Since we are here, it is the least we could do for a good friend. I will send Melon to leave word I will be arriving later than planned. The Mat’Ma spoke to Melon in the clicks and whistles of their language.
Leo interrupted the clan leader. “I can take care of that for you. No need for Melon to leave unless you wish it. Our invitation is extended to him as well.”
It is all right, Admiral Johnson, Melon apologized. These discussions are for leaders of clans, not for me, thank you.
Melon, the Mat’Ma chided, Let us not force our customs on our host. Besides, one day you will be Mat’Ma, and you will need to learn the skills of leaders.
Later in the evening after the Mat’Ma and Melon had left, Leo lamented the day. He had been prepared for the verdict. However, it had been another thing to experience it face to face. He wished with all his being things could have been different. Meeting an intelligent race for the first time, they had screwed the pooch. He knew that for the Te'Hat, like humans, trust was a very important thing. There was no ambiguity amongst the Te’Hat, something which tripped up the human diplomats from time to time. They meant exactly what they said. If they said something was going to be done, one could bet the solar system on it! If they did not know, they would say so. Lying and deception were just not done. To misrepresent something to them was a major breach of their culture, and to be untrustworthy was usually rewarded by banishment. Therefore, Leo knew he had to take the Mat'Ma at his word. To hear the Mat’Ma talk, most of them wanted the humans to get the hell out of Dodge now. They knew they couldn’t make the humans leave, but the Te’Hat trusted Leo to make good on what he had promised.
During the uprising, he had put many of the conspirators in jail. When the coup failed, many of them were willing to let bygones be bygones. The few who would not let go of their hopeless cause were barred from enhancement, and the Elixir inside them was neutralized. They would die of old age and be weeded out, or if any other funny business manifested itself, they would be executed. In his position the admiral had to make many hard decisions dealing with the rebellion, and he had tried to clean things up as best as he could. The stain which didn’t come out was the Te’Hat.
There were still a little over five years before the Atlantis would be back. How was he going to tell Captain Metcalfe? He knew his friend well enough to know he would be disappointed, but not surprised. He had seemed to know something bad was on the horizon and had hinted that he hoped Leo could handle it. Besides letting the captain and both species down, Leo had to find a way out of this mess somehow. Maybe he could use that time to reconcile the damage the humans had caused.
◆◆◆
Three weeks after the banishment decree, Anna Hauser tended her garden, wondering how this day could be any lovelier. Suddenly in her peripheral vision she noticed the few Te’Hat who had been observing her scooting off at high speed. Now, what could have caused them to run off like that? she wondered. Then she felt in her bones the low vibration. It was the quake! Immediately she threw her implement down and ran for the dome.
Alice boomed in her cochlear implant. “Stay where you are, Anna Hauser. You are in the safest place. Emergency teams and protocols have been activated.”
The vibration increased, and Anna could no longer remain upright. Then she heard it. The loud cracking of beams and windows which shouldn’t crack. They were stronger than steel, and yet they were cracking! She could hear people screaming now. A part of the roof had caved in. She needed to help them. She had to get to the dome! She struggled to her feet and made her way through the devastation. People started to pour out of the airlock door--people bleeding. People carrying other people. She arrived at the chaos, stood up with a jerk and felt vertigo grip her. She should be waking up now! Why was she not waking up? She'd had this vision-dream hundreds of times. She'd had this stupid dream just last week! Anna was frozen in fear of that nightmare she wasn’t going to wake up from. She had never gotten this far in her dream. Even as she rejected it, the answer dawned on her. This was REAL! The vision had come to pass! Then as she felt the jolt of waking up from that nightmare, she became aware someone was shaking her.
“Anna! Anna!” The person shouted. Anna roused from her shocked stupor. It was Corporal Amanda Jenkins. “Anna!” The corporal shook her again.
“Corporal Jenkins?”
“Look, Anna, you have to help me! Are you injured? If you are not, I need your help in treating the wounded."
“Yes, of course. I am not injured. What do you need me to do?”
“Intrepid and Valiant are sending teams down as we speak. We need to look after the worst of them to keep them from dying until the emergency teams get here.”
Anna looked around. “I don’t see very many security people here. Where are they, Amanda?”
“Most of them were in the barracks sleeping when the quake hit. Only people due to go off night shift were still up. The barracks caved in, and many of them are under the rubble. Help me triage these people so the teams can get right to work.”
“I’m on it!”
Anna followed Corporal Jenkins to the scene of the disaster, moving with conviction. She'd had training for emergency first aid and rescue in order to be allowed to roam around on the planet below, but it was difficult seeing some of her friends and acquaintances hurt so badly. Being a scientist, she didn't usually have to experience things like this. And she had an empathetic soul, which made things all the tougher. Anna swallowed her bile and bent to her tasks.
“Corporal Jenkins!” A minute or so passed before the corporal popped over.
“What do you need, Anna?”
“I can’t seem to stop this bleeding!”
“If pressure won’t work, use a tourniquet. Be sure to reduce the blood supply just enough to put a pressure pad on and move on to the next injured person.”
