A Colony on Mars

by Cliff Roehr

  Captain Horn of Arton Three spoke into the translator. “ We only have four craft capable of Warp speed but they can carry up to five thousand people at a time if we carry no cargo and put atmosphere into the cargo holds. Our ships are larger than yours and are capable of speeds up to Warp eleven. How long do you have before your planet is no longer habitable?” “Perhaps at least ten but not more than 20 of your years. I am just not comfortable yet in converting time to your years.” “I am sorry for that but it is the only way any of us have ever thought about time Increments. One year is how long it takes our home planet to make one complete orbit of our sun, for example a man can generally live for about eighty years.” “In that case we may have from 15 to thirty years. Where is your home planet, Captain?” “It would have been the next planet you would have come to in your search of our solar system. Had you not found us on Mars you would be on Earth by now. Earth is six times the size of Mars and was overpopulated by twelve bil ion people when war destroyed almost every living thing on the planet. That was only about fifty years ago. People from this colony on Mars have repopulated the Earth but with only about two hundred thousand people. The infrastructure was only damaged and has been found to be ninety percent usable. It was the animals that all died from radiation poisoning. We believe that the war came about from a lack of our ability to really communicate with one another. There were over three hundred languages on Earth at the time of the destruction and more than 150 separate nations. Most of them possessed nuclear weapons so when the first one went off everyone else launched al they had at the nation they perceived to be their arch enemy. In two hours the atmosphere became lethal. Within a few days all the land creatures on earth, Including man became extInct. Twelve Bil ion was far too many people, a large number of those people were starving to death every year. Now there are too few people. We feel that the right number of people for Earth would be from one to five bil ion. We made a vow that from now on we would only allow one language to be spoken on Earth. Al of us who survived on Arton, Mars and in space spoke only the English language so it is only logical that in the future all people living on the Earth must speak English fluently. Al of the people on Arton and on Mars speak only English.”

  Captain Cummings added, “Once we get the course down pat from your planet to Arton our four ships should be able to transport about four hundred thousand of your people in one years time. I am sure that all four of our ships wil be at your service but at the end of one year our ships are going to have to start moving the people that you have on Arton to Earth. We stil have three ships that are capable of speeds just under Warp that can take of the run from Mars to Earth. Two of these ships have been decommissioned for many years but they are stil in a parking orbit around Earth and could be put back in service.”

  The alien said I can not believe our good fortune I will radio home as soon as I return to my ship and give them all this good news.” “What do you mean radio home, our ships will be there long before a radio signal could reach your planet.” “Then perhaps, my friend we have something we can give you. Many years ago we developed hyper space radio. When I talk to my home planet they hear what I am saying as though I was only next door.” “I always hoped that something like that would come along, for us our radio signals are limited to travel at the speed of light.” “We have at least six spare radios on board. We wil rig Mars with one, leave one here for your interplanetary ship to take back to Earth and fit each of your space craft with one. I will have one of our other ships drop one off on Arton, on their first trip there. I am going to recall all of our space craft to ######### as soon as I return to my ship. They could begin the evacuation before we get there. When the first of them makes Arton orbit they can shuttle the planet leaders to the ship and you Captain Cummings and You Captain Horn and Gil of course, can explain what is happening.

  That evening a special communication was sent to Earth and to A1and Arton Two telling them what was happening. A communication shot back within 24 minutes asking them to confirm on the other channel. The other channel was the voice channel and was seldom used. Once a link was established Captain Cummings gave a verbal description of the events followed by Gil giving a verbal account in the Artonian language then by a “COME BACK” 26 Minutes later an Artonian voice came on the line speaking in Artonian. It requested that another Artonian send the same description of events in the same language. After four hours of verification Admiral Carter was finally convInced that this was the real thing and that Mars was not being held hostage by these aliens. The Admiral told them to go back to the text channel and send him al the details they could think of. Within an hour Mars was transmitting everything they had learned so far. “Gil who had been talking with the Alien all this time had told him to go ahead and shuttle his people down for a visit and a Tour of Mars. The Alien said that their shuttles were too small so Ben asked the Council Chairman to dispatch one shuttle to the Alien ship to bring down passengers. Ben then ask for fifty or so videos that the alien had referred to in an earlier conversation. Ben also requested a grammar book if they had one and a couple novels. By this time there were fifteen Artonians listening to every word that was spoken and learning the new language.

  In their conversation Gil final y learned the Alien's name and the name of his planet. The planet was called Dedov, the Alien was Captain Eurokoma. Ben passed this along to the Radio Room to be Included in the next transmission to Earth.

