Colonization

by Scott McElhaney

  I walked up the two wooden steps and took hold of the shiny brass doorknob. It was my doorknob. My home. Our home. I entered the house and then locked the door behind me. The existence of such a lock struck me as odd all of a sudden. Had the Navy not intervened into our world, we would have never needed such locks. But alas, the military was here because my husband would have died – the colony would have died.

  “That didn’t take long,” Zane said.

  He was still seated in his wheelchair in the small living room. I noticed just then that the house was warm inside. I took in my surroundings and discovered interior walls of sheetrock that had still yet to be painted. The heat of the house was flowing through diffuser vents near the floor. The floor itself was ordinary hardwood. For furniture, we were given a sofa with two end tables upon which there were two brass lamps doing a fine job of dispelling the darkness.

  “I couldn’t even hear myself speak half the time,” I said, kneeling next to my husband, “How’s your hip?”

  “The nanos are still doing their work just nicely,” he smiled, “Ask me tomorrow though and I may be pleading for some good old-fashioned narcotics.”

  “Yeah, the doctor said that the nanos should be dying off by then,” I said, “Let’s get you into bed so I could go oversee the grand departure.”

  “But I want to witness it all!” he argued.

  “The only thing you can witness is whatever you can see out of the bedroom window. We may still be without medical assistance here depending on who all leaves today, so we need to make sure you heal up nicely,” I said, getting up and taking hold of the handles behind him, “I’ll do you a favor and make sure the bed is near a window.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The mass exodus turned out to be nearly absolute. No one had signed up to be actual colonists in the first place. They were merely here to do their work and go back home to their families. The simple threat of a wormhole collapse caused the majority to grab what they could and get off the moon immediately. We were faced with some opposition, but nothing turned violent. After all, you could either believe us, or you couldn’t.

  Darius had printed a letter of gratitude to give to the USN-SD and the people of Earth. After all, they did provide a lot of support, materials, and care packages. We wanted them to know that although we would be cutting all contact, that we truly did appreciate everything. We simply weren’t willing to lose our home world in the process. The letter was sealed and given to the Captain of the building crew before he was sent through the gateway. We just asked that he not open it and instead deliver it straight to the President or the Secretary of the Navy.

  The only new members to our colony would end up being Commander Rigel Knight, Builder Third Class Sean Hart, and Medical Corpsman First Class Tina Davies. Mr. Hart was already in a budding relationship with our current builder Faith Marhofer and claimed no real ties on Earth. Miss Davies had just come out of a bad relationship and preferred the idea of starting over without all the unwanted memory-triggers. Neither must have had close relationships back on Earth. They were welcomed as permanent residents and colonists. And besides, it was nice to have someone among us with a medical background. Although a medical corpsman was more of a nurse than a doctor, it was better than nothing.

  After the last person left KMA, Leah quickly slammed the metal bar shut, closing the wormhole completely. She and Lane Edwards immobilized the bar using a significant amount of heavy-duty engineering tape. We would have it welded shut later when Zane was able to move about freely again. To ensure it wasn’t messed with by any of the colonists, we also had Chris Reese lower a pallet of sheet metal directly in front of the hatch. He was the only colonist who knew how to operate the forklift, so there would be no worries until it could be welded shut.

  “So, how long do we have?” Leah asked.

  Darius McEwen, Leah Paulus, Chris Reese, Lane Edwards, John Wolfe, and I were all standing there in the warehouse admiring how smoothly the exodus went. It still wasn’t even midday yet and we had completely reclaimed our home without a single shot being fired.

  “I’d say we’ve got about seventeen years, maybe a little longer,” Darius stated.

  “Assuming flight technology hasn’t advanced much in the past forty years,” I added.

  “What did the captain of the South Carolina say about the flight technologies available?” John asked.

  “Rigel? I didn’t ask, but I did notice that the Fontenot he took command of was significantly faster than the South Carolina,” I said, “Though I don’t think that’s saying much.”

  “Where is he anyway?” Leah asked, “I haven’t seen him ever since he got here.”

  “Oh, I have my ideas,” I grinned.

  Rigel Knight

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “So, what do you think of our new home?” Renata asked.

  Her hair spread out like a shimmering lake of lava on the white pillow. We were both spent and lying there only partially covered by the bedspread. I kissed her shoulder, then her collar bone, and then propped my head on my palm as I looked down at my lovely treasure.

  “KMA? It stinks… like farts,” I said, trying to keep a straight face and failing.

  She laughed, “I told you! Give it a week and you won’t even notice anymore.”

  “Should we go out there and… I don’t know… contribute to the colony?” I asked, nodding toward the window behind the headboard.

  “We are contributing to the colony,” she said, kissing me gently on the lips, “We keep this up, and we may be contributing to the population someday.”

  “How would you feel about that?” I asked, our noses almost touching.

  “I would feel that you’d be a loving and caring father. And I would be a loving and caring mother. We’d be everything I ever wanted and we wouldn’t even have to try. Love doesn’t even take any effort,” she said, kissing me again, “You taught me that.”

  “Love is easy,” I said, “And I’m ready to love you again if you’re ready.”

  “Let’s!” she replied.

