Excerpt: Earth Light Earth Bright.

Earth light Earth bright.

The year 2100.

Earth is now a holiday garden. Humans live in huge floating cities circling the globe.

Callum James walked toward the small hover craft, he couldn’t help thinking how it must have been a hundred years ago. Then human kind lived on the earth, now it was just a huge garden, allowed to run wild, basically allowed to do its own thing. Even food was grown artificially, in strange hydro tanks, aboard the vessels. Reminiscent of the cabinets used in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to grow illegal drugs. Fresh meat was rare, the very wealthy, those on the top floors of the space craft, sometimes purchased meat grown and killed on the earth below. Callum had only been to the earth twice before, when he reached thirteen his parents sent him for two weeks holiday. Then last year he applied for a position as a warden guard at the Australian station outside Sydney.

Now he was going back, he would be living on the earth for three years. He would get the chance to swim in the surf and go rock climbing in the Blue Mountains. He could breathe fresh air. His father told him just before humanity moved to the stars the larger cities had become so polluted everyone wore masks. Now everyone breathed filtered conditioned climate controlled oxygen. Most had never felt sand between their toes. The crashing blue salty water of the ocean was very different to the wave controlled swimming areas aboard the space crafts. There is one swimming area to each level. Callum grew up on level four.

Callum reached the craft that would take him to the earth for the next three years. There were only two other passengers, although the little ship could carry eight. The elderly man and woman paid no attention to him, as he took a seat near a window. He could see the earth a small blue circle far in the distance. The twosome paid no attention to the scenery instead they had their heads together whispering to each other.

“Attention please, will all passengers please insure seat belts are fastened. Please check all luggage is fastened in the storage boxes provided”. Callum hadn’t seen the pilot come aboard so he jumped to check all his possessions. The duo didn’t acknowledge the announcement, they just continued the conversation.

Callum checked his on board luggage and settled down to gaze out the window. The craft took off so smoothly he only realised they were air borne when he saw the space city “Louisa Creek” far below. The soft hum of the engines lulled him soon off to sleep. He dreamt of cows and chasing them through waist high grass, with the wind whipping his hat. He was off riding a horse along the cliff face, or sitting on a fallen tree branch and looking at the trees as they went on for miles.

Callum woke as the craft came to a stand still on earth. He grabbed his belongings and started for the exit. He couldn’t wait for his first sighting of the outstation, well first as an employee anyway. It was hotter than he was used to, and a stiff breeze rustled the trees surrounding the small cottage beside the heliport. Fitz Tanner stood in the open threshold, allowing him to make his own way along the ten metre path to the door. The flowers and other plants were almost overpowering as their scents mingled in the air. The sun beating down from straight above started to feel very warm on his arms.

“Hi you have finally arrived” Fitz stated the obvious as he moved aside to let Callum enter the room. “Did you have a good trip?”
Callum threw his bags into the corner “Yeah fine, I slept most of the way. What happened to the other couple on the plane?”

“What other couple? You were the only passenger.”

“There was a middle aged man and woman on the shuttle when we took off. I didn’t hear or see them disembark”.

“Well they certainly didn’t get off here, and there are no stops between Louisa and here”.

“Where does the craft go to from here?”

“It goes to one of the islands about two hundred kilometres from here, to drop off supplies for a drilling company. Then it goes back to the mother ship.”

“I tell you when we took off there was a middle aged duo on the ship. When I woke up they were no where to be seen. Anyway I have more important things to do than worry about lost passengers, let the pilot find them.”

“Good idea, grab your stuff I’ll take you to your quarters.” Fitz grabbed one of Callum’s bags and headed out the door, “No need to lock anything here, there is only six of us and we all have access to everything.”

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Fitz pulled the four wheel drive up to a gate and waited for Callum to get out and open it, he drove though and waited while the gate was shut and his passenger climbed back into the vehicle. “We need a fence around the living quarters, to keep the native fauna and flora out. We try to make as little impact as possible”.

The staff quarters was a six bedroom house. The front of the house had rows of flowers of every colour Callum could think of. He hadn’t realised there were so many plants in existence. A swimming pool took up all the left side of the yard. The back yard had about ten vegetable garden beds. Callum knew most of the fresh vegetables eaten in the space cities were grown here on earth, but it was still a shock to see tomatoes, beans and zucchinis actually on the bush. Fruit trees lined the right hand side. To the left a metre high fence kept several cows and two horses away from the house area. Callum followed Fitz into the house and down a hall way, at the end of the corridor Fitz pushed open a door on the left. “This is your room.” He dumped Callum’s bags on the floor and started to move back into the passageway. “When you are ready come out to the pool for a drink, and I will introduce you around.”

