Wait Until Night Comes
Every single member of the thousand-strong Sunfield Expedition knew they’d made the correct decision when they stepped through the newest Rift onto Kappa Six, or home, as they would now call it. They’d waited their turn for the latest Rift to emerge and had been greatly rewarded for their patience. Kappa Six was a paradise. The massive world was green and blue, just like Earth. A little warmer, perhaps, but perfectly manageable, especially once they’d set up the colony and began to acclimatize. There were tall mountains, thick jungles, and wonderfully long rivers that stretched across half the continent, according to the drones that had briefly scouted the new world and declared it safe.
No animal life had been reported during the initial scouting probes, but that wasn’t unusual. No life had been reported on any of the pre-checks so far, but everyone knew that would change one day. It was only a matter of time with the frequency of the Rifts increasing. And with Kappa Six’s lush vegetation and Earth-like qualities, who’s to say this wouldn’t be the planet where alien life in some form would be found? Many within the expedition truly believed it would happen, meaning they could be among the first to see alien life. It was another reason to be excited about their new home.
The sky above was dazzling and cloudless. It wasn’t quite the blue of Earth, perhaps a tiny bit murkier in shade, but nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful. A light wind had accompanied them on their first day, and there’d been no reports of rain so far, but the flourishing green around them suggested they’d come across it soon enough. Not too long ago, humanity must have wondered if they’d ever set foot on a strange new world; now they’d found a nirvana.
The planet itself was huge, with early estimates putting it at five times the size of Earth. The slow rotation meant days lasted weeks here, which was something they’d all have to get used to. That had caused some apprehension among the group, but the returning pictures of gorgeous mountains and flowing rivers put things into perspective. We’d adapted to the daily cycle on Earth, and so we would on Kappa Six as well. For those who’d struggle, the expedition would create special dark rooms to help with the adjustment. There was always a way. They were in this great adventure together and would make a life for themselves here.
With no stars in the sky during the early probe recon period, no one knew how far they were from home, or even if they were in the same galaxy as Earth. They weren’t able to try and match any star charts taken from other planets within the Rifts before the doors inevitably closed. But no one would ever be returning. The Rift door for Kappa Six had closed less than a day after they’d all made it through. They’d barely finished taking inventory when the option of going back for anything was removed. No one needed to be concerned; this was the day they’d all been dreaming about. Kappa Six was all that mattered now.
They set up the first of what would eventually be many colonies near the river they’d named Prosperity. The colony was yet to be named, but that would come; for the moment it was simply known as Home. It had been impossible to bring everything they needed to instantly house a thousand people, especially as a large percentage of their supplies had to contain food and equipment, but they’d brought enough to make a good start. Plus, they had the tools and know-how to help build the rest. A tall forest was nearby, and a mountain just beyond that. Wood and stone in abundance. Everything would come together.
Everyone was aware that the first year would be difficult, despite the excitement of settling into a brand-new world. They needed to discover whether the planet had its own permanent food source while beginning to grow their own. The probes had shown that the soil was more than capable, and that the planet’s temperature and vegetation suggested it was in the right Goldilocks Zone for life to flourish. The water needed filtering, but there would be enough for everyone. Starvation and thirst weren’t a concern. Little was, despite the difficult times they predicted ahead.
They’d brought a convoy of lorries through the Rift, something a previous expedition had worked out was possible. Containers full of materials, food, and essentials. Once emptied, the trucks could be used for additional storage as the colony grew, or stripped down for parts. Building roads was a long way off, as there weren’t any other colonies to travel to, nor plans to create any far away. It was unlikely the lorries would, in fact, ever be used for transportation again, and the expedition didn’t know whether there were any additional fuel sources to keep them running anyway. What they’d brought with them was needed for their homes. The trucks had all gone on their last ride, and what a ride it was, billions of miles in an instant.
There was something refreshing and natural about returning to an age before civilisation had spread itself across the globe. A single community building a new life for itself. An age before high-speed internet, electronics, or even roads. It wasn’t a life everyone back on Earth wanted, as many shied away from the idea of ever going near one of the Rifts, but for everyone on the Sunfield Expedition, this was actually what they desired. This was living. They’d figure out the difficult parts as they went, just like their ancestors.
The first few nights were spent in specially designed pop-up tents, before they started constructing the first batch of temporary container-style homes. It would all be very minimalist to begin with, with plans to build more permanent wooden houses once they were settled and had worked out how best to use the available space. Would they build something akin to a caravan park, or a village? A small town, or something wholly unique?
