Jeff said, “Practical thinking, Mr. Hardy. You may have just cut our time in half.”
Three weeks had soon passed and the grand pit was nearing completion. The Mawga miners had been relentless with their cutting and their overall work ethic. The much larger Humans were continuously trying to keep up.
Mace sat on a rock outcropping with Johnny sitting beside him. “Gonna take us a month to move all that food out here.”
Johnny shook his head. “All we have to do is line them up, open a portal and push them through. After that we use the Rogers and the shuttles to move them into the pit.”
Mace looked over the deepening hole in the cave bottom. “That’s a big hole. But I can’t see how it could possibly hold enough food for a billion people for two years.”
Johnny shrugged. “Jeff ran the numbers based on what they told us. Those containers have a concentrate in them. We have to mix it with roughage to create the nutrient bars. Said we could manage that from processing grasses and leaves and such. You thinking we’ve been led astray?”
Mace shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I wish we were storing this right on Earth. I get the feeling we’re doing all this work, and when the time comes to move it we won’t be able to for whatever reason.”
Johnny laughed. “Sounds like you need a vacation. Have you been out to the Gerty lately to see Jenny?”
Mace replied, “No. I’ve been focused on getting this done.”
Johnny put his hand on Mace’s shoulder. “This work will be going on for another couple days. We have it fully under control. Take a break. Go up there and hang out for a few hours. Getting your mind off all this for a bit will do you some good.”
Mace sighed. “It’s been so long since I’ve talked with her I feel like it would be awkward.”
Johnny slapped him on the back. “Nonsense. If you’re looking for an icebreaker, take Derwood with you. He’d love the adventure of having someplace new to sniff around.”
Mace gave a half laugh. “He does keep things entertaining, doesn’t he?”
Mace opened a video comm to Jenny Taub over his arm pad. An image came up with her and Jordan Crawford laughing hysterically. “Yes? Mace, how are things going down there?”
Mace replied, “Good. We should be finishing up in a couple days. Just wanted to check in on the two of you. Looks like you’re having a good time.”
Jenny smiled. “We keep ourselves entertained. Jordo here can be a real riot. He was just wiggling his ears.”
Jordan Crawford leaned into the camera view. His ears almost flapped. Jenny again broke into laughter.
Mace nodded. “OK. Looks like everything is in good shape there. We’ll talk to you later.”
The comm was closed to the sound of more laughter.
Johnny shook his head. “You waited too long and now she’s fallen for Mr. Wiggles.”
Mace replied, “They always said it was lonely at the top. Anyway, I have more than enough work to keep me busy.”
When the pit project was complete, the Gerty was used to open a wormhole and the two ships passed through to Proteus. Thirty-two million food storage units sat at the ready. The Mawga had kept their word.
Johnny stared at the mass of metal cargo containers. “I’d say that looks like a lot more than we expected.”
Jeff walked onto the bridge. “We’ve had a miscommunication. The pit we dug will hold the concentrate. It won’t hold the roughage. I thought we would be responsible for processing our own, but it looks like they are providing it. I talked to the last ship before it left. They were talking about processing roughage to extend the amount of people this load should feed. I’m afraid our storage is well short of what we’ll need. The pit will hold around forty thousand containers. That will feed a million people for a couple years. A bit shy of a billion.”
Mace thought for a moment. “Let’s take the forty thousand back to Alpha. And I’d like you to take samples from as many as possible before we ship them over. We’ll just call that site our personal backup supply.”
Johnny asked, “What do we do with the rest of this?”
Mace sat staring at the container image on the wall display for several seconds. “We call on Stark to come pick it up. He can leave it in storage in orbit or take it down to the ground. Either way it should be where the people can make use of it until we can grow our own.”
Johnny said, “I thought we were going to use this as leverage over Stark after kicking out the Union. That no longer the plan?”
Mace replied, “Having Stark in charge is better than having the Union in charge. Besides, if he does kick the Union out, that leaves it open for us to take action again him.”