Callum was finally alone on earth, he still couldn’t believe it. The mountains were breathtaking, no photo did them justice. He couldn’t wait to see the ocean, he pulled a tee shirt from his bag throwing the business shirt in the corner he slipped the tee over his head and headed to find the pool.

Two women and another male as well as Fitz sat around a table with tall frosted glasses in their hands. Fitz stood up on seeing him, “Ah Callum my mate come and meet the gang, the two girls are Jilli Craig, and Darrelle Ambrose, the kid here is Tommy Murphy.” Darrelle had long blond hair and a figure to die for. Jilli had red hair cut short, although attractive she seemed to be in the shadow of Darrelle. Tommy Murphy looked about seventeen, although Callum knew he had to be a lot older than that. “Chris Readon is out on a survey trip, he’ll be back tomorrow.”

Callum shook hands all around, “When will Chris be back? I met him briefly last time I was here, last year.”

“He should be back tomorrow” Tommy handed him a beer, “He loves going on lone treks.”

Andy sat against the wall, using at as a back rest. “I can’t wait to get started on work; does anybody know what I’m to do first? Where and when I get started I suppose.”

Fitz walked to the fridge and took out another beer, “Nobody is really the boss here, you’ll get a list of directions tomorrow, it’s up to you to do them. Of course we are all here if you need any help or advise getting settled and started.” He twisted the cap from his bottle and took a sip, “I heard something strange today, Callum said there was an older couple on the craft when it took off from Louisa, when it landed here he was the only passenger.”

The others looked at each other then Jilli spoke, “I don’t like it, what is going on?”

Darrelle stretched and looked at Callum, “Why should anything be going on, I would think the couple were let off before getting here.”

“Where do you think they managed to get off?” The irony in Fitz voice surprised Callum. “They used a parachute perhaps, or maybe an injection seat.”

Darrelle had the grace to look a little embarrassed. Jilli hadn’t taken her eyes from Fitz, “What are we going to do?”

“For the moment nothing, tell us a bit about yourself Callum.”

“Well there isn’t a lot to tell. I was born on Louisa Creek, my dad is a security guard, and mum was a teacher. I have three brothers and one sister. I went through school on level four so it wasn’t to bad specially considering mum taught on level seven. I always wanted to come down here to work so when the applications came out I applied, the rest as they say is history. I’m studying any and all evidence of settlement here.” Tommy and Jilli looked interested; Fitz sat staring at his shoes, Darrelle left as soon as he started talking. “What about you guys?”

Tommy looked at the other two then started, “I suppose your story is nearly mine. I started out on the Parks, I suppose you’ve seen one space city you’ve seen them all. Dad is a male nurse, mum works in the library. I’ve got a brother and sister actually I’ve been here for about eighteen months. I specialise in different soil composition. Around here is a great area to study soil.

Callum looked at Jilli “What about you?” He thought she was going to ignore him when she began to speak. “I guess I was lucky. I was bought up on the first floor, my mother died when I was born, dad is the local drunk. The local school decided I had “potential” so sent me to a school on the third level. Somehow I got it through my head if I really applied myself I could maybe I could get somewhere. As you see I made it.”

Fitz hadn’t moved so Callum didn’t expect him to speak “Okay I’m from the seventh floor, most say dad bought my position, if they only knew the half of it. He is the commander of Forbes, mum, well she doesn’t do anything much. She does have a servant a house keeper and a cook I have no idea why, there is only dad and her living at home. I’m an only child, and I haven’t lived at home for years. You know the drill best schools friends picked for you. Apart from that you are on your own. I’m not sure they even know what I’m doing or where I am. I call in to see them occasionally I doubt they even realise that. I have been here for five years, before that I worked on a research station on the western side of the country. I was there for about two years.”

Callum was a little surprised at the bitterness of the older man, “What is your speciality?”

“I study the local fauna, and flora to a degree. I’m heading to the coast in a month having a look at marine life.”

“What does Darrelle do?” Callum helped himself to another beer.

“As little as possible.” Tommy laughed, “That was a little mean wasn’t it. Actually she is studying the climatic conditions on the flora around here. There has been a hell of a lot of introduced species from when there was settlement here.

“What you mean there was settlement here not that long ago?” Callum knew humanity lived here about two hundred years ago. He hadn’t thought about evidence being so easily found.