Patrick wipes his face, and walks to a nearby step ladder. It was built solely for the purpose of looking over the raised wall. He climbs the half dozen steps, then gazes over the top. “Geeze,” he exclaims in surprise, “The river is part way up the wall already.” He looks over at the drenched women, “You would be knee deep right now if this were not here.”
Cindy calls out over the sound of the rain and the rushing water, “Okay, that’s all well and good, but why did you drag us out into this weather?”
He looks at the women blankly, then suddenly remembers, “The tent city. It’s washed away completely.”
“How did that happen?” Cindy shouts back. “It’s on this side of the river.”
“I know, but the area doesn’t have the same drainage system in place that the rest of the town has.” Patrick responds.
The three of them drive to the tent city in subdued silence. Barbara feels pangs of guilt as she views the scene. Literally thousands of people are walking through ankle deep water, trying to save as many possessions as they can. She reflects on her near complete facility, then hangs her head in shame.
Cindy puts a hand to her mouth in both shock and sympathy, “We have to get these people out of the rain.”
Barbara’s determined tone shocks them, “We should stop all other construction, and get these people housed.”
Cindy responds, “We can’t do anything here, Patrick, take us back to the town hall.”
“Yes ma’am.” Patrick replies.
They drive back in silence. Each reflects on their own contribution to the suffering of those flooded out. Meanwhile, on the far side of town, the canal system fills quickly. No one pays any attention to this looming threat. But if the canal breaches, the entire town will be in jeopardy.
Within minutes of returning to her office, Cindy has John, and every other shuttle pilot, in the air. The water level in the canal steadily rises, eventually breaching the walls downstream. The water spreads out across an area yet to be developed, and thus, goes unnoticed. The pilots spend the rest of the day, then much of the night, transporting those who are effected by the flood, to the Liberty.
Once on the Liberty, people quickly settle in, especially as the ship’s systems are brought back online. Life support provides climate control, while repaired water tanks allow everyone to have a refreshing shower. The galley is quickly staffed, and with supplies arriving by the minute from the town’s main warehouse, everyone enjoys a hot meal as well.
Satisfaction soon turns to resentment when people start to ask why they had to live in tents, and use shower blocks, when the Liberty has obviously been fit to live in for quite some time. As the night continues, resentment turns to anger as small groups of people talk about the unnecessary construction going on. Everything from the Town Hall, to Radio Telescope, is put under their scrutiny. Soon, these few disgruntled voices turn into hundreds, then thousands, as fact and fiction become blurred. Sordid stories of waste and excess become so greatly exaggerated that even the most passive among them, begins to feel cheated.
During the night, the rain stops, and under the rays of the morning light, the damage is surveyed. The river side flood gates held, with a little room to spare, but the canal was not up to the task. Rushing waters have washed away roads and supplies that were placed in advance of the housing construction crews.
Cindy reviews the scene below in silence. After a thorough shuttle tour, she turns to John, and says, “Okay, I have seen enough.”
John flies the shuttle back to the Town Hall, where they are met by a large mob from the Liberty. General Walker has his entire contingent of soldiers holding them back, but they are fast becoming outnumbered as more people arrive to protest. Amid angry chants of ‘no more lies,’ ‘build our houses,’ and ‘we need new leaders,’ Cindy steps from the shuttle. Unexpectedly, someone in the crowd throws an object, it whizzes by her head, and strikes the shuttle. The thrown shoe drops to the ground.
Walker glares at the crowd, his own anger threatens to boil over. He instructs his men, “Load the tear gas.”
Cindy is a little shaken by the close call, but becomes alarmed when she realizes that things are about to escalate. She holds a hand up and shouts, “We’re having a meeting to discuss...”
The crowd begins to boo loudly. The noise drowns out her words. Another shoe is thrown, this one strikes her arm solidly. A hush immediately falls over the crowd. They turn to look at each other in dismay, many turn to stare at Cindy’s assailant.
Walker strides toward the group, but stops when he spots Cindy’s waving hand, indicating for him to stop.
Cindy turns her attention back to the crowd, “Now, as I was saying. We’re having a meeting to discuss last night’s storm, I will accept two representatives from those flooded out.”
She folds her arms, then subconsciously rubs where the shoe struck her. The crowd begins to murmur amongst themselves. Many are ashamed of being a part of the protest, and leave. The crowd begins to break up, but a few hard liners stay behind and quickly rally around each other. After a few minutes of tense discussion, the small group has their nominations.
A pair of burly men steps forward, one folds his arms, then says, “I’m Ben, and this ‘ere is Keith,” he tosses a thumb at his compatriot.
Cindy stares at the two men, “Very well, you two with me, the rest of you will leave the area,” she makes eye contact with many of them. When they fail to move, she shouts, “NOW!”
Ben and Keith look at each other in surprise, then quickly get their friends to leave. Keith sneers, then steps closer to Cindy. Before he can speak, she says, “Good, now we will proceed in a civilized manner.”
John heaves a sigh of relief, then flies the shuttle back to Hawking’s vehicle storage lot. He contacts Joe, and brings him up to speed about the near riot at the Town Hall. They both agree that much of the issue has to do with the lack of things to do. There are far more people than jobs, at the moment. Miners and farmers are the most affected, followed by the many scientists that still await the construction of their specialized facilities.
