by David Buck
Gavin considered the request for a few moments and a brief chatter of radio message from the major indicated agreement as he spoke again.
‘Okay, you will have another SAS team to guard you and your team. You are to be all up in trees overnight or back in a perimeter we are setting up before dark around the gate. We will do the same for the astronomers, but we have to run minimal lights for them so they can best use their telescope.’
***
The new arrivals carefully greeted the ancients and probe three that hovered nearby at the Ancients underwater facility. One of the new arrivals handed over a short black column to probe three that the probe verified as being deactivated, before it was placed next to the vacant probe cradle. The sector delegate had earlier quietly come through the initial gate to Earth with two other probes and had asked the lead probe to join them. The probes immediately headed out to sea before completing the stealthy underwater journey to meet the ancients. The sector delegate stopped communicating with probe three after several seconds and now addressed the Ancient queen.
‘The Maveen council thank you for the commendation you supplied on the lead probe. He is now Earth lead probe and he will be assigned duties of higher import when we leave this world. Also probe three has been selected to remain with you for the remainder of your stay on this world. Note that my programs are unchanged and no ancient overrides are or can be activated. We have implemented this change in our systems to optimise our command structure as your race has been absent for such a long time.’
Queen Angwene considered this information and was not unduly concerned by the open nature of the probe’s comments. The sector delegate was using an advanced derivative of the probe system, and obviously the Maveen had come far since she was last in space. She casually asked the probe a question that had been of concern to her.
‘So sector delegate, will you tell your masters exactly what your subordinate probe stated earlier. Namely that the lead probes original mission data will not be provided?’
The sector delegate had no problem answering the Ancient queen and did not try to be diplomatic in his long reply.
‘You have been gone so long that your race name is not used and you are no longer considered our masters. We have functioned autonomously for many millennia and have always held true to our greater mission. Now the dictates of the greater mission tell me not to tell you something I know to be absolutely true to both protect you and our greater mission. You can tear the whole process down by destroying me and having your presence discovered prematurely, or you can accept our reasons and concentrate only on what you have in front of you.’
Angwene seethed for a moment as she considered her response. The other probes had the innate sense to remain silent and her daughters that were present suddenly found other things to do.
‘Sector delegate, while I disprove of your arrogance in how you speak to me, I am heartened immensely by the autonomy you now present on behalf of the Maveen. You now need to reassure me that you are not engaged in some foolish independent action that will draw the malignant attention of the Zronte and Vorinne upon the both of our races. Surely you must know that we are not ready to leave this world for many years, and we could not safely take our full ship bodies though a small surface gateway in any case.’
The Maveen sector delegate reassured the queen that this was in fact the case. He then immediately brought her up to date on another project that he did not mind her being advised about.
‘The beacon you now have is proof we are aware of your constraints. As for your concerns, we had planned a development for another system that had to be cancelled, and now we will later be using the resources in this star system. We considered this as now the humans are nearly a galactic race themselves and have requested assistance. However we will not implement this development until you leave this world. Indeed the event you just asked about but do not know about needs to be completed first.’
Angwene knew with a fair degree of certainty what the long term goals of the Maveen were for this world. She knew that they still had remained unchanged for eons. However the probe was not exactly forthcoming on the intermediate steps she decided, as she now switched to other subjects that she needed advice upon.
‘Sector delegate, before you leave, what do you think of the inventory I have obtained from the Traders recently?’
The senior Maveen probe carefully scanned the large cruiser gun now cradled in a diagnostics bay before making a series of telling observations. In light of what the cruiser gun implied he was looking forward to later debriefing the Dradfer lead probe and the Earth lead probe after they left this world.
***
Chapter 4
Ian Ridge looked across the meeting room at the assembled scientists as they viewed the data coming from the off world video feed. Steve had taken Ian and the scientists back to the Aurora Discovery at the end of the day as the Traders continued to repair their ship. Several of the scientists in the mission team looked thoughtful as they perused the notes they had taken from their discussions with the Traders.
Ian slowly ate his dinner and responded to occasional comments from the mission team over the video feed. A short but hair raising encounter with a giant lizard caught via SAS helmet cameras had broken the tedium of mankind’s first steps outside the solar system. Rebecca had caught his eye after the excitement and then commented to Dan beside her. Dan had then left with Steve for a moment and no doubt they were planning to reconvene the meeting shortly.
Ian was following an interrupted feed that showed several scientists setting up hides and live traps when Dan and Steve returned. Steve spoke quietly to Ian and the assembled scientists as he turned down the volume on the video feed.
‘Prime Minister, I have several concerns that we need to discuss before the end of the day. This is because the first reports from Barede lead to more questions about the Maveen in particular. Also Dan and I have concerns on key areas where we could protect our interests after speaking with Captain Narindestat.’