Everyone pitched in to building the homes, cooking the food, and filtering the water. Communal areas were set up. Campfires started, and stories were told. Some unsuccessfully fished in the empty rivers, while others explored the nearby forest and made their way closer to the mountains. It was an idyllic lifestyle, something out of an old novel from a bygone era. Slow living, in a brave new world.
The enormous yellow sun that Kappa Six slowly orbited shone brightly down on the camp. Its rays felt glorious, like every day was the best day of the year. They had a small team of scientists within the expedition who would work out the exact rotation and orbital path of the planet, start discovering the world, and explore the solar system Kappa occupied. Telescopes were at the ready for when night finally arrived. They had a cartographer to map the world around them as they explored it, although no one felt in a great rush to cover every inch of land. This was their world for the rest of their days. Then, it would belong to their children, and their children’s children. Enough room for everyone to explore.
The excitement was almost overwhelming. Who would have thought humans could enter the exploration age once more? The Edison Rifts had gifted us a great many things, but perhaps the opportunity to be explorers again was its greatest. To go back to a time when the world was truly our oyster; now, the whole galaxy was. Maybe even multiple galaxies, as the planets’ locations all remained unknown.
By the end of the first week (measured in Earth terms), Kappa Six was already feeling like a beautiful new home. Wandering groups had discovered strange new multicoloured plants, spectacular waterfalls, tall majestic trees that stretched high into the sky, and incredible rock formations, although… sadly, still no animals. Everything looked straight out of a fairy tale, or how you’d picture Eden.
Homes were being erected. Water was regularly taken and filtered from the charming river. Seeds were sown for a large variety of vegetables, as no one knew what would thrive. They’d planted apple trees and berry bushes around the perimeter of the encampment. The first mapping of the immediate area had been completed. And the colony had finally been named. Unanimously, they decided on the very obvious name: Sunfield. It only felt right, as that’s how they’d all known each other for the past year while they waited.
The sun began its slow descent from the sky as the first signs of night drew nearer by the middle of the second Earth week. A celebration was planned for the eventual nightfall. As suspected, the sun being high in the sky every hour of the day for over a week had been the most difficult element of the transition for some. It was something they’d need to eventually get used to. Even those who loved the sensation at first now longed to see what a night sky would look like on Kappa Six. They’d get plenty of chances, as the duration would be as long as daylight had been.
Would the nights be warm? Cold? Would there be any visibility, or none? Did Kappa Six have any moons? If so, how many, as none had been spotted during daytime? Would the sky be lit with stars? Would any of the constellations be recognizable? Would they start living two different lifestyles depending on whether they were in a day or night cycle? It was entirely possible.
They didn’t have any of the answers yet, but they’d come. The rules of Earth didn’t exist on Kappa Six; after all, it was a completely different planet. They could make up their own social norms. Their own rules. Live life the way they wanted. So much of Earth’s routines were based on day and night, seasons, weather patterns… all would be different on Kappa Six.
Early debates had begun as to whether it was possible to keep Earth time or not, given the planet’s drastically different rotation. It wasn’t a decision that needed to be made anytime soon, but it was a curiosity. Would they replace it with Kappa’s own day/night cycle? Was that even possible given the lengths of the days? What even constituted a day or week here? By Earth’s reasoning, they were still living their first day on Kappa, as the sun hadn’t risen or set. Would they need to create something more practical that still worked around their previous sleep patterns and social needs?
Could the human body ever fully adapt to the different lengths of daylight on the new planet, or would they forever struggle with the change? Maybe it would take generations before an evolution of humankind made it easier. Those times would be a long way off, but the journey towards them had begun. The future was theirs to mold.
Only… it wasn’t…
… When night finally arrived, the celebrations were cut short before Kappa Six’s two in-sync moons even made an appearance. When darkness fully took hold in the night sky, a release of a toxic gas instantly entered the atmosphere. It spread across the entirety of the massive planet in moments, as it always had. A thousand human souls were lost within the hour as they all choked to death under the poisonous fumes. Their bodies turned to an ash-like substance that melted into the dirt beneath them. Whether they were inside the newly built container homes or not didn’t matter. Locking themselves in the back of trucks after the first victims fell to the ground didn’t help. Breathing apparatuses and hazard suits were donned too late. The insurmountable damage was instantaneous. There were no survivors, nor would there ever be.
Kappa Six had always been an uninhabitable, toxic paradise, and would forever remain so.