Johnny flipped the image on the display around until it pointed at a large pile of ore on the surface of Proteus. “And what do we do with that?”
Mace leaned back in his chair. “We take it on to Centari B. I was expecting a load of ore refiners to be waiting here for us along with that food.”
Johnny stared at the wall image. “Didn’t that ore have a green tint to it?”
Mace adjusted the camera feed, zooming in. “That look brown to you?”
Johnny nodded. “It does. Mr. Mallot, could you run a scan of that pile for us? Is it still gatrellium?”
Seconds later Humphrey replied, “Only showing trace amounts. That was definitely gatrellium before.”
Johnny scowled. “Those dirty little rats! They scammed us!”
Mace slowly shook his head. “Mr. Moskowitz, how we looking with the food checks?”
Jeff replied, “Almost to the first container now. Give me a minute and I’ll have an answer for you.”
Johnny spun around in his chair. “What are we gonna do about this? We need that gatrellium. We’re down over 50 percent now.”
Jeff came over the comm. “Well, the first container I checked looked great. The one behind it? Not so much. The food material inside looks old. It’s dried and cracky. Give me a sec and I’ll check one in the middle of the pack.”
Mace sighed. “Just when I thought things were looking up for us.”
Johnny replied, “The Dellus have an agenda, just like the rest of the Union. The only ones we can trust are ourselves.”
Jeff said, “This last container is worse than the second one. Looks like they’re trying to pawn off old food on us. Although, maybe I should take a sample of it and take it to the lab for a test. Could be it only needs hydration after being stored in these containers for a while. Not like it has oxygen or microbes out here to make it break down.”
Samples were gathered and returned to the lab on the Rogers. Gnaga assisted with the analysis. Once complete. Jeff headed for the bridge.
Johnny said, “I wonder if Stark has already gone out for their next fight.”
Mace replied, “He may already be back from it. We were on Centauri for a month.”
Jeff walked onto the bridge. “The food is a waste. Gnaga thinks we could possibly salvage some of it with some heavy processing, but mostly it’s no longer edible. He says it should have kept in those containers for five to seven years. What we have is older than that. Probably by another five.”
Mace said, “Johnny, bring everyone aboard. Mr. Hobbs, set up the waypoints for a jump to Barika, and pass that info to the Gerty. We’re going back.”
Johnny asked, “What do we do with the containers?”
Mace replied, “Leave ‘em. Not like they’re in anybody’s way.”
A wormhole was opened and the two ships passed through. Jenny Taub and Jordan Crawford were told to stay put as the Rogers sped off toward the mining colony. When the ship arrived, the site had been abandoned.
Mace said, “Mr. Mallot, can you give us a scan for gatrellium?”
Humphrey typed away at his console. “Sensors show very minimal detection of gatrellium. Give me a second… an overlay of the site from the last time we were here shows a substantial dig was performed. The remaining ore has been removed.”
&nb
sp; Johnny shook his head. “I’d say we have very little chance of finding that ore. They could have moved it to any of their systems.”
Liam added. “Or parked it out in open space somewhere.”
Mace said, “Take us to Barika VI, Mr. Hobbs.”
A nine hour journey brought the Rogers to the edge of sensor range for the sixth planet in the Barika system. Two Mawga cruisers came out to meet them. Plasma rounds emptied from their cannons, only causing the slightest of rumbles on the Rogers’ hull.
Mace took a deep breath. Disable them, Mr. Mueller.”
Two bright orange plasma charges left the cannons of the Rogers. Both Mawga ships had been crippled with very little effort. The order was given and the former Kaachi cruiser moved to high orbit above the planet.
“Mr. Mallot, give me a quick listing of what’s down there.”
Humphrey ran a deep scan with the results being passed to the wall display. “We have a handful of small villages and the rest looks to be agriculture.”
Mace turned. “Mr. Geerok? You have anything to say?”
