It took them two Gaian days to make cultivators operational again.
Finally, they had a source of food since this equipment was capable of simulating the most optimal conditions for growing specific species of plants.
Subsequent levels were adjusted to specific vegetables and fruits, and the system was obtaining substances necessary for the growth straight from the environment. After all, Gaian atmosphere was really close to the one on Earth, giving people proper conditions to function, but small differences in soil and air composition could have an unforeseen effect on plants they brought. At first, they were supposed to basically rely on incubators, and only later on attempt to bring the Earth plants into the local environment.
Rashid was visibly excited by the chance of working at adaptation of various species to local conditions on Gaia. The very moment key equipment became functional, he prepared a workshop with a small, adjacent field. He even asked Martin to help him with setting up necessary systems.
- I see you are starting to feel at home here - that way Johnson commented on the new lab after seeing patches and racks full of seedlings - You think all of these will grow here without issues?
Rashid looked at him with a smile.
- Differences between soils on Earth and the one here are clear, but the climate allows us to freely breathe and live on this planet. If we can function here, there is undoubtedly a chance for growing plants, though we need to check whether any adjustments to their genetic code is needed. The soil here is fertile and far from being exploited as the one on our Earth. You had a chance to see all these landscapes, right? It's wonderful how pristine the nature here is.
- And dangerous at the same time - Martin added - I understand what you are getting at. Our home planet is overpopulated, and there is not many places where we - people - didn't destroy. My family owns a farm, so I know what's happening.
The African nodded, and smiled again.
- I've been meaning to ask you about that for some time now. Since you are from a family of farmers, why did you become a mechanic?
Johnson shrugged.
- Not sure what was the main reason. I've been interested in machines since childhood. Owning a farm, you need to fix many things by yourself. Aside from that, I wasn't so sure about working the fields. Big corporations own most of the market, and it becomes much harder for smaller producers to stay on the surface.
- I would love to say that was not the case - Rashid's smile disappeared after hearing what Martin said - Cohabiting with nature on Earth is nearly non-existent. That's why I care about this place. This planet is our chance for a new start. Mars also gives us hope, but in perspective of several hundred years. We need to take all that load off the Earth, let our home planet get a breath.
- You think it's going to be easy? You've mentioned Mars right now. It's even hard to get a permission to emigrate there nowadays. I'm not so sure governments and corporations will so easily allow people to draw from all these natural resources.
- We need to have hope at the very least, Martin. Even if the won't allow emigration from the very start, it's still a big chance for the whole humanity. I really hope the New Gaia will bring us better times.
- You better be right, otherwise the future looks rather grim. Then again, it's about time we cut this chit-chat. Show me what you need.
Finally, being done with helping at Rashid's workshop meant Martin could begin working on some equipment he considered key in the current situation they were in, namely signal amplifiers for transmitters. With these, he hoped they could get in touch with their crewmates who ended up in other parts of the planet, which seemed to be the fastest approach as bringing flying units into the fray was considered less reliable due to environmental conditions and dangerous animals.
Built-in transmitters used in implants were capable of sending signal for a few dozen kilometers in standard conditions, without worldwide transmitters web. The problem was, standard conditions were something considered normal back on Earth, which - unfortunately - was not the case on the New Gaia, where interference was something natural within its atmosphere.
During initial stages of investigating the planet with probes, scientists faced frequent problems with communication. Force field around the megacity was based on electromagnetic energy, causing severe interference in transmitting signals with the most known waves used by humanity. In areas closests to alien structures, sending or receiving information that way was simply impossible.
In order to make as thorough research as possible, scientists were using a variety of signal amplifiers and devices capable of absorbing electromagnetic waves. That was the case mainly for the locations around the megacity considered the key place on the planet, but - as it turned out - other areas of the planet were exhibiting similar properties. Much to Martin's disappointment, the structure his group was currently occupying for a shelter was among such constructions. It was one thing for another in this situation - dangerous creatures were too scared to enter at the cost of humans being unable make use of various technologies, mainly because of interference.
They have already spent a number of Gaian days in this place - about two Earth weeks passed so far. That much time was enough for scientists to make many discoveries connected to the planet's specificity. The first observation showed that local animals were really sensitive to electricity and magnetism. Obviously, they could not get to the root of this behavior shown by several species, but it was a fact these creatures would avoid being directly exposed to electromagnetic energy of high density. While this observation was made strictly based on selected animals, sentient beings who originally built these structures had to be either aware of the fact the energy waves would scare these creature or they were actually the ones who made the animals afraid of interacting with such structures.
Either way, the building they were using as a current camp ended up being a big headache for Johnson as it was pointless to place transmitters inside the walls, which would suppress most of the signals. The only choice in these circumstances was to place a network of devices outside, in the open space that could be affected by external conditions.
Before going into it, they organized a meeting to decide on the team's composition. Aside from mechanics and engineers, Martin needed soldiers, including two Savages. Additionally, using the chance, several scientists asked to be allowed to join - not to work on assembling the transmitters, but to make use of soldiers presence to do some research outside the structur.
Johnson was grateful for the military support, but the presence of scientists was not so appreciated. Given the work to be done, it meant soldiers had to divide their attention among more people.
