Word: Saturnian

 

Saturnian

[ suh-tur-nee-uhn ]

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adjective

1. of or relating to the planet Saturn.

2. of or relating to the god Saturn, whose reign is referred to as the “golden age.”

3. prosperous, happy, or peaceful: Saturnian days.

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               Jill and Barry browsed the net, looking for the destination for their next vacation. There were far too many options for them to chose from. With the range of travel available, they were guaranteed to find something. At least, that was the idea.

               “Okay, so that’s another place gone.” Jill said with a sigh. She waved her hand over the display and the images changed. “Oh, how about this one? There’s a new resort around Saturn that just opened. It’s getting great reviews.”

               Barry groaned. “Saturn, really?”

               “What’s wrong with it? We can go atmo-surfing, explore the rings. All kinds of stuff. The kids’ll love it.”

               “Our bank account won’t.” He grumbled. “Going that far out is just so expensive. Sure it’s nice, but we’ll be strapped for money for months afterwards.”

               “No, we won’t.” Jill said with a small shake of her head. “We’ve been saving up for long enough that we can splurge on a really nice trip. An off-world stay for a few days won’t break the bank.”

               Barry tapped his watch, calling up it’s holo-display. He navigated to the bank’s site, and then to their bank account. They did have more than he thought they had, and a glance at the resort’s info site did confirm his wife was correct.  That did not mean he would give in though.

               “Well, what if I just don’t want to go there?”

               She sighed. “Okay, fine. Where do you want to go? You’ve already shut down the inner planets. Please don’t tell me you want a asteroid rental or something.”

               “No, of course not.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I know we’ve been looking forward to a big vacation, but why do we even need to go off-world? Can’t we just, you know, stay on Earth? Take a tour of this planet instead of going off to another one. There so much we can do without leaving the atmosphere.”

               “Yeah, I know that, but still. I mean, it’s all the same stuff just in a different place, right? Same plants, same animals.”

               “And all the stuff in off-world resorts are imported from Earth, Jill. Look, we can go tour Europe or something. It’s a lot cheaper than going all the way to Saturn.”

               “Well, what if I just want to get off-world for a bit?” Jill asked. “Barry, I’ve never left Earth. Not once. I just…I want to get out there at least once, while the kids are still young and we can have some fun as a family. It’s not about the exact location or the money or anything like that. I just…I want to see the stars from a different angle. I want to go somewhere where I can float, really float. Not just the simulated 0G chambers we have here. I want to see a different sky, different moons. I know it costs more, but it’s…” She paused and took a deep breath. “It’s just something I want to do while we still can.”

               Barry looked at his wife. She was serious about what she said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He could not believe he was about to say this.

               “Fine. We can go to the Saturn resort.”

               Jill was beaming. She wrapped him in a tight embrace for a moment before heading back to the screen. She poured over the screens, looking at things they could do and see. Barry just sat back and watched her work. He just hoped this vacation would be worth the cost.

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Did I have to make this a sci-fi thing? No, no I did not. But I did it anyway, so there. 

Word: Paludal

 

paludal

[ puh-lood-l, pal-yuh-dl ]

 

adjective

1. of or relating to marshes.

2. produced by marshes, as miasma or disease.

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               Two dozen people stood at the edge of the marsh. And it was an edge. There was no lead up to it, no warning. On one side of the boarder was normal grassland. On the other, a vast, fetid marsh. The people arranged there were preparing to venture into the unappealing place. Some readied equipment of science. Scanners, recording equipment and sampling tools were all stuffed into backpacks and clipped to unworn belts. Others prepared tools of war. Guns, grenades and knives were checked and rechecked.

               To any outsiders, it would have looked like overkill. Why bring such dangerous objects to a mission of science? One of the soldiers whispered that very question. He was overheard by one of the members of the science team.

               “Because of all the stories of this place.” The man said. “How much do you know about this place?”

               “Not a lot, doc. All I know is that we’re here to shoot anything that looks like it’ll attack.”

               “Well, if the stories and our preliminary tests are anything to go by, you’re going to be doing a lot of shooting. The locals have started calling it the Gluttonous Marsh. They say everything, and I do mean everything, wants to eat you. Not just the big animals either. Smaller animals that would normally be prey, the insects, the plants. Supposedly even the marsh itself, although most of us are skeptical about that.”

               “So pack a lot of bug spray, don’t get near big plants and shoot everything that isn’t us, got it.” The soldier said.

               “I’m not sure you do.” The scientist said. “When we were first told about this place, we thought the same as you. Just avoid the big things and we’d be fine. The people we sent in all died. To a man. Do you want to know how?”

               “How?” The soldier asked nervously.

