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(While it seems others have made storys about Perpetuum and posted without getting yelled at, I decided to give it a shot. If my story is in the wrong area, or offends in any way, let me know and delete it, ty. PS before anyone starts dissecting it this can be known, it is non-cannon, in other words this is my idea of what is happening or could happening  in Perpetuum.)


A New Chapter in Human Colonization...The Nia System



Chapter 1: Getting There


Scientists had seen the future long ago, and had made some adjustments. The Fleet made regular stops at places like Titan Colony and Mars and several others but they had,until now, stopped short of leaving the solar system. Now, however that would change, as new technology made it possible to see other worlds and suns and they set up ships made for that purpose. They found, with some scanning and robotic probes, obviously the way to go exploring, another system like ours just 20 odd light years away and they set out to colonize it in short order, since at least one planet was within the Habitable Zone.

The Fleet gathered and a plan was made, they had a ship made especially to deploy  stations in orbit, just in case, and enough supplys and equipment to build a city or Terminal, as they would be called, for a home for their people and for trade between them, as they moved from one side of the planet to another.

Then there were the robots, used for defense and for gathering materials on the planet. They'd need a lot, before they could call this home, and they made them adjustable, depending on what they were needed for. There was some that said signals were caught from other beings on one world but it had not been proven, so they weren't taking any chances, and they figured they were as ready as they could get, and a small Colonization Fleet left Earth for the 6 year trip and they disappeared into space, never to return.

Captain Samson was in charge, and as they entered subspace his face winced, but the transition went smoothly. Now they were on their way, and nothing was going to stop them from making this new system theirs, absolutely nothing. They traveled as ordered for 6 years, sleeping for months at a time and then reawakening to make sure things were working right, then going back to sleep again. It was more than sleep, of course, but not exactly being frozen. They put them all to sleep then lowered their body temperatures until they barely registered as alive. This way in the 6 years the flight would take, they would age only two, and that was good enough to plan for.

They entered orbit of the main planet in the system and named it Nia, and the system after it, and started constructing the base in orbit. Between them the Fleet had more than enough materials, and robots were sent to gather more and they made a refinery and started making metals and materials for the surface colonys as well. The first year only those that were needed were awakened, to save on supplys, then, as some moved to start the Terminals on the planet, others were awakened and took their place.

In three years Terminals were up and running in several places on the planet and they became self-supporting, but with problems that no one had seen, or hardly anyone had at least. There were people here, and negotiations were started to show them we were friendly, but they'd have none of it, and they attacked even the Terminals themselves and had to be forced back, even while negotiations went on. Their world was nothing like Earth yet a lot like it, the atmosphere was breathable, for us the gravity wasn't too abusive and we got used to it slowly, and the plants there were edible, at least after some serious 'conditioning' by the computer aided recycling system. But there were no large citys, nothing to say from orbit that a civilization existed here, it was all quite strange, but they were here, hidden somewhere and they were willing to fight to keep their world.

After two years of negotiations and no agreements of any kind, Captain Sampson took the time to consider his options. The Fleet still existed, but it had been stripped of everything that was needed to make the Terminals and the orbitals that now were around two worlds. The second world was nothing but an ice-ball, but it had minerals and water that could be used, but definitely not suitable for living there for long periods of time and he claimed it as a supply area and sent robots to mine and gather water to keep the orbitals going. But there was no food there and like it or not, they hadn’t found any other planets here to provide it. He sent messages back to the Nians asking for a place they could buy, or share and got no response and after some time, he decided he had no choice, and he declared they would stay and fight for a place and many of the people from the orbital station were called to serve for defense or gathering and many robots were sent until little was left  on board.

Captain Sampson walked along the last few areas of sleeper chambers and looked at the sleeping people there. They were the last, the children of the first colonists... and their parents, now many on the planet, were asking for them to be released, but he waited. Things were getting ugly, and he wanted to protect them as long as he could and maybe save them for a return trip home someday, if all else failed, and he watched over the last 50 while things on the surface degraded into all out war.

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Chapter 2: Surviving


It took nearly no time at all for the situation to become desperate. The Terminals traded with each other for basic materials. Some areas had lots of plant life, others none but they had minerals that could be used by everyone, so trade began in earnest. But the Nians weren’t up for watching their new enemys get better established and convoys were attacked and destroyed. Many vehicles were destroyed and soon a crisis of materials started to form. So they stretched their limits as much as possible and added teleporters to their Terminals, each set for a certain range so other areas could come and trade with some chance for success. It was an instant success and the Nians had little chance to stop them completely but their raids continued as the colonists still tried to gather intel on where they were living and where they originated.

The only place that was completely left out was the orbital. The one over Nia was manned to this day and Captain Sampson commanded it even after these last years. They had been in the Nia system 10 years now and while the surface terminals were holding on, some barely. The orbital was on hard times. He called and demanded and sent shuttles to get supplys from them, only right since he started them in the first place and they owed him, but things were tight, and they refused more often than not, and he was  faced with a choice, either leave the station and take everyone to the surface, or try to gather and mine for himself, and he was told in no uncertain terms that many areas were off limits to him and his people, and he saw that only the uncharted areas of the world would be open to his plans.

He started sending miners and gathers and some did pretty well, for a while, but some never returned and he saw his troubles getting worse. He had to keep the orbital going... he HAD to, because without it, there was no place to fall back to, and there was still the possibility that the surface city’s would fall, eventually to the Nians.

So he kept trying until the day came when he saw no choice and he had the sleep chambers opened and the people there awakened. They were checked over again and again and taken to the auditorium for their first glimpse at the new world and the first sound of their new problems.

Captain Sampson walked on stage to the shocked looks of all there. When they went to sleep he was just a few years older than them but now, not only had they matured in the pods, to their own surprise, but he had definitely aged, and they wondered why they hadn’t been awakened.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he started as they waited,” I'm sure your wondering why you've been asleep so long, and what has been going on. Well this might help explain things.” He said as a big screen came on and they saw the spinning planet for the first time.

“Welcome to Nia,we made it here a decade ago, and we have 5 Terminals on the surface where many of your parents went some time ago, and yes, I got requests many times to reawaken you, but I refused until now for many reasons that will become plain soon.” He said as the room started to buzz.

“The terminals have been under constant threat, by the Nian people, so far all attempts to communicate with them have failed they just aren’t interested in talking to us and have tried to throw us off their world.” he added as a few looked shocked.

“If it was inhabited why did we stay?” one young man asked as Sampson smiled and nodded.

“They stayed away from us for a while, watching from a distance,” he started,” then by the time we recognized them as a civilization of sorts, we had already stripped all our ships and built Terminals on the surface. To be frank, we have no place else to go.”

“What do you mean, 'recognized them as a civilization'? Couldn’t you tell just from orbit there were people here?” he heard as he smiled and shook his head sadly.

“They have no cities, no real capitol no large area of buildings that we could see. They just appear and disappear after doing great harm and we still haven’t seen or talked directly with a living being. Their defenses are robotic, and all the bots we've managed to disable or destroy had no beings inside. They can fight forever because they aren’t losing anything but machines and we still don’t know what a real Nian looks like much less what they want from us, other than our destruction.” He said as the room got quiet.

“So, why awaken us now then? If things are so bad why not just let us sleep?” another asked as he looked sad to have to say it.

“The orbital needs you now, you've all gotten some skills and training, and we've sent people to mine and gather for us to keep the place going and some never returned, either they were destroyed or they decided to stay and join a terminal instead but things are desperate now and we need supplys or we'll all die here.” he said as the room looked sad to hear things were like this.

