Victor told Taerg about his plan and that he needed him to be on the lookout for him while he was concentrating on making adjustments to various programs. He had to make sure that his plan decisively worked and that it would be irreversible. There were several computer terminals that would not have anyone near them. The module where the thousands of life pods were, had one and it was fittingly right next to where the launch bay was. Security would not be needed in there. So, he decided this is where they would spend most of the night, where he could make his plan come to fruition. His life would irreversibly change from this point on. He realized that he was officially choosing which side he was on. People on Homeworld would view him as a traitor. All these thoughts were racing through his mind. Even so, he went ahead with his decision, despite knowing many of the possible consequences.
It was evening now, so he advised Taerg that they should get some sleep for a few hours before the lights dimmed. He set the time device on his hand to wake them up in four hours. It had been a long day, so they both fell asleep immediately and woke up four hours later to the sound of the alarm. They both wanted to sleep more, but Victor introduced Taerg to the caffeinated malt drink he missed so much. Taerg made a sour face on his first sip, but seemed to get used to the strong taste and he finished it off. They started their secret mission to the module that held the life pods by inconspicuously making their way there. When they met someone, Victor pretended he was giving Taerg a tour. They only met three individuals on the way.
It was completely dark in the life pod module, but Victor did not need extra lights. His personal recorder provided enough light to easily make his way to the terminal. The terminal itself when activated, lighted up their immediate surroundings. Then Victor set to work, he needed all of his ingenuity and all of his cunning to pull this one off, considering the time constraints. Captain Anderson was a very intelligent person, so he knew something decisive had to be put into place for every possible eventuality. He knew it would take all night, but that was suitable because they would make their escape when everyone on the day shift was waking up in the morning. In the usual morning confusion, they would get away, hopefully unnoticed.
As he suspected, they were not interrupted during the adjustments in programming and while he was entering commands to be initiated at certain times that were now fast approaching. However, as they made their way through the launch bay, they were noticed by two security officers. They did not seem to notice Victor much, but they seemed very suspicious of Taerg. So, Victor and Taerg were both commanded to stop. Victor told them that they were leaving as per the command of Captain Anderson. After one of the guards checked with the security commander, they let them both go. The security officers watched them walking toward their ship for a few moments and then continued on in their duties elsewhere. After they disappeared from view, Victor and Taerg continued walking right by their ship and onto another much larger ship.
This ship was state of the art, and far more powerful. It was even equipped with two life pods for deep space travel. Victor’s reasoning was, “Why take the antique, when you could acquire the latest and greatest model?” It was not stealing, these items belonged to him too. The Kastat rebels had taken everything when they had abandoned the people of Paradise in darkness, so Victor thought he would bring something of use back. The launch bay was mostly empty, except for a few scattered ships. Their old one was there and near it this large one. She was called the Luminous. Most of the other ships of the fleet were either in transit or on the moon.
As the Luminous left the launch bay no alarms were activated, although Taerg noticed some people in the control room waving their arms frantically. Exasperated that they were not able to do a thing about the inevitable departure. After they travelled to a safe distance, Victor stopped the vessel and waited.
* * *
When Captain Anderson walked on the bridge, he thought it was going to be another typical day. The only exception being, the departure of Victor Marcus and Ambassador Taerg Esidarap. It was unfortunate that Mister Marcus was abandoning them in their efforts to colonize the moon. He would make a report about this and make sure the government on Homeworld received it as promptly as possible, considering the vast distance this report would have to travel.
He was feeling generous today, so he decided he would let them sleep in and depart at their own leisure and hopefully avoid any further problems. He knew Victor Marcus could cause trouble if he wanted to. However, he did not expect what happened next, at all.
First, he received a report from launch bay control, that someone had gained unauthorized access to the Luminous. They had launched and escaped without being prevented by anyone. He realized that it must be Victor and his new friend, but why could they not be stopped and captured? He demanded to know the answer, but the control officer reported that the system would not cooperate with their commands. Only mobile communicators were operable. The launch bay doors could not be closed. Communications could not be established with the Luminous. Weapons were offline. While he was finishing his conversation with him, another report came to his ears. This one, he found hard to believe and it was in Victor’s voice.
“All personnel, prepare for departure to Homeworld. All systems including life support are cycling down for deep space travel. Life pods are entering their standby modes and will begin hyper sleep upon each individual entering their preassigned life pods.” All personnel prepare for departure …”
The message kept repeating itself and no one was able to turn it off. No one could terminate any system operations, as they were all locked out of the control programs. Even he could not gain access. The system did not recognize his codes. It kept calling him a lifter operator.
“Sir, we’re being hailed.”
“Go ahead put him on.”
“I can’t sir, I’m completely locked out.”
However, as if of its own accord, Victor’s smiling face appeared on the view screen.
