Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth

by Dale C. Musser

  “You can have a few days if you wish," I said. "In the meantime, please accept our hospitality and spend the night aboard the NEW ORLEANS before you return to the surface. If you like, you are most welcome to allow the others on the surface, to come up to the ship and enjoy our hospitality while we are here in orbit.”

  Captain Slater looked at his fellow Martian colony members, and they stared back with questioning looks and anticipation. “I’ll need to check in with the others on the surface, but if all things are well, I think we might accept your offer. I know that a few of us would like the opportunity to try out one of your pools aboard the ship. It’s been years since we were last able to swim in anything, as water is a scarcity on Mars and highly rationed.”

  “We have plenty of water aboard the ship, I honestly have no idea how many pools are aboard, but I know there are more than enough to accommodate everyone aboard with room left over,” I replied.

  “Tibby," Dr. Nelson began, “I've noticed a number of plants about your ship. I was wondering if I might have a closer look at some of them and if I might have some samples of a few to take back to the surface, should we choose to stay here. Some of them might be useful to us.”

  “Certainly, Doctor. We have a number of gardens and hydroponics areas on the ship. I’m sure that either A’Lappe or Cantolla would be able to get you together with one of the staff that works in those areas to give you a tour and tell you about the plants.”

  “Tibby, Doctor Nelson might also be interested in the fish in the aquarium in your study.” Kala added.

  “You have a fish aquarium?” Doctor Volkov asked with excitement. “Might I also see them?”

  “Certainly,” I said, “but I fear I can tell you very little about them. I don’t even know from which worlds they originate.”

  “Tibby, if you like I can have the ships ichthyologists join them in your study and talk with them.” Cantolla interjected.

  “We have an ichthyologist on board?” I asked with some degree of incredulity.

  “Tib, of course we do, you don’t think those fish take care of themselves, do you?” I had to confess that honestly I had never given it a thought. “I swear, Tib, you really need to learn more about your ship and crew.” Kala said with a tone of frustration in her voice. I noted everyone at the table grinning.

  After the meal, Kerabac made arrangements for Captain Slater to contact his people on the surface while Dr Nelson and Dr Volkov were taken to my study by the ships' ichthyologist. The rest of the Mars team elected to spend some time in the employees' lounge dancing and listening to music. Kala and I headed to our suite and were relaxing in bed when Kala spoke. “Tibby, I have a bad feeling about us going to your Moon. This Ming sounds like a really nasty person. Promise me if you go that you will take serious security measures.” Kala’s concern caught me off guard, while I did take the statements of the Mars colony seriously, I also had my doubts that Ming was as bad as he was being made out to be. However, I could not see any reason not to take precautions.

  It was late afternoon the next day when the Mars party returned to the surface. Captain Slater said he wanted the other members of the colony to see and experience the NEW ORLEANS before they made any decisions on my offer of transport to the Federation. A schedule was set up that over the next two days, everyone in the Mars colony would visit and be given a tour of the ship and share in a meal and its hospitality. I was amazed at the diversity of nationalities of the colony. It seemed that every culture was represented, and there were several Chinese members, though they had not been natives of China and were American and Australian citizens instead. On the third day, when the colony took a vote, all but three people were in favor of abandoning the colony. Without additional resources from Earth it was felt that the future of the colony was doomed. I offered to provide material support if that helped them, but it was felt that without new colonists who would be able to produce children and have families that it was senseless to continue.

  It took five days to transport to the ship everyone with their possessions and records, along with some pieces of equipment and ongoing experiments that Dr. Nelson and Dr. Volkov insisted they needed to continue. Cantolla and A’Lappe were happy to assist them in setting up a laboratory in some vacant compartments not far from their own labs and they all seemed to be getting along well.

