Tan cradled the sleeping infant in his arms as the heavy cargo barge sped across the continent to the Gobia Desert. He was worried about Luca, but he had to trust that Captain Dakari would take care of him. Jack was probably safely back on Aeden with his family by now. Tan hoped he’d find the peace he was looking for, but he would miss Jack terribly. He just wished now he knew for certain how Luca was doing. Tan hadn’t seen or heard anything since he’d left Luca at the elevator yesterday. Very little news of what had occurred on the beach below made it up to the flight deck. During the terrifying fourteen minutes when the missiles had entered the atmosphere, he had fired every round he had in his small anti-aircraft gun to try and create a wall of lead. When his ammo had run out, he’d ran to the nearest rail gun and joined the line of men passing missile after missile to the weapon. Every man in the line had known the stakes, they all had someone they loved in the ship. They couldn’t fail, everything was on the line. Tan hadn’t felt such intensity and focus of effort in his entire life. He was the last line of defense protecting his son, Luca. Then some kind of force field had covered the island. Nobody seemed to know where it had come from, but there were rumors it was a secret weapon the Ruk had been hiding. When the missiles vanished into the force field, there had been cheering, weeping, and more than a few men throwing up from the after-effects of the adrenaline. The men he’d been with formed a circle and bowed their heads. Tan remained to the side, not sure if he should join them, but bowing his head in respect. Del’te, a friend of his in the Reserves had called out to him. “Come on, man, we give thanks to The Great Tree now.” Tan joined the circle with the men. “I don’t know anything about The Great Tree.” Another of the men handed Tan a pocket sized book. “This is the Book of the Sun, it’s the very soul of our people. Keep the book, I’ll get another.” The men in the circle each placed a fist over their hearts and together said, “We are one under the sun, our hearts forged in the flames of battle.” Tan joined in, though his rhythm was off a bit as he didn’t know what to say. The men laughed good naturedly and assured him he was one of them now. After a few minutes of prayers, Tan was sent below deck with a squad of Fleet Marines to search for survivors. He was on Deck 193, Green Sector, when he went into a food processing plant to search for anyone left behind, and that’s when he found the children – 130 of them from Red Sector, Deck 87. The children had been on a field trip to the food processing plant when the attack occurred, but only two of their teachers had remained with them, the others had fled. He took the children and their teachers to the Marine Gunnery Sergeant. The man’s expression told Tan everything before he even spoke. Red Sector on all Decks was the first hit, nobody had made it out alive, the children were all orphans now.” The Sergeant ordered Tan to take the children up to the Flight Deck to have them evacuated, but to use the stairs, as the elevators were no longer safe. It was in the stairwell he had found the infant. A woman had fallen and been trampled during the initial panic to evacuate, her last act had been to cover her baby with her body. Tan found the infant under its mother, wailing at the top of its lungs. The infant was clutching a jade stone on its mother’s necklace. Tan unfastened the necklace and let the infant keep it, then took the infant in his arms and continued to lead the children out of the ship to safety. Tan saw the Flight Commander, Commander Martus, and reported to him. He told the Commander of the children’s plight and what the Gunnery Sergeant had said. “You’re the one that found them, you’re the one they’ll trust the most,” said Commander Martus, then pointed at the next ship ready to go on the Flight Line; a cargo barge. “Take that ship and get them to the Gobia Facility, stay with them, no matter what, do you understand? You are in charge, you are responsible for them until I say different.” “My son is on the beach, Sir,” said Tan. “Trust that someone down there is receiving the same orders to protect your son. Now go.” “Yes Sir.” Tan herded the children and two teachers into the cargo barge. The pilot sealed the ramp and they lifted into the sky away from the burning RS-40 to join the other aircraft headed to the Gobia Desert. He sat on the floor with his back against the wall, holding the infant. Some of the children gathered around him, some against the