Civilization

Chapter 1-5

As Ben Palmer walked down the ramp of the transport pod, his mind was still swimming. The quick briefing, the meager meal, the waking up inside a transport pod; he felt he needed time to process all the facts. As he looked around in the bright light, he saw what looked to be a man walking toward him. As the man got closer, Ben could make out a few details. I don’t recognize him, he thought, but hell, I couldn’t recognize any of the rest of the group. He did notice, however, that he was dressed in buckskins. The man kept getting closer and Ben could make out that he was carrying something in his hand. Ben heard more people on the ramp.

“Look, someone is coming,” a distinctively female voice exclaimed.

“Who is it?” a man asked.

“Is it our welcoming committee?” another man asked.

“I don’t know,” Ben said, shading his eyes from the bright sunlight with his hands. “Keep everyone back until we figure out who this Jasper is.” Ben wasn’t the leader; he was just the closest person to the approaching man, and he had been the first one out of the pod.

It wasn’t long before the man stopped just outside the shadow of the pod. Ben was wary of this stranger. He seems dangerous, somehow.

“May I approach?” the stranger asked curtly.

“Come ahead,” Ben commanded cautiously. As the stranger approached, Ben backed away to keep his distance until he could see the man clearly. “That’s far enough,” Ben commanded after the man had taken a dozen more steps.

“I know you have lots of questions,” the stranger was saying, “and I may be able to answer some of them for you, but first you all need to stay close to the transport pod. Don’t let anyone go wandering off. There is good water over there,” the man indicated the stream to his right. “Once everyone is awake and aware, I’ll have a few announcements to make to everyone.”

“And who are you to be telling us anything?” Ben asked brusquely.

“First, I’m not telling you anything. I’m just…strongly suggesting,” the stranger said. “Secondly, you’re on a dangerous planet and none of you have been outside the ship longer than five minutes. I’m Murdock and I’ve lived here for five years. If you take my…suggestions, you might be able to live longer than today. But all of you are free to do as you please.”

Everyone stared as Murdock turned and walked away.