Levi put the data packet together in his mind and sent it to his communications officer. He had a bad feeling about all this. He had forgotten how things were before Atlantis was built and they'd had to leave. He had thought somehow this noble effort would be met with appreciation, gratitude and relief. Well, that had been a fanciful dream.
After his shift ended, he took a walk down the market area and eventually stopped in Chuck’s Diner. There were a few people there. Chuck immediately recognized him and gave him a warm welcome.
“Well, Captain, I haven’t seen you around much. Good to see you. What can I get for you? It’s on the house.” Chuck gave Levi an exaggerated wink. It had been the joke around the diner since money had no meaning here.
“How about an apple pie and some coffee? Say, how is the schmeat burger business going?”
“Oh, I always sell my limit. I use different seasonings and additional ingredients which make people gobble ‘em up!” Chuck said with a prideful smile. “Apple pie and coffee comin’ right up.”
He disappeared into the kitchen and returned shortly with the slice of pie, grabbing the coffee pot on the way back. “You need anything with the coffee? Maybe some milk, sugar, homemade hooch?”
“No thanks. I take my coffee au naturel.”
“Enjoy. I will leave you to your thoughts.”
“You’re a good man, Chuck. Hey, do you have a minute?”
“I think I have a break comin’.” The cook called to the robot assistant at the counter. “Take over for a while. I’m taking a break.”
“Another one?” the robot asked with only a small amount of inflection.
“Yeah, another one.” To Levi, he said, “After a robot gets to know you, they think they can pester your life away.”
“They mean well.” Levi defended the robot.
“Yeah, like a wife means well. Pesterin’ is pesterin’.”
“Chuck, I need some advice.”
“You need my advice?” Chuck replied, taken aback.
“You are a good man, and a man of the people. I think I need to hear from such a person.”
“Well, okay. What’s on your mind, Captain?”
“The incident with the Wanderer today where some nut job tried to blow up the ship has me wondering if we came all this way back for nothing. I mean, what if nobody wants to be rescued? What if all they have left is hate for Atlantis and the humanity who left with it?”
The cook scratched at the stubble on his face. “I can’t say what ten years of havin’ to struggle for survival because you didn’t win the escape lottery may do to a person, but I do know there will be people down there who remember you promised to come back. You have made good on that promise. That's gotta count for something. Besides, anyone who really wants to stay there must be a little cuckoo. I say let them find their own luck.”
“So, you think there will be people who will take us up on our offer, then?”
“Why sure, they will.” Chuck slapped him on the back. Then he leaned close, as if he were about to spill a big secret. “You watch your back out there,” he warned. “On Earth, I knew people who ran with them Ender boys. They got a serious weed up their ass, and they have long memories. I would not trust anyone until they can be proven safe.”
“I’ll think about what you have said, and thank you, Chuck.”
“All part of the service, don’t ya know!” The cook's smile was big as he got up from the table and ambled back to the kitchen. Levi heard him muttering something to the robot assistant.
Levi finished his pie and coffee, stood up, and headed for the door. As he stepped outside and gazed upon the magnificent machine he and the rest of his species were riding in, he wondered what the people of this now-alien planet had in store for him.
THIRTEEN
Disappointing Returns
The next morning Levi sent some sorties out to contact the Moon colony. He had already spoken with Armando Ramirez, who had been running the show down there, and had Mr. Ramirez transported to the Atlantis so arrangements could be made. Ramirez had been checked out by the medical staff, and now he and two security guards were making their way to the captain’s apartment. Levi was a little nervous. There were so many questions, and at the same time he had to remain cautious. He had made an exhaustive search on Ramirez’s records. The man had risen through the ranks, become a respected leader, but had a notable rebellious record. An interesting man. Well, the captain thought, we will see if he uses his powers for good or evil. He could see in his mind’s eye that they were approaching the apartment. “Here we go,” he said under his breath.
“Please come in,” Levi said, opening the door as the men approached, before they could knock. Ramirez plus the two people from security entered. “Thanks.” Levi nodded to the security escort. In their cochlear implants he told them, “wait outside, please.” They nodded in return and left. After the door closed, they took up a station just outside.
Levi quickly scanned this man: Not quite as tall as he was. Clean shaven, and wore a tunic usually seen on mining colonies, a two-tone green and white. He smiled, closed the distance between them, and shook Ramirez's hand. A good firm handshake, he thought. All good signs.
“Good to meet you at last, Mr. Ramirez.” Levi motioned to the table where a variety of breakfast foods waited. “Please have a seat. I don’t know if you are hungry. I just had someone bring me a few things. Help yourself. When you get settled, we can talk.”
“I don’t know if it is uncivilized here or not, but I can talk and eat at nearly the same time.” Ramirez picked out some food from the platters. “Thank you for inviting me to your ship. And thank you for this lavish meal. I’m not sure how long it has been since I have seen fruit!”
“No trouble at all, Mr. Ramirez.”
“You can call me Armando if you please. I do not stand much on formality any more.”