“So, you'll all join the crew and get more training. We are very short on materials and food, even our shuttles are on their last legs as well as our power system. We have no choice so please, do your best for us.” he said and they all nodded and he walked away and they were led to their rooms and started training immediately. If they were to keep the base going, they'd need to work together, and there wasn't much else they could do except die.

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Chapter 3: Teams


In a couple weeks teams were established, for shuttle flights and repairs when repair equipment and parts were available. The base wasn’t in good shape, but lacked the basic materials needed to make new parts, even old scrap had been recycled and reused over and over and it finally got to the place where they were stealing from one machine just to keep another going. They were drilled daily and the few that had better skills were soon seen. And a new team of Jake Stetson and Sam Silarn was made, to go back and see what they could gather for the colony. Jake was a good pilot, and they'd need that, and Sam ran bots better than anyone, and that was also important. They really had lost all the best equipment over the years and when they stood, looking at the old shuttle that would be their base on the surface, they felt sad to think it had come down to this.

“The storage size of the shuttle is many times greater than the cargo capacity of the bot, so loading and reloading into the shuttle are the only option.” Sampson said as they nodded agreement. “I'd like to say you'll have it easy, but the truth is, we barely have the reactor plasma to fuel the shuttle for the trip,and the bot is a Arkhe mk1, usually used for training, but its all we have in decent shape at the moment. Get down there, gather all the plants and metals you can, and return as soon as possible. We are counting on you to help keep us going, and maybe, if we're lucky, you'll get enough materials to fix up better equipment for another run later. The MK 1 has a harvester attachment and a small, light auto-cannon, but don’t rely on it too much. Against a full sized enemy bot, its next to worthless, and you have little ammo to use , so be careful and stealthy.”

“Hear that?” Jake asked with a grin as Sam smiled and nodded.

“Ya,ya I get it no hunting.” he said as Sampson shook his head and smiled and the two young men laughed. In this situation, he was worried sick but these two saw it as just an opportunity to get out of the station a while, perhaps they had the better outlook, but it was one he couldn’t let himself have... for the moment at least.

“Remember, anything salvageable grab, metals,plants anything you find. The war has been going on for a while, so there are wrecks all over, if you find one, salvage everything possible, and then return, but most important is plant life, we need it for the recycling center, our supplys of food and chemicals are nearly gone, and believe me,” Sampson said looking around the docks to see who else would hear,” its worse than many are told.”

“We understand,” Jake said as Sam just nodded and Sampson shook their hands and walked away. They entered the old shuttle and Jake looked over the controls and maps, they gave them a few places to check, far enough away from Terminals not to be seen or make anyone angry, and they chose a spot, a small, flat area on top of a hill in the southern region, and as they moved away from the base the boys got to see their home from the outside for the first time, and they turned and dropped towards the surface.

“We'll be down in ten minutes ,get ready.” Jake said as Sam laughed.

“Who died and made you boss?” he asked, but he ran and got into his bot and checked the controls over.

“Three, two, one...” Jake called as they touched down lightly on the surface for the first time. “we're in a sort of wooded area, lots of plants nearby.” he said as Sam nodded without saying a word, and the big door along the shuttles side opened and he stepped out onto a planet for the first time ever, and it took his breath away,to see land and plants as far as the eye could see. “what are you waiting for get going!” he heard as he got a little grumpy being ordered around so much.

“I'm going, keep your shirt on,” he said as he looked around but even with all the plants nearby none looked like what he was told to gather and he checked his scanner and saw no enemys nearby so he started out into the area looking for anything usable.

“Keep scanning for enemys and call if you see anything.” he said as Jake agreed.” you have a gun on that right?”

“Same as you, light auto-cannon, but you have most of the ammo. I only got 30 units. It might keep someone busy until you get back though.” Jake said not too convincingly, as Sam laughed.

“Just call when your ready,and let me worry about getting us loaded. There’s some good plants right over here, just east of your location, so that’s where I'm headed.” he said as Jake nodded on the monitor and Sam ran that way.

Sam stopped beside a mature plant and scanned it into the targeting system, it had large purple bulbs on top and scanned as usable. “Helios” Sam thought as the harvesting beam started. He knew that wasn’t the correct name but the science guys always make things so complicated, and the long, detailed name was beyond him, so Helios it was. The beam worked on it for a little while as the plant slowly shriveled up and fell to the ground,a shell of what it once was, and he looked at his cargo indicator and smiled, at least it moved, and he walked over to the next one and started again.

Jake meanwhile, was a nervous wreck, he wanted more than anything to have this mission over and get back, but he tried hard not to panic while he waited. Sam knew his stuff and he was confident he'd gather them something, but how much and how soon was worrying him and he knew their shuttle had to be seen as it dropped to the surface, and without more reactor plasma for fuel he had no choice but sit there and wait for them. They had planned this on a tight budget with just enough for one trip, down and back. He didn’t have the option of jumping around while Sam did his thing and that was what worried him more than anything. If they had the time, they could do it but time was something he was sure they didn’t have.

A few minutes later and Sam was back and as he walked on board Jake cheered.

“Thank god, we can go now, how much did you get?” he asked as Sam gave him a serious look.

“Don't even think that, we have lots more cargo capacity and time, you haven’t seen any enemys yet have you?” he asked as Jake looked scared for a minute.

“Well no, but...” he started as Sam stopped him dead.

“I'm just getting started so quit whining, I'm unloading now and then going back out. The area I told you about has several more good plants there and I'm not leaving without them.” he said as the shuttle wiggled and lurched and the bot walked off and started running back thew way it came, as Jake’s eyes nearly fell out.

“Idiot, your going to get us killed,” Jake said to himself as he watched the indicator on his scanner as Sam ran back and started getting more plant material. It was good they had this chance but the Captain had said no matter what, gather fast and return and Jake took that as get a load and go, but not Sam, and he wondered how much arguing he'd have to get him to leave without filling the whole shuttle, something he knew for a fact, they didn’t have time for.

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Chapter 4: Recognition


Sam made another trip and went back out again, to Jake’s dismay as he yelled after him but he wasn't listening and Jake felt like he was aging a year a minute when he saw a dot appear on his scanners. There were enemy drones in the area and they finally found them and two were on their way towards Sam right now and Jake called to warn him.

“I see them I'm not blind.” he said very seriously as Jake called for him to return but Sam just waited and Jake started to worry he'd have to leave him behind if they found the shuttle, but they seemed locked onto Sam's location right now and a minute later, one disappeared from the screen. Then a minute later the other and Sam was laughing to himself and Jake saw what happened. Sam was told not to go hunting but they found him first, giving him a reason to try out his new toy.

“Piece of cake,” Jake heard as he dropped his head and shook it sadly, they were going to die here, he could feel it. “dang it!” Sam said a minute later as Jake looked up.

“What, more drones?” he asked but the screen was empty.

“No, I'm full,” Sam said as Jake looked lost.

“And that’s upsetting?” he asked as Sam ran up along side and dropped off another load, including several pieces of metal he had gathered from the drones.

“NO ***, it was a mining patrol, and I left mining equipment behind,” he said and started running that way again. Jake didn’t even bother calling after him, he saw how that was going to work out, but Sam was right, this time, technology samples and new machines were essential to the mission, now or anytime and he just sat back and waited until Sam returned a few minutes later.

“Now we can leave,” Sam said as Jake sat there shocked for a minute.”well aren’t you ready yet, your the one that’s been yelling for the last hour.”

“Like that did any good,” Jake said as the door came shut and the shuttle lifted off and started back the way it came.

They landed as Captain Sampson waited patiently back and the walked over quickly to see what they had returned with. His eyes opened wide at the cargo manifest and he tried his best to hide a wide grin as he saw the mining equipment and refined metals they had brought back.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” he said looking the list over as Sam stepped in smiling.

