by Peter Ponzo
CHAPTER 1
Dolom's Story
The first citizen was weary. It had been a trying day and Kevn had decided to go to his rooms early. The administrivia of the office did not agree with him. Every citizen seemed to have reason to complain directly to the First Citizen. No problem was too small to bring to his attention. He spent hours listening and making promises.
Kevn leaned back and thought of the excitement on the C-phon planets. Perhaps he would return, one day. One day he might again gaze into the curious canyons of C-phon1 with their rocky towers rising almost to the lip of the canyon. Perhaps he would again sit atop Mount Rizi on C-phon2 and watch the dazzling ionic display as the sun fell beyond the horizon. Perhaps he would again slide into a sleeping bag and shiver in the freezing night temperatures of C-phon3, then rise to the searing winds.
Life in the Dome was much too accommodating. There was little physical challenge - and he seemed to thrive on such challenges. Life as the First Citizen was hardly a challenge: When will the new line of foodstuffs be in the markets? Why must the MedLabs spend an inordinate amount of time in testing any new drug? Why the disparity in prices of skooter models?
He walked from his office down the short corridor and the door to his rooms dissolved. He walked in and slid into a large comfortable chair. He gazed for some time out the window and watched the last sun sink through a red streaked sky beyond the the Dolom Mountains. Dolom Mountains ... why were they called the Dolom Mountains? He must remember to ask DOC in the morning.
The settlers had named the planet Home almost before they had landed in the early transworld vessels. If they could survive and prosper then it would certainly be their home, and home, too, for all their descendants. There had never been any argument - they would survive; return to the polluted Earth was unthinkable. Although the heated debates concerning the location of the Dome community resulted in the current location above the underground lake, amid the Barren plains, there were several who had left to live in the mountains which could be seen on the horizon, usually shrouded in mist. It was always assumed that they had not survived.
Kevn walked to his cot and lay staring at the ceiling. He could not sleep. He rose, walked to the console littered with papers and videobooks and punched a comtab.
WE ARE AT YOUR SERVICE, FIRST CITIZEN came the booming reply.
Kevn leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, about to ask why they were called the Dolom Mountains. He paused. Why was anything called by that particular name? Why was coffee called coffee? Why was -
FIRST CITIZEN, AURIA-5 IS MISSING.
Why was it called Aura-5? Kevn smiled, then frowned.
"Auria-5? That's a star, isn't it?"
IN THE PHRINENE SECTOR
"Why Auria-5?" Kevn said out loud. "Why that name?"
THERE ARE OTHERS
Kevn sat up; he remembered what he had wanted to ask.
"DOC ... why are they called the Dolom Mountains?"
There was only a slight pause before DOC replied.
IT IS A LONG STORY - DO YOU WISH TO HEAR IT ALL?
Kevn smiled and returned to his cot. "Yes DOC, the whole story please."
Kevn listened intently and DOC related the events which lead to the naming of the Dolom Mountains. After nearly an hour DOC stopped. Kevn would tell that story to Gry and Lori tomorrow evening - after he had gorged himself on one of Lori's fine dinners. Sal would also be there. He would enjoy the story too. Kevn closed his eyes. He was hungry but thought of yet another of his evening meals of reconstituted, refined and refurbished algae and fell asleep without eating.
The next evening he arrived early at the triplet of rooms which housed Gry's family but Sal was already there, sipping hot brandy. Soon they were all sipping brandy; all except the black youth with the flashing green eyes and rusty curls which fell in waves about his shoulders. Runr sat crosslegged on the floor, staring out the window at the setting suns over the mountains.
The meal was excellent: a deep casserole of dark brown stew filled with large chewy tastecubes, a heaping bowl of steaming yellow and red vegetables soaked in a white sauce, several loaves of hot bread, an enormous tossed salad of greens and three bottles of red wine. It takes a special talent to prepare all this with reconstituted, refined and refurbished algae. Lori was a genius, Kevn thought. He really should tell her that.
"Lori, you're a genius," he said.
"Actually, Gry is the genius," she said. "His work at the algae ponds was too routine. You know Gry - he's always restless ... would like something more interesting to do. Anyway, he spent several weeks working nights to invent a new series of foodstuffs. What you ate tonight, they were his latest creations."
"Gry, you're a genius," said Sal with a wide grin.
Gry gazed into his bowl and pulled his rings. "Let's change the subject," he groaned.
There was a pause. Runr had turned to look at the others and asked, "Why do you not eat from the jungles in the Dolom Mountains? There are rats with flesh so sweet and small bugs that -"
"Oh Runr," gasped Lori. "Please, let's have no more talk of eating bugs in the Dolom Mountains."