“Thanks, Amanda, I didn’t know whether to use the tourniquet now or not.”
The corporal gave an encouraging smile. “You’re doing fine.”
Others arrived, who assessed injuries and began to help where they could. Forty-five minutes elapsed before landing craft started touching down. The next thing Anna knew, both Admiral Johnson and General Zhou were barking orders and pitching in.
“General!” Leo called to get his attention.
“Yes, Admiral.”
“As we discussed on the way down, I am assembling a contingent to visit the Sce’Rood clan to see if they need any help.
“No problem, Admiral. I’ve got things here.”
Leo picked nine people to accompany him to the clan’s home. They quick-marched two kilometers to the main opening. When they arrived, they saw the devastation there, and the main entrance partially toppled. Te’Hat were milling about. One of them made its way toward him. It was Melon.
Admiral Johnson! There has been a major cave in! Many Te’Hat were lost. The Mat’Ma is missing! We do not know whether he lives. They are looking to me now. I have many Te’Hat burrowing and making new tunnels to rescue others who may be trapped. Have you come to assist us?
“Yes, Melon. We have devices which can see the chambers in the ground so we may know which chambers are not caved in. I have brought some mining equipment with me in case we were called upon to help you. We will do what we can to help."
Yes, we could use your help. Inform me of your progress, and I will direct the others to work together more efficiently.
Leo set the team to work. Then he thought of the others. “Alice,” he called to the air.
“Yes, Admiral Johnson.”
“It looks like the Te’Hat have taken a beating.”
“I have detected the cause of the quakes in the region, Admiral.”
“Well, what is it?” Calm down, Leo, he told himself.
“A meteor over one thousand meters has struck quadrant 1228.”
“Isn’t it on the other side of the planet?”
“Correct. It has sent shock waves throughout the planet.”
&nbs
p; “Alice, it shouldn’t be shaking this much on this side, should it?”
“Ordinarily no. This area is near a stable fault line which on its own was unlikely to trigger a quake for quite some time. The meteor slamming into the planet, even on the other side, caused the fault to slip.”
“Alice, we need to go to the other side of the planet and see what we can do to help the Te’Hat who have survived the impact. I want every able-bodied person involved in this who can be spared from helping our own people. I want teams of ten people each assembled and given marching orders. While this is happening, send out a reconnaissance to identify areas of need. You need to help them scan, Alice. I want this declared a global disaster and we need to help everyone, including ourselves, who needs assistance.”
“Acknowledged, Admiral Johnson.”
“Sergeant,” Leo called to a sergeant walking by.
“Yes, sir.” Sergeant Lewis snapped to attention.
“What are we looking at here?” Leo asked, looking for answers.
“It’s not good, sir. Comparing previous scans of this Te'Hat community, it looks like a third of the clan’s tunnels and chambers have collapsed.”
“What kind of survival rate are we looking at?”
“At this location, about seventy-five percent survival rate. It all happened quickly, but many managed to escape to safety.”
“Sergeant. Share this data with Melon and make sure he stays in the loop. Alice?”
“Yes, Admiral Johnson.”
“Alice, I want the parks in both domes converted into refugee camps. We will need to fabricate something resembling their nesting chambers and fill the parks up with them.”
“Admiral, dome number two took more damage than the other. The roof is cracked and some beams are hanging loose. This will need to be repaired before any refugees can occupy it.”
“Very well. Make it a priority.”
“Acknowledged. Are we to divert more resources down here to the Te’Hat than to the human needs?”
“Yes, Alice. We can go back to our ships to live and get medical attention. The Te’Hat cannot go anywhere. We can scale back our residence on the surface until full repairs are finished. In the meantime, I want the Te’Hat taken care of as much as our resources will go.”
“Understood, Admiral Johnson. Coordinating resources per your requests. Admiral, I have just completed a full scan of the impact area.”
“Let’s have it.” Leo braced himself.
“Complete destruction of every living thing over one hundred and fifty kilometers out from the impact site. Level two destruction for about one hundred and fifty kilometers from the level one radius. Level three destruction about another one hundred kilometers from the level two radius.”
“So, four hundred kilometers. My God! That's equal to the states of Missouri and Kansas in North America back home! Alice, are there going to be any survivors in the radius?”
“Perhaps in the level three zone. There will mostly be fires and quakes. It is the quakes which are the most dangerous to the Te’Hat.”
“I want search and rescue to focus on the level three zone.”
“Understood, Admiral.”
Sergeant Lewis was talking to Melon. Leo headed over to them. He caught some of Melon’s thoughts as he approached.
Thank you, Sergeant Lewis, for the information.
“No problem. Glad to help,” Lewis replied.
“Hello, Melon. What is your situation?”
Things have become worse.
“How so?”
We have found the body of the Mat’Ma.
“Oh, I see. I am truly sorry to hear of this news. Your Mat’Ma was wise and skillful. I will miss him.”
We must appoint a new one very soon. Many decisions need to be made, and the Mat’Ma is central to this leadership.
“I am arranging a settlement for the displaced Te’Hat to live until your community can be rebuilt. We were thinking of using the parks in both domes. We are also constructing housing for you and your families since we know it will be awhile before you can move back in. You can use the park in number two dome for your meetings until then.”