  The Mars colony held a brief ceremony before leaving Mars for the last time. I made two trips to the planet during their exodus, mostly out of curiosity, and was astounded by what I found. For some reason I was expecting to see domed structures on the surface, but very few structures existed above ground. Instead the colony tunneled underground, tying into a natural cavity formed by a volcanic tube from millions of years in the past. The caverns ran deep into the planet and it had been necessary for the colony to create bulkheads at various locations to keep the atmosphere at a density and balance needed for human habitation. One thing that intrigued me was their use of fiber optics to bring light in from the surface. Early in the colonization of Mars, equipment had been brought from Earth that enabled them to produce optical fiber cables from raw materials found on the planet. Using these cables it was possible for them to bring light in from outside, thus saving on the need for illuminated power source in many areas. The colony did have solar panels for power as well as a small fusion reactor; however, power conservation was a big issue and all efforts had been made to conserve as much as possible. Water had been one of the colonists’ main difficulties and even with all their efforts to seal off their inhabited and greenhouse areas, they still seemed to lose moisture. This meant that teams would have to venture out searching for ice pockets that lay under the soil in different areas. Usually this ice was in crystalline form intermingled in the soil and it was necessary to transport large quantities of ice-bearing soil back to the base where it could thaw and the water extracted. It was an arduous process and seemed to occupy a great deal of their time. It also was beginning to be a problem, as they needed to venture further out to find water, and the rovers that they were using to transport the soil were losing power as the batteries grew weaker. They had modified one of their rovers with a solar panel taken from another system to assist in powering the rover. As the colony prepared to move into one of the winter cycles on Mars, where it would have been further from the sun and there would not have been adequate light to power the solar panel and the rover, uncertainties existed as to how the colony would maintain adequate water supplies to make it through the winter. Fortunately, we had arrived in time, and the problem no longer existed, since they would be leaving with us. After their ceremony the colonists left a plaque at the base with all their names on it, and then everyone boarded the ship which would transport them to the NEW ORLEANS and we were underway to Earth and the Moon.

  One of the first things we did after the arrival of the colonists was to have them tested using the headbands. It was not so much a loyalty test because the colonists had nothing to base feelings of loyalty on regarding us; rather, it was a test to determine if there was any threat among them of trying to do harm or take over the ship. I wasn’t expecting any problems in that area, so I was astonished when two individuals came up questionable. Both individuals would have preferred for the colonists to stay on Mars and have either myself or the Federation supply them with resources to continue there. In the end they had gone along with the others simply because they would not have been able to survive and keep things going on their own. Their test results came up as questionable and indicated that under certain situations they could endanger the NEW ORLEANS and its crew. As a result, it was determined that they would be restricted from the engineering section and the bridge of the ship. Captain Slater, as well as the members of the first visitors to the NEW ORLEANS, all passed the test, and so when we left orbit for Earth, I invited the captain, Dr. Yamaguchi as well as Lt. Stevens to join me on the bridge.

  “I thought you would enjoy seeing this; the trip from here to Earth will last approximate
ly 47 minutes using our Gravity Wave propulsion system.” I said.

  “Forty seven minutes! You have got to be kidding!” Lt. Stevens said excitedly.

  “We could actually do it in less time if we were stopping there,” Kerabac said. “We will be traveling at only fraction of the speed that this ship can attain.”

  As the NEW ORLEANS headed toward Earth, Kerabac switched the view screen so we could view Mars as we departed. Suddenly, silence filled the bridge, and I when I turned and looked at our guests, I was surprised to see them with tears on their cheeks. I’m not sure exactly what they were each experiencing, but whatever it was it was very moving for them. It was only a few minutes before Mars was no more than a pinpoint of light on the screen and Kerabac changed the view to display our approach to Earth. Kerabac instituted screen magnification so that the Earth came into view large on the screen. I heard many gasps from around the bridge and realized one of them came from me. Even though I had seen the sight earlier, I still was shocked at the dark clouds, plumes of smoke, and the reddish-orange glow of fire from volcanoes beneath the clouds that shrouded the planet.