Geerok shrugged. “These two planets have been nothing more than food producers for as long as I’ve known.”
Mace asked, “If they took their food storage, what would be the most likely system for it? And for the gatrellium?”
Geerok replied, “For the food, I would have to say the capital world at Rhombia. The gatrellium, I would keep that as far away from the capital as possible.”
Mace nodded. “OK, Mr. Hobbs, tell me the most distant Mawga outpost from the home world.”
Liam pushed a star map to the display wall. “That would be the moon colony on Tellis Major. For either one we have to go back to the Gerty.”
Johnny said, “We can’t keep burning through our gatrellium stockpile. We’re down to about four jumps and return’s worth.”
Mace said, “What would you recommend?”
Johnny shrugged. “You’re the boss-man. Make a decision.”
Jeff said, “We need the gatrellium. I would suggest a jump to the remote colony first. If nothing is there, we go to Rhombia. If that’s the Mawga capital they may have at least one of the Dauntless ship’s there. All we have to do it take it and we can take the gatrellium it has.”
Johnny nodded. “We do still have the two shuttles we outfitted for that purpose. Jane and I would be happy to man one of them.”
Mace turned. “Mr. Hobbs, take us back to the Gerty.”
As the Rogers pulled within comm range, the coordinates for the jump were sent over. Minutes later a wormhole portal opened in front of the Rogers. The Gerty followed the heavily modified cruiser through. An hour of travel had the moon of Tellis Major III within sensor range.
Humphrey said, “I show three ships in this system, a cargo hauler that appears to have a single cannon, and what looks like two private vessels.”
Mace asked, “How close do we have to be to detect the gatrellium?”
Humphrey replied, “In high orbit.”
Mace nodded. “Take us in.”
As the Rogers moved closer, Johnny said, “Specs on that colony say it has fewer than ten thousand inhabitants. Why would anyone come all the way out here? You need a wormhole generator to get back to civilization.”
Fatso Geerok replied, “The Mawga are a curious people. Some will leave the bigger colonies in search of adventure. Some are under contract of corporations. With a five year contract you could earn ten years worth of wages. And given the isolation, much of that wage would be saved. While most Mawga are content with their station in life, some choose to venture out, seeing that as an avenue for moving up. Most aspects of life are under government control, but there are capitalists among us and there are no laws prohibiting it.”
Johnny laughed, “I’m sorry Fatso, but your people sound really boring.”
Geerok smiled, “By Human standards we probably are. However, I believe you have a saying that slow and steady wins the race. That would be the Mawga people. Think of us as mild mannered, but relentless.”
The Rogers slowed to a stop in high orbit above the Tellis Major colony. Deep scans were performed.
Humphrey said, “I see three open pit mines. No sign of gatrellium. The colony buildings have eight thousand one hundred eighty-six bios in them. The cargo hauler has a crew of five and each of those small ships has two occupants.”
Mace turned to Johnny. “Grab Jane and the two of you take a shuttle over to that cargo vessel. Lock it down and take a look at the sensor logs. If any other ships have come into this system they would have record of it.”
Johnny stood and walked toward the bridge exit. “I like the way you think.”
The Collins took several low energy plasma rounds from the cargo ship before clamping to its side. Using the prior Mawga ship security keying, which had been provided by Bontu Montak, the systems on the hauler were overridden and the airlock opened. Five terrified Mawga crewmen backed away as the inner door opened and the enormous Humans walked through.
Johnny said, “Cooperate and we’ll leave you as we found you. I need to see your sensor logs.”
A crewman timidly moved to a console. His fingers shook as he attempted access. The crew of the Rogers watched over a video feed from Johnny’s helmet.
Geerok said, “Mr. Tretcher, the console is standard Mawga. You are already familiar with how it functions. Push the poor fellow aside and get what you need.”
Johnny was soon looking through the data. “They’ve got nothing in here but those private ships for the last nineteen months. At that time, this hauler came through a portal and a full hauler went the other way. Seems a waste of gatrellium for a cargo hauler full of bauxite.”
