Mace took a moment to organize his thoughts. What Bontu was asking would not cause hardship. It wouldn’t pull him away from any specific tasks or duties. The cave and his friends were not in need of his immediate service.
Mace slowly nodded. “Three weeks, Mr. Montak. I’ll give you that. But I do have a few questions. We have several vehicles, and a fair amount of electronics that were damaged by the EM blasts that covered this planet. Can you prove to us that the Mawga were not responsible for that? And what assistance can you offer with repairs of the damaged items?”
“Both fair questions. First, I can assure you my people had nothing to do with the EM issue you speak of. Our scientists have concluded that the phenomenon we all saw was caused by a buildup of ionized particles in your high atmosphere. Once an initial pulse was released, it spread across your globe as a series of bursts. I could have my science team put together a presentation on the cause if you like. And for the record, they did attempt to find a way to bleed off the charge before the EM pulses occurred. However, at the time, we were not given permission to intervene.
“As to the repairs, those are mostly what you term semiconductor chips that have failed. They are damaged beyond repair. If you like, I can have my team look over any circuits in question, but I don’t think that will fix your problem. The nature of those EM pulses was particularly harmful to your silicon-based semiconductors. Please believe me when I say I would bring them all back if possible. It certainly would go a long way toward restoring some normalcy to your world.”
Johnny was flown back to Ronceverte, from where he returned to the cave. Mace, with Bontu, moved ahead to the next military base. He was invited aboard the ship for a short tour and discussion. Fort Lee at Petersburg had seen fierce fighting between hordes of starving citizens and those who had taken refuge on the compound. Tens of thousands were buried in fields on the north end of the base. The ship hovered over one of the mass graves.
Bontu said, “Such a tragedy. Those who had food and those who did not. It sickened me to watch from above as your people fought one another, just trying to survive.”
Mace asked, “You watched this?”
Bontu shook his head. “Not this particular battle, but several just like it. When the starvation in the cities reached a point of ultimate desperation, mass hordes descended on the surrounding towns, where the locals made every attempt to defend themselves.”
Bontu took a deep breath. “I watched one such battle where thousands of citizens of Detroit moved south, overrunning Toledo and then spreading out into the countryside.”
Mace crossed his arms. “You didn’t happen to see the gang of about two hundred that came down I-77 did you? Nearly wiped us out. Only they weren’t looking for food, they were pillaging and burning.”
Bontu frowned. “I was witness to many such atrocities, all the while pleading with my superiors to allow us to intervene.”
Mace posed a question. “You say you pleaded. Was a reason given for holding back aid?”
Bontu looked up at the Human towering over him. “You are a sovereign world with many nations. We had not made contact before. My superiors argued over whether you would be willing to accept aid and whether or not we should be involved. Once your population levels dropped below half what they had been, the decision to intervene began to turn in your favor.
“Even now, the cities in your southern hemisphere are entering an extreme stage. They have had the spring, summer, and fall seasons to ready themselves, although most governments were wholly unprepared. The least affected, Australia, has seen a 40 percent reduction in their population. Again, long term planning and preparations for such an event were not in place.”
Bontu waved Mace on. “Come to the shuttle. I have arranged a meeting for you with the base commander.”
Chapter 6
*
The shuttle landed in the parking lot of the Riverside Regional jail. The base commander, General Walter Shelby, stood in the doorway to the administration building. The jail had been re-purposed as a command post. Bontu Montak was asked to wait by the shuttle.
After a short walk, Mace held out his hand. “General, Mace Hardy, sir. Ten years as a Ranger based out of Hunter in Savannah. I’m here to assist my associate, Mr. Bontu Montak, as his liaison. Mr. Montak is a Mawga and they’re here to offer help in the form of food and then power. No strings attached.”
The general looked over at the alien, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “We have adequate food supplies at this time. Thank you.”
Mace asked, “You have a conference room where we can talk?”
The general shook his head. “Say what you have to say right here, Mr. Hardy.”
“Very well. We’ve just come from Bedford where a large supply of food was given to the base commander. He will be responsible for all distribution to the local communities and then to the Roanoke area. None of the Mawga are involved other than the initial drop of resources to wherever you want. Our people are starving out there, General. Think of this as emergency aid. The Mawga want nothing in return but good relations and possible future trade. I’m not saying to fully trust them, just to think about your people for the short term.”
Mace pointed toward the shuttle. “They can also drop you as many power systems as you need. You can restore power to this region without worry about the EM interference. The generators are clean fusion, and I would guess you would only need a couple to power this entire area. Free of charge again, no strings attached.”
The general returned a suspicious expression. “You expect me to believe these Mawga come bearing gifts and want nothing in return?”
Mace replied, “General, this is a chance for you to restore order, to feed everyone. And following closely behind the establishment of power will come comms. Those politicos in Washington can finally come out of their bunkers and give us all some direction.”
The general shook his head. “No. I’m not willing to cede independence of our people to these Mawga.”
