THE PEACE KEEPERS

by Tom Tryst

  “The Universal Council also stresses education. They want their people to be aware of the universe around them, to be knowledgeable of its sciences. As needed, you will have robot instructors teaching both you and your children. Love and cherish your young ones, for they are your future.

  “As to what you call politics, there is no real equivalent in the universe. The Universal Council sees to it, through its benevolent Peace Keepers, that all societies are functioning smoothly and that trade is equitable to all. You can select one person to be a spokesperson for you, what we call ‘a warden.’ That person will communicate the wants or desires of the people to the Peace Keeper assigned to that ward. For you, that Peace Keeper will be the one you call ‘37' - the one that was with you on Earth.

  “For now, that will suffice. Read your manual. Study it. Consider it like you do your Bible. Which brings up the last item in your briefing: religion. The entire universe recognizes a living soul’s need to worship a deity; it is instinctive in every species. You call yourselves ‘Christians,’ worshiping the same God, to varying degrees. We will never ask you to do something that is against that faith. We have thoroughly studied your Bible and find nothing that conflicts with the tenets of the Universe. You are free to practice your faith, or not. But do nothing that is not in harmony with Universal love.

  “So, new citizens of the Planet Paradise, we welcome you. We hope you enjoy your new home and your new lives.”

  Peace Keeper 37, who had been standing perfectly still while the Universal Council spoke through him, bowed slightly.

  Daniel rises and speaks to 37, “Please express our appreciation for the love they have shown us. We will abide by their wisdom.”

  “It is done,” 37 answers. “Now, Daniel, if you will. Make assignments for the tents, then return. We will have meals prepared for you.”

  After having one of the robots, who were referred to by the aliens as ‘Helpers,’ place numbers on all the tents, Daniel makes assignments. He is assisted by Charles, who has assumed would continue to be his ‘deputy,’ just as he was in The Compound. Daniel silently agrees, although he would have preferred to have his wife, Sherry, as his assistant. Together, they assign lodgings to the people, keeping families together. One is left vacant, the one next to his own quarters. This will be his office, or Ward Headquarters.

  As soon as each tent is assigned, other Helpers deliver packages to each tent. The packages contain clothing in sizes fitting the occupants, toiletries and other items they will need until the settlement can start producing their own needs. After a good meal of strange, but surprisingly tasty native foods, the afternoon is left free for the new citizens of the planet Paradise to do whatever they wished.

  Daniel and Sherry, along with his brother, David, and wife Janet, set out to explore their new valley. It is so vast in area, they know they can only survey a small portion in one afternoon. He suspects that 37 has placed their temporary camp in the area best suited for their needs; it will probably be the village site. There are many open meadows dominated by grass, with occasional clusters of large trees, and some lone standing ones. Groves of trees forest the shallow dells, possibly because of streamlets. But most of the land is almost flat, gently slopping in the direction of the lake; by the map, they determine it is two miles away.

  Where the gently slopping land rises to the surrounding foothills, the forest becomes dense. A good sized stream runs out of the forest and follows the terrain to the lake. They quickly determine its waters could be used for irrigation, even though they have been advised that nature would usually provide adequate rainfall. They needed thirty homesteads, each of at least 40 acres, the standard set by 37 as the amount of land needed to produce their own needs with an excess for trade. That would fill two square miles, but with taking in consideration the terrain, they would have to be more scattered, for each farm would have to be on relatively level land.

  They have reached the stream, looking for a place to cross without getting wet.

  “I wonder if it runs the year around.” Sherry is speaking to all.

  It is Daniel who answers. “There are no seasons here, remember? I’m sure it does.”

  David moves to the water’s edge, looking for marine life. “I don’t see any fish,” he declares, then suddenly jumps back with a cry. Something big and dark slid by just under the surface. “What the hell is that!” he cries pointing, but it is already out of sight.

  Daniel joins him. “Where?”

  “It’s gone. Some kind of fish, I guess. It was big enough to be a shark.”

  “This is fresh water. Besides, they told us nothing here will harm us.”

  The girls have found a wide spot in the stream. Sherry calls out to them, “We can wade across here!” They were already shedding their boots and socks, rolling up their pant-legs when the men join them.

  “I ain’t going in there!” David declares. “Not after what I saw.”

  “You mean that?” asks Janet, pointing just up stream. Ten feet away, the back of a creature broke the surface in the shallows, its bulging eyes watching them. It appeared to be fish-like, about five feet long. Her boots hung over her shoulders, she enters the water and wades to within a few feet of it, ignoring her husband’s warning. It doesn’t move.

  “I’ll bet I could pet it,” she suggests.

  Sherry joins her, wanting to get a closer look. “Looks fishy to me!” she comments, then giggles. “I mean it looks like a fish. Maybe a sturgeon.”

  While David begs them to back away, Daniel is removing his own footwear. “Nothing here is harmful,” he again tells David. “It has to be vegan, too. It’s probably wonder what we are, as well.”

  As Daniel enters to the water, knee deep. David follows, muttering, “I ain’t taking off my boots.”