“Well, captain or should I say lift operator? This is goodbye. I suggest that you head to your life pod, by now the air is probably a little thin in there. When you arrive at Homeworld, you can report to them that I had to relieve you of your authority. However, just in case you are unwilling to divulge this to them, I have taken the liberty of writing the detailed report myself. It will be broadcast to the appropriate channels upon your arrival, before your life pods begin their wake up cycle routines.”
“How could you do this to us? This will severely interrupt our colonization efforts. You have betrayed your own people Mister Marcus. You have abandoned over two thousand people on the moon and …”
“And you don’t have much air left. I suggest that you put your oxygen mask on, and head for your life pod.”
Captain Anderson noticed the air was dissipating and the other officers were collecting their masks. They were putting them on and looking at him expectantly. He stood up from his command chair and yelled, “I will be back Victor Marcus and you will be charged for your crimes against Homeworld. I promise you, I will personally see to that.”
“Yes, I know you will try, but that will be about seven years from now. A lot can happen in seven years, Mister Anderson the lift operator. Who knows? Maybe you will be promoted.”
There was no one left on the bridge, they were all running for their life pods in the nearby officers module. The captain looked at the image of Victor on his view screen with disgust. He was panting now and desperately reached for his mask. He put it on frantically struggling with the straps and then ran to his personal life pod in the special room next to the bridge. He had no choice, because Victor had given him no choice.
Chapter Eight: Relocating to Paradise
Taerg and Victor both watched the Venture disappear in the starlit night of space.
“If he comes back,” said Taerg, “It will be for war.”
“With an entire fleet,” agreed Victor, “to back him up. The good news is, we have about seven years to get ready and I int
end to spend the whole time preparing.”
“What about all those people on the moon,” said Taerg, “what will we do about them?”
“That’s really why we are waiting here, we need to communicate with them immediately. They likely already know that the mothership has left and they are probably all in a panic about it. We should get closer to the moon and have a chat with whoever is in charge on the surface.”
Taerg watched Victor work the controls with interest. Victor noticed this and said, “Do you want to give it a try?”
“Sure.”
“Just remember, this is more complicated, not only because it is a newer ship but also because it is a much larger ship and there are more systems to operate. I’ll coach you along the way at first, until you get the hang of it.”
Taerg was a very fast learner, he was confidently operating the controls by the time they entered orbit of the moon. Victor decided to give them a call. He switched on the communication channel and said, “This is Victor Marcus requesting communication with moon base control.”
A moment later a voice came over the channel and said, “Mister Marcus, this is Lieutenant Julia Dixon. Is everything okay up there? We are unable to contact Mothership.”
“Yes I know, we would like to meet with you to explain what has happened, to you and everyone down there. Is there room for us to land near the hanger you are constructing?”
“Yes sir, we just need to move a couple of construction vehicles and you can do that. If you want, I can make an announcement for all personnel to meet you near your ship, right after you land.”
“Thank you that would be superb. I will see you there.”
Forty minutes later, Victor set the Luminous down in a large open area beside the hangar under construction.
As they made their way down the ramp of the ship, all eyes were on Taerg. Victor smiled and said out of the corner of his mouth, “Perhaps I should have asked you to stay inside the ship.”
“Yes. It’s too late now though.”
They did not descend all the way to the bottom of the ramp. Victor needed to address these people, so his voice had to project out over them so they could all hear. There were over two thousand of them. This would make most men nervous, but not Victor. He stood there and confidently spoke very loudly projecting his voice out over them so that all could hear.
“People of Homeworld. We have some very important information that every last one of you has the right to know. Please, let me speak without interruptions and then I will entertain your questions.”
“First, let me tell you about your current situation. Mothership was sent back to Homeworld on a very important mission.” Victor and Taerg could hear many of them gasp and quietly begin to murmur. Victor continued, “All her officers including your captain are now safely in their life pods and on the three-year journey home. This situation leaves me no choice, but to temporarily take command of our mission.”
“Second, our current status is indeed, a difficult one. I will give you a video report that will contain many more specifics, but the bottom line is this: “We cannot continue to colonize this moon.”
The volume of the murmuring rose. “I will briefly explain why. The people on the planet are a space faring people. As you know, we are not authorized to colonize the moon of a space faring world. Additionally, the people of the space faring world below specifically have demanded that we not colonize what is in fact, their moon. They are the ones who have placed the animal and plant life on this moon. If you visited the planet as I have, you would see evidence of these terraforming efforts in the plant and animal life that abounds there.”