Mace’s expression changed to a stern look. “People continue to starve, General. You either accept this and start the process of rebuilding or you get left behind. Everyone that has been offered this assistance has accepted. If you deny this to your people, and our government does come back into existence, I have to believe they will convene tribunals for those who made mistakes. I’m not making that statement as threat, I just want you to take in the full scope of your decision. You’ll be 100 percent in charge of the food distribution and the restoring of power. It’s your choice, General. Hero or goat?”
The general scowled. “I’ll want to consult with my staff.”
Mace held out a device in his hand. “If you make a decision to accept, just press this red button. I or another of Mr. Montak’s associates will be in touch to begin the process. And, General, keep in mind, you can refuse further food or power at any time. All of this is pure voluntary on your part.”
The general glanced at one of his guards. “Give us some time, Mr. Hardy. You’ll have your answer shortly.”
As Mace walked up to the shuttle, he said, “I don’t think he’ll call. At least not today. He’s not desperate at the moment. But we may have a way around him. If we get power and comms up in Richmond and in D.C., he might get orders telling him to take the help.”
Bontu replied, “Unfortunately, I am under strict orders that all such action should be voluntary. I realize this may serve to work around him, but it may also be viewed as coercion. And that is a perception that we cannot allow. We will instead be moving down to Fort Pickett for a meeting with General Reginald Bass.”
Mace half frowned. “So that’s it? The people of Richmond get no food or power?”
Bontu slowly nodded. “I have been given instruction to make every attempt to utilize your military commands, Mr. Hardy. But we cannot be seen as forcing our assistance on anyone. If your people feel differently about this matter, they will notify the general themselves.”
Over the three weeks that followed, the general slowly relented, allowing food drops to be placed for distribution and power to be restored. The whole of Virginia, and all of the territory watched over by Bontu, was on its way toward normalization. A quick flight had Mace landing on the ball field in Ronceverte. A short ride later, a townie dropped him at the cave.
Tres was the first to greet him. “We were wondering if we’d ever see you again.”
“Food has been dropped and power restored in most places. Have you attempted to contact your family?”
Tres shook his head. “Phones don’t work. That EMP took them out. And the landline in the gift shop doesn’t dial through.”
“So much for the Mawga restoring communications.”
Tres gestured toward Ronceverte. “Well, they promised the townies they were working on comm units for each of them. I would assume they mean everyone.”
Mace looked up in the sky toward Richmond. “I have to wonder why Bontu never made mention of that.”
“Couldn’t say. They’ve delivered on what they promised so far. We have food to last us three months, and power has been on since you left. I’ve been working with Johnny to see if we can get the RV running. He thinks Jasper may be asking us to leave soon.”
Mace sat on the porch. “I had Bontu fly us over Johnny’s and Jane’s place. House was a shell of burned out walls.”
“You told him yet?”
Mace shook his head. “Just got here. Haven’t had the chance.”
The big Virginian came out of the gift shop. “Johnny knows now. Garage gone, too?”
“Yeah. About three quarters of the homes up and down your street are like that. A third of Norfolk looked to be that way. Richmond was the same. Caldwell and Ronceverte, those are like little paradises compared to much of what’s out there. Bontu’s latest estimate had us at two billion people worldwide. That’s more than 70 percent gone.”
Tres asked, “Were you able to contact your mom?”
Mace sighed. “No. And the flight on that ship would have been two hours round trip. The Mawga are limited to staying in their assigned regions. Bontu claims they’re under strict guidelines and violators will be severely punished. They continue to claim they’re trying to minimize their interference.”
Jane and Vanessa came up from the cave. “Glad to see you’re back. How’d it go?”
Mace replied, “Most of Bontu’s region has food and power. Not sure what we do next.”
Johnny put his arm around Jane. “He got a look at the house. Burned out, along with the garage and most of the neighboring homes.”
Jane scowled. “I was worried about that. Senseless acts by idiots. We have to pay the price.”
Mace glanced at the cave entrance as Jasper came waddling up the rampway from within. “I see the cave’s been cleaned up. Where are you staying?”
Jane pointed. “The Davidson house. The marauders took him out, so we’ve been squatting for the past week.”
Jasper slowly stepped up onto the porch. I see the alien-lover is back. How was the honeymoon?”
Mace laughed. “It went well, actually. I think life would have gotten a lot worse for most of the survivors over the next six months. We were burning through our food supplies faster than we were replenishing them. Bontu’s scientists ran a few simulations. They think we would have lost half our remaining people over the next two years before things began to stabilize. They also said we could expect the EM interference to continue for another seventy years. Not to be a downer, but life as we knew it is over. Of course, I think we all knew that already.”
Tres said, “Johnny’s and Jane’s house burned down.”
Jasper put his hand on Jane’s shoulder. “Sorry to hear about that.”
He turned to face Johnny. “That mean the buffoon is staying longer?”
Johnny shook his head as he laughed. “You just never quit, do you?”
