The Blastlands Saga

by DK Williamson

  “Frank Parkes suggested a group be formed to perform those duties, a group loosely based on the Texas, Colorado, and Arizona Rangers of the Nineteenth Century. His idea was that they not be soldiers or policemen like the world had before, rather they would be protectors, of people mainly, but also their land, homes, and livelihoods.

  “A committee was formed to lay out parameters for these Rangers. When they had created a list of guidelines they were sent to the councils in each community for their input. Eventually all the communities in the towns that were in the Settlements, as they called themselves back then, approved and volunteers for the new organization were sought.

  “The committee looked for solid, level-headed, and fair-minded men that would be able to test the guidelines and adjust as needed, and then eventually train more Rangers.

  “The committee chose seven men from the volunteers to be the first Rangers, along with Andy Brown, AJ Somerset, and Lyman Oswald from the committee. They trained together, tested ideas in the field, and used this experience to create the basic principles we still follow. They also created a basic training regimen, and within a few months began to train more Rangers.

  “Of the original ten Rangers there is only one still serving as a Ranger, and that man is Duke Straily, the current Ranger Commander. Andy Brown and Lyman Oswald are the only other originals still living. They both reside in Heaven, and if you have the opportunity to speak with either of them I suggest you do so. They are both in declining health, and I don’t know how much longer they’ll be with us.

  “Let’s go over the basic principles of the Rangers,” Lieutenant Geiger said as he set up an easel and placed upon it a large cardboard poster with bullet points printed on it.

  “‘Learning the words on this board is easy, living them is hard.’ Art said that when I was sitting on a bench as a trainee in Heaven nine years ago. As you probably already know, Art knows what he is talking about.

  “First off, what are the Rangers?” he said as he pointed at the first point on the board. “The Rangers are a group that seeks to keep the peace within the Freelands. Pretty easy to understand, damn near impossible to fully achieve.

  “What is the mission of the Rangers?” he said moving to the second point. “The Ranger mission is simple: protect the people of the Freelands and their property, and keep the means of travel and trade open and safe. Once again, pretty easy to understand, damn near impossible to fully achieve.

  “When do Rangers intervene? A basic rule we follow is this: do not intervene unless harm has been; is currently being; or is imminently about to be; done to an innocent or their property. This is not a hard-and-fast rule. For instance, you encounter a group of raiders headed directly at a settlement that is two miles away. They are not currently harming anyone, nor are they about to attack the settlement. Should you wait until they actually harm someone before you do something? No. Should you warn them off? Maybe. Should you attack them? They are raiders after all. Again, maybe. Experience will help you get a sense of what is the best course of action.

  “Do Rangers involve themselves in politics? Generally, no. There have been occasions when settlements have asked Rangers to act as poll watchers in contentious elections. Why do you think Rangers would do that, anyone? He asked.

  Several hands went up.

  “Mr. Traipse, what do you think?” Geiger asked as he pointed at Jack, one of those with his hand raised.

  “Having a Ranger presence would serve to do at least two things, I think. If the voters perceive the Rangers as being neutral, the people would likely view the poll results as valid, which would lower contentious feelings that may exist. It would also make those who might otherwise act out think twice before actually doing so knowing Rangers would likely move to stop them,” Jack said.

  “Excellent answer,” Geiger replied. “This falls under the ‘keeping the peace’ mission, does everyone see that?” he asked.

  Trainee Brewster raised his hand.

  “You have a question, Mr. Brewster?” Geiger asked.

  “I understand how that is keeping the peace, Lieutenant. I wonder why the Rangers wouldn’t be present at all elections. Why not at other affairs that might have troublemakers?”

  “Well, there are a few reasons. One, I doubt we could ever afford or recruit enough Rangers to cover every place where there might be trouble, and even if we could cover all those places we wouldn’t do it. The reason is pretty simple, acting as a poll watcher at an election when requested is one thing, keeping a large presence to cover what ‘might’ happen could lead to problems.

  “We operate at the pleasure of the citizens of the Freelands. If they ask for help, and that request falls within our mission we will do so if possible. If a town requested Rangers to act as bartenders at a square dance we will politely tell them no. If there were two feuding groups attending the dance and they wanted a Ranger present we would try and accommodate them. If the town wished to handle the two feuding groups themselves, then the Rangers won’t get involved.

  “It is not our job to stick our noses into everything that goes on. We must let citizens do what they wish as long as they are not harming anyone else or anyone else’s property.

  “If you are walking down a street and see a man with a sledgehammer knocking down a house you know to be his, you have no business interfering. If the house belongs to someone else, you might intervene and find out if he is doing so maliciously, or maybe he was hired by the owner to tear it down.

  “Most of what Rangers do is not within the towns themselves. Most of our work is on the roads, rails, and rivers that connect the settlements, and out in the wilds. Most of what we do is not known by the average citizen, and that’s good. We do our best to keep trouble from the doorstep of the Freelands, but as you ought to know by now, that is easier said than done.

