Seasons passed on Biterra and Ro’s Cove had evolved into a fully-fledged town, a blend of old-world charm and modern ingenuity. The makeshift huts that lined the foreshore changed to wooden and stone buildings with solar-panelled roofs, or, if they had space, electricity was generated from the shrubs that I had first encountered when I arrived on Biterra.
The markets bustled with people exchanging goods — freshly grown crops, hand-forged tools, and small gadgets scavenged from the remains of the descent pods. People had even travelled as far as my crashed fighter in search of scrap material and tech.
The long pier that stretched out into the cove had been completed with a range of boats moored, from small wooden ones to large catamarans that were used for faster travel along the coastlines, creating little mini shipping lanes and allowing for easier travel between human settlements.
The initial thousand people dropped here by Salvation had split off strategically into small communities with the main bulk of people staying in the Ro’s Cove. You could buy or barter for building materials, food, and a range of other goods to help establish yourself in the new world. It also offered a doctor, jail-house, blacksmith, and alcohol at the Tavern. It was a real clash of medieval and technology.
Farmland stretched back from the town out to the forests. We were slowly but surely spreading out to secure fertile and resource rich lands for agriculture and mining.I had been able to create my own slice of home on the outskirts of Ro’s Cove, the one good thing from becoming stuck on Biterra and being a part in the construction a new civilisation - laying claim to my own land.
A little cabin nestled into the forests edge that had a view that swept over the undulating land all the way down to Ro’s Cove. It was dotted with open fields that housed clusters of vegetation and natural springs. It was nice but lonely. In my spare time I had built a room for Lilly and planted a garden, hoping that one day she would be laughing and playing about in the garden with me. It seemed like a far fetched dream but stranger things have happened. I had even built the cabin with Alice in mind, however, I couldn’t help but think she might have gotten on with life thinking i had passed back on Earth but at least I’d always have Lilly.
—
While making my way down into Ro’s Cove from my cabin, a short journey that would usually only take 10 minutes or so.I was headed for the main Miltech building or rather the Southern Guard when an officer was waiting by the main trail.
“Carter, the intermediary from the Northlands is in the hall. LT Ron wants you involved” said the officer.
The Miltech officers that dropped with the new settlers on Biterra decided to rename themselves the ‘Southern Guard’. It was a fitting choice of name because we had all rather unoriginally named the southern landmass that we occupied the Southlands. There may have been a change of plan when it came to Ro and I on Biterra but we were still Miltech so naturally we joined when Salvation never returned.
The Southland Guard was still a military force by all means and it had become a requirement rather than a need. First of all, humans. Second, incursion from other humanoid settlements became more frequent and had already led to a few brief clashes over land and resources.
Just as I was about to enter the hall the officer that had been walking with me pulled me up. “It’s already tense in there Carter, He’ll get us all killed” he whispered as he grabbed my arm, referring to Lieutenant Ron, before letting me continue inside.
The intermediary in question was from the Solari, the humanoids that Ro and encountered on our journey to Ro’s Cove. They were the tall, tanned humanoids that had terrible eyesight in the dark and in the darkened forest. We had later found out it was due to their constant exposure to a sun filled planet, which much like ours, eventually told them time was up and had to leave.
We had our fair share of small clashes with the Solari, nothing too serious other than some bruises and sore heads on either side but It had become a common occurrence, until, one day Sylaran ‘the intermediary’ for the Solari appeared in the middle of Ro’s Cove and wanted to start discussions.
The other humanoids that dropped from their own ships have so far been very similar to us - we look similar and use the same vocal communication so it had taken some time but we had effectively been able to learn each others languages, kind of similar to learning another language back on Earth.
You would think that as we learnt how common we were to each other that we would bask in each others stories and knowledge. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case when it came to a new pristine planet like Biterra - they wanted it all and so did we.
‘Dong..Dong…Dong’ the deep sound of bells around the perimeter rang out, a warning of movement outside the walls of the settlement as I walked into the meeting.
“You guaranteed that you’d keep your men at bay during our meetings Sylaran.”
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“They are merely here to ensure my safety, if we wanted you dead you would be already” said Sylaran in his odd accent with an air of disdain.
Although Sylaran was the intermediary for the Solari you could tell that he was battle hardened. He had on a protective leather vest lined with steel that exposed his well defined arms that were laced with scars from his shoulders down to his hands, noticeable by the lighter colour than the rest of his skin. His thick long hair though tied back would definitely keep the bearing sun of Solari off his shoulders and back.
Ron scoffed at the remark “We’re done here. Come back when you actually want a serious peace talk”
Sylaran’s lips curled into a sneer. “You think we are done here? Do you think that we’ll sit back and let you humans strip this planet bare like you did to Earth? You don’t belong here.”
“Funny,” Ron shot back, his voice steady but with one hand resting on his blade and the other holding onto a rifle on his lap. “Because I thought we were making a deal. You agreed to a peace-treaty.”
