CHAPTER 1: Those Who Came to Earth
İnara enlarged the image of Earth in front of her. On the land visible between the clouds, mountains ran parallel to the coast, and broad valleys opened farther inland. The site they had chosen for landing was in the land of Hatti. She examined the area where they could reach the stream and people could settle one last time. Nursaya opened the measurements they had prepared during the journey. Records of the soil, water, and air appeared beside the image. Nursaya waited as İnara checked each one.
“We’re approaching the landing zone,” Nursaya said to İnara.
İnara looked at the area where the water emerged from the mountains and spread across the plain. They would establish human life here. The site of the first settlement had to be suitable for more than landing. They had to choose somewhere people could continue to live after the ships left.
“Show me the flat ground above the water,” İnara said to Nursaya.
Nursaya shifted the image. Beyond the low ground along the bank, a higher area overlooking the stream appeared. Elun compared the image with the record in front of him.
“This is the area we selected,” Elun said to İnara. “It’s beside the landing site.”
İnara turned to Kian. Kian was maintaining contact with the Federation fleet escorting the science ship. The positions of the escort ships were individually visible on the display in front of him.
“Tell the fleet we’re ready to land,” İnara said to Kian.
Kian sent the notification. As the escort ships took their positions around the science ship, Nursaya began the descent. Nuratin, Anur, and Alumar were checking preparations in the exit compartment. The equipment to be brought to the surface had been arranged in the order it would be used. Anur closed the cover of the compartment he had just finished checking. Alumar tested the fastenings on the supplies opposite him.
“Preparations are complete,” Nuratin said to İnara.
“After we land, we’ll check the area first,” İnara said to Nuratin. “Then we can begin our work.”
Before going to the exit compartment, İnara looked again at the terrain displayed in front of Elun. Elun was tracing the edge of the flat ground with his hand. The land narrowed where the river curved, then opened again toward the mountains. On the display, the distance between the rocky landing site and the area where the humans would settle looked small. İnara placed her finger at the edge of the rocks. Once they reached the surface, they would cover that distance on foot.
“We won’t put the landing site inside the settlement,” İnara said to Elun. “For as long as we’re here, the area the humans use must stay separate from our equipment.”
“This side of the flat ground stays clear,” Elun said to İnara. “They won’t have to pass in front of the ship to reach the water.”
Without looking up, Nursaya corrected the ship’s course. The mountain range at the bottom of the display shifted slightly to one side. A cloud’s shadow was moving across the flat ground. The place Elun had indicated darkened briefly, then brightened again. İnara watched the slope beneath the shadow rather than the shadow itself. The area that looked level from a distance contained both low and high ground. They had distinguished those sections when choosing the site; now, as they approached, they could see them for themselves for the first time.
“The humans will reach the water from here,” İnara said to Elun. “When we assess the settlement, let’s consider more than how it looks from the ship.”
Instead of enlarging the image, Elun reduced it. The surrounding terrain came back into view. The rocky ground beyond the river, the beginning of the trees, and the foot of the mountain were visible together. İnara nodded. A clearing right beside the water was easy to identify, but the area where the humans would live was more than the riverbank. The ground they would cross, the places where they would take shelter, and the open spaces through which they could reach one another were all part of the same terrain.
Kian finished communicating with the fleet and turned to them. As one escort ship prepared to descend, the others were changing their positions nearby. Aboard the science ship, everyone was occupied with their own work. The display in front of Kian showed that the protection surrounding the team was moving with them.
“The link will stay open throughout our work on the surface,” Kian said to İnara.
“After we land, report where we’ve set up as well,” İnara said to Kian. “Show the flat ground occupied by the humans separately from our work area.”
Nuratin was waiting beside the door. He lowered his preparation list when İnara approached. The list was complete, but before they reached the surface, he was waiting for İnara to decide which materials would be taken out and when. Anur and Alumar had left space on both sides of the exit. No one should become trapped at the top of the ramp while carrying supplies.
“Should we take the sampling equipment out first?” Nuratin asked İnara.
“Let Elun and Nursaya see the area first,” İnara said to Nuratin. “The first instruments will be opened where they’ll be used. The rest can wait inside.”
Anur pulled the equipment he had left beside the door a little farther back. Alumar closed the transport compartment on the opposite side. Being ready did not mean taking everything outside at once. After checking the space in front of the door, İnara turned toward the Earth visible from inside the ship. Beyond the door that would soon open, there would no longer be an image, but ground they would walk on.
The reptilian civilization had learned in advance that the science team would be coming to Earth. Those underground were watching the approaching ships. The first images had shown the hull of the science ship, followed by the other ships accompanying it. As they drew closer, the fleet’s size and the ships’ positions became clear. The Federation’s escort fleet was coming too. The reptilians compared the information they had received about the scientists’ arrival with the new images. Those waiting to emerge onto the surface were stopped. One escort ship descended with the science ship while the others spread out around the planet.
They were not facing only a team that would conduct research. These were scientists arriving under Federation protection. The underground displays remained on. As the science ship’s descent toward the land of Hatti was watched, the reptilians stayed out of sight. As the ship descended, the terrain in front of İnara grew more detailed. The stream’s banks, rocky areas, and clusters of trees became distinct. Nursaya centered the ship over the landing site. Elun checked the final ground readings.
“The landing site is suitable,” Elun said to Nursaya.
Kian showed İnara the escort ship’s position.
“It will stay above us throughout the landing,” Kian said to İnara.