  “Okay, we’ll pick this up after lunch, but before we break, here is a list of things we’ll be covering during the initial phase of training these next couple of weeks,” the lieutenant said as he passed a stack of papers to the nearest trainee, “Pass these around, make sure everyone gets a copy. Mostly we’ll be covering the basics. Things like physical conditioning, marksmanship, and more about what we do as Rangers. Be back here at thirteen hundred, that’s one PM for those of you who still need to learn twenty-four hour time. We’ll meet at the covered benches at the weapons range.”

  . . . . .

  Geneva Library Archivist Marian Tyler looked over the items on the tables set up in front of the rifle range’s covered benches: three televisions and VCR; cassette tape player connected to external speakers; an overhead projector and white screen; Encyclopedia Freelandia, and a collection of books and newspaper clippings. These items were part of her presentation on the Calamity.

  The benches were empty, awaiting the arrival of the trainees and Ranger trainers. Amanda Hays looked over the equipment, along with the tangle of cables and cords that ran over the tables and across the ground, her technician’s eye looking for deficiencies.

  Marian put her hands on her hips and sighed, sure everything was ready. She glanced up and saw Bill Carson, accompanied by Jim Pyle, approaching. After greetings and introductions were exchanged, Carson said, “You’ve added quite a bit since I was last here.”

  “Yes we have,” she said. “We’ve added new entries to the encyclopedia and salvagers came across some news footage someone recorded thirty years ago. It’s shaping up.”

  “Are you still going to try and get this copied and distributed to other towns and settlements? If so I might be able to help,” Carson said.

  “I think it’s a good idea. Any help you can offer is welcome, Bill.”

  “I’m at your disposal. This young man here is interested in learning more about the Calamity,” Bill said, placing a hand on Jim’s shoulder. “We won’t be in the way?”

  “Not at all,” Marian said happily.

  Marian gestured at one of the benches. As Bill and Jim sat down she said, “Bill t
ells me you two have been talking about what led up to the Calamity, Comet Spica and the war with the Russian rebels.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jim answered.

  “Have you ever listened to any radio recordings or seen video from that time?”

  He shook his head. “I have seen some photos and some drawings. They had us read from the Encyclopedia Freelandia in school.”

  “Well, maybe you’ll like what we have here.”

  “Mr. Carson said you have a video of aliens.”

  “That’s right, more than one actually.”

  “So I can see them for real?”

  Marian smiled. “Not quite, they are recorded on tape, but you can see and hear them. You ready to get started?”

  Jim and Bill nodded.

  “As soon as everyone gets here we’ll get rolling,” she said glancing at her wristwatch.

  Within a few minutes, all of the trainees had arrived and were seated, followed soon after by the Ranger instructors.

  “If we have everything set up correctly we’ll get under way,” Marian said.

  Amanda gave a thumbs up and said, “You’re good to go.”

  Marian turned on the projector and saw that the brightness level looked to be perfect, which she attributed to Amanda’s intervention.

  She placed the first item onto the projector.

  “I would imagine many of you have seen some or nearly all of what we have gathered here,” she said with a glance at Jack. “But we have something new. A video that some salvagers discovered recently. But first, let’s start with a few newspaper articles,” she said. “These are from before anyone knew what Comet Spica really was.”

  . . . . .

  LOCAL MAN’S DISCOVERY TOPIC OF MUCH DISCUSSION

  By Tyler Macklin - Humboldt Journal - Friday, January 20, 1995.

  Two years ago local resident Paul Spica discovered a comet that now bears his name. Lost in the coverage of the recent war in this country and Europe, Comet Spica is once again drawing interest since it is on a course to bring it close to Earth. Some computer models predict the comet might be captured by Earth’s gravity, while some scientists dispute that claim. Either way, it is a much discussed topic and space buffs and star gazers have something to look forward to.

  . . . . .

  GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS NEAR MISS BY COMET NEXT MONTH

  News Nationwide - Friday, May 19, 1995.

  Houston, Texas - Space Administration officials confirmed today Comet Spica is on a path that will bring it very close to Earth by early next month.

  Officials stress there is virtually no chance the comet will impact Earth. The question of whether the comet will be captured by Earth’s gravity or not is still a hotly debated topic. Scientists say that while Earth does temporarily capture objects on occasion, those objects are generally smaller than Comet Spica.

  News Nationwide - America’s Premier Nationwide Newspaper.

  . . . . .

  PAUL SPICA’S COMET STOPS BY FOR A VISIT

  By Tyler Macklin | Humboldt Journal - Sunday, June 4, 1995.

  Local amateur astronomer Paul Spica, who two years ago discovered the comet that bears his name, says he finds it, “oddly fascinating,” to have the object he discovered now orbiting the Earth as a new moon, if only as a temporary satellite. “It’s so strange. Two years ago it was just a blue smear in a telescope,” he said pointing at the object, “now it’s sitting up there almost close enough to touch, astronomically speaking,” he quipped.

  Scientists still debate how long we will have an extra moon, but most estimates predict Spica will be with us for a few weeks or possibly as long as a few months. In any case, this is certainly something we will talk about for a long time.

