{"id":512,"date":"2011-06-10T06:28:33","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T11:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=512"},"modified":"2011-06-10T06:29:15","modified_gmt":"2011-06-10T11:29:15","slug":"a-red-and-dusty-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=512","title":{"rendered":"A Red and Dusty Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boots crunched on the red soil as the ship was offloaded, and the crates of cargo piled up outside. Then the crew set about unpacking, putting together the first of the tools that would allow them to build a new home.<\/p>\n

Days later, the first of the true heavy machinery whirred into life, and a pit was born near the ship. Into it the crew carried beams, roofing over the space as they sealed and supported the walls. From time to time they paused, looking skyward, for so far from home, the constellations looked different, and some they could not see at all.<\/p>\n

Work continued apace, and soon the pit had become a home, complete with all the amenities needed. The best was when the crew could come in and take off their working gear and relax in the warmth and fresh air, for outside was a cold and dusty place.<\/p>\n

They were required to keep a log of their activities for each day, and often the crew would wake to see that new orders had arrived, or new suggestions. It felt good to know that despite the distance, people at home cared.<\/p>\n

Finally, after many months of labour, all the work required to set up was complete, and the last of the boxes was unpacked. The crew relaxed among her potted garden, and she smiled. She’d been told that the next ship had a man on it. Not a bad present after three years alone.<\/p>\n

This story is based on the concept of a One Way, One Person<\/a> trip to Mars.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boots crunched on the red soil as the ship was offloaded, and the crates of cargo piled up outside. Then the crew set about unpacking, putting together the first of the tools that would allow them to build a new home. Days later, the first of the true heavy machinery whirred into life, and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[36,4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-8g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":111,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=111","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":0},"title":"Generations","date":"April 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's today's flash fiction post. Let me know what you think. The generation ship travelled through space, with nary a whisper coming from the great engines. They had shut down long ago, and now the ship was coasting on momentum alone, a dart thrown across the void of space, many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=183","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":1},"title":"Going To Hurt","date":"May 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I know it's been a couple days since the last JNY update, but I've been a little busy moving apartments and getting the Blog Carnival off the grounds. Also had to write my piece for that, which will appear tomorrow morning. I've been editing Chloddio's story, also, and am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Other Writing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":364,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=364","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":2},"title":"Under The Rain","date":"November 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another NaNo excerpt. Brief context: They are fleeing past two \u00deracian forts, on the way to H\u00e1lsiend. The days passed in swift chain, and the barquentine drew closer to the forts. Behind them, two \u00deracian vessels had appeared, shadowing their movements but unable to catch the commandeered ship. The days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":438,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=438","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":3},"title":"A Thief in the Night","date":"February 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A tile clicked under Thia's foot. She cursed, and held still, her eyes searching. A glint. She dropped, rolling off the edge of the roof. The landing hurt, her ankles howling in pain. Thia ignored them and ran. A left, two rights, straight, then dive through a window. A thud\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":206,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=206","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":4},"title":"Cloud","date":"August 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My first new piece of writing in two months. Hopefully, I haven't completely lost the touch. I fell from a cloud. It was a long way down, and I had some time to think, to reflect. Life had been pretty good to me on that cloud, full of joy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":108,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=108","url_meta":{"origin":512,"position":5},"title":"The Letter","date":"April 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a long time since I wrote to you, and it will be a long time before I write again. Life here has grown troublesome, and there is little time for the small pleasures that make it worth living. It is a struggle and there are many things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}