by David Buck
‘Commander, thank you. I have no intention of returning to the bush as it is dangerous and the gateway is closed anyway.’
Gavin looked across at one of his reports for a moment as he replied.
‘Well you have certainly got that correct as we and the other locations have had several fatalities. The numbers of lizards appear to be falling in the immediate area. But we have had other deaths from a cat-like creature, thyleo or something it is called. Our biologists tried to capture one, but they ended up shooting the animal to save their lives.’
James looked around at the trooper carrying his wet back pack and he had fetched out the digital camera as he spoke again.
‘The animal is likely something called a Thylacoleo or marsupial lion. I have done a few biology units at university and one semester was on mega fauna. I got close up footage of one last night and that made my decision to return easy.’
Gavin watched the incredible close footage of the animal and admired James abilities to survive a predator that had already killed several humans, including two of his troopers. He looked around the command post and knew that the story and the footage would be around the large camp within hours. He then turned to James and asked him the question he needed answering.
‘James, I want to know why you fled our law back on Earth for this colony. Surely you must now know of the dangers of this world?’
James calmly looked Gavin squarely in the eye as he replied.
‘I could not let those men attack my fiancée and my sister. You would be correct in what they were attempting when I killed them. I did not flee the wrath of the law against me.’
Gavin silently considered the steel resolve of the young man, and in other circumstances he decided that James would make an outstanding soldier. He then continued the conversation to clarify an opinion he was forming by asking a leading question.
‘So I take it you fled here with those girls to avoid the likely revenge of the Banger Machine gang members back in Perth?’
James again looked Gavin in the eye as he politely replied.
‘I would be jailed before eventually being cornered and killed in prison, but I would expect that to occur. I was more concerned that the girls would have been killed quickly if they were lucky or eventually if they were unlucky. Even if we fled interstate we would have to hide for the rest of our lives. So the colony looked a great alternative and the gateway was close.’
Gavin made his mind up about James, as the young man was obviously highly intelligent as well as having the other attributes he had already noticed. He thought carefully as he walked back to his canvas desk and looked at a map for a moment as he spoke.
‘Additional gateways are active for three days a distance away on the western ocean for our sea ships to arrive. If I can make contact with them quickly enough you may have to return with the girls to face the law on Earth.’
James squared his shoulders, a trooper laid a warning hand on his shoulder, but James had the good sense to refrain from speaking or offering a reaction as Gavin spoke again.
‘However, the logistics of getting you and your family over to the ships quickly is not easy. If I had any choice I would not make the attempt. But in the meantime you will remain in custody until a decision is reached.’
James remained silent as he left the command post under close guard, but still with no hand cuffs. He felt that he would have to trust the commander’s instincts in this matter, and he quietly followed the soldiers to get something decent to eat and dry clothes.
***
Steve was in his command chair and enjoying the feeling of commanding his ship again. By habit he checked the status of several ships’ stations, even if John Robertson was doing a superb job of now looking after both ships. He stood and walked over to the bridge window, and looking towards the island, he noted that four sneak ships had nestled under the huge wing of the Trader main ship.
Steve then looked out east at the large Maveen gateway three kilometers away that had been formed by three Maveen gate ships. He marveled for a moment at their abilities before he returned to his command chair and his reports. The news release of Steve’s appointment as governor of the new colony had been met with a storm of media requests that Steve had instructed his communications officer to ignore.
Ian Ridge had spent some additional time with Steve earlier in the day discussing mainly the Maveen, before he had been flown by helicopter to the quarantine station on Rat Island. Steve could understand the concerns about disease and to be fair the Traders had brought additional diseases to Earth in the Voorde remains. However he felt that the risks had been overstated and he had said as much to the prime minister earlier in the morning, as he escorted him to the helicopter deck.
‘We have millions of people moving to another world, possibly with a range of pathogens involved, yet you are to remain in quarantine for two months.’
Ian looked at him with a genial smile as he replied.
‘I will tell you about something that your friend Rebecca’s late father once mentioned. It regarded his eventually successful search for a gene therapy cure for addictive behavior disorders many years ago now. I hold the man in high regard as many people still do today. And he said ‘Sometimes you just have to go with what you know to be untrue or unfounded, so that you can eventually and irrefutably prove something else which is both true and rational.’ I consider those words to be very wise.’
Steve considered the premise as he commented again.
‘This is the nature of complex situations to my mind, explained by a man that is one of the greatest in this century. I could actually apply that to the latest Maveen issue of course, as we did not actually forbid them to remove plants and animals around the world.’
Ian considered Steve’s comment and offered another viewpoint.
‘Well I think that the relationships with both races have been resolved very successfully, as combat was averted at an early stage, and the subsequent trading terms will benefit humanity greatly.’
