Chapter 34
Vladimir Nikolaevich Anikeyev quickened his pace to catch up with the two people in front of him.
“Today is another beautiful day,” he said in passable German as he came even with the man and woman scanning the ground as they walked.
The woman showed a small smile but didn’t take her eyes off the path.
“Shouldn’t you be looking for signs of prey, Comrade?”, the man said in reply.
“Really, Patrick?” said the woman. “You’re going to start up with the whole “Comrade” thing again?”
“I’m not the person who said he was a Russian Air Force Pilot,” Patrick said. “He admitted that himself.”
“It is ok, Natalie,” Vladimir said. “I recognize I am a foreigner in our group on a planet of foreigners. I can accept an impolite nickname if that helps us survive.”
“Patrick is still being an asshole,” Natalie replied. “And you’re just being nice not calling him as such.”
Vladimir and Patrick were on either side of Natalie and a half step behind her. The Russian looked over and gave the German a toothy grin.
“So why did you decide to join with us Germans instead of sticking with others where you might not be as much of a foreigner,” Natalie asked.
“I have my Uncle to thank for that decision,” Vladimir said. “My Uncle Vanya told me I should gain some level of proficiency with whatever language I had to take in senior school. I had no interest in English, French, or Mandarin, so I ended up in German class as the least distasteful option.”
“After two years, I had saved up some money from jobs and combined it with a gift from my parents for my sixteenth birthday to take a trip to Germany with a couple of school friends the summer before my last year in senior school. I definitely was not fluent, but I was surprised how well I could have a very basic conversation with the local population around Berlin.”
“After that, my test scores were good enough that they let me into German courses at the Air Force Academy. And I did well enough with that study that I was allowed to be part of an officer exchange program with the Luftwaffe for six months after graduation from the Academy.”
“So you want to speak German?” Natalie guessed.
“Well, not exactly,” Vladimir admitted. “Including Russia, there are twenty-two nationalities represented in those of us allowed on that first ship to leave Earth. Of course the Ukrainians make up the largest percentage, nearly one-third of the colonists. But the Germans have the next biggest group – nearly 100 people. I’m not a big fan of Ukraine, so I thought the Germans would be the best group to familiar.”
Vladimir continued. “Why are there so many Germans on the ship?”
“My best guess is that it is due to Germany holding the chair of the EU when the aliens landed,” Patrick offered. “I think the German Green party was able to use their leverage in the EU parliament to argue for such a large contingent of the initial group selected.”
“Well, exactly how they all got here doesn’t really matter to me,” Vladimir stated. “My Uncle’s advice to learn a language allowed me to join this hunting squad with you today, and that is the important point. I think I enjoy my rotation in hunting squad more than all other assignment.”
“And why is that?” Natalie asked.
“It is an even balance whether construction or hunting is the bigger physical demand. Construction requires more top-body, um, long effort and has a consistent pace of work to keep even with the rest of your crew. But hunting has those moments of speed that are needed to chase down the animal. And there is the occasional raw strength when a club or spear is needed to finish off the wounded animal.”
“It sounds like the biggest thrill for you is going in for the kill,” Patrick noticed.
“Don’t put words in his mouth, Patrick,” Natalie scolded her countryman.
“I also will not deny what he says about the emotion – what was it you said, the thrill? – of the kill,” Vladimir said. “But that isn’t the most reason to go hunting. It is better to learn about this world while hunting.”
“I’ll agree with you there, Comrade,” Patrick said.
“You never agree with Vladimir,” a third male voice from behind them all chimed in. “What could possibly be such a basic truth that you admit he is right, Patrick?”
“Dammit, Jurgen, stop sneaking up on us like that!” Patrick said. “I thought you were scouting out front.”
“I thought I’d move out to a flank since the three of you making noise might flush an animal in my direction,” the new person said. “But you’re making way too much noise even for that. So I decided to join in the conversation and try and get all of the talking out of you. So back to my question – what do you and Vladimir agree about?”
“That the best way to learn about the world is to experience it directly,” Patrick said.
“Well, there isn’t much to argue against that,” Jurgen said. “Who is taking the opposite opinion?”
“No one,” said Vladimir. “Who would argue against experiencing the world like this?”
“You mean by going out hunting?” Jurgen said. “I can imagine a few.”
Vladimir let out a rare laugh. “I also can imagine a few. I am thinking of your fellow Germans that tried to convince us that hunting animals wasn’t necessary for our survival.”
“The problem is that only a portion of them feel this way,” Jurgen said. “The German Greens in our colony are less than fifty people. Those that advocate for no hunting are joined by random pacifists from other countries, saying it isn’t right for humans to destroy the fauna on the new planet, and that we should follow the example the Greens set on Earth by not eating meat.”
“If I remember correctly, Jurgen, you laughed in Thomas Scheuermann’s face when he said that,” Natalie noted, now scanning the flora for signs that animals may have passed by earlier.
“The issue on Earth wasn’t hunting the animals,” Jürgen said dismissively, “but rather the environmental toll it took to house, feed, slaughter and distribute the meat. You want to act locally and minimize your impact? Do things for yourself!”
“If the Bundestag had allowed hunting, I would have gotten my license and gone to Schwarzwald every weekend back on Earth to feed and clothe my family,” Jürgen continued.
“And I remember what you said to Scheuermann when he said we should be fair to this planet like we were not to Earth,” Natalie continued. ” ‘You want fairness and equality?’, you said, ‘I know of many animals that would gladly eat you to stay alive. If you feel so strongly about it, walk up to a gryphon and offer yourself in trade for all of the flying woodchucks we’ve taken from their forest.’ “
“And Scheuermann retorted, ‘It’s not about fairness. It’s about taking care of this land better than we did back on Earth. Why do we need to drive local animal populations to extinction here?'”
“And then my favorite line. ‘Do your habitat count of the flying woodchucks, Scheuermann,” you replied. ‘And when the population of woodchucks is declining faster than the population of our colony, come talk to me.’ ” Natalie finished retelling the story with a laugh.
Vladimir smiled as well, recalling this interaction.
“So, have you loudmouths seen a sign of any RiverDeer?” Jürgen asked. “I mean, they are big enough that we should have seen something by now.”
“It’s only now getting light enough for me to see well,” Patrick replied. “Like you’ve said yourself, the RiverDeer must have learned to stay clear of humans closer to Novograd, so here we are traveling up-river to find suitable game.
Vladimir moved closer to Jurgen. “I’m guessing we’ve walked about ten kilometers already, eh Schroeder?”
Jurgen shrugged his shoulders, continuing to look at the ground in front of him. “I’m not good at estimating distances. That’s for you military types,” he responded.
“So, again, have you seen a sign of any RiverDeer?” Jurgen repeated.
“I think about a kilometer back I may…” Vladimir said.
“What’s that!” Natalie exclaimed, pointing to the sky.
The quartet watched a contrail quickly form overhead, then heard a sound that was a cross between a thunder clap and a sub-sonic whoosh, and finally saw a familiar shape streak nearly above them and then quickly come to a stop, lowering into the woods on the other side of the river.
All four of the hunters raced from the animal path they were on and ran to the river, but by the time they got to the river’s edge, the ship had already dipped below the trees on the other side.
“Did you see that?” Patrick asked in astonishment.