“And, another 1 hundred units of ammo, and 3 units more reactor plasma, that’s still on board my bot.” he said as Jake looked around slowly giving him the evil eye.

“The shuttle doesn’t even have 3 units of plasma on it.” he said as Sam looked everywhere but at his pardner and Sampson broke into laughter.


“You do make a good team,” he said as Sam smiled and Jake looked less than sure of it himself.

“With the materials you've brought back, and the extra plasma, maybe we'll do another mission in a  few days.” He said as he dismissed them and walked away.

“See, we're a hit.” Sam said slapping Jake across the back as he gave him dirty looks.

“But next time, we leave when I say, got it?” he said as Sam smiled a wicked smile and leaned in close to Jake’s ear and whispered.

“If we did things your way, there wouldn’t be any metals this trip or plasma or even half the food supplys, and do you think the Captain would be smiling this wide then?” he asked as he laughed and walked away as Jake took the moment to think. He was right, for sure, but then maybe the balance between them is what made it a good team, and he chuckled and went to get some sleep.

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Chapter 5: Full Timers



A week later and they were standing next to the old shuttle again and they all were smiling a little wider this time.

“The plant materials you got us last time are done being processed and have added substantially to our food supplys, and the manufacturing crew sends their regards, the materials they got made some repairs and chemical supplys finally appear for the station.” Sampson said as Jake and Sam smiled.

“This trip we'll concentrate on metals, there are several places where battles have taken place pretty far from the Terminals and there are lots of wrecks around those areas. The enemy has patrols in the areas as well, but their mostly drone recon and they shouldn’t be a big problem for you.” he said as Jake looked shocked and Sam smiled widely. “ but don’t run past any good plants if they're right beside you, even an extra hundred or so units right now will add to our supplys.”

“We understand, right Sam?” Jake said but Sam was all smiles at the thought of shooting more drones and Jake looked away sadly as Sampson just smiled and waved towards the shuttle.

“Get all you can, and return, but do come back alive.” he said as Jake agreed and he finally elbowed Sam into agreeing as well, as the Captain walked away and they went on board and left for the surface again.

“You've got to quit this,” Jake said as Sam looked lost for a minute.

“Quit what?” he asked as Jake looked angry.

“This daydreaming, if you do it on the surface, I'll be coming home alone and breaking in a new pardner.” he said seriously as Sam started to laugh.

“Put me in a bot and turn me lose, I'll be wide awake.” he said as Jake finally smiled, that much was true.

“Down in five...” Jake said and even from here he could see wrecks around the area. The shuttle dropped onto the planet again and the door opened almost immediately as Sam started out.

“If we have lots of wrecks to farm, I'll see about getting some bigger pieces for salvage,” Sam said as Jake agreed. “but I'll keep my eyes out for anything good too.” With that he ran towards the closest wrecks and Jake watched out for drone patrols and knew they wouldn’t be far behind.

Sam looked around one old wreck and scanned it, then took everything that was of any use. Then he thought about getting bigger scrap and he reached out and tore a door panel off of the side with his bot. The panel was actually larger than he could take inside but that was the idea, and he carried it back to the shuttle and slid it inside the big door and dropped it there.

“Put it where you want it, going back for more,” he said as Jake walked into the cargo area and wondered how he was supposed to stack this, it must weigh a few hundred pounds. But he used the winch that was there for broken down machines and drug in over against the one wall and dropped it  there and waited as Sam returned with another door section and Jake saw a pattern coming.

“Door panels, from cargo areas and command centers,well that’s bigger than scrap from drones for sure.” he thought but he knew he'd be stiff and sore trying to move this stuff around while Sam was out gathering more.

In a few minutes Sam was back with some more scrap and Jake stopped him as he dropped it on the ramp.

“Over there,” he said pointing as Sam saw the little pile.

“But I...” Sam started as Jake stopped him cold.

“You’ve got a bot, don’t expect me to stack the same amount.” he said as Sam slowly moved the big piece through the door and onto the pile and then turned to leave again.

“I got you a present,” Sam said as he laughed and ran away and Jake went back into the cockpit to check, and he had another 5 units of plasma fuel that he didn’t have to start with.

“That will help,” Jake thought as he sat and watched Sam working in the distance but a second later, shots bounced off the shuttle as Jake closed the door immediately and looked around to see where they came from.

“I'm under fire.” he called as Sam stopped what he was doing and turned to come back. Jake saw three recon drones around the shuttle and he felt like screaming. He had told Sam not to daydream and with him helping with the scrap and checking fuel, he hadn’t checked the scanner in a while and they walked right up on him. He targeted the one right up front and in a few minutes it exploded from the shuttles light gun and he turned and fired a few shots on another, but there was one along the side, so close he couldn’t get the gun down to it and it was doing damage.

“I'm out of ammo,” he called and closed his eyes every time a shot bounced off the hull, but a minute later the bot he was targeting stopped firing and the one along the side did too, and he looked as Sam walked around the front and waved and he took a deep breath for the first time in a while.

“Scrap delivery,” Sam said with a laugh as Jake got a smile for the first time since it all started and he opened the door and nearly hit the bot that had been along the side, now sitting there dead.

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Chapter 6: Master Salvagers


They had a hard time but Sam pushed and Jake had the emergency winch hooked up, and they towed the little drone onto the shuttle and fastened it down. Then they looted everything they could find off the others and got out of there while they had the chance.

“That was too close,” Jake said as they lifted off but Sam was just laughing about the whole thing.

“We got a whole bot for salvage  this time, the Captain will be very pleased.” Sam said as even Jake had to smile when considering it. They had been lucky and they got not only the main body but whatever was on board, and that meant a lot to the maintenance department.

“Lets not make a habit out of getting the shuttle shot up though.” Jake said as Sam laughed. It still flew and even with this extra weight it made it back to the base easily. The crews there were happier than any time lately, and they drug the drone from the shuttle and then returned for all the metal panels they had brought back.

“You did well, better than expected.” Sampson said looking at the drone sitting on the docks while the maintenance crew swarmed over it happily.


Target of opportunity,” Sam said waving towards it.”they attacked the shuttle while I was working, so this one was right outside the door.”

“I have no problems with that.” The Captain said as he walked over to look it over also. It looked a lot like the Arkhe, and that made him wonder who was copying who here, but the parts would come in handy and he had his own plans for some of them.

“Take a day off, then we'll try again, your getting better and better so lets take advantage of this while we can.” he said and walked away as Sam and Jake looked shocked. They were going right back out, even after bringing in a good load, or maybe because they brought in a good load, either way their time off was getting cut short.

“And I had a date too,” Sam whispered but not low enough as he looked up and Jake was all smiles.

“She'll be here when we get back,” he said as Sam looked disappointed.

“You don’t understand, we've been planning to spend the day together and its hard getting time off at the same time.” he said as Jake nodded. There weren’t that many people their own age or close, so finding someone was harder than it would have been at home where millions of people lived in each town.

“You should look around a little too,” Sam said looking to see if anyone was listening,” we are a special team here and the girls know it, its like we're celebrities or something, take advantage of that and get yourself as girl.”

“I don’t take advantage of people,” Jake said stiffly as he walked away and Sam shook his head smiling. There was someone, he had heard, but she didn’t have a clue, and Sam wasn't sure Jake did either.

Sara was upset of course, their plans were ruined and Sam apologized repeatedly.

“The Captain is all happy we did so good last time and hes sending us right back out.” he explained as she finally nodded she understood.

“Just be careful don’t get yourself killed.” she whispered and Sam leaned over the table and gave her a soft,quick kiss as half the lunch area saw and a few chuckles were heard, as she turned red.