“Peace is a fleeting thing,” Sylaran said coldly. “We want what you have, and if we must, we’ll take it.”
Tension rippled through the room. Several of Sylaran’s men, dressed in the same battle-scarred leather, shifted closer to their weapons. I could feel my heart rate rapidly increase as Ron stood, ready to provoke them further.
“Ahh Sylaran, the intermediary if I remember correctly” I interjected. “Surely it would be a dishonourable act to make a move in a peace meeting, no?”
Offended at my remark and Rons hostility, Sylaran jumped to his feet and made sure to cause as much ruckus as possible by flipping his chair and pushing some of surrounding people out of his way as he flicked his cloak hood back over his head.
He turned, his face darkened by the thick material of the hood before leaving with some parting words.
“The Solari don’t want war, but come to it, Biterra will be painted with human blood”
“R..Remember the sun always sets Sylaran” droned Ron in his half ditched attempt to sound threatening. Sylaran had paused briefly before he threw the door open and left.
“Nice work, you’ve just gone and started a war Lieutenant” I said as I pushed past a flabbergasted Ron.
Walking out of the meeting I was unnerved, not only from witnessing old pudgy LT Ron trying to swing the big dick of the Southern Guard but also from Sylarans threat. I had a feeling that we would end up in a war with them sooner or later, we were too similar and humans loved a good war. It felt inevitable.
As I was dragging my sorry ass to the Tavern once again another rather flustered looking officer came hurling my direction.
“Carter— hey Carter” shouted the officer trying to get my attention. I tried to pretend I didn’t hear him and B-lined it to the Tavern entrance.
“Sir— sir! It’s Major Lewis, he’s on comms.”
“What did you just say!?”
I froze, feeling conflicted at the unexpected contact contact from Jeremy. After a few years I had come to terms that we were left behind by Salvation and that I was condemned to a new life in Biterra. What would I even say…am I going to leave? What about Carter ranch? I thought.
I held the radio in my hand for a good couple minutes just staring at it contemplating whether or not to just put it down and forget all about Salvation.
“About time— where the fuck have you guys been” my hand unsteady as I clicked the comms and spoke. It had turned more snappy than anticipated.
“Turned to a bit of a grumpy old man down there have ya” quipped Jeremy.
“It’s been three.fucking.years”
The comms had gone silent.
“Sorry Carter, I—I had no idea the time dilation would be so severe. To us it was only a couple of weeks.”
On the best of days it was hard for me to comprehend special relativity and even having a first-hand example of it only confused me more. I had begun putting down rootson Biterra, throughout the Southlands, and started a whole new life over the last few years while Salvation just whipped around for a couple of weeks, the space equivalent to popping to the shops.
“I guess I’ll find Ro and tell her the good news.”
Ro had been jumping from post to post, trying to see some action in the little clashes, like a drug abuser trying to get a fix - her drug of choice, adrenaline. I had missed the constant banter with her, occasionally I would join her but for the most part I let her do what she did best.
I reluctantly hopped onto the next catamaran to leave Ro’s Cove that was headed to where she was stationed. I still hadn’t fully recovered from our crossing of the river ocean so I was filled with dread every time I had to jump on one of the boats to travel.
When I finally arrived, stepping off onto the small dock an arrow, out of nowhere, thumped into a wooden post, literally inches away from my head followed by an “aha” and small roar of laughter.
In typical Ro fashion she was stood further up with a bow in hand and look of delight across her face.
“Been honing in these skills Carter, I’ll get to use them one day” she said as she lunged toward me and gave me a big hug.
“Yeah maybe one day sooner than later.”
We sat and I told her the news about Sylaran and that the Salvation had returned to pick up us. I thought she’d maybe have her reservations like I did but that was hardly the case…
“Let’s fuckin’ gooo Carter” she beamed clapping her hands.
“Alright, alright, calm down!” I laughed “Let’s go to the rocket and get it checked over, it’s been sitting there for awhile”
Ro ran to grab her bag and met me back on the Catamaran where we travelled to a remote settlement that housed research labs and our rocket back to Salvation.
—-
“It’s gonna be about a week till this bad boy will get you up to Salvation safely.” Said the lead engineer giving the hull of the rocket a few slaps. “We gotta make some new parts that, uh, we had to borrow”
“You’ve got to be kidding” I muttered to myself.
Now I was onboard with heading back to Salvation It was another setback I did not want to deal with. Anxiety started to peak again thinking we’d be left behind or that tensions with the Solari would boil over.
We had our weapons but ammunition was low and was used in dire situations only. It takes a lot to start a new civilisation from scratch, we hadn’t managed to manufacture ammunition at the time so it was back to basics when it came to weaponry in the first instance.
Civilisation on Biterra was basically the equivalent to the Middle Ages on Earth except we had some tech on hand and libraries of knowledge on our slates to speed things up.
Though it was cool to swing around swords and fire arrows, the Solari had a physical advantage. They were taller by a foot or two and had a longer reach than us humans. A fight and opponent I had hoped we would miss.