two teachers, and others either slept, cried uncontrollably, or just huddled together for comfort. There were minor emergencies during the flight as children got airsick, or needed to go potty, or got hungry and thirsty. Whomever had prepped the flight had the foresight to load bottles of water and military rations, most of which only added to the emergencies as they caused the children to get sick and throw-up. The rations were never intended for sensitive tummies. Tan read from the Book of the Sun when he could. The baby grew fussy and cried almost constantly. The hours slipped by, and they coped the best they could. Tan was just re-reading a passage from the book that had grabbed his attention, ‘trust in the earth and the earth will provide’, when the cargo ship lurched and banked into a dive, then just as quickly pulled up and performed another gut wrenching turn in the opposite direction. Children screamed and were tossed around the interior like sacks of grain. Tan crawled over to Miss Janien, one of the two teachers, and handed the infant to her, then got up and made his way to the ladder up to the flight deck, carefully stepping over terrified children. A Reserve Major was the pilot, but there wasn’t a co-pilot, as they had been too short of pilots for the luxury of having two pilots per aircraft. Tan climbed into the co-pilot’s seat. The scene outside was a nightmare. They were in the desert over what Tan presumed was the Gobia shipyard. The sky was filled with aircraft flying around in what looked like an out-of-control dogfight. “What’s going on, the children are being tossed around back there?” “The tower is overwhelmed by thousands of aircraft arriving at once. I think they gave up, I haven’t heard a transmission from them in ten minutes. Nobody knows...” The pilot broke off his sentence as he banked to avoid a large jumbo jet that descended in front of them. It was a very near miss. “Nobody knows where to land, the airfield is full. That passenger jet that almost hit us has been screaming for fifteen minutes about being on fumes. It’s going down one way or another. I count at least three or four dozen other aircraft declaring emergencies, mostly because of low fuel.” “We have to get out of here, this isn’t safe… this isn’t even sane!” said Tan. “You got any ideas?” asked the pilot. “Over there.” Tan pointed. “That mountain range about twenty miles away.” The Major banked and twisted over and under two other aircraft. “You give me a big enough tree branch and I’ll perch this thing on it.” “Let’s get out of here before someone gets killed.” The Major looked down at a black scorch mark with debris around it on the ground below. “I think someone already has, okay, the mountains it is.” The cargo barge headed away from the terror in the skies over the Gobia shipyards and headed towards the mountains. They cleared most of the insane air traffic after ten miles. The Major pulled the cargo barge into a climb and leveled off at 4000 feet. They crested a ridge and sailed over a forest of tall pines. Tan felt a moment of homesickness as he looked down on the tall pines and forest covered in pine needles. After a year inside the alien Ruk RS-40 spaceship, this was something familiar. “There’s a lake,” said Tan. The Major slowed as they passed over the lake. “I know barge is in the name, but not the kind that floats, this is a space barge.” Tan watched below, looking for a place they could land. “There isn’t much food and water left, and I don’t think the Gobia shipyard is going to be able to help with so many people arriving. A lake means food and water.” “Let me see what I can find.” The Major banked around and followed the lake. “There’s a clearing over there,” said the Major. “Go a little further, see the mouth of the river feeding the lake, try over there,” said Tan. “Let’s pretend I’ve lived on a spaceship my entire life,” replied the Major. “What makes one spot better than the next?” Tan laughed. “Running water means easier fishing, and maybe I can build a watermill.” The Major turned his head and grinned. “Spaceship, yep, that’s where I lived, good old spaceship, lots of techy stuff, but no watermills or fishing, so…?” “I like you, Major, my name is Tan.” “I’m Hunter Marsh, Reserve Major on weekends because they won’t let me have a personal fighter jet to play with. I’m a newspaper editor the rest of the time, pleased to meet you, Tan.” “Hunter Marsh? That’s not a Ruk name.” “I’m not a Sunarian, I’m originally from the RS-17. I’m a Cartarian.” “I don’t understand.” “The 76 ships of the Fleet represent the 