Far and beyond

Are wishes better off not granted?

As the science expedition was nearing the uninhabitable zone night was falling.  The crew was hoping to be able to be closer to their final location when they set up camp for the night but because of the poor weather conditions they were forced to hold about an hour away from the final location. The road up the mountain wasn't maintained at all. When it was first made the colonists were expecting that it would be used regularly for trips to the frozen lakes on the other side of the mountain. However, when the border of the inhabitable zone was drawn just before the mountain peak it became abandoned. Only used for a few scientific expeditions in the early days of the colony, it has long been covered by thick snow. The crew had to melt the snow as they went and even erect barricades at certain points to prevent it from caving. Of course, modern technology made the process a lot easier than what it used to be, but it was still something that had to be done. 

All this time gave Monsa and Sofia the opportunity to bond. They talked about everything. About what their past lives were on earth. About what their present lives are on the colony. And about what their future lives will be among the stars. They talked for hours. Sofia was wondering how the plants were even found in the first place if they were outside the habitable part of the planet. Monsa explained that it is not uncommon for people to explore near the border. There was no point in going far because even if you find something it is improbable that you would be able to bring it back, or even to survive. The planet had been scanned by satellites and most of it was well known. Even the parts where humans haven't gone. It was standard procedure before landing any kind of people on it. Of course, not everything was known, but they were pretty confident that there was no need to go much further than where they already were. But not everyone shared that idea. Some believed that there were untold riches just waiting to be grabbed. It was only human nature to believe in it. After all, the idea of untold reaches just waiting to be grabbed was exactly what let them to Nova Nadez. It turned out to be a real thing. The quadrium mines were extremely valuable. However, it was not some brave explorer that filled his pockets but a large corporation. The brave explorers turned out to be only workers in the mines when the dust settled. Sofia told her about how she had only spent six months in the military on earth and she only had one mission. It was some security detail for a politician visiting some poor foreign place. All they had to do was stand there with all their "big guns". It was just for the pictures and the press, the real big guns were in the skies mounted on drones. With all the robots and drones and modern weapons, the human solider was obsolete. They were only for show. There wasn't even a war to be waged. No one wanted to fight for a dying, depleted and overly polluted planet when there were countless numbers just like it in space. Of course, you had to earn your way off world. And for all the people that wanted to leave Earth, Sofia wanted to stay. But her destiny had other plans. 

Monsa couldn't help but admire her and feel sorry for her at the same time. She was never really connected to her family to that degree. She couldn't wait to go exploring. She had nothing to do on Earth. No reason to stay. Her parents had split up when she was a young girl. Her father lived his own life and she grew up with her mother. Her father visited for birthdays and they were generally on good terms. He loved her endlessly, but he was just never around. She also loved him. He died a few days after her 19th birthday. She had gone into biology because of him. Because she remembered how he read to her from real books. She used to look at all the animals that used to live on Earth. She learned about rhinos and wild horses and whales and tigers. She never saw any in real life. She also loved plants. She kept a lot of plants while she lived with her mother. It helped that her mother was a total  anthophile. They had all kinds of plants on their balcony. They kept them together and watched them grow. Monsa wanted a garden but living in an apartment never allowed for it. She was hoping to have one when she moved to the colony but she settled for living next to a forest. Steph wanted a beach and she wanted a forest. As luck would have it they found the perfect middle ground. Well, the beach was not what Steph hoped and he hardly even swam in the lake. But Monsa on the other hand used it to full extent. Her mind once again pulled her back to Earth. She couldn't help herself. She kept recollecting how she loved to see the pride in her parents eyes whenever she achieved anything. Even when leaving Earth her mother had still the kindest words for her and only slightly tried to make her stay. But in the end she knew that Monsa loved the unknown way too much. She also knew how much she loved Steph, and how much Steph loved her. Monsa also looked up to her parents, but she never wanted to be like them. They were successful in their own right but they were both into social sciences. Her dad being a lawyer and her mom an economist. In her eyes, they never really did anything for the good of humanity. She, on the other hand, was determined to leave her mark in history. She wanted her name to be remembered long after she had died. Monsa Tarova. It would be a name that everyone would know. It would be the leader of the team that discovered alien life. Civilized alien life. Not some bacteria on some rock, or a plant on some moon, or a fish in a planet that is all ocean. No. A real alien. Like in the myths and legends. Not something, but someone. To talk to. To share with. To grow with as a species. 

