Survivors

by Alex Isaacs

  We end the meeting, Simon going to make some calls, Rose going to look into her work. I stay with Joe, sitting down to talk about space vehicles. Joe tells me what we need to find in the asteroid belt to help with fuel for the vehicles. If we had a nebula close to the earth, it would save us the trouble for the fuel problem. We decide to make up a computer program to run with the vehicle to scan the asteroids. We can pick out the asteroids to bring back, making the fuel inside the asteroid here, once we have it hollowed out. I look at Joe; he tells me not to say anything; Simon did not finish what his plans are for the asteroid. We would mine everything we can, leaving the inside for building the main vehicle, producing the fuel to run all the vehicles. Joe goes on telling me that the new metal will make the vehicles lighter and faster. We are cutting down the time to travel back and forth to the asteroid belt with this new metal. Joe tells me we will go back and forth to the labs at the university until things quiet down. I ask why it needs to quiet down. Joe says they are looking for the three of us; the other scientists gave out more information on who it was that saved the earth.

  We call it a day, Joe needs to do some of his other work. I find the girls; they are reading the textbooks for the classes. I grab mine, joining them, making notes for each class. I go online, taking my next course in astronomy. I figure I can go into the university on the trips I make with Joe. I look at the times for my courses that will appear online, making out my school schedule. I arrange a time for chores, my work with Joe, and the time to do my homework. I think about army training with Mandy. I go to talk with her and Ann about it. Mandy says she will ask Jenny about training up here; maybe the General can set something up. Until I get those times, my schedule is not that bad. I save time on going to and from class, the house, the lab, and the training.

  I go in for dinner; my mom has made a light dinner for us; it is New Year's Eve. I remember that Peter needs to get to town. I tell my parents that Peter and I will head into town to pick up some pizza for us. Simon asks for me to pick up some more pizzas for the other party, giving me the money for them. I call in to place the order for the pizza’s, the guy on the phone asks if this is a joke, I tell him I would be in to pay for them shortly, asking how long it would take to make them all. I decide to take David with us; he can stand there waiting for the pizzas as Peter and I go pick up his friend.

  We head into town, stopping at the pizza shop, they thought I was playing a joke, but now begin to make the pizzas. We leave David to wait for them, as we go to Peter’s friend's house. As we drive down the street, we see a couple of vehicles coming out from the different houses. We slow down to look to make sure the driveway is empty. We see her parents coming out, so we drive around the block, pulling into the empty driveway. We load her things into the back of the truck, pulling the tarp over the load. Peter introduces me to Marie; she looks terrified and abused. We get to the pizza place; the order is half done. I go and get some blankets to cover the pizzas to keep them warm on the trip back to the valley. I am lucky the other stores are closing up for the evening. I get back to pick up the order; it is nearly ready. I tell David he will take the pizzas into our house, letting the parents know that Peter and I are dropping the other pizzas off.

  We get going to the valley; I ask Marie to slip down on the floor in the front, so no one sees her coming into the valley. As we drive into the valley, the soldier waves us in. We drop David off them the other pizzas. The soldiers are starting into their party as we drive over to drop Marie and her belongings off. I load up David and my things, taking them over to David’s house. I get back to Peter’s saying he has to come with me to the party. Marie would be okay here for a short time. Marie hugs Peter, then thanks me for helping her out. We get back to the house; everyone is starting to enjoy themselves. We watch the television as the New Year begins. I get kissed by the three girls, which I did not expect. They act like it is nothing as everyone continues to party for a little while. Peter says he wants to get going; he is tired. My mother suggests that we all start heading to bed; we have an early morning of chores.

  We ride back to Peter’s house; I want to see how Marie is doing. We find her asleep; she looks peaceful. I go to Davids and bed, setting the alarm for fifteen minutes earlier than usual, we have to head back to Peters to help him before going to the main farm. Marie is up; she does not look as terrified as when we picked her up. I ask Peter what he is going to do for food for Marie. Peter shows me he has been stocking up on things since he could get into his house. Peter tells me he will pick up other things when he is back in school. I let Marie know that no one can see her when there are other people around the house, she says she understands.

  The troops pick up the eggs, then the three of us have to leave Marie to do our other chores. Peter asks me what might happen if they find Marie. I tell him I do not know, but I will think of something to say along with the truth. We do all the chores, Peter telling my parents he is going to work on David’s wagon for the valley back at his farm. I do some more preparations for my classes, then take the next course for the astronomy class.

  I go to the lab to talk with Joe. I have a couple of ideas for the vehicles. Everything right now is in the planning stages. Joe has an idea of what we might need to go into space to survive the travel to a new home. I listen to him intently; our future depends on these plans we want to complete. We are talking about our future; I am helping to make plans for our future.