“Thirdly, you may be wondering what we should do, now that we cannot colonize the moon. The world below is even more beautiful than this moon. It is a paradise. In fact, that is what the inhabitants call their world. Paradise.” He smiled and continued, “They are a very wise, peaceable, honest, hardworking people. They live a simple village life without technology. If we are to live among their villages, then we must be this way too. We will not be permitted to contaminate their village life with our technology. The only exceptions that has graciously been allowed is our personal video mission recorders and our timepieces. We can continue to use them but they are not to be given to the villagers. These things would disrupt their simple village life. So, please keep them to yourselves.”
“Yes, we will be travelling tomorrow to the planet below. However, I must warn you that you have a difficult journey ahead of you. You must take your remaining ships, land in the designated glacier field and then travel by foot southward to their main city of villages. There you will join them in their simple village life. Our ships will be safe there, we will make sure they are protected in a sheltered valley. While living in the villages, we will contribute to their communities, learn their traditions, and their language. We will cooperate and contribute in a positive way to the peaceful conditions of this planet. Try your best to even be like them. Once you spend some time with these people, you will come to realize that they have many ways that are superior to our own. So, treat the people with the respect that they deserve.”
“There is one other thing that is very important that you need to know. The people below look like this man. This is Taerg Esidarap, my friend.” Taerg bowed his head slightly and smiled. Victor continued, “You may have noticed that my appearance has changed slightly. This is the effect of living a healthy life, in the paradise below. In fact, as each day passes by I suspect we will begin to look more and more like the people that are really our people. We of the Kastat race, have descended from the ancestors of these people. This fact, can be proven by their historical records. So treat them like the brothers and sisters they are. Like the brothers, sisters and good friends they will become. Don’t worry, you will soon know what a brother and a sister really is.”
“Now, do you have any questions?”
Lieutenant Dixon stepped forward and said, “All of our lives will never be the same. How can you expect us, who have relied on technology for our entire lives to adapt in this way? Is Homeworld going to rescue us from here?”
“True, the situation has changed beyond your control and you will adapt out of necessity as I have. I doubt that Homeworld will be sending a rescue mission. They will probably be visiting us in seven years or so with some formidable warships and all their weapons trained against us. Do not be fooled, we are now the enemy. Not necessarily of Homeworld but of the forces that in all likelihood will return under the command of Captain Anderson. To him we will be, the enemy. Me, by choice. You at this time, by no choice of your own. In time, you will realize the wisdom of the choices that we have made that affect all of you. For now, I accept that you will be unhappy with what has happened and your resulting circumstances.”
“We will spend the night here and make plans to evacuate this moon tomorrow. After planning the evacuation, we need to make a report to the grand council on the planet below. Tomorrow, you will follow us to the planet below and we will show you where you may begin your journey to the city of villages. We will send some people to meet you part way and guide you there. You need to bring plenty of water and rations for the long trek. You also need to trust me and know, that I do have your best interest’s close in mind. Be assured too that I will tell you everything and I will keep no secrets from any of you. If you have no further questions, I would like to retire. You are dismissed.”
When he stopped speaking there was some confused murmuring and they received some hard looks from a few individuals in the crowd. Victor said, “What can you expect? These people have just learned in an instant that their lives are about to drastically change.”
“Yes, they are all shocked and they think their whole life will be disturbed greatly.”
“Remember how confused I was when you first found me?”
“Yes, Victor,” said Taerg, “but these people seem even more disturbed than you were.”
“Well, Taerg as you know, everyone
reacts differently. I was grateful for your help in saving my life. We need to be patient with them.”
“Like I was with you? This you know I can do Victor, but can you be that way for these people?”
“I know what you mean, I will do my best.”
“You always do your best Victor. I have no doubt about that, but these people, I’m wondering if they will cooperate.”
“So am I Taerg. So am I.”
The next morning everything went as planned. All the people cooperated, although some begrudgingly. It took a few trips but they brought all the people. On their final trip to the planet they landed on the glacier field and pointed them all in the direction they needed to travel. Then Victor and Taerg boarded their new ship the Luminous.
As they headed for the launch bay of the Chamber of the Past they wondered how the grand council would react to their report. They could not bring any of the colonists with them because they were not permitted in the Chamber of the Past or the Cavern of Lights.
They figured that their new ship would barely fit with a little room to spare in the chamber. They were right and it was not long before they were sitting before the grand council once again. After giving their report, the grand council seemed relieved. The older woman spoke to them this time.
“Ambassador Taerg Esidarap and we will now call you Commander Victor Marcus, you have performed very admirably. We would therefore ask that the both of you from this moment on always be available to us so that we may consult with you concerning the affairs relating to your people commander. Is there anything that you would like to recommend that we do further?”
“There is one thing,” said Victor. “In approximately seven years, I believe they will be back with the ability to make fire rain down on your people from the sky. They presently have the ability to kill all of your people in only a few days. It would be easy for them just like snuffing out your candles at night. We must be prepared for their return.”
Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize Page 8
