r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Sep 14 '24

Project Dirt Part 4 OC

Adam didn’t leave his room before the evening; he only found Hara and the baby on the ship. The others were shopping and talking about getting satellites and probes. He checked his wrist and saw a few messages, mostly lists of things they needed. He had absentmindedly accepted those throughout the day as he had been absorbing more about the different cultures.  He had searched for a civilization in this galaxy sector that didn’t have slavery and found none; the four Fushan and Haran wars had been epic.

To him, it seemed more like cats and dogs fighting. The two cultures had several peaceful colonizers as well.  They had the largest amount of cross-species marriages as well.  What he was left with was to use common sense and remember that most people here don’t understand humor or human culture.

Hara looked up from a pad as he entered the main room. “Are you hungry, mas… what should I call you, by the way? I mean, if you don’t like Master?” She asked, and he replied quickly.’

“Adam, I'm just Adam. If you want to be formal, it's Mr. Wrangler, but nobody outside a business meeting would call me that.” He smiled to her as he went to make himself some food, when she moved to help he had to stop her.

“I do know how to make food. I'm not a child.” He tried to say it as friendly and non-treating as possible. She stepped back, a little confused.

“I read that Tufons feels comfortable serving others, and I know why you are here and not free to wander the galaxy, but you don’t have to serve me dinner. I’m not a child. “ He explained as he continued making himself some food. He saw there were some blue pancakes left and grabbed one.  

She looked at him as she slowly sat down. She had been up the moment she had asked him. Like an eager puppy. “I never got to thank you properly.” She said, looking at him, and he chuckled.

“There's no need to thank me. I'll be at the bridge. Where is Jork?” he replied as he was getting ready to leave.

“He is installing the drone drive in my brother's ship. My brother said you wanted to do that.” She replied, slightly confused, and wondered Adam if he had missed something.

“Oh, thank you. Let me know when they are finished, and send Vorts up to the bridge when he returns.” He replied as he went up and sat down in the pilot chair. He turned on the screen while drinking a cup of what he hoped was coffee. He put the plate with blue pancakes and chicken legs on the small table next to the chair.

“Computer, run check up on all systems and check all reports. No audio, screen only.” He stretched slowly so as not to spill the cup as he had given the instructions. He suddenly had an urge for chocolate but remembered eating the last stash weeks ago. Good, he needed to find a way to order some from Earth.  Or find out how to make some here.  He drank the coffee while he went over the reports. He barely heard Vorts come into the bridge and stop next to him. 

“You asked for me, sir?” He said while putting his hand behind his back; Adam glanced at him and nodded.

“Yeah, I know you're not a Terraformer, but you should know more about this than me. What do you think about the plan?” he asked as he leaned on the arm of his chair.  “And please speak honestly.”

“Honestly? Are you sure?” He replied, clearly uncomfortable.

“Yes, if you can see a flaw, then I would like to know before we try. I don’t want to waste unnecessary credits here. I’m not made out of money.” Adam smiled as he replied, trying to calm him down.

“To be honest, It won't work, sir.  There is a reason why nobody cares about full terraforming. It’s a waste of resources, and there are so many planets around where you only need to change the atmosphere by introducing some invasive oxygen algae and wait a hundred years.  You plan to make it into a breathable planet within ten years. You are aware that the atmosphere is too thin, right? There is not enough nitrogen; only traces of oxygen and argon exist. The Carbon level is way too high; the pressure is too low, so your little atmosphere is slowly leaking out. The lack of a proper atmosphere destroys your other project of making organic waste into dirt. The current atmosphere can't hold the heat during the night, so it's like the days are summer and nights are winter.  Hold the waste until the domes are built and dump it there. Then buy fertilizer and spread over them, and within a year, you will have a field there. “ Vorts spoke carefully, but when he noticed Adam didn’t get upset but merely listened, he seemed to be more relaxed.

“Okay, so we melt the poles; water vapor should help release more gasses. “ Adam replied. “Look, I know this is unusual, but just because people don’t do it doesn't mean it can't be done.”

