Only a few had spouses or children and they were led to their rooms aboard the ship with all accommodations needed for their adjustment.
It was explained to all the new passengers that there was no timeframe for their departure to Earth II and that the ship can hold a lot and would not leave until fully boarded.
Within a few days, reports started to come in that people were missing and it was suspected that they had been captured by aliens.
Naturally, this false propaganda was all set up to try to draw Hannah out of hiding and to try to force her to prove she did not have them captured by aliens or anyone else. She would not be able to say they left on their own free will! Thus, she remained silent.
Captain Zee enjoyed having his new passengers, and every day gave them yet another tour of a part of the ship they had not seen.
The new passengers were thrilled to see the vast amount of recreation available aboard the Ark Royal. There were areas off limits, but the areas they were allowed to go to were very exciting.
None could separate in their heads that this was a spaceship, a cruise ship, and a battleship! Adapting was easy and all of them started their daily lives aboard the Ark Royal.
Each had duties to perform on behalf of Hannah but would do those duties without hesitation.
From that moment on, it would be as if they had simply disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Another group arrived in only two weeks and the pickup went smoothly, the scans successful and all were allowed to board the transport pod. When they arrived at the ranch, they too were as shocked as the first group. This would continue as long as there was a need for it and volunteers seeking refuge continued.
Meanwhile, Ohtron and his bitrons continued to pick up samples all across the united states from each of those major farms that were found to be infected.
Samples were now being processed in the lab but there were a lot of samples to log, and the lab worked around the clock to try to narrow down the problems.
This new strain was causing severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting in thousands of citizens. Hospitals and clinics were reporting some casualties in the young and the very old.
The young children and older adults started to develop life-threatening forms of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome, and this caused thousands to panic as many began to fall ill.
There were many that did not report being sick because they thought it was just the flu and their symptoms were mild anyway. This made it somewhat difficult to trace this particular strain.
At this point, most were not sure what was safe to eat because officials were pointing at ground beef for multiple reasons and the fast-food restaurants lost massive amounts of money when they could no longer sell hamburgers. They demanded an answer.
Hannah hated the way they were complaining because lives were being lost and they seemed to care more about the loss of business.
But grocery stores lost the most in business and began selling only canned foods and things that did not include beef or vegetables. Many hated to see all that food destroyed when there were so many going hungry.
Then the unpasteurized milk was infected, and that was quickly pulled from the shelf.
Dr. Trexien was working on several angles to help track the problem but at this point, it was obvious the situation was completely out of control.
Even drinking water was now on the list and everyone was told to boil the water that they consumed. Human and animal waste was one large cause, but this was because of deregulation of several industries so the larger companies could turn a profit.
Private wells and small towns were hit the hardest from the water contamination. Even swimming pools and lakes were infected and at this point, it was believed there would be no end to this particular strain.
Thousands of citizens were now walking around with masks on and wearing latex gloves afraid to touch anyone or anything that they were not familiar with.
The deaths continued, and the numbers were mounting fast. The government now had a full-blown crisis and the current administration was failing the very people who had voted them into the office to serve them.
Then there was the shortage in medicines needed to aid the sick and Dr. Trexien immediately suggested they use the replicator. The real problem with that idea was that they would need to find a way to provide the medicine and not have to go through all the red tape to get it approved.
There was simply no time to help those people dying but to place the extra supplies where they were needed most. They would do this by using Ohtrons bitrons to pop in and out and leaving the medicines at clinics and hospitals.
Meanwhile, the transport pod continued to pick up refugees that were requesting to get inside the ranch who were either part of Hannah’s movement or knew someone who was.
The next group of refugees consisted of folks in campers and tents that continued to line up on the main road out by the ranch's entrance.
Every vehicle had stalled because electronics died in any vehicle trying to get near the main gate or any place around the entire perimeter of the 5,000-acre ranch.
They were roadside camping for 20 miles in either direction and it was impossible to help everyone without drawing too much attention to the ranch.
Those inside the ranch could think of no other way than to send help to those lined up and down the highway but to do it undercover.
The risk of allowing that many refugees inside the ranch were just too risky at the moment and there was no time to scan each person to be sure they were not spies working for the current administration or a foreign nation.
The safety of all that lived on the ranch was at stake, and as the number of refugees kept lining up for miles, Hannah worked on a solution to help them.
Every news channel around the country was now watching the ranch like a hawk. Many were reporting that there was simply no one coming to their rescue, and many agreed the aliens had simply left them behind.
At no time in history had anyone wanted Syra or her people anywhere on Earth’s soil, yet in these troubled times, thousands upon thousands had changed their minds and prayed for the aliens to return.
