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Submission Synopsis
Tembega
by Greg Anderson
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Length:
103,000
Genre:
Sci-Fi
Series:
Possible.
Sentence:
Humans explore their first planet beyond their solar system and
discover their technology isn't all it was cracked up to be.
Blurb:
A small
band of humans journey to another star system to found a new
civilization. Four of them explore the only Earthlike planet in the
system. Despite sending robots ahead, they find surprises both wondrous
and deadly. Only three leave Tembega alive, but one of them acquires a
new understanding of her place in the universe.
Synopsis:
Pete Werner and Dr. Raheed Connor land their reconnaissance ship on
the planet Tembega, the only remotely Earth-like world in the Zeta
Reticuli double-star system. Cello Johnson and Derek Yu had landed the day
before. Together, the two teams undertake the first human exploration of a
world outside the Solar System.
Pete drives their rover out of the ship and onto the sands of Tembega.
They head for a large boulder nearby to get a soil sample from underneath.
When he dislodges the boulder, however, bright sparks shoot out. That is
the first of many surprises.
They continue their exploration, driving to link up with Cello and Derek.
At night, their rover is visited by six-legged animals that glow in the
dark. The animals climb all over the vehicle, but when Ray tries to
activate the big arm to capture one, the animals rush away in the dark.
The men follow the tracks left by the creatures, but fail to find them.
Pete and Ray finally meet up with Cello and Derek. At night, the glowing
animals return, and this time Ray manages to capture one. They examine the
specimen thoroughly, and discover that Tembegan DNA has a different
structure than Earthly DNA.
Though humans had known for centuries that there was likely plant life on
Tembega, the discovery of such higher animal life refocuses the expedition
on finding other creatures, if they exist. First, however, the explorers
decide to get a DNA sample from the purple vegetation of the planet, to
see if it matches the animal DNA. In a field of the purple plants, Ray and
Derek discover huge, shaggy creatures that Ray dubs "haystacks."
The haystacks kill Derek, and Ray barely escapes with his life. The next
task is to recover Derek's body. Heather Miller, in command on the
starship Dream and in overall command of the project, orders the surface
crew to be in orbit within ten days. They push to recover Derek's remains
and get back to their ships.
After recovering the body, and after another encounter with the haystacks,
Ray ends up with Cello in her rover. Cello had always been one of the
strongest personalities in the crew, but after Derek's death she has
problems. She asks Ray about his faith, which is a melding of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. As Cello has never been religious, Ray begins to
worry about her.
A storm front develops. Ray and Cello race the building storm to their
ship, but the storm wins. Its power knocks out the power system of the
rover while they are still well away from their waiting spaceship, forcing
them to try to walk the distance. They all but run out of oxygen. Ray has
to carry Cello at the end, and only barely gets them both inside the ship.
Once inside, Ray rips off the helmet of his dead surface suit so he can
breathe the oxygen in the ship's atmosphere and manages to revive Cello.
The storm front seems to be circling the planet and coming around for
another swat at them, so only minutes after returning to the realm of the
living, Cello the pilot is in the cockpit, preparing to fly them back into
space. Ray is worried, but he decides to trust her over the computer.
Cello is extraordinarily calm, and just before the engines that will lift
them on their way to orbit ignite, she turns to Ray and tells him
something wonderful, but also something stunning. The universe has new
meaning for her. While she was unconscious, she says, God spoke to her and
told her He would always be with his children, wherever in the universe
they roamed.
Before Rat can react, the ship's engines ignite, and they are on their way
home.
Bio:
I am a graduate of Ball State University, holding a history degree. I
am also a member of the National Space Society. Currently, I'm working as
a freelance journalist.
Endorsements:
Film:
It takes place in a visually interesting setting; there are truly
alien aliens; there's action; and there are interesting relationships
among interesting characters.
Additional:
A friend of mine who is a movie producer told me that if the book
sells to a publisher, somebody will definitely buy the film rights.
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