"I have a story to tell you all," said Kevn, reminded of DOC's story. "Do you know why the Dolom Mountains are called that?" Everyone shook their head. "Well, let me tell you."
"Wait," said Gry with a pleased look. "Lori, can you bring the brandy? I have a ... uh, feeling that this will take some time."
They all took a large chalice of hot brandy, all except Runr, then settled back and listened.
"Well ...," began Kevn, "it all started when the first settlers landed on Home planet ..."
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The seven large spaceships hovered above the plains for several hours before slowly dropping to the hard ground. Clouds of dirt erupted from beneath the vessels into rippling towers of dust which were quickly swept away by the light wind. In the distance several dark mountains rose from a misty jungle. In the other direction were the plains: empty, barren, featureless, completely devoid of life and movement except for the endless spirals of dust.
Stairs unfolded from the undersides of the vessels and the settlers began to descend, gazing at their new home. They gathered at the base of the largest of the seven ships, waiting. At last he appeared at the top of the stairway and the crowd began to cheer. Gravic smiled and began to shout above the noise of the wind.
"Friends! It has been a long and weary journey! We have suffered hardships and lost many of our comrades on the vessel E-16! We are indeed fortunate that the asteroids did not claim more of our fleet, but we are here now; this will be our home and the home of our descendants!"
A cry went up from the crowd: "Home! Home!"
"We have much to do! We must protect ourselves against the harshness of the climate, we must build our city, we must build our vegetation arena, we must construct an environment within which our children will flourish! But, perhaps our first priority is to name our new home! What shall we call this planet?"
The chant began quietly then rose to a wild and jubilant shout: "Home! Home! Home!"
"Comrades! Welcome to Home planet!" shouted Gravic.
The crowd screamed. Many began to dance, to jump and sing. Gravic looked back at his young wife standing in the doorway. She was very proud. Gravic had been chosen shipmaster on their vessel E-11 and, before their departure from Earth, fleetmaster of all eight transworld vessels. He had guided the fleet to this small planet with authority and imagination. She knew, however, that he blamed himself for the loss of E-16; the asteroid storm could not be avoided.
"Will the shipmasters come forward!" shouted Gravic. "We must start at once to plan for the building of our city!"
Four men and two women separated from the crowd and began to climb the stairway. The crowd shouted cries of encouragement. The six entered the door to the interior of E-11 and followed Gravic who lead them to a small conference room with an oversized
table. They all sat and waited for Gravic to speak.
"Comrades," he began without formality, "according to our plan we will begin to disassemble all but one of our vessels in order to begin construction of the domed city. There will be some problems because of the loss of E-16. As you know, it contained the sections which would house the algae ponds. That is our most urgent need: the generation of foodstuffs to feed our citizens." Gravic paused. The others waited in silence. He continued.
"We have discussed the building of the dome many times, before and during our long journey. But without intimate knowledge of this planet, Home planet, we could not discuss its location. Now we must do just that."
A tall and distinguished man with grey hair spoke. "There is a collection of mountains in the direction of the setting suns." They all looked at him. He had been a respected meteorologist on Earth and many were surprised that he had encouraged the leaving of the mother planet and, indeed, indicated his enthusiasm for joining the fleet. He had travelled widely outside the solar system in support of his research on weather control and was immediately named a shipmaster when it was learned that he would join the fleet. All eyes were on him now as he spoke.
"At the base of the mountains is a jungle. Vegetation, water, minerals, protection from the weather - they would all be available if we build by the mountains."
"We circled the planet for three days before we landed in these plains," said Gravic. "Our sensors indicated very little water in the vicinity of the mountains. Small streams, a small pond ... nothing to sustain a community of several thousand individuals."
"The underground lake," said a statuesque woman with long black hair pulled severely to the back of her head. "We did identify an underground lake on the plains some one hundred and sixty kilometers from the base of the mountains, in the direction of the rising suns."
"Why did we leave Earth?" asked the grey-haired man. "To live on a barren plain? The mountains and jungle will provide an environment more like the old Earth ... trees, streams, flowers."
"But we will live in a dome," said another. "We will create our own environment. What then would be the advantage of having flowers at our doorstep? Besides, isn't it true that the weather is likely to be more severe, more unpredictable, near the mountains? You are a meteorologist, Dolom. Is that not true?"
"But we create our own environment," said Dolom, rising from his seat. "What then would be the disadvantage of unpredictable weather at our doorstep, beyond the controlled environment, beyond the domed structure?"