The only way to help these refugees was at night when the skies were dark, and Hannah’s people were undercover. They walked among those lined up by the highway looking for the very young or very old whose lives were in danger and whose health was declining and plucked them out one by one.
They were moved inside the ranch in the cover of darkness through a transport pod under shroud and no one was the wiser.
In no time at all, the ranch began to look like a tent city. Night after night refugees were moved inside the ranch in small groups once they were scanned and approved.
Dr. Trexien and his medical crew worked day in and day out to help the sick. Some had to be transported aboard the Ark Royal, and those that were happily stayed.
Then the results came in from all the samples of the farms that Ohtron took and there was simply no way to blame anyone directly.
Too many changes had taken place the last couple of years due to the new administration making it okay to not follow old rules. It was now all about making money, and now everyone was paying the price but those that caused it in the first place.
The issue of food contamination spiraled out of control in only months.
The news media was noticing a sudden reduction in the number of refugees waiting alongside the road and many suggested they had simply given up hope and left.
Yet, inside the ranch, everyone was accounted for and many of the sick had already recovered. They were starting to enjoy the good clean food, the water and even the air on the ranch smelled better according to most.
This had been difficult, to say the least for Hannah. It was her first emergency disaster, and she had to be told multiple times she had done well.
Maybe Hannah was born to be the one that would end up saving mankind by rescue and relocation!
&nb
sp; That evening, another conference was a placed between the Caldiron ranch and Earth II. Hannah spoke on visual with Syra and told her things were looking much direr on Earth than she had ever seen.
Because of the deregulation, much of the food supply was tainted and had to be purchased outside the United States and it was not looking good getting much-needed foods from Mexico.
The relationships between the U.S. and all other foreign allies had all but diminished. She explained that she felt they were on their own now.
Hannah explained that the sins of the old President Trevil was still being felt. With only two good presidents that followed him and just more than 16 years, they had not managed to recover from his term in office of 8 years and six months he stole from President Caldiron by forcing him out and to Earth II.
Now with President Anderson already working around the clock to destroy democracy and it appeared to be working.
The new president had already gotten himself in office, and even if many of his followers no longer followed him, his friends in higher places would make sure he never had to be elected again.
As Hannah explained to Syra, she felt history was repeating itself many times over, and with each time it was getting worse!
Syra asked Hannah to see if it was possible to expand the ranch in size in order to handle a large number of refugees until the ship was full to capacity. It was just a random idea, but at this point, she many such random ideas while searching for answers.
They had discussed many problems and their possible solutions before disconnecting and this gave Hannah a recharge and she was ready to fight again.
Later that evening Hannah and her team contacted the owners of all the surrounding ranches. They called each owner to the Caldiron Ranch, so they could try to convince them to donate much of the land not being used. This would allow more refugees to relocate there if needed.
They also would explain to them, they would still own their land but would be leasing it out under the protection of the dome. This meant their pastures would stay healthy, their water pure, their air clean and free from possible pollution!
The owners of the land were more than happy to do this because this would give them a chance to grow healthy foods free of contamination to feed the hungry, but also a chance to grow healthy cattle.
They knew that under that dome of protection with the Zhian technology their land would soon be the most valuable on Earth!
Many of the farms and ranches were more some less the size of the Caldiron Ranch but they all quickly joined “Operation Refuge”!
Hannah knew if she could not save the country, she would save parts of it and Caldiron Ranch quickly grew in size to accommodate the thousands seeking food and shelter. They had been displaced by the bad economy, loss of work, no access to good clean food and medical care without paying a price they could not afford.
Once the word spread quietly among ranchers that they had a chance to protect their land as long as they were willing to house refugees, they quickly joined in.
Operation Refugee was working and would continue to grow if it was feasible to do so. Hannah knew not everyone could be moved to Earth II for years to come. Earth II was still a young planet and had only been inhabited by Zhians and humans now for some 20 years or so.
Hannah chose to use the adjacent farmland for growing food and the camps would be spread far apart from each other for safety.
With seven states now prepping for refugee camps with shields in place it would not be long before the bots aboard the Ark Royal could get the land pure again and ready for the refugees.
Those that did not want to leave Earth would be moved to one of those camps of their choosing. Others would stay on the Caldiron Ranch and wait for the transport to Earth II.
Hannah was surprised at just how many wanted to stay; they just wanted things to get better on Earth. This was one of the reasons she loved Syra’s idea about the refugee camps and placing them under protection.
Every day it seemed that those refugee camps started to fill up even faster than expected. Rules were put in place that if you want to live at one of them work was required.