“Yes, Patrick, Natalie pointed it out to us,” Jurgen said, not trying at all to hide his sarcasm.
“I know, but I can’t believe we saw it!” Patrick said. “I mean, of all the places on this planet, it flew right over us! Imagine the odds of that happening with all the land space!”
“That’s presuming that Nova has as much land area as the planet we left behind, my Earth-centric friend,” Natalie said. “Who knows how much land is on this planet? Maybe we’re all going to be plopped onto one big island and all the ships coming here will result in things getting crowded before too long.”
“That doesn’t seem like a very sustainable pattern,” Vladimir said. “If we trust the aliens, I would think there would be more space for all of us to spread out. And if the aliens just wanted to have us die from overcrowding, why not just dump any new colonists in space and save the effort of having the ship land?”
“But they didn’t dump us into space, did they, Comrade?” Patrick said. “So I guess we can trust the aliens.”
“Remember how they promised to show the rest of the Earth that it would be safe for humans to be here? They needed the videos from us,” Vladimir said without emotion. “We had to survive so others would agree to follow us.”
“I see the cynical Russian is coming out in you, Vladimir,” Jurgen noted.
“No, just the person who paid attention when we got the intelligence briefing before leaving Earth,” the pilot replied, gazing intently across the river for any signs of activity.
All three of the others looked at the Russian Air Force officer. Vladimir noticed this after a few moments of silence when he turned to see what the other three were doing.
“You can’t tell me you are surprised when I say this?” Vladimir asked. “I already told you I’m an Air Force pilot. This was treated like any other mission. I met with an intelligence officer who covered all of the possible options. She felt it would be safest to be on the first set of ships to leave Earth, since the aliens had the most benefit from having these people arrive safely on the new planet. She said one of three outcomes would be likely:
a) We were killed sometime after we boarded the ship and before we arrived on the planet.
b) We arrived on the planet but no one else would be following us, or
c) We arrived on the planet and many other colonists would follow.
So it looks like Option C has the most likely conclusion at this point.”
“And what else did your intelligence officer cover in your briefing?” Jurgen asked.
Vladimir thought for a moment. “We worked together on some estimates of how many people would be arriving. This is where the math got tricky. Too many variables. But if they were able to get all those sites established, then – hmmm, this is Day 57 here? – then we guessed between three-hundred and five-hundred colonies by now.”
“Half a million people are here now?” Natalie said incredulously.
“So maybe it’s not a surprise that we’re finally seeing someone else on this planet,” Jurgen said.
“Should we go meet them?” Vladimir asked with a grin.
“How?” Patrick replied. “They are on the other side of the river!”
“We could tie some of the logs together with vines and pole ourselves across,” Vladimir answered.”
“Oh, I love that idea!” Natalie. “Let’s do it!”
“What about the other hunting groups?” Patrick said.
“It looks like they will be checking in with us,” Jurgen said, pointing upriver to where a group of people were walking along the same side of the water around a bend in the river back towards the quartet.
“I’m going to go find some logs for the boat while you wait for them,” Vladimir announced.
“I’ll join you,” Natalie said.
Vladimir looked at Patrick and gave him another toothy grin as he walked back into the woods with the female hunter.
It took fifteen minutes for the lead group to make their way back to the quartet. In that time, Vladimir and Natalie found logs from three fallen trees they found suitable.
“Hello, Natalie!” one of the people from the other hunting group said as Natalie and Vladimir appeared carrying their third log and some vines.
“Hello, Katrin! Did you see the ship?” Natalie responded.
“Well, not that well,” Katrin replied. “We were too far back in the trees, so couldn’t really make out what it was. But we definitely heard it. And when we got to the river, we could see the commotion it had stirred up, with all of the birds flying away.”
She continued, “Jurgen tells me you’re forming a Welcoming Committee to float over to there and see what’s going on.”
“Meeting other people sounds a lot more exciting than looking for a non-existent RiverDeer, wouldn’t you think?” Natalie responded.
“Much more interesting,” Katrin agreed. “Although we had trailed one RiverDeer and spotted it through the woods when the colony ship came along and spooked it, like it did us. By the time we looked back, the deer had run off. But anyway, back to the topic at hand. Would you like assistance getting your raft together?”
“Yes, please,” Vladimir jumped in. “Even though these trees are wider here, we still need at least another four to make a big enough raft for two people.”
“How many logs would you need for three people?” Katrin asked.
“You want to join us, Katrin?” Natalie said with excitement. “That would be great!”
“No, I’d rather chase down RiverDeer than strange people,” Katrin replied. “But Ursula here would love to go. She’s just too shy to ask.”
One of the others in the second party looked at the ground with an uncomfortable smile while she blushed.
“One more person would not increase the need by much. Perhaps another log would be enough,” Vladimir said.
“I’ll help get the logs,” Ursula said softly but enthusiastically.
“Thank you,” Vladimir said. “It would really help if we had a fourth person.”
“OK, I’ll help too,” the third member of the forward hunting group said. “At least the logs don’t run away from me.”
“Thank you, Klement,” Ursula said. “If you want to go, I can stay here.”
“No, no,” the man said. “I’m not a big fan of moving water. Of any water, as far as that goes. Besides, you would be looking at me with sad eyes the entire trip across the river, and I couldn’t take that.”
It took another forty-five minutes for the four of them to find the five suitable logs of proper length, width, and minimal state of decomposure before they were ready to bind them together into a raft. By the time Vladimir, Natalie and Ursula pushed off from shore, the sun was a third-of-the-way up the sky towards the midday point. Natalie and Ursula were on the left and right front with bark they were going to use as makeshift paddles. Vladimir was in the rear with a four-meter branch he was using as a push-pole.
They made it nearly a third of the way across before the pole could no longer be used, and the bark paddles weren’t as effective as hoped. With the slow current and forward motion, the women were able to move the raft across until Vladimir was able to get the pole to make contact with the river bottom again. Eventually they landed approximately a kilometer down-river from their target site across from where they left.
“So do you know where the ship landed?” Ursula asked once the three of them had hauled the raft onto the riverbank.
“Not exactly,” Vladimir said.
“I’m pretty sure it went behind the trees almost straight across from where we pushed off,” Natalie said. “And if it’s like our experience, the ship won’t land too far from the river so the colonists can find it without getting lost in the woods.”
“Sounds logical,” Vladimir said. “Let’s get walking!”
The three of them hiked along the river’s edge back up-river. They eventually spotted Jurgen and Katrin standing on the shore talking to members of the third hunting group that had caught up with the other two.
“Hey! Hel…” Ursula started to shout across the river.
“Wait!” Vladimir said, grabbing the woman’s arm.
Ursula jerked it back in surprise.
“I’m sorry, but I just don’t want to make a lot of noise and announce our presence to the new colonists just yet,” Vladimir said.
Ursula stepped back while Natalie moved between her and Vladimir. “Why? What are you possibly worried about? We’re the ones approaching them with weapons.”
“Again, I’m sorry,” Vladimir said. “I just know you never give up any advantage in an unknown situation. I don’t expect any issues, but please can we approach with caution?”
Natalie shook her head and started walking into the trees. Vladimir shifted the spear in his hand and left the river’s edge as well. Ursula turned to the other shore, waved at the group that had spotted them, and then followed the other two.