  “Oh my god!” I heard Doctor Yamaguchi exclaim. “We knew it was bad, but our telescope on Mars didn’t show things this clearly. It doesn’t even resemble Earth.”

  “The Moon still it there though,” Lt. Stevens said.

  “Yes, I see it”. Yamaguchi said.

  “Is there any word from the Moon?” I asked.

  “So far nothing, Tibby,” replied Verona from the communication console. “We’ve been beaming transmissions at the Moon for several days now but we have not had any response.”

  “What have you been broadcasting?” Captain Slater asked.

  “We’ve been broadcasting a message telling them that we are the space yacht NEW ORLEANS from the galactic Federation on a peaceful mission, and that we are prepared to offer any help and assistance they made need.” Kerabac replied.

  “What language are you broadcasting in?” Captain Slater asked.

  “English, we all know how to speak it now from the learning bands.” Kerabac replied.

  “That might be part of your problem. It’s possible no one left alive on the Moon speaks English. Have you tried broadcasting in Mandarin?” Captain Slater asked.

  “Mandarin?” Stonbersa interjected, “What’s Mandarin?”

  “It was the official language of China.” Slater replied.

  “You mean you have more than one language on Earth?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I added. “Earth had hundreds of different languages. I’m afraid I don’t know any of the others, so none of them are in the learning headbands.”

  “We have a member of our team that speaks Mandarin,” Lt. Stevens spoke up. “Rose Chen is fluent in Mandarin; her family spoke it all the time when she was a girl and she learned it from them.”

  “Captain,” I said to Slater, “Do you think Rose would mind if we extracted the language from her for the head bands so we might communicate with the Moon base?”

  “I don’t think she will mind; let me ask her. Is there any way I can communicate with her from here?”

  “You weren’t given wrist coms when you came aboard?” I questioned. I glanced down to the wrists of Captain Slater and his fellow Martians and noted bare wrists.. “Commodore, could you see to it that all the members of the Martian colony are provided with wrist coms?”

  “Certainly, Tibby, I don’t know how that slipped my attention. However, to answer your question, Captain Slater, we should be able to locate her using the ship's computer and send a message to that part of the ship. Verona, will you check and see where Rose Chen is at this moment?”

  Verona turned to the communication console and entered some commands. “She’s in the pool located on Deck 3 just next to the quarters of the Martian colonists,” Verona replied. “Shall I open a channel to the communication panel in the pool area?”

  “Yes please,” Captain Slater answered.

  “Com link opened,” Verona said, as the vid screen lit up, revealing Rose swimming in the pool. Kala snickered briefly and Kerabac, Stonbersa and Verona gawked, as Rose was wearing a swimming suit that she apparently had the ship's computer manufacture for her. This was a bit of a shock for my crew who had never heard of a swimming suit as everyone on the ship and most of the Federation swam in the nude.

  “Rose, this is Captain Slater, Tibby and his crew would like your assistance in learning Chinese and need you to allow them to use the learning headband, like the ones that taught us the Federation Language, to download your language skills on the computer. Can you do that for them?”

  “Certainly!” Rose answered as she climbed out of the pool and walked toward the vid screen. “Where and when do I need to go?”

  “Rose,” I said stepping forward. “You'll need to meet with Cantolla; she will see to recording your Mandarin skills. It should only take about a half-hour of your time and will be pretty much like the process when you learned the Federation language. If you can head to her lab now I will inform her you are coming.”

  “Okay, it will take me a few minutes to shower and dress, but I’ll head right there.”

  “Thanks.” I said, “I greatly appreciate it.”

  “What was that she was wearing?” Stonbersa asked with astonishment.

  “Just a swimming suit.” Slater answered.

  “Swimming suit!” I never heard of such a thing. Tibby you never mentioned swimming suits to us. Are they a local custom to areas on Earth or does everyone wear them?"

