Joe Jenkins met them when they landed. He walked
out and met them part way to the spaceport building. Sam Kettrick, on whose
farm the power failures first occurred, was with him.
After introductions, Joe began explaining what they
knew. "The failures began about two months ago. It started on Sam's
place."
"Sam interjected, "Possibly it began
sooner. I didn't really notice it until then but we did have some low power
readings. Didn't think too much about it then Just figured the load was too
high. Then 'bout two months ago, it became really noticeable. Kept getting
worse. Now the generator is dead!"
"And its started to happen on other farms,
Seems to be spreading from Sam's place. Its even started here. Couldn't get
full power for the communicators."
"We noticed the poor signal and
wondered." said Karl.
"It seems to be escalating." Joe stated.
"I did some scans of the planet before we came
down." Jeff said. "One thing I was struck by was that there is no
radioactivity on the planet not even trace amounts, no background either. We
have never seen that before.
"We were aware of that when we came. We just
thought that there weren't any heavy elements. I guess we really didn't think
much of it. It didn't seem important to us."
"I don't know that it is."
"I'm not so sure." Karl interjected.
"I think we need to start at your farm Sam."
"I thought you might." Sam said. "I
brought some quads for you."
"Quads?" Karl asked.
"They're a local animal, similar to a horse.
We've domesticated them for riding. They took to it real well. We didn't have
a name for then initially and someone referred to them as quadrupeds. Started
calling them quads and the name stuck. They're quite gentle."
"Why not take the flitter?" Karl Asked.
"Too risky." Sam Answered. What ever is
killing the power might get the Flitter. All of ours are down. The quads are
the only way.
"Well I never rode horses but I'll give it a
try." Karl said with a trace of worry in his voice.
"Nothing to it." put in Jeff. "Years
ago I used to go with a girl and we went horseback riding all the time."
"Let me tell the Chrispin what's
happening." Karl said pulling out his communicator. "Chrispin, this
is Karl."
"What happening Karl?" Paula's voice came
from the communicator.
"Nothing to report yet. We're going to the
farm where the problem first appeared. Did anything new turn up on the
scans?"
"There is some kind of energy source in the
hills about 50 kilometers to the East of your location. We don't get anything
specific, just an energy source."
Sam Spoke up, "That's near my place!"
"We'll check it our Chrispin. Keep a monitor
on out location. We'll contact you later. Out."
Sam led the way out around the small building.
Three quads, looking like a cross between a horse and a camel with long hair,
were tied there.
Karl looked at the Quads, then at Sam. "You're
sure these things are safe."
"Nothing to it!" shouted Jeff and he put
his foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle.
"Let me give you a hand." Sam helped Karl
into the saddle. "Its about an hours ride to the farm."
They bid farewell to Joe and Sam led them away from
the lone spaceport building toward the mountains. The spaceport was located on
the edge of a flat plain. The mountains rose quickly and soon they were riding
through a deep canyon. It could have been a canyon in Colorado on Earth if it
had not been for the trees. Rugged grayish trunks with slender blur green
leaves dispelled any idea they were on earth. A stream bubbled along beside
the trail. Jeff and Karl could understand how this rugged beauty had attracted
the colonists.
They talked of the early days of the colony, how
each colonist family chose the land for their farms. The weather was pleasant
with small seasonal changes. Crops could be grown all year. It had been a good
life. At least it had been until the generators failed.
In many ways the colony was like the ancient
frontier days on Earth. Here however they did have many modern conveniences,
and they had tractors and other powered farming equipment. Without any
petroleum products of local fuel sources, the Ytterbium generators were the
only source of power.
Now that the generators were failing, the colony
was in real trouble. They simply were not prepared for life without electric
power. When the last generator fails, they will be out of touch with the
Confederation.
Soon the canyon split, one leg continuing up the
mountain, a high waterfall blocked the way any further up. They took the
downward trail, which soon opened, into a broad valley. Green fields lined the
river snaking its way though the valley and a group of buildings sat on the
edge of the mountain.
"That's my place!" proudly announced Sam.
They rode on down to the buildings. Some were
prefab, obviously brought from Earth, but the main house was cut from native
timber. It was a single story house with a gently sloping roof extending over
a broad porch wrapped around the front offering a spectacular view across the
valley.
As they rode up to the house, an attractive woman,
light brown hair blowing in the light breeze, came out to greet them.
"Welcome." she started to greet them, then she saw Jeff. "Jeff!
Jeff, is it you?"
Jeff was surprised. "Laura! What are you doing
out here?"
Sam looked at Jeff, "You know each
other?"
"Yes Sam." Laura answered. "Its been
many years;. She turned to Jeff. "How many has it been?"
Jeff thought for a minute. "I shipped out in
2362 so it's been nine years. Can it be that long!"
"It has Jeff. Many things have happened since
then. All that may come to an end if you can't help us."
Karl spoke up. "I'm going to report in and
then we need to get started." He opened the communicator and thumbed the
call button. Nothing happened. "The communicator isn't working right. The
power is almost drained.
"Your communicator uses Ytterbium cells
doesn't it?" Sam asked.
"Yes." Karl tried again. and this time a
very weak response came back. "Chrispin here ........ location
.......weak. Can hardly ......."
"We're losing power!" Karl said loud and
slow. "Send something that doesn't use Ytterbium cells. Do you
understand?"
"Under...... no ytter..... ...obe .......
...... ..." The communicator died.
Continued