  The shuttle landed and a bus picked up the crew members. There thirty seven crew members on the shuttle five more had stayed behind to maintain the ship. Twelve of the crew members were female, the rest male. The bus driver took them on a driving tour of Mars, all of the developed caverns and even some that had been pressurized but had little development. The driver ended the tour by dropping his passengers off in downtown New Phoenix. Gil welcomed them in their language. He asked if they had brought the books and videos that he had requested, they had and they handed them to him. Al of them were a little taken aback by this strange little hairy man that spoke their language, but not very wel . They just couldn't believe that he had learned it in a few hours. One of the council members brought a clipboard with a lined tablet on it and asked Gil to get everyones name they it would sound out in English and write the names on the tablet along with their rank or job or some other identifying characteristic. Gil started gathering the requested information. When he was done the councilman took the clipboard and ran off with it. The crew members found seats at the tables in the town square. Each of them had an empty bag that he used to put his space suit in. Gil then started describing to them what all had taken place. By the time he finished the councilman had returned with name tags for each of them. Gil explained that they should affix these to their jumpsuits above their vest pockets. They wil ingly complied. In appearance they were quite similar to Captain Eurokoma, similar enough to tell that they were all of the same race. Al of them possessed slight variations in appearance just as Artonians and Earth people did. Gil asked, at the suggestion of the Council Chairman, if any of them were hungry or wanted a beverage. That set off a round of conversations that Gil could not follow. Then a lieutenant Soravov asked “What do you people eat and drink?” Gil explained human food to them then he explained Artonian food to them. He told them that we all drink fruit juice from many kinds of fruit combined in many different ways. It is a the most popular drink on Mars, but everyone has their own favorite concoctions. I wil just have a variety set out and you can taste several. I wil also have them set out a buffet of human food and Artonian food for you to sample.” Within minutes there were a dozen pitchers of Juice set out and one of plain water. There was a stack or reusable plastic cups. Within an hour there was a makeshift buffet set out on several of the empty tables shoved together. There were trays, silverware and napkins as wel . One of the councilmen was getting al this on video. The juice was sampled with about the same reaction you would expect from a group of humans trying a new product for the first time. Some
of the Dedovians had two glasses of the same juice, several went for water and had several glasses of that. More water was summoned. Some tried a little of several juices then settled for a ful glass of the one they liked best. When they took a tray they knew what it was for. They knew what the napkins were but examined the silverware closely before attempting to use it. They exhibited little skil in handling the silverware. One of them fished around in his pocket and came up with a pair of tongs. He used the knife he had been furnished and proceeded to eat contentedly. The others just did the best they could with a fork and a spoon. The food item that was most popular with them were the cooked vegetables, none of them took any meat but the boiled potatoes went well. None of them took any of the raw vegetables from the Arton food selection but they all took raw fruit and fruit salad. Gil had a brief conversation with lieutenant Soravov then explained to the servers “These people from Dedov are vegetarians though they are familiar with cheese, they would like to try our cheese and they wondered if we had any nuts. They customarily eat with a small pair of tongs and a sharp knife. They also like bread. They drink milk from dairy animals. They also drink wine and they like a product that sounds a lot like beer. Could you kitchen folks see if you could find some of the foods they like but that you do not have out. Soon trays of cheese and crackers and bread and pitchers of wine appeared. Several pitchers of milk were brought out and a large bowl of nuts.

  “That is wonderful” said lieutenant Soravov, “You have all the foods we like.”

  The fifteen other Artonians that had been learning the language appeared and helped themselves to a tray of raw fruits and vegetables and glasses of juice. They seated themselves with the crew wherever there was an empty seat and struck up small conversations. Lieutenant Soravov asked Gil

  “How is it that you people speak our language?” “Gil started to reply but then realized that Lieutenant Soravov had asked the question in English! Gil replied in English “We learned your language since you have been here, apparently you have learned English since you have been here also.” “Not so much, we are not as quick as your people are.”

  Admiral Carter had said in his latest communication that he was wil ing to take the gamble. I just finished watching the video of the crew having lunch and we all came to the conclusion that these are sincere people of good intentions. We are convInced that their planet is in a disintegrating orbit and we are going to help save as many of them as we can. I wil see you on Arton in about six months Captain Cummings. Make sure that you have that radio for us when we get there. Beyond that continue sending all the information that you are able to gather on these people. I would be especially interested in hearing what our Artonians discover from their videos and books. We wil outfit our ships for maximum passenger accommodations and plan to depart Earth for Arton within one week unless we hear from you otherwise.