Cindy enters the Town Hall with Ben, Keith, and the General, in tow. Entering the meeting room, she immediately notices that Emma appears to be rather subdued. Cindy nods to Barbara, then frowns at the many empty seats.
Barbara quickly explains, “George and Patrick have been working non-stop to get the Liberty’s systems running. Peter and Joe are working with engineers, assessing the damage.”
Ben steps forward. “That’s a crock, the Liberty’s systems were working fine. They were just shut down.”
Barbara grins wolfishly, “Really? Well then, how about I tell them to quit?”
Ben goes to step forward, but Keith swings an arm up to stop him, and says, “Let the lady finish.”
Barbara tilts her head toward Cindy questioningly.
Cindy motions to the two men, “Ben and Keith, representatives of the flood victims.”
“I see,” Barbara says, then continues, “Joe said he would get an assessment to us as soon as he can.”
Cindy relays her findings, “From what I saw in the air, there is actually little damage to the town itself. Apart from the flooded tent city, and a few washed-out roads, we look to be in good shape.”
Emma surprises them with her strangely timid voice, “Months of work is lost, and with winter approaching, there is not enough time to grow more.”
Ben looks at her, “Winter? Oh yeah, we had some frost on the ground the other day.”
“Yes winter!” Emma says, “You know, cold days and nights, frost, perhaps snow, I don’t know. This is our first year here.”
Keith says angrily, “You don’t have to tell us about cold nights. Miss. I’m surprised you even noticed, since none of you live in tents.”
Ben stares at Keith for a few seconds, then looks at Emma and asks, “Grow more what?”
“Crops!” Emma says, becoming exasperated, “I was testing crops, and now with them gone, we
can all look forward to more powdered and canned food.”
Keith puts a hand to his head, “Oh crap. I had no idea you were growing crops.”
“You’re a farmer?” Emma asks quizzically.
“Yes, and Ben is a miner, by trade.” He answers proudly.
Barbara glances at Cindy and Emma, then looks straight at Keith, “I am partially to blame.” Her comment comes out of the blue. Immediately, the room goes deathly quiet as everyone turns to look at her.
“I pressured General Walker into getting his engineers, along with Patrick, to work on my Radio Telescope. I should have waited.” Barbara confesses slowly.
Cindy nods, “We’re all to blame. I, for one, had this building constructed.”
Ben and Keith had not been expecting the meeting to go this way, and remain quiet.
Emma’s eyes suddenly fly open, “I have it!” she says loudly.
All eyes turn to her.
“You,” Emma says, pointing to Keith, “and your people, have nothing to do, and I have lost my crops.”
No one says a word, in the ensuing silence.
Emma stands, then begins to pace the room, mumbling, “We would need to construct specialized water lines, a filtration system, reroute power...”
Barbara stares at Cindy, then shrugs her shoulders.
Cindy begins to smile, “Hydroponics!”
Emma stops her pacing, “That ship isn’t going anywhere, so we could convert a vast area. Possibly enough to feed the colony indefinitely.”
Keith says, “And you’re going to need a lot of people to make that happen?”
“Hundreds, if not thousands, at first. We will need soil, lighting, and more.” Emma answers.
“Count us in,” says Keith enthusiastically, thumping Ben on the arm eagerly, “Sounds like we have a plan.”
Cindy nods in agreement, “As for construction within the town, housing should be our number one priority. All other considerations are secondary.”
“After we work on the canal, that is.” Joe says from the doorway, surprising everyone with his presence.
Cindy thinks back to her aerial survey, “Canal?”
Joe nods his head, “Yeah, it needs to be deepened and widened, especially where it nears the ocean.”
She recalls the watery landscape, “I saw some flooding there, I thought it was just runoff from the town.”
“I wish it was. But, on the positive side, the river’s flood gates did a magnificent job.” Joe replies.
“I noticed that from the air,” Cindy responds, “Fantastic job on that system, by the way.”
Joe adds, “I want to install some pump houses, and perhaps another drainage system through town.”
The group begins to discuss the finer points of Emma’s plan, then Joe’s. It takes a few hours before the group comes to a consensus on the details, but they eventually do.
Cindy is about to call the meeting, when Emma says, “I know this is off topic, but since I have you all here, I’ve been wondering. How did the Liberty plot such an exact course?”
Joe lifts his eyebrows at the unexpected question, and after a brief pause answers, “Well, we used the Gamin systems aboard the Terran to calculate the trip.”
Emma frowns, “But, with both planets in constant motion,” she stops mid-sentence and shrugs her shoulders.
Joe responds, “Gamin navigation uses the rotational constant of the Galactic core as a reference point.”
Emma blinks a few times, then says, “In English please!”
Joe stands in silence for a moment, then says, “The Gamin navigate from solar system to solar system. They calculate each sun’s position and movement, relative to the galactic core. If they happen to end up off target by a little, it doesn’t matter much, since they use the sub-light engines when in system anyway.”
Emma gets a little exasperated and says, “But the Liberty travelled from planet to planet, and arrived right on target.”