  BOOK FOUR

  Valhalla

  Thatcher Stark

  Chapter One

  “I wonder what it would be like to walk on the rings of Kepler,” I pondered aloud, sitting on the sand and watching the cool surf reach in and wash over my bare feet.

  Kepler 963a was resting on the horizon like an enormous beach ball floating on the sea. With not a cloud in sight, Tau Ceti continually beat down on us, its warm rays urging me back out into the ocean where Henley waded and strolled in front of me.

  “Mom says that those rings aren’t as solid as they appear. She told me it’s nothing more than a bunch of dust and rock that was captured in orbit millions of years ago,” she replied.

  “I wonder why we never ended up with rings then,” I said, rising from the wet beach and brushing at the sand that stuck to my shorts, “I heard that we once had a lot of dust and rock out there.”

  She gestured me over to her, probably wanting to swim in the deeper waters like earlier. She was always afraid to go out alone, and honestly I was afraid for her. She almost drown two years ago when the undertow took her out. It wasn’t an easy task to get her to go swimming with me again after that.

  “You wonder too much, Thatch,” she said, “Your eyes are always on the sky when they need to be focused down here.”

  I turned my attention from the rings of Kepler to the skinny red-headed girl that I called by best friend. She was thigh-deep and still waving me into the water. I followed Henley’s incessant hand gestures out into the cool water, releasing a startled yelp when one of the higher waves crashed into my belly and chest. I had been out of the water too long and now I had to get used to it all over again. Henley took my hand and pulled me toward her into the deeper water.

  “How late are you allowed to stay out today?” I asked as she took my hands and attempted to dance with me.

  “I have to babysit Haden tonight while my par
ents go to the winery,” she said, “You should come over.”

  Henley’s parents owned a ba-zillion acres of vineyards. Their land supplied us with grapes, raisins, jellies, juices, and wines. The latter wasn’t for me or Henley, of course. Both of our parents have decided that sixteen was much too young for us to partake in the spirits, but we were permitted all the grapes we could stuff in our faces. And since Henley and I worked those fields every morning, it was something we did quite often.

  Henley and I were the oldest of what our village had affectionately deemed “the second generation.” The second generation was a very exclusive club, only opening its doors to six people so far. There were me and Henley Knight, of course. I was the only child of Zane and Sarai Stark. Henley and her four year old brother Haden were the two children of Rigel and Renata Knight. Our club also included Jenice Reese, the fourteen year old daughter of Chris and Keyandra Reese. There was also Ronnie Cox, the twelve year old son of David and Angela Cox. And then finally was Breanna McEwen, the six year old daughter of Darius and Kennedy McEwen.

  “Yeah, I’ll probably stop over later,” I said.

  “Hey, what’s that?” she asked, looking over my shoulder.

  I turned around and my eyes settled again on the vision of Kepler floating on the horizon. Then I noticed what had caught her attention. Something else was floating out there in the distance.

  “Looks like someone is sitting on a raft. Doesn’t it?” I asked.

  I waved, seeing if I could get a response from the person in the distance. If that person even saw me, they didn’t wave back. Instead it looked like they were simply sweeping the raft with a broom. No, not sweeping actually. It was an oar he held.

  “Where would that raft have even come from?” Henley asked.

  Another person suddenly appeared as though rising from beneath the raft. It was then that I noticed yet another person. These people must have been lying down initially. One of the others grabbed what looked like a plank of wood and started using it as an oar.

  “They’re coming toward us,” Henley cried out, “Let’s get out of here.”

  We both often thought a lot alike which was natural after spending so much time together over the years. I took her hand and started toward the shore. I suddenly wished that I hadn’t parked the hopper right there in the open. If those people stole our hopper, we would end up with a ten mile hike back to the village and most of that would be through dense woods or the corn fields. It would have been easy to get lost in either.

  “Help!” someone called behind us just as we reached the shore, “Please help us!”

  We turned and could now see them more clearly. These were three people that looked sufficiently starved and perhaps near the verge of death. The raft itself appeared to be a splintered wooden wall torn straight off a house. These weren’t criminals or thieves that could potentially overtake either of us. Even ninety-pound Henley could have held her own in a fight against any of these poor souls.

  “We have to help them, Henley,” I said, starting back into the water.

  She stayed behind, perhaps out of fear or maybe she didn’t feel comfortable since she was only wearing her small black bikini. When I noticed she wasn’t following, I hollered for her to get into the hopper and switch it on so that the hover coils could warm up.

  I was about chest high when one of the sunburned men tossed me a ragged rope. I took hold of it and pulled the raft toward me as I started for the shore again. Henley poked her head out of open rear hatch and when she saw me struggling, she rushed over and helped me drag the raft to shore.

  It was then that I turned and truly saw these people for the first time. All three of the shirtless men were sunburned and blistering, some of their blisters having turned to scabs or seeping wounds. Even beneath those sunburns was the dark flesh that spoke of lifetimes of outdoor labor just like witnessed in the flesh of me and Henley. Except Henley and I bore our tans with pride while these men probably inadvertently earned theirs while drifting out at sea for an unknown amount of time. Their arms and legs were mere branches with protruding knobs where the knees and elbows jutted. Their faces were skin-wrapped skulls. I could count every rib on these men because of how far their flesh had sunken.

