This was very good planet, a very good planet indeed.
******
Commander Pippleton continued to press the page button on his communicator. The Captain was being very stubborn, even for her. His shoulders moved up and down in anger. He wanted to go out and pull a tree from its roots and toss it as far as he could. This was not the way a captain should behave.
He tossed the communicator onto his bed, not as hard as he would have liked, he didn’t want to destroy it, but hard enough to elevate some of his frustration. His home was built from bulkheads taken from the Arwen. Most of the homes had been cannibalized from the Arwen, their white surfaces clashed with the green which surrounded them. Some of the most ingenious of the Arwen crew had painted the outside of their shelters green. It was a trend which had spread from one house to another in the section occupied by the science teams.
The Engineers spend most of their time on the Arwen taking things apart, figuring out what to do with what they had taken apart then sending it down to the planet with the hopes it would make life better. They had managed to make a very nice water pump and had set up basic plumbing throughout the small village. The basics first, that’s what Captain Cook had ordered, food, shelter, water, and plumbing. Everything else would handle itself once those four things were established.
The plant life here wasn’t poisonous, without any predators there was no evolutionary need to for it. It just didn’t taste very good. Low in nutrients that the human body needed people had to eat a lot of it. The Commander was thankful for the ample and well-designed plumbing. The Ulliam body digested food more efficiently than the human so he knew didn’t have any issues, but the human body produced some of the foulest waste known, especially when it had to digest a diet of nothing but alien planet life. He tried not to think about it as he entered the main town hall.
The first person to greet him was Doctor Lipton, Fran as she liked to be called now. No one here wanted to keep their titles, they all agreed to leave them on the Arwen. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a white, sleeveless shirt. Even though he didn’t think the planet was too warm most of the humans did. Her hair was pulled back revealing most of her face. She hurried up to him. “What did Marjorie say?”
“She’s not coming,” he replied. “She said she would rather stay on the mountain”
“She knows she won’t get a say then?”
“Yes, I tried to explain that to her but she shut her communicator off.”
“I don’t blame her. Come on, we’re about to start.”
The Commander followed her into the main chamber. The Captain’s old chair sat in the middle of the room, all around it were the chairs and table from the bridge. The computers were still on the now empty bridge of the Arwen. The main hall was the center of government from the tiny colony. Five people milled about talking to each other, each person represented a tiny section of the village. With the Commander and Fran it made the counsel total seven. Whatever choice was made had to be majority, there would be no ties.
“Where is the Captain?” One of the reps asked.
“She will not be here,” Commander Pippleton answered. “Since I’m second I will represent her.”
“Just as well,” another replied. “We know how she will vote.”
They each sat in their own chair and looked up at the Captain’s chair. The Captain’s chair was raised high above everyone by a thin pole, allowing each member to see the other without anything getting in their way. “Okay, let’s get started. We’ve deliberated on this matter more than once and I know it’ll come up again but, a call to vote was motioned at the last meeting and seconded so, let’s vote. All those who want to stay raise your hand.”
Four people, including the Commander, raised his hand. “All those who want to leave, vote please.”
Fran and two others raised their hands. “So, we’re staying another year,” Fran said sadly.
The Commander reached over and touched her shoulder, “I’m sorry.”
“I thought you of all people would want to leave,” Fran said to him. “You’re the only Ulliam here, it must get lonely.”
“Not at all,” The Commander replied. “I find human company just as rewarding as Ulliam. We don’t have the same sex drive as you do, in fact we can turn off the drive completely if we wanted. Another advantage of being breed a warrior I suppose, sexual competition can be a dangerous thing. Yes, I do miss my planet but we all do. The Captain is right, we can’t chance the Handlers following us. They’re a patient race and they can wait us out as long as it takes.”
“I still don’t think we’re being watched,” Fran said. “But, I’ll take this back to my people and tell them the news. I’m sure some will enjoy the chance to stay here and study the planet.”
“Fine,” another member said. “Let’s talk about other business, shall we? We have a crop field we need to discuss and we need to figure out how to get the food here to taste better.”
“Well,” Fran said, “we’ve done some surveying from the Arwen and we’ve tested samples from all over the planet. Right now we have nothing new to report, the stuff is going to taste bad for a while, at least until our genetic teams can figure something out.”
“How long will that be?”
“Maybe another year or two. This sort of thing takes time to develop, I’m sorry.”
“Okay, green stuff for another year.”
“Or two,” Fran said. “We could have a breakthrough though, we’re still trying.”
The Commander bored of these conversations. In the distance he heard the approaching storm and hoped it would suspend the meeting, or at least shorten it.
******
The storm had passed by in the night and when Marjorie awoke she was greeted by the sweet smell of freshly wet vegetation. She breathed it in, letting the smell fill her nose. She tried to memorize it, she wanted to be sure this is what she remembered the next time she smelled it. Her, alone with an entire planet below her waiting.