Jasper gave his best straight face. “I’ll quit when you bury me in the turnip patch.”
“That can be arranged.”
Jane sighed. “OK, well I have some news from here that you may or may not find disturbing.”
Mace nodded. “Go on.”
Jane waved her hand at the surrounding farms. “Before the aliens showed, we were on track to make this valley productive. Animals in pens and fed, gardens planted along with larger crops. We had broken ground on three large coops for laying hens among other projects. When the food showed up, three quarters of those projects fell by the wayside. Seems most are content with stockpiling the alien food and not worrying about our own.”
“Has anyone spoken to the co-ops about their importance?”
Johnny replied, “Co-ops disbanded ten days ago. Only a quarter of the groups showed and all they did was argue with each other. Having that food, and power, has been a blessing. But that blessing has come at a cost.”
Tres said, “Similar issue with the townies. A few weeks ago you went in to find a bustling trade going on. Most shops are closed now with the people just sitting at home. And I had people begging me to not shut down that still. Could have made a fortune selling that stuff over the past week alone.”
Mace looked over at the RV. “Tres said you were trying to resurrect her. Any progress?”
Johnny frowned. “Controller for that diesel and the generator is burned out. Battery seems in good shape, but we have no way of recharging it as we go. Grid hookup could put a full charge on there in about four hours, but she’d only go a mile or two on a charge, if that.”
Mace pressed a small button on a wristwatch given to him by Bontu. A holo-image appeared above his arm.
“Hello? Mr. Hardy? Are you in need of help?”
Mace asked, “Question. How small do your generators run? Both physically and output.”
Bontu replied, “Are you in need of a generator?”
Mace nodded. “For our RV. We have a diesel generator setup to keep her charged, but the electronics that govern her are fried. We really would like some assistance in melding one of your generators into that system. If that falls within your interaction guidelines.”
Bontu thought for a moment. “I believe we may be able to help you in that regard, Mr. Hardy. I can send a team your way if you wish. There are no restrictions on ground transportation. And in fact, we are working with some of your military commanders to get some of your trains back in operation for food distribution. Perhaps our help here would be a good way for us to show our appreciation for your assistance.”
Mace smiled. “We’ll be here waiting.”
When the comm closed, Tres asked, “So, what was it like on the big ship?”
“Not bad. They were very accommodating. I would say the part I liked best was their balconies. They have these balconies that extend out on a catwalk. You can go out rain or shine and stand there looking down while still within the environment of the ship. Bontu said something about a gravity wall that separates the walk and balcony from the outside. No wind, and the temperature remains moderate no matter what’s going on outside.”
“You see any other ships?” asked Johnny.
Mace nodded. “Two. Was very cool seeing them up close when they pulled alongside us.”
Jasper crossed his arms. “You notice anything suspicious?”
Mace thought for a moment. “They did have a number of discussions in their own language while I was standing there. I can’t say that was suspicious, but I will say I didn’t care for it. Hard to build trust when you don’t know they’re talking about.”
The group pulled a number of chairs out on the porch and sat down. Jane and Vanessa brought out food they had prepared for lunch. The choices were nutrient bars or egg sandwiches made with home-baked flatbread. Tres and Vanessa opted for the nutrient bars while the rest had sandwiches.
Johnny shook his head. “I don’t know how the two of you eat those things. I still don’t trust them.”
Vanessa replied, “They really are addictive, in a good wa
y I mean.”
Tres put his arm around Vanessa. “And they give you a lot of energy.”
The two giggled and poked at one another before sitting down.”
Jasper said, “I’m actually with Dumbo on this one. I ain’t eatin’ nothing that ain’t from this Earth.”
Jane asked, “What did they feed you on the ship?”
Mace replied, “Well, Bontu seemed a bit put out by it, but I managed to pick up food at most of our drops. I figured I’d give it a few months before I tried those bars. If there’s anything wrong with it, we should know by then.”
Jane reached for a sandwich before changing her mind. “These two have been OK on it. Maybe it’s time I gave it a try.”
She took a few nibbles. “Not bad. I can taste the berries in it. Texture’s good as well.”
Vanessa remarked. “You won’t be sorry. I seriously feel much better since starting on those.”
Tres pulled at her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
Vanessa smiled as she stood, still chewing on an alien-supplied bar.
As they walked up the drive in front of the gift shop, Mace said, “They sure seem to be hitting it off.”
Jasper scowled. “Almost sickening. On the one hand I can appreciate seeing the sparks fly from young love, but at some point you’re ready for the lights to come up and the movie to be over.”
Johnny laughed. “I’ll be glad when your movie is over.”
Jasper scowled. “You best watch yourself in your sleep tonight, Tretcher. The boogieman might just be paying you a visit.”
Jane shook her head. “And I’m waiting for that movie to be over.”
Johnny finished off his sandwich in three bites. Jasper looked on with his usual scowl.
HADRON Axiom Page 6