After a minute of walking, Ursula asked in a quiet voice from behind, “How will we announce ourselves? I mean, how do we know we can communicate with this group?”
This made both Natalie and Vladimir pause, allowing Ursula to catch up.
“Good point, Ursula. I hadn’t even thought they would be from somewhere that wouldn’t understand us,” Natalie said. “The only language I speak well enough besides German is some French.”
“German, Russian and some Ukrainian is all I can offer,” Vladimir said.
“One of my best friends married an American,” Ursula said. “We would speak English around him to practice. But I’m definitely not fluent.”
“Then we’d better hope someone in the group speaks German, Russian, French, English or Ukrainian,” Natalie said. “I’d said that’s a pretty good selection.”
The three of them walked for another few minutes and then heard some noise ahead. They crouched down behind some bushes, and saw a man approach along an animal trail and continue past them on the path to the river, unaware of the three hunters watching him.
After he had passed, the trio from Novograd quietly continued in the direction from where the man came. After another minute, they could hear voices and general crowd noise ahead. As they approached the clearing, the crowd noise increased and individual voices became difficult to make out.
Natalie again was the first to notice the cause of the commotion. She motioned towards the landing ship, where robots were carrying the dead bodies off the ship. As soon as Ursula saw what was happening, she slumped to her knees. Vladimir caught her before she fell forward.
He and Natalie lifted her up under her arms and carried her back a few dozen meters to where they were completely hidden from the clearing.
“Ursula!” Natalie whispered urgently. “What’s happening to you?”
Ursula looked up as if she was barely registering the question.
“My sister came with me to Nova,” Ursula said. “But she didn’t survive the trip. I saw those robots carry her body off just like what is happening back there.”
Vladimir and Natalie looked at each other, obviously surprised by this revelation.
“I’m so sorry, Ursula,” Natalie said. “We had no idea, otherwise we wouldn’t have brought you here.”
Ursula shook her head as if trying to knock loose the old memories. “None of us thought about it,” she said. “Too many things are happening all at once today for clear thoughts.”
“We’ll take you back to the raft and leave,” Natalie said.
“No!” replied Ursula. “No, I’ll be ok. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll catch up. Go ahead and introduce yourself to the Chinese colonists.”
“How do you know they are Chinese?” Vladimir asked.
“I may not speak Mandarin, but I believe I can recognize it compared to other languages,” Ursala explained. “And, forgive me for saying this, but they certainly look Chinese.”
Vladimir looked at Natalie and nodded his agreement.
“We can’t just leave you here,” Natalie said.
“Look, I’ll be fine,” Ursula said. “I’m going to wait for a bit until I think the robots are all done with their work. If I remember correctly, it didn’t take them long for our ship. Go introduce yourselves and I’ll join you.”
Again, Vladimir looked at Natalie and nodded.
“Go!” Ursula said, giving Natalie a friendly shove.
Natalie and Vladimir returned to their blind closer to the clearing. The noise and commotion had definitely subsided, as the colonists determined what had happened. There were some people crying in sorrow at the loved ones who didn’t make it, but mostly the people were giving the robots wide berth and not watching the dead bodies getting hauled away.
Natalie spotted a group of people clustered together, with one person talking loudly and giving directions to others.
She leaned close to Vladimir and whispered, “A leader, I would guess.”
Vladimir nodded again, watching the group intently.
“Let’s go say hello before they catch us spying on them,” Natalie said and then quickly stood up before Vladimir could respond.
He watched her walk out from behind the blind and start walking towards the group, then mumbled a curse and followed.
“We should have observed them for more time,” Vladimir said quietly, catching up to his hunting partner.
“I want them to trust us, and sneaking around isn’t the best move,” Natalie replied equally quietly. Then, in a much louder voice, “Guten tag! Hallo! Welcome to Nova” all the while smiling and giving a friendly wave to the people nearest to her.
Heads started immediately turning towards the pair as they either spotted the strangers walking into the clearing or heard the voice. That, in turn, drew the attention of others further away as they saw the first people reacting to the unexpected visitors. And before they had walked thirty meters, Natalie and Vladimir were surrounded by the newly arrived colonists.
“Guten Tag! Bonjour! Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Parlez-vous français?” Natalie said.
Vladimir added “Zdravstvuyte! a ty govorish’ po russki? A mozhe, ukrayinsʹka?”
The people in the crowd mostly stared at them, whispering to each other, with a few responding in their native language.
One of the colonists pushed through the crowd, looking at Vladimir and then at the spear in his hand. He approached from the side and reached out to take the spear, with Vladimir noticing a half-second before the colonist grabbed the weapon, allowing Vladimir to tighten his grip on the shaft. A quick tug occurred, with Vladimir then easily pushing the colonist backwards, resulting in him falling on his buttocks.
A few others shouted before a loud whistle and an even louder shout was heard above the din. The circle parted and the person Natalie had pointed out earlier came through the crowd, surveying the two strangers and the man sitting on the ground.
“Nǐ shì shéi?” said this man.
“Hallo,” Natalie replied, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
The man shook his head slightly and looked at Vladimir. “Nǐ yào shuō shénme?”
Vladimir replied “A ty govorish’ po russki?”
The man shook his head side-to-side again.
“Peut-être français? Est-ce que vous parlez français?” Natalie offered.
The man smiled and replied, “Je parle un petite peu.”
Natalie turned to Vladimir, “Well, it appears he knows some French.”
Then, returning her attention to the new arrival, “Excellent! Je m’appelle Natalie.” she continued in their common language. “My name is Natalie. This is Vladimir. Welcome to Nova! We have a colony down river from here. We were hunting and saw your ship land this morning.”
“Hello, Natalie. My name is Zhang Yongsheng. I don’t understand every word, but thank you for the welcome,” the man responded. “How many days since your arrive?”
“We are with the first ship,” Natalie said. “We have been here…”
She paused and turned to Vladimir, asking in German, “How many days have we been here? Fifty-something?”
Vladimir thought and then answered, “Fifty-seven”
Natalie turned back to Zhang, and said, “We have been here fifty-seven days.”
“You come from Europe?” Zhang asked.
“Yes, I am from Germany,” she answered. “Our ship came from Kremenchuk, Ukraine.”
“Yes, I remember Kremenchuk,” Zhang said. “The Russians tried to explode the aliens. Not intelligent.”
Natalie glanced at Vladimir, who was looking at them both with a furrowed brow.
“Now I wish I had studied French,” Vladimir said to Natalie in German. “All I think I heard was Kremenchuk.”
“Um, yes,” Natalie said a bit nervously. “He remembers that being one of the first launch sites.”
Vladimir nodded, but still looking a bit uncertain about the conversation.
Natalie turned back to Zhang, switching back to French. “We would be happy to introduce you to other people from our colony and have you visit us.”
“We have just arrived and you are asking us to abandon our location? Why would we want to do that?” Zhang asked.
“Because we can show you what we learned and help you start your colony more easily,” Natalie answered.
Zhang paused and then turned to speak to one of the other colonists.
While the two new arrivals were talking, another set of voices could be heard speaking up. Vladimir and Natalie turned to see a crowd gathering close to the edge of the clearing.