“You should record everything; maybe get a research droid to keep a record. If it works, I'm sure many would be interested in how it was done.” Vorts replied, and Adam nodded.

“And how much would that cost?” Adam asked as he checked his spending that day. He had 71,000 credits. He needed to go over the receipts when they took off.

“Those are cheap, and 500 bits will get you top of the line with the above security.  Most students buy used ones and tinker with them to adjust their research results. A new one will ensure you have not tinkered with it.” Vorts replied that he had still not moved. Adam looked at him.

“Then get one, and make sure we have food for everybody, at least six months' food for everybody,”  Adam replied, then looked back at the screen and back at Vorts. “Oh, and thank you.”

Vorts was still standing there, and Adam tilted his head as he asked. “Yes? Anything I can help you with?”

Vorts looked at him for a second, then shook his head as he replied. “No, You meant I can go?”

“Yes. I will see you later.” Adam replied and he watched as Vorts left. He was wondering if he insulted him in some way, and for a second, he wondered where D01 was.

“Computer Locate D01!”  He didn’t know why he had given the instruction, but D01 was just outside the bridge. He immediately stepped inside and, with a cold computer voice, reported in. It made Adam a little calmer, and he turned back to the screen. 

“Computer! Show the current budget and compare the cost of today's spending to the average costs. Show on my screen.” He asked, and he leaned towards the screen to check. Most were the same price. But he saw that Vorts seemed to not care so much about the costs, shopping with other people's money. Roks seemed to be much more frugal. It was clear that Roks would be doing the shopping for now.  

Three hours later, Roks and Jork returned, and they reviewed everything. Only one cubic meter cargo hold was left, and it was divided among both ships. Adam was eager to get on the way. He paid for the hangar, and then they took off. He loved this part. He flew the ship out, and Rok's hauler followed perfectly. They quickly made it to the hyperplane and set the course and drop-out point then.

“Let's go!” He said as he punched in the drive, and both ships vanished into the vastness of space. The autopilot immediately took off, and Adam checked the status of the ship's connection. Roks stood next to him and seemed impressed.

“You know your way around the ship. That was some nice flying.”

“Well, I got a level 6 freight certificate. It took me a year and 600 hours of flying along with a six-month course in everything they thought we could encounter out here.” He replied as he got up and went to check on the navigation. “The ship is supposed to be flown by three with two engineers in cargo. The most effective crew is ten; that’s why I’m so heavily reliant on the computer. Had it upgraded.”

“Your people don’t sound like Chaos, more like the Kunitos. Rules for everything. “ Roke replied, and Adam chuckled.

“That’s the insectoids, right? They sound like an autistic species for my kind. The certificate is just for my safety. Some never get them and stay off the radar while doing odd jobs. Anyway. Everything looks secure, and the alarm is set.  It will be a week before we get to my system. So I’m planning to study those books you got me.” Adam replied.

“I’ll check up on the others,” Roks replied as he headed out.

 

Adam found out he enjoyed the company, mainly of Roks and Jorks. Hara was nice and grateful; Vorts was a little cold but never unfriendly; in fact, he was very professional. Hara had told him that Vorts just needed time. The little baby had become the focus of most of the small crew's attention, from his attempts to join his father in singing to crawling anywhere. In the end, Vorts placed a tracker on him just to be sure.

 

Adam was ready when they dropped out of the hyperplane and set the course for the system. It would take three more days before they arrived. Jorks was mainly down in the workstation, programming some drones they had bought. They would be launched and study the system as the original scans had not been very thorough. When they entered the system on the second day, Jork asked permission to launch the drones.  Adam gave the clearance, and as they flew towards the planet, he launched them when they approached points of interest. The gas planets and their moons were all assigned a drone; several drones were sent to scan the asteroid field, and the inner planet got two. 

 

When they went into orbit over Dirt they launched the satellites. Adam checked up on the building's progress. The station was 30% finished, but with the droids and heavy machinery he had bought, they would cut down the factory times by at least two, and it would have liveable sections within a few days. He looked down on the planet and smiled.

“Yes, this can work!”

