Gaeron: Surviving the Rim/Our First Encounter, Our Second Night

## Our First Encounter, Our Second Night

"**Our First Encounter, Our Second Night**" is the second chapter of the *Gaeron: Surviving the Rim* web-novel series. This second chapter was published to the site on July 4, 2022.

This chapter covers our main cast's first encounter with Gaeronians, and also their second night on Gaeron.

## Plot

### Entry - Our First Encounter

I’m typing this current entry the day after our first night here on Gaeron. The four of us slept as well as we could, but we all knew that we were going to have our work cut out for us.

My leg is still injured, but I hope I’m able to recover quickly enough and muster the strength to help the others further establish our camp. We tried reaching out towards any potential signals through RuneNet again, still using our personal responders as the only means to connect to the network itself, but to no avail. We thought perhaps this planet used different channels and methods for long-distance communication, or maybe there truly was no one else on Gaeron for such channels to be necessary.

We were proven wrong when a small caravan of travelers arrived at our tiny makeshift camp. There were two humans—a man and a woman—as well as a Proxim man; grey skin with completely blue eyes, pointed ears, neck gills, and no prominent nose. I wasn’t able to catch their names, but the human woman mentioned that they were part of a republic here on Gaeron called Walado, which made the four of us survivors rather relieved to find out that we were *far* from alone on the planet. These Waladoans seemed friendly enough too, so I’m glad we weren’t immediately met with any hostilities from the planet’s native inhabitants. They told us how they were passing through the area when they saw the smoke from our campfire and decided to stop by in order to investigate. Dalila explained to these travelers that we weren’t from Gaeron, and that we crash-landed in this dense forest just yesterday. The human man told us that we were situated within the Oulocol Forest, as they called it, which stretched out for miles on the continent we were standing on. I took this to mean that we would never have a shortage of lumber, fresh air, and shade. I think Alyssa took it to mean that civilization was further away from our camp than she had hoped.

The travelers explained that they were heading to one of their colonies, called Thainga, and that their settlements were spread throughout the entire continent, although predominantly in the northern half and often by bodies of water. Naturally, we asked if we could ride with these Waladoan travelers to their destination, in hopes of finding shelter and safety within civilization. They told us that they unfortunately could not, as Walado did not simply house any wayward travelers found outside of its borders. I assumed there was some form of vetting process for citizenship within this republic, which was understandable from a security standpoint. And so I proposed to Alyssa, Selmara, and Dalila that we would be better off buying our time out in the wilderness than trying to incorporate ourselves into this Gaeronian republic.

After all, *we* needed to stay safe too. There was no telling what Walado was truly like from the kindness of three citizens alone. We had to play it safe, as did the Waladoans. These travelers even warned us about the possibility of raiders and antagonistic caravans unaffiliated with Walado, and so they too recognized our need for safety.

We asked for specific groups to look out for, and they delivered. The hostile East Barons and the tribal Comba People were two particular factions on Gaeron that had caused Walado some deal of trouble in the past, according to the Waladoan travelers. But they also mentioned two other factions, the Exodus and the Gray Tree Tribes, that Walado often traded with peacefully. There were a lot more people living on Gaeron than I had previously thought, if there were this many factions at play. We would’ve asked for more information on these factions, but the Waladoans had to return to the marked path and arrive at Thainga before nightfall, so we were short on time.

Before the three Waladoan travelers continued on their journey, they graciously gifted us a great deal of rice seeds. Just a fraction of a surplus from a previous harvest, the Proxim man told us. We thanked them for their selflessness before they left our camp in the afternoon. I just wish we were able to give them something in return.

Dalila was already making quick use of the rice seeds. She planted them in such a way that showed clear familiarity with the task. The water we collected from the river was going to be a great help in keeping our small rice field alive. We all hoped that the rice would survive long enough to be harvested, but Dalila was confident that her efforts would not be in vain. She assured us by explaining how she used to tend to her own personal tiny greenhouse at home, whenever she wasn’t typing up reports as an administrator. Dalila admitted that farming and gardening was going to be more difficult without all the necessary modern tools available to us, but she also still had faith in her work. Her conviction was enough to ease everyone into putting their trust into her. I know I trust her enough, anyway.

As I type, Dalila continues to sow the fields. Just before I began this entry, there were talks between Alyssa, Selmara, and myself in fortifying our base with wood. Alyssa was onboard with the idea, as this meant further protection from any potentially dangerous wildlife—or people. Attacks from hostile Gaeronians was very much a possibility, thanks to the warnings of those three travelers from Walado. Selmara herself was waiting for something productive to accomplish, so this was a reasonable solution for her.

It looks like we’ll be trying to get even more settled in than we thought, with Dalila planting the rice given to us by Walado and the rest of us making construction plans for our camp. I believe this is the smart thing to do. We wouldn’t want the UCR to find us dead should they ever reconnect with us in the future.

I may type in another entry before I retire later tonight, but this is all the information I could record for now.

### Entry - Our Second Night

I’m typing from bed once again, before I fall asleep for the night. I should discuss what transpired in the time between earlier afternoon and now.

We have a new friend that’s joined us here at our camp. A pet, actually! When Selmara was out chopping down trees in the surrounding area, she was quickly met by what appeared to be a friendly and eager Skyor Terrier. For a potentially unfamiliar reader, these furry four-legged animals can be found on the estuary planet of Skyor and are rather popular as companions. I actually have a friend from Epsilopeia who owns one as a pet. They’re desirable as pets for their silky and straight coats, and for being easy to travel around with because of their tiny size.