  The critter watches them as they cross. When they reach the other side, its slithers across the shallows and disappears into deeper waters.

  “That was the first live thing we’ve seen here,” comments Sherry as they continue, walking barefoot, “besides the birds . . . flying things.”

  “They’re probably in the woods, watching us. I suspect they’ll soon want to check us out, like Mr. Fish did,” Daniel replies. “They said we’ll share some of our produce with them. Might become pets.”

  “Just as long as I don’t have to milk them,” David adds.

  As they crest a slight rise, a herd of six animals come into view. All six are looking back at them.

  “You spoke too soon,” Daniel kids his wife. “They kind of look like deer, only larger, but just as slim.”

  “Their heads look more canine; like a coyote,” Janet suggests. “Or like a collie.”

  Even as they watch, five of them go back to grazing. One, larger than the others, keeps watching them.

  “Grass eaters. Logical,” Daniel notes.

  They make a wide detour around them, so as not to disturb them. Apparently, they never did, for the last they saw, they were still contentedly grazing.

  Still having no way to measure the passage of time, they try to gauge time by the sun, knowing the day would be half over, with an equal amount of nighttime. Rather than at midnight, a new day on Paradise begins around sunrise - or specifically, at 2600 hours. When they are sure they have covered most of the area they will be farming, they return to camp. There, while waiting for the evening meals, David and Charles begin plotting out farm sites on the topographical map that shows elevation variations by every five feet. Relatively level areas are easy to see. The ariel photo map shows the areas of woods.

  Making a cutout pattern 2,400 feet by 1,600 feet by map scale, which is 40 acres in area, they begin to lay out suitable farm plots, leaving 200 feet between plots to allow wild life to pass freely as well as any future roadways. They try to group them around an area on the stream that they had determined to be the location for their village, so that every farm will have easy access to what will be a processing plant and a distribution center for imports and exports.


  The establishment of roadways is still unknown. Perhaps, they will use anti gravity vehicles similar to the shuttles and need none. There are still many unanswered questions.

  After another pleasant dinner, and with the sun setting, casting a golden glow over the valley, all retire to their lodgings to continue reading the rather thick manual, all in English and cross-indexed. Daniel instructs all to read the first five sections of their manual; they will separate into study groups right after breakfast. They know they have a lot to learn.

  By the time the sun is well clear of the horizon of wooded hills, all have reported to the dining tent. As they exited their tents, they see a collection of machinery parked in several rows in front of the dining tent. On close examination, they see that most are tracked farm units, more compact then Earth farm implements. They also see many small, wheel-less carts, capable of seating four people comfortably, six crowded. There are ten of them. Daniel assumes they must use the same method of anti gravity as the shuttles - and that they are for personal transportation

  They are soon joined by the second set of thirty Earthlings. Daniel greets them, amused at their amazement, the same he and his group had felt. After breakfast, they leave this group to the briefing by Peace Keeper 37. Each is issued a small communication device, similar to a cell phone, that fits into a special pocket on their shirts; it has multiple purposes.

  They soon fall into a routine: mornings are for study and occasional briefings by 37 and other Peace Keepers; afternoons are for working. Or rather supervising the installation of fencing for each of the thirty farmsteads with three strands of smooth wire strung on aluminum posts, standing every thirty feet apart. They are intended both for keeping out the larger native critters and for designating farmland. There are a few openings for future gates. Each site is surveyed, selecting designated areas staked for the eventual habitat and the outbuildings.

  As each farm site is surveyed and fenced, there appears on the following morning stacks of prefabricated construction material, several for the farm house, one each for an equipment shed, workshop and storage shed. Soon after, crews of robots, overseen by a Peace Keeper, move in and start assembling the buildings and furnishing the house, letting the new home owners help where they can, voicing preferences. The outbuildings will be equipped as they are needed. Families begin moving in, but they will continue talking meals at the camp, a short walk of less than a mile at most.

  They soon learn that the robots doing the construction will also be those doing the farm work, with one robot assigned to each farm, and teams of others moving in when needed for cultivation and harvesting. Each farm will have a garden for their own use, and eventually, orchards. The other acreage will be for field crops. Its harvest will be trucked to the village, (not yet even started), for storage, processing and distribution. Some will go back to the farms for personal use; most will be shipped out as part of the communal trade program. Imports will be distributed as needed.

  By his own insistence, Daniel and Sherry will move into the last farm homestead completed, making certain his people are taken care of first. Still, their days are busy, as all help one another in getting their farms in operation. Another plot of land, equivalent to a square mile, 640 acres, will be planted in a grain much like wheat. Its ground seeds make a flour producing the best bread any had ever eaten. Yet another section of land has already been planted in a variety fruit-bearing trees, which they have been told will begin producing crops in as short as three years time. Vegetation grows much faster here than they are used to on Earth.

  They are pleasantly tired by sunset, having spent an eleven-hour day helping where needed, always coordinated by 37 and a handful of other Peace Keepers and robots. Their beds are cots, comfortable enough for one person, impossible for two. They keep their cots pressed side-by-side, occasionally sharing a cot as the urges dictated.