  Chapter 7: Another Recruit

  As we talk about the primary space vehicle, I ask Joe how large the vehicle is going to have to be to carry everything Simon wants. Joe says the vehicle is going to be very large. I ask, would it be better to have a couple of smaller primary vehicles. Joe says the PSV’s will have to be able to go inside the leading vehicle. Joe says maybe the first primary vehicle can carry the majority of the PSV’s along with the personnel. I suggest the second can carry the supplies that would be needed along with other personnel. We look at the diagrams that Joe and the others have started to draw up for the primary vehicle. We look at it, thinking if we cut back on the size, we could make two, then we can bring more supplies. I see one area, asking what it is. Joe tells me it is the mini-farm that Simon thinks would help to feed everyone on the voyage. I get to see more pictures of the mini-farm; it looks like a smaller version of the valley.

  Joe tells me they will use the water to help make oxygen onboard the ship; the process is an easy one to do. He shows me the areas for storage and the plans for what we would be taking. I ask Joe the size of the vehicle; it is about three times the size of the whole valley. I start to think they have used the dimensions of the valley from the outside roads; they do not need to have all of it. I write down some notes, putting in needing water for making oxygen. Joe says he is going to see Simon before he heads back down to the central lab. I put my notes away, going back to the house.

  I sit quietly, looking at my notes, bringing out a notebook to draw what I remember of the diagrams I saw earlier. I figure that the main vehicle can have a small mini-farm on it to help feed the personnel on board. The second vehicle, I make the mini-farm as large as this farm but using only the measurements inside the ridges. We do not need the solar panels; the energy should come from the engines. The height of the farm would only be so high, meaning more storage for supplies. I make a note to ask about how the gravity will be inside the vehicles. The farm would have plants to help with the oxygen on both vehicles. Everything would be electric, which is what we are going to work on here in the valley.

  The girls come looking for me; they are bored, they would like to go for a horseback ride. I put my notes away, we get dressed, and with David in tow, the six of us go out riding. We go over to Davids farm; the building is complete. It is ready for the pigs to move in, the electricity is in, with solar panels on the roof. These engineers work fast on the projects in the valley; it has not taken them that long to do all this work. We ride around for about an hour, looking at everything in the valley; it i
s has a nice covering of snow. I look up to the sky as the wind changes. I see clouds starting to come our way; more snow is on its way. We head back to the main farm, my dad is preparing for the snow, letting the soldiers know, but they say they know already, the radar shows the storm moving in.

  I get David; we get some food to take with us. It might be better to stay over in his house until the storm passes, especially if it is a bad storm. Joe and Rose are in for a surprise, along with the girls that have not seen a snowstorm. Simon is lucky; he had left the area about an hour before the storm came in range. As David and I ride to the house, I suggest that we stay with Peter, the parents will be expecting us to be there. We get to Peter’s farm; he has begun to get ready for the storm as well. I tell him we have to move in here during the storm, especially if the parents come to check on us. Peter said he expected that he has made up the beds in the third bedroom for us to stay in for now. We head over to get some things, coming back, putting the horses in the barn. The snow begins to fall, it is light, but as the wind picks up, it gets heavier.

  I get to talk with Marie; she is happy to be here. I ask her how bad it was at her home; she begins to tell me, it is hard for her to explain, but both her parents liked to party, taking everything out on her. I now know what I am going to say to my parents when they find out she is staying here in the valley. I decide not to say anything for the time being; I would wait for the right to time to talk. We settle in for the night; the storm might last for a couple of days. As we wake up in the morning, the storm is still with us. We shovel a path to the barn, then, to the chicken barn. We take care of the animals, bringing in some eggs for us while getting the eggs ready to be picked up.

  My dad comes down the road, blowing the snow with the tractor ahead of the soldiers. I decide to go with my dad to get another one of the new tractors with the snow blowing attachment. The way the snow is coming down, the more tractors we have to clean the roads, the better. One of the soldiers comes with us. We give him a quick lesson on how to use the tractor with the blower. He thanks us, telling me he will plow the snow when he comes to get the eggs tomorrow if the snow keeps up. I go into the house, picking up my books, having something to eat before heading back to Peter’s with a little more food. There is not much to do with the storm going on, so I get ahead on my classes, waiting to see them online. I do another class of my astronomy; I started it late, so I can do more while I sit around. I get some valuable information, making notes as I go. I find out that the asteroid we have in orbit has a lot of minerals in it. Joe probably knows this with his education. I can see why Simon is happy; the valuable minerals will help to pay for everything. The other minerals will help in the building of more space vehicles. No wonder the other countries want a piece of the asteroid.

  The snow continues for two more days, stopping early on Sunday morning. We start to clear the roads after we do our chores, meeting the others with the tractors. When I get to the house with my tractor, the girls can not believe all the snow we have. I get Ann and Mandy to get dressed; they can ride in the cab with me as I clear more snow away. We get to the south gate; my dad is there getting a couple of more tractors ready to help out. My dad says we have to clear the road to the highway; Joe got a call, letting him know that a couple of tractor-trailers are bringing in horses and pigs when they can get through. I show the girls how to drive the tractors. We will take them to my brothers for them to use in the valley.