Work was assigned to every person that was capable. They were all given what they needed. But it was now late in the year, and winter would soon set in in most states where the camps were located.
The E coli epidemic had eased off and most infected foods had been destroyed. But it left little to eat for most and many began to starve. Hundreds of thousands of people began to voice their opinion of the new administration and for the first time in their lives spoke against it.
This broke Syra and Hannah’s heart because it was too little too late.
The winter was harsher than anyone could remember but the aliens had done all they could to help the people in America. They had never looked outside its borders and knew they were limited to what they could do.
The seven refugee camps continued to operate and were so secure no one outside could figure out how to break in for food, shelter or Zhian technology everyone knew was keeping those people warm and fed.
When the new president saw those innocent people lining up trying to cross an invisible fence, he had the military fire at them to run them off.
These refugee camps made him mad as hell, but he could not do anything about it. It was the one thing he could not touch and each time he got angrier, he took it out on the less fortunate.
Things began to slow down, and Hannah could actually focus on her own people on the ranch and work towards the first exodus from Earth to Earth II in early Spring.
Meanwhile, back on Earth II, Syra knew the problem on Earth was much worse than the inhabitants of Earth understood at the time. Syra knew that no foreign nation was accepting anyone from the United States, and their only hope was her and Earth II!
She knew time was running out, and things were going to get much worse before ever getting any better. That is when Syra called a meeting from the inhabitants of both colonies, the City of Allieah and the City of Arteemus, and those who could not attend the meeting had direct visuals of it to stay informed of the situation.
Peoples of Earth II, we are here today to start getting prepared for the first big refugee group from Earth in the Ark Royal.
We expect it to be nearly full so please, let us all start to prepare for that day. Many of those relocating have skills we all need, and they will benefit us all by being here.
But they must have shelter, and we must work around the clock with our replicators to make sure those new arrivals have some sort of shelter until they can settle in.
Syra continued her speech and everyone listened carefully. Life on Earth II was much different from what it is like on Earth and everyone’s hearts were heavy laden with sadness at what was going on.
Every service bot Earth II had was called upon to work hard at building new shelters in the two cities. And Zhianites and humans worked side by side to assist the bots in expanding their cities.
They had been working on the project since the first large group came in on Ellead but now had to increase the pace in order to be ready.
With the new speeds of travel and the newly operating wormhole, Earth II would start going through growing pains and Syra wanted to make sure they were all ready for that.
But many more reports continued to come in from Hannah on Earth, and Captain Zee had his crew working diligently to accommodate possibly more than they had planned on.
The captain reported that many were already aboard his ship and were adjusting well. During this time, they were receiving visuals and a brief history of Earth II so that when they arrived, they would be ready for their new life.
He had explained that this group of refugees consisted mostly of Hannah’s marchers, plus groups of people who had opposed the current administration of the United States. Some were displaced from their homes and had the very young or very old traveling with them.
Plus, some who had worked on saving the environmen
t and felt they had lost the battle were now under threat by the new administration.
It was only a few weeks later that the dreaded message came in! A civil war had broken out; thousands started to resist the new administration’s policies and they no longer feared to voice their opinions.
Many were now calling out the president for selling out their country to foreign nations while aliens were working around the clock trying to save a country that could no longer be saved, in their opinions.
Hunger and a long winter on Earth had driven many to the streets to fight. It was then that Syra called the captain back to Earth II at the first available opportunity.
It was now early spring, and it had been a long and harsh winter on Earth and in America, but it was now a new year and a new chance for many to start their lives over.
At the first opportunity, Captain Zee performed a headcount for the journey to Earth II. His passengers were excited and ready to take the next step in their lives.
They had been getting ready for the voyage that would literally take them only a short time but was worlds away from where they were now.
Everyone that was new aboard the Ark Royal had been fully briefed. They had also gone through a lot of medical tests to make sure they could handle the different atmosphere of Earth II. Training that they had been going through since they first arrived at the ranch was crucial.
They had all received medical treatments for any diseases they carried or illnesses. They would all receive a fresh start on Earth II, and Dr. Trexien wanted his patients to be ready for their new life.
Several had to be placed in the Restore Pod to fix some illnesses they were not aware they had. Other than that, everyone was ready and went directly to their assigned units for the trip to their new home.
Some who had lost all that they had back when the stock market crashed a few years ago now had nothing and were dying and they were allowed to travel to Earth II as their replacement retirement plan.
Hannah and Charles bid the captain farewell and told him they looked forward to his return as soon as was possible.
The Chronicles of Syra Omnibus Page 29