“I’ll hold you to that,” I said.
We remained there in the corridor for probably ten more minutes before she kissed me tenderly and then broke free from my embrace.
“I’m going to do an inventory of our food and water supplies. Then I’m going to see if this ship has enough fuel to get us to a spot I feel has the most potential to the south,” she said, “Could you gather up the personal effects from all the suites and bring them into your berthing? I’m not willing to share any of that with these people until we’ve personally gone through it all first. This ship, after all, is ours and not theirs. We get first dibs on everything.”
“I’ll get right on it, Captain,” I saluted.
She grinned and shook her head, “Don’t. I know you’re joking, but seriously, I need a husband and a confidant right now.”
I took her hand and then tugged her to me, hugging that sad woman once more, “And that’s what you’ll have until the day you die. Never forget that.”
“Thank you, baby,” she said, squeezing me tightly in her arms and then breaking free once more, “Let’s do this!”
THIRTY-SIX
I had gathered those personal suitcases from nine other suites before Corsica and Daryl showed up. We didn’t know if they’d be arriving alone, so I joined Sydney in the airlock as she opened the outer hatch to greet them. That was where we found both of them standing there in the hangar, surrounded by several boxes that they had apparently dragged from their home.
“Hi, I’m Daryl. Corsica explained everything to me and assured me that we were welcome here. Thank you! Before you accept us, I’d like to mention that I’m merely a second-class glazier,” he stated humbly, “But I’m willing to learn other skills if you’ll accept us.”
“Glazier? Uh, that’s a very important skill that we’ll be calling upon, Daryl. And yes, of course you two are welcome!” Sydney said, gesturing for me to help with their boxes, “A glazier typically works with existing glass, but I have to ask – are you able to make glass as well?”
“I’ve spent many years amongst the first-class glaziers and glassmakers. Build me a kiln, and I’m confident I could hold that job as well,” he offered.
“Well, grab a box and let me show you to your suite,” she said.
As we made our way into the ship and toward the suite across from our own, Corsica conspired with Sydney. Apparently, none of these boxes we were bringing into our ship contained their personal effects as I’d initially assumed.
“I hate to disappoint, but we’ve only got six more people coming. It’s three couples,” Corsica said, “I invited one couple I’m very close to and Daryl talked to the others.”
“Hey, even if it was just the four of us, we’d still be leaving this place to set out on our own. These elderly people who escape when they’re ‘too old’… they need a place to go and that’s what we’re going to give them,” Sydney said.
“I don’t see how we could manage with just four people,” Corsica added, “I’ve seen your plans and that’s going to require a lot of work.”
Daryl was looking up at the ceiling in confusion as we made our way down the corridor. It took me a moment to understand that the automated lights were probably something he wasn’t accustomed to. I explained the concept and the purpose to him while we continued onward with our boxes.
“Oh, it wouldn’t be easy. It’s not even going to be easy with ten people. So, I saw those boxes. What’d you manage to bring us?” she asked.
“More than enough seed of all varieties of plants including grass, some fertilizers, thousands of screws, bolts, tools, and greenhouse building supplies so we can get started right away,” she replied.
“Maria and Brennan are giving us a head start by bringing at least ten tubs of fertile soil along with the worms necessary to keep it alive,” Daryl offered, “Maria believes that should be enough to get us started while we begin efforts to create our own fertile soil.”
I set my box down in the corridor outside of their door. Daryl stacked his on top of mine.
“You convinced Maria?” Corsica asked him, “I didn’t know she was unhappy.”
“Would you believe Roosevelt and Deshawn are coming too?” Daryl asked.
“Really?” Corsica seemed like her old excited self again, “That gives us an actual engineer as well as a harvester!”
Sydney opened the door to their suite, “I’m confused. You knew six people were coming to join us, but you didn’t know who they were?”
“The only ones I had time enough to talk to were two of my best farmers. And I hope you won’t be disappointed to know that these two I’m talking about are disabled. I invited Olive and Marcus,” Corsica said, following Sydney into the room, “These two are some of my greatest farmers, but they’re both deaf.”
“What?” Sydney stopped and turned to them, “How would we even communicate?”
“Olive reads lips. And both of them are fluent in sign language, so she can translate everything over to her husband,” Corsica explained.
“Well, then I guess their disability isn’t going to be an obstacle at all. No need to even bring it up. I’m glad to have them!”
Suddenly, the two of our new citizens paused to gape in awe at their luxurious suite. Daryl rushed past everyone and sat down at the foot of the bed, bouncing lightly as he tested it.
“This place is amazing! Is this really our home?” he asked, looking to me for an answer.
“Of course!” I laughed at his childlike demeanor.
“Corsica! This is awesome!” he leapt from the bed, “Let’s go back and get all our belongings!”
“When you go, please make sure to tell the others to hurry up. I want to get out of here as soon as possible,” Sydney insisted.
I took Sydney’s hand in mine and drew her toward me, “How confident are you that you could even fly this thing?”