"Comrades," said Gravic quietly, "we are attempting to make an important decision in the absence of information. We will send a party into the plains, to the location of the underground lake. We will also send a party to the mountains. Each party can use the ground-cars in E-17. These parties will leave at sunrise ... sunsrise ... I mean the rising of the suns."
There was a chuckle and Gravic smiled. Many had never seen him smile and they all joined him - all except Dolom.
"The parties will gather information and return in two days, before the setting of the suns. We will meet again and continue this discussion."
Gravic rose and they all rose. Slowly they left the conference room leaving Gravic to himself. Debra appeared in the doorway and watched him standing at the port, gazing out over the barren plains.
"What are you thinking Gravic," she asked.
He turned and smiled. "Come in my dear. I was thinking of the problems of the past and the challenges of the future."
"You were thinking of K-16, weren't you?" she asked. "You know that you were not to blame."
"You are quite right, my dear. I was thinking of that ship and all the unfortunate people in it. I do not blame myself for its destruction but I do blame myself for its complement of passengers. Did you know that all of the computer scientists in our fleet were on that vessel? I am afraid that I suggested that arrangement. I asked them to spend the journey designing the computer control systems for the domed city."
"I see," said Debra, "and you think that there will be a problem without them."
"I am certain there will be. The computers on the transworld vessels are old and becoming unreliable. The Earth governments we approached would not provide us with more sophisticated machines ... they never thought we would make it this far."
"But we have the computer manuals and educational materials in videobooks. We will simply train a new generation of computer specialists," said Debra with confidence.
"Yes, you are quite right, my dear. Unfortunately that will take some time. These educational materials are almost unreadable and must be deciphered."
"Deciphered? But they were written by the computer specialists themselves, as I understand it," said Debra.
"That is precisely the problem." Gravic smoothed his sleek black hair and smiled. "Debra, do you remember when we took our first vacation together, by that dirty old lake, on planet Earth? We wanted to sail, so we bought a small sailing boat, 4 meters long as I recall. It was a kit and we were to build it ourselves. Do you recall the first sentence in the instruction manual?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't."
"Well, I remember it quite well. It said, 'Pass the halyard through the clew grommet to either side of the shroud thence to -"
"Yes, yes I do remember! It took you an hour to decipher that first sentence!"
They both laughed heartily. Gravic pulled Debra to his side. "Do you remember what we did next? We bought a videobook on sailing, for beginners. Do you remember?"
"Yes ... it used exactly the same jargon."
"Precisely. Sailors and computer scientists do not want anyone to understand the secret workings of their craft so they couch it in language that only they understand. After many years of initiation rites you may be admitted to the inner core, but then you must refuse admittance to any of the uninitiated - you must envelop yourself in a cloud of jargon - you must ..."
"Oh Gravic ... you are quite silly," and she kissed him on the cheek. Gravic grinned and gave her a gentle hug. He loved her dearly.
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The next morning the wind had subsided somewhat and a small crowd gathered to see the two ground-cars off. It was early and the first sun had just risen white and hot above the spirals of dust on the plains. Gravic spoke briefly to each crew and both g-cars hummed, inflated their airbags, rose several meters in the air and began to move in opposite directions. The crowd stood and watched until they had each disappeared in the distance. Gravic walked slowly back to his ship. His fine head of hair, normally neat and dark and combed tightly to his head now rose in the breeze. As he walked up the stairway he continually stroked it into place but to no avail. Debra waited at the doorway and placed his nightcap on his head as he entered. They both laughed.
For the next two days, few of the settlers left the comfort of their vessels. In the early afternoon of the second day Gravic heard a commotion, walked to a port and saw the g-car returning from the plains. Settlers were gathering and waving and shouting. He left E-11 and met them at the base of his ship. They looked elated.
"There is more water than we had imagined!" shouted the first settler out of the g-car. "The lake is seventeen kilometers long and over seven hundred meters deep. The surface of the lake is only fifty meters below ground level. The ground is loose dirt lying on bedrock. It will easily support a domed city. Our worries are over!"
The crowd cheered. Gravic smiled. "Our worries are over?" he thought to himself. "Our worries now begin."
The crowd waited until both suns had set beyond the black mountains then started to return to their vessels. Gravic stayed, staring at the darkening horizon. Why had the second g-car not returned? It would be dangerous to travel in the dark. Surely they would wait until sunrise, or sunsrise. Gravic started up the stairway and was about to enter his ship when he saw the lights of the second g-car winking in the dim light. It was still far off but he descended the sta
irway again and waited.
