Huron: Descendants by Robyn Braemer

Author:Robyn Braemer [Braemer, Robyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Halstad House
Published: 2015-06-27T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Place cards designated the seating arrangement. Viggo was at the head of the table. Benjine sat at the end nearest the kitchen. Chin was on Viggo’s left with Frazzle on her left. On the opposite side of the table from Chin was the captain on Viggo’s right. Henry and Alice sat to the right of the captain.

Servers carried trays of soup to the table moments after everyone was seated. Chin twirled the heavy metal soup spoon between her fingers. Silverware had not likely been carried about the Edmund Fitzgerald.

None of this had been carried by the settlers. It just wasn’t feasible to fill up premium space on a spaceship with mundane household items. The settlers had crossed galaxies in search of a new start on a habitable planet and stumbled onto this world. They had made it their home.

It just finally hit her that three hundred years had passed and these people had descended from the settlers but the ship and the trip really had no bearing on their daily lives. It was ancient history.

“You seem fascinated with your spoon,” Viggo said.

“What? Yes, such a simple thing,” Chin said, holding the spoon out in front of her. “You must have many skilled craftspeople.”

Viggo chuckled. “Silverware is very basic,” he said. “Melt metal. Pour it into molds. File away the burrs.”

“This set was made from melting down the stasis tubes aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Benjine said.

“That’s amazing,” Chin said.

“Recycled metal was critical the first few years,” Frazzle said. “It took time to find and mine metal.”

“Why did the settlers do what they did?” Chin asked. “What prompts humans to climb into a spaceship and head to the stars without knowing what they will find?”

“Haven’t there been others?” Henry asked. “Teddy Sanderson was convinced that the Edmund Fitzgerald was just the first in a wave of settler ships.”

“A few. None successful,” Captain Thomas said.

“Not successful. They were lost?” Benjine asked.

“Oh, the planets were determined before colonist ships ventured out,” Captain Thomas said. “The lack of success came because none were truly Goldilocks planets. All could support life but that was about it. There were so many issues and colonists gave up and went home.”

“They grew homesick,” Chin said.

Captain Thomas shrugged. “Technically, I guess,” he said.

“Even if there’s atmosphere and moderate temperatures, it isn’t easy for people to live so far from home,” Chin said. “The night sky is different. The planet’s rotation is different. So many subtle differences can destroy people. Having a longer or shorter day can make a difference in someone’s mentality.”

Chin met the captain’s gaze. None of those other colonists had been completely cut off from Earth. Or the UN. Policies played a big role in the failure of other colonization attempts. There was no point in delving into that topic. For some unexplainable reason, the UN did not come out looking good as a result of those failed colonies.

Those other colony ships were not the same as the Edmund Fitzgerald, of course. They were all UN funded in an attempt to ease the burden of over-population.

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