“I’m looking for two people. Two Europeans,” they heard Ursula speaking in German. And then, as she pushed past a few of the colonists. “Ah! There they are!”
Ursula walked over to her two friends. “So what is happening?” she asked with simple curiosity.
Zhang said something to a few of the other new colonists and waved them away. They jogged to some other new arrivals, who all then fanned out, leaving the clearing in different directions.
Zhang turned back to Natalie. “How many of you are there in the trees?”
Natalie, looking a bit worried, answered “Just the three of us?”
“Why was she hide?” the Chinese spokesperson asked.
“She was not hiding,” Natalie replied. “She saw the, uh, the machines and felt ill. She was resting.”
Ursula, sensing the tension, held out her hand to the stranger, saying “Guten tag!”.
Zhang did not return the gesture, but instead turned back to the person he was speaking to, exchanged some more words, pointed at Ursula, and then nodded slightly.
“The machines are surprising, we agree,” he finally said to the trio of hunters, but looking at Ursula. “The videos are not the same as the real life.”
Then, returning his attention to Natalie, “How distance is your colony?”
“Probably between ten and fifteen kilometers that direction,” Natalie said, pointing towards the river and up-current. “Please come with us on our return and visit our colony.”
“Let me talk with my team,” Zhang said.
He called for one of the people standing back a bit. The man came forward, with a wary look on his face. Zhang spoke urgently with him, eventually pointing his finger in the man’s chest when the man was shaking his head. Eventually the man nodded, with the wary look replaced by one of resignation.
Zhang turned back to Natalie. “This is Wang Fanrong. He is the under-chair for the hunt. He will go with you to learn about the hunt and about your colony. But one of you must stay here with us.”
Natalie said to Zhang, “Our hunting group remains together.”
“Then we do not go,” Zhang replied definitively.
Natalie turned to her co-hunters. “He said that man will go with us, but one of us has to stay here.”
“Not safe,” Vladimir said quickly.
Ursula countered. “Think about it, you two. We’re asking them to leave their colony within minutes of their arrival. They are the ones who I think have more to fear. I think this could be a very good thing for our colony, and for theirs. I’ll stay behind. You can be back tomorrow and I’ll learn more about this group.”
“This is not safe at all,” Vladimir said again. “Who knows what they will do! The Chinese cannot be trusted.”
“Please, Vladimir,” Ursula said, putting her arm on his. “This is not the Indian Ocean. This is a new planet. We do not need to bring our wars and built-in animosities to Nova. Now is the time for faith, not mistrust.”
Then Ursula turned to Zhang, patting herself on the chest, saying “Ich werde bei dir bleiben.” Then, when no one acknowledged what she was saying, she switched to English “I will stay with you. Does anyone speak English?”
One of the people close to Zhang leaned close to him and said something.
Zhang nodded, then speaking to Natalie, “Good, I’m glad she will stay. And yes, we have more people that speak English than French. Li Yilin is one person.”
Natalie turned to Ursula and spoke to her softly in German, “I agree with Vladimir. This is not a good idea and not safe. We’ll return in a few days with a larger group, and some of those people can stay behind together.”
“Nonsense!” Ursula said. “We have an opportunity to establish a good relationship. If we all leave after this discussion, that will indeed breed distrust. I’m staying. Even if no one goes with you.”
Then she turned to the man who had leaned into Zhang after she spoke. “My name is Ursula,” she said to him in English, again extending his hand.
The man looked at Zhang, who gave a small nod.
“I am Li Yilin,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Excellent!” Zhang said to Natalie. “Wang can go with you in one minute.”
The Chinese spokesperson pulled the unwilling volunteer away from the crowd, and continued his intense conversation with him. The other man simply nodded every few sentences.
The two of them returned, with Zhang saying to Natalie, “He can speak a small bit of English. He will not understand much, but he has a good head.”
“Then we will leave now,” Natalie responded. “We should be able to return to our camp by night.”
Natalie herself huddled with Ursula, whispering “If anything at all happens, leave immediately. You’re a capable huntress and can make your way back across the river from our camp. We’ll have someone watching for you.”
Ursula smiled, speaking reassuringly to Natalie. “Just return with Mr. Wang by the end of tomorrow, and everything will be in good condition.”
The two groups parted, with Wang Fanrong looking much less excited about the colonist swap than Ursula.
Vladimir, Natalie and Fanrong walked back to the water and located the raft downriver. The Chinese colonist gave the two Novogradans a look of disbelief, pointed to the lashed-together logs and said something with a nervous laugh.
“I think he is questioning our construction skills,” Natalie said with her own not-at-all nervous laugh.
Vladimir’s response was to pick up one of the bark paddles and motion with his head to have Wang Fanrong come forward and take it, while he held the raft in place with one foot on the riverbank and one on a log.
Fanrong said something else which neither of them understood, and then crossed his arms.
“Hold the raft in place, please, Natalie,” Vladimir said, passing the branch pole to his hunting partner. He then took two big steps to get to Wang Fanrong.
“Please, Vladimir, be easy with him,” Natalie said quickly. “He’s only just arrived on this planet and I’m sure is nervous about this whole situation.”
“He will be less nervous when we’re on the other side of the river,” Vladimir said, pushing the paddle into Fanrong’s hands, and taking him firmly by the arm and moving him onto the raft.
The Chinese colonist almost fell in the water, and quickly sat down. Since there wasn’t much free space on the logs, he was automatically next to the edge.
Vladimir took the branch pole back from Natalie and pushed away from the riverbank.
Natalie began rowing to keep the raft going as straight across the river as possible. The current had picked up strength a bit, and it was more of a challenge to make a straight shot across.
“Start paddling!” Vladimir barked at Wang Fanrong.
The new arrival did not respond.
Vladimir tapped him on the shoulder with the pole, which made Fanrong jump. “Start paddling!” Vladimir said again. Mr. Wang looked at him with no response.
“Paddle!” Vladimir said, making paddling motions with his hands.
Fanrong could see the raft going downriver more than across, got the hint, and stuck his bark paddle in the water.
Whether due to weakness from just having arrived or trepidation of the water, Wang’s rowing was not effective. Now that they were far enough out, Vladimir could no longer reach the river bottom with his pole. Natalie strained to direct the craft across the river, with no noticeable assistance from Wang. They could see some rough water ahead.
“We need to make it across before we hit those rapids,” Natalie huffed, paddling even harder. Then her bark snapped just below her grip, and the broken piece floated away from the raft. “Scheisse!” she said.
Vladimir tried to touch bottom, but could not make any good contact.
“Take the pole and I’ll use his paddle,” Vladimir said, handing the branch to Natalie.
Vladimir grabbed the bark from Wang Fanrong, and made him move to the other corner of the raft. Then he began dipping the bark deep into the water, supporting the back of the bark with one hand to avoid it snapping, as he was taking deep cuts into the river’s surface.
Natalie was able to connect with a few spots along the river bottom, and before they had reached the rapids, the two hunters had the handmade log-raft back in manageable waters. They made it to shore without further excitement.
Stepping off the raft after the other two, Vladimir flung the bark out into the river. “That trip back took twice the time to cross the river this morning. And we are yet another kilometer down river. It will take the rest of the day to find our group!”
“It’s not his fault,” Natalie said, pulling the raft logs up the river bank.
