"Passengers are asked to gather their personal belongings and prepare for debarking. Gray Lines Incorporate cannot be held responsible for items left behind. Passengers with tickets beyond Wichita will receive vouchers to the Holiday Inn Portel for free lodging until a new connection can be made."
The bus was nearly empty, but one of the passengers barked angry at the machine:" Robot I have an appointment to keep! How long will we be stuck here?"
"This unit has not received a time estimate on the delay, Sir. Gray Lines maintains a staffed counter at the terminal. Please inquire there."
While I wasn't in a terrible hurry, I didn't want to be late for the first navy Assignment I really looked forward to start. It was only a Sturgeon, but it was a real space ship, armed and shielded. Classified as a currier ship, that was exactly what it was mostly used for, to transport sensitive or important messages, passengers and small freight deliveries to places where it was too dangerous or too far for a D type long range shuttle. I had spent most of my flight time reading and downloading everything I could about that ship type. I wanted to know everything about my very first real command! While there was no crew, and technically you needed a Crew to command it was still considered a command in Navy Terms.
The Port Terminal was only slightly bigger than the one on Nilfeheim. The passengers of my flight numbered twenty four including me and when I reached the counter the human female behind it smiled with a bored expression in her eyes." Gray Lines apologizes for any inconvenience this delay may cause you Sir. Here is your voucher for the Holiday Inn Portel. We expect a 26 hour delay."
I smiled back." No problem. I am not in a very big hurry." I also thanked her for the voucher and went to the Shopping concourse where I went to Arthur's for a burger. To my surprise the burger was quite delicious and tasted fresh. Since I was the only customer and there was a person server instead of a robot, I commented on the fresh taste. The young human grinned widely over his freckled face." That's because we don't reconstitute here, we grill fresh on an old fashioned flame grill and no robots doing the cooking either. We're quite proud of that!"
He pointed to one of the large windows. Outside beyond the space port where huge pens filled with brown animals as far as one could see. "What you see out there is only a month production out there. We ship ten thousand cows a day to anywhere in the Galaxy! That's why our meats are fresh. Real beef not vat grown like they do elsewhere."
He brought me a second burger on the house and after this short lecture on Wichita's economy I went to the Portel directly attached to the port terminal and left my bag in my room and decided to tour the town, maybe they had something worthwhile seeing.
So I stepped through the automatic doors and a strong air curtain outside. After I passed through the down blowing air curtain the smell hit me like a hammer! The stench in the air took my breath away and I gagged.
Someone close by laughed:" It takes a while but you will get used to it!"
A man wearing a dark elegant business suit, holding a brief case had walked through the doors just like me. He looked extremely well groomed, wore dark eye glasses and had a little moustache above his lips. He looked a little out of place
"What is that awful smell?"
He pointed towards the animal pens. "Feedlots, hundred thousand cows, pigs and sheep. They all poop and pass gas. Most of the gas is used to generate electricity and most of the poop is shipped off planet, but the rest escapes and that is still a lot."
"Why would they ship shi…I mean animal poop?"
"Natural based fertilizer is highly valued by those farmers growing the high end food items"
I took that info and waved the hand before my nose. "How can people stand this?"
"They don't even smell it anymore and for some it is the smell of home. For me it is the smell of money!"
"Pekunia Non Olet, eh?"
The man laughed:" It appears the academy still teaches classic Latin quotes: Money doesn't stink. How appropriate." So what is the Fleet doing here on Wichita? Opening a recruiting office or something like that?"
"No I am just a Midshipman with time to burn. The Space bus is delayed till tomorrow."
"Well that explains it. I am Brian Solis, Argo-product purchaser for SII. I come here a lot. If you want, I show you the few things worth seeing here and if you can't find a ride tomorrow, I came with a corporate ship and can give you a ride to Blue Moon"
"I am Eric Olafson from Nilfeheim. You don't mind?"
He waved:" Heck no. I am always glad to break the routine a little. I even know Nilfeheim I have been there a few times to purchase sea weed and fish."
He gestured me to follow and we walked past the taxi stand and underneath the Hertz Rental Project-a-Sign he pointed to a new Chrysler Land Speeder." That is the one. Go get in, have you eaten?"
"Yes I had two burgers at Arthur's."
He swiped his ID implant under the reader and the Chrysler doors swung open and a voice thanked him for choosing Hertz. The Interior still smelled new and was upholstered with fine leather. He sat behind the controls and frowned. "Well Mc Swine's isn't bad here, but you should have waited. Cattle Baron Grill in downtown Topeka has the best steaks in the entire sector if not the galaxy and I should know I go to a lot of Agro producing planets."
"Sorry." Was all I could think of saying.
He laughed again." I didn't mean it like that Eric. You are going to be hungry later for sure. First I need to do some business. If you don't mind tagging along you are welcome and I having someone to talk to"
"No I don't mind. I've got nothing better to do."
"Great. We're going to Jesus Hernandez, biggest Cattle rancher on the planet. The Hernandez Hacienda raises free range cattle the old style. No growing vats, no cloning. His beef is in high demand."
