by Chris Hechtl
Paul snorted. Sharif hid a smile behind his hand. Debbie just rolled her eyes.
“Marines,” she said sourly.
~~*^*~~
Jack took a day off to check out Paul's progress. He headed to the nearest cave complex near Landing. The caves near Landing had to be enlarged and deepened in order to allow them enough room for everyone. There were lava tubes near the spaceport side, but they were two hundred kilometers out.
The cave complex he was checking out was nearly the same distance but in the opposite direction and buried at the base of a hillside that was part of the local foothills leading to a mountain chain. “Big mother here,” Paul said proudly as they entered the caves. The juttering sound of a jackhammer cut him off. “We're doing what we can to lay in proper foundations. We're floating floors to get things level. Be glad we're done with the blasting,” he said.
“Quick and dirty works for me, Paul,” Jack said as they stepped around forms. The forms were there to hide the entrance and give it some projection. He'd seen the other side when they'd landed in the clearing outside the caves; it had been dressed with rubble from the interior. Paul was getting smart about camouflage he noted.
Interior with bunkbed barracks. See kitchen. “We're using some of the facilities as soon as we get them going. It's way better than camping gear. We're using all plug and play gear.”
“Good,” Jack said. “Make sure all of your workers know they'll get a bonus for working and staying here,” he said.
“Gotcha.”
They took a tour of the storage centers next. Jack was impressed with the gear already being stored.
“Sharif wants a hangar. I don't know if we can pull it off. Part of the problem is we can't just take apart aircraft and the shuttles, not and still use them right up until the damn aliens arrive.”
“Right,” Jack said. “But you are moving surplus supplies and gears under cover now?”
“Sharif is handling that end. But yeah,” Paul admitted.
“Good.”
“Debbie's got good ideas on handling the greenhouses,” Paul admitted. “We've got some UV lights and some botanists working on that now. Not here, the rough construction is too much for them,” he said with an airy wave of his hand.
“Good. How many people can we fit here?”
“If we squeeze them in … about ten thousand give or take,” Paul said.
Jack grimaced. That was a drop in the bucket compared to what they needed.
“I know, I know. It's what we've got,” Paul said before Jack could say anything. “We've got the plan down now. Once we've got the rough construction done, we'll move to the next location the scouts have found. The survey engineers are already there drawing up the plans.”
“Good. Maybe we should have started with this,” Jack said with a shake of his head. Despite the lack of resources, his people were working miracles he noted.
“How did we get so much surplus?” Paul asked. “I mean, we're always so tight and …,” he waved a hand to the storage facility.
“Some of it was donated. Some I've been holding in reserve in case of an emergency like this one,” Jack said. He saw the instant question in Paul's eyes. “No,” he held up a restraining hand. “I didn't know this specific event would happen. But I was taught to always plan for a rainy day.”
“Ah.”
“Or the occasional hurricane,” Jack said with an off-center smile, “or in our case, an alien invasion. But the other reason we've got a healthy reserve is for a balance of trade.”
“Trade?”
“Sharif and I have been trying to build up a stockpile of goods to export to other markets. Obviously, the colonies here are our biggest potential market,” Jack explained. “Some are bare bones operations. Unfortunately, we need freighters to carry the cargo to them and the goods we get back in exchange.”
“You are thinking of an economy. One off-world as well as on-world?” Paul asked skeptically. He couldn't really see any need to import goods to the colony. Not when they were self-sufficient.
“Aren't you?” Jack asked with a smile. “But that's a shelved project for the time being.”
“Well,” Paul looked around to the rolls of PLA plastic and paper products. “I'd say we'll put it to good use.”
“Definitely,” Jack said with a nod.
~~*^*~~
Jack hit some additional resistance from the population over his emergency measures. News that the anniversary celebration had been canceled didn't go over well with people. When he got impatient, he trotted out the planetary constitution and posted the relevant sections on the administration website as well as on a poster placed in front of the administration building. He addressed it in a telecast to the planet. “Look people, I don't like being a hard ass, but I will be one if I have to be to make sure everyone who tries has a shot at life. It boils down to something so simple even a child can figure it out, in a crisis I can do this and more. I'm calling this as I see it, a crisis. Get with the program or get out of my way,” he said coldly.
He let that hang for a moment. “If by some measure, you want to go it alone, fine. You can disperse to the outback. Some of the far-flung homesteads and ranches may be ignored initially. How long they are left alone is not up to you or me. I have no clue. If you go that route you will take your chances on your own. Don't come crying for rescue. That could and would threaten the survival of everyone else. I have to watch out for the survival of the many, not the individual,” he pointed out flatly.
“For the time being, we are stockpiling resources and moving gear to safe places. If you wish to help out or contribute, please see Sharif, Debbie, General Elliot, or Paul. We need all hands on deck for this.”
He waited a moment. “If we get our emergency preparations complete and there is no sign of alien invasion, we will return to a stepped-down version of our expansion plan. But, we will keep one eye on the sky and will drill regularly on evacuation plans while also working to improve our chances of survival.”