In the end, he agreed to this suggestion, though because it was the only way to start works fast.
Since the moment camp was established in the area, he had chances to observe the environment around only through the entrances to the construction, and did not walk outside for days. Now, he had a first chance in a long time to do so and appreciate how this world was in the middle of the day.
The sky did not have an uniform, blue color - instead, Martin could see various colors mixed in, with red being especially visible. In general, there were traces of numerous colors in the blue, which seemed unusual to anyone who was used to Earth's sky until now.
Local plants, contrary to Earth, were not mainly green, though the color was present - within a short period of time, he could notice many more plants with red and orange leaves. While they could not be completely sure about red and orange being the most common leaves color, based on documentation they had a chance to read - green was definitely not the dominating color on Gaia.
There were also some rocks and boulders around, which were much more similar to Earth's counterparts, though their structure was obviously different, and there were exceptions to the looks in form of completely green or light blue ones.
When looked at from the outside, the building serving as their shelter was definitely leaving a long-lasting impression. Walls had green color and looked like stone from far away, while in fact being made of local metals.
Johnson had a chance to work with a variety of materials, but even he was shocked how much this metal was similar to stone in terms of structure. Of course, no one managed to study the material thoroughly yet, however, it was matter of time as it seemed to be a really useful material.
Still, it was definitely not a material the building was made of that caught an eye, but the way it was fitting in the natural environment, or maybe even how the nature was embracing this object as if wanting to get back what once belonged to it?
Honestly speaking, looking at this construction, many would associate it with Earth architectural wonders such as Machu Picchu. Despite bearing marks of time, and missing various parts, it was still towering above the area around, as if clinging back to its glory days.
Nevertheless, Martin was amazed by harmony between the technology and the nature. Plants were entwining the structure, somehow unaffected by security measures capable of scaring away dangerous animals. Maybe because plants were not something one had to defend against?
Unblemished by people, landscape seemed to suck one in. Even those frigging, murderous predators bathing in the light of the suns looked les dangerous now.
- I'd love to have such view back on Earth - Julian said after climbing a huge boulder and looking around from above - In the place I used to live you only ever see walls.
- You better go down from there, Jules, unless you want some flying creature to spot and eat you! - Thorsten shouted at him.
The young one was close to losing balance, because of how fast he started looking around to make sure nothing is flying in the sky.
- Stop scaring me! I even felt as if something was standing behind me! - Julian shouted back.
- C'mon, there is nothing behind you! - Thorsten replied - Nice try, but it's not that easy to scare me! You are way too young to try that!
- Dickhead - Julian murmured, while climbing down - I really thought something was behind me - he said to Martin later on.
- I understand, Jules, but I assure you, there was nothing there. At least, I didn't see a thing - Johnson told him calmly, ending the topic.
Finding a fitting spot turned out harder than they could imagine. Readings they kept getting were far from being optimal, also confirmed by Savages' sensors. It did not look good for their plan.
Unexpectedly, scientists came to their aid, going back from their walk around the area, where they were taking care of their own stuff. One of them, a man called Akanji gave Martin an interesting piece of information.
- These boulders, they are like obelisks known on Earth - he said - We've noticed that these are placed with regular gaps in-between, forming a circle around the tower in the center. It's really similar to monolithic structures we know. Since on Earth these were considered to be places of power according to various beliefs, it may actually be some type of device gathering energy.
Johnson was amazed a scientist focused on borderline mythology-history tale instead of the data and facts, but - in the end - the mention of gathering energy gave him an idea.
After instructing the rest of the team, they started moving farther away from the tower and obelisks. It was not an ideal plan since the plan did not include moving more than one hundred meters away, and - given the distance between obelisks and tower - they had to move several times farther.
While it was not the safest approach, subsequent readings resulted in important findings, confirming the portion of Akanji's idea was correct - moving away from the tower and not staying in the areas close to obelisks resulted in interference being considerably lower.
With that, on one hand - they managed to find suitable locations for placing the transmitters, but on the other - they had to move away by one kilometer from each at least.
Of course, implants range was enough to be enhanced even with transmitters located that far. Still, leaving devices made of precious materials in such spots was a risky business.
Despite that, Martin did not waver for long and decided to proceed with works, placing the first transmitter on elevated terrain outside the obelisk ring.
In standard conditions, current technology allowed for placing transmitters at various heights, but Johnson's decision was not connected to signal enhancement - he just wanted to secure all devices against local animals in the best possible manner. Besides, transmitter placed higher was much easier to be spotted from inside the tower, allowing for the group to react fast should anything happen.
Having all necessary parts, they could proceed without a further delay. Placing pillars on which transmitters were to be mounted was an easy and smooth action owing to availability of Savages. Transmitters needed a bit more attention, because they had to be powered up. However, solar panels were perfect here thanks to the amount of energy stars in this system were generating.
Finally having a functional network of transmitters, they could make fresh attempts to contact other survivors.
It was no wonder the information about the network being finalized improved the mood among everyone in the camp. Many of those gathered there faced a death of someone close to them, but there were many more people whose fate they did not know. Transmitter network was giving them chance to contact others and learn if their close ones survived. Unfortunately, the first attempt after finalizing the structure did not allow them to establish a contact resulting in morale lowering a bit yet again.