She took another energy bar, as the former Captain she did have some privileges to the rations, and ate it. It was her last so there would be nothing to eat but the plant life. She looked back to the colony, now visible since the fog had lifted. It was a makeshift grouping of white and green set against the most beautiful backdrop Marjorie had ever seen. It looked out of place on this world. They were out of place on this world. Soon it would grow, the small colony would become a small city and the small city would become a small country. Who knew how long that would take, a hundred years, two hundred, but she knew, thanks to the nanobots, she would be alive to see it.
In the mean time she could do other things. She had told the Commander she was going to return but that was a lie. She didn’t want to have to explain herself to him or to anyone. Really, there was no reason to explain herself, she was no longer responsible for the ship or her crew. They could take care of themselves, they had their freedom now. There was no reason others shouldn’t do what she was doing. No reason at all.
She took out her communicator and turned it on. She paged the Commander and when he came on she said, “Commander, I abdicate my position on the council. I’m going for a walk. I’ll see you when I return.”
“Captain?” Was all he got out before she turn the communicator off. She placed it into her back pack then slung the pack on. Her nanobots were ready for action. She felt them tighten her muscles with a surge of well measured adrenaline. It was a new day and she was going to explore for as long as she could before she had to rest. Looking to her right she saw what looked like a small river, she had no idea how far away it might be but she was determined to find out.
Chapter twenty-seven
The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months and when Marjorie woke up one morning to check the chronometer in her bag she found it hard to believe she’d been away from camp for a full Earth year. The climate on the planet had gotten slightly cooler as she explored but she never thought that would be the planet’s
winter.
It was early morning and the sun rose over a group of small hills. She had made her camp among some very tall trees the canopy of which blocked out the site of the stars. She would have to find a clearing before she camped tonight.
Reaching out for the nearest leaf she yanked it from the branch and ate it. Even after a year she still hadn't gotten used to the taste of leaf in the morning. She ate because she had too, not because it was enjoyable. As she packed she thought about all the wonderful breakfasts her personal cook would make her and her staff every morning. His other meals were good but nothing could beat a good breakfast with some nice, strong coffee.
She shook the thought from her head and continued to place items into her pack. She would need to head back to the main camp soon, her food and water supply was fine but the battery's to some of her important equipment was running low. She would need to recharge them on the Arwen or at camp.
Marjorie placed the pack on her shoulder and started walking. From her right pocket she pulled out her communicator and turned it on. The beacons she was leaving on her trail returned a strong signal. On her screen she saw them all lined up, each one marking another mile she had traveled, each one giving information on the soil, the air temperature, the weather, any ground movement and it's exact elevation. With this information they could plan for the future, map out new locations for colony's, plan for the eventually baby boom she was sure would follow shortly.
The communicator beeped, it was Pippleton checking in for his morning report. They had established this routine after he accepted she was not going to return anytime soon. He never liked it but he was still a good soldier and did what he was told. “Good Morning,” she said cheerfully.
“Good morning, Captain.”
She rolled her eyes. “What's new this morning?”
“We're going to vote again on if we should leave or not. It's been a year since our last vote and we agreed to revisit the question.”
“What do you think the result will be? Do you still speak for me or have you changed your mind?”
“No, I am still with you and I always will be. I understand your logic and I don't miss home.”
“It's hard not to be home,” she replied contemplatively. “You need to do all you can to convince them that going home is still a bad idea.”
“It may be more difficult than you think. I wish you were here to talk sense into people.”
She heard something in his voice, an apprehension she hadn't heard before. “What's going on?”
There was a pause. He must have been collecting his thoughts. Finally, he said, “people have been having dreams of home. Vivid ones and when they wake they get angry they aren't home.”
A cold chill ran down her spine. She recalled the strange dreams she had before she even met the Handlers. She recalled how they told her they could induce dreams, it's how they communicated with her and with Captain Ruzoto. Could they do the same thing here? “I don't like the sound of that,” she replied. “Can you hold off the vote until I get there? I was about ready to head back soon anyway. I can start my journey now if you want.”
“We can send a shuttle down to get you if you want but I'm not sure I can hold the vote off. It's supposed to go off tonight.”
“Good idea, send a shuttle to get me, there's a clearing a few miles behind me, I'll meet them there.”
******
Commander Pippleton closed the communicator and looked around. People were restless, he could sense it. Everyone was having the dreams now, everyone wanted to return home.
He spotted Fran talking to one of the council members. She was very animated, her hands moving back and forth, her body shifting from one leg to the next. The council man stood there and listened. He smiled when she was finished and placed his hand on her shoulder. As Pippleton approached he was only able to hear the last part of what he said, “You have my word.”
“Word for what?” Pippleton asked.