Joe smiles, “Actually, no they didn’t. They were supposed to arrive outside the solar system. They got lucky, very lucky.”
Once again, the room goes quiet while everyone digests Joe’s comments. On that subdued note, Cindy closes the meeting.
Fish Fry in the Fall
Emma arrives at her workstation, and is greeted by a dozen members of her staff. She glances from person to person apprehensively. “Yes?” She asks hesitantly.
A petite girl steps forward, and says with a widening smile, “The fish are safe to eat.”
Emma blinks in surprise. So little progress has been made by the oceanic team, she had almost forgotten about them. “Okay,” she ventures, then adds, with mounting excitement, “Fill me in Julie.”
The diminutive scientist replies, “We have found that the river, lake, and ocean, all have the same assortment of aquatic life. We suspect there is an underwater cave system that connects the ocean to the lake.” She glances around, then after receiving encouraging nods, continues. “The fish, just like Earth’s, come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. We have identified seventeen distinctive species, all of which are safe to eat.”
Emma’s eyes open wide, “Seventeen! Well done.” She smiles sheepishly as she realizes that she has not given this team much attention lately.
Julie continues, “We have also identified a number of aquatic snakes, crustaceans, and jelly fish. None of which are poisonous to eat, but the acidic flesh of the jelly fish would make them unpalatable.”
Emma gazes at her team in amazement, “I can’t tell you how proud I am of you all.” She pauses for a moment then asks, “So, what are your recommendations?”
Another of her team members, a heavy-set man, says with a wide grin, “Tell the contractors, the fish fry is open.”
Emma smiles with him, “I have heard grumblings that we haven’t built a dock into the ocean, nor any boats. I think we should add both to the colony’s work list.”
Julie rolls her eyes, “I have a feeling that somehow my secondary laboratory is going to get reprioritized.” She shrugs her shoulders, and sighs, “Those boys seem to build what they want, when they want, regardless of the actual list.”
Emma nods her head, “It certainly feels like that at times.” She gazes around the room and asks, “Anything else? While we’re all here.”
The heavy-set man frowns, then says, “Yeah. With the days getting shorter, I wonder if the leaves will change color and fall, or if the trees are evergreens?”
Emma recalls a report she had read from another team, and relays what she knows. “Autumn should be quite beautiful. Actually, the leaves are already changing in the northern parts of this continent.”
Julie gazes around in shock, “Have we been here that long already? What did we do, miss summer?”
Emma shakes her head, “No, we had our summer, at least what summer is to this region.”
No one is surprised to find workers, supplies, and equipment, at the beach the same afternoon that Cindy updates the work request list. However, many are surprised that construction continues through the night, and late into the next day. In less than two days, Hawking adds an impressive marina to its list of buildings. A main walkway, with a half dozen side ramps, stretches out into the ocean. Each ramp is easily long enough to accommodate a decent sized boat. The entire area is protected by a pair of impressive breakwaters. Within a week, all types of ramshackle and hobbled together boats line the docks.
Emma spends some of her evenings watching the fishing boats come in. Though something is bothering her, she can’t put her finger on it. She examines the various fish that are caught, and every now and then, takes one for her team to examine.
The days shorten, the evenings start to cool, and as predicted, the forests burst into vibrant colors. With much of the critical construction completed, the many work crews begin to enjoy some real leisure time, perhaps too much leisure time.
Patrick, who has been finishing up one of the construction projects, lifts the visor on his su
it and stares at the out of breath man before him. The man takes in a huge lungful of air then gasps, “Quick, there’s a fight at the dock!”
Patrick stares at the man, then asks incredulously, “Why didn’t you use the radio, or call General Walker?”
The man’s chest rises and falls as he gathers his breath, “I wanted to keep this on the down-low.”
Patrick looks down the road toward the marina in the distance, “Well, let’s go then.”
The two men take off at a run. Patrick’s bodysuit enables him to run much faster than any human ought to. Everyone that sees him sprinting, is stunned by the extraordinary sight.
Patrick arrives at the dock, then quickly steps from his suit before it has fully retracted from his body. He strides up to a pair of burly looking men, each with bloodied faces, and loudly demands, “What’s going on here?”
The two men circle each other with fists raised. The taller of the combatants spits out a mouth full of blood, then says, “This little shit damaged my boat.”
The shorter man, his eyes already swelling shut, responds venomously, “Dick is full of it, I got down here to find him trashing my gear.”
Patrick sighs, then demands, “Richard, is that true?”
“Yeah,” Richard responds angrily, “Gotta teach this little prick a lesson.” Without warning, he lunges and takes a wild swing.
Patrick’s raises his right arm, and catches the fist in mid swing. Everyone stares in amazement as his right hand now grips Richard’s. Someone in the crowd gasps, “Did ya see that?”
The smaller man, seeing that he has an opportunity, grabs a nearby fishing knife. He rushes at the entangled pair, the jagged blade aiming straight at Richard’s stomach.
Patrick twists, then with blazing speed, intercepts the hand that holds the blade with his left hand. He stares into the eyes of shorter man and demands, “Are you stupid?”
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 95