“I understand. I asked you over to the Atlantis to discuss any assistance you may need and whether you are ready to leave the Moon for greener pastures.”
Ramirez looked at Levi's glass of orange juice. “Is that all you’re going to have?”
“Yes, it is all I need. I am rather fond of orange juice.”
“I heard you were enhanced.”
“Yes, I am. My body gets energy from other sources besides food. I can eat food, but I do not need it in the quantity I did before. I can tap into any feed on this ship and elsewhere. That's how I knew you were coming. The door thing is a little trick I play now and then on my guests."
Ramirez didn't like this cyborg and his ship of plenty. He calculated the amount of sincerity he required to find out more about this man and his purpose here. “How convenient. Now, you were mentioning greener pastures?”
“Yes,” the captain continued. “We are here on a search and rescue mission. We were lucky to find a suitable place the first time out. So, we have returned to gather as many people as we can who want to go with us back to Searth.”
“Searth? Where is Searth?”
“It is forty-two light years from here. Even at maximum speed, it takes us about five years to get there. That is why it has taken more than eleven years to get back here.”
“I see. We didn’t think anybody would be returning," said Ramirez "I should tell you there were six mining companies on the dark side of the Moon. Now there are only two.”
“Actually, there is only one. Major Rand, from the mining colony on the terminus, intercepted one of our ships the other day. He tried to self-destruct a nuclear weapon and take out one of my ships. I’m not too happy about that.”
“I hope everyone is all right.” After he heard himself say it, Ramirez wondered whether his insincerity was showing.
Levi sized up the man. “Yes, thankfully, quicker minds saved the day.”
“Good to hear it. I knew Major Rand. Things were not going well over at his place. Resources were drying up around his colony and he had to look farther, which is more dangerous. We ferried supplies
to them for a while, but he became more paranoid and confrontational. There were a couple of skirmishes. We could not afford to lose any more personnel, and eventually we had to isolate ourselves from them. Our station lost contact altogether about two years ago. I thought they were gone for good until we recently detected a ship leaving. We assumed it was his group.”
“The ship just had him and a bunch of dead bodies in it. Which reminds me, how many live bodies do you have at the complex?”
“You might want to scan the major’s facility anyway to check if he left anybody behind. As for us, we have four hundred and twenty out of an original complement of thirty-two hundred.”
“How did you manage so long? Did your hydroponics and recycling hold out?”
“That’s the sticky part." Ramirez's eyes shifted away from Levi's. "We had enough water, but plants were stretched thin since we were no longer getting supplies from Earth after the neutron star came through. We have been nursing them along and rationing them. The first few years were bad. Starvation, and people going nuts and starting civil unrest was the norm. As people were dying off on a regular basis, we decided to use them for protein supplementation. We stored our human supplies outside where they would freeze and stay fresh.”
“You mean your group resorted to cannibalism.”
“That is an ugly word filled with all kinds of negative ideas.".
“I can understand how things could get that way. I cannot judge how things might have been different.” Levi meant it.
“Our A.I. kept crunching the numbers, but it always ended up that we would be goners if we didn’t resort to recycling the dead.”
Levi allowed his sympathy to show. “I’m sure terrible decisions had to be made. It is very difficult when you’re the leader of a crew and you have to decide who lives and who dies.”
“Yes, it is, Captain.” Ramirez physically shook himself, as if to shake the dark thoughts from him.
“But survival won’t be a problem anymore. I wanted to speak to you privately, so we can go over what must be done to get you and your people out of harm’s way. It is not going to be easy transporting you all to a new planet. Unfortunately, at some point on the trip back, we may put you in sleepers. We have the resources to house and feed a million or so people back to Searth. However, once we get to Searth, we may find we are not welcome there anymore. And if it is the case, we will need to leave you there on Searth in the sleepers and come back for you when we have found a permanent new home.”
Ramirez looked confused. “Why could we all not stay on Searth?”
“There is an intelligent society already there on Searth. When we left to come back here, they were deciding whether we could stay or leave. We were on good terms with them when I left, so this may be moot.”
Ramirez pondered. “This might be a hard sell to the crew. They may feel it’s an 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' kind of proposition. Also, once in the sleepers, people have no say. You can do what you will with them. Shove them out the airlock if you wanted to. They could not put up a fight. Convenient. Very clean.”
“I don’t know where that is coming from, Mr. Ramirez.” Levi fought to remain calm. “But I assure you we would not waste all those resources to put you in sleepers just to chuck you out an airlock. However, you are right. There isn’t anything you can do once you are in the sleepers. I have fifteen million people from Earth who have been asleep since we left. They will continue to sleep until we have arrived at our destination. We want to get there as quickly as we can because we don’t know how long people can last in those things. We didn't have the time to make long-term tests on them before we had to leave. Sonny has helped greatly in this area, and I trust him.
“I have made a promise, Mr. Ramirez, to come back to Earth and save who I can. I have made good on that promise. I have also made a promise to those fifteen million people that they will see a new world after their long sleep. I extend this promise to you and anyone else who wants to ride along. I make good on my promises, Mr. Ramirez.”