Some people were scared of aliens. They were of the mindset that they would want to kill them and eat them. She never saw the appeal of those kinds of thoughts. The universe was too big to fight over. In her knowledge, all wars in the past were for possession of resources. Limited resources. That held immense value or that could not be found anywhere else. But that was no longer the case. There was nothing that you couldn't find elsewhere in the universe. And whatever you could not find, you could make. So, the basic motive for waging war was removed. Territory was not even a factor worth mentioning anymore. Oddly enough Sofia shared her view, but for different reasons. She believed that weapons became so advanced and so deadly that any war, if it were to be had, would be decided in a matter of hours, far away from where any humans would be involved. She knew that humans have the ability to render planets almost unlivable in mere moments. So, no aliens were a threat because if they were inferior they would get wiped out, and if they were more advance they would know that a war would be too costly for them, even if won. They came to the same conclusion, but for totally different reasons. Monsa believed in peace caused by understanding. Sofia believed in peace caused by fear. Two very different ideologies that met at the same conclusion. They disagreed on every aspect except the result. 

Monsa never had this discussion with Steph. Now she was wondering how he felt about it. Was he a peace loving scientist like her? Or was he still clinging to his soldier mentality? He had not had anything to do with any military ever since he came to Nova Nadez, in fact, even before that he was almost a year removed from his service. He was now a bit chubby and slightly out of shape. At least, compared to what he used to be. He was much more sensitive and compromise based. He never gave off any signs of aggression or violence. He was more like a big teddy bear rather than a ferocious grizzly. However, she couldn't help but wonder. Was something still buried underneath it all. After all, he had seen actual service. Combat even. He was in the special forces. Could he also believe in the fact that we should scare other species into submissions? No, she was just overthinking it. She knew him better than that. He would never think like that. Or would he? 

Since night fell the crew went to sleep. Some few chose to sleep in the Outworlder that had it's two reactors charging still working and charging the other two vehicles, as well as providing power for the air purification machine the crew needed so they can have breathable air. The four members of the CSF were sleeping in a large black tent right next to it. Others were spread out in almost a circle a around it, and all had a tube attached to them to supply them with breathable air. As Monsa was exploring her feelings alone in her tent filled with still breathable air she was distracted by a loud noise in the distance. It was not the thunder or an avalanche. It was almost animal like. Except... there were no animals living here. Were there? And then there was another, followed by a few more. Could this be the aliens they were searching for? Were they trying to communicate with them? She had quickly went from almost a dream like state to one of complete awareness. She was putting on her warm clothes as fast as she could, and her air purifier was complete charged. She was ready in under a minute. She put her purifier on her face and made sure the strap on the back of her head was secure. She has dropped it in the past and losing it in the snow amidst all the excitement wouldn't be idea. And since it was a thin device, almost like a surgical mask with two small metal caskets on the sides it would surely be very hard to retrieve from the snow should it fall. With this in mind she rushed out. She was the first one out but her colleagues started to appear one by one. Soon the lights of the Outworlder turned on. They were bright enough to illuminated the surroundings up to a few dozen meters. What Monsa saw had her shook. They were not alone in the night. They were surrounded by what she could only assume were tens of creatures. Her body started shaking. She was unsure if cold, excitement or fear was the cause of it. 

- Monsa!! Get over here NOW!! - Sofia was in full armor, weapon in hand, looking like she is expecting a battle. 

- What? Is something wrong? - Monsa was still trying to process the situation. She had came all this way looking for what she had just found. So why wasn't she happy about it?