by Tom Tryst
Being the last to move in, with all the others being settled, Daniel can now concentrate on the functioning of his own farm. All of the thirty sleeping tents have been removed, no longer needed. In their place, the robots constructed a large building which serves as a meeting hall, a recreation center, medical facility and classrooms. They gather there each evening, just before sunset, for their evening meal and to discuss any problems or concerns. Peace Keeper 37 is always present. The meetings are short, allowing people to return home before utter darkness sets in. Even if the sky is cloudless, starlight fails to provide any illumination. All carry small, hand-held pocket flashlights in case they find themselves out after dark.
Only the one robot permanently assigned to his farm is able to communicate with him, the equivalence of a foreman. It cannot read human thoughts or emotions, but it can speak and respond to questions and instructions. It can also provide advice. Daniel quickly became tired of calling it ‘Hey, You,’ and named it Sam. Other robots that occasionally come to help Sam work the farm apparently cannot speak, but can follow instructions given by humans. However, they seem to readily, and silently, communicate with Sam.
Each morning, Foreman Sam, greets Daniel as he steps out of the farmhouse, quickly advising him what they are to accomplish that day. Daniel soon learns that he isn’t expected to give any orders, but he can add any chores he wants done. Over time, by his own choice, he will learn to either operate or control each of the various pieces of farm equipment that are moved onto the farm when needed. Or he can simply let one of the robots handle the task.
As there are no seasonal changes on Paradise, the same clothing is worn both day and night. The average mid-afternoon high is 82 degrees. The average nighttime low is 70 degrees. On the rare occasions that the temperature might reach as high as 85 degrees, they can go shirtless without fearing getting a ‘sun burn,’ for the thick atmosphere does more than just moderate the weather; it protects life from harmful solar rays. His usual garb is comfortable coveralls and ankle-high boots. There is no need for a hat to protect him from the sun.
He soon realizes he is what he would call a ‘gentleman farmer,’ having help do all the work, save for the vegetable garden right behind the house. He is expected to maintain it with minimal assistance from Sam. Likewise, Sherry is expected to process the yield from the garden, eventually preparing their meals. Until their farm begins producing, they continue to have breakfast and supper at the dining tent. Box lunches are delivered to each farm for their midday meal, along with liquid refreshments for the entire day.
Daniel was formally, and unanimously chosen to be their Warden, the designated spokesperson for the village - which they had yet to name.
Each farmer is provided with a list of the produce his farm is expected to provide. Other than the personal garden plot, most of what they produced will be shipped to the village for processing and distribution.
They are walking back to the farm after breakfast, following a path mowed frequently by the robots to make walking easy. It reminds Daniel of walking on a golf green. Sherry is beside him, holding onto his arm and slightly leaning into him.
“You know, I’m getting to wonder, like you, what they even need us for,” he breaks a long silence. “The robots can run the farm without us. Sam can supervise them.”
“I don’t think that’s going to last,” she replies.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I think they’re training us to take over, pretty much on our own. It’s obvious to us women. We’ll be on our own to prepare our meals. From the garden to the table. You guys are going to be laboring in the fields.”
He couldn’t tell if she was serious or teasing. “Yeah, but farming some 39 acres is more then a one man job.”
“You think?” she retorts. “Look at the equipment they’ve been moving in. There’s one for plowing and tilling. One for seeding. One for weeding. Several for harvesting. All you have to do is ride and control them. They do all the work. My point is, they could have a robot do everything without you having to tell it what to do. Or just program the machines to do everything on their own. And the fields could be bigger, with a single crop for each field.” she pauses, looking up at him, then continues, “Think about it: what do they really need us for?”
“Well out of their benevolence, they are providing us with a new home,” he responds, knowing now that she really has some doubt, “and a means for us to earn our keep.”
She is silence for a long moment, then responds, “Have you ever asked 37 about it?”
He stops, looking back at dining tent and the community building being raised beside it. Taking her hand from his arm, he tells her to go on home.
She knows she has started him thinking.
He returns to the dining tent where he had last seen 37. The Peace Keeper is standing out front, waiting for him.
“We were wondering when you would ask that question,” it says to Daniel as he approaches, the android reading his thoughts.
“Who am I talking to?” Daniel curtly inquires. He still can’t always tell when 37 is responding as programmed or if someone from the Universal Council is speaking through him.
“The Council,” 37 relays. “We understand your confusion. You have to remember that your group is just one of many farming colonies. As Warden of your group, you will be meeting with other wardens to discuss mutual trade and mutual problems. You are being trained to run your farms with a minimum of outside help. We do not have unlimited resources. We must move the ‘robots’ from place to place, assisting new groups as they arrive. The Peace Keeper assigned to your community will stay, as will enough equipment to share in raising your crops.”
“So we’ll be on our own,” Daniel needlessly speaks.
