On to Tau Ceti

by David McCahan

  “Adam I believe you have some of the Golden Retrievers you ordered so I think we should put them to the test so to speak?” Glory asked the Marine Captain.

  “Yes Ma’am I’d love to see more of them turn tail and run! What a great sight that was.” Adam said laughing.

  The initial tests were rather simple. Set down a shuttle in prime raptor real estate and then when one was detected the shuttle lifted off leaving one of the Marine’s dogs to confront the hostile. The results were the same with a short confrontation followed by an ultrasonic “bark” from the robotic canine and the raptor fleeing as fast as it had come.

  The next tests were a little more complex and dangerous. This time two Marines and two dogs were on the ground while the shuttle moved off to observe. The question that needed to be answered was whether the human presence would make any change in behavior. The two Marines and one dog stayed stationary while the other canine detected and confronted the raptor. The raptor did need a second bark to convince it to leave but otherwise the robotic companion convinced the beast to leave the area. He returned back to his Marine for a well-deserved belly rub.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen we have a successful test of our Spiritusraptor defense system. We still do not have any answers as to how the Spiritusraptor can evade the Collective senses or shuttle thermal scans but we can keep them at bay.” Glory proclaimed to the assembled senior staff. “Colonel Richardson we’ll make sure your outpost is well populated with canine and feline companions and sentries.”

  “It’ll certainly allow me to sleep easier and will be nice to enjoy a walk along the river.” Eileen responded.

  “Now that we can enjoy the planet how about progress on the construction?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes Sir, as we anticipated our initial timelines, based on human construction techniques pre-Collective, are being cut in half with the excellent assistance from the Collective. Please send along our appreciation Saoi.” Eileen said.

  “You are most welcome.” Saoi said with a nod.

  “We anticipate another month until we are self-sufficient and two months for initial construction to complete Sir.” Eileen said to Jeff and then turning back to Saoi “Now that we are nearing completion do you have an idea of how many of the Collective would like to stay and call this planet home?”

  “The connection to the other collective has made us eager to continue but we have about 2000 of us that would like to stay and live on Atlantis.” Saoi responded.

  “Excellent we look forward to having the Collective with us planet side.” Eileen nodded to Saoi.

  Saoi then looked to Jeff and got his attention “General, considering the danger we encountered here we have not listened on the other Collective and now we would like to try to contact them again.”

  Looking between Saoi and Glory he responded “I am as eager to meet them as you are so go mind meld and see if you can listen for them. Glo, I think Eileen has Paititi well in hand so make contact your priority now and let’s see if we can get our next destination for our “Jump Drive”.

  “Ohhh Jump Drive, I like it! We’re on it. Come on buddy let’s go listen with the Collective.” Glory said as she got up and nudged Saoi to do the same.

  “Ok ok, sheesh pushy much.” He said as he took her hand and they left the conference room.

  Jeff shook his head and let out a little laugh and then turned to Jonathan “Now Lieutenant I know your busy but when can I get my puppy?”

  Index

  Chapter 9 - Help

  As the settlement of the Paititi outpost on Atlantis was now proceeding well the Collective and those humans that had Psi capabilities strong enough to merge with the Collective began to reach out again to listen to the others they had sensed while back in the Epsilon Eridani planet Eden. Many of the permanent residents of Paititi, this included almost half of the Collective that traveled with the Columbia, were now living planet side in their new housing. Glory and Saoi were planet side to review the progress and also to listen with the Collective from the mountain valley that Paititi overlooked.

  Now that they had a Spiritusraptor early warning and repellant system in the robotic animal companions the outpost also included structures on the valley floor. Many of the Collective chose to setup housing there very similar to what they had back on Eden. As they descended from the mountainside complex to the valley below in the passenger compartment of the incline plane Glory took in the vista.

  “It is quite a beautiful view from here.” Saoi ever on the edge and part of her consciousness now thought to Glory.