“Now, if you wish to join the Eden militia, please step up. We need people, especially experienced veterans. We don't know what we might be fighting, but we're going to be prepared for it. We're going to make any alien sorry and sore for stepping foot on our planet.”
“That's not a threat; it's a promise,” he vowed as he finished the address.
~~*^*~~
Jack decided to have a meeting with people to get people on board with his plan. He needed to lance the building resentment, be out there and approachable so people couldn't say he was aloof, and ignoring their concerns. When he, Max, and Menolly entered the auditorium, they paused at the sights and sounds to find a packed house.
“Well, glad we've got so much interest,” he quipped. Max rolled his eyes at him. Menolly shook her head and poked him.
“Okay, I'll behave,” he said meekly, hands up.
“Since when?” his wife demanded. She dimpled but then allowed him and Max to escort her to a seat near the dais.
“Settle down, people,” Debbie said, waving her hands. When that didn't work, her fur rippled and then rose. “I said,” her voice rose and her canines were bared, startling a few people into sudden echoing silence. “That's better,” she said in a more normal voice. “Governor?”
“Not going to prime them?” he asked.
She shook her head as she presented the stage to him. “I think feelings are running high enough as it is,” she said quietly to him.
“Okay,” he said with a nod as she took her seat and crossed her arms. He picked up the Wi-Fi signal in the auditorium, linked in, and then used his implants to project his voice to the speakers in the room. “Here is what we know,” he said.
Carefully but quickly, he ran them through the timeline of Magellan's arrival and then went on to present what they knew about the ship. He stressed that the aliens had acted with hostility during the encounter.
He spiced the presentation with images and video from Magellan's files to help
make his case.
“Now, that's what we know. We are going to do something about it. General Elliot has graciously agreed to come out of retirement,” Jack said, indicating the Neochimp Marine with a wave of his hand. “Other veterans are stepping up. We're forming a planetary militia while also finding a place to go in case things go south. I am a firm believer in planning ahead for every contingency we can think of. Now, I'm going to open the floor for some questions and discussion,” he said, nodding to the crowd as they became restless.
“Young lady, I believe you lucked out in drawing the first number?” Jack asked, looking at a tall chimera as she rose from her seat. She had horns and cat eyes and ears but was otherwise human.
“Yes. I'm Bettina, Bettina Ferton. “So, if they are coming, where are they?” the woman demanded, looking accusingly at Jack.
“You want to sit around scratching your ass and wait to find out? Or be prepared for when they eventually do?” Jack demanded scathingly. “I don't know about you, but I'm going to do something about it while I can.”
“Shouldn't we evacuate?” A female Neolioness off to his left asked worriedly. She looked over to her pride mates.
“To where? We need ships. None are available,” Jack pointed out patiently.
“Magellan could have …”
Jack snorted. He realized fear was driving that line of thought, fear and near hysterics of the threat. He shook his head as all eyes turned to him. “Don't make me laugh. Magellan is a survey ship, an explorer, not a colony ship. She didn't have the room for more than three extra warm bodies let alone all of us!” he spread his hands to indicate the room then flicked his fingers to indicate others.
“Oh,” the lioness said quietly as she retook her seat.
“And no, as you can see, I didn't bail on you. No one else did either. We're all in this together,” Jack said firmly, pointing to the ground.
That sparked a murmur from the group. Eventually they settled down.
“Magellan had no stasis pods. And we don't have the industry to make them let alone an entire ship,” Sharif said.
“Yeah. Look people, they will get help. There is no evacuation; we came in seven ships, remember? And many of us had kids since then,” Jack said with a nod to Menolly. She flushed and ran a hand over her belly. “It'd take a small fleet to get us all off, and there may not be time to do so. I'm not playing around; I'm not waiting and hoping something will come and save our necks. I'm doing what I can with what I have.”
“Here here,” Sheriff Tupper muttered in agreement. After a moment, Debbie led a bit of applause. It spread, but there was a note of grudging in it from a few. Jack nodded once. He'd take what he could get.
Chapter 6
December 2232
Five months after leaving Pyrax, Magellan arrived at her intended destination. She stopped at the exit point of the hyperbridge from the Sol sector to Rho. Kathy Dugan was nervous and made certain the captain and XO saw her notation about a recently-passed ion trail.
Ynes saw the report and then shook her head. “We can't follow it,” she said, looking up to the skipper.
Kathy bit her lip. She'd been so worried and caught up about the aliens she hadn't checked the ion trail's decay ratio and molecular makeup to compare to Terran ships. She felt a little guilty as she bit her lip and realized what it might mean.
“I know. But we can leave a warning buoy like the governor asked,” the captain said firmly. “It's the least we can do to give the next ship a fighting chance,” he said.
“Agreed, sir. Mort has the satellite prepped. Do you want to upload anything else?”
“I want the warning plus our full log,” the captain said. “Throw in everything we talked about on Pyrax for good measure.”
