Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series

by J. Alexander Black

  The surveyor’s proposal was voted on at a village meeting and accepted. The village decided that the fairest way was for each parcel to be numbered and that number be written on a token. The tokens were placed in ten canvas bags. Each adult entitled to one parcel therefore could draw one token and the number was recorded next to his or her name. There was some debate from married people as some said they should have adjoining parcels but this was voted down. It was determined that they could negotiate with others if they wanted to swap. As there was no advantage in the order in which the tokens were drawn it was decided that as people showed up they could make their draw. At 8 am that day most of the eligible members of the advanced party congregated on the field behind the village. Ten lines formed and over the next two hours the process of drawing tokens was completed. With great anticipation, each adult drew a token from the bag then showed the reference number to the surveyors and their assistants at ten tables with maps. The assistants under the watchful eye of the village selectmen wrote down the name next to the corresponding number on the map which was then registered and accepted by signature. This process took up most of the day, but by the time Altis sank below the horizon it was done. That night inside the village hall huge holographic maps were projected showing the allocations and the names of the owners. Almost immediately, as the villagers flowed in and out, the negotiations began. It took three more weeks before the final allocation of the land was completed and all the necessary deeds were reviewed by Allyson and filed with the town manager.

  Since most of the new owners of the land were military and their dependents, there was very little experience in managing such a large area of land. Those who did have experience with farming and ranching offered assistance and Allyson set up classes to provide legal options for those who did not know what to do with their land. Ray and Marcie were one of those who initially had no idea what to do with their land. The parcels were separated by many other parcels. Her parcel was on the south side of the river abutting the village land. Ray’s piece was fifty miles away north of the village on the ocean reaching up through the foothills of Lookout Mountain. Marcie decided it might help them to decide if they went and looked at their land. They had been on Altis-5 for just over a month and it seemed to Marcie that she had been busy every day since they arrived; it was time for a day off. Besides, her pregnancy was advancing and it would soon be impossible to make the journey. Marcie found Sande at the clinic and arranged for her to cover for her, and on her way back she ran into Sara and surprised her telling her that she would be taking the day off.

  The Janus had left ten Carvorite Riders, nicknamed Sharks by the EDB, for the village use. These newer versions, even though controlled mentally, required no implant. The link between the guidance system and the rider was accomplished via a helmet. Because of the larger capacity magazine in the nose they were about foot longer than the older models. Designed for use in space where speeds of one quarter light speed in the required EMU was easily tolerated, that kind of speed in a normal atmosphere could rip the skin off your face if unprotected. When the helmet was put on, the SMC assumed the Shark would be used within an atmosphere and limited speed to a maximum of two hundred feet per second and height to a maximum of five hundred feet above ground. Ray and Marcie borrowed a couple of them and after Marcie spent a few minutes mastering the technique of mental control she fed the grid reference to the Shark’s SMC and they rode out. It was the first time either of them had ever ridden this type of antigrav vehicle; it was like riding a twenty-foot missile. The single seat open cockpit on top was surprisingly spacious, but then Ray realized it had to be big enough for the pilot to be wearing an EMU in space. He quickly came to appreciate the helmets built-in face shield as he brought his Shark up to one tenth atmospheric speed of twenty feet per second. Not to be out done Marcie increased speed and overtook him. For the next ten minutes, they acted like teenagers -- each one trying to outdo the other; then the nav system in their helmets chirped and the heads-up display inside the face shield indicated they had reached the first boundary of their land. They slowed down as they reached the shore line. The pure white sandy beach was dazzling in the sunshine. They stopped and walked down to the water’s edge. Marcie wanted to take off her shoes and wade out into the water but having been raised in the mountains of Western Maine she rarely got to see the ocean and was hesitant.

  As a child, her parents had once taken her to Old Orchard Beach but it was just too crowded for them and they left, so she never got to wade in the ocean. Gathering her courage, she removed her shoes and stepped into the warm salt water, the gently moving surf caused the sand to move under her feet and the weight of her body caused her to sink slightly. This was a new experience for her and she momentarily panicked. Ray who had waded in next to her took her hand and she immediately felt secure.

  “Everything ok, honey?” he asked. “Everything is fine, Ray. Isn’t this a beautiful place? I’m glad we decided to keep it.” After the drawing, several people had tried to swap land with them, but they had politely refused.

  “We must move our yurt here after we build a permanent home and smithy on the land close to the village. What do you think?” asked Marcie. Ray nodded; he was anxious to get to get back and check out the other piece of land. They cruised slowly up the shoreline to the northern boundary then turned inland. They followed the property line up the gentle slope to the base of the mountain range, turned south, and headed back to the village. As they lifted over a small ridge they came across a herd of wild horses grazing by a stream. Marcie was in awe of the big brown stallion that was standing off to the side on a grass covered hummock watching over his herd. They hovered close to the ground and as they approached the herd the stallion reared up and raced toward them. He obviously thought of them as a threat. With a loud snort, he stopped 100 yards from them and looked straight at them, seemingly assessing them. Finally, he decided they were not a threat and turned and went back to the herd, keeping himself between them.

