by David Byrd
“Micah what makes you think anyone would trust your word?” Noel said. “We’ve had hundreds of people working non-stop to find a way to stop the process so why would we listen to you?”
“Well because I happen to know that the process can’t be stopped. There is no way to do that once initiated. You’ve all been wasting your time and energy on a losing proposition and I’m the only hope you have now or in the future. So roll the dice Noel and take your chances. Oh I know you want to discuss and bandy this about with others before you finally agree, so go ahead and take one day and then contact me again. I’ve left the details to contact me in the sub-carrier of this message and I’m sure Hollis can figure it out before he has a stroke.” Micah dissolved the connection. Noel sat perfectly still going over the entire conversation in his mind. The only thing he was certain of was that Micah was holding all the cards.
Chapter 13
As expected, the colonists all voted to accept Micah’s offer whatever the cost. People were desperate and with only a few months remaining, there really was little choice. A fact that Micah certainly knew, since he chose this exact time to make his offer.
Hollis opened the channel to Micah. This time Noel had traveled to the canyon station and the communication would be strictly between Micah and Noel until he found out what Micah was up to.
“Noel, good to hear from you,” Micah said. “And with hours left to go. I assume that the good people of Ancora have decided to accept my humble proposal.”
“Micah, I’m not sure what game you’re up to but what is it that you are offering and what do you want in return?” Noel asked.
“Well so much for witty banter…straight to the point again…It’s getting a bit boring but I did contact you so here goes. I was not lying when I said the process could not be stopped. It’s a fact. But, through my own exhaustive research and the fact that my intellect is far greater than anyone in your colony, I have learned how to exclude areas from the process just like the Plakorii complexes are excluded.”
Noel kept a straight poker face but inside he was reeling. Berating himself for not seeing this earlier, he realized that they could probably have found the same information if they had focused on this and not looking for a way to stop the process. But now they were at Micah’s mercy and he knew it.
“Alright,” Noel said. “Let’s say for the moment that I believe you. First why would you help us when we had every intention of throwing you in a holding cell for the rest of your life?”
“Well you bring up a good point but really…we shouldn’t talk about the past. I’ve forgiven your misguided intentions and I’m perfectly willing to let your people live thousands of miles away from me.” Micah said. “And as I said yesterday, I really am in need of someone to actually talk to. I assume several of my former associates have made it known that they would be more than willing to come to my base?”
“Yes a small number of people have voiced that opinion.” Noel said.
“Excellent,” Micah said. “You see we can come to an agreement like any civilized race. So I’m in need of supplies as you can imagine and I’ll send that list to you. And I’ll set a time to unlock my travel station for the transfer.”
“Not so fast. Before we do anything, how do we really know you can exclude anything from the process? Your complex was overtaken in the first year.” Noel said.
“Yes I admit I was behind on that but to the matter at hand, I’m prepared to prove it to you by the end of the week. The north forest Plakorii complex will be overtaken by the end of the week. I also happen to know that some of the early colonists…the Guardians of something or other are still in the forest surrounding that complex and are refusing to leave. So I will make the magnanimous gesture of excluding that entire geographic area from the process. When it has passed you will know that I am trustworthy and we can plan the final arrangements. So I’ll contact you again in say…a week.”
The vid dissolved and Noel let out a breath he had been holding for several minutes.
“Hollis what do you think? Can he do what he says?” Noel asked.
“Noel I honestly don’t know but he seems quite arrogant about it so I’m going to say he probably has found the right data. The proof will be at the end of the week.”
“Yes,” Noel said quietly. “I’m just extremely concerned that this deal is going to have long term consequences. Micah seems cocky and sure of himself. I’ve seen this behavior before and I have to tell you it scares the crap out of me.”
“What choice do we really have though?” Hollis asked.
“None…and he knows it.” Noel said.
At the end of the week, the entire colony waited to hear if the forest had been excluded. When the word came in over link that indeed the process had bypassed the entire area there was a cheer from everyone. The terraforming phase 1 process had halted just north of the northern forest area and was no longer proceeding to the south. The southern line was still advancing northward at the same pace which would overtake the colony area in just a month. Micah sent his demands to Noel and they negotiated and finalized the terms and conditions. Supplies from the list of demands would be sent in batches for the next two weeks. Then before the people joining Micah were allowed to leave, the southern process must be halted and verified. Max, Noel and Hollis were the only people in the canyon complex. They added the last of the supplies on the list (two small KT reactors and a portable fabricator) to the travel alcove and Hollis activated the control crystal to send it over.
“Well my friends,” Max said. “That is the last of it. I’m surprised he didn’t ask for us to take apart the dome piece by piece and send that through.”
“Some of the requests were strange. I can understand food and supplies to establish a new site, but he asked for samples of virtually every material we have. Not enough to build with but just small samples.” Noel said. “Ok let’s contact him and get this over. The sooner we finish this the better I’ll feel.”