  “I thought it a shame that they diverted from the original plans to build on the plains but I could certainly enjoy a view like this for my home.” She mused in response.

  “Could you give up travelling interstellar space and live groundside?” He posed a question to her.

  In response she hooked her arm in his and leaned against him. “Both here and up there have their benefits but so long as you are with me it doesn’t matter but I suppose exploring space is our calling for now.”

  As they reached the valley floor and stepped off the transport the Paititi Settlement Commander was there to meet them.

  “Glory and Saoi, welcome to our newly expanded Paititi.” Colonel Richardson greeted them.

  “Thank you Eileen. I was just thinking on our way down that even though this wasn’t the first choice it certainly is a gorgeous place to live.” Glory responded while reaching out to greet Eileen’s very friendly canine companion. It was a light tan short haired dog, beagle or terrier sized, with a long tail that circled back on itself above her. “I can’t place what breed she is.”

  “Oh yeah, well since having a canine or feline companion here is a necessity I asked them to recreate a dog I had quite a few years back. She was a mixed breed and one of the most loveable dogs I’ve ever been around. I don’t really know what the mix is but robotics did a pretty good job from the description I gave them. Trix, say hello to our guests.”

  With that the little dog gave a happy bark and sat wagging her tail. “Well hello Trix, I’m happy to meet you.” Glory said while giving her a little scratch behind the ears.

  Standing up and looking around there was a smaller version of the housing built back in Babylon on Eden and further out 200 or 300 of the huts that the Collective lived in although back on Eden they were very spread out. Here they need to congregate together for safety. Glory could see Marines in full armor patrolling the perimeter along with the Golden Retrievers that Adam Gerard had ordered.

  In addition to the smell of fresh mountain air there was also a delicious smoky smell in the air. Glory gave a long sniff and then looked at Eileen with one eyebrow raised.

  “Oh our cooks have decided to enjoy this beautiful weather with a good old fashioned barbeque. They have been working on the smoker since early this morning. They are just starting to serve if you’re hungry.” Eileen invited them to join.

  “It smells wonderful but we did eat just before coming down so maybe another time before we leave?” Glory responded.

  “I’ll be sure to place it on the schedule and we can make it a celebration on completing our outpost, with the terrific assistance of our Collective friends.” Eileen paused and gave a nod to Saoi who returned the gesture. “We’ve continued at better than twice the projected pace. Power, water and food systems are all in place with redundancy. Over 75% of the quarters are complete and we’ll have enough complete in about two weeks that all of the permanent residents will be housed here but then again this is nothing that isn’t in the regular progress reports so is there anything in particular you’d like to see?”

  Glory gave a little laugh then “You’re correct this is pretty much a social visit. We’ve been listening for the other Collective for the last couple weeks and not heard anything yet. Saoi and I thought that we may as well come and listen with the Collective out here in the fresh air.”

  “Well if I can’t feed you I’ll leave you to enjoy the scenery and good
luck with your listening. I’ve been down here smelling the smokers for the last couple of hours and it has been driving me nuts. I want to see what they’ve come up with in lab grown meat that will pass for Baby Back Ribs.” Eileen said while rubbing her stomach.

  “Well then please don’t let us keep you and your right that does smell wonderful. Give us an hour or so down here and we just might have to try some ourselves.” Glory inhaled the smoky air again.

  “I hope you do. Well please look me up before you head back up and we have some guest quarters available if you want to spend the night.”

  “Next trip down we’ll take you up on that but I’ve got watch in just over 4 hours so I’ll take a rain check on that. Thanks Eileen, please enjoy your meal.” Glory said as she took Saoi’s hand and they waved to their host and moved toward the area the Collective had setup as home.

  Walking along they began to feel the Collective around them and while not merged fully they could sense them reaching out for the others. Having reached a group, they sat down in a couple of very comfortable Adirondack style chairs. Glory relaxed and reached out to listen and then she was one with all those around her and those listening onboard the Columbia.

