c. 2026 Rod Ice
All rights reserved
(4-26)
Conditions on the ground at Evergreen Estates were harsh to endure, with the rural community having been effectively reduced to an abandoned junkyard. There were no amenities in place, and no natural sources of hydration, food, or shelter. But for Judson Baines, the cluster of manufactured homes represented a bounty of historical information. Every trailer carried a personal story waiting to be uncovered. Remnants of a lost world were everywhere. And the survival of its crude architecture gave testimony to the fact of humanity at its origin point. Long before the advent of technological advances, and a mass migration to the new world.
Kelly Strafe took comfort in being with her chosen companion at this remote venue. But otherwise, was not so keen to explore the ruins.
“This place is depressing, Juddy! It’s a damn wasteland in every way. A wasteland!”
Her cohort from the university did not agree. Each walk around the property invigorated him with the lure of opportunities that awaited.
“C’mon now, think of all the archival materials sitting here! This park has been undisturbed for a century, at least! Everything is as it was, when the final residents departed. They must have had heavy hearts upon deciding to escape. But in that time, there was no better option. The human race was doomed to die here on this ruined ball of mud. But ultimately, it didn’t! We didn’t die, we flourished somewhere else!”
The former military officer felt her face turn hot with disbelief.
“Look, we’re here to poke around and study, right? I know it’s what you wanted. But when we run out of things to see and record, then what? Where does all this data go after we finish? I’ll answer the question, it goes nowhere...”
Baines was slightly offended by her quizzical retort. Yet he understood the sad reality that both of them were likely to perish as the sole residents of their new environment.
“I don’t have a purpose in mind, really. I’m a classroom nerd, you know? Sort of an archaeologist, sort of a scientist, and always a student at work. Learning matters to me. I can only hope that somehow, whatever we discover will be useful to others, in the future. Maybe they will find our bones here like we’ve found those of my genetic link...”
Kelly folded her arms and stood with her hips jutting sideways.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw shade on your project. I get the excitement. So, what is your plan for today? How do we find the park cemetery you mentioned?”
Her associate from the school pointed toward their Digger shuttle, which was sitting idle by the maintenance garage.
“On our way down, I did a wave scan of the property. Visually, it looked like an overgrown, wilderness tract. I couldn’t see evidence of anything that indicated a memorial remnant being there. But hard stone reflects the analyzer beam differently than organic matter. It allows a remote viewer to peer through the brush, as if it were invisible. I picked up a quadrangle of some kind, bordered by concrete blocks. Guessing from what they had on hand at the time, to work with, I would suppose that they are parking barriers. Probably lined up to mark the perimeter. Whover built the little graveyard must have been in a hurry. They were days or weeks away from boarding the last transport vessels, bound for Mars. This was a farewell gesture. Some of those buried here must have been very old. Too weak and sick for a long journey...”
The professor used his com-link to function as a compass. It indicated a meandering course, headed due east, from the former office site. With a scythe found in one of the storage sheds, he started the tedious task of clearing a path through the dense cover of weeds and tall, wild grasses. The chore soon had him soaked in perspiration. But his partner was less patient with the pace of this primitive undertaking. She unclipped a laser torch from her duty belt, and ratcheted the fire level to its maximum output.
Vegetation burned quickly, and scattered on both sides of an artificial lane left in her wake.
“You’re too slow, Juddy! We’ll be out here forever doing it your way! Stand back and let me kick out the voltage!”
Strafe still had the intensity of a military brat in her makeup. She advanced through the brush rapidly, pausing now and again to kick away ashes and debris with her combat boots. In just over a half-hour, they had managed to reach one corner of the burial plot. There was a chiseled tower standing at its edge. A marker meant to signify the meaning of this forgotten memorial.
Because of their proximity to the site, Judson finished his labor manually. He was careful not to disturb anything that might carry historical significance.
“This is how the story ended for Evergreen Estates. But we’re about to write another chapter!”
There were a dozen graves in the small courtyard. Each was topped with a horizontal slab of concrete, instead of a traditional headstone. The jagged profile of each runner indicated that they must have been repurposed from piles of construction waste. Crudely carved into the hard surfaces were family names of the dead. Throckmeyer, Pulanski, Coe, DiCenza, O’Hannon, Bert, Banner, Rudesill, Portrain, Zappe, Byler-Gregg, and finally, Lincoln.
Both exiles from the Red Planet stood silently for a moment, stunned by the yield of their short trek. Then, the university scholar dropped to his knees, in the mud. His voice turned hoarse and breathy, while forcing out words of tribute at the level of a whisper.
“The first accounts I read of people arriving in our colonies from this sector spoke about him being in his 90s when they departed. He had nearly gone blind, experienced tremors and vertigo, and could barely walk. Neighbors brought him food and drink. He wasn’t popular necessarily, but had been in the development for so long that he was considered to be a fixture of the park. A cranky, contrarian hermit, perpetually irritated, inebriated, and on his front porch. All of his marriages failed. But his DNA was passed along effectively, for future generations that he never knew...”
Kelly rested her hands on his shoulders. She could feel his musculature tighten in response.
“We did it, friend. We found your connection. That makes all of this worthwhile. Let it sink in, we don’t have a schedule to follow anymore. When you’re ready, we can talk about what comes next. I’ll admit it, that’s the part I am waiting to hear about!”
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