“Like hell it’s not!” Vladimir started shouting. “He did nothing to help with…”
A loud bird-whistle interrupted the Russian’s rant. Vladimir and Natalie both glanced at each other, then looked up-river. Wang Fanrong did the same, looking much more nervous than the other two.
Some rustling sounds came from the bushes, and Fanrong quickly stood up, getting ready to run.
Katrin pushed through the branches and ran over to Natalie.
“You looked very impressive on the water, Ms. Natalie,” she said with excitement, giving her friend a hug.
“Thank you, I didn’t feel very impressive,” Natalie replied.
Jurgen and then Patrick came through the undergrowth.
“Do you always make this much noise when you are out hunting?” Jurgen said as he approached the three people, his hand extended to greet Vladimir with a shake.
Vladimir smiled and took the German’s hand. “I don’t want to surprise anything I might be approaching.”
“That certainly won’t be a problem,” Jurgen said.
“Where is Ursula?” Katrin said, looking around. “We couldn’t see you very well on the water. Is she OK?”
“Yes, she is fine,” Natalie said, taking Katrin’s hand. “She offered to stay behind with the new colonists while one of their people joined us.”
“Where is she?” Patrick asked.
“She is with the Chinese colonists on the other side of the river,” Vladimir replied.
“You told me you would take care of her,” Katrin said, pulling her hand away from Natalie’s.
“She did,” Vladimir said. “Natalie wanted Ursula to come back, but Ursula insisted on staying behind to make the Chinese more comfortable with sending one of their people with us.”
Everyone turned to look at the Chinese colonist at this point.
“This is Wang Fanrong,” Natalie said.
Mr. Wang looked up when he heard his name.
“I’m afraid he doesn’t speak any German,” Natalie said.
“Wáng xiānshēng nǐ hǎo wǒ jiào pàtèlǐkè,” Patrick spoke up.
All heads turned from Wang Fanrong to Patrick.
“What was that you said, Patrick?” a very surprised Natalie asked.
“I said hello, and told him my name is Patrick,” he replied.
“In what language?” Natalie continued.
“In Mandarin, of course,” Patrick responded, unable to hide his now ever-widening smirk.
“Since when did you learn Mandarin,” Jurgen joined in the questioning.
“When I left University, I got a job with a commodities trading company. I was given the China desk, and had to learn enough Mandarin to perform business,” Patrick explained. “It was much easier for me to pick up than others made me think it would be. But I haven’t spoken it in at least ten years, so I’m sure my skills have languished.”
The other Novograd colonists were stunned.
“Nǐ hǎo, pàtèlǐkè. Wǒ hěn gāoxìng tīng dào nǐ shuō wǒ de yǔyán,” Wang Fanrong said, breaking the uncomfortable lull in conversation. “Wǒmen xiànzài yào qù nǎlǐ?”
The group looked at Patrick.
“He asks where we are going now,” Patrick said.
“I guess we go back to the colony,” Jurgen said. “Novograd, to be clear.”
“What happened to the others in the group over here?” Vladimir asked.
“They continued the hunt,” Jurgen answered. “Someone has to bring food back, or else they’ll throw all of us, including Mr. Wang Fanrong, into the river.”
Patrick explained to Wang where they were going. The Chinese colonist nodded, looked at Jurgen, and said, in English, “We go.”
And with that, Jurgen led the group away from the riverbank and back to the animal path that led down river.
Jurgen took point with Katrin close behind, scanning either side as they went. Patrick and Fanrong came next. Natalie and Vladimir took the rear position.
Patrick and Fanrong were carrying on a spirited conversation, and the German host was frequently pointing into the trees, picking a plant or leaf to give to his guest, and gesturing frequently with his hands.
“I don’t remember Patrick having this much happiness except when he calls me ‘Comrade’,” Vladimir said.
“He does seem to be enjoying himself,” Natalie noted.
“What could be so exciting?” Vladimir asked.
“Well, he is obviously pointing out the plants and animals to Mr. Wang, who seems to appreciate hearing about them, so I’m guessing Patrick likes to have a willing audience,” Natalie said.
“Hmmff,” Vladimir responded, continuing to glare at his German hunting partner.
The new arrival and the original settler continued conversing in Mandarin as they talked, but the farther the sextet walked, the softer the voices of the two men became.
“Did you see that?”, Vladimir said.
Natalie, who had been watching the trail, looked up. “See what?”
“He looked at us a second time,” Vladimir said in a hushed tone.
“Who looked at us,” Natalie said with slight weariness in her tone.
“Patrick!,” the Russian pilot hissed. “He and that Chinese man are making bad plans.”
“They are doing what?” his walking partner queried.
“Making bad plans against us,” Vladimir said, in an even quieter voice.
“You mean they are plotting against us?” Natalie asked.
“Yes! Plotting against us,” he repeated. “Plotting”
“I swear this is getting ridiculous between you two,” Natalie said loud enough that made both Patrick and Wang Fanrong turn around.
“What was that?” Patrick said.
“Oh, nothing,” Natalie lied.
Kartin’s head turned around, saw the other four stopped, and called out. “Jurgen! Halt!”
The trail leader stopped, turned around, and called out in a loud voice, “What’s wrong!”
Vladimir glared at Natalie, who glared back.
“Nothing!” Natalie yelled.
“Then what were you going on about?” Patrick said, walking back to the two in the back.
The other three also converged on the last couple.
“Nothing is wrong,” Vladimir said.
“I can speak for myself,” Natalie countered. “As a matter of fact, I did complain. I’m tired of walking.”
“We can rest,” Jurgen said.
“No, I’m not physically tired,” Natalie said with tension rising in her voice. “I’m just tired of being out here. We came out to hunt, didn’t find anything, spent most of the day just walking or rowing. I just want it to be done.”
Everyone else just looked at her.
“Achh! Come on, Katrin!,” Natalie said, grabbing her friend by the arm, “we’re not getting there any sooner just standing here!” And she led the other woman down the path.
Patrick turned to Vladimir, grinned, and spoke in Mandarin to his guest, who turned and followed Patrick after the .
Jurgen, now standing in the rear, turned to the Russian, “What was all that about?”
“Who knows,” Vladimir said “I don’t always understand everything she speaks.” And he followed the others without expanding on it further.
The group, still led by Natalie and Katrin, reached the outskirts of the Novograd colony shortly after lunch.
“Hallo!” Natalie called out to a woman she saw approaching along the path.
“Hallo, Natalie,” the woman replied. “You’re back a lot sooner than I expected! You must have caught something already.”
“Yes, but nothing we can eat,” Natalie said. “Do you know where Robert is today?”
“Which Robert?” the woman said.
“Robert Barschdorf,” Natalie answered, stopping as she and Katrin came even with the woman on the path.
“I think he’s helping with repairs to the medical hut,” the woman said. “What are you so mysterious about, Natalie?”
Jurgen and Fanrong rounded the corner in the path and could be seen by the trio conversing ahead.
“This is what, or I should say, who, we caught,” Natalie said, pointing back to the two men. “His name is Wang Fanrong. He’s from a colony ship that landed this morning up-river.”
The woman stared intently at the approaching pair. Then her eyes widened, she squeaked and turned around and ran back down the path toward camp.
