The Last City (The Ahlemon Saga Book 1)

by Casey McGinty

  It wasn’t long before the crew boss moved down the line, getting his workers back into order. When he came upon his dead crew member, he stomped the floor and erupted with a series of harsh robotic curses. Then he noticed Super 3 stirring.

  “You, what’s your grade?”

  Pretending grogginess, Super 3 mumbled a reply.

  “B-grade, I’ll bet. Are you a floor worker?”

  “Yes,” Super 3 said, taking a gamble.

  “Not anymore. New assignment. I need you to manage this cart. Get up. We’re leaving.”

  Immediately Super 3 picked himself up, lifted the cart, and started his new mission to infiltrate the Breaker colony.

  28

  Day 8

  0700 hours

  Alto Raun

  Early morning on the third day after their triumphant return to Alto Raun, Kane took a light jog on the grass of the outer greenway. After sleeping for two days, it was his first foray out of doors, and his reluctant effort to wake up his body and return to life. A Meken sentry fell into stride beside him and handed him a sealed envelope, then peeled away. In it was an invitation to attend a special meeting to be held that day in the Professor’s suite atop the central tower. Kane had no idea what the meeting was about other than it was “a matter of the utmost importance. Your attendance is crucial.”

  Later that morning, Kane arrived at the base of the tower and was greeted by the Director, who escorted him onto the elevator and directed it to the Professor’s suite. He was the second person to arrive.

  “Good to see ya,” Tygert said, giving a friendly slap to Kane’s shoulder. “Boy, you know how to put down some sleep.”

  “That’s pretty much the way it works for me. I’m on full tilt during a mission; then I crash.”

  “You crashed for two full days.”

  “That was a nap. Normally you wouldn’t see me for at least four.”

  “I hear ya,” the captain said, chuckling. “How’s your hands?”

  “Way better. How’s Thorin? Just before I crashed, they were taking him into surgery. They wouldn’t let me see him this morning, said he needed to rest so he could come to this meeting.”

  “Doc says he’s doing well considering what he went through. They had to remove his spleen; it had ruptured, probably from Rakaan’s kick. He had several broken ribs; they reset his jaw and stitched him up in a few places. But that’s not the worst of it. The puncture wounds on his neck, they were from some kind of giant leech. It drained a lot of blood from his body. Thorin says he got stuck in its web in a tunnel, and if the Breakers hadn’t found him, it would have killed him for sure.”

  “Ouch. Charly told me she saw something like that when they went through the lower tunnels.”

  The elevator doors opened and Ehlan and Lhemo entered the room. Over the next ten minutes, ten more people joined them. Last of all, the Director arrived, pushing Thorin in a wheelchair, accompanied by Mhara. Thorin looked pale, but he sat erect in his chair, and his eyes were alert; his innate mantle of leadership was undiminished. While Kane was pleased to see Thorin, his attention was drawn to Mhara. Adorned in a colorful Ahlemoni dress that enhanced her femininity, she was dazzling. Her radiant smile and beauty belied the warrior he had witnessed on their mission to Alto Mair. When he became aware that Tygert was watching him, he shrugged sheepishly. Tygert nodded approvingly, a wide grin on his face.

  Present for the meeting were Kane, Captain Tygert, Dr. Manassa, Shannon, Jenn, and Marshall from Earth; and Thorin, Lhemo, Mhara, Ehlan, Jhemna, and Ohrin from the Colony. After allowing them a few minutes to exchange greetings and pleasantries, the Director called for them to take their seats. Chairs had been arranged in a circle around the holograph dais, which was set in the middle of the living area. As soon as they were seated, the holograph activated and an image of the Professor appeared.

  “Thank you all for being here,” he said. “You are a select group of individuals, specifically invited to this momentous meeting. Let me start with some background for the sake of our guests from Earth. Prior to the Colony suspension, the architects of Ahlemon’s long-term survival plan carefully drafted protocols for the governance of Alto Raun at such a time as this. They envisioned a governing council composed of six leaders from the Colony and six leaders from the guest human race, always an equal number from each race, and with instructions for the council members to be a balanced representation of scientific and social expertise. This council would be known as the Matan—derived from an Ahlemoni word meaning ‘servant.’” The Professor paused to let this sink in, then continued.

  “The six Colony delegates were chosen before they entered the suspension chamber. They are Thorin, Lhemo, Mhara, Ehlan, Jhemna, and Ohrin, all of whom are with us now. The Director informs me that they met yesterday and collectively determined to invite each of you to be a Matan delegate from Earth. You were carefully chosen, and we hope that you will accept your role on the council. In light of the amount of work to be done, the council will meet daily, midmorning, in the conference room adjoining the dining area of the apartments in which you are living. You will discuss practical issues pertaining to the well-being of the community, operations of the city, security, and the future of life on Ahlemon.”

  “And our expedited return to Earth,” Marshall added.