A rather odd thing to find out in the wilderness of a frontier world, yes, but not so odd once I explain. When Selmara brought the terrier back to our camp, Dalila was ecstatic. I never saw her this happy (then again, I’ve only known her for a little over a day), but Dalila later explained that she traveled on the UCR transport freighter with this very terrier. This was clear enough to us when the terrier excitedly ran circles around Dalila and brushed up against her legs. When Alyssa asked why Dalila didn’t mention having a pet before, she simply reasoned that she didn’t want any of us to worry any more than we already did, given our current circumstances. While this frustrated someone like Selmara, we all understood Dalila’s intentions and came to decide that no harm was done by withholding that information. Ultimately, all that mattered was that the terrier was found and safely returned to her owner—in a surprisingly healthy state too. How did the terrier survive the crash of the freighter relatively unscathed? There was no way she took an escape pod along with us, right? I hope I won't lose sleep over this.

I should mention that the terrier’s name is Flower, and that she’s only a few years old. She’s gotten accustomed to everyone in our little group, but I could tell that she’s especially close with her owner Dalila, who takes care of her rather well. Skyor terriers get most of their sustenance from water, so we won’t have to tap too deeply into our resources to feed her very often, thankfully. Dalila managed to forage some berries from around the forest, and so I think it’s safe to say that Flower won’t easily go hungry, at least anytime soon. I think Flower’s presence is going to do wonders for morale. I have yet to meet someone who *didn’t* like pets like her.

Aside from our new friend, we managed to get a significant amount of work done for our camp, which is growing rather smoothly. Dalila’s planted a good number of the rice seeds and plans to continue sowing the fields as the week goes by. We obviously won’t be able to yield the results for quite a while, so I’m glad we could at least enjoy the packaged meals already at our disposal. They didn’t taste half bad at all, really.

I made blueprints for a small indoor area that we could use as barracks, as discussed earlier. Some rather simple plans, consisting of only a single room and a front door. While we weren’t able to complete the construction of the roof before the end of the night, we managed to build the wooden walls just fine, along with some small wooden beds for all four of us. We used our bedrolls as temporary mattresses, along with the extra cushioning salvaged from the inside of our escape pods (save for mine, which we collected what remained of it for scrap metal and components). We had Alyssa complete all four bed frames before the end of the day. Alyssa mentioned growing up having a few woodworking relatives that she would often observe working on their crafts, which explained how she was able to construct the bed frames so quickly and efficiently. All three women were continuing to surprise me with hidden skills and talents.

For what it’s worth, I think Selmara and Alyssa did a fine job using the blueprints I made for them. I thanked them for their construction efforts and they appreciated my plans. The progress on the barracks and our camp as a whole continues to go without any significant complications. It also doesn’t hurt that the wood we used isn’t awfully rustic in terms of aesthetics, and I only mention this because I believe Alyssa is accustomed to a certain level of comfort and luxury. Perhaps we’d better start gathering more resources for decor and flooring (the grass and dirt beneath our feet is currently our flooring) so as to make our temporary home feel more like an actual home.

Maybe I’m looking too deeply into the future. Once again, it’s possible that the other freighter passengers could reunite with us as soon as tomorrow, but I understand that I shouldn’t count on this as our definitive method of survival. All four of us—*five* of us now, even—were going to have to work with what was currently available to us to the best of our abilities.

While I wouldn’t call myself a particularly sentimental person, I can’t understate how lucky I am to have ended up with people like Alyssa, Selmara, and Dalila, who happen to work well enough together to ensure our mutual survival. I could very well have been sleeping on the floor tonight had I been grouped up with other passengers from the freighter. And so I have confidence that the next few days of work will go smoothly.

Flower is softly snoring as she sleeps at the edge of Dalila’s bed. I should take that as a sign to put this current entry to a close. Until next time.

## Appearances

### Dramatis Personae

* **September Bridges** - Gazetan. Our narrator and architect.
* **Alyssa Sanidine Orchard** - Human. Woman from a shining world. Surprisingly skilled at woodworking.
* **Selmara Beltran** - Human. Woman paying her debts. Unsurprisingly skilled at chopping down trees.
* **Dalila Vaascosa** - Human. Woman keeping things together. Surprisingly skilled with plants.
* **Flower** - Skyor Terrier. Owned by Dalila. A good girl!

### Other Characters

* Three Waladoan travelers
	+ A human man
	+ A human woman
	+ A Proxim man

### Locations

* Cassiopeia Galaxy
	+ Central Expanse
		- Gaeronian System
			* Gaeron
				+ Oulocol Forest
				+ Thainga (Mentioned only)
	+ Epsilopeia (Mentioned only)
	+ Skyor (Mentioned only)

### Organizations and Titles

* United Cassiopeian Republic
* Walado
* East Barons (Mentioned only)
* Comba People (Mentioned only)
* The Exodus (Mentioned only)
* Gray Tree Tribes (Mentioned only)

### Sentient Species

* Gazetan
* Human
* Proxim

### Vehicles and Vessels

* *Reunion Star* (As UCR transport freighter) (Mentioned only)

### Miscellanea

* Runestone (Mentioned only)
* Runestone Network (Mentioned only)