  “We listen for you. We are one on this.” And then a response!

  “We listen with you. Please help us!”

  That so startled Glory she almost dropped out of the merge but concentrated and could feel the message behind the words. They are under attack! They’ve been keeping them at bay but the attacks are getting stronger and harder to repel. They do not know how long they can keep them away. Glory thought to urge the Collective to think of location. We needed to find them to help them. Slowly a direction began to coalesce. With a fixed direction they could compare this with the direction they perceived while back on Eden and with the two they could triangulate a possible star system to look for them.

  We listen for you. We are coming. We are one on this.

  They sent images of the Columbia and crew and feelings of having defeated the Basel Confederation.

  We listen with you. We are grateful. We are one on this.

  With that Glory and Saoi left the merge and got up to head back up to Columbia. Glory sent a message to Columbia Operations asking for immediate transport and another message to General Fitsimmons that they have a location for the others and they requested help.

  Back on Columbia, Jeff met Saoi and Glory in Astrometrics where Glory was working with Bonnie Anderson to pin point the home system of the other collective. Merging with the ships Astrometric Systems, Glory placed a line on the 3d plotter from Tau Ceti in the direction the Collective had sensed and that line intercepted the direction they had sensed from Epsilon Eridani near the star system of Delta Pavonis. Glory double checked everything she could and came up with the same conclusion.

  “Colonel if your directions are correct then it looks like you’ve chosen a really good one. Delta Pav or Delta Pavonis is about as close a twin to old Sol as you can get. Ever so slightly larger and brighter but just about identical. Might have been number one on our habitation list if it had been closer. As it is we’re looking at just over 8 light years from Tau Ceti.” Bonnie commented while moving around the plot and studying the triangulation that Glory had entered.

  “Well it certainly fits with every impression we’ve gotten.” Glory commented.

  “Because of the distance we’ve not had much probe activity in the system but the 4th planet in the system is in the habitable zone with a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere similar to Earth. A little larger in mass at about 1.1 times Earth. Again it would have been near the top of the list had it not been for distance.” Bonnie concluded.

  “Well thanks to our Colonel here and the Collective that is no longer an issue.” Jeff interjected and then turned to the conference room monitor. “Eileen, it looks like we’ve got our next destination so how long until you’ve completed enough quarters to house all your permanent inhabitants?”

  “Well once the Collective made contact we shifted some resources around. We’ve got some people sleeping on cots in common areas but we have everyone under roof and we’re self-sufficient. We can take it from here Sir. Columbia we release you from your obligations here to go rescue the other Collective.” Eileen replied.

  “That’s great to here Eileen. Great job down there.” Jeff said then turned back to the personnel in the conference room. “Glory?”

  “Yes Sir, we’ve off loaded all equipment and supplies Paititi needs and the grav station and meteor sensors are in orbit and operational. We ultimately will be leaving 12 shuttles but considering we are proceeding on a rescue mission Colonel Richardson has requested we leave 6 now and the other six on return.” Glory paused looking up to the monitor.

  “We can do quite nicely with half a flight and we’ll feel better with Columbia having the additional firepower and coverage just in case.” Eileen commented.

  “I would argue the point but your gesture is welcome and correct. Thank You.” Jeff nodded to Eileen.

  Glory continued “So Atlantis and Paititi are good to go. Eileen if you figure out how the Spiritusraptors can evade our senses and scans while we’re gone please let us know.”

  “I’ll email you first thing Glory.” She promised.

  “As far as Columbia all systems report fully operational. All personnel and shuttles are on board. Columbia is good to go and crew is eager to get underway.” Glory finished her status update.

  Jeff nodded to Glory to acknowledge her report and then looked back to the monitor. “Colonel Richardson, Columbia congratulates you and your staff on a job well done. We will take our leave then and break orbit within the hour. Hopefully we’ll complete our rescue and return your shuttles to you soon. I’m looking forward to a coffee at sunrise on your guest quarters terrace.”