“When we do get our day together, I have something important to ask you, so be ready.” he said as he got up and walked away and three of Sara's friends rushed over to sit down next to her as soon as he left.

“Looks serious...” one girl said as Sara's face grew redder and redder. “What did he say?”

“He has to go back down to the surface and our dates canceled for now.” she said as they looked disappointed. “hey, it's not his fault, we need everything they bring us badly.” She said ,covering for him as they all smiled, she was in his corner one hundred percent.

Just then another girl walked over and sat down and the girl closest to her slid away to another chair.

“Gee, thanks,” she said sadly as they all smiled, Sherri was the most unlucky girl ever, and even a simple meal could turn into a major disaster with her around, but she was a friend and they all watched over her for the comedy of it all if for nothing else. She took a bite of her food and opened a canned drink and it exploded into a shower of red all over her cloths and the seat next to her on either side.

“Now we can sit here,” the one girl said as she wiped up the spill and slid back over and Sherri just wiped her face and drank what was left in the can like nothing ever happened.

“It's like this nearly every day.” Sara said as even Sherri smiled and nodded, they didn’t even know how she had survived the sleep chambers, but for one reason or another she had and because of that, her luck seemed to get even worse,and her friends all laughed and she joined in as they talked about their work in the maintenance department and what they were doing the rest of the day.

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Basically, my story is about the first, and only, attempt to send humans through a controlled wormhole to help conquer Nia, they survived the trip, but even the Syndicate wasn't ready to send anyone else until the planet was secured, so that's where it stands.

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Chapter 7: Valentines Day


Several of the girls were working on an improved bot for the surface team when they stopped for a break.

“Are you ready? It's coming soon,” One girl said all excited as the others all smiled.

“What is?” Sherri asked as they looked at her in shock.

“A girls favorite day of the year, that’s what, Valentines Day of course.” she heard as she just turned away and shrugged.

“Doesn't mean anything to me,” she said as they looked at her seriously, she was not an ugly girl by any stretch and a few guys kept an eye on her, not the least of which came down to the maintenance bay and stood on the overhead handrails and watched her working when he thought no one would notice. Without her glasses and safety goggles, she was just as eligible as any of them, but she saw her bad luck as her total downfall.

“Don’t sell yourself short, you've got a lot to offer some lucky guy.” one girl said and there was a little chuckle about her suit fitting tight in the front.

“Maybe some old guy who's really lonely will ask someday but that'll be long after all you get taken.” she said and went on with her work as everyone around her looked sad for her. She was always like this, selling herself short and thinking her bad luck would ruin any chances she ever got, but they all knew her time would come and with childbearing being important so far from home, they all knew they'd all get 'chosen' by someone sooner or later, they just hoped they were lucky enough to find someone nice.

“You may be really surprised one day you just wait.” one girl said and she went back to work too, and Sherri stopped for a second and wondered what she meant by that, but soon decided she was just teasing and ignored her after that.

Sam walked into the cafeteria and went to sit down when he saw Jake sitting alone in the one corner, looking at a notepad, obviously totally engrossed in what he was reading. Sam smiled and walked over and sat down just as Jake hid the pad under the table and that got Sam's interest more quickly than if he'd left it lay out in the open.

“What was that?” he asked as Jake just shrugged and Sam couldn’t wait to see now as he tried looking around the corner and Jake moved it to the other side.

“Something for work,” Jake said as Sam looked skeptical, if that was true then he definitely should have been seeing it, which he mentioned and Jake looked upset he had chosen that excuse.

“Liar,” Sam said finally and sat back to eat and Jake slowly brought it out and sat staring at it for a minute, not knowing what to do. But finally he dropped it on the table and Sam saw the heading on the page: “Application for Marriage” and Sam nearly choked on his lunch.

“I didn’t even know you were dating yet,” he said as Jake looked embarrassed.

“I'm not...really...dating.” he said slowly and in what looked like a little pain as Sam looked at him shocked. If he wasn't dating how could he be thinking about things like this?

“Does she know your thinking this serious?” Sam asked, not even knowing how he was interested in.

Jake shook his head no and Sam stopped eating to sit back and look him up and down, if she didn’t even know he cared so much, how could he even consider such a thing?

“What about you, I know you've been seeing that girl in maintenance for a while.” Jake said as Sam's face grew red but he was smiling all the time.

“We're talking about it.” He said seriously as Jake looked shocked beyond belief, the big joker and mouthy pardner was getting serious about something, and it blew his mind to think that.

“So, who's yours, is she from the dock crew, or maintenance, or maybe an office worker, that might be your style, quietly hiding away not drawing attention.” Sam said with a grin as Jake's face got red.

“Maintenance,” Jake whispered as Sam smiled and nodded, now we're getting somewhere there were a handful of pretty girls down there and now he wanted to know all about it and he knew Jake was ready to bolt any second.

“And her name is?” Sam whispered as Jake sat silent for a minute and he finally whispered back.

“Sherri,” and Sam sat back thinking, he knew most of the girls down there because he was seeing Sara 'now let me see...Sherri..'and his mind went down the list until it settled on the one girl he positively would never have guessed.

“You have GOT to be kidding me, GOGGLES!?” Sam asked very loudly as Jake got up and bolted from the room as several people nearby started to laugh and Sam sat there all smiles, so that was his little secret, and with Valentines Day coming, even Sara had made her thoughts on it known and Sam saw Jake was under pressure to say something and he laughed to himself and wished him the best.

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Chapter 8: Improvements all around


Sam sat there finishing his lunch and smiling at Jake’s problem when two men walked in and sat down across from him and he looked up to see a very serious looking man and what looked like his helper staring at him.

“Good morning,” The older man said as Sam just nodded,”I have some questions for you about your trips to the surface.”

“Ask the Captain he's in charge of information,” Sam said as the man nodded he understood.

“HE sent me here,” he said as Sam looked a little shocked but he sat back and waited and the man looked a little nervous, but he leaned in and started talking.

“Have you seen any of these plants while on your journeys down there?” he asked as slowly a few pictures flashed across the screen and Sam stopped him and nodded as the man smiled. He started the slide-show again and Sam stopped him again a second later and he was even more happy.

“What's this all about?” Sam asked as the man smiled and showed him his ID, it said: Lieutenant Harris, Biology Department.

“I want to see about gathering some live plants and bringing them back here to grow on the station. It happened before, but after a few years they all died off and now we have an empty area just waiting on new plants, and with that, new food and better nourishment for us all.” he stated as Sam nodded and wished him luck getting them but the man just sat there smiling widely as Sam looked up and started to refuse.

“Wait a minute, I don’t have time for this...” Sam said as the man put up his hand and stopped him instantly.

“Captains orders,” he said as Sam drifted to a stop with his comments and the man sat smiling.”Now back to this list.” He said as Sam took a drink and watched and nodded from time to time and the man made notes and then handed the notepad to Sam to keep. “Get me some of those, the ones we talked about and I marked, and we'll see about making food more available and better tasting than this mush we've all been eating.”

“Some of these are really big plants how can I get those up here?” he said as the man smiled.

“Seeds, or cuttings, basically,limbs that are neatly cut off, but seeds would be best,” he said as he got up to leave.

“When do I start?” Sam asked as Harris laughed.

“You already have,now that you know what we want, anytime you see some, I expect a few for my department.”He said and walked away.

“Crap” Sam thought as he watched them go,”even more junk to watch for. Hey, wait, how am I going to gather stuff like this in a bot?” But he knew the answer to that, and he looked upset, these people were going to get him killed yet.