Brian steered the speeder to a higher altitude, skimming over muddy terrain and seemingly endless herds of brown animals. Robots and men feed them, guided them and wheeled carts of animal dung away.
"So what is it you do exactly? Buying those animals?"
"I am sure you heard about Schwartz Intergalactic Industries."
"There's probably no one in the galaxy that hasn't. The biggest Mega Corp there is."
He nodded proudly." Indeed and I am the Chief Purchaser for the Agricultural product branch for this sector. I like to do my work in the field and not from a desk. It's also a good way of quality control and developing a personal relationship with our suppliers."
"I thought SII owns a lot of planets and makes its own products. I remember meeting an applicant from Harvest 12."
"Oh SII owns quite a few planets and we also have bio engineering factories making food the modern way. We are the leading manufacturer of Nanite Food processors and also produce Vat-Meats in immense quantities, but the Galaxy is a large and hungry place and the demand for food is staggering and the demand for natural foods is growing every year."
We approached a collection of one story buildings were we landed. Out here the air was fresh and clean.
We meet with the Rancher. He was a joyful character and it was clear he loved his life and was proud of his achievements. He was talking nothing but beef and the problems and challenges associated with that business, on a table where dozens of plates with fresh grilled and prepared beef and on another table plates with raw slabs of red beef. Brian tasted small pieces of the grilled beef and he encouraged me to do so as well. I was a fish eater all my life but I had to agree this stuff was truly delicious.
Brian also inspected the raw meat; he did not use any tools or scanners. He only smelled touched and tasted.
The meeting ended with Brian ordering 2 million heads of beef and paying for it right there and then. I never saw so much money changing hands."
After that we went back to the speeder and Brian said." Now it's time for the sightseeing tour."
The first stop was a valley between two mountain ranges. Huge strange objects strewn all around looking almost like abstract works
of art. I immediately recognized them as bones of very large animals.
He explained:" This is Bone Yard Valley. There are millions of these enormous skeletons, found nowhere else on this world. They are not very old, but no one has ever seen one of these animals alive. It's the Wichita mystery."
We landed and walked between the towering bones." How big where these animals?" I asked." I've seen Tyranno Fin skeletons, these aren't much smaller!"
"We are going to meet a friend of mine who can answer those questions much better. She belongs to your organization."
A large rock formation not too far away turned out to have a door and a window! As we approached a very beautiful woman with long red hair wearing a tight fitting green jump suit stepped out with a big smile on her dark red lips." Brian, are you bringing me the assistant I am waiting for?"
He smiled back." Probably not."
"Well step right on in. I just made some real coffee."
The rock formation had been hollowed out, probably by Army Engineers using cutting laser. It was one large room separated into a living area and a lab set up with work tables, multi task consoles and shelves with instruments. The woman raised her hands." Welcome to Exobiology Auxiliary lab Wichita, Science Corps installation Three thousand three hundred and four. I am Lt Commander Dr. Brenda Brown, but you can call me BB, all my friends do and out here we don't stick to Navy Regulations much anyway."
From a shelf she took three ceramic mugs with the Science Corps logo and poured coffee. Then she smiled at me:" I didn't even ask if you actually drink coffee."
"I do, black with sugar, if you have any."
She placed a Plasti-tainer on the table. "All the sugar you want!"
Brian said:" Brenda makes the best coffee this side of the Sagittarius Arm."
She grinned." I should, I'm from Seattle as you know." She said that as if this was significant, but then I never heard of a planet called Seattle.
I sipped and had to agree. The coffee was strong and had an invigorating flavor.
Brenda looked at me:" I see you're a Midshipman and from the looks of it a first year academy freshman. I assume you are not the assistant they promised me."
"Sorry Ma'am. I didn't even know there was a lab here. I am stranded on Wichita till tomorrow and Brian sort of picked me up to show me the place."
"It's just as well. I don't really need an assistant anyway, who knows if I would get along with him or her. I choose this assignment because I like to be by myself."
"You are here all by yourself?" I asked.
"Most of the time, I do have two Multi task bots keeping me company and I go to Topeka a lot."
"You are researching those bones?"
"Yes I am here to gather data and maybe, just maybe solve the Wichita mystery of the Land walkers that way."
"What exactly is the mystery?"
She put the cup down and said."Wichita is a fertile garden world with all the right conditions to support Terran life forms. It was discovered 200 years ago, surveyed and cleared for colonization. It has native life and some of the bones out there are less than 50 years old, yet no one has ever seen one of these animals alive. There are no other bone yards like this anywhere on the planet as far as we know. The largest animal remains we found are 70 meters long and we estimate the beast to weigh over 200 tons when it was alive, such a life form would be hard to miss especially since this world has no extensive forests and the oceans are quite shallow. There is simply no explanation why those bones are here."
The whole subject was quite interesting and I wondered."Was any DNA found to reconstruct one?"
"Yes, the main lab on Venus grew one out of the DNA but it didn't survive long. It simply died."
I took another sip of the coffee and said."What was the cause of death?"
"The being simply wanted to die I guess and did."
"What are your findings or theories? Maybe they are not native to this world."