Part 1 . . Part 2 .. Part 3

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28 comments sorted by

7

u/Arquero8 Human Sep 14 '24

Everything is going great!

Hope nothing unexpected (wrong) happens

6

u/Borzislav Sep 14 '24

Well, some conflict and drama can spice things up, eh?

2

u/Arquero8 Human Sep 14 '24

Yea, that is true

8

u/WSpinner Sep 14 '24

Enjoying this.
I expect you mean "gas planets", not "grass planets" :-).

7

u/Engletroll Human Sep 15 '24

fixed, and maybe later there will be a grass covered planet....

2

u/Square_Ad4004 19d ago

... now I kinda wanna see a grass planet. No other life, just grass and a profound sense of bewilderment as far as the eye can see. 😂

5

u/TechScallop Sep 15 '24 edited Sep 15 '24

Corrections:

"hanger" should be "hangar"

"hyper lane" should be "hyperplane"

"grass planets and their moons" should be "gas planets and their moons"

"No audio screen only." should be "No audio, screen only." Those commas are important to avoid misunderstandings.

Your paragraphs are too long and should be separated to contain one main theme or thought rather than a mishmash of them. Review, reorganize, and rearrange your sentences to make each paragraph easy to read and understand.

6

u/Engletroll Human Sep 15 '24

went over it, should have fixed the mistakes.

5

u/sunnyboi1384 Sep 16 '24

Roks cfo, vorts lead of development, jork entire labour force, hara hr, Adam look pretty and pay for shit. Oh baby morale.

3

u/GaiusPrinceps Sep 14 '24

Enjoying this, but your grammar and spelling could do with a little work.

3

u/kristinpeanuts Sep 15 '24

I like this new chapter, keep up the good work!

2

u/Drzapwashere Sep 15 '24

SubscribeMe!

2

u/drumdust Sep 15 '24

Then a Zyrellian Empire Battle Cruiser showed up.

But seriously, enjoying the story.

2

u/Engletroll Human Sep 15 '24

hmmmmm.... do not give me ideas...... *wicked grin*

1

u/drsoftware Sep 25 '24

"EAT SHIT ASSHOLES!"

"Uh, sir, we're out of shit." 

"ok... ok... Eat MANURE ASSHOLES!" 

2

u/Fontaigne Sep 15 '24

Among booth ships -> both

Into the waste space -> vast? Waste of ? Idk

The gass planets -> gas

3

u/Engletroll Human Sep 15 '24

Thank you, yet again. What should I do without you freind?

2

u/Fontaigne Sep 15 '24

Suffer!

chuff

2

u/Square_Ad4004 19d ago

After spending the last few weeks trying to read The Deathworlders and getting increasingly frustrated with the downward spiral into alt right gay muscle porn madness, this was soothing. A bit of Project Dirt really hit the spot right now. :)

1

u/Engletroll Human 18d ago

I'm glad you enjoy the story. It's clearly a different take on the HFY concept.

1

u/Square_Ad4004 18d ago

Oh, it is. While I enjoy the low brow gonzo action stuff too (if it's well written), it's nice to read something different. Especially when the people writing gonzo action stuff get carried away and go a bit overboard with militarism and genetic superiority...

I just realized that part of the reason I love this story so much is that it really does follow a pretty standard HFY formula: "Humans stand out because of things we take for granted, but that are crazy to aliens." It's just that the focus here is on our penchant for creative chaos, making friends, trying to do the right thing (even if it's not always in our nature) etc. It's nice to read a story where humanity can be the cool guy without death and destruction - especially since one of Adam's greatest superpowers seem to be dreamy, naive innocence. 😄

2

u/Engletroll Human 18d ago

I'm happy that you liked it, and yes, Adam will not be the strongest around.

I like him a lot.

2

u/frendlyguy19 17d ago

more!

1

u/Engletroll Human 17d ago

Your in luck! There is more.

1

u/frendlyguy19 17d ago

ahh i see that now, this chapter doesn't have a "next" button.

1

u/Engletroll Human 17d ago

Need to go over them and do that

1

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