  I head back to the road my dad is working on, stopping for fuel at the south gate first. We both head into town, blowing the two lanes until we get to the highway. The plows are ut cleaning the highways and the main roads first. The one driver is happy to see us clearing our road; it is one less road for them to do. A police car comes over to us, asking if we can come into town to help clear out some of the important areas, the hospital needs its lots done, along with the access roads. Some of the machines in town need to get out. The officer gives us a card to get fuel for clearing out the snow. We spend most of the day getting the emergency lots cleared first, then the parking lots near them. We fuel up twice during the day, by the time we get home, the two girls are tired from riding with me. I drop them off, having something to eat before going back to Peter’s. My two brothers have cleared up the whole valley with the tractors; they love the big blower attachments.

  I go to bed early; I am exhausted; tomorrow, our classes begin. I will have to see how much of a time delay there is. I hope the real class and the time the video is uploaded to watch is not that long. In the morning, after we do the chores at both farms, I go to check the times for us to watch the courses. We can watch them thirty minutes after the regular class. It works out nicely; if I miss something, I can go back to hear it again. The trailers arrive with the new animals; we get them settled into their new home. I tell my parents we will be moving into David’s house now to take care of the pigs. It looks like a couple of the females are ready to give birth.

  The next couple of weeks go by quickly. I find out that Simon has the PSV’s running to the asteroid, taking up equipment to start to mine it. He is also taking solar panels up to run the power for the equipment and the platform. The plans for the platform and the new telescope have been agreed upon by all the countries involved. Joe and Rose head back down to see Simon, Joe, with the new ideas that we have discussed having two or even three main vehicles.

  It is near the end of the third week of January; Joe has come back up with some more laptops for the two of us to work on the plans for the new space vehicles. Simon is going for the two main vehicles; the third will depend on time and materials. Joe tells me that there are some of the precious metals in the ore coming back with the PSV’s. The metals are helping to pay and produce computers and electronics in the new vehicles. Four new PSV’s will be ready in a month, meaning we can send them to the asteroid belt to get more asteroids. The first asteroids we will be looking for are the ones that we can get fuel for the PSV’s. Joe tells me we will be setting up a station here in the valley to control the PSV’s going to the belt. Simon wants me to come down to learn to fly the PSV so that I can control one here in the valley. I ask who the other person is that will be helping to control the PSV’s. Joe says not to tell anyone; he has started to go to learn to fly one.

  I get the dates to go back down with Joe to learn to fly the new PSV’s, but Joe tells everyone that we are going down to set up the computers in them. Ann and Mandy ask to come with us, but Joe is hesitant about letting them know the real reason. I ask about Jenny coming with us. Joe said he thinks she is going on a vacation around that time. I find out from Jenny that she is coming with us, but not for a vacation. Jenny is getting her paperwork together from her study that she has completed with the four of us.

  Joe and I start to set up the laptops, the ones for the vehicle plans have no access to the internet for security. I take out my notes that I have drawn up, showing Joe. He is impressed as I put in the information into the program. The second ship can hold the entire valley from inside the ridges. It will turn on a base to give it the gravity like we are still on earth. Joe laughs, telling me I do not need to do that. The gravity on all the vehicles is no longer a problem. I take away that idea, giving us more space for storage. Joe suggests that we take some animals up in space to see how they react to being there. I suggest we could drug them for the flight up; once they see the scenery as it is in the valley, they might be okay. I put in the need for screens for the scenery inside where the farm is going. Joe tells me they are working on holographic’s now; we can take and use their programs. I make notes for a separate computer for the holographic program. The way computers are improving each year, by the time one ship is ready, the computers will be smaller and powerful.

  More equipment is coming into the valley, Simon and the General want everything set up and running for the PSV’s trips. Another building will go up in the spring to house all the electronics for the PSV’s. It will be a secure building with limited access to only certai
n people. I look at the plans of the PSV’s that will be going to the asteroid; they will have tractor-beams to pull the asteroids back. There are removable fuel containers inside each PSV for the long trip. The scientist group for Simon has thought a lot of things out beforehand.

  I decide to leave the planning for now; I have some tests coming up, so I need to study for them. It will be different to do; they are online as well. I find out we need a person to watch over us as we do the tests, so no cheating occurs. We get Rose to do this task; the university approves her so we can now do the tests. It is nice doing the courses here at home; I have time to do things around the farms in the valley.

  We start the last week of January with a snowstorm and our tests. About an hour after our tests are complete, we get our marks. All three of us are doing well in our computer courses. My Psychology course marks are slipping a bit. I decide to go to Jenny to get some help. My astronomy course marks are excellent. I need some more work on the equipment at the university; they will not grade me on that section until I can do the work on the equipment. I will make sure I get to the astronomy lab when I go down on March break. I let Joe know what I need to do for that class, he suggests that we go down earlier, I can still do the classes online, or I can go into the class while I am there. Joe calls down to Simon to arrange our coming down earlier. I ask about the two girls, would they be joining us on the trip. Joe tells me it will be helpful for them to come with us, but we need to be able to get away from them for our training.