“Captain,” he called into his coms device and a second later Sampson came on line and nodded.”I just had a talk with the Biology Department, how am I supposed to gather live plants from a bot while gathering plasma and metal and...” he went on until the Captain stopped him cold.

“It's a big job, but I have faith you can do it, and Jake will help. If there’s no enemy signs nearby, he can jump out and gather some plants while you gather metals for us. This isn’t all about you,Sam it's all about getting us set up better while things on the surface are quieter.” he said as Sam looked shocked. He'd been shot at quite a bit and the Captain thought this was quiet?

“It'll mean being on the surface even longer than now.” Sam said slowly as the Captain nodded he understood.


“If we find a good spot, and little to no enemy action, staying overnight, or for more than one day might be done, but that’s a serious idea that we haven’t done for a long time.” he said as Sam looked shocked that it had happened in the past. “Get your self ready for it, there's some serious work ahead.”

Sam just nodded and the link went closed and he sat there looking sad and finally got up and went to get some rest before their next trip came.

They were away the next day, and dropped down to any area around some old buildings a good distance from any Terminals and Sam went to work. He got a good load of plant materials and started looking for some more when he saw a small patch of plants the biology department was interested in. He walked as close as he could get and then lower himself as close as he could and jumped out with a sample bag in his hands. He bent down and loosened the dirt around a small group of plants and gently pulled up dirt and all and slid them into the bag, letting the top stick out, then moved to another smaller group next to the first. He had that out and was arranging them in the bag when he heard shooting not too far away, and he jumped up and ran back and into his bot and stepped back near an old wall to see what was happening. Scanners showed that a bot just a few hundred yards away was fighting several others, and in a minute Sam started to wonder who he was watching. Whoever it was won, and at least three enemy bots were destroyed and the bigger, blue bot turned and started towards him then stopped suddenly and after a minute walked away back towards the Terminal. Sam got a picture from a distance and sent it back to Jake who ran it through the database and he called back immediately for Sam to return.

“That was an assault robot, you wouldn’t have a chance against it,” Jake said as Sam ran quickly back to the shuttle and they took off with a lot less than what they had hoped to get, and returned to the station with this new info.

The Captain saw the report and asked some questions and finally, released them saying they did the right thing. Sam had no chance against a bot that size and they returned with enough materials and plants to make the trip at least marginally successful. He waited until they had left and then heaved a heavy sigh of relief, they had gotten too close to a Terminal and someone had done them a favor, as he turned the coms link on and a minute later, and older man came online.

“I thought it might be you,” he said as Sampson smiled and nodded. “enemy bots don’t hide behind buildings when there’s an enemy nearby. How are things going for you and your people up there?”

“Tight, we were gathering plant material for food.” Sampson said as the man nodded and looked embarrassed.

“There's not much I can do for you, so don’t ask, but I told my man today to let you go. That's the best I can do at the moment. Don’t get so close next time and you should be alright.” He said as Sampson nodded and thanked him.

“Maybe some information might help you though,” he said as the Captain waited and the man smiled,” there are animals on the planet, large lizards and birds that we've seen and caught. They might not be turkeys, but they eat well.” he said as the link went closed and Sampson sat back smiling. At least they had some on the planet that were willing to ignore them if not help directly, and the thought of having a chicken dinner made his mouth water and he called the biology department and told them the news.

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Chapter 9: New Threats


They had a meeting between the Captain, Jake/Sam and the biology department and they talked about animals for a change.

“If there are animals especially bigger ones, how come we haven’t seen any on our previous trips?” Sam asked as the room looked sad he had to even ask.

“Your walking around in a bot that weighs tons and stepping on plants and making all kinds of noise, why would any animal be seen by you like that?” The Lt. said as everyone agreed.

“So, birds big enough to eat and large lizards,” Jake said softly as the biology Lt. Quickly corrected him.

“Reptiles at least, we have no way of knowing if their really a member of the lizard family.” he went on as Sam rolled his eyes and Jake looked like he'd laugh at him any minute.

“So, here's the plan, each trip down, gather as much stuff as you can to make the trip worthwhile, then take some time to look around, look for things like: plants half eaten, some reptiles eat plants, and footprints, the bigger the bigger the animal of course, and seeds left spread around on the ground near plants, and small bird prints in the dirt. Find any of these things and your near animals, and then it's just a matter of searching close by.” He added as Sam looked upset.

“Your trying to get me killed, if the enemy drones don’t get me, then some alligator will when I walk up on him.” he said as everyone laughed but he didn’t think it was funny.

“Don’t worry, you'll both be armed,” Sampson said as Jake looked up suddenly.

“Both?” he asked as they all nodded if these reptiles were as large as they said it would take two people to drag one back to the shuttle and Jake didn’t look any happier than Sam.

“We're working on putting a cooler attachment in one cargo bay, that way you don’t need to rush back.” he said as everyone agreed and the team looked like they had had better days, but they nodded agreement and their next trip was planned.

When they were ready to go, Sam got the upgraded Arkhe they had been working on for the trip. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but any was better than none.

“It has much better computer and scanner abilitys, so finding loot, even smaller pieces that you overlooked before, will be possible.” he was told and he smiled as he got inside and walked it into the shuttle and they took off.

They landed and he gathered a good amount of plant materials again and Jake got many good plants that he was told were a sort of wild tea, and he liked the smell and couldn’t wait until they got back to try something that wasn't the same junky taste as everything else. Sam unloaded another load of materials and they decided that they had time to look around a while. They both took the guns they were given and checked their ammo, and began walking around the area looking for the signs that the biology men had mentioned.

They walked for a little while but both made sure they kept an eye out for enemys. It wouldn’t do to have them find the shuttle while they were away, and Jake had an alarm set to go off if anyone got close. But they weren’t seeing anything like what the men mentioned and after a minute they sat down to rest on a large stone.

“These animals are defiantly shy,I'll say that.” Jake said as Sam nodded.

“Or their rare, we might do this a dozen times before we see anything.” he said as they both heaved a heavy sigh, but off in the distance Sam heard a rustling noise and saw what he that was a tree move slightly so he grabbed the binoculars and zoomed in to see. A minute later a piece of fruit of some kind fell, and a large lizard ran down the tree to get it and stood there, in the shade eating it.

“There,” he said pointing as Jake took a look and shook his head he saw it too, and Sam tapped his shoulder and they took their guns and snuck around some rocks and bushes to get a lot closer, and they stopped again to have a look. From here it was clear that there were two, and they were laying in the shade after their meal and Sam smiled. They were definitely large and there was no problem thinking there was a lot of meat there, so they moved a little closer and he got a good aim and fired a round and one lizard went into spasms of rolling and flipping around as the other ran away.

“Got him,” Sam said as he ran full out towards the trees and Jake was right behind but they were both surprised at how far those trees where, and they were out of breath when they got there.

“How dang far was that anyways?” Sam asked dropping to his knees as Jake said nothing but as he looked up, Jake was standing looking at their quarry, and his eyes were wide. The animal was a meter high, laying on its side and several meters long, and even Sam had to be impressed with the sight of it laying there.

“We are NOT carrying this back to the shuttle.” Jake said matter of factually as Sam nodded agreement.

“I'll get the bot, we can tie a rope on it and carry it back that way, and we wont have to kill ourselves doing it.” Sam said finally as Jake smiled and nodded.”you wait here and don’t let any other animals have it.”

“WHAT!? Are you crazy? Look at the size of that thing how am I supposed to protect that from something big enough to eat it?” Jake asked with wide eyes as Sam pointed to the gun.