İnara turned back to the image in front of her. The rocky ground below the hull slowly drew closer. When Nursaya set the ship down, a brief vibration passed through the interior. Then all movement stopped. They waited for the measurements to finish. İnara read the results appearing in front of Nursaya. Then she got up and walked toward the exit compartment. Elun and Nuratin joined her. When the door opened, daylight spread through the ship.
İnara stood at the top of the ramp. Before her lay the land of Hatti, which she had studied in images throughout the journey. The stream flowed in its bed below. The flat ground they had chosen for the settlement was just ahead. Nursaya came to her side.
“We can begin,” Nursaya said to İnara.
İnara walked down the ramp. Elun followed her to examine the soil. Nuratin signaled to Anur and Alumar to bring out the first instruments. The escort ship overhead was passing above the landing zone. As the science team began its first work to establish human life on Earth, the reptilians watched them from underground.
The stones beneath the ramp were larger than they had looked from the ship. İnara set her foot on a level spot and stopped. The boundary between the ship’s shadow and the sunlit ground ran in front of her. A few steps farther on, the sound beneath her boots changed. The fine soil between the stones became more noticeable where the ground descended toward the river. Elun passed her and crouched. After looking at the spot he was examining, İnara raised her head and surveyed the entire stretch of flat ground.
Nursaya examined the surroundings without moving far from the ramp. They had encountered nothing that was absent from the images they had compared during the journey, yet standing in the terrain was different. The sound of the water was faint beside the ship’s hull and became clearer when they moved a few steps away. Looking at the ramp rising behind them made it clear which direction they had come from. They would also have to consider the area the humans would use from here.
“It looked shorter than the distance on the display,” Nursaya said to İnara.
“We were looking at it in relation to the ship,” İnara said to Nursaya. “We’ll see what it’s like for someone walking here, too.”
Elun turned a small stone he had picked up in his palm. He distinguished the soil beneath it from the dry surface above. İnara waited for him to finish his examination. When Elun put the stone back where he had found it, they walked toward the water together. The ship remained on one side and the flat ground selected for the settlement on the other. They did not need to lengthen their route by going around, but they had to watch their footing as they descended in front of the rocks.
“We can keep the work area on the rocky ground,” Elun said to İnara. “We don’t need to spread onto the flat ground.”
“Keep the area where the humans will settle clear,” İnara said to Elun. “We won’t build a settlement that changes when we remove our equipment.”
From the top of the ramp, Nuratin looked toward the place where they stood. On her way back to the ship, İnara indicated where the first instruments would be set up. Anur brought out a piece of equipment, and Alumar took the other end and lowered it onto the rocky ground. Neither let go while Nuratin checked the connection. Once the instrument was stable, its lid was opened. Elun crouched beside it and showed them the section he would use.
İnara did not wait right behind him. She walked from one end of the flat ground selected for the settlement to the other. What had looked like a single clearing from above separated into distinct sections when she stood within it. In one place, dry grass lay underfoot; elsewhere, stones breaking through the surface slowed her steps. The ground changed again near the river. When İnara turned, the ship was partly visible through the trees.
“We can see each other from here,” İnara said to Nursaya, who had joined her. “Let’s keep the initial work within this boundary.”
Nursaya looked around without moving beyond the line İnara had walked. The humans’ route to the riverbank and the team’s return to the ship would not converge at the same narrow point. While Elun worked beside the rocky ground, Anur and Alumar had cleared the space in front of the ramp. The escort ship Kian was communicating with was passing overhead. After watching its hull pass, İnara lowered her gaze to the ground again. They would complete their work here, on the land where the humans would live.
Nuratin stopped in front of the rock where the next instrument would be placed. There was enough room between it and the ramp. Anur looked at him before lowering the section he carried. Nuratin pointed toward the flatter side. Alumar took the other end. When they lowered the instrument together, one of its feet did not sit properly. Anur lifted it again, and Nuratin removed the small stone underneath. After the instrument settled into place, Alumar activated the connection.
“We’re keeping the path to the water clear here,” Nuratin said to Anur. “Let’s move the others farther back.”
Anur lifted the equipment beside him and carried it closer to the ship. Alumar checked the area where the cables ran. By the time İnara returned from the edge of the flat ground, the instrument was installed. Their first work area on the surface was taking shape as a place separate from the ship’s hull. İnara looked toward the ramp. The route for bringing equipment out from inside remained clear.
“We’ll use this area first,” İnara said to Nuratin. “Let’s take only the necessary instruments onto the flat ground where the humans will live.”
Nuratin nodded and showed her the connection’s status. İnara crouched beside the instrument. Alumar had secured the lid of the open section. After examining the result, İnara stood. Elun had stopped at the boundary where the soil was softer. The surface changed where the rocky ground ended. As İnara walked toward him, she nudged a loose stone aside with her foot. It rolled a short distance and stopped.
“What the rain washed down has collected here,” Elun said to İnara.
İnara followed the line Elun indicated. A small rise separated them from the higher ground. The distinction they had identified on the display before landing was clearer from the ground. İnara checked the direction of the water again. The route the humans would use did not have to cross this rocky section. She and Elun walked a few steps along the flat ground. Then they returned to the ship.
Nursaya was watching them from a distance. She joined them without turning off the instrument in her hand. İnara asked which sections the first surface results covered. Nursaya showed her the boundary of their work. They had not yet examined the area beyond it. İnara turned her head toward the distant mountains. When the image of Earth had opened before them, they had seen a surface. Now there were stones under their feet, water ahead, and a wide stretch of land to work on. The first day’s work was only beginning.
