Earthbound, DM Arnold [free children's ebooks pdf TXT] 📗

Perhaps it was for the best. This mission did not turn out as Sarah and I expected, and the past nineteen-odd years have been difficult. Difficult, especially, for Sarah. I salute her strength and courage. She never succumbed to despair, as had some of our party in the early days. She so desperately missed the friends and family we left behind, and I was incapable of giving her the comfort she deserved. ... Yasuko has been a great comfort to me. I see traces of her mother in her face, even though her features remain more Asian than Euro. Yasuko never knew Earth, and she, like all the second-generation Florans, regards this planet as her homeworld... Following the traditions we have established, Sarah's body was cremated in the electric furnaces. We have agreed we do not wish to put our dead into this ground. I have taken Sarah's ashes and sprinkled them onto the surface of the sea. The children and I agreed it was a fitting tribute to her...

24.050 APF

...Today, my son Tetsui has married Phaedra Allen, the daughter of one of the machinists among the Floran crew. They tell me they are eager to do their part to enlarge our population, but they look so young to me. And they are young, and even after twenty Floran years on this planet I still prefer to think in terms of Earth years, of which Tetsui has seen merely sixteen, and Phaedra is a full Floran year younger. We are saddened Sarah won't number among us in celebrating this rite of passage. But this is what Life is -- the big circle of birth, childhood, maturity, procreation, aging and death. I am attempting to convince Yasuko that, with the children maturing and with Tetsui starting a family, I can manage adequately by myself and she should consider finding a mate of her own...

26.001 APF

...We have survived a quarter Floran century and yet it seems like yesterday we were making the final orbital insertion maneuver around this peculiar planet revolving around its peculiar orange star. Through hard work, our population are thriving and finding joy and sorrow in everyday life. I now believe we can and will sustain what we have begun. I also believe the hope of every parent -- for his children to live a better life -- will be fulfilled for our children's children if not for our own.

This was, after all, the reason we departed Earth for Beta-Centauri 2, to plant the human seed, to grow a better human community -- not for us but for our children and our children's children, and for our children's children's children. And the seed has been planted, but in a different garden than we had intended...

29.248 APF

...I write this entry from the mining camp in the uplands, soon to be incorporated into a village to be called Vebinad. I rode here with Bryan Quinn, whose talents as chief engineer aboard the Floran were put to use devising means to coax minerals from this planet's crust... The ride took half a day. As we approached the piedmont, the vegetation became lusher; the sparse desert growth gave way to tall reed-like plants. Once we reached the edge of the uplands, tree-like species were found; these grew more and more dense until we encountered a thick forest... It is water that enables this growth. Above the uplands many rivers form and flow down the face of the mons, fed by the melt of the snow pack in the high elevations. As these rivers flow downhill, their water is absorbed and used by the vegetation. By the time the streams reach sea level, their cargo has been spent, and what little water remains quickly evaporates in the warmth and dryness...

36.098 APF

...The past year has been the first since PlanetFall in which our population growth has flattened. We are still producing offspring at a satisfactory rate, but the inevitable has happened -- the death rate among the original crew and passengers threatens to overtake the birth rate. I've been feeling my own age, lately, and give myself the privilege of the elderly, that of permitting the youth to shoulder more than their share of the effort...

38.232 APF

...The most remarkable thing happened last night -- it rained! For the first time since PlanetFall, it rained on the main camp; about five centimetres in all. The cause undoubtedly was one of the many tropical storms that pummel the southern zone became lost and wandered here to die... We have two generations of native Florans who've never seen rain in their lives; unless they've spent some time in the agricultural camp [now Tinam -- N.K.] in the middle latitudes... This morning another remarkable thing happened. The land burst into life. Not that the land is devoid of life; there's a sparse growth of a hardy and frugal plant that's evolved to harvest the meager dews. What grew today was an explosion of foliage that grew so fast one could see it happen before one's eyes; and hear it, too, a rustling sound as the paper-thin leaves spread to catch the sun. By noon the land was covered with a dark violet crepe and fruiting bodies formed.

These opalescent spheres darkened and ripened in the sun and by dusk split to fill the air with thick, choking clouds of purple spores. No doubt these plants slept for many Floran decades awaiting a wayward storm, and their progeny will also sleep for thirty, fifty, a hundred Floran years until the next storm loses its way. [The vegetation Koichi describes is no longer to be found, as the entire small desert that held the main camp has been paved over to build Floran City. This species is a known casualty of the human invasion of Planet Floran. --N.K.]...