Hollis initiated contact from the central console and once again Micah’s image was before them in 3d in the center of the room.
“Right on time Hollis,” Micah said. “I’d given you until at least 10 minutes after the last transfer to make a connection…but I digress…I’m sure you want the southern process halted now. Well as I told you it can’t be stopped. But I have included an exception for roughly 120 square kilometers north, south, east and west of the Ancora settlement. If you check your world sphere you will see that the northern process did not stop…it’s just 120 kilometers to the east and west. I’d like for you to send through my people now.”
Noel linked with Max on a private channel. Max had brought in the 10 people who wanted to transfer and was standing by at the travel alcove.
“Max…send them through,” Noel said.
Max activated the chamber and then locked out the alcove in the way Hollis had taught him earlier. He then joined the others upstairs at the central console.
“Ah…and here are my people at last,” Micah said. “It will be good to have company again after all this time. In fact I’m in such a good mood I wanted to warn you about venturing into the void left by phase 1 which should be completing in about a week. I wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
Noels face drained of color but he kept his composure. This was the “other shoe” dropping…the hidden agenda Micah had all along.
“What do you mean by that?” Noel asked. “When phase 1 is complete, the Plakorii template will re-materialize all matter according to the template.”
“Oh…I guess I forgot to tell you about that,” Micah said. “Really an oversight on my part…I must be getting as old as Hollis.” Micah’s handsome face stared out of the screen but his blue eyes were flat and steel like…devoid of the flippant nature of the conversation. He was deadly serious behind those eyes.
“So I told you that phase 1 could not be stopped and that was the absolute truth. But phase 2, the rebuilding of matter based on the template�
�well that is something that could be stopped and I have. So enjoy your parcel of land on Trellis II and I’ll enjoy my…80% of the planet. Oh and one other thing…I’ve placed a KT energy field on the travel alcove. If you were ever to find a way to break my lockout, you would find yourself trapped in that small alcove until you die and I’d be happy to watch.” With that parting statement he cut the connection.
“Bastard…I could ring his smiling little neck,” Max shouted after the departing image.
Noel was quietly analyzing what Micah revealed. He was mad as hell just like Max but Micah had been planning this all along. He needed the supplies we sent and the extra hands. He was still up to something.
I’m as mad as you are Max but I’m concerned that we still don’t know the endgame here,” Noel said. “He left us alive and has allowed us to thrive in a large geographic area, but cut us off from ever reaching his part of the hemisphere. Add to that, the fact that he has left virtually the entire planet in a state of flux…why? For protection surely but he has been planning this for over 4 years. And how does he propose to grow crops with no soil? Hollis, did you ever find out how he initiated contact with us?”
“Oh I did indeed and you needn’t worry about some mischief on his part,” Hollis said. “All of the Plakorii labs are connected through the travel alcove. He was able to use that connection to access the main control panel vid channel. But I’ve installed protections on all the connections from the bases we control.”
“Great work,” Noel said. “I also think it’s a good idea to do exactly the same thing he did to the travel network. I want you to go to each site and install a small KT energy shield on every alcove keyed to our group only. I’d feel even better if we could find out what he’s doing.”
“Well we may very well be able to do that,” Hollis said with an aloof expression on his face. “Old coot am I? We’ll see about that.”
“Hollis my friend what have you done?” Max asked.
“Well nothing much really…I just built a micro module and placed it inside one of the KT reactors we sent to tap into their main vid console like he did ours. It will capture data and send back on an encrypted channel in bursts during alternating times after midnight every week. It is authorized through my network protections and will store on a data module I have disconnected from our main panel.”
Noel and Max stood in awe with their mouths open until Max grabbed Hollis in a bear hug and picked him up off his feet laughing heartily.
“Hollis my friend, you have outdone yourself this time. I salute you.” Max said.
Noel was grinning broadly and shaking his head. Leave it to Hollis to do something unexpected.
Chapter 14
Micah welcomed all of his “people” into the facility after they exited the travel alcove. Having been alone for so long he was truly craving human interaction and at this point was quite excited to see some familiar faces. In particular, the two men who had acted as his bodyguards in Ascension.
“Dane, Lucas I’m really happy you two decided to come.” Micah said.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Dane said. “Anything has to be better than that dull and boring life back in Ancora.” Lucas nodded in agreement.
“Let me get everyone situated and then the three of us need to sit down and talk. I’ve had quite a long time to make plans and this time we are going to get everything right.” Micah said.