“He went down with one shot, so stack them up until I get back.” he said laughing and started running back towards the shuttle as Jake stood there, with the weapon at the ready and wished he was home and finally asking Sherri out right now. He might be shy and a little afraid, but asking her would seem like child’s play after this and he knew Sam was in good shape and he figured that he had to wait for 30 minutes himself until he'd return but after that it would be all good.

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Chapter 10: Blame


Sam made good time getting back and as he climbed into his bot he was panting faster than at any time before. Running was not his best suit, but he did his best, and he got the bot running and made a quick trip back to where he had left Jake waiting for him. As he approached, he didn’t see Jake at first then as he was getting ready to call for him he saw him, sitting leaning on the first animal while a second lay not 3 meters away. Sam stopped and jumped out and ran over, but Jake was unconscious and his right leg was bleeding badly. Sam got the med-kit and did some emergency aid on it to stop the bleeding and finally loaded him into the bots cockpit and tied the ropes around the two large animals and hoisted them up and started back at his best pace.

He got them all on board and Jake still hadn’t awoken so he felt he had no choice, he fired up the shuttle and made the trip back himself, he was trained to fly it, but it was not his best skill, and as he called they were coming in with a medical emergency on board, the crews all ran to meet them and it was clear the way the shuttle bounced when it landed that Jake was not piloting it.

“What happened?” Sampson asked the second the doors opened and the emergency medical team slid to a stop at the sight of the monstrous reptiles laying just inside the door.

“I left Jake alone guarding a dead animal, and another came for it while I was gone.” he said with tears in his eyes, and the Captain looked surprised. “I killed my pardner over some damned piece of meat.” and with that, he ran along after the team as they took Jake to the stations hospital for care.

Sampson looked sad for them and he walked over and looked at the animals laying there and the terrible size of their sharp teeth. Things like this happen, and he was sure that it wasn’t Sam's fault, but he'd think it was until Jake himself told him other wise and he had the biology department come and check out the monsters and they agreed they were eatable, and they hauled them to the stations kitchens top be cleaned and cut up and finally cooked for the whole station to try, but he knew that Sam was one person that would not be getting any of that, not until Jake woke up from his attack.

After a day of being told by everyone that it wasn't his fault, Sam was feeling a little better but still was worried for Jake. He was still out of it, some because of loss of blood and some because of the medication that they had him on. His left leg was a mess, with deep cuts probably from a large claw and the medics said he'd be ok, but there would be some serious scarring from this. But Sam wasn't worried about that he just wanted Jake awake so he could personally apologize for what happened and Sara was right there, making sure he knew that Jake knew the risks and went of his own will, and finally he started to agree.

IN a few hours, Jake was awake and Sam and Sara were the first ones through the door. Sam got to apologize and Jake laughed at him for it.

“If I wasn't such a poor shot this wouldn’t have happened.” he said as even Sam smiled at that.”I kept standing there, with my rifle ready until I started to daydream a bit, then there was this sound, like rustling and when I turned around, I got hit. Luckily I dove to avoid most if it but the hit to my leg hurt like hell, and I just rolled over and started shooting. How many shots I fired I don’t even know. As long as it was moving...” he said as he looked like he'd doze back off and Sam told him to rest, he'd be ok now, and he nodded and closed his eyes. Sam felt a lot better now and Sara took him by the arm and they went to get something to eat, finally, and they told the story to everyone there that asked and they all agreed that it could have happened to anyone.

“The doctor said he'd be laid up for a few days so anyone who wants to visit him I'm sure he'd be happy for it.” Sam said as everyone agreed.

“Make sure his girlfriend knows, she's probably worried sick.” One girl said as Sara and Sam both smiled, she wasn't worried at all, because she didn’t even know he liked her, but they said nothing and just agreed.

“You know,” Sara said after the others walked away,” this might be a good time to step in a bit.” As Sam looked up and she was all smiles.

“Your going to do some matchmaking aren’t you?” he asked not too happy about it.

“It would be the easiest matchmaking in history, we know he likes her and she has no clue, but just the other day she was saying that she'd probably be stuck with some old guy who finally got lonely enough to ask her someday, and Jake is NOT that.” she said as Sam finally smiled and nodded. It might be a good time after all, it wasn't like Jake could run away...

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Chapter 11: New Chances



The next day, the new meat was on the menu and a lot of people were there to try it. To the man and woman they agreed it wasn't too bad and the medical team informed the Captain that it filled a badly needed niche in their diet and that they'd be seeing some healthier people after this and he smiled and thanked them. Now it was all about plans and getting ready, and Sampson started thinking about a second team since he had put everything into a second set of equipment just in case they needed it, and it was nearly ready.

Sara went to work and after some time she made sure she and Sherri were working together and Sherri didn’t seem to notice that she wasn’t really doing much today.

“You know that Jake got hurt on the last run right?” she asked without turning to see as Sherri just nodded and kept working.”Sam's really worried about him he thinks he'll get lonely laying in that bed for days until the medical staff release him, so he's asking people to stop and visit him, so it doesn’t look too obvious that Sam asked them.” she went on as Sherri again nodded and seemed to ignore her.

“So, want to go with me today after lunch? We'll just stop and say hi and see how he's doing.” she said as Sherri looked confused but left it slide.

“I guess if you want to.” she said as Sara got a huge grin and went back to work, phase one was complete now for phase two. She left Sam know when she would be there and that she wanted him there too and he agreed and when the two girls walked in, Jake’s eyes nearly fell out, and Sam stood up to let Sherri have the chair next to the bed.

“Hi, Jake you know Sherri right?” Sara asked as he nodded and Sherri looked surprised he knew her at all.”She was worried for you and I told her I'd come along so she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed.” And at that Sherri gave Sara a strange look and Jake smiled, obviously not true.

“I'm glad she did,” he said as Sherri smiled and her face grew red, but she seemed happy someone had noticed her.

“Sam I'm thirsty, lets get everyone some drinks,” Sara said and her and Sam left the room as quickly as they could leaving the others sitting looking embarrassed by it all.

“She's not very tactful is she?” Jake asked as Sherri looked a little upset but she admitted she wasn't.

“Sam obviously told her my secret.” he said as Sherri looked up at him and wondered what he meant by that.

“I've been watching you for a while,” he said as quickly as he could without panicking and she looked shocked as her mouth fell open. Jake was a team member , an elite here on the base, what would he possibly see in her?

“Wait, when, I didn’t see you.” she said as he smiled and told her it was him above on the catwalk watching her work.

“YOUR that perv?!” she started and caught herself as Jake started laughing.

“I'm a little shy around girls, so this was probably the only way Sam and Sara thought I'd sit still to talk to you.” he said as she finally smiled.

“But, I know a dozen girls that like you, you and Sam are like heroes here, why me? I'm nothing spacial.” she said looked down as her face grew red.

“To me you are, your kind, considerate, a hard worker, you never ask others to do anything you haven’t done yourself, and even if you don’t think so, I think your pretty dang cute.” Jake said as she heard his voice stressing out towards the end.

“I don’t know what to say...” she said and sat there all embarrassed as by now Jake wasn’t any better. His fast little speak had drainer his ambition, and now he was right back to being too shy to even look up.

“That was a nice speech, but as Sherri's friend I have to demand you take responsibility for what you've said.” Sara said standing there with drinks in her hand as Sherri looked surprised and Sam stood there laughing at it all.

“Wait, responsibility, for what?” Sherri asked as Sara smiled.

“He admitted he loved you and has been stalking you for a while now, so he has to take responsibility for his actions, and so do you.” she said looking at Sherri as her face looked like it would catch fire any second.”What do you say? You were worried you'd get married to some old fart someday, well, in case you haven’t noticed this is not that time.”