The scientists quickly stopped their own discussions as the meeting commenced again. Rebecca now addressed the meeting with her concerns by hauling up slides of the Maveen and several other pictures.
‘I have a serious question to ask that we should resolve if we can tomorrow when we return to the island, and I will step you through the back ground.’
Ian Ridge sat back to listen patiently as Rebecca continued with her outline to the science team.
‘The first item to consider is the Maveen themselves, here is a picture of the Maveen sub probes and you will notice their shape and the markings on their limbs. The next picture is one of ancient rock art that closely resembles the sub probes, and several of my other pictures highlight this resemblance. The context of the art alludes to travellers and creators, and they are revered amongst my people. Now I consider this context is important, and I think that this relates back to the Maveen when they visited our world in our prehistory.’
Rebecca paused for several moments as she politely waited for a response from her colleagues. Ian Ridge gave her a grateful smile for bringing this matter to their attention before he replied.
‘Well it also places the interpretation of our ancient culture in a different light. We should consider it fortuitous that we spotted the resemblance.’
Sanjay was the next one to speak and he appeared to be thoughtful in his reply.
‘I can see what you are saying, and if you factor in the news of the flora and fauna on Barede then your case becomes quite compelling. However we really need more information.’
Several of the other scientists looked around the room and nodded in agreement at one another.
Vladimir Stenin, who usually kept quiet, offered a wry grin on his beared face and his own opinion.
‘Rebecca, I think that it is highly likely, but not yet proven beyond doubt. We should front the Maveen lead probe in the morning and spring the question on the probe. Maybe he will give a direct
yes or no answer this time.’
Polite laughter followed the Russian scientist’s comments as the obdurate nature of the Maveen that had been pointed out by the Traders was a source of frustration also for the humans. Steve shared a grin with Samantha and then steered the meeting towards his next concern as he spoke again.
‘I have concerns with keeping a lot of our knowledge to ourselves now that the Maveen intentions have become known and the Barus ship has fled again. Now we do not want to provide any information that will allow the other galactic races to locate Barede in the short term. Basically we need to avoid broadcasting any detailed shots of the night sky or information that would identify the star easily.’
Ian Mitchin readily picked up on the concern Steve had identified and excitedly addressed Ian Ridge.
‘Sir, Steve is correct, as we do not know how well a photo or video of the Barede night sky could be used by the aliens to identify Barede. I think we also need to keep the spectral signature of the star to ourselves as well in case they start a search for it.’
The prime minister calmly picked up his satellite phone and dialled one of his assistants that he had left in Perth, and outlaid his instructions that he wanted followed immediately as the mission team quietly listened. Ian confidently smiled around the mission team as he completed the call.
‘Now all taken care of as I speak, so what else should we be concerned about?’
The team looked around at each other for a moment before Ian Mitchin spoke again.
***
Troy had stepped out of his house quietly in the pre dawn so as not wake his wife and children. At least the truck had not been broken into this time he evaluated, as he carefully tilted back the cab of the truck and by habit checked the oil and water.
Troy left the cab tilted and began checking both the heavy chain holding the large excavator and the condition of his truck tires. He turned around as he recognised the work utility driving up the street and park across the road from his house, as his boss, Mike Ewers got out of the utility.
‘Morning Troy, good to see you are looking after my truck. I have cancelled all jobs today and the other blokes will be at our depot as soon as we can get there. There is something I need to ask all of you after what happened yesterday.’
Troy stifled his innate optimism and looked a little nonplussed at Mike as he replied.
‘Well with the holidays coming up Mike we cannot afford to get too far behind. So what did you have in mind when we get to the depot?’
Mike looked at his younger right hand man who had worked alongside him as a son he never had for over fifteen years.
‘Keep this to yourself until we get to work. But have you ever thought about giving the rat race the flick and starting over again somewhere were there is less hassle and potentially more rewards?’
Troy tilted the cab back down and checked that it was secured as he replied.
‘All the time when I sit back in this mangy rental house of mine, and the crime rate around here has not improved either. We can get the excavators and scrapers to Sydney airport on the low loaders easily enough. Let me have a quiet think about what else we need to take with us as we drive in to work.’
Troy got into the truck as Mick returned to the utility and drove off down the street. As he drove the truck quietly to work he considered Mike’s statement through the eyes of a practical man.
‘So what does a new colony need when you start from scratch?’
Troy smiled as he thought about the amount of roads and buildings that would need to be constructed, and found he was really looking forward to the work meeting.
***
Vic Mitchell looked around the large timber yard after speaking with both his youngest son and his daughter in turn on the phone. He walked through the yard with no real concern, as he was not expecting a lot of business in Armadale this early morning or any other morning. The family timber business had struggled over the last ten years due to the epidemic, and he had also struggled both to find and keep good staff anyway. His hire business was also quiet, and he gave a couple of his men a nod as he walked over to his largest shed and stopped at the door to look inside.