Steve offered his own interpretation on the relationship, as Ian paused again to look around the now crammed rear decks of Steve's ship.
‘Sir, the success of our situation has been greatly aided by the discussions you and Rebecca had with the lead probe. The ancient memories of your culture have done the human race a great service.’
Ian looked around, and gave Steve a warm smile of respect and regard that was returned by Steve, as both men resumed the short walk. They reached the helicopter deck and Steve had saluted the prime minister, who had then turned for a final look at the massive Trader ship. Ian then turned back and gave Steve a long hand shake, and a made a final series of points.
‘The Maveen have set a chain of events in place that is irrevocable, I do not begrudge them any efforts to take our wild life off world. I suggest you press them on access to other worlds as part of your long term policy after you are well established. I anticipate that you will have a very eventful life, and I hope it is a long and successful one as well.’
Steve thanked the prime minister for both his earlier advice and final comments before Ian slowly stepped up into the waiting helicopter. As the helicopter flew away, he sincerely hoped that Ian Ridge would be able to positively influence the various leaders around the world for many years to follow.
Steve was brought back to the present moment on his bridge as John Robertson walked over to him with further information.
‘Steve, the Lotus Marai has just arrived fully laden, and the remaining individual sea pens will be ready for transfer later in the day. Already several smaller boats have gone through the gateway and more ships are expected up from Perth in a few hours.’
Steve thanked John for the information before he accessed the internet via his data tablet. He started searching for several ships by their type, their all important tonnages, and finally their locations around the world with respect to the marine gateways. In minutes he had sectioned the list by priority, and was makin
g the first calls to the owners of the ships around the world.
‘Good morning, I am Governor Steve Greene from the new Barede colony. I would like to speak urgently please with your senior director, Stefan Colwyn, about three small ships your company owns.’
On the first occasion and on many other occasions he could not get past the secretary of the company. He also found himself bogged down in detailed discussions with middle managers, and at times he rued the attempts he was making. There was still a string of commitments made, and in a few hours there was a steady stream of ships being sailed at short notice to several marine gate ways around the world.
Samantha and Dan looked in on the bridge to inform him that several scientists had been taken across to the Trader ship to continue to learn what they could about their more advanced technology. Steve noted that the scientists comprised most of the mission team that had decided to stay on Earth, even if it meant two months’ quarantine with Ian Ridge and the soldiers guarding the equipment supplied by the Traders.
Samantha had left for several minutes before returning with his lunch, and Dan had looked at Steve’s list until she returned. As Steve ate his lunch, Dan and Samantha looked at the list of ships and added a few suggestions of their own. Dan fielded a call from Steve’s mobile phone, identified himself and listened for a moment before he passed the call to Steve.
‘Mr. Colwyn, thank you for returning my call. So I assume you understand the urgency in my request?’
Steve listened with evident satisfaction, as he got the three ships with volunteers he requested as well as several older barges and lighters that were available as a bonus. He then thanked the shipping director as he finished the call and turned to the next names in his list as he commented.
‘Two of the three ships are reasonably new, but the barges and lighter are very old. The shipping companies are keen to offload their older vessels to the colony. However we can always recycle the older ships if we can melt them down.’
Dan looked across at his sister as he replied to Steve’s comment.
‘That is certainly true Steve, and we should be able to go into a high technology capability for energy production within about twenty years. I think the shipping companies are keen to offload the older vessels as the underwriters will then get these ships off their books. The ships can be quickly donated, delisted and their values written off.’
Steve considered his list further as he listened to Dan’s reply and made a telling observation.
‘The colony effort will kick start the world’s economy after the epidemic as the new Trader technology is assimilated and infrastructure is upgraded. We will be elsewhere, but Earth shall be an interesting place to live over the next few decades.’
Samantha looked introspective and sad for a moment as she commented.
‘We are so rushed in setting up the colony and I am scared we will forget to take something we all could need one day. No matter how many people or ships go through we will always be a leaf cast into a stream, even with the best intentions of the Maveen and Traders.’
Dan first looked at Steve, who had placed his arms around Samantha, before he replied to Samantha’s quiet insight.
‘I understand your view point too well Samantha. The colonists will be roughing it for several years before we built can sizeable towns. Our technology will now be following the best way forward to building a sustainable and modern civilization. However I am willing to bet that the arts, literature and crafts of Earth will not be forgotten.’
Samantha looked thoughtful for a moment, before looking at the time and then excused herself with a few quick comments.
‘I will go and make a few calls to find out what we can take across from a cultural and arts perspective. I am still awaiting additional medical personnel and their equipment. Steve, I will check again with the bank about selling the house.’
Dan also excused himself as he now had to ensure that the fish pens were ready for transfer to the colony. Steve then resumed his efforts in contacting additional ship owners, as John Robertson looked again out the bridge windows and noted the longer lines of ships and larger boats still converging on the gate way.