“I noticed,” Sherri said as Jake smiled but in another minute she bolted for the door and disappeared as Sara went running after her, and Sam laughed and sat down next to Jake and he looked worried.

“Congrats, you finally said it.” Sam said as Jake smiled but anyone could tell he was worried.


“But she ran...” Jake said as Sam laughed out loud.

“And so would you if you weren't tied to this bed, but you were forced to admit the truth and she was never sure anyone would like her, this is quite the shock.” he added as Jake nodded he knew.

“It's up to her now,” he said as Jake agreed and they started talking about other things and waited for the other foot to fall.

Sara chased Sherri all the way down the hall and into the waiting room where she collapsed into a big chair and looked shocked beyond belief. Sara stopped and sat down next to her and waited as Sherri’s eyes seemed to fly about in their sockets, trying to analyze everything that had just happened.

“He's quite the catch,” Sara mentioned as Sherri looked upset and pointed a finger at her and told her to be quiet for a minute and she did as Sherri looked completely rapped up in what she was doing.

“OK,OK, I see the whole raising children thing and that Jake thinks I'm a good candidate for it, and that he's an important man and that....” she started and trailed off until she finally just screamed and looked lost. “But, why ME?!”

“He loves you, there’s no scientific reason for that.” Sara said as Sherri looked her way and looked scared for the first time.

“But what if my luck rubs over onto him, he was lucky to be alive right now, eaten by some monstrous reptile, what a horrible thing.” Sherri went on as Sara smiled and waited, she had to run out of reasons it wouldn’t work before she'd consider it would.

“BUT,” Sara said finally,” do you like him or think you might love him given the chance?”

“Maybe, I don’t know this is all so sudden.” Sherri finally admitted as Sara smiled and gave her a hug.

“Then go slow, first tell him its alright that you'll consider it. Then see how things go from there, there's no commitment yet.” Sara said as finally, Sherri agreed and they went back and had another little talk, and Jake was a happy man and Sherri had to consider that someone truly nice and good looking wanted her around, and she started smiling a lot after that.

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Chapter 12: Hunters



Jake was out of bed and walking around a few days later, and Sherri stopped by to congratulate him. Sara and Sam were there too and it started looking like a family affair as many people saw them together and Sherri's reputation made a huge jump. It was nothing for her to be walking down the hall and hear people whispering behind her about how incredibly lucky she was, and it never stopped causing her to smile at it. Even her bad luck seemed to get better and everyone around her noticed that too.

“It's like your a different person,” one of her friends said while they worked.

“Maybe I am,” was all she'd say and people laughed and she joined in, but it was clear she was enjoying this more than anyone else.

“I wish I had a good looking guy to hit the sheets with, maybe my luck would change too, as a matter of fact, if that happened, my luck would have ALREADY changed.” one girl said,laughing, as Sherri tried to tell her that they hadn’t really become a couple yet but no one would believe her.

“Your a smart girl, you cant tell me that you haven’t grabbed this chance, that would be dumb.” they all said as she just smiled and went back to work. It was obvious that the entire station thought she had already decided and she felt the pressure as she worked away, trying to make up her mind before the base had them married.

“I hear the Team is going back down today, their being made official hunters for the time being, since they have more experience than anyone else.” She heard and her face grew red, Jake had been hurt the last time and now that they talked she was worried for him. Maybe this couples thing was getting to her but she saw the time and said she was taking a break, and ran towards the docks to make sure Jake knew she would be worried about him until he returned.

Sam and Jake were getting their last minute orders and were getting ready to leave on the docks. Sara was like a team member now, and no matter what job she was assigned to, it was fine for her to be there to see Sam off, and the Captain smiled that Sam had found someone so fast. Jake was looking all around and looked disappointed, but Sam and Sara just reminded him that she hadn’t really decided yet and he might be asking for a miracle so soon, and he finally agreed, as Sara stepped back and the guys walked onto the shuttle and Jake took his place in the cockpit. He started prep and looked up just as Sherri came running in and he waved and she smiled and waved back. He stopped what he was doing and walked off for a second as the Captain and half the base dock crews looked shocked.

“I wanted to tell you, to be careful.” Sherri said, looking embarrassed as everyone watched from a distance and Jake smiled and nodded.

“I'll be fine, I learn, slowly but I do.” he admitted as she laughed and for just a second gave him a hug and then stepped back with Sara, and Jake smiled and waved as he went back on board and the shuttle lifted off a minute later.

“How long has this been going on?” asked Sampson as Sherri looked embarrassed.

“Starting today,” she admitted as her and Sara walked back towards the maintenance bays to go to work and wait for their men to return.

“Looks like she decided,” Sam said into the coms and Jake just smiled. It was ok with him, he'd been in love with her for a while and this just showed she approved of him, and that’s all that mattered.

“Lets just get done and get home, we have people that are worrying about us now.” Jake said as Sam sat back all smiles. He could just tell by Jake's voice how happy he was, and he was glad for him.

They went to the surface and did some hunting and did manage to get three nice sized reptiles onto the shuttle before any large numbers of drones found them. Sam got a few of those too, as they walked back from hunting ,dragging their loot and they made it back to the shuttle without any real troubles.

“Hundreds of pounds of fresh meat,and some drone parts and plasma, not a bad day.” Sam said as Jake agreed, and they went home and docked just as the Captain was giving a talk to another crew and they went onto the 'backup' shuttle and left the station.

“I didn’t know we had a second team ready.” Jake said as Sampson walked over.

“With the good work you've been doing, we got two volunteers, and they had the skills, so why not. They're assigned to gathering plant resources and metals while you two can gather meat and whatever else you happen to come upon.” he said as Sam told him about the drone parts he got and the Captain nodded he understood.

“There’s another gun in there, I saw that much,” Sam said as Sampson nodded and had another team of workers unload the shuttle.

“Find that new weapon and send it to get repaired,” he ordered as Sam and Jake walked away and went to see about something to eat themselves and wait for their girls to get off work.

“Do you think they caught on?” The new pilot asked as the second shuttle dove towards the surface.

“If they did, it's too late now, just get us into coms range and I'll do the rest.” They were the children of important people on the surface world and they had found out, and they'd be damned if they were going to live their lives working like dogs while their parents waited for them in the Terminals. They had a right and they'd make sure that they made it down to see them after all these years, and have a better life than those others,working their tails off trying to keep that old station running...fools...and they dropped to within sight of a Terminal and called across and identified themselves and their parents were told and they cheered their return as the shuttle sat there,empty and useless just a kilometer from the Terminal they were told never to approach.

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Chapter 13: Traitors



A day later and the second shuttle had not returned and Sampson called for it again and again, to no avail. He sat there, head in hands looking sad. He had hoped with things getting better here that, well....that was over, and he sat back looking disgusted with himself for not seeing it coming. This wasn't the first time but it had been a long time ago, and now, he lost two good people and another shuttle they needed badly. He had their names placed on the bulletin boards as 'missing' and started thinking about trying to get the shuttle and bot back. They had no spares now and that was bad and only one good team they could trust, so he had no choice but to call the Terminal and ask to have it returned, and after some discussion, it was done and the two men were positively identified as safe, and their parents actually thanked him for sending them and he didn’t have the heart to say they defected, so he just smiled and nodded he understood and the shuttle came back on autopilot, and had some parts and resources on it when it landed. Not scrap, but actual parts from the Terminal market, and he saw that they weren't hated, as much as just held at arms length, as not 'planet colonists' while they were in orbit, and he took the parts with gratitude and had the shuttle moved into a staging area to await being used some other time.


But this incident started a barrage of calls, mostly from parents who wanted to see their children after all this time, and both Sampson and the Terminal Commander were overwhelmed by the response that they got from one defection.