               “Eaten. One was swarmed by insects the likes of which nobody has ever seen. Another was tangled up in vines that seemed almost sentient. Another vanished into the water. Nobody knows what ate him, but the next day the marsh had grown a millimeter all around. The big things? The ones we the team was on the lookout for? They picked through what was left after the little things ate their fill.”

               The soldier looked at the marsh and gulped. “So, uh, do we get some kind of, I don’t know, like a HAZMAT suit or something?”

               “Yes, actually. It’s required equipment going in.”

               He pointed to a tent set up nearby. Nobody seemed to want to go in, but as they watched a person in a full HAZMAT suit emerged. The solider rushed off to get his, followed closely by a few others who were within earshot.  The scientist nodded his approval. That they took his words seriously was encouraging. At least they were more likely to survive the expedition. He just hoped the rest of the soldiers would do the same. He looked at the sticking water and rotting plants within the deceptively calm marsh. And he hoped that any of them would be able to come back out.

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I'm sure they'll be fine. 

Word: Ultramafic

 

ultramafic

[ uhl-truh-maf-ik ]

 

adjective Geology.

ultrabasic.

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               The alien landscape seemed to stretch on forever. An endless plain under a pale yellow-blue sky. A few distant mountains broke up the horizon, but otherwise there was little to disrupt the view of the landscape. Even though it was day, a few stars twinkled weakly in the sky, opposite the great sun that lit the distant planet. There was no moon to be seen, although there were two of them in orbit. And as far as the eye could see, there was only one living being standing upon the planet.

               Major Julian Verlian stood there, almost unmoving. His space suit made him feel confined, even in the wide-open area. His landing craft stood in solemn silence behind him, waiting to take him back to the ship whenever he needed to leave. He looked around the alien planet, the first human to set foot on a world other than Earth. As he did, words came to him. He spoke them into the comms line in his helmet.

               “Well, god damn it.”

               “Uh, care to repeat that Jules?” Said the voice on the other end. One of the ship’s crew, Kevin Reynolds. A god man. Well, mostly. At least he was a good stellar navigator.

               “God damn it.” Julian said again.

               “What’s going on down there, Major?” Kevin asked.

               “Rocks, that’s what’s happening. There’s nothing but god damned rocks down here. I mean it. There’s no plants, no animals. Not even water. Just rocks. This has got to be the most boring alien planet in the universe.”

               “Oh come on, Jules.” Another voice this time. The ship’s lead biologist, Heather Greene, said. “It can’t be that bad. Besides, it’s not like there’s a lot of others to compare it to.”

               “Oh, trust me. It’s that bad. Well, I guess Jack’ll be happy at any rate.”

               The man in question, Jack Douglas, came on the comms. “Did I hear someone calling my name?”

               “The major says he’s got a lot of rocks for you to play with.” Kevin said.

               “Nothing but, Jack.” Julian said.

               The geologist sounded almost giddy. “Really? Can you send me a sample?”

               “Yeah, hang on.”

               Julian went through the laborious process of bending down in the space suit. Then came the equally tricky task of unhooking one of the specialized sample tubes from his belt. Filling it was easy. All he had to do was run it along the ground. Pebbles and dirt filled it readily. He capped it, then plugged the tube into the analyzer built into his suit’s backpack. He heard it buzz and beep for several minutes.

               “Huh, interesting. And do all the rocks you see look like these?”

               “Just about.”

               “Interesting. These aren’t so much rocks as they are lumps of metal. Mostly iron and magnesium. Not a lot of the silicate minerals we see in Earth rocks.”

               “Okay, so they’re lumps of metal instead of rocks. Doesn’t make them more interesting to see.” Julian said.

               “Permission to disagree?”

               “Not like I can stop you.”

               “Well, in that case, I firmly disagree. An entire world with stones like these is fascinating. What processes could have gone into making them? How long did it take to form? So many questions. I can’t wait to get my hands on them in person.”

               “I’ll make sure to gift wrap a few of the bigger ones.” Julian said, rolling his eyes. He could hear the other members of the crew trying to stifle their chuckles.

               “So, what’re you going to do, Major?” Kevin asked. “You going to look around a little more, or are you coming right back up?”

               Julian shrugged. “Might as well look around for a little while. I’ve only been here for a few minutes. Maybe I’ll get lucky and see…something else. I’ll stay out for another half hour, pick up a few rocks and then head back.”

               All the crew members gave their acknowledgement. With that, Julian chose a random direction and started walking. He was not hopeful that he would actually find something, but he at least had to try. 

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If you're wondering, ultrabasic refers to the kind of rocks found on this planet. Or at least, the ones in the story. Not very interesting, but it's what I had to work with.