  “Yes, of course. We would normally give you time to investigate and reflect prior to accepting this role, but we urgently need to hold our first meeting today. In light of this, I regret that I must ask each of you now if you will accept our invitation to be a delegate. Do you have any questions?”

  Jenn raised her hand.

  “Yes,” the Director said.

  “Why me?” she asked, clearly looking as though she felt out of place.

  Ehlan responded, “You are a female representive with specific strengths in the social aspects of your race.”

  “I’m just a farm girl from Iowa.”

  “And we think that makes you a perfect candidate for the council,” Mhara said.

  “But I’m not a politician.”

  “This is not a political role we are asking you to play. I have watched you, Jenn. Everyone loves you, including the colonists, even after only a few days among us. You have great empathy mixed with deep inner strength. I have no doubt that you will bring an invaluable perspective to any decisions we make about life in Alto Raun. Please, seriously consider accepting this position.”

  “OK,” she said quietly. Then she turned and whispered to Kane, who was sitting next to her, “But I need to ask Ham about it.”

  “And, what do you think he’ll say?” he whispered back.

  “That I should accept.”

  “And I hope you do,” he said with a reassuring smile.

  Kane looked around the table, evaluating the delegates from Earth. Jenn was a good selection; her words would be simple and few, but when spoken, the council would listen. The others made sense based on the self-evident leadership he had seen since their arrival on Ahlemnon. Of course, Marshall was a concern; he was egocentric and overly aggressive. And that was exactly why he needed to be here. He represented a small but very vocal constituency. If nothing else, his presence would provide the council some line of sight into any dissidence that he and his followers might be brewing.

  One by one, the Earth selectees were asked if they accepted their place as a delegate on the Matan. They all said yes, but Jenn added a caveat. “I’ll stay for the meeting today, but I need to talk to Ham and make sure he supports this. We have an understanding that we will both agree before one of us makes a serious decision that affects both of us.”

  “A commendable practice,” the Professor said. “We accept your condition, and we sincerely hope that Ham will support your service.”

  After an eloquent preamble, the Professor brought the inaugural meeting of the Matan council to order. Their first order of business was to choose a lead spokesperson for each constituency. After a brief discussion, Thorin was chosen to represent
the colonists, and Captain Tygert was selected to represent those from Earth. Electing a lead spokesman was the closest they would come to appointing a president or chairman of the Matan; by design, there would be no master leader. Such a singular leadership might come later, the Professor said, but it would be based on the supermajority recommendation of the council members and would be subject to a majority vote of the larger community of humans. Finally, Thorin was chosen by the entire group to facilitate the meetings.

  Lunch was served as the Professor outlined an initial agenda and then turned the meeting over to Thorin. They started by defining their primary areas of concern. There were four: (1) security, and surveillance of the Breakers; (2) the well-being, organization, and community life of the humans; (3) maintenance of critical city systems and structures; and (4) preparations for a return to Earth.

  Starting with their highest priority, they launched into a discussion about security. Since the return of the rescue team, the Mekens had monitored Alto Mair with regular flyovers and a constant patrol of submersibles in the channel waters between the two cities. There was little sign of Breaker activity—use of the suspension technology against them had obviously dampened their spirits.

  Marshall proposed a preemptive strike against them. “Let’s hit ’em with another suspension wave, go in, and eliminate them altogether.”

  Interesting, Kane thought, that Marshall was also the most vocal about returning to Earth as soon as possible. He had little interest whatsoever in what happened on Ahlemon unless it had something to do with saving his own skin.

  As it turned out, use of the suspension technology as a weapon against the Breakers was not an option, at least not in the near future. According to Jhemna, it would be at least a month before an orbiting suspension array would be available for any purpose. He explained that the relays between the sun and Ahelmon burned out like lightbulb filaments every time they were used . . . and it was a two-month process to restore them. Ahlemon maintained two solar suspension arrays, each with its own relay system. Unfortunately, both were now under reconstruction. The first had been used a month ago to send the message to Earth to confirm transport of their plane—it was still a month away from being operational. The second had just been used for the attack on the Breakers; it had a full two-month restoration schedule ahead. Even if a suspension array were available, it was not a simple point-and-shoot option; it had taken almost half a day to accurately position and calibrate the array for the attack on Alto Mair.

  To the council’s further dismay, the Director pointed out that Atticus would know of this timeline. Atticus and Rakaan were well acquainted with the relay restoration process, so they would know that a suspension array would not be a threat, or deterrent, to the Breakers for another month.

  Jhemna interjected that he and the science team were already discussing options for creating high-impact suspension weapons that would not be dependent on energy from the sun. These could be placed on the roof of Alto Raun and would be linked directly to the tether that draws energy from the core of the planet. But the hopeful looks on the council members’ faces were quickly erased when he informed them that it could take up to a year to build such a system.

  Closing the security discussion, Kane was nominated to lead a task force to formulate a security plan for the city, to which he agreed. Thorin asked that the council members hold the details of the Breaker vulnerability in the strictest of confidence; he did not want to deepen the fear that was already pervasive in the community.