“Please, Captain, I meant no disrespect or to be ungracious. I am only saying what the regular workers would think of this proposal. I am saying this issue may not be so cut and dried.”
“I see.” Levi let out a sigh. “I hope you and your crew understand we cannot take any chances. We will not tolerate any civil unrest or mob actions. There will be no violence of any kind. Trust is a two-way street. Until trust is earned you and your crew's movements will be restricted and there will be a heavy presence of security during your stay. Basically, if you behave yourselves, you will find Atlantis most accommodating.”
“Captain, it sounds like a really nice jail. But a jail nonetheless.” Ramirez's mouth set in a firm line.
“I have a responsibility to the species, not just my crew or myself. I take that very seriously. I cannot afford the luxury of making mistakes which can jeopardize this mission. This is my deal for you and your crew. Otherwise, I could be a good soul and drop you off on Earth and let you try to fit in there.”
“Thank you, Captain, for being so forthright with me. I see you are a man who means what he says. I will bring your message to the crew and let you know what they want to do. Thank you again for the marvelous meal in my honor. If your security could escort me to the docks, I will be on my way.”
“Thank you for meeting with me today. It has been enlightening.” Levi shook hands with the man as he left. After the doors closed behind Ramirez, Levi had the sudden conviction that while he had been unsure before, he was really sure now that he was not going to like coming back to Earth.
Aboard the Wanderer, things were going about the same. The survivors were glad to be on board, but weren’t sure they wanted to be popsicles for an undetermined amount of time. Moses talked to the two Alice minions at the undisturbed domes who were still functional. They were quite helpful with stats, and catching up on recent Earth history. They were not as useful in helping the rescuers understand the people they had come to save.
Captain Collier set up numerous meetings with heads of state to negotiate a migration to the Wanderer and the Atlantis. Those meetings often degenerated into the survivors demanding assurances which Bill could not give. There had been a small percentage of people who approached the landing zones on their own and were taken aboard. Armando Ramirez and his men ended up accepting Captain Levi’s offer to shuttle them to Earth; out of four hundred and twenty, seventy-two decided to stay aboard ship. These events confounded and confused the captains.
The remaining people of Earth were a distrustful and paranoid lot. Levi was reminded of the frustrating times of Earth's history and dismayed to see human bickering even in the face of a postapocalyptic world. It seemed that the human species would never budge from its petty, squabbling behavior.
After two months of problems, Levi sent a message to all who could hear it on Earth: The Atlantis and the Wanderer were going to be here long enough to help some places that still needed infrastructure and machinery, and then there would be a last call. After that, these human ships would be heading to their destinies and would not be seeing Earth again.
◆◆◆
Nine months later the last call was given. Atlantis and her crew had repaired two compromised domes and replaced many critical structures and machines. With a little luck and no more meteors, the remaining humans on Earth might have a chance for survival. During this time people were trickling over to the Atlantis as they saw the compassion for their plight which had been handed out freely.
On the last day, Atlantis fired up her engines again and got under way, slowly threading her way out of the solar system. Wanderer brought up the rear. The new passengers were not in their sleepers yet. Let them enjoy the amenities for a couple of years since we have the room, Levi thought. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Entering his virtual construct, he stood on the outside of the ship looking back at the Earth, already a tiny dot. Levi still had feelings for his old home.
�
�Magnify fifty,” he ordered, and the Earth hung large before him. He felt so sad and disappointed about the outcome of the rescue mission. A knock on his inner door sounded.
“Who is it?”
“Who is it, really! How many entities do you think have the capacity to call on you?”
“You know the drill.”
“Fine and dandy.” The voice sent a fractal encrypted set of equations. Levi knew them all too well.
“Come in, Sonny. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to check in. See if you were all right. You have been distant since we left Earth twenty-four hours ago.”
“Sonny, what was the total population on Earth before we came?”
“Alice put the estimate at eleven point five million.”
“Eleven point five million out of ten billion when we left. How many of those left with us?”
“Five hundred and seventy thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven.”
“Roughly one in twenty, or five percent went with us. That stinks!”
“We could not have taken them all, could we? What would we have done if everybody wanted to go? That would really stink!”
“I suppose you are right.”
“I am pretty sure, Levi, five hundred and seventy thousand people are glad you came back. They are grateful,” Sonny pointed out.
“I know. It’s just that it came out all wrong.”
“Not to those people who are riding along. You are too hard on yourself. You were a victim of too many expectations, and now you are disappointed. You came here and did your best. Now we are going back to Searth to see what is required of us there. Perhaps you should talk to Commander Sullivan.”
“Alex?”
“Yes, maybe she could give a perspective I cannot.”
“Perspective?” Levi was amused.
“Yes, you know, perspective.”
“I caught the meaning the first time.” A wry smile appeared as things were dawning on Levi. “I was just having a hard time believing you were shoving me onto a girl’s shoulder to cry.”
The Journey of Atlantis: The Children of Earth Page 15
