That childhood verse came to mind when I first considered growing the garden. I was new to the settlement and one of the few not partnered. That had been my choice before I left because I did not want ties that would be difficult to break and I knew life here was going to be difficult enough. I also never seemed to have found the right person. I had been very busy with my work and that did not contribute to finding a partner. That was OK.
When you come here it’s best you have as few attachments as possible. Once you settle here, you may even be encouraged to find a partner, but so far that has not happened to me. Getting here was difficult enough. The trip was long and accommodations were not four-star. You need time to recover and get settled.
When you make a choice such as the one I did, it’s for the long term and part of a great adventure and a part of history. I serve at least two purposes in the settlement and indeed everyone in the settlement was chosen because of specific talents and abilities. Having multi-degreed and talented persons cuts down on the number of people a colony will have to support and almost guarantees survival.
My particular expertise will be as a member of a group of archeologists. Additionally, I will lend my time in the supply warehouse. I have been here almost three years now and am just feeling settled. Compared to the trip out, the living conditions are luxurious!
Oh, by the way, this is a diary you are reading. We are required to keep these records for “the future.”
Now, to get to what we found. What happened here was beyond unique. It changed so many conceptions and beliefs; it was jaw-dropping. (Once it was discovered that water would not be a problem, all the plans that had been made were amped up.)
It took nearly 12 years for the first group to arrive and set up “housekeeping.” It was a small group and mostly volunteers. I was with the second group and when I arrived I was surprised to see how the colony had grown and flourished.
I was here almost six months before I was allowed into the main excavation site. It was gridded off and ready for us to take over, relieving the first team.
It was worth the wait. After our shift, we were so excited over the find that we had to be forcibly dragged off. We were willing to work 24/7 at this! But that was not permitted because we were working under such harsh conditions.
Even so, the discoveries came so fast that cataloging them required three people at a time. We thought we found a museum. That is the only way to explain the quantity, quality and variety of the artifacts. The atmosphere had contributed to the preservation of the site.
It has become obvious to me now that a lifetime here is not going to be enough. I cannot leave even in the near future, especially since this last discovery.
In our zeal and following a particularly interesting tunnel marking, we accidentally moved away from the strict perimeter and into a small section, not yet marked for exploration. It became one of those lucky accidents that lead to great discoveries.
We had a bit of a scare when the ground and supports gave way and several of us fell into a pit. No one was seriously hurt and we laughed at our clumsiness, as we fell over and over, on top of one another.
But then we saw the new tunnel and noticed how much thicker the walls were and tiled!!! Whoops went up and then silence, lest we bring the whole complex down on top of us!
From what we could see of the tiles, and it wasn’t much, they were painted or stained a pale pink with red streaks and with other colors mixed in. The reason for the reddish colors would become obvious later after we figured out more. We were too excited and ramped up to think of “hows” and “whys” then.
While down in this pit we began to move around slowly and, to be safe, cautiously. We discovered that the walls were thick here and a second wall, some feet beyond that first one, we later discovered was part of an outer one.
We thought “fortress” but that did not seem to fit with the objects we found, at least so far. We were further impressed by what we thought were paintings in frames! But this find would have to wait. We were in dangerous surroundings and thought it better not to track too far away from already inspected and secured areas.
After this area was inspected and secured about a week later, we were allowed back. More areas had been opened and the new find was extraordinary! We believed we had discovered a homestead. We think it was a dwelling, about 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. There were multiple rooms and a common area. Usually sites of this size and complexity indicate a level of wealth. Another find was what we believed to be a log or diary. It was written on gold sheets and secured in a gold cover. This was meant to be found! I had to make a strong effort to slow down my heartbeat; it pounded so hard in my ears!
The more we explored the more the artifacts astounded us. The complex had levels and led to rooms with different types of artifacts leading to a suspicion that this part was a display area. We found more diaries and one was the most significant of all our discoveries because it allowed us to put this site into complete understanding.
What was found was a dictionary with symbols, letters, numbers – math, the universal language! This was a “Rosetta Stone” for the ages!
I was rooting around one particular area of the dwelling and found what looked like a child’s reader.
Remember when I mentioned a garden? That’s where I would like to shift the focus of this narrative. We figured out that the book I found was indeed a child’s book, a diary of sorts.
The author started out by announcing that she knew her world was dying. A natural disaster of some sort had ravaged this once “garden of Eden-type planet.”
But she was determined to stop the dying and plant her garden. She was going to make things grow again. As we learned more, we became aware that this was going to be impossible. She would not have the time and the conditions were not feasible. The planet was in its death throes.
Later we found the spaceport and the ships that were left behind. By the size and number of spaces left open we know that probably hundreds or thousands were able to leave but millions more had to know that there was no way they would be following them. With the atmosphere bleeding into space and no way to stop it, saving anything was not an option.
The little girl’s diary noted that she continued to use what spare resources she could find to try and make her garden grow. But the forces of nature were literally against her. Life-supporting systems were non-existent.
In time the plants died, the people perished and then the planet itself became a desolate red ball. In time we began to excavate around the spaceport and found thousands more.
The last entry in her diary went something like this: “Well, my darling, how does your garden grow today?”
I start my garden tomorrow and soon we will make this planet live again. It’s the neighborly thing to do for that big red giant we have been staring at for centuries.
Oh, her drawings were interesting…they resembled us…maybe they made it to Earth. It seems the only logical destination for survival.