43.191 APF

...Today was a day of mourning among our people as we marked the passing of Captain Ty Davis. More than any single member of the Floran crew, Ty Davis was responsible for our survival. I am pleased Yasuko married his son Colin, and they have produced three wonderful children to carry the Davis name forward...

45.072 APF

...The fourth generation of Kyhanas came into this world today as my grandson Josh Kyhana and his wife Judith gave birth to my great-granddaughter Tobia. Tetsui has followed the tradition and passed the family crest to Josh.

45.072 APF

Knowing my children, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchild share this world with me gives me joy -- joy that is tempered by the knowledge we are demanding much from our young people, not the least of which is to dedicate themselves to the creation and care of children at an age in which they are not much more than children themselves... I do not know how much longer four generations will coexist on this planet, as my health has been deteriorating, and our medical facilities are yet primitive compared to what we left behind...

46.001 APF

...The new year is a traditional time for reflection and for hope. Our people have together survived the hardships of founding a new world. We've done more than survive -- we've begun to flourish. When we left Earth, we were a group of nations -- we were Africans, Asians, Europeans and Americans. Now, we all have become Florans.

What's most important is we have become so without strife or animosity, and with a deep sense of community, togetherness and love. It is my sincere hope this will be our legacy to succeeding generations of the Floran people.

48.076 APF

This is to be my last entry. The stroke I suffered two days ago has rendered me paralyzed on my left side. Yasuko has been kind enough to transcribe these words for me. I had hoped to live to see half a Floran century on this planet, but it was not to be. I look back with pride on what we have accomplished. I must leave it to the succeeding generations to look forward. ... The doctors have told me my condition is exacerbated due to the lack of certain drugs -- drugs derived from plants. Warfarin, I believe, is the agent they would prefer to administer to me, but we have none. When I was living on Earth, I took for granted the abundance of life that nourished us and healed us. If we are to truly thrive as a people, it is imperative we return to the stars, return to Earth, and at some point return to the human community there. We will not survive otherwise.

[48.078 APF

Koichi Kyhana died today, 2 segments past zenith meridian. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were at his side. He had requested his ashes be scattered on the sea, so he will be with Sarah. Thank you, Father, for the gift of survival. --Yasuko Kyhana Davis]

Appendix II -- Lingwafloran

An Introduction to the Language of Planet Floran

Introduction

The language Esperanto was employed on the ill-fated Centauri Colony mission. Because the mission was multi-national, this artificial language was chosen. After PlanetFall, the colonists aboard the Floran continued to use Esperanto, and they taught it to their children and grandchildren as their first language. As the years progressed, the language evolved. Lingwafloran derives most of its native vocabulary from Esperanto, although new words continue to be coined.

Structurally, Lingwafloran differs from Esperanto in the following ways:

Inflection has been greatly simplified.

All verb conjugations have been abandoned.

Word endings have changed. The -o ending to indicate nouns has shifted to -a. Verb endings have been abandoned, except for the -i ending on infinitives.

Sentence meanings formed in Esperanto by inflection and conjugation have been replaced by the use of particles. These words change the mood or the tense of a sentence without otherwise altering its meaning.

Lingwafloran is a spare, logical language with few irregularities and a very straightforward syntax and grammar.

Spelling

Spelling is phonetic using the following alphabet:

 

A as in father

N

B

O as in echo

C1

P

D

Q1

E2

R

F

S as in see

G as in go

T

H

u as in dune

I as in fish

V

J as in July

W

K

X ch as in chess

L

Y3

M

Z

Note 1: Obsolete, used exclusively for proper names

Note 2: Pronounced as “e” in echo; unless at the end of a word, then as “ay” in say.

Note 3: Y is pronounced as a strong “ee” as in see. It is usually found in proper names

Note 4: “SH” and “TH” sounds are not present in the language

There are no irregular spellings or pronounciations.

Grammar

Lingwafloran grammar and syntax are exceptionally simple and regular. For declarative sentences, word order is always subject - object - verb. For questions, word order is object - verb-subject. Mi zi am. I love you. Mi am-zi? Do you love me? Phrases and clauses follow the same rules as for sentences. In both the spoken and written language, common usage is to elide a pronoun object with the verb as a prefix, and to form contractions to eliminate adjacent vowels. Noun and phrase objects are not so elided. This usage is optional, and is employed (or, not employed) as a tool for emphasis. Mi z'am. I love you. (vs Mi zi am. I love you.) Mi mimarx. I walk.

Telescoping Syntax

Complex sentences may be formed by using phrases, clauses, or even complete sentences as the objects of verbs. These may be telescoped to any depth, although comprehension becomes difficult beyond a depth of