Fatso shook his head. “This is an empire boundary, Mr. Tretcher. It must be checked periodically. In order for a permanent claim to be made with the Galactic Union, a system must have at least five thousand occupants.”
Johnny replied, “There’s nothing else for eons around this system. I don’t get the need for it to be part of your empire.”
Fatso smiled. “The Tellis Major claim adds nearly 5 percent to the space claimed by the Mawga Empire, Mr. Tretcher. The system itself may be insignificant, but its contribution to our claimed space is highly significant. Three such claims contribute 18 percent of our territory, making us larger in size than the Kaachi and several others.”
Johnny laughed. “So its about bragging rights. Mine’s bigger than yours?”
Fatso nodded. “That would not be the terminology we would use to describe it, but yes, bigger is better when it comes to diplomatic relations with other Union members, and especially with discussions with the Union founders.”
Johnny said, “Well, checking these was a good idea, but it looks like this system was a bust.”
Bontu Montak came onto the bridge. “Before you go, check the log entry IDs. They should be sequential. If there are any gaps, the logs have been tampered with.”
Johnny studied the entries. “Nope. All look good.”
Jeff stepped forward. “There are three planets in this system. Two of them are out of normal sensor range. It might serve us to do a fly-by of those other two planets while we’re here.”
Fatso Geerok raised a hand. “That will not be necessary. Any wormhole to this system would be opened in the vicinity of the colony. This is Mawga territory. They would use the open portal as an opportunity to check on the colony while they were here. The gatrellium has been taken elsewhere.”
Mace leaned back in his chair with an unhappy look on his face. “Mr. Hobbs, take us back to the Gerty. Looks like we’re making a jump to Rhombia. Admiral, anything special we should know about that system? Any extra defenses we might encounter?”
Geerok shook his head. “As it’s the capital world of the Mawga, at least one Dauntless should be there. The Dellus like to keep close watch on their minions. With the shielding on this vessel, it should not be a problem.”
Liam said, “That only leaves us two jumps, Mr.
Hardy. We best make sure at least one of those is back to Earth.”
Mace nodded. “Agreed. Let’s just hope that’s not our final jump. We still have a world we need to feed.”
The Collins returned and the Rogers moved back to the Gerty. Coordinates were entered and a wormhole appeared in the blackness of space. The Human ships moved through to a location at the far end of the Rhombia system. The ride to Rhombia Prime would take fourteen hours.
Mace met Johnny and Jane in the dining hall. “I’m not liking our chances of finding that ore.”
Johnny set two beverages and a handful of nutrient bars on the table in front of Jane before taking a seat himself. “The storage on one of those Muhatha would keep us jumping for months. And we know how to take down those ships.”
Jane nodded. “We wouldn’t even have to worry about them calling in the Union. They would keep it quiet out of embarrassment.”
Vanessa walked into the room carrying an infant. Tres followed, carrying the two others in a makeshift harness.
Johnny laughed. “Tres? What happened? You have two Human babies growing out of your chest!”
Tres replied, “This is the only way I have for carrying them around. If we make it back to Earth I want a stroller.”
Jane grinned as Vanessa gently handed off the first of the triplet girls. “This is Rachel Jane.”
Jane replied, “She’s so beautiful! And look at those eyes!”
Tres gestured to Mace and Johnny. “Want to hold one?”
Johnny held up his hand. “Thanks, I think I’ll wait until they’re no longer slobber, vomit, and poop factories.”
Mace held up a nutrient bar. “Let me finish this up and I’d be happy to.”
Johnny took a swig from his beverage. “How do you tell them apart?”
Tres smiled. “Physically, you can’t. But believe it or not, they already have unique personalities.”
Vanessa said, “We’ve made each of them different-colored outfits. Rachel wears blue, Mattie green, and Robin yellow. And we never change more than one at a time.”
HADRON Revelation Page 12