Patrick came even with Natalie and Katrin. “What did you say to her,” he asked.
“I just told her we found the Chinese colonists this morning, and she ran away,” Natalie said. “Nobody seems to be making any sense.”
The group continued down the path but didn’t make it more than twenty meters before a larger group could be seen approaching from the direction of the colony site. And a cacophony of voices broke out.
“Angelika said you found someone who…”
“Where did you find him?”
“How many people were…”
“Did he say anything about …”
All this made Fanrong take a step back. At the same time, Vladimir and Jurgen caught up, and walked in front of the Chinese colonist to block the curious crowd.
“Enough!” Patrick said loudly. “Give this man a break! You all remember what it was like the first day here. We’ll introduce him once we get back to base camp. In the meantime, let us through.”
And with that said, the crowd backed up a bit. Natalie and Katrin started forward, with Patrick motioning for Wang Fanrong. Jurgen and Vladimir let him in front of them again, and they all tried to surround him as much as possible for the rest of the trip down the path to the colony site.
By the time they stepped into the clearing, a crowd of a few hundred had gathered.
“Out of the way, people,” Patrick shouted.
“Let’s head to the medical cabin,” Natalie said. “Barschdorf is supposed to be there.”
They didn’t make it that far before they were approached by another group, with a man walking eagerly towards them.
“Natalie, Jurgen – welcome back!” the man said.
“Thanks, Robert,” Natalie replied. “We need to talk to you and the rest of the council about our discovery.”
“Yes, I’m guessing so,” Robert replied. “Eva should be coming over, since she’s with the team working on the family housing. I’ve sent some others to locate the other three. How did all this come about?”
“Can we wait for the explanation til the other Council members have arrived?” Katrin said. “In the meantime, I think our guest would really benefit from some food.”
“And so would I,” Jurgen said.
“Absolutely!” Robert answered. “Please, Mr. …” he said, looking at the new arrival, then at Natalie.
“Wang Fanrong,” she offered.
“Please, Mr. Wang Fanrong, follow me and we’ll get you something to eat,” Robert said.
Patrick translated, and Wang Fanrong smiled and nodded his head.
It took an hour before two of the three people that Robert had sent for made it back to camp. In the meantime, Eva found her way over to where the crowd continued to gather.
Finally, when the meal was done and the other Council members arrived, Robert led with introductions, with Patrick translating for Mr. Wang.
“This is Eva Baueregger. She is the one of the three General Representatives on our Rotating Council,” Robert said.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Eva said, shaking Wang Fanrong’s hand.
“This is Marco Spulanti, another General Representative,” Robert noted.
“Bonjourno,” Marco said, extending his hand.
“And this…” Robert started.
“Nǐ hǎo wáng xiānshēng wǒ jiào sī wéitè lā nà”, the woman interrupted. “Svetlana Chernenko”
“Lìng yīgè jiǎng pǔtōnghuà de rén! Yōuxiù de!” Wang Fanrong said.
Robert Barschdorf looked at Patrick, “What was that he said?”
“He’s glad to hear someone else who can speak Mandarin,” Patrick translated.
“Ah, good,” Robert said, with a side glance at Svetlana. “In any event, we welcome you to Nova.”
Natalie jumped into the conversation, “So the reason we dragged poor Mr. Wang all the way here is because we think it would be helpful to offer our experience and some assistance in getting his new colony started.”
Robert looked at the others, who nodded. “I’m sure we can help. What did you have in mind,” he asked.
“We didn’t have any specific details in mind,” Natalie said. “We weren’t expecting to meet them today. But we thought you might have some ideas.”
And with that, an intense conversation began between the Council Members, the people gathered around, and the six people that had come from upriver.
After an hour, the general agreement was to offer advice and trade some colony members between the two groups, with the Novogradans sharing their experience, primarily focused on the things that worked well for them and the mistakes they made. The new arrivals would also be invited to join in hunting and food gathering excursions, with the collection divided between the colonies. And finally a group of Chinese arrivals would be invited to examine the housing and other buildings to see what techniques were working best.
“This sounds like a wonderful plan,” Wang Fanrong told Patrick and Svetlana.
When Natalie heard the conversation was finished, she gained interest again. “Very good!” she said, looking at Fanrong. “We still have enough daylight to get you back to your colony. Should we leave now?”
“Oh, please, no” Mr. Wang responded after Natalie’s question was translated. “I’m feeling weak from the travel to this place. I need some rest, please.”
“Absolutely!” Svetlana said. “Please, Mr. Wang, I insist you stay in the lodge with me tonight. You can use my cot, as we’re still a bit low on good sleeping places.”
One of the Ukrainian colonist spoke up. “Before you go, we should know any news from home. How long ago did he leave? Can he tell us what happened on Earth after our ship departed?”
“I left less than two months after your departure,” Fanrong explained after Patrick translated the question. “Not much had changed in that time, other than some new launch sites had been built.”
Natalie shook her head and walked away from the group, who continued to pepper the new arrival with questions.
Vladimir followed after Natalie, catching up with her right before she entered her log-dormitory.
“You’ll be happy to know I’m not going to complain about Patrick,” he said to get her attention. “I am more worried about Svetlana.”
Natalie stopped and turned around. “Your fellow Russian?” she asked. “Why her?”
“She is, um, someone who plans,” Vladimir said, struggling to find the correct German words.
“Isn’t planning a good thing,” Natalie commented.
“No, she… she plans for her own benefit, and doesn’t tell others,” Vladimir explained.
“Ah, she’s a Ränkeschmied!” Natalie said. “Well, I would have to agree with you. She definitely seems to be scheming something quite often. But what is she up to with someone she just met?”
“She jumped right into speaking his language without holding back that knowledge,” Patrick explained. “I would expect her to hide that ability so she could listen in on their conversations. I think she wants something from him. Especially if she is willing to give up her bed.”
“Yes, we do have such luxurious lodging, don’t we,” Natalie chuckled. “Gute Nacht, Vladimir! We’ll talk tomorrow morning. Please get some sleep tonight.”
And having said that, she walked into her building, leaving the Russian Air Force pilot outside to stare at the entryway, before he left and found his own quiet place
The next morning, Vladimir made his way to the food shelter and discovered a large group gathered around Wang Fanrong, asking him questions through Patrick and Svetlana. There was a lot more excitement in the air, and a lot more laughter as well, compared to the previous day. Fanrong seemed to thoroughly enjoy his newfound fame.
Vladimir walked wide of the group, got his morning meal, and wandered off to eat his breakfast in a more quiet setting.
“Good morning,” a female voice said, interrupting his solitude and his focus on his food.
Vladimir looked up. “Good morning, Katrin!” he said. “How are you this morning?”
“I’m worried about Ursula,” she responded. “I just hope they are treating her as well as we are treating Mr. Wang.”
“I am sure they are,” Vladimir said, trying to sound comforting. “They know they are at risk if they don’t treat her well.”
“And that is supposed to make me feel better?” Katrin said. “Knowing we’ll go to war because the first colony outside of ours that we meet has harmed my best friend?”
“No, I meant,” Vladimir started to say.
“That’s ok,” Katrin interrupted. “I know what you were trying to say. I’m sorry I’m being grumpy. I just don’t like the feeling of this.”
