Garrett looked around suspiciously with a smirk on his face. "OK, we probably should best end this conversation. They either have spies everywhere or they can tell when we've been talking about them. And I don't need any more trouble."
We turned the corner of a building to see the first foundations of the massive grow houses the bots were constructing.
I said, "Each structure covers a square kilometer. When completed in the next few weeks, we should have nearly a thousand of these stretching off into the distance. This building is supposed to be the first to come online. Within six weeks we expect it to produce enough to feed five thousand."
Garrett pulled back his head. "Five thousand? That seems like an awful lot coming from that small space."
I nodded. "We are counting on these being highly efficient farms when run by the bots."
Garrett did the math in his head. "That's only food for five million if that's the case. How are we going to manage ten times that amount? If it's taking six weeks to construct and bring these online, the Talisan supplies won't last that long."
I agreed. "Things will be tight for a while and rations my have to be stretched, but the construction of farms should grow exponentially. After that initial six week period, we believe we should have enough additional production after two additional months to keep us from starving. In the meantime, you’d best prepare to be hungry."
Garrett slapped me on the back. "Well, at least I require a lot less food than you. Finally something physical that works in my favor."
Joni joined us from behind. "Are you two talking about me?"
Garrett leaned in. "See what I mean?"
Garrett took Joni's hand as she came up beside him. "We're discussing the farms. Food is going to get scarce around here until these are all up and running."
Joni asked, "What about the galligs?"
I pointed off in the distance. "Breeding pens are being constructed just on the other side of that ridge. The Odentas only have five hundred sows for their starter herd. Even with the fast breeding techniques, and the constant care the bots can provide, we don't expect the galligs to be providing substantial meat quantities for nearly a year."
Garrett winced. "A year? I'll be eating salads for a year?"
I nodded. "It's the best we can possibly do."
I rubbed my chin in thought. "Jack mentioned exploring for other planets in this section of the galaxy. There are two on the star charts that are within a four week journey. They would be impossible to explore and to find enough food to bring back of any significance. But it might not hurt us to scout them out anyway. Would be good to know what surrounds us."
Garrett looked at Joni. "Any interest in an exploratory mission?"
Joni laughed. "Are you sure you want to be cooped up with just me for a couple months?"
Garrett smiled. "I guess there's only one way to find out."
I said, "OK, why don't the two of you stop being so coy and just get on with it."
Joni rolled her eyes as she dragged Garrett by the arm. "Come on."
I looked over my shoulder as they walked. "Take an AI and a couple bots with you just in case you need repairs!"
Garrett held up his hand. "Got it!"
In the following days I made the rounds on our small but growing patch of detoxified land. The Odentas continued to settle in and to plan for their future. Using the bots, they planned to build a bigger and better world. A world where their children could once again grow up in a safe and secure environment.
As I made my morning rounds, looking over the first dozen grow houses, Jack settled in with the Garmon on the landing field. The ramp was lowered as I approached.
Jack stood at the top when I arrived. "I tried to raise you on the comm."
I nodded. "I saw it. You didn't have it set as urgent so I thought I'd get a status from you directly."
I followed Jack to the bridge. "We deployed almost four thousand probes in a matrix. If anything comes near this system we should have a good four hours of warning before anything would show on a standard sensor. The next block of probes would add another hour to that time, but we'll need another four thousand to cover that area. They're all online and functioning."
I sat in a bridge chair. "Thanks for taking care of that. I don't think we'll be able to run anytime soon if anyone shows."
Jack pulled up the nav display. "I noticed the Jess pulling out a couple days ago. Where were they off to?"
I replied, "I took your suggestion and sent them off to explore the two closest star systems to this one. I don't expect to learn much, but it gave them something to do. And they get to do it together."
Jack smiled. "They needed that. I know at least from Garrett's standpoint, he has been wrapped up in her for a while."
I nodded. "It's mutual. Garrett was already talking to me about the universality of males not understanding females."
Jack laughed. "Already gotten himself in trouble, huh?"
"More than once, apparently," I said. "I think they're just feeling out this relationship. Neither has had the opportunity to have a serious one before this. Joni is a Salton and Garrett joined the organization fresh out of high school at sixteen. If they come back happy, it's for the long term."
Jack shook his head. "Out here, keeping that long term might be their only choice. I don't see my chances of reconnecting with someone getting any better. But I had it all, and I don't know if I want to risk losing that again. I'm glad to see someone has the potential for being happy, though."
I said, "Can I guess that Go is in the lab?"
Jack laughed. "Where else? Come on. I'll walk down there with you."
When we turned the corner into the lab, Go was opening and closing a mechanical hand. "That is so cool. Hey! Come check this out!"
I stood next to the bench, looking down on the mechanical appendage.
Go said, "This is the spine. These are the hydraulics. It has good mobility, almost as much as a real hand. And it has about twice the strength."