  I could see looks of confusion on everyone’s faces on the bridge; my crew because they had never heard of swim suits, and the Mars colonists because the thought of swimming without them was alien to them, as was social nudity. Kala was smirking, as she knew about Earth's taboos concerning nudity, because I had told her shortly after I met her, but I had never related it to anyone else and had simply adopted Federation's customs.

  “Ahh, I’m afraid I neglected to tell you that taboos about nudity are rather rare throughout the Federation and only a few planets with certain religious cults have laws against it. You’re likely to encounter some degree or nudity or even total nudity at any time or place throughout the Federation, including here on the ship. Swimming suits are completely unheard of in the Federation and everyone swims nude, also some clothing items you may see can be quite revealing.”

  “Oh! Slater said with a shocked look. “Things were like that for a brief period on Earth about 40 years ago, but then as the Jihadists began taking over more and more of the world, and with the resurgence of fundamental Christian groups, nudity and revealing clothing was not only frowned on but became illegal, with severe punishments in almost every country on the Earth. I will need to tell the others about this. I’m not sure how some of them are going to react to the news.”

  “I guess those taboos finally put an end to pornography on Earth,” I said.

  “Oh no, not at all, if anything it increased it ;and while it was illegal, no one ever enforced the laws against it. It became so prevalent that it was shown on all the social media day and night.”

  “Wasn’t that a bit contradictory?” Kala asked.

  “Well, yes,” Slater said. “However, it’s the way things evolved.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. As a means of clearing my thoughts, I called Cantolla on my wrist com.

  “Cantolla, this is Tibby. One of the Mars colonists named Rose… Rose…? What was her name again?” I asked Slater.

  “Chen, Rose Chen.”

  “Ahh --Rose Chen,” I said to Cantolla, “will be showing up at your lab shortly. Could you please record the Mandarin language which she can speak so we can transfer it to crew members? We are entering Earth’s lunar orbit as I am speaking and we want to try to communicate with the colonists on the Moon if we can.”

  “Certainly, Tibby, you should be able to have the crew learning it via the headbands in about an hour. Will that do?”

  “That’s
perfect Cantolla, thanks.”

  While we had been talking, Kerabac had maneuvered the ship into orbit around the Moon. As we passed over the side that always faced Earth, I could see an area that was not familiar looking .Suddenly I realized this had been the area where THORS’ HAMMER had destroyed the Chinese base from which the Chinese had bombarded the Earth with moon rocks.

  “Wow, THORS’ HAMMER must have carried some heavy muscle to do damage like that!,” I exclaimed.

  “I don’t know the details of the weaponry, Captain Slater responded, but it was rumored to be some sort of anti-matter device that it used. The weapon was a prototype and the only one of its kind.”

  “I wonder if A’Lappe has any idea how to build one.” I muttered to myself.

  “Pardon me; I didn’t hear what you said.” Captain Slater said.

  “I was just asking myself questions, Captain. I do apologize, as I sometimes talk to myself.”

  We continued to orbit around the Moon all the time trying to locate the other base where the Chinese might be holed up, while Cantolla recorded Rose’s language skills.

  “I don’t see anything down there that looks like a base,” I said.

  “Neither do I,” responded Slater, “but there is one down there some place.”

  “I think I can help you out,” A’Lappe interjected. “There are electronic signals coming from this area here,” he said as he illuminated a portion of the Moon surface on the vid screen.

  “That’s the Plato Crater,” Doctor Yamaguchi said. “It’s quite a way from their base that was located in the Ptolemais crater.”

  “I would have thought they’d locate a second base on the other side of the Moon.” I said, more or less talking to myself.

  “It’s hard to understand the Chinese motives at times. I’m sure their reasons had more to do with observation of their enemies on Earth than actual scientific research.” Slater replied.

  “Tibby, Cantolla is reporting that the learning band with the Chinese Language module has been installed on the main computer.” Verona stated.