Sammy was your typical twelve-year-old boy. Self centred at times and determined to rebel once or twice. He was a natural boxer too, but one thing was very wrong.

He had been born upon a great generation starship that had so recently been destroyed. Only two hundred of the thousand souls had escaped its death throws, and now the real struggle for survival was underway.

The huge grassy plain was dotted with the four evac craft that had brought them here. Each craft holding fifty more or less. Each craft with enough food, water, and equipment to last a month or so. Just beyond, lay the pet pod that had jettisoned automatically before their ship had vanished in that searing, silent fireball.

Upon landing, the exit had slid open and the happy cats had peeked out at their new home. As they trotted off, the survivors gathered to hear the guard speak.

“As you know by now, I am the only ranking officer who survived the holocaust. As far as I can tell, none of the bridge crew survived.”

He paused and gazed upon the sea of worried faces.

“I suppose that puts me in charge then. So, we have to start thinking for ourselves now. Forget about food replicators and everything you knew before. The hard graft starts here.”

From the rear of the crowd, a gruff voice spoke out.

“We don’t mind work but how about food? That is our main priority.”

The guard raised his hands for quiet.

“Staying warm and dry must be our first concern here. So, half of you will break out the tents whilst the second group get’s the scanners. I want information on the fauna and flora. We need to know about water sources, and if it is safe to bathe and of course drink.”

The crowd murmured.

“As for animal life. Stay clear for now. We need to locate rivers and lakes where fish may exist. So that is today’s agenda.”

Sammy pulled his arm.

“Do you think they will listen Terrance?”

“They better son.”

A woman came up to them.

“How about protection?”

“Get the sonic blasters out and distribute them to as many adults as possible.”

As the crowd moved away the guard shouted, “When everything has been done, I’ll need a census carried out.”

They watched as the tents began to appear, and others broke away to check out the means of long-term survival.

“What good will a census do?” Sammy asked.

“We need to know the ratio between the sexes. I’m thinking a generation ahead.”

“We can still have kids then?”

Terrance laughed.

“Let me put it this way Sammy. If we don’t, it’s extinction for us. I don’t think our late commodore would agree to that.”

The day passed leisurely enough. As the teams returned, the picture looked positive. A great river had been discovered a mile to the north, and fish had been spotted jumping. Another team had discovered fruits that had tested safe for consumption.

The really strange find was the tree potatoes. Similar to those grown on old Earth, these hung from the branches like apples.

As for the census, the result was not to the guard’s liking.

“We only have forty females. Luckily all within child bearing age.”

“Is that enough?” Sammy asked.

“To prevent inbreeding you mean?”

“Of course.”

“It’s barely borderline. It’ll have to do I suppose.”

As darkness fell on that first new day, the air was filled with music from the only two guitars that they had. Beyond the fire, strange animal sounds joined in the chorus as the new sun set at last.
...
When the yellow star rose, Terrance crawled out of his tent and found Sammy and the dark haired woman waiting for him.

“Morning Moira.”

“What are the plans today?”

Terrance stretched as white fluffy clouds drifted overhead. He gazed around at the open plain and scratched his head.

“We are in a pretty open position here. It is certainly not conducive to defence.”

“You expect an attack?” Sammy asked.

“We don’t know anything about this world son. Those who did are gone now. So we need a ruddy large stockade in which to build our first settlement.”

“That makes sense,” Sammy said happily.

“It’ll take a month you know,” Moira warned.

“I figure you are right, but it is the best option.”

“Will you be making all the decisions from now on?”

Terrance gave her a strange look.

“For the moment at least.”

“Just as long as it doesn’t turn into a dictatorship.”

The guard smiled.

“I would make a lousy dictator. Tell them about the stockade idea.
We need to start now. Twelve hour shifts. Let’s see how far we can knock that month down to eh?”

The day was spent cutting down many of the trees, and then cutting the logs to size. When darkness fell once more, everyone was exhausted.

“Some day eh?” Moira asked.

“Pretty good I’d say.”

“I had a chat during the day about your leadership.”

“What do they think?”

“They are content for now but eventually some may want to break away.”

“You mean form their own communities?”

“That’s right.”

“I won’t stop that. However, for the present we stick together. Call it safety in numbers.”

Moira was a little concerned.

“There is one other thing.”

“Go ahead then.”

“We lost the droid when the ship went up. So what do we do for a doctor?”

Terrance thought this over carefully.

“The evac craft still have power to drive the internal logs. We can find medical info inside them. We need to select ten folks for that job.”

“You mean train them on the computer manuals?”

“Why not? All the knowledge is there just for the taking.”

