Special Effects: Red Earth

"Eden," said Tucker.

Stubbs stopped, open-mouthed.

"Hey!" he said, ''That's original. Why not? The old Earth's gone, this is the new one. We've got the chance to start all over again. Pretty amazing eh? Yes, I like Eden."

Tucker pulled the shovel from his pack and started to dig a hole. He dug it much larger than he needed to. It was more than a sample. A lot more. Stubbs watched him, puzzled.

"What's that for?" he asked, "Looks like you're digging a grave?"

Tucker said nothing, as usual, so Stubbs shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

"Suit yourself," he said, "If you want to make extra work..."

The sun climbed higher into the sky as the two men went about their work. Stubbs kept to his allotted tasks, while Tucker dug his hole. Stubbs walked the entire perimeter of the flat ground, making sure the land sloped down and away on all sides. When he was finished he wrote his notes and began pacing out the diameter and radius. He wrote more notes. Tucker, meanwhile, continued to dig the hole. It was big enough, and long enough, to hold a large person now.

When Stubbs was finished, he came over to Tucker and sat on the loose dirt.

"Mighty big sample you've got there," he grinned.

Sweat was dripping from Tucker's face. It dribbled down his forehead, ran to the tip of his nose and fell to the red soil, making small dark patches. The forest sang quietly. Birds fluted their complicated tunes, crickets chirruped, a stream whispered nearby. Tucker stood in his hole and tossed red soil out, steadily, without a word.

Stubbs dragged his pack over to him and opened it. He pulled out some fruit and a rough chunk of Martian bread, made from the spindly grains which some of the settlers had managed to grow. Not like Earth wheat, but palatible. Pathfinders were a privileged few. They got the best of the available food. They were already a kind of class of their own. He closed his eyes for a second, giving thanks, wiped some sweat from his face, and took a bite.

"Come on Tucker," said Stubbs, "Aren't you hungry?"