  CHAPTER – Earth and Mars help Dedov

  July 28, 2176: One by one the space fleet of Dedov began to return to their home planet. One ship had stopped at Arton and instal ed the hyperspace radio equipment in the Arton orbiter. The men working in the orbiter had no idea they were coming. They just didn't know what to make of having Alien technicians board their orbiter and start installing radio equipment. The technicians did not seem threatening and seemed to be doing what they had been told to do so the two men on the orbiter did not interfere. In the Mars communications center the radio message from Arton came in loud and clear. The speaker on Arton was speaking in the language of Dedov. Someone at Mars communications called Gil. Gil was nearby and was there almost immediately. Gil listened to the brief message for a moment then began to speak into the microphone on the desk. Gil conversed back and forth with the speaker on the other end for about five minutes. Then Gil began to speak in English, addressing the men in the Arton orbiter and the men in the Mars communications center at the same time. “This is Gil on Mars, the technicians who are in your orbiter are from the planet Dedov. We are already quite familiar with this race on Mars. The people there have just finished installing a hyperspace radio in your orbiter. They are leaving another radio with you that you wil have to figure out how to install on Arton. I suggest that you instal it where my people live on the upper class island. Artonians are more adroit at communications than Earthlings are. One of the men working in the orbiter came back in English with one question after another. Within the next hour Gil had brought them up to date on the entire situation. The radio had already been installed on Mars Runner and on the Earth orbiter. Arton now had instant communications with the star fleet Mars and Earth. Gil told them that the four Arton ships were en route to Arton and should arrive in about two months to assist with the evacuation of refugees from Dedov. Gil asked them to try as best they could to prepare islands on the planet to receive up to one mil ion refugees over the next several years. Gil explained that this would be temporary until the bulk of the refugees could be transported to Mars and Earth. April 22, 2178: Al four of the Arton Ships had been to Dedov and had transported 40,000 refugees to Arton. The Dedov fleet had transported 60,000 more so now there were almost as many people from Dedov living on Arton as there were humans and Artonians. The natives of Arton no longer seemed as oblivious to the affairs of their planet and the other beings on it as they had once seemed. The assignment that they had received to teach English to the people of Dedov had caught their interest. The island of elders had sent boats to the islands where the Artonian natives resided and transported a representative group of natives to each of the islands now populated by refugees. Even the disinterested Earthlings on the planet had taken up the cause and were using their boats to transport what surplus they had or could produce to help feed, clothe and otherwise assist the newcomers. Despite the best efforts of the Earthlings and Natives of Arton the conditions in the refugee camps was appalling and stil deteriorating. Yet more new refugees arrived almost daily. When they arrived they each had a smal valise of their personal belongings and nothing else. They had been told that there was plenty of food on Arton and there was. Plenty of food to prevent starvation but not the food that they were accustomed to eating. They had taken up fishing and were developing a taste for the abundant seafood of Arton, that resource that had never before been harvested, was abundant and easy to gather. No one starved or even went without enough to eat but they had to improvise beds from plants, occupy caves when available, do without toiletries and al the conveniences that they had enjoyed on Dedov.

  May 17, 2180: Conditions on Dedov had worsened much sooner than had been anticipated. The planet's orbit had rapidly become more eccentric. The rescue effort knew that they would be lucky if it held together for another six months. The efforts of the combined space fleet had succeed in removing another 150,000 refugees but conditions on Arton had also deteriorated. Disease and hunger for their customary foods were taking it's toll. CHAPTER – Hopeless Rescue – Miraculous Save

  May 25, 2180: Al was turning to despair then out of nowhere a space ship materialized into Dedov orbit. It dwarfed the pitiful ships being used by the space fleet of Earth and Dedov. Minutes later another of an entirely different design materialized, followed by another and another. Within one day there were a total of 75 ships in orbit around Dedov. Al of these ships were basically saucer shaped but they each fol owed a different design concept. Arton Three was just approaching Dedov and had come out of Warp drive when their radio boomed on.

  “Attention Arton Three,” the voice said in English, my name is Funutuoie, I am the commander of a fleet of ships from what would translate in English to

  “The Intergalactic Association of Civilized Planets.” We have been Monitoring the events of Earth, Mars, Arton and Dedov for a long time. None of your planets have ever attracted us to make contact with you. None of you have ever met the minimum qualifications for Inclusion into our society. Frankly until Earth suffered its catastrophe, Earth worried us a great deal. Since the holocaust on Earth we have been very pleased to see the change in the Earth, and the a
ttitude of the people now living there. We have been sending ships to patrol Earth for the last four hundred of your years. The only reason that we have now chosen to intercede is a charitable interest in rescuing the people remaining on Dedov. We have dispatched an adequate number of ships to remove the remaining population i during the next 26 Earth days, four hours and 42 minutes to be exact. That is that is precisely the time remaining before Dedov will loose orbital stability and plunge into it's sun. Don't worry before that happens all of the people will be safely on Earth. Please communicate this message to al the other ships in your armada and have them start loading as many of the pitiful refugees from Arton as they can accommodate and move them to Mars. Don't worry about the rest of them we will transfer those remaining on Arton to Earth for you. Beyond this one gesture of good wil , that we are committed to , you wil not hear from us again until you have developed enough to be invited to join us. My best estimate is that will be several thousands of your Earth years from now. You should now get on your radio and retransmit this message to your ships and planets. By the time you get back to Earth or Mars the people of Dedov wil have been there for several of your months. We wil take over the rescue effort from here on . Once again ,this is the one and only communication you will ever receive from us, until we deem you ready to join us. Good luck and God's speed.