Her smile vanished and she became serious." That is exactly what we think. The animals DNA do not match the DNA pattern of life forms native to this planet."
I tried to picture the galactic map in my mind and said:" We're almost at the core of Union space. There are no unknown intelligent space faring cultures anywhere near, or are there?"
"Not to our knowledge, but there are large areas of Union space we haven't really surveyed yet. Science Corps established this post to count and research these bones and basically wait for any new arrivals."
She sighed and added." Nothing happened so far."
"Must be a pretty boring assignment then."
"No not really. I am also cataloging local life forms and do research on them. Besides I like it. It is stress free and I can spend time on my hobbies." She drained her cup. "Actually I could use an assistant for a few days. Do you have any pressing assignments?"
"I am supposed to be at Ross in three weeks."
She took a sip of her coffee and Brian refilled his cup. Brenda leaned back." Well maybe the business at Ross can be delayed a little. I sure could use you. But anyway how is the Navy life treating you? Have you decided yet what route you going to pursue?"
"Basic training and the first year were not as I expected it to be to be honest, but perhaps the second year is going to be better. I am not sure what specialization to pick yet."
Brian interrupted." What does that specialization thing mean?"
Brenda explained to him:" During the first year they teach you all the basics a new soldier and cadet needs to know and then in year two is where you decide what job you will do in the navy. You know logistics, personnel, weapons, security and a thousand other specialty fields. Year three is either at a dedicated school for that field or sometimes aboard an Academy ship. I did the basic training at Fort Fun club and decided for life sciences right at the start of year two. So I did the rest of my Academy time all remaining three years at the Venus Life Sciences and Xeno Biology and such a career move gets you in the Science Corps."
Brian spooned sugar in his cup and stirred it with measured moves."Now I am a bit curious, the Science Corps isn't that separate from the Navy?"
"Yes it is technically. The Science Corps was started to have a distinctive and separate organization from the fleet that focused on military missions. It operates under the authority of the Science Council and not the Defense Department. It has its own ships and Science Explorers do not carry heavy weapons, but the crews and officers aboard science vessels are Navy personnel and the Science officer aboard every Navy Vessel is of the Science Corps. "
He nodded and thanked her and then said to me." Well if you decide the Navy isn't for you there is always room for a bright person at SII. There are thousands of careers to choose from just as well and we pay a whole lot better. SII has a fleet of space ships second only to the navy."
"I was considering that." I didn't want to tell him I had a similar offer from Enroe. So I said:"I just don't want to fly a freighter on established routes."
"Oh you are mistaken, SII doesn't have just freighters. We have corporate security Units that almost could go toe to toe with your battle ships and we have research vessels surveying areas of space that no Navy ship has seen."
Brenda looked at her wrist unit." It is almost time for lunch and I was planning to go into Topeka for a nice steak and do some shopping. Why don't you two come along?"
Brian finished his second cup and said:" Sounds like an idea. I bragged to Eric about the steaks they serve at the Cattle Baron Grill."
Topeka was an underground city as I found out. It was below all those Cattle pens and beef processing plants. Down here the air was clean and did not stink and the Cattle Baron Grill was part of a large shopping mall and the steaks they served there were the best food I ever ate right after fresh Tyranno Fin filet. It was juicy and the flavor was truly amazing. They served the huge 72 ounce steaks on a big wooden cutting board with potatoes, green beans and gravy. I was hard pressed to finish half and could not even try the Cherry
cobbler, Brian recommended.
Brenda had gone for a few minutes, I assumed to the bath room and Brian said." This pretty much concludes the sightseeing tour of Wichita, unless you like to see more cattle."
"No I think I've seen all the cattle I care for to see, unless they are in form of a steak like these in front of me on a plate!"
He laughed." Right you are!"
Brenda came back and sat down and looked at me. "So what brings you to Wichita in the first place? Normally Midshipmen go home after their first year."
I pretty much told them the story without going into too much detail and said." I am not sure what I will do after I have delivered the ship, maybe I check out Earth."
"Both Brian and I are from Earth and it is a place every human should visit once. Lot's to see there for sure."
Brian had ordered him a glass of whiskey and tingled with the ice cubes."Nilfeheim is a cold world alright. Lots of ancient traditions, it actually surprises me to see a Neo Viking away from that place and being in the navy. I always had the impression Neo Vikings rarely left their world."
I frowned." I am the only one I know of ever to sign up for the Navy and still only few go off world."
Brenda pushed her wooden plate away:"Can I ask you why you decided to leave?"
"My father and I don't get along and there was no future for me in any of the traditional occupations."
She nodded." I can relate to that, when I decided to become a woman, my parents didn't like that much either and I haven't been back or talked to them."
I coughed and tried to hide my surprise." You have been a man once?"
"In a biological physical sense, yes, but I always wanted to be female. My parents didn't gene check me before I was born and then where to busy with their careers to notice my desire so they never opted for psycho surgery while they had the power to decide for me."
Brian looked at me sideways." Does this shock you? You know I am homosexual. I know this is very rare in these days but I am and I don't want it any other way!"
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 280