  “Remember I want the other side of the mountain so I can enjoy some wine at sunset.” Glory interjected.

  “Your VIP guest quarters will be ready and waiting for you on your return. You are welcome anytime. Good hunting Columbia. Richardson out.” Eileen concluded and ended the connection.

  “Colonel Callaghan, ready the ship for launch. Let’s get underway folks. Dismissed.” Jeff concluded the meeting.

  With practiced routine the crew of the Columbia prepared to leave orbit. Having installed a self-sufficient scientific outpost on Atlantis including 6,500 humans and 2,000 of the Collective the remaining 7,000 human crew and 3,000 members of the Collective now begin their rescue mission to Delta Pavonis. Glory could feel both the excitement of exploring a new solar system and also the apprehension of possible conflict with an unknown danger in equal measure. “All departments report ready Sir.”

  “Acknowledged, Engineering bring up the Grav Drives.” Jeff replied.

  “Grav Drives online, positive gravity bubble.” Javier reported.

  “Nav, Launch when ready.” Jeff ordered.

  “Leaving orbit now, engaging Ion drives at 0.75 C. Time to Heliopause approximately 22 hours.” Eva narrated as they left Atlantis to proceed to Delta Pavonis and help the other Collective.

  Were they under attack from the Basel Confederation or some other danger? Even though Columbia was moving out of the Tau Ceti solar system at 3/4 light speed the minutes seemed to pass as hours. Time was crawling by. Glory was relieved from her watch on the Con and left C&C with Saoi. As they walked along her thoughts kept drifting back to the personal merges that her and Saoi shared.

  “You seem to be spending a lot of time thinking of our times as one.” Saoi thought to Glory. The connection they shared was always on the edge of their thoughts and getting stronger all the time.

  “Can’t hide anything from you now, can I?” Glory thought back. “Nor would I ever want to. Yes, I can’t get over the exhilaration of being one with you and I think about it a lot. Is that wrong?”

  “No, nothing wrong with that at all so long as we do not get lost thinking about it.” Saoi responded.

  “Oh getting lost
with you, I could enjoy that.” She mused. “I know what you mean though, we have responsibilities to the Columbia and the other Collective. Could we merge and not get lost in it?”

  “Yes I believe we can. We have time before you’re back on duty again. We can go somewhere private and find out.”

  Glory pondered this for a moment and then responded. “I’m afraid I would get lost but you were able to pull me out of it above Atlantis. I really want to merge again but need you to be strong and pull us out.”

  “I will keep us from losing ourselves. I promise.” He thought back.

  Glory thought about it as they walked. Seeing they were close to her quarters she took his hand and headed there. Entering her quarters, they pulled out two chairs and sat opposite each other hand in hand. Glory let herself mentally reach out for Saoi and feel him reaching for her. Closer and closer until they became one. There was that ecstasy of being wrapped in love, of mentally joining and becoming one mind. She never wanted it to end ….. what is that sound? Saoi was pulling away and Glory could hear a persistent sound. What is it? Then fully back in the here and now Glory became aware of her com buzzing. She accessed the com system and saw the call was from Jeff and then noticed the system time ….. she was late for her watch! She answered the call “Yes Sir, I’m sorry I … ah .. overslept. I’ll be right there.”

  “It’s Ok Glo, I was getting a bit concerned is all. Are you feeling alright?” Jeff was calm and reassuring and she began to settle down.

  “Yes, yes I’m just a bit embarrassed missing shift like that. I’ll be right there.” Glory said as she tried to regain her composure.

  “Glo, really it’s ok. If you slept like that then I’m sure you haven’t eaten in a while? So why don’t you get yourself ready and I’ll order up some breakfast in my conference room? It’s really quiet right now so get ready and bring your boy scout along.” Jeff directed.