“Not entirely. A small team of robots will be available to assist on special projects, moving from farm to farm as needed, but we need all the rest in other locations. It is planned for your group to eventually triple in size. As you harvest, cargo carriers will deliver your produce to the village for processing. We are in the process of choosing more volunteer human beings to run the distribution center, again assisted by a single Peace Keeper. This has been done all over Paradise, as well as other planets, since we first intervened for Earth’s benefit. Your fellow humans are having no trouble farming their assigned acreage, with time left over for your rest and recreation. They are prospering and soon some will be considering having children - reproducing native Paradisians. They are healthy and happy, as you will be.”
Daniel waves an arm to take in their surroundings. “So this is . . . has been going on over the entire planet?”
“This is an agriculture planet, ideal for producing food. Except for local wild life, it was uninhabited. Only your people have been transported here, those in a good health or brought back to health. Only Earthlings you refer to as ‘Caucasian’ have been brought here. Other races were transported to other planets. Your species functions best with like kind. Sad, but true.”
“So this is it? We’ll be here on these farms - forever?” Daniel asks.
“Not necessarily. Those dissatisfied with farming can request to be assigned duties relating to the supporting trades. Many of your offspring will be trained to be medical practitioners, educators, communication experts, and other supporting professions. People will move out of your community, new ones will move in, dictated by the needs of society. Your duties as Warden will be to see to the needs of your people; use Peace Keeper 37 in this regard.”
Daniel contemplates on this for a moment, then has one more thought.
“It’s best you do not know what is happening on Earth,” is the immediate response.
“That bad, huh?” Daniel asks, but there is no further response.
“We are here to meet your every need.” This is 37 now speaking. “We can always be reached through your foreman Sam.”
Daniel has a lot to think about as he heads home.
In assigning the farms, whic
h they decided to call ‘homesteads,’ Daniel made certain that his family and close friends had adjoining lands, five farms forming a rough square. The Wells’ farmstead is next to his - Victor and Tabitha. Across the mowed lane that is their temporary road to their center is David’s family, with his married daughter, Debby and her husband Jonathon Franklin next to them. Next to the Franklins are the Durwoods, Charles and Carol, with Bill and Donna Reilly beyond them.
In accordance with the farming schedule developed by the Aliens, these eleven people will be working close together, staggering seeding so that they can share labor as one harvest follows the other, until all five crops are shipped for processing. As the growing season is the year around, a simple rotation of crops will keep the soil healthy. The planting is controlled by a computer program that considers the needs of the entire valley. As each of the five farms has a robot foreman assigned, they will do most of the physical labor involved, especially when it comes to harvesting the crops that have to be picked by hand. They are sophisticated machines requiring no rest; they can work all day and all night if need be.
The Well’s farm is the first to begin cultivation. A small tracked machine, not much larger than a pickup truck, did the initial discing, turning grass under and exposing the dark, rich soil. Each machine runs on nitrogen extracted from the air, a never-ending fuel supply. Depending on the crop, another machine prepares for seeding, making rows as needed. A third machine plants seed. The entire procedure took only two 13-hour work days. For most crops, the time from plowing to harvesting is 16 weeks. Each farm will produce three full harvests a year.
Three weeks later, David’s farm will have its first plowing. Each subsequent three week period, the other three farms of the group will begin production, establishing the staggering of operations. This will allow neighboring farms to help each other in the most labor intensive periods - that of harvesting. Daniel’s farm will be the last, as they were the last to move in. But all have started their personal vegetable gardens.
On a typical farm on Earth, there was more work than just tending the fields. Almost every farm had chickens, both for eggs and meat. Almost every farm had at least one milk cow, for milk and butter. Almost every farm had a few head of cattle, both for meat and breeding for future milk cows. Many raised pigs for pork. Some raised rabbits, for meat and fur. But, by necessity, all on Paradise are vegetarians. They do not eat animals nor animal by-products. Thus, much of the work of an Earth farm is avoided here. They only have to tend the fields, the orchards and their gardens.
Through their training sessions, they learned what native plants were edible or had medical properties, how to find them and prepare them. Each excursion into the woods around them would fill one of the small anti-gravity cargo carriers will food stuffs, occasional outings that included a picnic. They quickly became a family outing all looked forward to.
Not all of their group of sixty earthlings chose to be farmers. Six of their people moved to the village to assist in the transport of harvests, the processing and the distribution. Most of the local produce is exported. They also help with the imports, processed foods not raised locally that went to the farmers to supplement their diets. Much is from the tropics, unique fruits and vegetables, while the temperate zone to the north provides many of the grains. As the global system has been in operation for years, it has been easy for Daniel’s group to fit in.
They are well aware that the majority of their produce is exported to other worlds as payback for the materials they import for construction, personal hygiene, healthcare, education and recreation. They are also aware that on other parts of their world, the immigrants have established industrial centers. While his group can prosper on the food they raise, they know they are dependent on the export/import trade for the other necessities of life.