  They moved on. Once beyond the herd they accelerated and gained altitude. As they did, Ray swore he could feel the stallion’s eyes on the back of his head. As they leveled out and turned back toward the village they could see several other herds in the distance. They realized it would not be long before someone decided to domesticate them. Ray smiled to himself thinking of the stallion. Whoever decided to do that would have a tough time. They flew over great herds of cattle grazing. When the colonists arrived in considerable numbers these animals would provide plenty of fresh milk and meat. He tried to envision this world in twenty years with thousands of small villages scattered about. By then mining operations would begin with the raw material shipped all over the known universe. Large long-range cargo ships would be coming and going all the time. At first, people would trade for what they needed but soon a monetary system would come into use. It would be interesting to see what form that would take. He cleared these thoughts from his head as they landed at the boundary of Marcie’s land.

  As they walked along the river’s edge, Ray suddenly exclaimed. “There it is, the spot where we will build our house and smithy.” Ray pointed to a raised knoll about a hundred yards up river from them. It was the perfect spot. The round knoll was about three hundred feet in diameter right next to the river.

  On the journey from Earth, Ray had kept himself busy by working on a design for their home and his smithy. After many redesigns to include Marcie’s requirements he had what he wanted and, with a few adjustments, it would fit right on top of the knoll. He would have an independent power source from the river and it was close to the village. Marcie had decided to remain with the clinic for the time being but knew as the colonists arrived in numbers and they set up their own medical facilities the situation may change. She decided to deal with that when it happened.

  Tom and Sande had negotiated a trade with a couple of villagers and ended up with a piece next to the base and a second piece north of the village. What they did not know at th
e time was that they were to be Ray and Marcie’s neighbors. Andrew had lucked out and had drawn a nice narrow sloping piece of land at the furthest extent of the allocation that would be perfect for growing grapes. Kris had a flat piece of meadow land on the other side of the river to Andrew abutting the orchards. He and Andrew had agreed that if the soil tested well he would help Andrew grow whatever additional crops he needed for his wine and beer making enterprise.

  Two months later the village had settled into a quiet routine; although many had taken trips to survey their new land most had done nothing with it. Those with farming skills had taken the time to learn how to use the Hevinian combined farming machines and were beginning to till the soil. The base was completed and routine daily patrols had been established inside the Altean system. Cruising at light speed a Barque could patrol the entire length of the system in five hours. With the defeat of the Kaedians the patrols were more voyages of discovery than for protection. Planet-wide patrols continued in search of the missing Kaedian survivors but so far, they had remained hidden.

  After the communication tower was resituated from the Brigade compound to the top of Lookout Mountain it was decided to move the monitoring equipment to a more secure location in a reinforced retaining wall (revetment) on the base. The communications equipment was shut down during the two-hour move.

  With the install complete, Joshua flipped the master switch reactivating the equipment. Joshua, Bill and three Battalion Karnat staff carefully monitored the startup procedure on the screen. Within seconds the basic programming was complete. The screen went blank then began the installation of the various upgrades installed after the Zenon departed. Data streamed across the five ninety-inch screens too fast to read but certain waypoints were recognized indicating everything was on track. A few minutes later, four of the screens showed a view of space; each one aimed at a different sector. The Karnat system was capable of monitoring space surrounding Altis-5 by slicing and dicing the universe into observable chunks

  simultaneously observing each chunk. A visual of each chunk was cycled through the four screens every thirty seconds. Any anomaly such as objects changing course or even moving differently from the norm was

  immediately focused upon and brought to one of the screens accompanied by an audible alarm. It was analyzed and the data presented with the final determination ‘Friend or Foe’ left to the human observer.

  The fifth screen was for incoming text messages. Only official messages were being sent at this time, but the system was capable of handling hundreds of messages simultaneously and distributing those messages to the intended recipient. Joshua had envisioned this to be the hub for messages to and from Earth once the colonists were settled. As of now, messages from Earth were extremely rare so when the screen indicated an incoming message it took everyone by surprise. The message said the HSS Olympus carrying the Landing and Disposition teams would arrive in five days. In addition to regular supplies the Olympus would bring permanent buildings along with construction teams to replace the village yurts. The Hevinian Colonial Transport Ship (HCTS) Goliath would arrive in twentyfive days. Details of Goliaths landing site and disposition zones were to follow. Joshua immediately sent a copy of the messages to Sara and Tom.

  29

  Jank

  Fourth Officer Carl Jank stopped his transport and watched the sun rise over the vast ocean in front of him. There was no wind; the ocean was completely flat, mirroring the rising sun. Devoid of surf the outgoing tide lapped gently at the beach leaving behind a thin swath of seaweed up onto the white sand. Shore birds waded in the shallow water looking for anything edible along the water’s edge. He had set up his camp as dusk came upon him. He had learned as he traveled that it was unwise to travel in the forest at night without illumination, as he began his journey he had tried and twice he had collided with overhanging branches invisible in the darkness. If he had not been wearing his helmet he could have been seriously injured.