  . . . . .

  “Here we have a tape of a radio broadcast,” Marian said when she was sure everyone was finished reading. She pressed the play button on the cassette machine.

  A voice announced the source of the broadcast, C2 Shining Sea Radio Network News June 5, 1995 1310 hrs/1:10 PM Eastern Time.

  “The following is a replay of Space Administration Director Tom Alcott’s statement made this morning,” an announcer’s voice said over the speakers on the table.

  “Good afternoon, I am Director Alcott. As we have all no doubt seen, the object we called Comet Spica is disintegrating as I speak. Thus far we see no fragments of the comet that present any threat to those of us here on Earth. Any fragments that might enter our atmosphere would burn up before reaching the ground. There is some danger to satellites orbiting the Earth, but what concerns us most is the threat this situation may pose to the Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station that are in space at this time and the human lives aboard them. We are closely monitoring the situation and will keep you informed as information becomes available. Thank you.”

  . . . . .

  “Next we’ll take a look at the Encyclopedia Freelandia entry on the first attacks by the aliens. I would imagine many of you might have read this or something similar when you were in school,” Marian said. “When we finish reading, we have some more video and audio segments plus a bit more reading to provide a more vivid idea of what happened.”

  Excerpt from the Encyclopedia Freelandia

  The Calamity - Initial Alien Attacks and Response

  The first video of the alien attacks came from Johannesburg, South Africa and aired worldwide. Tens of millions of people around the world were watching as television news showed a gasbag slowly traversing over the city expelling large brown objects from orifices in its underside onto the buildings and people below. The objects looked for all the world like fecal matter. On the streets and buildings where the brown matter landed, damage was visible, cars and smaller buildings smashed, while more substantial structures showed minor damage as well. The feces-like substance expanded, frothed, and spewed brown liquid while emitting a thick yellow gas that hugged the ground as it billowed from the brown muck and flowed down buildings, slowly spreading across streets and sidewalks like a fog.

  People poured from buildings and fled, some down the sidewalks and streets, others scrambling into cars. The streets not enveloped with yellow gas quickly became clogged with motor vehicles trying to escape the area. Abandoned cars left in the traffic jams exacerbated the congestion and confusion and helped feed the panic growing among the crowds. Very shortly, travel within the city center was impossible except on foot. Incoming emergency services vehicles could not get through the crowds of the panicked. What was already a horrific situation was quickly becoming chaos.

  As information began to come in from across the southern hemisphere it became clear what was happening in South Africa was being repeated everywhere the alien gasbags were making their, “bombing runs,” as they were now being called.

  Over the next few hours a pattern emerged, the gasbags attacking urban areas would pass slowly as they “bombed” the densely populated area then markedly increase their speed as they entered the more lightly populated suburbs and rural areas, dropping their muck more sparsely and in patches rather than a continuous trail as they did in the cities.

  Emergency services tried to restore order as they assisted with evacuating crowds, once they were able to approach the contaminated areas. Tests of the yellow fog revealed little, only that it displaced the air in the areas where it floated. People trapped in tall buildings because of the fog required evacuation by helicopter from rooftops once it became apparent that they would suffocate if they tried to pass through it.

  In Australia, the gasbags seemed to concentrate on the coastal areas, with some crisscrossing the interior. In Africa and South America, they crossed back and forth as well, moving from south to north. On all three continents it appeared that every major population area was going to be attacked.

  The nations who were under attack did not sit idly by as these events occurred. They tried to fight back, with air attacks and artillery, with everything they had. All seemed to be futile.

  The nations in the northe
rn hemisphere looked on in horror and frustration, offering humanitarian aid to the beleaguered people of the south, while they sought ideas to combat the alien attackers and control their citizens as they tried to flee cities where the gasbags floated inertly overhead.

  Some nations tried attacking the seemingly dormant gasbags hovering over their countries to little effect. Others refrained from such action, for fear of harming civilian populace in the cities beneath them were they to attempt an attack. All the while, the gasbags in the south continued moving northward as citizens worldwide demanded their governments do something. Members of most governments in the north predictably made suggestions, floated ideas, argued, condemned their political opponents, and offered assurances to their constituents, but it soon became clear there was little they could do about the situation.

  Early in the second day of the attacks, several gasbags crossed the equator, and as they did so, the gasbags in the northern hemisphere began attacking in the same manner as occurred in the south. Within hours many more gasbags crossed the equator into the north.

  When gasbags entered the airspace over Pyongyang and Tehran they faced the gargantuan air defenses those cities possessed. Despite the incredible amount of ordnance expended, it had little effect.

  . . . . .

  “This next part is a recording from New York. We are moving to the ground invasion by the aliens.” Marian paused and looked at Jim Pyle. “This tape has some rough language, Jim. I know you’re not a small child, but how would your mom feel about you hearing this?” she asked.

  “I don’t think she’d care. We have a neighbor who is a mechanic and he cusses a lot. Dad says nobody can cuss like a mechanic,” Jim replied to the amusement of the adults around him.