“I agree with you,” Vladimir said. “I’d prefer to return Mr. Wang to his colony and remain friendly but distant with the Chinese colony.”
“I’m not worried because they are Chinese,” Katrin responded. “I just don’t like the idea of Ursula being by herself with a large group of strangers.”
There was a pause in the conversation.
Then Katrin spoke. “I heard some people talking that they are looking for five other volunteers to stay with the Chinese colony. At least that way, Ursula will feel like she can return here.”
“When will they be going,” Vladimir asked.
“I guess today, when Mr. Wang returns,” Katrin replied.
“Hey!” a man approaching them called. “Aren’t you two part of the group that brought the Chinese man here?”
“Yes,” Katrin answered.
“They want you to come back to the Food Shelter now,” the man said. “They are talking about the trip back to the other colony.”
Katrin and Vladimir followed the man back to the food canopy. As they approached, Jurgen walked over to them before they reached the assembled crowd.
“They want us to lead a group back to the Chinese colony,” Jurgen said. “I told them I have no interest in being a tour guide. Do what you want, but I’m going back out hunting and would be happy to have you join me.”
Katrin and Vladimir looked at each other, but before they could share their thoughts, the Rotating Chair of the Council pulled them into the group.
“Thank you for making it back so quickly, Katrin and Vladimir,” Robert said. “We’ve talked about sharing more than just experience with our new neighbors. We’ve had some people volunteer to stay with the new arrivals for a few days, and want to invite some of them to stay with us for a while. Mr. Wang thinks they would be open to that. But we’d like things to get off to a smooth start, and would appreciate it if those that found the camp could escort the larger group back to it.”
“You want us to go back to the Chinese colony?” Vladimir asked.
“Yes, is that okay with you?” Robert responded.
“It’s not difficult to find,” Vladimir said. “Cross the river and walk up the river until you hear the people.”
“I’m sure the group could find it,” Robert said. Then turning to Katrin, “but we think it could go smoother if you who were already there could help lead the group.”
“I didn’t see the other colony,” Katrin shared. “I was waiting for them on this side of the river.”
“I was there,” Natalie Stader spoke, passing through the group of people to get closer to the three others. “I’ll lead them back.”
“Excellent!” Robert said.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t go,” Katrin said. “I just don’t want to give people the wrong impression I know where the camp is.”
“Even better!” Robert said, then looked at Vladimir “And how about you?”
Vladimir, whose head had been quickly turning from speaker to speaker as everyone was talking, looked at Natalie.
“Do you want to go with Katrin, Mr. Wang and I back to the Chinese colony?” she said.
The look of confusion disappeared from Vladimir’s face. “Yes,” he said.
“Good,” Robert said. “Now that we have that settled, these are the five people going with you.”
After quick introductions, the group of eleven people started off. Except this time, instead of following the animal up-river, they took the path directly to the river, to where the Novograd colonists had three more riverworthy rafts waiting alongside a vine-cord ferry-pull that had been completed a few weeks earlier. Vladimir, Natalie, Svetlana, Patrick, and Wang Fanrong were on the first raft to cross. Katrin rode with the five colonists volunteering to swap places for a few days.
The going was slower at first, as the people weren’t as familiar with this side of the river. But after a bit, they were able to locate a smaller animal path some tens of meters inland, and were able to make better time than walking along the bank or pushing through the underbrush.
As the sun was about a third of the way across the sky, Natalie – who along with Katrin, was taking point – raised her hand for those behind her to stop. After a few seconds, some faint voices were heard ahead. Katlin didn’t wait for direction but began trotting towards the sound. Natalie waved the rest of the group forward. Within another minute they could hear voices consistently, and Wang Fanrong came to the point with Natalie. After another minute, they encountered the group of people making the noise.
Fanrong greeted them, and they seemed excited to see him, and began conversing with him and ignoring the European colonists.
Natalie turned to Patrick, who was listening intently. “What are they talking about?” she asked.
“I’m not fully confident, since they are talking very fast,” Patrick said, obviously flustered. “But it seems everyone was told about Mr. Wang’s departure to our colony and were supposed to be on the lookout for him.”
“Can you confirm, please,” Natalie said to Patrick.
In turn, Patrick talked to Wang Fanrong, who nodded in agreement.
“Yes, that’s it,” Patrick said.
“Did they see Katrin?” Natalie asked.
Patrick asked the group, who nodded and pointed further down the path.
“They said they saw someone running along the path, but didn’t get to see who it was, since they were trying to find edible fruit,” Patrick translated. “But they saw the shape of someone from behind continuing that way.”
“Then, let’s continue,” Natalie responded. “We need to find the main camp after all.”
So the group, now supplemented with six of the New China colonists carrying their food collection in their tunics, continued down the path. They picked up more followers along the way and after a few minutes entered into the main clearing where people were busy with many different tasks – removing debris from ground, constructing multiple campfires, skinning and cleaning fish, a few small animals and one flying sloth, and hauling in fallen logs.
Two separate pairs of people were walking towards them with purpose. From the left came Kartrin and Ursula, walking arm-in-arm, laughing and talking. Ursula waved enthusiastically when she saw the Novogradans enter the clearing. From the center and much further away came two of the people Natalie, Vladimir and Ursula had met the previous morning.
Ursula jogged over to the group as she got closer. “I’m so happy see you!” she said, coming up to Natalie to give her a hug. “How are you all doing? It’s been pretty exciting here, with the groups already getting a jump on their assignments today, asking me lots of questions about the food, where to find good wood. Did you know they didn’t get any tools? I helped them look around yesterday, but we found nothing! They seemed really upset at poor Yilin yesterday. He had to translate everything I was saying, and I don’t think they believed him when I said we had a few tools ready for us right when we got off the ship. He ran off to get Zhang Yongsheng when Katrin found me and said you all were right behind. Oh, there he is! With Mr. Zhang as well!”
The two men Ursula referenced walked up to the group.
“Bienvenu, Madame Natalie,” Zhang Yongsheng said, giving her a slight bow.
“Merci, Monsieur Zhang,” Natalie replied. “Nous sommes revenus.”
Svetlana stepped forward, “Zhāng xiānshēng, xièxiè nín de jiēdài.”
Zhang Yongsheng did a double-take and looked at the Russian colonist and then at Wang Fanrong.
“Yes,” Wang said in his native tongue, “she speaks Mandarin. And so does this man.” and then pointed to Patrick.
“Hello Chairman Zhang,” Patrick said in Mandarin.
The crowd of Chinese colonists around them laughed, and Patrick’s face reddened.
Zhang Yongsheng himself chuckled and then said, “I may be the leader for the New China III colony, but I do not have the honor of being the Chairman. You can refer to me as Colony Chair Zhang.”
“My apologies, Colony Chair Zhang” Patrick said, with a slight bow of his head.
Svetlana took over the conversation, “I’m told Natalie and the others have already welcomed you to this new planet. Please know our entire colony of Novograd welcomes you and is happy to have you as a neighbor.”
Chair Zhang turned to Natalie and, in French, asked her “Is she the leader of you?”
“She is on the leadership council, but she is not the leader of the council,” Natalie answered.