“We have never said that people couldn’t return to the base and see their children,” Sampson tried to explain to Sherri's parents who were livid they get to see their daughter.

“Let us know when you want to, and come up, I'm sure she'd be thrilled with your visit.” he added as they nodded and thought about it and her mother looked a little embarrassed.

“It's been so long, has she grown up well, is she in a relationship now? She's 21 and a full sized woman now.” She said almost to herself as Captain Sampson tried to make them see she was quite happy here.

“She's seeing one of our away team members, a very respectable and handsome young man,”he said as she smiled and nodded, at least she was happy,she thought and they set up a day to come up, with several other parents, to see their children they had left behind so long ago.

“I'll post that we'll be having visitors, and everyone will be ready.” Sampson said as the Terminal Commander agreed. It was better this way, there wouldn’t be as many hard feelings if the children stayed to help keep the base going, or even decided to go down to the planet. This way, families who hadn’t seen each other in many years would get the chance and he sat back and waited and made the announcement and the base hummed with excitement.

The day of the meeting a Laird harvester was seen getting loaded onto the shuttle and one of the parents stopped to ask if they were donating to help them.

“Lets call it an incentive to make our daughter consider coming home.” The man said as everyone smiled and agreed, and a few other things were gathered. The shuttle lifted off on time and made the ascent to the station and people looked out the windows as they approached to see what the old station looked like after all this time. It didn’t seem much different but they knew that the crew on board had things a little worse than they did, and it made them worry for them and many on board had long ago decided that they were not leaving without their children and even Sampson could see a hassle coming, but he had agreed to it, for the crews sake, and he was there, with a small crowd of people when the shuttle touched down.

People walked slowly off the shuttle not knowing what to expect, and some children held pictures of their parents, the only link they had had for the last several years and finally they rushed together and held each other and went their ways, to talk or get something to eat or just sit and explain what they had both been doing all this time. Sherri was one of them looking embarrassed and a little sad, standing holding Jake's hand and squeezing it so hard he almost ask her to stop, but soon her mother saw her and she ran over and they hugged as they both cried and her father walked over with a tear in his eyes and thanked Jake for watching out for her all this time.

“She's a strong woman, we just started dating a few weeks ago, before that she was doing fine on her own.” Jake commented as they looked shocked but relieved and Sherri thanked him for the kind words and he gave her a warm smile.

“My god look at you, your all grown up now,” her mother said, stating the obvious but that’s what people do at times like this.

“Mother, father this is Jake he's my...fiance.” she said looking embarrassed even now as Jake smiled, ” and Jake, this is my mother, Anna and my father Samuel Jackson,” as they all shook hands and smiled at each other,and they all walked to the commissary to sit and talk and tell the storys of their adventures on the planet and off.

“Jake just got out of the hospital, he was attacked by a reptile while hunting on the surface a few weeks ago.” Sherri said and it wasn't hard to see she was talking about Jake more than herself.

“Maybe we should let the ladies talk for a while, Sherri's father said as Jake nodded and they got up and walked out while Sherri and her mother smiled and thanked them. They walked back to the shuttle bay and Jake was led to the waiting shuttle where he was shown the Laird sitting there brand new and shiny and he smiled and asked if they had donated this to the station and in a very serious tone, the old man said...”In exchange for Sherri returning to us.” and Jake's mouth fell open. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.


Chapter 14: Family Matters


“I don’t control what Sherri does, if she decides to return to the planet, then I'll accept her decision.” Jake said getting louder as he spoke and Sam stepped back a safe distance to listen.”as far as selling your daughter for equipment,” Jake said throwing his hand towards the bot sitting there. “In my mind your not rich enough to buy her from me, she's worth more to me than you could possibly afford.”

With that the dock crew looked away trying hard not to see and hear what was going on but Sam just cleared his throat and spoke as he stepped a little closer.

“I understand what your saying, this is in no way a bribe, Sherri's very pretty, she reminds me of her mother at that age.” he said as Jake looked more than upset.

“And what would you have sold her for?” he asked as the old man stepped back and had a seriously thoughtful look on his face, maybe he had made a mistake, but it was too late now.

“Lets just forget about this for now, maybe the ladies are ready for us to come back?” Samuel asked as Jake started settling down a little and agreed and they started back.

“Your father and I have been doing very well,” Anna said as Sherri smiled and nodded she hadn’t stopped talking about them or their freight business since the men walked away. “The planet is less dangerous now and the natives have fallen back quite a distance in the last year or two. It looks like we'll be in total control soon.”

“I'm glad for you,” Sherri said as her mom saw she was talking too much about business and stopped for a minute.

“Jake seems nice,” she whispered as Sherri's face burst into bright red but she nodded and they both smiled. “But there are nice guys on the surface too, why your father has this man working driving for him, you'd have to see him to understand, he's young and good looking and...” she went on until Sherri stopped her.

“I understand your doing well mom, and dad has his business, but I'm happy here, and Jake and I just started being a couple. I have no intention of leaving  to live with you. This station needs me and Jake needs me and that makes me happy just to be here.” She explained as her mother looked like she'd cry any second.

“But Sherri, we just found you after all that time,” she blubbered as Sherri sat tall and smiled wide.

”You always knew exactly where I was, but until now you've never even ask about me. You were too busy with the business and I see it makes you happy, and that’s good, but up here its not about money or business, if something were to happen down there, this is YOUR last resort. The only place you have to fall back to, and I help keep it going, and I'm proud of that. Please understand, you'll always be my parents and I'll always be right here, when you want to visit, but I have my own life now.” Sherri said as her mother did cry, if only for a few minutes and she got up and hugged her for a long time as they both burst into tears.

“You'll let me know when anything good happens?” Anna asked as Sherri said she would.

“And I expect you to be here when I have children, someday.” Sherri said as they both cried some more as the men walked up.

“Maybe we should have waited a little longer,” Jake whispered as they looked around and saw them and ran to them and gave them hugs and cried on their shoulders for a minute.

“It alright,shhh,” he whispered as Sherri buried her face into his suit and her mother looked over to see her doing it and smiled.

“You take good care of my girl you hear me, or you'll answer to me.” Anna said not too forcefully as Jake agreed and she gave him a hug as well.

“She's a good girl and I'll do everything I can to make her happy.” he whispered, as she nodded and left him go and rejoined her husband just as the shuttle pilot called for anyone returning to start back. Samuel and Jake shook hands again and Jake said nothing about the 'bribe' from a while ago and they walked back to the docks together as a crowd of people gathered by the shuttle. A few had cloths with them but most didn’t and Sampson smiled that even under these circumstances most were staying.

There were many hugs and handshakes and Captain Sampson told everyone that they could return whenever they wanted and see each other, this was an 'open base' for family visits and many there nodded and he was sure they'd be seeing each other again. Jake and Sherri held hands and waved as her parents went on board and the shuttle lifted off and as they turned to go, he saw the harvester sitting off to the side and Jake smiled. Family was an important thing even way out here, and Sherri and him went to his room to talk about their future and possibly children and he told her he loved her and she did too, right out loud for the first time. The future was at hand and the planet was getting better, now only time would tell what would happen to this tiny shred of humanity, so very,very far from home.

The End

  • TM-PL
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Re: Fan Fiction story

Thats my first story for Perpetuum, hope everyone enjoyed it. As you can see, my story is a bit different from the companys, but I believe that the future will always be about people, not machines or exploration, but people and what they are willing to do to survive everywhere they go. I thank the company for letting me place my story here.

  • CIR
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Re: Fan Fiction story

Nice read, keep em coming!

This is my blob. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  • CIR
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Thanks for the story!