I will talk with the Elders. It is a very generous offer, but everyone must be consulted. The sergeant told me about the meteor. Nothing like this has ever happened to us. I have Elders working with your teams to help free trapped clan members.
“Very good. I will keep you posted on any more developments.”
Thank you, Admiral Johnson.
Leo had another thought. “We also need to map out clan settlements, especially on the far side of the planet, so we can come to their aid too. We can do a good job of figuring it out, but it would be quicker and more accurate with firsthand knowledge.”
I wish I could be more help. Our clan is only familiar with neighboring clans. When we all took a vote recently, the call took place from here and spread outward to all clans. It is why this process took so long.
“Well,” Leo sighed, “I guess we will just have to do our best. Alice?”
“Yes, Admiral Johnson.”
“Would it be possible to get estimates on clan positions all over the planet?”
“I anticipated your question as I listened to your conversation with Melon.”
“And?”
“I can pinpoint the location of many clans since I can spot them running out of their dwellings. I have sent this information to our search and rescue squads. I will be less able to detect destroyed clans where none are milling about. We must rely on the nearby clans to tell us where they are, so we can investigate.”
“What about human personnel?”
“I have gone through the rosters and stripped both ships to a skeleton crew. All non-essential personnel have been organized and are being deployed in a two-pronged attack on the emergency. Half of our resources will start here and fan out to the other clans. The other half will start from zone three of the impact site and work their way out.”
“How long will it take, Alice?”
“This depends on many factors, Admiral. Best case, about three years. Worst case, about ten years.”
“We need to pack those search and rescue ships full to the gills with medicine, food and temporary shelter.”
“Admiral, those ships cannot carry that much cargo. However, they can relay their needs and a larger cargo vessel can drop supplies.”
“Yes, they can stop and speak to the clan members and find out what they need. Then the team can put in an order for them. Many of them could take care of themselves and treat their wounded if they had the supplies and shelter. It would take a large load off the undertaking. Make it happen, Alice.”
“Acknowledged. Already in progress.”
Leo thought this earthquake and the relief effort should take everybody’s minds off anything else for a good long while.
TWELVE
Not so Welcome Home
Captain William Collier liked to walk the bridge sometimes. He felt it let the crew know he was on the job. Enhancement had its privileges. He could just as easily run the bridge from his bunk if he wanted. In fact, the captain could run the bridge twenty-four-seven if he so desired. However, he only took the shift when his turn came around. His other commanders needed time in the chair if they were going to mature into capable bridge leaders.
It took some time for his crew to get used to the idea that the Wanderer’s captain had become an E-Human. Many of the personnel were wary of Sonny and Alice. They knew the machines were necessary, but there had always been an undercurrent of distrust regarding their motives.
But today wasn’t the day for those ruminations. The Atlantis and the Wanderer had just passed the orbit of Mars, the starting line for the last sprint to Earth. Light speed communications were annoyingly long but not impractical at this distance. Atlantis had just sent a small armada of ships to the Moon and Earth to find and rescue survivors, and they had picked up signals from three beacons. Two were coming from Earth and one fr
om the Moon. The Wanderer was going ahead with the armada to Earth. Atlantis was still traveling sub-light to make it easier to thread their way through the floating debris. The sixty-five-mile long ship would get there in a couple of days and take up stationary orbit around the Moon. The Wanderer would already be in orbit around Earth to taxi survivors to the Atlantis. Collier’s crew roster had been light for the trip back to Earth, so they had the room to take the potential excess of survivors.
Right now, his ship had been loaded to the gills with a lot of medical personnel and supplies to treat the wounded, but he suspected there would not be much need for their services. It had, after all, been eleven years since they had left. Any people remaining on the surface would not need treatment so much as rescue.
Over his shoulder, the helmsman notified the captain. “Captain, approaching lunar orbit.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Donaldson. Slow to one-tenth light speed and put us in a high orbit around Earth. I don’t want to be pummeled by any busted-up satellite debris.”
“Aye, sir.”
Fifteen minutes later Donaldson gave the captain an update. “Approaching Earth orbit,”
Communication specialist M’Butu nearly jumped out of her seat. “Sir, one of the Atlantis’s search and rescue shuttles is in contact with four locations, not three. One on the Moon and three on Earth.”
“Contact the armada and have them choose one to be a runner to the Atlantis when we get more information on these contacts.”
“Aye, sir.” She turned back around to her console.
“Earth orbit established, sir,” Donaldson said.
“Display Earth on the screen.” Bill had some anxiety about seeing Earth. He could not wait to see home again, but he dreaded what he might see.
“Aye, sir.”
Bill slowly rose from his seat. “Oh, my God!”
Had this been a lifeless planet like Jupiter, he could have been scientifically objective about the destruction. But Earth used to be teeming with life! And now he was a witness to the beating their home world had taken. Although he had been prepared for what he might see, it still made him weak in the knees. He sat down in his chair heavily, before he fell.
The Journey of Atlantis: The Children of Earth Page 13