Vic’s two oldest sons, Paul and Rick, were working on carefully applying another coat of paint on the large hull they had built from timber with him over the last twelve months. Vic had paid for the hull plans of the eighteen metre cruising yacht and then together they had laid out the hull jigs on standard ply. Before cutting the jigs out and setting up the massive but accurate jig frame used to build the hull upside down. The men had increased their already superb building skills as they had formed the keel, fitted the stout transom and then fitted the sheer clamp. They had then used dozens of clamps, temporary screws and several large buckets of epoxy resin to scribe and fit the three layers of thick high grade marine play that made up the outside hull of the yacht.
Afterwards the three men had spent a fortnight painstaking fairing the hull by hand before priming it and flipping it over. The hull had then sat upright on stands as they fitted the engine, mast supports and decking. The outfitting work had paused long enough to agree on their next course of action after learning of the colony efforts. The men had yesterday used their largest crane to carefully place and brace the hull on one of their low loader trailers, before applying paint.
Vic looked with pride at the workmanship of his sons as he complimented them on their work.
‘Boys, you have done a great job and the second coat of paint looks fantastic. As soon as it is dry enough we leave for Perth Airport with what ever else we take with us. We can do the final outfitting in our new home and we just have to take all the pieces with us today.’
Paul looked sideways at Rick and gave a hearty laugh.
‘You owe me a carton of beer, as it looks like Dad wants us to go into the planet colonising business early.’
Vic ran a practiced eye over the sleek hull as he jovially replied.
‘Well boys, we need both a real challenge and future security, and it is not happening here. The reports said plenty of land, timber and water. All we need is the food and the fish and we are set.’
Rick now looked at his older brother and his father thoughtfully as he ventured his own views.
‘It looks like tens of thousands of people are readying to go through and I wonder what thought has gone into the process. I talked with Cathy last night and we are keen to go through.’
Paul looked at his father again, and he paused from gently shaking the paint pot of the spray gun he was using to paint the hull. Noting by habit the amount of paint left, he asked a question.
‘Well there is just me of course and I want to go across. Now what would Raelene and Jon like to do?’
Vic ran his right hand over the mast they had also fabricated as he informed them of the recent telephone calls he had made.
‘Well they are definitely interested as Raelene reckons they will need teachers and Jon knows they will need good structural engineers. We will meet both of them at the airport tonight. We will just take what we need with us and leave a note. Also your mum would have liked to have gone I reckon.’
The younger men felt sombre and awkward for several moments as they remembered their mother who had died in the pandemic. Their father still missed his late wife and looked silently to one side for several moments. He then chivvied his sons back to work by again running his hands along the large fabricated mast.
‘We can give this mast another coat if you have enough paint. I am looking forward to eventually getting this beauty on the water. Rick, get the compressor fired up again, and Paul pass me the spray gun.’
The men exchanged short sentences from now on what they would need to take with them, as they worked the long hours needed to get the boat and other equipment ready to take with them to their new home.
***
Stan Rollins had been at his production laboratory on the shores of Botany Bay all night. He had watched with fascination the
coverage of the first humans on a faraway world on his office television for short periods. He had also gone to the roof top briefly to train a pair of binoculars on the nearby Sydney airport. He noted that the airport was well lit but otherwise now closed to air traffic. He was very busy during the night between doing his regular job and compiling a list. Stan meticulously checked through the inventories of first his lab, and then in the storage areas of the production facility.
Stan had been in charge of the lab for several years and was a well respected specialist in refining synthetic fuel. He had written his thesis many years ago that had dealt with refining a diesel substitute. His research was based on sewerage being treated with customised bacteria, before filtering and blending the outcome with bio-diesel made from canola and corn. The new process had been well received by the international community, and several companies had begun implementing the idea under licence before the pandemic had occurred.
The recent pandemic had also temporarily lessened the demand for fossil fuels worldwide, but Stan knew that the demand would soon increase again. The key point he had identified with the first reports from the new colony that humanity was racing to colonise was quite specific, and he had sent messages to the authorities for their urgent attention. Stan quietly went about his work after he verified that most of what would be needed was quickly available. He was now feeling very tired, and ventured in the kitchen for cup of instant soup he kept under the sink for nights like the one he was experiencing.
A younger industrial chemist, Dave Jones, was just pouring himself a coffee after arriving at work early and turned to regard his colleague for a moment before he spoke.
‘It looks like you have been here all night Stan and you look haggard. I do not see any maintenance notes or urgent requests on the refinery schedule. By the way have you been following the incredible off world footage?’