76 countries of our home world. The RS-40 is Sunaria, and from what I know of history, was a lovely country that bordered the Sunth Sea, the location of the Great Tree and origin of the Sunth species. The Sunarians were also producers of olive oil, and invented the first sailing ship.” “Is that why you have an accent?” “From my perspective, it’s the Sunarians that have an accent. So, what’s a watermill good for?” “With a watermill I can grind flour, corn, power a lumber mill, shape metal, and even produce electricity and running water for plumbing. It’s the most important tool I’ll need to build a civilized camp.” The Major rotated the ship looking for a place to land. “I’m going to straddle the river, it’ll keep the engines from setting the place on fire. It sounds like you’re thinking about a permanent camp.” “I’m just thinking out loud, I’d rather not put these kids in a refugee camp if there’s something better.” The large cargo barge hovered over the river and lowered to the ground, its landing struts settling on each side of the river with the river rocks providing support for the weight of the ship. “There we go, we’re about eight feet above the water.” The Major began shutting down the engines. “So, look Tan, I can claim pilot’s prerogative to temporarily set down here in the face of the current safety hazards down at the airfield, but I’ll need authorization to let you stay here.” “Let’s see what it’s like out there before I commit to anything,” said Tan. “Can you lower the front and rear ramp, so it’s like we’re a bridge across the river?” The children were excited to get off the barge and bounced around jostling each other as the ramps were lowered. Several of the children needed bandaging first, but quickly joined the other children down the rear ramp, but apparently figured out they could cross the river by going through the ship. One of the teachers realized a group of the boys were already on the other side of the river exploring and chased after them. Tan walked down to the edge of the lake and breathed in the clean mountain air. His planet was mostly mountainous and this was very familiar, though, he hadn’t seen any Gruggle worms along the shore. Well, nothing was perfect. The Major came up alongside Tan and knelt next to the water. He had a water test kit in his hand, and a rifle slung across his back. He scooped some water into a test tube, then used an eyedropper to add a pink liquid to the water. The pink disappeared immediately and the water returned to a crystal clear state. The Major held the test tube up. “This water is cleaner than the ship’s water.” Tan shook his head. “Don’t trust that, you’re too close to running water coming from higher up the mountain.” Tan knelt and put his hand in the water; the water was cold. “Probably from snow runoff, or maybe even a glacier. Let’s take a walk further along the lake where bacteria and microbes would gather. I also want to look for animal tracks.” The two men followed the shore of the lake for about a mile before Tan stopped and knelt in the mud, examining some tracks. “Deer tracks, a lot of them. We’ve got an ample food supply, let’s check the water again.” “Hey look!” The Major exclaimed, pointing at some fish jumping out of the water. “They’re most likely chasing insects for food, but they could be trying to get away from larger fish, it’s common,” replied Tan. “It means we’ve got a nice variety of food to choose from here.” “Are you some kind of mountain man?” asked the Major as he ran the water check again. The pink disappeared the same as before, the water was clean and pure. “I'm just a cook, but I grew up in a cabin on a lake like this one, most of my planet is mountains,” said Tan. “Let’s head into the forest now, I want to follow that rivulet.” The Major followed Tan into the trees. The ground became a marshy until they were walking shin deep in water. Tan smiled and stopped. “And here’s the icing on the cake.” Tan reached down and pulled a tall plant stock from the water.” The Major gave Tan a wry grin. “Me Spaceman, live on Spaceship. What magic you find?” Tan laughed and flipped the stock upside down. “This is a cattail, see this root, there’s enough protein in it to keep you alive indefinitely. And these leaves can be stir fried or sautéed. The root can also be ground to flour and used in gravies and sauces. I can even make flat bread or pancakes from it.” “I’m starting to see your plan, it’s a low tech solution to a very big problem, but getting authorization for this will be difficult.” Tan retrieved his phone from a pocket. “I think