[ WP ] Two Generation Ships leave earth for a distant planet . One ship makes it to the planet , the other is delayed 1700 years . During this time the settlers on the planet and the settlers on the ship develop a religion about each other . They finally meet .

The Followers had lived on Futura for 80 generations since landing the ES-2. They had accumulated an impressive fossil record of the Leaders, but had yet to determine what had killed them off, or why the time lag between the landings had been so much larger than projected. Earth Seed 1 should have preceded them by twenty years, but Leader culture was proven to be over two hundred thousand years old. Not only had their predecessors flourished, they had stripped the planet's surface of readily mined resources. Worst of all, they left it with no historical expectation of Earth Seed 2. 
 
 It was positively incapacitating for the immigrating generation. They had grown up on a dying earth and taken a one-way trip to a better place, expecting to be welcomed heartily as the next generation of wives, husbands, and workers. Instead, they had to cope with the reality of scraping out an existence on Futura by themselves. The trip was supposed to be instantaneous, and appeared to be so from the memories of the zero gen and ship analysis. But an eternity had passed. The first hundred years were so bleak, the community eventually fractured and created religions around the Leader mythos. Those that stayed true to the science knew better than to idolize. The Leaders had acted just like our ancestors had on Earth. When it became apparent that ES-2 would not arrive, they played out the planet just the same way. As though it was theirs for the taking. As though no one would come after. 
 
 Clay knew better than to go down to the large hall for the sermon. He knew better than to give up science for faith. He knew the Leaders were wasters, and he would not celebrate them. Followers had done their best, and in almost 1700 years had only scrounged enough food for a baseline population of a few thousand people. He turned to the southern dust fields and walked out for some me time. Thirty minutes out, he noticed the shadow. 
 
 Shielding his eyes from the sun while trying to see that which was partially eclipsing it, Clay stood rooted for over a minute, then decided the thing was large enough that he really did n't want to risk being crushed. He ran as hard as he could, trying not to look up, occasionally failing, never slowing. An impact sent him flying. It was n't that the ground knocked him upwards. The ground simply fell away and then returned. By that time, he was falling into it pretty hard. 
 
 Clay Briston scrambled up as fast as he could, looking at a spaceship the size of a city, terminating approximately ten meters from his face. A vertical line appeared in the nearest structure, and widened to show itself to be a bay door. Five seconds later, the doorway was a thousand meters wide, and a familiar vessel was moving towards Clay. He had seen it in the museum, but could n't understand what it was doing here. It was the Earth Seed 2, the ship that second gen Followers had taken to Futura. Then he saw the markings on the side of the craft. ES-1. A thousand impossible thoughts vied for attention in Clay's mind as the nearest hatch opened. 
 
 A blond man walked up to Clay, and spoke without waiting. 
 
 `` My name is Ersten Fitz. Do you speak English?'' 
 
 `` I do. My name is Clay'' said Clay, and they could both see the wonder reflected in each other eyes. 
 
 The man smiled at Clay and wept silently for a moment, then gave a wave to the massive craft that had delivered the ES-1. Immediately, ports opened and large walkways extruded from the sides. Already, hundreds of people were walking down them towards the ground. 
 
 `` I am the Captain of the ES-1. As you may have surmised, we had technical difficulties. Our warp approacher was crippled, and we had to eke out the last seventeen hundred years more or less manually. Over the generations, my ancestors built this craft for the growing ES-1 population, which was never designed for families.'' 
 
 Clay looked at him with an open mouth, utterly incapable of response. 
 
 `` But tell me how rich Futura is, after all, you are our Leaders. And we need you now more than ever. Clay, I tell you honestly, I have brought fifty thousand hungry workers to this great planet! I now relinquish my leadership role, we have no need for a Captain!'' 
 

