Chapter Nineteen: The Return of Norman

Jonathan and his party sat in silence on the flat-bed of the construction rover as they wheeled back into the home base. A number of people were working, walking around the base, using it to it's potential. There were a number of new buildings.
They pulled up beside a new building, larger than the rest. Jonthan recognised the prefabrabricated building as a conference centre. Rebecca invited them inside. It was a stark building, white and utalitarian, like so much on Earth. The four members of the party, Rebecca and two more members of the secondary colonial squad joined together in a large comforatable room.
Rebecca started to speak. "We ended up here Jonathan, and were met by the Survivors. They told us about the time-slip in the early light speed travel and also of the destruction of Earth. We know everything. But, we were lead to believe that you had died - that you had passed away years ago, after being stranded in time on this rock."
"What are you talking about?" Jonathan demanded of the woman.
"It must have been very trying for you - I know it is for us, knowing we can never go home. But at least we have each-other. And who knows, maybe the next ship will turn up, too? The kind humans who found us here assured us that they would send aid when the could, but advised us to go about setting up a livable colony here, and to go about our lives."
"Those idealist bastards!" Marcelle exclaimes.
Grinder leaned forward. "Listen lady, you've been lied to something harsh."
"Jonathan, who are these people?" one of the other colonists asked.
"Mac, they're telling the truth. You've been lied to. Those people you met, they're not survivors of the end of the world - at least, not in the way you think of them."
"Bullshit, Jonathan. Their explination explains a lot. Especailly how we ended up on this shithole planet."
"Yeah, and they also told you I died years ago. It hasn't even been a year since I showed up here."
"He's got a point there, Mac." the third colonist piped in.
At that moment, an old friend showed up. Norman dropped from the roof of the conference room onto the table infront of Jonathan. Teh creature had grown a little, but largely looked the same. Before Jonathan could react, the man who had just spoken jumped out of his chair.
"There's that fucking thing! Kill it!" he shouted, pointing at Norman.
Jonathan immediatley jumped up to protect the creature. "How can you say that Roger!" Jonathan shouted back. "This is the most intellegent non-human ever discovered. Furthermore, he's my friend."
"You're going to tell me it's rational?"
"Yes, Roger, Norman is a rational being."
"Maybe it explains why it's been raiding our food stores and has managed to evade us and all our traps thus far." Rebecca suggested.
Jonathan looked at the creature. "This is my proof. Norman, how many moon cycles ago did I meet you?" The creature immediately began walking in circles. He stopped his pace part way through and looked expectantly at Jonathan.
"Check that." Mac said to Roger; who immediately ran from the room. "You've trained this littl epeice of shit, Jonathan?"
"Mac, I'd appreciate it if you would back off a little. I've had a rough few months - I nearly died a number of times and I just want to straigten a few things out with you and the other colonist."
Mac stared Jonathan down until Rebecca said, "Mac, he was the best of the trainees. he got sent out for a purpose. Maybe we should hear him out." She put a hand on his arm and made him sit down. Norman curled up on the table and listened to teh conversation that followed.
Jonathan told his story from the beginning - about how he had crash landed on Norton, how he had been recovered by the Idealists and how he had been deceived by them. He explained how his cause, finding out why the elders wouldn't let him go back to Earth, was deeply in sinc with the realist cause somehow and he had to go back to Earth to find out why.
Rebecca told the story of her colonists. They had arrived in system to find no planet with orbiting satellites. They were afraid that they had been thrown off course, but they knew they could not go back with the carge they had aboard the ship, they had to at least dump it before going to Earth to try and get to where Jonatahn was. In teh interest of exploration, they mapped all the bodies in system and were surprised to find what appeared to be a strip mine on the surface of the most Earth like planet - one with large flora life. It did not take long to find that this was the lake Jonathan had had to strip though to get to his supplies. The colony base was locaed shortly thereafter in a nearby wooded area, so the colonist set down. They did not find Jonathan anywhere, but continued the set up of the colony.
It was only days until the Idealists showed up and began to feed them lies. They told a story of how the first light-speed travellers had been lost in time and space and that they had only just learned a few years before what had happened to them - they had been thrown ahead in time thousands of years to a time after Earth went through a second - and final - desctruction. The colonies were all that existed.
As the conversation went on, Mac began to become less and less agitated. He could see that there was more reason to believe Jonathan stories because of two facts - the three people who had come with him, and Roger's assertation of norman's data. Most likely accurate to the degree, Roger had stated about Norman's walking pattern.
"It's a wonderful story, Jonathan." Rebecca said. "But we can't give you the ship."
"I understand that." Jonathan replied. "Let me take the ERV."
"You won't all fit." Mac said.
"We don't need too. Grinder and Andy can stay here, breif you more on whats going on, maybe help defend you against the idealists, should they return. The Emergency Return Vehicle shoudl be able to support Marcelle, Norman and myself on our trip back to Earth. We'll be back within two months."
"It's sounds acceptable." Rebecca said. Mac looked as if he was about to object, but on seeing the definitive look on rebecca's face, he sat mute.

It took two days to prepare for the journey. The Emergency Return Vehicle was sall, it wasn't designed for more than one person. It would be a tight squeeze, but Jonathan and Marcelle would not notice most of the time spent in the vehicle. It was mostly automated.
Marcelle paniced when she started to breath the liquid. It wasn't an uncommon occurance - the human body was not used to breathing fluids. It took a lot for her to overcome an innate fear of drowning and to actually enter the vehicle.
It sat on the landing pad Jonathan had built, looking for the world like nothing more than a fat rocket. Grinder and Andy watched as Fatboy, as they had named it, took off.
The ship began it's elegant dive towards the sun, and in one instant, it was glinting in the telescopic lense of the colony on Norton, and the next, it was gone.

His vision was fuzzy. There seemed to be a hazy green glow from somewhere near his head. Jonathan felt the warmth of another body near him - Marcelle - a woman he could love.
He focused on that thought. It was foreign to him. Where had the emotion come from? There was no explination for it. He was glad to be close to her, however.
His mind slowly sharpened. The green glow, it was a systems operational light. The Emergency Return Vehicle had made it through it's flight without a hitch.
Blinking the drowze of a sixteen day sleep out of his eyes, Jonathan looked through the liquid at the data readout. They were sitting somewhere between earth and venus.
Almost immediatly after reading this date, Jonathan heard a voice say "Star Shark ERV 1, click for status. Repeat: Star Shark ERV 1, click for status."
his training took over, and Jonathan immediately set up a return communications link with the ship calling him, and tapped out a quick response. He was alive and the Fatboy was undamaged.
"Starshark ERV 1, we'll be in to pick you up. estimated time of Arrival is thiry seven minutes, repeate, three seven minutes. Click to copy."
Jonathan clicked the com once and sat let him self float. There was nothing left to do for the next thirty seven minutes.