The g-car crew jumped out and walked toward E-11. Gravic waited at the bottom of the stairway. Len, the leader of the crew, was a wiry young man with hair to match. He approached Gravic and reported on their excursion.
"Gravic, there is little water in the jungle. Also, much of the ground is bog and would not support a domed city. Further, there are fierce winds which descend from the mountains. It would not be advisable to build there."
"I see," said Gravic, stroking his hair. "The other crew returned from the plains earlier. They report ideal conditions for the dome about one hundred and sixty kilometers from the mountains. We will meet in the morning and agree on the location. There is little time to waste ... the algae ponds must be started soon."
"Gravic," said Len, "there is one other thing."
Len paused, shuffling uneasily from foot to foot. "Dolom is still in the mountains. When we all agreed that the dome should not be built there, he was very angry. This morning when we awoke, he was gone. We spent most of the day looking for him - that's why we're late."
Gravic looked in the direction of the mountains. They rose dark and sinister to hide the star-filled night sky.
"Tomorrow we will send a team back to the mountains to search for him. The rest of us ... we will move our ships to the location of the underground lake and begin the construction of the dome," he said.
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At first light the next morning all seven ships had risen to a height of several hundred meters and were heading in the direction of the rising suns. A single ground-car skimmed over the plains toward the black mountains. By the time the suns had reached their zenith the dismantling of two ships had begun. Several holes were bored to the depth of the underground lake, pumps were installed, the two ships were slowly disassembled and sections of the dome were put in place. There was an atmosphere of elation among the settlers. During breaks they sang and danced. The sound of music drifted over the construction site, from E-11. By the end of the first day a segment of the dome was constructed, sufficient to provide cover for several hundred settlers. Others spent the night in the remaining ships. They all rose early and began again and each day saw more of the dome rise and expand. By the end of the second week they began dismantling two more vessels. By now most of the settlers could find crude accommodations within the spheroidal structure.
While still in transit from Earth it had been decided that the city would have the appearance and atmosphere of a large family complex. Housing for the inhabitants were simple rooms built in the shape of a cube with access to the layers of cubes achieved via external ramps. The interior of the dome was a network of roads called halls or corridors to emphasize the homelike environment they wished to create, and ramps which lead to the various levels. Large open areas or malls were constructed for group meetings. Beneath the entire structure was a series of vaults which carried the communication ducts. There had been many weeks of instruction on the features of the dome and everyone knew what they were to do. The first phase was completed within two months. It had two large algae ponds, one central mall, three hundred and seven rooms and a number of observation ports which looked out over the plains.
Although there was a ceremony to name the dome and the plains upon which the dome was built, it was clear that the names chosen in a naming competition, while on Earth, were unsuitable. The settlers had referred to their new home as the dome, so it was officially blessed with that name. They had called the plains barren, so it was officially called the Barrens. There seemed to be general agreement that names were to be simple. Even children born during the long journey to Home planet were given simple names. Secondary names were discarded in favour of single, three- or four-letter names. It was a sign of humility to give a newborn child a three-letter name, and humility would be encouraged in this new world.
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The g-car which had left in search of the missing meteorologist had returned within three days to report that he was nowhere to be found. Although no one seemed particularly concerned, they later referred to the distant hills as Dolom's mountains. After the first phase of construction there was a period of adjustment. Most settlers turned to more private matters: decorating their rooms, educating their children, inventing foodstuffs which belied the fact that all was algae. To everyone's delight an imitation coffee was devised, made entirely from algae. Most agreed that coffee was the most important new invention in that first year.
There was a general feeling of euphoria; even now they felt that the situation was a vast improvement upon conditions on the polluted and wretched Earth. They now had a Home and would occupy themselves with improving the quality of life within the Dome. In a general meeting at the central mall they elected Gravic president. He could now look after providing for the Dome. Gravic refused the post. He was simply a citizen of the Dome, he claimed. He did not want to make decisions which would effect the lives of all the settlers. The crowd disagreed. They insisted that he do just that: make the decisions. Gravic reluctantly agreed but insisted that he be called simply citizen ... perhaps First Citizen. The crowd cheered their approval. Thereafter there were no settlers; there were only citizens of the Dome.
For months after the first phase was completed the citizens gathered each evening outside the Dome to celebrate. They sang the new songs which told the story of the journey from Earth. They danced and watched the white suns descend beyond Dolom's mountains. Occasionally the evening sky over the mountains was illuminated with rising streams of light.
"That's old man Dolom," they said. "He's still angry."