There are other collections of farms, or Wards, being developed throughout the valley, each with their own little village. Near the lake, which somebody had named Lake Placid, probably by the first humans from New England, a larger center is under construction. It is only visible to their village, now named New Haven, from several hill tops. It is to be the seat of government, where each Warden will periodically travel to for sessions of self rule. There, also, will be a hospital and an education center for health practitioners.
New Haven will soon be in full operation.
At David’s request, the two Davies families linger after dinner. Most of the others have left to walk home. Also staying behind is his daughter and son-in-law, Debby and Jonathon.
When the last have left, with only those assigned kitchen duties still in the back, cleaning up, Daniel speaks up, “OK, Dave, what’s on your mind?”
David avoids looking at him. “I’m talking to you as a brother, not as our Warden.”
“Come on, little brother, you know you can always talk to me. We’re family. What’s troubling you?”
David makes a sweeping motion, first with one hand, then the other. “This!” he declares. “Paradise!”
“And?” Daniel urges.
“Look, when we were in Kentland, with me and Debby working at the dairy, we knew that it was just until society settled down, one way or another. We didn’t want to be dairy hands.” He pauses, looking first at Debby, then at his wife, Janet, before looking straight into Daniel’s eyes. “But this,” he again makes a sweeping motion, “this is going to be forever. We’re going to be farmers the year around, without even a let up for the off season. Day in and day out, we’re farmers. Forever.”
Daniel nods. “And I take it you don’t want to be a farmer.”
“Not for my entire life!” David cries.
“You feel the same way?” he asks Janet.
“I have to admit, this is better than the uncertainty of a future on Earth, but being a farmer’s wife for the rest of my life . . . well, I’m with Dave.”
“Me, too,” Debby quietly offers. “I really want to be a teacher.”
Jonathon had been quiet, as had young Darrel.
“How about you, Jon?”
“To tell the truth, I kind of like being a gentleman farmer. It’s better than being a soldier. But it would be nice if sometime in life we would have other options. I can see that the same old, same old, year around, year after year, may get boring.”
“So why are you talking to me about this, on a personal basis, instead of as Warden Daniel Davies?”
Apparently, the others had asked David to speak on their behalf, as when he looks at others, he gets some head nods to continue. “I guess what we want to know is . . . well. . . don’t we have some other options? At least somewhere down the line.”
“Not all of our group were given farms,” Daniel points out.
“Damn it, Dan! That’s just my point!” David almost yells. “We were never asked what we wanted! They decided for us!” ‘They’ are the aliens.
“You know the old saying: ‘beggars can’t be choosers.’ This is what we agreed to when we asked to immigrate here. As your brother, I understand your feelings. And I sympathize with you. As your Warden, I’m telling you that there will be options in the future. Look, we’re just getting the farms going. When things settle down, and especially when all are reaping produce, there will be a demand for more workers at the processing center. And,” he looks at Debby, “as we have more children, the need for teachers. And we’ll need care givers, people training in the field of medicine.”
David stares at him. “Are you telling us that we’re not stuck here?”
Daniel nods. “Myself, I thought it was nice to have the family all together. Neighbors. And working together.”
David is quiet for a moment, looking down at hands folded in his lap.
“Look,” Daniel continues, “We really have it pretty good here. We have our modest, comfortable homes. We don’t have to really do much more than tend our gardens and supervise the robots. We don’t have to do any field work if we don’t want to. We have a healthy diet. And soon we’ll see how good
our wives are at cooking this alien food. And we have each other. A lot better than what we were facing with the closing of the Compound. Just go with the flow for now. I guarantee that there will be opportunities for other positions as the valley gets more populated.”
“I guess you’re right,” David acknowledges. “Sorry, I got excited there. If you say there will be opportunities . . . well, I can be patient. It’s not so bad.”
“Good,” Daniel responds, then adds, “The Wardens are negotiating with the aliens for a better routine, with days off. Now that the farms here are up and going, we can concentrate on recreation, improve the quality of life. We’ll have more free time.”
“And church?” Janet asks, speaking for the first time. “Can we have a place of worship?”
“In the works,” Daniel promises.
“And maybe starting a softball league?” asks Tabitha. “I was just starting to get good at pitching.”
“I’ll suggest it. Anything else?”
“We’ll let you know,” advised Jonathon.
“I serve at your pleasure,” Daniel utters sarcastically. “Now, who’s up for a game of Mexican Train?”
It is dusk as they stroll back to their cluster of farms, six small flashlight beans showing their way, all looking forward to a competitive game of double-twelve dominoes.
The last of their guests have left for the short walk to their neighboring farms. Daniel and Sherry lay in bed, him on his back, propped up with pillows. She cuddles to him, her head on his chest. Neither are ready to go to sleep.
“You were unusually quiet this evening,” he remarks, gently stroking her back, his fingers lightly brushing her smooth skin. “Are you all right?”
“I’m not sure,” she replies after too long a pause.