His voice seemed to startle Fran. The Council man nodded and walked off leaving the two of them alone in the middle of the village. “Word for what?” Pippleton repeated the question.
“Nothing, just-”
“You must think I'm stupid. There can only be one thing you would get so excited about. Did you convince him to vote to leave the planet?”
“Yes,” Fran replied. She couldn't look at him. “I have the majority now and I know the others will fall in line once they know they can go home.”
Pippleton raised his shoulders in anger. His warrior heart beat faster and the rage that he had kept inside for so long simmered to the surface. “Are all humans this foolish? Can't you see this is some sort of Handler trick?”
“Commander-”
“Do not address me by my rank, you've lost that honor.”
“Okay, Pippleton,” she said nearly spitting his name out in disgust. “You have to see this is what the people want.”
“No, this is what you want, this is what you've wanted since the start and now you have it. You have just doomed the Earth to destruction.”
“We've seen no signs of us being watched. We have the Arwen scanning the system constantly looking for something and we haven't found any signs. We were not followed here, the Handlers have no idea where we are and we should go home and help Earth prepare for their inevitable arrival.”
“Don't you think they can find ways of hiding themselves from our scanner? They can build massive structures around stars, they have discovered wormholes that we never even thought about and they have ways of getting into our dreams. Don't you think they could have found a way to do that here? To have people dream of home?”
“Now you just sounding paranoid. Yes, we know they could get into Captain Cook's mind but she was hooked up to several machines and they needed some pretty powerful hardware to do it. Do you see anyone hooked up here? Do you see any sign of the Handler's here? No, we don't and that's why we're going home.”
“But you can’t.” Pippleton pleaded. “Let me contact the Captain, if she can’t be here physically she can at least her be on the communicator.”
She glanced behind her and nodded to some unseen person. She looked back at Pippleton. “I’m sorry I can’t let you do that. I know the power the Captain has on her crew. She even convinced me for a little while that staying here was a good idea.”
Commander Pippleton looked past Fran to see several men slowly walking up behind her. Each carried with them a blunt weapon. He looked around him and noticed the square was now empty except for him, Fran and the seven humans approaching. “Fran, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes I do,” Fran replied stepping away. He thought he heard some real remorse in her voice. “I know the Captain will be able to convince enough people to vote against this and we’ll have to stay here another year. I don’t want to stay here another year, I want to go home.”
Five of the men broke off and surrounded the commander while two stood behind her. “Even if going home means destroying Earth?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“What are you going to do to me?” He asked feeling the fighter inside of him start to rise up.
“We won’t kill you if you give us the communicator,” Fran said holding her hand out.
The Commander thought about it for a moment. The chambers were only about a mile away and he was fast in a sprint, but not in a long run. Humans have shown they can run further than the Ulliam but not as fast to start. Could he get a good enough lead to make it to the chambers? If he did would he find that the council had sided with Fran and had arranged this ambush?
As he weighed his options he spotted one of the men lunge forward with a pipe high in the air. He reacted by instinct. He grabbed the man’s hand and twisted, his Ulliam strength easily snapped the man’s arm and dislocated his shoulder.
The next attack came from behind. He spun around but not in time and metal pipe slammed him on the side of the head. He stumbled and felt his eyes watering. T
he same man tried again but this time the Commander was ready. He reached out and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. With a warrior scream he lifted him into the air and threw him as far as he could. The man landed with a loud thud on the dirt. The others hesitated briefly before charging forward.
The cries from the men were drowned out by Pippelton’s primal scream. He lost all connection with his rational mind and let his fighting instincts take over. He ran toward the charging men taking them by surprise. The attacker he reached he barreled into with his head down. The man fell to the side in an attempt to avoid the collision and the Commander clipped his side. Even a glancing blow broke several ribs.
Someone tried to tackle the Commander but once again the human was too slow and the Ulliam was too quick. He jumped over the attempted tackle and turned to face the man when and lead pipe slammed into the back of Pippleton’s head. He staggered, the blow disorienting him. Before he could recover another object, he thought it was might have been a hammer of some sort, from a different direction broke his left shoulder leaving his arm limp and useless. He fell and the remaining men jumped on him, punching, kicking and bludgeoning him with all their might.
“Enough!” Fran yelled. She pointed to one of the men, “Get a medic here now. You,” she pointed to someone else, “Take the Commander’s body to his hunt, close and lock the door.”
Pippleton rolled on the ground trying to fight back as the men picked him up. Bloody and beaten he looked at Fran. She watched as they carried him away. Her face stone still, her body stiff. He saw her pick up the communicator he had dropped. She looked at it before placing it back onto the ground. She stepped on it hard scattering the communicator.
*****
Marjorie waited for several hours in the middle of the clearing. Something was wrong, very wrong. She tried to contact Pippleton but didn’t get a response. The sun had set a few hours earlier and the stars dominated the night sky.
The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny Page 21