  “We need to get you some help,” I said, “Are you able to come with me to the mini-shuttle?”

  Much to my surprise, they were able to walk just fine on those impossibly thin legs. I led them up the rear ramp to the small bay where we typically carried our supplies. The mini-shuttle, or hopper, was only meant to transport two people and their minimal cargo. The three of our unexpected passengers would need to sit on the floor in the back.

  “Here,” Henley said, handing one of them her half empty canteen.

  He accepted with a nod of thanks and then greedily drank from the container, reminding me suddenly that I had a canteen as well. I gestured for Henley to get mine from the pilot’s cabin. She quickly grabbed that and handed it to one of the other men. The man who had accepted Henley’s canteen passed it to one of the others, so all were able to drink something.

  “I’m taking you back to my village where we can get you some proper help,” I said.

  I quickly strapped myself in to the pilot’s seat while Henley buckled her harness in the seat next to me. I increased the power to the coils, bringing us up to just above the height of the tallest trees.

  “Mom’s going to kill me for this one,” I said, hitting the rear thrusters.

  Chapter Two

  After I’d helped Doctor Tina get our guests into some beds, I just stood by with Henley and watched while she started them on IVs one-by-one. I’d asked if I could go gather up a nice feast for these people, but Tina said that it would be too much for them to handle. It hurt me when I saw each of them only being offered a small portion of bread along with a half empty glass of water.

  “What’s going on?” I heard my mom say from the doorway as she rushed into the room, “Thatch, are you two alright?”

  “We’re fine, Mom,” I said, accepting the one-arm hug that she offered, “Henley and I were just swimming at the beach when… well…”

  I gestured toward the three skeletal people who’d currently taken over the only three beds our little hospital offered. Tina was currently getting the final one hooked up to an IV drip.

  “Where’d they come from?” she asked, approaching the doctor.

  “I’ve gotten nothing from them except some expressions of gratitude so far, Sarai,” she said, “But you’re welcome to talk to them if you want.”

  My mom, forever the politician, walked over to the one in the middle who seemed to be the most alert. She reached out her hand which the man shook, smiling.

  “I’m Sarai, one of the trilogy of leaders in our village,” she said, “Are you able to tell me where you came from?”

  “Thank you so much for taking us in. There were four of us up until yesterday, but she died. She was my daughter,” he said, “I come from New Sumter. I’m a boatswain from the merchant ship Diana. The men who arrived here with me are cargo handlers. Our ship buckled and succumbed to the waves during a hurricane. I lost track of time, but it was just before the last shadow period.”

  “Last shadow period?” Henley inserted, “We’re approaching another shadow period in a couple days! It’s been a full month. Thirty-nine days at sea?”

  “What is New Sumter? Is that a spacecraft?” my mother asked.

  “No, it’s a nation,” he replied.

  “A nation? On Earth?” she asked.

  “No, a nation here on KMA,” he replied, appearing confused.

  My mother suddenly turned pale. I wondered just then why this would warrant such a frightening expression from her.

  “The Diana was one of the three supply ships that regularly trade between the nations of New Sumter and Murphy-Stark,” he added.

  “Murphy-Stark?” she repeated, stumbling backward.

  I rushed over and grabbed hold of my mother from behin
d. She looked like she was about to pass out. She turned to me and after a second or two, she smiled, although her face remained quite pale and her eyes were looking a little glassy. She patted the hand that was still holding onto her upper arm and then seemed to regain her composure.

  “I think I’m going to need to have a talk with some people,” she said, “Why don’t you and Henley come along with me.”

  Chapter Three

  Henley’s mother looked like she could have easily passed as Henley’s older twin if she chose to play that role. Henley, of course, was prettier and had one of those perfect tans that convinced you she was dipped in caramel from head to toe. Her mother had those few subtle creases around her eyes and mouth that told you she wasn’t the younger of the twins. She also kept her hair up in some crazy braid or a bun most of the time which was something a lot of the adults here favored. Because of that, she subliminally told the world that she was pushing forty. If just she wore it down like her daughter, people would confuse them all the time.

  “Why’d you put Henley at risk like that?” her mother asked me, “Sharing a shuttle with three strange men?”

  Before I could answer her, my mother graciously came to my rescue.

  “These men were clearly not capable of causing them any harm, Renata. You’ll understand when you see them,” she said, “And that’s not why I asked you all here anyway. I asked you here for some input regarding a not-so-sudden turn of events.”

  I looked around the room, wondering if anyone else might have been feeling upset with me or Henley. I hadn’t expected her mother to look at me the way she did and now I was feeling that I’d let her down. I leaned against one of the tables, joining the rest of the group in their unwillingness to take one of the many seats offered in the community center.

  “So, back to what you were saying. These men claimed that there are two nations existing here on KMA that we know nothing about, and that these nations are large enough to have a regular trade route between them via the open sea. So we’re to assume that they’ve been here long enough to establish at the bare minimum some full cities, possibly some mining, and a form of industry?” Darius said.