Chair Zhang nodded. Turning back to Svetlana, he switched back to Mandarin, saying “Thank you. And our colony is happy to have you as a neighbor to welcome us to our new home. And how shall I refer to you?”
“I am Svetlana Chernenko. I am one of the five Council Leaders for Novograd.”
“Very good
How many people are in your colony?”
“We left with one-thousand people on the ship,” Svetlana said. “Between those that didn’t survive the trip and those that died since our arrival, we have lost around one-hundred people. Another two-hundred have decided to leave the main colony, so we have around seven-hundred in Novograd – the name of our main site.”
Patrick gave Svetlana an uncertain look and started to open his mouth.
Ignoring Patrick, Svetlana quickly continued, “Of course, we always have groups out hunting, finding food, even some exploring so it never seems like we have that many in the camp at any one time. How many have come with you, Chair Zhang?”
“Like you, one-thousand citizens boarded the ship,” the colony chair answered. “And like you, some of those people died during the trip. Based on our initial roll call, and an assessment of counting the bodies taken away by the robots, we have nine-hundred and fourteen citizens. All of us will remain in a single colony.”
“It looks like you are already getting started on your housing,” Svetlana said.
“Yes, Colonist Ursula has been very helpful with some initial suggestions,” Zhang Yongsheng said with a nod towards Ursula. “Would you like to see our plans for the New China III colony, Council Member Svetlana?”
“Yes, please,” Svetlana said, and gracefully hooked her hand around the colony chair’s arm, leading him away from the group without explaining what was happening.
The remaining Novograd group looked to Patrick.
“What are they doing,” Natalie asked him in German.
“Going on a tour of the colony,” Patrick said, looking a bit disappointed.
Vladimir laughed. “We can see the entire thing from here! They cleared space for a few log cabins and have some cooking fires started. Are we supposed to be impressed at the Chinese ingenuity?”
Svetlana, slightly out of earshot, paused and turned around, “Mia, Lena, Hans,” she called, “come along! You’ll want to learn about all this.”
The Novograd colonists who were to remain at the New China III colony looked at Natalie, who shrugged her shoulders. Then they dutifully followed after Svetlana and Zhang Yongsheng.
Patrick, seeing he was being left behind with his former hunting mates, trotted after the tour group.
Natalie turned to Ursula. “How have they been treating you?” she asked.
“They’ve been very polite,” Ursula replied. “Li Yilin especially has been very considerate. He is always making sure I understand what is being said in groups, and was insistent that I got plenty of food this morning, even though they didn’t have enough for themselves. I had to be almost rude when I told him I was in fine shape and didn’t take everything he arranged for me to have. I saw all these hungry people around, and gave most of what I had away. It was easy enough to take a walk in the forest and find more items for me, and that way I could show them other fruits it was safe to eat.”
“That makes me more hungry talking about food,” Vladimir said. “I’m going to go find some of that fruit you are talking about. Does anyone want to join me?”
“Go ahead,” Katrin said. “We’ve got more catching up to do.”
Vladimir followed their advice and went off to find something to eat.
When he returned to the clearing after walking around the outside of the camp long enough to gather berries that took his hunger away, he saw a big group gathered in the center and walked up to it to find Svetlana talking to Natalie and the other Novograd colonists.
“… then we can escort them back to Novograd today, and find more from our colony who are willing to come here and continue the exchange program,” Svetlana finished.
Vladimir walked up next to Katrin, and offered her some of the fruit he had collected in the bag he always took on hunting trips. She shook her head at first, then stopped, reached in, and took a handful of berries.
“How many more are you thinking will want to come here,” Natalie said.
“Oh, I’m sure many more will welcome the opportunity,” Svetlana said. “I’m hoping dozens will want to come here.”
“Why?” Vladimir asked, tossing some more fruit in his mouth.
Svetlana paused, strengthened the weakening smile on her face, and quickly said in Russian “Be careful, Lieutenant.” Then, switching back to German, “Why? Because of many reasons. The chance to interact with the first group outside of our own that we’ve encountered. The option to teach and share what we’ve learned. The opportunity to change up the regular pace of life for some time.”
Vladimir finished chewing his fruit, everyone else quiet, waiting for his response. He swallowed his bite, “Doesn’t sound interesting to me. We should start back to Novograd if we have a lot of new people we need to guide back.” Having said that, he turned around and left the conversation circle.
Natalie looked at Svetlana, who was still smiling, and said, “If we have fifty people to escort back, I would have to agree with Vladimir. We should get started soon so we get back with plenty of daylight and don’t have to worry about losing anyone.”
“Very well, then, let’s get ready to go,” the Novograd Council Member said, and turned to Zhang, switching to Mandarin to share her version of the conversation that just took place.
Within a few moments, the fifty New China III colonists were gathered in two groups of people, six standing side-by-side and four rows deep, with one person in front of each group. Zhang Yongsheng was giving them a brief farewell talk, and then the two groups, minus their leaders, walked over to the edge of the clearing from where the Novograd visitors had appeared both yesterday and today. The two people that had been in front of each group huddled with the New China III Colony Chair for a few more moments, conversing in hushed tones.
Katrin came over to where Vladimir and Natalie were standing, pulling Ursula along by the hand.
“Talk to her, Natalie,” Katrin said. “Talk some logic into this person.”
“What do you mean?” Natalie said.
“She said she isn’t returning to Novograd,” Katrin said, releasing Ursula’s hand, which dropped to her side.
Natalie turned to the other hunter. “Your job here is done, Ursula. You can come back with us, since these other people are staying behind.”
Li Yilin approached.
“I want to stay,” Ursula said, moving backwards to stand next to Li Yilin. “I like it here and think there is more I can offer to these people.”
“That is just crazy!” Katlin said. “You can’t save an entire colony, Ursula. You belong with us.”
“Why?” Ursula asked, echoing Vladimir’s question from earlier. “Why don’t I belong here in New China III just as much as I did in Novograd?” She grabbed Li Yilin’s hand. “Why don’t I belong here with this man just as much as I do with any of you?”
Ursula didn’t wait for a response, but turned and walked away, still holding Yilin’s hand and pulling him along.
Katlin turned to Vladimir. “Go get her!” she said.
“What?” Vladimir asked.
“Get her and bring her with us!” Katlin said.
“No. I have no desire to stay here but I have no desire to get in a fight with anyone who does want to stay,” he said.
“Can’t you tell?” Katlin said urgently, looking at Natalie. “She’s being manipulated by them!”
“I don’t know why she wants to stay,” Natalie said, “but we can’t force her against her will to return with us.”
“Mmmmffff!” Katlin sounded, and she walked out of the clearing down the path. Some of the New China III colonists saw her go, looked around quickly, and then followed after her. This led to the many of the other transplants starting to leave, with the rest looking back at Natalie and Vladimir.
“Lovely!” said Natalie. “Now look at who is being unreasonable? Can you get in front of these people, Vladimir, and make sure they are going in the proper direction? I’m afraid Katlin won’t be looking back to see if people are staying close enough to follow. I’ll get Patrick and Svetlana and have them walk in the middle of the Chinese to try and keep them moving. And I’ll take the rear.”
Vladimir nodded, and quickly walked into the trees, passing the new arrivals as he moved swiftly down the path.
And with that, the combined group from sister-colonies made their way to complete the first colonist exchange.