  The lamp is out, save for a very faint one they used as a nightlight, for the inside of the tent is spookily pitch-black at night without it. They lay in their own cot, facing each other.

  “I can’t help wonder,” Sherry says, Daniel’s face barely visible in the faint light. “Why they are doing this. I mean, look at the expenditure in labor, material and resources. On earth, this would be such a costly project.”

  “I know. I’ve asked 37 that same question,” Daniel responds. “It tells me that on a universal scale, it’s no big deal. Apparently, we will be producing fruits and plants that are rare in other places, many used in producing medicines widely needed. Plus food that is needed on other planets. They consider it a long term investment.”

  “It still feels like a big deal to me.”

  “Everybody does their thing,” Daniel reminds her.

  She is quiet for a while. He is beginning to think she has fallen asleep.

  “We start cooking classes tomorrow morning,” she breaks the silence. “All the women. We’ll learn to prepare all these strange foods. Apparently, a given food can be prepared to have a variety of flavors. It should be interesting.”

  He only manages a mumble, nearly asleep.

  “We really need the training. Most of us haven’t cooked in years. Some never have. Apparently, they expect the women to do all the cooking. It wouldn’t hurt the men to learn a little, too.”

  When he didn’t respond, she says softly, “Are you asleep?” knowing he frequently dozed of during their bedtime discussions - unless the subject was sex.

  “Yes,” he mumbles, “And you should be, too.”

  “Good night, Lover,” she replies with a smile, kissing her finger and planting it on his forehead.

  “‘Night, Babe.”

  It has taken a month - 28 days, Paradise time - to have all the farm houses completed and inhabited. They had been busy every day, not taking any days off, but nobody complained. Between the lighter gravity and the oxygen rich air, everybody felt energetic, ready to do a day’s work. After time off for meals, most were either working or in training nine hours of the day.

  Most are sure the delicious food has a lot to do with their increased energy levels. Most are getting to healthier weights, as well as seeming to get stronger - probably more due to things weighing less than that to which they were accustomed.

  Paradise orbits its sun in 310.23 ‘earth days,’ The Universal Council had decided that the Earthlings, the only inhabitants of Paradise, were not intelligent enough to use Universal Time, a rather complicated method that required frequent adjustments for the various period of rotation of the many member-planets governed by the Universal Council. Instead, they adopted a local time division for them, with a calendar similar to what they were used to, including the names of the months. A Paradise year has twelve months, each having four weeks of seven days. The first of each month always begins on a Monday; the 28th day of each month is always a Sunday. The months are named after Earth months, January through December. Paradise’s ‘year’ is 336 days. The adopted year is not the time it takes Paradise to make one orbit around the sun, but rather based on an arbitrary 336 revolutions of the planet. This was possible as there were no noticeable season changes. The length of solar revolution was immaterial to the average Paradician.

  For time of day, the Universal Council stayed with the Earthlings hour, minute and second, adjusting the length of a second to coincide with the rotation of the planet. New time pieces were designed and provided to the settlers, both as individual instruments and as part of their communication device - which they simply call their ‘phone.’ The major difference was the 26-hour clock face, patterned after the military time they had been using. When the hour and minute hand pointed straight up, 2600 hours, it was sunrise, the start of a new calendar day; then the hour hand pointed straight down, 1300 hours, it was sunset. How quickly dawn came, or dusk came, depended on cloud cover. It didn’t take long for them to get used to it. Most time pieces used a digital readout - 0000 to 2600. The time pieces were calibrated to make the passage of exactly 26 hours to coinc
ide with the rotation of the planet, making an ‘hour’ on Paradise very much like an ‘hour’ on Earth.

  The first structure in the ‘village,’ yet unnamed, is the now familiar squat black box, a transporter. This one is different, having a different function; it is capable of transporting solid material. The warehouse will be built beside it, and connected to it. It will ship out the settlements’ produce and receive the imports, and will be manned by a single Peace Keeper, whose duties are coordination of all the village activities relating to import-export.

  Daniel now understands why formal, paved roads are not needed.

  For the past five weeks, the Universal Council has been delivering the material and produce needed by the settlers, shipping them by anti-gravity flatbed carriers to the camp. When all construction is completed, 60 robots and two Peace Keepers will remain. Peace Keeper 37 is one of them.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  As each family moves into their completed farm house, they discover that they have electrical power, provided by a six-foot high machine behind the house. They are only told that it uses a similar method of converting nitrogen to electrical power, much like the ones provided them on Earth. The houses are furnished in Earth fashion, apparently to help the immigrants feel more at home.

  The kitchen areas are only partially complete: no appliances have been set into the obvious vacant slots. For the time being, they will walk to the dining tent for their meals. They are promised that the kitchens will be complete by the time their personal garden plots begin producing - and when the women have completed their food preparation training. Their kitchen utilities will be very similar to those on which they are being trained.