“I can manage the low altitude maneuvering thrusters,” she whispered to me, “We’re not even settling a mile from here, so we should be good.”
“What about leaving the hangar itself?” I asked.
“I’ll send off a message to give them the opportunity to open the doors. If they don’t, then we’ll tear our way out of here.”
I looked at her and grinned. I’d really hate to ever be on her bad side.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Over the course of the next two hours, our entire new crew or ‘nation’ managed to slowly get moved into their new suites. They also happened to load us up with as many supplies as they could gather from Sacred Mount. They were all conscientious enough not to hurt these people with the things they took. All these new provisions were taken from their bounty.
And since it would be a long while before we would ever get to eat anything besides those reheated frozen sandwich pockets, they gathered up some fresh fruits and vegetables. Those might only end up lasting us a few days or maybe a week, but it was better than nothing at all. Mashed potatoes were already on my radar.
It was only after we were all safely locked inside the Frontier before Sydney transmitted the message of our intent. While the rest of our crew unpacked and made themselves at home, only Sydney and I remained on the bridge while we were about to stir up some trouble. I knelt next to her chair and read the message aloud:
“Dear Hanlon and the people of Sacred Mount. We thank you for the welcome we received, however we regret to inform you that we can’t abide any longer. Our goals, plans, and overall moral beliefs are of the sort that would ultimately cause division and significant disunity. These are not issues that would be up for discussion or argument and in an effort to not cause any bitterness or division, we will keep our opinions to ourselves. However, if anyone leaves Sacred Mount in the future because they feel they don’t serve a purpose or that they are too old, please come find us to the southeast of Sacred Mount. We will leave a Beta Beacon on at all times because we treasure experience, education, and wisdom. We will be departing exactly thirty minutes after this m
essage is sent. It would be wise for you to open up the hangar so we don’t cause any damage on our way out. Thank you again, and we hope to share a living planet one day soon. Sincerely, the Terraformers of the Frontier. P.S. You’ve just lost the two of us as well as eight more people who decided to join in our endeavor. So those who have been waiting to have children now have eight spaces to fill. Enjoy!”
“Nice,” I turned to Sydney.
She smiled at me and then hit the button to send the message. I released the breath I’d apparently been holding.
“We just alienated our only other hope of survival in the Tau Ceti system,” I said.
“Since I love you, I’m going to give you a few seconds to rethink those words,” she smiled in spite of the way she angrily set her teeth.
I grinned, then cleared my throat, “That’ll teach ‘em! We told them!”
She laughed, then punched me in the shoulder, “Well, let me set your mind at ease, Larkin! We’ve got enough food and water to sustain this current crew for at least five or six years. If we don’t have some glass-encased gardens or a full Bio-Dome by then… well, then I guess we might be facing some serious problems. Are we going to have some problems?”
“You just called me Larkin,” I breathed.
Her eyebrows shot up. A moment later, she must have realized that I was truly hurt.
“Baby!” she whined, “You know what? I won’t even call you Cuttar anymore. No more Larkin and no more Cuttar. You are forever ‘Baby’ to me. How about that?”
I chuckled, “I love it.”
“Well, baby, we’ve got it all under control. What do you think of that?”
Before I could answer, we got the familiar chime that alerted us to a reply. Sydney quickly returned her attention to her terminal. She called up the reply onto her monitor.
“Frontier, this is Hanlon and as of this moment, I’m the only one who has seen your message. I’m sorry again that you discovered our population control methods already. This wasn’t something you needed to concern yourselves with just yet. Also, it seems you know about the people who wander away as they get older. Again, this isn’t something you needed to concern yourselves with. I apologize and ask that you reconsider. I think that terraformers of your stature and skill-level could have a lot to offer. Please reply as soon as possible and know that we will not keep you against your will. Also, please provide the names of those who have sought asylum aboard your ship. Thank you, Hanlon,” Sydney read aloud.
“Wow! Doesn’t sound like anything is going to change here at all,” I said, “He merely apologized for our sooner-than-expected discoveries.”
“Yeah, you know what? I think I changed my mind about one thing. We’re not waiting thirty minutes,” she said.
And with that, she typed out a quick reply while also offering the names of our crew. Then she stated that we would be leaving immediately, so someone had better come and open the hangar.
Five minutes later, the hangar doors were open while at the same time, Sydney managed to bring our belly thrusters online. She brought us to a low hover height, then she started working the other thrusters in order to safely navigate us out of that hangar without melting any walls or doors.
Once we were out, she brought us up into the air about twenty or thirty feet, then she maneuvered us over that muddy terrain toward that predetermined spot just southeast of Sacred Mount. It was a place where the soil had once been fertile enough to support a healthy forest.
She eventually located a low rocky shelf near our planned home that probably served as the southernmost tip of the Sacred Mount range. It would clearly make for a nice sturdy landing pad so that was where the Frontier finally settled. Sydney even made sure to situate the ship so that the front windshield faced the spot where we intended to start building. And since the shelf was about six feet higher than that once fertile forest, we would have a higher viewpoint as well.