  Carl had been traveling for sixty-five sunrises according to his personal log. For the first twenty he lived in fear of detection, but as the time passed he became more and more confident that he was not being followed. In fact, the more he thought about it the more he realized that the enemy may not even be aware that he existed.

  Standing at the western edge of the massive forest in which he had been traveling for the last three weeks, he was happy to be out of the primeval forest where very little light penetrated. His stomach growled loudly; he had run out of food two days ago. Out in the open plains he had managed to bring down some game to supplement his rations, but in the forest, it had been impossible. To the south of him were wide expanses of tall grass and he could see many kinds of animals grazing there. To the north, the shoreline gradually rose into steep cliffs. He studied the base of the cliffs where grass was pushing its way up through the sand. There were several caves that looked livable so he decided to go check them out. He was tired of traveling and needed time to rest and consider his situation. He picked out two caves that were connected inside and well away from the shore line. He had dipped his fingers in the ocean once thinking to rinse his face but the burning had begun immediately. He withdrew his fingers and rinsed them off with fresh water, and the burning went away quickly. Confused but smart enough he backed away. He rode his vehicle into one of the openings and began unpacking. He decided to use one cave as a sort of garage for his vehicle and cart and the other for his living space. Once unpacked, he explored the area around his camp. He rode north along the shoreline for about a mile finding nothing but towering white cliffs teeming with sea birds. There must have been thousands of them nesting precariously on outcroppings or within holes in the chalk. He made a mental note to explore the cliffs later to collect some of the bird’s eggs. He turned south, and as he did he spied a commotion in the water, hundreds of black shiny creatures were moving fast through the water. Suddenly a huge grey and white creature with a tall dorsal fin leaped out of the water with one of the creatures in its mouth.

  Then there were more of the big fins, dashing after the smaller creatures snaring them with their huge jaws. Jank paused for a moment appreciating the skill of the hunters. Then as if by command the smaller creatures turned and rushed out of the water and began flopping up the beach using their front flippers as feet. Once clear of the surf line they stopped and lay on the sand exhausted but safe. The predators dashed out of the water attempting to reach them but could not maneuver on land and were forced to scurry back into the surf. The dorsal fins cut into the now still water as they patrolled along the edge of the water then as one they turned away obviously deciding to look elsewhere for a meal. The salt water ocean had little interest for him as food source so Carl continued south to the open meadows where he was able to bring down a small animal. He gutted the animal on the spot and placed the carcass on his vehicle. At least he would have a decent meal today. He sat silently under an isolated tree and observed the animal life in abundance around him. He was concerned about having to expose himself by hunting in the open. He decided that he would set out snares then come in before daybreak to collect whatever he had caught. He quickly discovered what a bad idea that was as when he went to check his traps he found nothing but blood and hair. Predators had cleaned him out. Every day is a learning experience, he thought.

  30

  Olympus Arrives

  The arrival of the Olympus created quite a stir in the village. As soon as word passed down that the ship had attained orbit, a six-pack landed at the base. Onboard was the Senior Landing Technician and four of his team.

  Colonel Markham escorted the team to the village hall for a landing brief. The village hall had begun life as a community dining room but as everyone settled in to their homes and began preparing their own meals it was no longer needed as such. The Senior Brigade staff and the village council were present. The rest of the villagers were busy packing, preparing for the replacement buildings. The team quickly set up their equipment and the presentation
began. The introductions were brief, the team wanted to proceed quickly as they only had twenty days to prepare for the Goliath. To land and distribute two hundred and fifty thousand families seemed like a herculean task to the men and women listening to the brief but to the Hevinian Landing Technicians this was just another day at work and as the briefing progressed the council began to see how simple and efficient the plan was. The job of the over two hundred men and women of the Landing Team was to visit every house and town footprint and by the use of a pulsar beam from modified riders make sure each was level. The preparations would take eighteen of the twenty allocated days. When the transport arrived, it would lower the platform to five hundred feet. The eight segments would separate and proceed to their designated position. When they reached the area, the segments would each break up into sections which in turn would move to their prearranged spots. In the center of each section was the commerce center or town to which all the houses were attached. When the section reached its area, the houses would detach from the town center and move to the farmland assigned to the family. Each house was located next to a fresh water source either a river, stream, or lake. As the house lowered legs extended down from the platform and buried themselves in the ground supporting the house or town module thus allowing the platform to detach from the floor before the buildings leveled and lowered into position. All of these platform segments would then return to be locked back into position. Once the platform was reformed it traveled back to the transport ship. As the colonist’s platforms had left the transport a second platform above the first detached. This platform contained all the fully stocked storage and equipment buildings needed for the farms and the towns. Each town section was built around a center square which contained administrative buildings, town hall, community center and shops of various sizes, many of the colonists had brought their small businesses with them and would occupy living quarters over the shops. As a compromise shop keepers and other non-farmers or ranchers were given extra storage space in order to bring their merchandise with them. There was a small hospital, a school, and other undesignated buildings for future use.