***
Troy van Essen calmly drove the large excavator off the low loader, and ensured that the cabin door was closed as he set the excavator on an unhurriedly crawl towards the bush. The morning’s instructions to the large road crew team from Commander Paul Wilson at the Sydney command post had lengthy and concise. Troy played them again through his mind as he by habit checked the gauges and briefly dabbed the hand controls to lift the digging arm half a meter.
‘You are all to stay in your vehicles until relieved every four hours. Two people were eaten last night after roaming around in the bush and we are burying what is left this afternoon. You will not burn, destroy or damage any areas of the bush that are not marked. This is what the Maveen want and trust me you do not want to upset them. We urgently want the West road to the coast completed so we can reach the ships still arriving and we have limited resources. So be careful with your equipment…’
Troy continued to drive the excavator along the new track started yesterday by bulldozers that had headed further along the track. Every so often the track veered to clear rocky outcrops and he stopped off the track next to the first large outcrop that was well inside the markers and set to work. After half an hour a large dump truck came along the track and parked to one side near the array of boulders the excavator had torn from the outcrop. Troy soon had the excavator loading the boulders for the truck to take back to the large crusher they had put together at the edge of the clearing.
***
Vic Mitchell and his sons were armed, and in their most reliable four wheel drive as they nosed along the animal track that James Mudbury had mentioned upon his return. Vic had been really impressed with James’s survival efforts, though he was now under guard with the girls back at the main clearing. Vic was hopeful that this would allow James to smooth things over with his sister, who had been the last person to come through the Perth gate way.
Vic and his sons had earlier answered an instruction to appear at the command post and they arrived in time for the morning’s quick briefing. The instructions from Gavin Lewis at the Perth command post to the mornings gathering of men had been concise. Apparently the same warnings now applied for all the other gateway locations in similar clearings around the colony. Gavin had been preoccupied with getting the Perth road crew going on a West road to the coast. However he had called Vic aside and introduced himself.
‘So you are Vic Mitchell, and you are James’s fiancées uncle? I am Gavin Lewis.’
The two men shook hands and Gavin spoke again.
‘I cannot let James into your care just yet, as I am anticipating orders for him to instead return to Earth. Now I understand you previously ran a timber business and I need to get a suitable supply of good timber organized urgently. The weather may change over the next day or so, and I would like to obtain an idea of what is available in the bush beforehand.’
Vic had been given further instructions to stay safe and only make a quick survey as Gavin had to ensure the Maveen were happy with any timber they removed first. As the four wheel drive headed out across a small clearing some distance now from their new home, a medium sized megalania reared up to hungrily watch them before it raced off into the bush. Paul kept his eyes on the animal track as the four wheel drive soon reached the other side of the clearing. He stopped the car and regarded the tall trees he could now see as he spoke.
‘Forgive me if I refuse to get out and survey those trees on foot. We have good jarrah and blackbutt trees in that lot. They do not look too large to mill either.’
Vic gave a grin at his son’s wit as he replied in kind, as Paul was the wittier and more outgoing of his older two boys.
‘Yeah, we are not to feed the wild life with ourselves. James was spot on with his directions. The access is reasonable and we can start harvesting and hauli
ng out once we get the go ahead and before the weather breaks. The mill and drying racks will take some time to setup but we can do that in the clearing when it is raining.’
Rick, who seemed several years older then Paul but was only two years older, also ran his practiced eye around the trees further along the clearing before he quietly spoke.
‘The racks can even be green timber from these trees, so we can save the good timber for the drying shed and mill buildings. Now a couple of trees further along look like karri trees, however they are subtlety different, as the shape and bark color is not quite right. We should photo those as well to show the biologists.’
The men took several digital photos while still in the car and then drove off to find the stream that James had also mentioned.
***
Jackson Bryan looked up from his new map of Barede and over the clear ground at his team members being guarded by troopers as they performed their survey duties. He had started the day late, as he had been at the early morning briefing which Gavin Lewis had interrupted in reply to an urgent summons. His group meeting with the troop commander had been delayed, as a man had been escorted under guard into the command post, and Jackson recognized James who had taken to the bush two days ago.
After the meeting he had to wait around for several minutes, while Gavin spoke to a hardy older man that that Jackson recognized as the owner of the mill they were building on the south side of the main field. He patiently waited for a further half hour as the troop commander had then spoken to Phoebe, the attractive young biologist who was always flying off or driving off somewhere to check the diverse range of wildlife at the colony. Finally Gavin finished speaking with Phoebe and she moved away purposely, though she did give Jackson a warm smile. Jackson returned the smile and now strode into the command post where he was greeted by the troop commander.