  They moved into a relatively brief discussion of city functions, and the council established an emergency management team to be made up of Colony, Meken, and Earth engineers and specialists to see to the basic functions of the city: utilities, food and water, waste disposal, and other basic necessities for living. This team would report daily to the Matan on their progress and challenges.

  By this time, it was midafternoon and Thorin was visibly tiring. He returned to his room to rest while the Director gave the remaining council members a tour of the city’s primary operation facilities. Kane found the tour thoroughly fascinating. The city’s designers had harnessed just about every possible naturally occurring energy resource—solar, wind, ocean current, and thermal—to provide a perpetual source of energy for the city.

  On opposite sides of the city, desalination plants pulled water from the ocean, removed the salt, and deployed potable water to the twin canals that flowed into the base of the central tower and into their own hydroelectric power plants to generate additional electricity. The water exited the hydro turbines into a pipeline system that routed it to the central computer and the suspension chamber for cooling purposes. From there, the water was directed to the underground thermal power plant, where it was converted into steam.

  Agriculturally, the Mekens maintained a continuous cycle of field crops and hydroponics year after year for no other purpose than to have fresh food supplies available when they revived the colonists. The unused crops were recycled or fed to the local sea and bird life. And the Director confirmed Dr. Manassa’s early hypothesis: over the last fifty years, the Mekens had imported Earth crops, and recipes, in preparation for this time.

  The city founders had also established underwater mining operations, metallurgy and chemical facilities, and manufacturing shops, all designed to maintain parts and materials for every aspect of life in the city and their ongoing space exploration. There was even a robot hospital, where the Mekens refurbished and repaired themselves. Kane marveled at the planning and enduring functionality. But a good portion of the building was in severe disrepair, and various sections of the utility grid were down. With the exodus of almost half the Meken population, the Director had been forced to focus his remaining manpower on the most critical functions of their mission. The southern half of the city ring was essentially off-limits; it had been non-functional for hundreds of years and was potentially unsafe.

  After the tour, the council members returned to the tower cafeteria for dinner. Thorin joined them, and they intentionally suspended council business for friendly conversation around the table. As Thorin started to gather everyone’s attention, Jenn sheepishly raised her hand. She had participated in the discussions of the day, but this was the first time she appeared to have something to add to the agenda. Everyone quieted and Thorin nodded for her to speak.

  With all eyes suddenly on her, she visibly became self-conscious. “I’m sorry. It’s really not important; it can wait.”

  “No. Please, Jenn, tell us what you’re thinking,” Thorin urged.

  “Raunians,” she said.

  “Raunians?” The council members looked at her questioningly.

  “The colonists and the people from Earth, collectively, we’re being called Raunians; I’ve heard it in conversations around the city. It’s probably nothing, but I thought you should know.”

  A smile spread across Ehlan’s face. “This is wonderful news, important news. Cultural blending is a critical sociological component to building bonds between the two human races. The creation of new words that are common to both is to be expected and something we hoped for. We should promote use of this word.”

  “It’s certainly a helpful word,” Dr. Manassa said. “It’s a bit awkward trying to refer to colonists and earthlings in the same sentence.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Tygert said.

  Thorin looked around the table, and everyone nodded in agreement. Ohrin, the designated council secretary, announced, “Raunian is hereby noted in the council minutes as the first entry to a new Ahlemoni vernacular.”

  “Thank you, Jenn,” Thorin said with a smile, his first of the day. “While we had planned to adjourn after dinner, Mhara has asked to speak to us about an item that is not on the agenda, one that she feels is critical for us to address before we proceed as a council. Is everyone willing to continue?”

  They all agreed, and he lifted a hand toward Mhara. All eyes turned to her.

  She stood and walked over
to stand by the Director. He had been a key participant in the day’s discussions, but had done so from a standing position, and usually on the periphery of the group. Besides the fact that Mekens didn’t need to sit, in the years before the Colony suspension, it had been uncomfortable for many humans to have Mekens sitting among them—it was just too casual—so the Mekens had taken to standing, and in a position of deference to their human creators.

  Mhara scanned the faces around the room and took a deep breath before speaking. “I propose that the Mekens have a formal voting seat on the Matan council.”

  There were several gasps around the table, most of them from the colonists. “Absolutely not!” Marshall protested. Jhemna nodded, seeming to agree with Marshall.

  “Mhara,” Lhemo responded, “the founders were very careful in their planning for our future governance.”

  “And I have the utmost respect for the foundations they have laid. But they knew we would face challenges they could not foresee. And they chose us to build a new civilization upon those foundations. It is now up to us to do so. No one contemplated the evolution of the Mekens. They have become sentient. They are now native to Ahlemon—and we would not be here without them. I believe that they need to participate in our governance, and we need to recognize them now. To wait would only invite potential division.”

  “To include them will invite potential division,” Ehlan countered.