I know someone that can help.” Tan dialed a number and waited for the satellite in orbit to make the connection. “Hello, Margus, I need a favor.” The Major lifted a brow in surprise. “As in Margus Dagas? You’ve got to be kidding.” Tan laid out the problem with the Gobia shipyards, the dangerous air traffic, and the potential danger to the children in an over-crowded refugee camp, the shortage of food and water that would occur, and then his plan to build a camp in the mountains for the children Commander Martus had put him in charge of. Tan answered a few questions Captain Dagas had, then added, “I’ll need the cargo barge and pilot to stay with us for support. The pilot’s name is Major Hunter Marsh.” Tan turned to the Major. “He wants to know what our flight number is.” “Heavy Cargo Barge 1549,” replied the Major. “Flight 1549… okay, thanks, I’ll tell him, see you soon.” Tan disconnected the call and put the phone back in his pocket. “Margus says he left the island about an hour ago. He’s going to fly straight here instead of the shipyard. He also said you’ll be getting new orders in a few minutes.” The Major gave Tan an amused expression. “Well then, friends in high places, huh? Let’s get out of this swamp and go check on the…” Tan held a hand up. “Shhhh, give me your rifle.” The Major scanned for the danger but couldn’t see anything. He slipped the rifle off his back and handed it to Tan, then drew his sidearm, but still couldn’t see whatever Tan had spotted. Tan lifted the rifle, took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger. The crack of the rifle caused the forest to come alive with movement as the birds in the trees took flight, and many large somethings ran in every direction. Tan handed the rifle back to the Major with a grin. Got him, come on. The Major holstered his sidearm, but kept the rifle at the ready position as they walked toward whatever Tan had shot. “What were those things running through the forest?” asked the Major. Tan stopped and looked at the Major. The Major’s expression had turned to horror. The Major opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Lying on the ground next to Tan was a large four legged creature with antlers on its head. “When I showed you the deer tracks, didn’t you know what I was talking about?” The Major bent over and threw up. Tan turned away to give the man some dignity. Tan understood what the Major was experiencing. The first time Tan’s father had taken him hunting, he had felt the contents of his stomach rising, and only sheer will had kept it down. The first time could be difficult. Once the Major had recovered, he stood up, but wouldn’t look at the large buck on the ground. “No, I didn’t know what a deer was, at least not in real life, and… I… I’ve never seen an animal killed before. I guess I didn’t really understand when you said there was food out here.” “When I first met Margus at the campsite, he was on a special vacation to experience how his ancestors lived long ago, but he didn’t actually experience what his ancestors had to do to survive, those trips are just fantasy entertainment. Well, all of you are going to learn now, or you’re going to starve to death.” “The other ships will help,” said the Major. “Really, will they? You keep half your population in slow-sleep because you don’t have enough resources to go around. Do you really think they will be able to suddenly feed 25 million mouths?” The Major shook his head. “The Great Tree will provide.” Tan frowned. It wasn’t the man’s fault he was living in a fantasy, he was a product of a high tech society that relied on their tech for survival, but now that tech had burned to the ground. “The Great Tree has provided, Major. Look around you at this vast forest mountain range, everything we need to sustain ourselves is here.” Tan quoted from the Book of the Sun. “Trust in the earth and the earth will provide. I think about the odd circumstances that brought me to the Ruk. I believe now that The Great Tree brought me here for this, to teach you what you’ve forgotten living in space for so many countless eons. Let’s get back to the ship, there’s lots of work to do.” Tan knelt down and heaved the buck onto his shoulders. “Grab an armful of those cattails, I’ll need them for the venison stew I’m making for dinner.” Tan stood. “Oh, look over there, blackberry bushes, I can make a pie, and some syrup for pancakes in the morning.” The Major stared at Tan. The entire population of the RS-40 was about to starve to death, and this man was going to make a pie with stuff he’d found on the ground.