, Carl Plymouth probably has more than any of us, yet he was caught off guard by the beauty of this pristine world. From now on, we need to think before we act.

  "Don't you agree, Colonel?" he asked.

  "Yes," she agreed. "We can start by staying out of the water, I think."

  Major Cooper laughed, breaking the tension, and then Sheri and Roger Manning joined in.

  Doctor Terrill looked at them strangely when she walked into the room a few minutes later. There was no expression on her face, but she raised her eyebrows in a quizzical manner, as to question their laughter during this time of emergency.

  "Don't worry, Doctor," Sheri told her, "we haven't become totally macabre. We're just laughing at something the Colonel said before you came in."

  "How is the Professor?" the commander asked.

  "He was an old man to begin with," Doctor Terrill said. "The venom appears extremely toxic, and he's still in a lot of pain despite the morphine. It will be a miracle if he pulls through."

  "How is Mercer?" Sheri asked.

  "He'll pull through," the doctor told them. "But he'll have to stay in bed for a few more days. "Try to avoid any more injuries. My makeshift hospital ward is running out of room. Not to mention my lack of a staff."

  "We'll be glad to assist you, Doctor," Sheri told her. "Just ask, or tell us what you want done."

  "No, you have your duties and I have mine. I can handle things for now," she told them. "Just don't have any more accidents."

  "We'll find something safe to do for a few days," Major Cooper said.

  "For God's sake, what is safe on this planet?" Colonel Peterson asked them.

  "Colonel, where are the seeds we were supposed to plant on Mars?" Roger Manning asked suddenly. An idea was forming in his head.

  "They're in the storage room with the MREs," she told him. "What do you have in mind?"

  "Well, we do have the bio-dome erected, so why not plant a garden in there? Even though this area is still part of the desert, the soil looks healthy enough to grow plants."

  "He's right," Sheri said. "The swamp and jungle appears to be spreading this way, and it's not all that far from us. Inside the bio-dome, we can water a garden, and cultivate it in a controlled climate that will be protected from the harsh elements of the desert."

  "That sounds safe enough," Doctor Terrill admitted. “Gives the rest of you something to do while staying out of trouble.”

  "Then while you take care of your patients, Doctor, the four of us will start a garden. I think I saw some tomato seeds, as well as squash and cucumbers. They will enrich our diet."

  "Now, all we need to do," Major Cooper laughed, "is find some wild game, and we can get rid of the MREs."

  "And the salt peter!" Sheri giggled.

  "That," Colonel Peterson and Doctor Terrill said in unison, "sounds way too dangerous!"

  The next day, Roger Manning and Sheri Thompson began planting seeds in the bio-dome, while Colonel Peterson and Major Cooper worked on connecting the air ducts from the ship to the dome. Everything had been designed by NASA personnel years in advance, and connections were already in place, it was just necessary to attach the pieces. The atomic generators were capable of supplying energy for hundreds if not thousands of years, and they had the machinery to create oxygen and water, should the need arise for either. They had been prepared for Mars, a dead planet, but found instead a world with an atmosphere capable of sustaining life. They would have to test the water, of course, to make sure it was potable, but they could treat the water supply for any impurities they might find. Even the ocean could provide drinkable water once the salt was removed. And the top of the bio-dome would catch rainwater and store it for future treatment, or to be used in their new garden once the plants began to sprout.

  The new activity kept the four occupied physically, though subconsciously they were worried about their two companions lying in hospital beds in the doctor's makeshift ward. They knew that the professor and Captain Mercer were in the best of care, however.

  At the end of the second week, Major Cooper and Colonel Peterson finished installing the air-ducts and water lines from the Galileo Two to the bio-dome, and went to see how well the system was working. When they stepped into the big biosphere, they came to a halt and just stared at the sign that greeted them inside.

  Roger Manning had constructed a sign, which he had pounded into the soft ground, and written on a board were the words, Garden of Eden.

  Neither could say a word for several minutes, as they stared in awe at the thing before them, and then they broke into laughter at the silly thought.

  "Manning, I should make you remove that thing," the colonel laughed, "but it's so ridiculous, it just might give everyone a good belly laugh!"

  "Garden of Eden, huh?" Major Cooper smiled. "I hope that means you've planted an apple tree in here somewhere, Manning. But there better not be any damn snakes, or you're fired!"

  "I'm afraid I didn't see any apple seeds," Sheri giggled, "but Johnny Appleseed here insisted on naming his little garden after the one in the Bible. I must admit, though, the name does grow on you after a while."

  "It fits, sir," Manning said. "This is the first garden on planet Earth!"

  "I'm not so sure about that, Manning," Colonel Peterson told him. "We haven't checked out the rest of the world yet. Who knows what we may find east of us – or East of Eden, for that matter? Or north or any other direction! It looked like a lot of swamp and jungle out there, once you get out of the desert. We might find another garden already here."

  "But this one is special, sir," Manning insisted. "I think God intended for us to put it here."

  "God—God? Enough about your God, Manning!" Colonel Peterson ordered. "What God would strand us here, in a primitive land, so far away from c
ivilization? Wreck our ship, and injure our friends?

  "I don't want to hear any more about this so-called God of yours! And get rid of that stupid sign before anyone else sees it!"

  "Let's get some fresh air, Evelyn," Major Cooper suggested, taking the colonel by the arm and leading her from the bio-dome. Looking back over his shoulder, he winked at Roger Manning and Sheri Thompson.

  Once they were outside, the colonel regained her composure as she took several deep breaths. Looking at her second-in-command, she smiled briefly and asked," Did I lose it back there, Major?"

  "Just a tad," he grinned. "But nothing damaged, I don't believe. Let Manning have his Garden of Eden—and his God, if he wants them, Colonel. Maybe it will help keep him sane. I think that we'll each need our special little distractions before it's all over with."

  "Before what's all over, Major?" she asked. "Before we're all dead?"

  "A slip of the tongue, Colonel," he shrugged. "But, perhaps a Freudian slip at that." he admitted.

  "We are lost in a prehistoric land, with no chance of ever returning to our homes, and we're likely to die a horrible death if we aren't careful. But if we keep our heads about us, and watch our step, we just might grow into old colonels and majors in time. The sooner we face those truths, the better we will be able to deal with the situation, and accept our fate."

  "In other words, there's nothing we can do about it," she said, staring into his eyes.

  "We can live," he said, as his arms reached out for her. "And love."Suddenly, a voice called to them from the Galileo Two: "Colonel Peterson, you'd better come here," Doctor Terrill called. The moment was broken, and they turned and rushed for the ship, fearing the worst.

  "What is it?" Colonel Peterson asked, breathing slightly harder than she should have been.

  "He's gone, Colonel. There was nothing I could do to save him," the doctor said.

  "Carl?" Major Cooper asked.

  Nodding her head, Doctor Terrill said, "He died a few minutes ago. His body was just too old, and the poison was too much for him to fight. I'm sorry."