“I’ll pass the word around then. What about pain killers and that sort of thing?”

Terrance shook his head.

“The craft won’t have those. Somewhere on this planet, a natural substitute may exist. A team will have to track that down. As well as diuretics.”

“Sure is a lot to think about,” Sammy commented.

“Far too much my lad,” the guard said.

Throughout the day, teams hammered the posts into position, but it still took a week for the outer wall to be completed. When it was, Terrance announced a break.

“Everyone has done their best at great speed. A month of labour was reduced to seven days. So tomorrow we rest.”

“What about a well?” a voice asked.

Terrance shook his weary head.

“We still have the water ration but I take your point. Two days hence, we can dig for the water table over by the right rear wall. We also need to locate a source of salt. As for our buildings, any suggestions?”

The crowd murmured for a bit before voices spoke up.

“None of us know how to construct a slanted roof so why not build flat topped log cabins. We can bolt the logs together with wooden pins. As for windows well. A few square holes will let air inside.”

“What about the smoke from the fire?” someone asked.

“That’s simple,” the first voice said. “We block it in with a tall rectangular construction leading to the roof. If we construct these, I reckon we could build two a day.”

Terrance did a quick calculation.

“That is a great idea. If they sleep five each, we could get away with forty. That’s what? Twenty days work.”

As people smiled, another voice piped up.

“What do we call this place?”

This unexpected question threw the guard off a little. After five minutes of thought, he smiled.

“For now, let’s just call it home.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

“That’s a great name Moira whispered.

“It’ll have to do for now. Earth 2 sounds so corny.”

The following day everyone sat about talking, and two lucky souls plucked away at the guitar strings. When sunrise arrived once more, the slog resumed.

At first light five members went out hunting for natural remedies, as the cabin building got underway. Terrance supervised the well construction like an expert.

After every ten foot, wooden boards were hammered into position to reinforce the walls. After thirty, a rope ladder taken from their equipment was gradually rolled down.

When they reached fifty feet, the lower sidewall collapsed, and a torrent of water roared in.

The diggers scrambled up the ladder grinning.

“We hit an underground river mate.”

As they reached safety Terrance said, “Go get a bucket and rope. I’ll test it.”

Everyone watched as the first water rose from below. Terrance scanned it and muttered, "Tut, tut."

“Well?”

“It’s safe.”

As a cheer went up Sammy nudged him.

“You’re a right old Robinson Crusoe you know.”

Just before sunset, the team returned and saw that two homes had been completed.

“I prefer those to the tent,” the woman said.

When they entered the stockade, Terrance spoke to them.

“How did it go?”

He recognised the look at once.

“No joy then?”

“We checked over a hundred plants and none fitted the bill. Some are downright poisonous.”

“How about tree bark?” Sammy suggested.

“What about it?” Terrance asked.

“You get aspirin from that.”

The woman nodded slowly.

“We’ll check again tomorrow. Also fungoid's.”

“Do your best eh.”

A bloke walked over clutching his home made bow and arrow.

“Look what I made?”

Terrance shook his head.

“I made the string from the tall grass over there. It’s perfect.”

He placed the arrow in place and fired at the stockade wall. When it struck, the guard was more than surprised.

“What do you intend to use it for?”

“We need meat pal,” he said removing it.

“Just make sure that you only kill what we need. We are custodians remember.”

“You worry too much.”

“I’m supposed too.”

The following day, more good news arrived.

“We found a forest of small trees and the bark is perfect as a painkiller. It’s stronger than aspirin too.”

“That’s wonderful news,” the guard said. “How about diuretics?”

“No go so far. None of the fungi we checked is safe.”

“We must keep looking,” he said. “Some of us are bound to get the runs sooner than later.”

“We’ll go out again in the morning.”

Despite constant searches, nothing seemed suitable for the job and weeks began to pass rapidly. At month’s end, Terrance watched as the last cabin was completed.

As everyone cheered, the guard choked up.

“That is a lovely thing to behold.”

“We are creating a new society here,” Moira added. “Hopefully a better one.”

Terrance gazed around at their new settlement with well-earned satisfaction. As the sun went down and he sat within his home, he gazed at the four other residents. Sammy and Moira had been joined by Dudley, a well built fellow who had been a weightlifter and Larry, the ship’s poet.

“So far so good eh?” Dudley said.

Terrance smiled as smoke drifted into the chimney.

“A little too well for my liking.”

“That is what we needed,” Moira said. “Someone to take charge.
Another commodore if you like.”

“I’m no commodore my dear. Never wanted to be. We have been given a time of grace, that’s all. Who knows what lies ahead when that time ends...?”