“So, how big is this first Bio-Dome of ours going to be?” I asked as the two of us stared out the front windshield.
She tucked her arm around my waist, “The sky’s the limit as far as I’m concerned. I’m thinking that we’ll build it in sealed-off sections, then expand over and over and over again until we have ourselves a city.”
“Or even an entire state!” I drew her to me.
“Exactly! And eventually, we’ll just open it up and let the biology take over the planet!”
THIRTY-EIGHT
We spent that first evening getting to know the people of our ‘nation’, quickly discovering that we all basically wanted the same things out of life. We all had that shared innate desire for freedom and liberty as well as to one day witness life being brought back to the planet of Inglenook. That little conversation was where it all began – right there in the restaurant on the Frontier. That was where a community of dreamers sat together with pencils and paper and began to form a very realistic plan.
And that’s where I could be seen sitting off to the side with my sketch pad and my colored pencils, documenting this momentous occasion for future generations. Sydney looked up from her notepad and caught my eye. I smiled at my beautiful bride, then I winked at her. She returned a conspirator’s smile that told me she knew we were going to succeed beyond a shadow of a doubt.
And since I believed in her, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt as well.
TEN YEARS LATER
I sat there on the park bench, watching Landon and Nena as they swung side-by-side on the playground swing set. Those two kids were my heart and soul, bringing a smile to my face that I simply couldn’t hold back. The sun was bright today with nary a cloud in sight, so it had been decided early this morning that it was high time for our community to take a well-deserved break.
The park was alive with the sounds of children laughing and playing. The jungle gym seemed to be the place to hang out as there must have been eight or nine kids climbing on that thing currently. That was the moment that I saw my beautiful wife approaching from the other side of the playground with a basket in her hand.
I called for Landon and Nena as I rose up from the bench and headed toward the picnic table. Several other parents started calling for their kids as well. By the time Sydney set the basket onto the table, about a dozen kids had already been excitedly circling the table. There were probably twenty adults around as well.
“Okay, people!” Sydney hollered as she opened up the large picnic basket, “We’ve got cold watermelon, orange juice, and enough salad to go around! And yes, we’ve got Maria’s homemade dressing. Who’s hungry?”
Sydney stepped back as the kids excitedly swarmed the basket. This was our first community picnic in over a month as we’d been busy expanding the city yet again. Sydney then nudged Nena toward the table. Nena was our youngest child, having just turned six last week. Landon was eight years old and was sharp as a tack with a heart as big as this city. He was currently at the basket, drawing out two bowls of salad and two bottles of orange juice, clearly thinking about his sister.
Sydney had just sidled up next to me, putting her arm around my waist. I kissed her on the cheek, then she nodded her head toward the picnic table.
“There’s the next generation of terraformers. Who knows what all they’ll accomplish by the time they’re our age?” she breathed.
“I’m sure they’ll be even greater than this generation,” I put my arm around her and pulled her close.
“I think we did pretty great, considering,” she said, kissing me sweetly on the lips.
“I think we did an awesome job,” I said, gesturing around us, “I mean, look how far we’d come!”
And we did! As our Bio-Dome continued to expand over the years, it eventually encompassed our ship, then eventually spread out across over four square miles. Its northernmost entrance was merely a thousand yards from the entrance to Sacred Mount. Because of our nearness to that subterranean city, our population continued to grow while more and more people migrated to the city of Liberty. That was, aft
er all, what we named our nation.
“Think about it. We started out with ten people and now we’ve got a population of two hundred and nineteen. We’ve come a long way!” I said.
“Two hundred and twenty,” she said.
“No, we just took a-”
She interrupted me as she placed my hand on her belly. My eyes went wide as I turned to her.
“Really?”
“Really!”
I took her into a tight embrace. My entire life had changed the moment I brought this woman to life on the Frontier. That began so many “greatest days of my life”. Today, again, was the greatest day of my life!
THE END
Check out these other affordable books available
for your Kindle by Scott McElhaney:
Selenocentric
Endeavor
Maelstrom
The Ani Maxima Files (Collection)
Ptolemy’s Child (Ani Maxima 1)
Super Virus (Ani Maxima 2)
Veiled Sky (Ani Maxima 3)
Enigma (Ani Maxima 4)
Flying in the Rain (Ani Maxima 5)
Silent Lucidity (Ani Maxima 6)
Indentured (Mystic 1)
Legacy (Mystic 2)
Violation (Mystic 3)
Judgment (Mystic 4)
Convergence (Mystic 5)
The Mystic Saga Omnibus (all 5 books)
Warrior of the Myst
Dominion
Vestige
Final Season
Hope Rising
Erinyes
Ghosts of Ophidian
Alastair (Ghosts of Ophidian)
Daylight in Blossom
Beyond the Event Horizon
Mommy’s Choice
Elusive December
One Crazy Summer
Talking to the Moon
Saving Brooksie
The Wisconsin Samurai
Terraformer Page 12