Go gestured toward his shoulder. "This is the nerve pickup. It's only one way right now, so all I can do is try to move my arm with my mind like I used to. The pickup translates those signals into movement. It's kind of freaky right now because I don't get any touch feedback. I can see it move, which feels right. I can hear it if I bump something. But there's a big hole otherwise."
Jack leaned in and looked over the arm. "Wow, they managed to fit all that in a slightly smaller size. What comes next?"
Go pulled up a holo-display. "If we get the kinks worked out of this arm, the next step is an interface for my shoulder. I gave Anterra access to our human anatomy database. She's working on its design as a background task."
Jack chuckled. "She?"
Go replied, "Well yeah. We call the Garmon a she even though it's named after a guy. Isn't that tradition?"
Jack thought, then nodded. "I guess it is. It just struck me as funny I guess because it's an intelligence and not just an object."
"Do you have a timeframe in mind for the interface operation?"
Go nodded. "I'm hoping by the end of this week. The operation would be lengthy. Might take as long as two days. Nerve endings have to be attached. The bone structure of the shoulder has to be reinforced and mounts for the interface added. And the whole thing has to be sealed over with skin grafts that attach to a mesh. The HMI is complex."
Jack asked, "HMI?"
Go pulled up a holo-diagram of it. "The Human Machine Interface. That's what I'm calling it. I wasted an hour trying to come up with a cool acronym before just calling it what it is."
Jack again chuckled. "At least tell us what the runner-up was."
Go sighed. "OK. I had two. The first was the MAC, the Man Android Configuration. And the second was the MOG, the Machine on Go. I wasn't impressed with either so HMI was it."
Jack replied, "How about the GAP? Go's Android Prosthesis? You know, like bridge the gap between you and your arm."
Go stared.
Jack stepped back with a phony grimace. "Oh, OK. Didn't mean to disparage the hand."
Lieutenant Jefferson came over the comm. "Sir, we have a hit on the probe matrix. There's a ship sitting just on the far reach of the array. We don't have enough for visual, but it's there."
Jack replied as he turned for the bridge: "Is there only one? Do we have a size or any identification?"
Jefferson shook his head. "All we have is that it's there. It bumped the sensor field of one probe and disappeared. We thought it might just be an anomaly, but it then showed on the second probe and came to a stop."
We walked onto the bridge. Jack flipped the nav screen up on the display wall. Several swipes followed with the sensor data showing in a table below.
I asked, "Can we tell how big it is?"
Jack shook his head. "Not yet. It's only a single craft though, so at least we have that. We don't know if it has picked up the probes or not. It shouldn't have, their signature is incredibly small, but we have no way of knowing what their sensors are capable of."
I stood, looking over the display. "Do we risk going out there to get a better look?"
Jack winced. "If we do, we risk being detected. Right now we don't know if they know we're here or not."
I pointed at the prior probe detection point. Do we have enough info about its direction to get an idea of where it might have come from?"
Jack looked over. "Hang on."
Several swipes later a line showed on the wall display. "We have two candidates. "The closest one is one of the two systems you told Garrett and Joni about. The second possible is three weeks past that. And if we run the trajectory the other way... it comes real close to the other system you told them about. Which one did they go for?"
I pointed at the last system. "They headed off to this one. The other is moving back toward Jorus, although still quite far away from it. This one is sitting out by itself."
Jack sat back in thought. "You know, if they are using conventional sensors from there, they would be seeing the data from this planet for a couple months ago. If it isn't so far down in the noise, that is. Two months ago this planet was putting out nothing but radioactive signals. If they were coming here they might have decided against it just from that. This planet is not habitable for the long term. And any materials pulled from it would likely be contaminated, so it wouldn't be a good resource planet either. That's based on what standard sensors would see."
Jefferson said, "They are moving again. Speed is just under ours, but only by about 2 percent. They are on a dead course for that system."
I pulled up the system in question on a star chart, passing it to the wall display. "Quanus, the system is called Quanus. Red sun, five known planets. Jack, feel like going for a ride?"
Jack nodded. "Rather than just sitting here? Yeah, I'm in."
I said, "Since we have a speed advantage, take us out this way for a couple days. We can come back at it from a sharp angle until it hits sensor range. If anything looks wrong or if we get detected, we just run back the direction we came in from. Pick out a distant star system so our trajectory can be mapped back to it."
Jack nodded. "Now we’re thinking. Give me five minutes and we can go. Mr. Jefferson, how are our supplies?"
Jefferson replied, "I ordered a restocking as soon as we landed. They only gave half what I asked for, but we don't have all the Talisans aboard right now. That gives us about four months of supplies at normal ration levels."
Jack looked at me and smiled. "You got enough clean underwear to last that long?"
I replied, "What? That's an odd question."
Jack shook his head. "It wasn't a real question. It was a joke."
I asked, "I don't get the humor in it. Is that an inside Human joke?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Sometimes I forget I'm talking to a stodgy old Grunta."
I thought for a moment. "I'm actually only on the early side of middle-aged for my species."
Jack held up his hand. "It was a simple Human joke. You didn't see the humor. Let's move on."