“You think that is wise, sir? What if the aliens come and pick it up?” Kathy asked quietly.
Both the captain and the XO looked at her. “First, they'd have to get here,” the XO pointed out.
“Not unreasonable if they can track us somehow,” Kathy said stubbornly.
“Point,” the skipper said. “I think we'll have to chance it. We don't have the time to figure out how to set up a self-destruct nor how to warn people about it. We don't want it to go off accidentally,” he said.
Kathy nodded.
Once the buoy was deployed, the captain ordered a least-time jump to the hyperbridge leading back to Sol. The crew was eager to obey.
~~*^*~~
Antigua:
Governor Fin Thrakle shook his head as he contemplated how far they'd come in such a limited amount of time. The Antigua colony expedition had been a shoestring project originally. He'd actually not had much faith in the project when it was pitched to him by the shareholders he'd represented on the Lagroose Industries board. Getting the rights to the star system in exchange for those shares had allowed the people he represented and himself a potential great windfall.
He'd been caught up in the heady triumph of the moment at first. Then reality had set in when they'd gotten together and realized they still had to get to Antigua. He'd thought they would have sold off the rights to the star system. It was quite valuable, but no, the shareholders had been firm. They'd wanted the star system for themselves and their heirs.
Finding a way to pay for it all had been a major undertaking, especially when they were almost broke. It took money to make money, and they had to raise quite a lot to finance the lease of the colony ship, plus pay for transporting the colonists, the purchase of their goods and equipment …. The list had gone on and on and had at times seemed overwhelming.
Selling land rights and asteroid mineral rights had raised some money until the shareholders had become alarmed at the losses and had put the brakes on it.
Fin had done some digging into how other projects had been financed, and almost by accident, he'd found an entry about junk bonds, then something far more lucrative and less criminal. He'd discovered they could raise additional funds from running a lottery. They had used their limited remaining funds as startup capital and then had sold tickets to allow one family of two adults and a max of three children to join the colony. It had become a big hit, especially on Earth where people wanted to escape the war-ravaged and polluted planet for something better. The resulting lotteries had been enough to fund their expedition as well as two additional ones. He had already drawn up plans to set up follow-up colonists on another continent as well as some of the larger islands.
Deciding to wait until the local spring to begin waking everyone had been a hard decision. They'd taken losses in the first wave when they had went down to explore and survey. It had thrown his and Captain Holt's plans off for Speedwell's speedy unloading.
Finally, the planet had warmed and the ice and snow had begun to melt. Three and a half weeks ago, they had begun to wake the people in stages according to the ranking or preference. Those who were the most ready to survive on their own had been woken first. Those who had land stakes second, while those with necessary skills but no land investment would be a close third. Those with skills would work for their land plot. Some would work off the debt of their passage as well.
At the bottom of the list was the steerage class, the so called “zero-balancers.” People who'd come with little or nothing except hope and dreams. They would have it the hardest Fin knew. He was already expecting trouble from them.
Part of the problem was that in order to fund the colony they'd had to sell some land and tickets while also gambling a segment of tickets through the lottery. The lottery program had turned into a lucrative thing, but it had its drawbacks. Those who won the lottery got a one-way ticket for them and each of their immediate family to a maximum of five persons.
Therein had been another problem, the winners had assumed they'd be given land, tools, food, and homes when they landed. They had thought they'd get mansions and live like kings. He'd made certain they'd signed off on just getting the one-way tickets, with careful explanations about the limits of what they were going
to receive. Once they got to Antigua, they had to work for everything else. He wanted a strong economy and the best way to do that was for people to want to better themselves and their future, not get a handout.
But, try telling them that, he mused darkly.
No, it'd be all right in the end. He didn't have the resources to build people their homes. Public works projects were for the good of the whole community, not an individual. Though his mouth tightened in a brief sour line, he'd had to make a few compromises there in order to fulfill contracts he had made to get the support from a few rich individuals. Deals with the devil he tended to call them. Most were just about used up too, he thought.
Once the transit barracks and apartments were cleared, those who were still out in the cold would be given the empty shelter until they could get back on their feet. He knew he'd get some resentment, but hopefully they'd come around eventually.
But, if they didn't, he had people like Paki on his payroll to make sure no one did anything he'd regret he thought.
~~*^*~~
Malory walked carefully on her shaky feet, well aware she could fall easily. She was also concerned about the kids falling, but it was a little less important to her since she had a sling with little Faith Hope Randall in it.
As so called ''zero-balancers,'' they were the last group to be awoken from stasis. They had gotten in with their lottery ticket, but the money their benefactor had given them was long gone, as was all the money they'd gotten from selling off their worldly goods before leaving Earth. Donald had gone on a spending spree before they'd left.
Donald expected everything to be set up and ready for them to move in. Malory hadn't been as certain of that; she'd actually taken the time to read the fine print on their tickets. Instead, because they were “zero-balancers,” they had only what little baggage they had and some camping gear she knew.
