The Balance of Time by Steven Decker
Author:Steven Decker [DECKER, STEVEN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TIER Books LLC
Published: 2023-04-29T16:00:00+00:00
Chapter 36
Day One of the Terrene Expedition
Microseconds after it disappeared from Earthâs orbit, Return One reappeared above the planet known as Terrene. What Dani saw below was a water world, with blue oceans ringing the center of the sphere and large poles of white ice to the north and south. There were less clouds than on Earth, because the atmosphere was colder overall and therefore absorbed less water vapor, so Dani could see much more of the surface of the planet than an observer in space could see of the Earthâs surface. She imagined that if this planet were Earth, the North Pole would stretch all the way to the northern border of the USA and cover most of Europe. And the South Pole would reach all the way up above New Zealand and the southern part of Australia, and blanket half the continent of South America. The Land People said the poles used to be even larger, before the Water People began melting them to drive the Land People from the planet.
Further discussions revealed that the Water People communicated telepathically, just as the Land People did, and the two species could communicate with one other, although they rarely did. According to the Land People, the Water People were a warring species, and treated anyone or anything that inhabited their planet as the enemy. The Land People claimed ignorance regarding why the Water People had wanted them gone, other than the assertion that the Water People wanted everything gone that wasnât them. Dani had made it her personal goal for the mission to try to establish communication with the Water People, and eventually reach some kind of accord with them that would lead to peace. It was an ambitious goal, and one that seemed very unlikely to ever be fulfilled. But Dani was undeterred. She had some ideas she felt might motivate the Water People to cooperate.
The moment they arrived in orbit above Terrene, Charles became the most important member of the crew. Clarion was the captain of the ship, but most of the decisions going forward would be made by Charles. He directed the navigator of the ship, Zephyr, to use their powerful scopes to measure the temperature of the atmosphere and the depth of the water at various locations on the planet, to give them an idea of where to begin making land. Zephyr reminded Charles that their database already contained that information, but said she would verify that it remained accurate.
As with the Earth, the temperature at the equator of the planet was highest. This was because the rays from the sunânamed Energy One by the Land Peopleâhit more directly at the equator. Additionally, the tilt of the planet was similar to Earthâs and this meant the poles received much less light during the year than the equator. Thirdly, the atmosphere above the poles was thicker and contained more particles to deflect the sunlight than the atmosphere above the equator. Finally, the fact that the snow and
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