章 6: Chapter 5 - First Encounter

"Okay, that seems useful, now I think I will try going to my spaceship" inside thinking 'i need a health checkup kit and also the atmosphere generators, also food... sigh, well I will grab what I can'.

[It's 30 meters deeper on a piece of sand dunes, there are lots of predators hidden under the sand, be careful, also- ... there's also something eyeing the spaceship wreckage, if you are going to do this, then you better hurry]

"what is it?"

[the tribe is going there, the octopeople are about an hour away and carry bone spears that can easily stab you, they are made with bones from beings from the deep after all]

"I better hurry then" he threw caution to the wind and upped his propellor to maximum speed, becoming a human torpedo, it took him just 10 minutes to arrive on the plains, to the remains of the colonial ship, (https://images.app.goo.gl/MPzQaqUnZv8sCR7x6)

the rings of the ship were destroyed and fuel was still bubbling slowly out of the space ship, some predators like crabs buried in the sand tried catching him as he was passing by, but he was going too fast for them, some flat 6 meters long fish even started chasing him but he entered inside a hatch in the spaceship and it went away. The inside of the spaceship was flooded, so he quickly grabbed one air tank from the emergency suit near the entrance, and put it in his backpack for air replacement, Rose had designed the breathing system based on his spacesuit so the bottles were compatible.

The interior was full of debris, cables, and broken parts floating around, he started searching and grabbed a full set of basic tools from an emergency kit, a sealed seed pod kit, and an algae atmosphere generator, there would be no colony anymore so this would do, for now, if he generated sunlight and cleaned the salt from the mud, he could also maybe grow some vegetables he thought, like filling the pool or half the pool using a division with washed mud, he could also try aquaponics with floating seed pots for lettuce, that's when Rose urged him.

[think carefully, just the essential]

"hmm okay, breathing, I have water, food, and some tools to set this up, ah I know, entertainment or the underwater drone exploration... I will carry both and make a run for it!"

he grabbed a sealed suitcase with a computer and cameras, it was used for colonists to set up a perimeter and also document their findings, it also had movies and songs in a hard drive for the solitude, then another smaller box with an autonomous underwater drone to explore lakes or small oceans.

And a waterproof box with seeds for growing spices plants, he refused to eat tasteless food the rest of his existence!.

"Rose, if I take this to the synthesizer, can you scan them and make more?"

[yes, but that depends on the material reserves, I'm running low on copper and lithium]

"easy solve" he cut a bunch of the cables and wrapped them around his arm, also a battery pack container to his chest, he could stick things to his diving suit easily with a thought, so it was convenient. He also grabbed a led UV red and blue small case for Rose to scan and make, and stuck it to his thigh.

"well, I will seal the armoury and this hatch so they can't get on"

He sealed the hatches and hastily made his scape.

[go faster! I detect 1, it seems to be a scout, it's a 'female' and it has already seen you!]

"damn, I'm too heavy...ugh" he started flapping his legs too, gaining extra propulsion, at 5 minutes the scout was still after him, she was getting exhausted though, but he wasn't good either, it was in this stalemate he arrived at his garage and entered.

"leave the door open"

[okey...]

Then he crossed the second hatch.

"leave just a head open of the second hatch"

[...done]

The scout entered the garage door cautiously.

"can you close the garage without her noticing?"

[no, it's loud for marine creatures]

"hmm, I will distract her then, close this hatch at just the size of a fist better"

The second hatches closing sound attracted the attention of the scout, who approached cautiously, she was just a scout, the position given to young small hunters in her tribe, the lowest caste.

she didn't know why she chased after this unknown creature, it was just the strangest thing she had seen in her entire life, and couldn't stop herself. There was a small hole left in the cavity that creature crossed, it seemed silent so she thought this was her opportunity to take a peek, but... she then heard a sound and looked behind, the entrance had closed! she started panicking, but the sense of adventure moved her forward and she finally peeked through the hole. What met her was a strange face behind a transparent shiny membrane, she was surprised and thrusted her spear through the hole on reflex, as a future hunter, it was a lesson conveyed endless times by her mother when she was younger "who attacks first survives!", but it suddenly closed, breaking her speak, she was scared! she hid behind the broken transport in the corner and stood there shivering.

[well, was that what you were expecting to happen? I had to save your life again...]

"well... no, thanks a lot Rose"

The spear had almost speared through his helmet but Rose closed had the hatch in an instant, saving his life.

[so now you have a tribal girl shivering in fear in your garage and only available exit]

"well, communicating with aliens couldn't be simple, we got rid of her weapon at least (he grabbed the spear) it's really sharp... is this really bone? it looks like metal"

[the pressures that deep-sea creatures endure in this world would make you into a pancake in an instant, so they obviously have strong bones]

"that makes sense, since its bone I can try eating it too"

[not for now, even a tiny flake can cause internal hemorrhage to your current body, store it for now]

"Okay, you are the evolution expert after all, I better take off all this stuff too and get settled"

He got out of the pool and set the boxes on a table in his room for later, first ate a bit of sashimi, and took a warm bath in the bathroom, feeling refreshed he thought again about how to communicate with the octowoman.

'Maybe giving her food?' he thought, according to his training that should be a good approach, observe what they eat and offer them some.