Micah walked the 10 people through the complex and noted where they would be bedding down for the time being. He also touched on just a brief glimpse into the future he had planned for all of them. After that, the group headed out of the complex and through the cave. There were thick cables running from the complex down the side of the cave wall to the entrance. They connected to a machine that looked like a KT reactor but had obviously been heavily modified with additional modules fastened on the top and sides. The reactor was sitting a few meters out into the empty void
“So my friends,” Micah said. “I just wanted to show you the marvel that the Plakorii have left us to build our world. This…nothingness before you has the potential to become anything you could ever imagine and all you have to do is believe in me and work together to build our future.”
One of the young women looked out with some trepidation in her eyes and it was clear she was afraid of getting any closer to that emptiness.
Micah smiled his most charming smile and looked at each of the firstborn.
“I know you have doubts. You thought I might destroy Ancora and some of you still have parents and loved ones there. I assure you I will never harm anyone in that zone because one day I hope they will join us.” Micah said. “Now…for the reason I brought you out here today. Dane, what is something you can think of right now that we will need for survival?”
“Ah…well we need crops and water,” Dane said.
“Excellent let me show you what the future holds for you,” Micah said as he turned to look out into the void and stood very still. He brought up his hands and stretched them out and 20 meters away, a section where the ground should be became blurry and then transformed into a 5 meter by 5 meter square of dirt.
O’s and ah’s were heard from the group at what seemed like magic.
Micah stretched his hands out again toward the dirt and the same blurriness appeared again and a few seconds later mature corn stalks could be seen perfectly planted in the parcel of earth. You could even see the ripe corn ears ready for picking directly on the stalks.
Micah turned back to the group, certain his little show and tell had them right where he wanted.
“So you see there is nothing to fear. I will take care of you and we will build an empire together.” He talked with each of his people and then shortly afterward asked them all to go back in the complex and get familiar with the layout and accommodations for the time being.
“So boss,” Dane said. “That wasn’t magic but it sure looked like it.”
“It is magic to anyone without a scientific mind,” he said. “You see, the emptiness you see before you stretching nearly around the entire planet is for lack of a better word raw material. That raw material is just waiting for instructions to become something. A tree, a house, a building…anything that has had a molecular blueprint stored in the Plakorii system. What they called a template. One need only call up the proper blueprint and tell the system where to put it. So I’ve created a special interface from link to the Plakorii system. I can link and tell it what to create.”
“So that’s what the tricked out KT reactor is out there,” Lucas said.
“Precisely, and both of you will be my master builders. In a few months I will teach you how to access the system. First we need everyone working to create molecular blueprints of all the samples that were so graciously sent to us by Ancora.” Micah said. “And then gentlemen we will start building our new empire.”
Chapter 15
It had been a year since the last communication with Micah and his group in the south. During that time, the area untouched by the Plakorii process Micah had given them had been thoroughly scouted. The void was off limits to everyone in Ancora and Ascension after losing two people who walked into the void and never came back out. The assumption made that they became completely disoriented and lost without any possibility of food or water. Hollis continued piecing together the brief data bursts he still received from the bug he sent to Micah. He had finally surmised what was going on in the south which was both amazing and frightening at the same time.
“So we can assume by this time that Micah is far ahead of us in this research and implementation,” Hollis said over the vid link to Noel. “He’s undoubtedly had a year and ten people to scan all of the samples we sent him and he could conceivably build anything including weapons.”
“I don’t think so,” Noel said. “If he wanted to wipe us out he would have done so long ago. He’s playing a long game and we figure into that somehow. I think it’s time for us to catch up by using our resources. We can get a h
undred or more people to start digitizing the molecular structure of every material we have. We also have resources he doesn’t have…access to engineers and science disciplines. I assume with the data you have from the bug that you can build a similar interface?”
“Why yes of course,” Hollis said. “The construction is using all common modules and now that I know how he interfaced with the Plakorii system I should be able to build one in a few weeks.”
“Good…get started on that right away. In the meantime I need to visit our buddy Max and discuss the types of drones he has on file.” Noel said.
Ascension
Max was an engineer before volunteering for the Spear project with his wife Jean and traveling to Trellis II. He had on many occasions been instrumental in the construction of vital resources for the colony such as the water plant. Noel asked him to build a drone that could withstand hard knocks and also deliver or deploy material up to several kilos. The drone would also have a vid unit, tracking and several other gadgets. Three weeks later the prototype was ready for testing.
Kai and Elia volunteered for the prototype test flight since it would give them a chance to catch up with their friends in the Ascension camp. The camp was the closest Plakorii station to the void boundary only 20 kilometers south of the complex. Kai and Elia visited with Corin and Althea and then went over the mission details. Corin had become quite adept at running the Plakorii complex and central stations so he would be linking in with drone payload packages. Kai and Elia took a rover the 20 kilometers due south to the void boundary. They were careful to stop several meters before the boundary and ready the equipment.
“Max outdid himself with this baby,” Kai said hauling the drone out of the back of the rover. “Vid channels, sensors, payload clamps…this thing has it all.”