Go walked onto the bridge with his assisted frame. "I think we passed the last hurdle. I've ordered Anterra to devote her full time to the HMI design. What are we looking at here? Whose ship was that?"
Jack replied, "We don't know, but we're heading out to find out."
Go nodded and turned back toward the lab. The Garmon powered up through the Odenta atmosphere and was soon on a course that paralleled the unknown ship. After two and a half days of travel, Jack turned us back toward our target.
Jack said, "If they stayed on track, we should have sensor data in about three minutes. Mr. Jefferson, dump that to the big screen when it comes in please."
Jefferson replied, "Yes, sir."
Go came over the comm, looking groggy. "Hey, guys. Well, the HMI is installed. In about three days I can attach a wireless interface to it that will allow me to control the arm. I won't be able to attach it fully for another two weeks. Too much healing to do. But I might be able to at least familiarize my system with the different sensations I'll be experiencing."
Jack shook his head. "You are a bold individual, Go. The fact that you took this all on yourself speaks volumes."
Go partially shrugged. "It's not like I have a lot of choice. If I wanted a new arm I had to build my own. But with all I've gone through and learned, I have to wonder if I couldn't have just had an arm transplant. I think Anterra could handle that without me having the normal nerve attenuation that comes with it. I would need a donor arm though, and those are in short supply out here."
Jack smiled, "Yeah, good luck finding one. Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm proud of you for taking that on, and I hope it works out. Heck, if these guns I once packed get any flabbier, I might want a swap-out myself."
Go looked over the HMI implant. "I won't be able to travel anywhere in the New Alliance with this. Powered artificial limbs aren't allowed through the portals. It's a shame too. Think of all those amputees who could get full mobility back. Seems like such a dumb law."
Jefferson said, "Sir, we have the ship on the sensors. Posting up on the display. We should have visual in another minute or two."
Jack replied, "As soon as we have visual I want you to put us back on a parallel course. If they don't react, we'll move in a little closer."
Jefferson replied, "Yes, sir."
Jack zoomed in on the display. "Data says it's a lot smaller than us. Maybe twice the size of the Jess. And I can say with all honesty that I'm thrilled it's not a teardrop ship."
Our first visual image showed on the display. The ship was tall, forming a sickle shape. The top and bottom jutted forward, while the center curved back.
Jack said, "That's not anything I've seen before. I'm getting a steel blue color as well. Everybody out here has been black or gray. And I've got symbols on the side. Sending those to the translator app. I wouldn't expect a language lock until we have a good bit more than that."
I remarked, "It doesn't appear to have any weapons. I would say definitely a scout or possibly a diplomatic vessel."
Jack's expression soured. "Let's hope it's not another diplomat out making bad deals with the Alliance or any other of those clowns."
Go said, "Hey, Anterra has the species that owns that ship in her database. I'm dumping the information for it to the big board. They are called the Tamarin and the world it is heading to is Parmesen, not Quanus. Prior to the last few months they had laid claim to Jorus. They had been in negotiations with the Grotus about that. I would guess they are returning from there after seeing that someone else has occupied it."
Data from the Anterra began to spill onto the big wall. The Tamarin Corporation spanned sixteen star systems. Their encounters with the Grotus had been anything but friendly. Basically, they had demanded that all claim to Jorus be forfeited or else tribute be paid. The Grotus were keep
ing the negotiations open as a delay tactic, hoping to resolve their issues with the Alliance and the Kergans before opening a war on another front.
I said, "I think we showed up in this galaxy just at the time when these empires were all starting to interact. I have yet to see any true cooperation between any of them."
Jack nodded. "You said this place was hostile. I think it's brutal, and I think we can add another species to the mix. I wonder why they didn't go after the Odentas?"
Go replied, "Maybe they aren't as hostile as the others. Odenta was occupied. The Jorus system was not."
As I looked over the data, I got an uneasy feeling. If the Tamarin thought Odenta was now desolate and abandoned, they might lay claim to it as well. And who were the Tamarin? Could they be reasoned with? Did they have a strong fleet or technologies that far outshone our own? Our plan of laying low was suddenly in jeopardy.
~~~~~
Once again, this Human is asking for your help! If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. And by all means, please tell your friends! Any help with spreading the word is highly appreciated! I have a free science fiction eBook short story, titled "THE SQUAD", waiting for anyone who joins my email list. Also, find out when the next exciting release is available by joining the email list at [email protected]. Visit the author's website at www.arsenex.com for the rest of the series and other works!
Thank you for reading my work! I hope you have a great day!
Stephen
Books written by Stephen Arseneault
SODIUM Series
A six-book series that takes Man from his first encounter with aliens all the way to a fight for our all-out survival. Do we have what it takes to rule the galaxy?
AMP Series
Cast a thousand years into the future beyond SODIUM. This eight-book series chronicles the struggles of Don Grange, a simple package deliveryman, who is thrust into an unimaginable role in the fight against our enemies. Can we win peace and freedom after a thousand years of war?
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