Alluvium by Nolan Oreno Read Free Book Online

Hollis had utilized the Valles Marineris as the testing site for prototype seedlings. The United Nations, NASA, and the Extraterrestrial Colonial Society saw it as the perfect environment for Hollis’ flora to flourish, and thus instructed him to make it his outdoor laboratory for his research. The valleys deep depression into the ground unearthed richer and wetter soil for cultivation and also shielded any possible growth from the sandstorms on the higher plains. Hollis could find no place more perfect to grow the tree, but after his many years of failure, he was convinced otherwise. The valley, in its fertility and abundant resources, had become a mass burial ground for Hollis’ failed experiments. An elephant graveyard. A place where things came to die. But perhaps this time would be different.
    Hollis parked the Crawler at a small outlook station at the edge of the canyon system.  He moved across the sands in a daze, still plagued by the sting of sea sickness from his short journey across the desert. He staggered up a series of crumbling steps to the small circular station at the valley’s overlook and keyed open the dusty door.
    Welcome to Outlook Station Seven , Colonist Reyes. It has been 42 days since your last visit, the speaker system stated.
    Hollis wandered into the halls of the station, dragging trails of sand into the metallic structure. As Hollis knew he would not be staying long, he remained in his bulky exosuit. It was hard for him to move in the heavy armor, but he managed well enough, and it was always an extra safety precaution. He entered the stations workshop and inspected the hundreds of folders and papers that were spread chaotically on the tables. Each folder held statistics and test data of a specific batch of seeds. Hollis opened one, reliving his past disappointments:
     
    EDN TEST 132              March 13, 2078              ID: B-132
    • March 09 (Morning): B-132 is planted in valley region A. Showing signs of initial weakness to Martian rock in top-soil. Will also plant B-132 in valley regions D and G as the loam is softer and more accepting.
    • March 09 (Afternoon): B-132 is planted in valley regions D and G and showing good promise of survival.
    • March 09 (Late-Afternoon): B-132 of valley region A has suffered from intense stress from rock pressure. All seedlings burst before initial sprouting stage- as expected, batch was a failure.
    • March 09 (Night): B-132 of valley region D have also suffered same results. B-132 of valley region G however have begun the first stages of birth. 10 seedlings have breached the surface, 2 others have died below ground.
    • March 10 (Early Morning): Unfortunate results. 9 seedling sprouts have withered and died from over-consumption of carbon-dioxide before bark development. Only 1 sprout remains.
    • March 10 (Afternoon): Tree has passed bark developmental phase and has a sturdy trunk of about 2 feet in diameter, standing 5 feet in height. Promising. Very very promising.
    • March 10 (Late-Afternoon): Tree has budded chromatic white leaves, however fragile, still produces oxygen from the carbon dioxide at 3x the rate of regular North American Populous tree. Trunk diameter is at 4 feet, standing height is 11 feet. Although B-132 is weaker than the desired EDN this may be enough to populate the planet. Have I done it? Need to wait until night to be sure.
    • March 10 (Nightfall): Fragile leaves of B-132 have been torn apart by the passing winds before full development. Trunk has lost moisture and begun peeling. The tree is dying. This is over.
    • March 11 (Morning): Tree has withered and shows no signs of oxygen production. It was unable to disperse its seedlings let alone acquire 10% of full development. B-132 is inefficient for Martian terraformation. Cancel batch. Start over.
    Hollis Reyes, Colonial Botanist                 
     
    Hollis tossed the pages across the room. There were countless documents,