by Chris Hechtl
Landing was by far their largest city. Technically, the other population centers didn't quite qualify as cities. They had less than twenty thousand people in them, but Jack knew that they'd get there eventually. Or they would have he thought.
“Here's the deal,” Jack said once the basics were laid out. “We're going to evacuate every population center. I already have Paul working on emergency shelters for us. Sharif and Debbie are working on keeping things going while also stockpiling supplies for that.”
“Let's hope it doesn't have to come to that,” Sharif said grimly.
“I wish Magellan hadn't dumped it on us cold like that,” Mayor Bubba said with a shake of his head. The Neobear was a veteran who'd lost his legs, right arm, and eye in combat. He had two artificial legs and an artificial arm to allow him to function. Instead of an artificial eye he'd gone with a roguish eyepatch.
“If wishes were fishes,” Jack said. “It’s water down the river now, Bubba. Move on.”
“Still,” the bear grumbled.
Jack shook his head. The mayor of Styx town had risen to that position because he was the local proprietor of a pub and tavern there. The town had risen mainly as a trade route on the river as well as for the trappers and homesteaders in the area.
“We can't just ignore this,” Debbie said.
“We can't take it at face value,” a mayor said, rising to her feet. “We don't know when they'll come if at all!”
“Should we tell people it was a hoax? Let it go?” another mayor asked. “I mean, surely letting the panic ebb and get them back to their normal lives is important, right?”
Jack shook his head. “Are you kidding me? One, if we did we'd undermine the trust in the population. Two,” he held up two fingers, “people already know. No, we play it straight. The denial ostrich has left the building folks. Time to figure out what to do and plan accordingly.”
“Right,” Debbie said with a nod of support to him.
“We have scout teams looking for proper evacuation sites now. We're going to need your support on this. We're going to need to drill the population on evacuation plans, at least every six months,” Jack said. “We also need to start stockpiling survival material now. And outfitting the fortresses with what it will take to keep our people alive and as comfortable as we can during the duration of the invasion.”
“Will they really invade?”
“I don't know. We're talking about aliens here,” Jack said with a shake of his head. “One ship may not carry a large ground force. They can of course bomb us from space,” he warned. A few mayors sucked in a breath. “That's why I'm going to evacuate and have everyone under cover when we first get signs of their arrival.”
“Good idea,” Bubba said with a nod of approval and support.
Jack cracked a thin smile. “Glad you approve. Now, General Elliot is working on a militia force as you know. They've just started getting organized, so anything you've got to help them would be appreciated.”
“You said the aliens may not have a large ground force?” a male Neochimp mayor asked. “So, you are considering resistance? Guerrilla warfare?” He looked around the room. “Are we seriously considering fighting back? Shouldn't we surrender?”
“If they attempt to communicate, we can keep that option open,” Jack said. “I'm not certain they will. I'm keeping every option open at this point, including armed resistance. My personal thought is to give them a bloody nose so they run home,” he said.
Bubba grunted. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“Thanks. You'll help,” Jack said, turning to the bear.
“I know I will. We'll need all the help we can get,” the bear drawled.
“Right,” Jack said. “Obviously, we don't trot out the guns until they act with hostility. For the moment though, let's set that aside and work on what we can do to get the fortresses set up as quickly as possible,” he said.
Heads grudgingly nodded as Debbie stepped up with her detailed presentation. “You've got the download of our mission plan. Now we can go over some of the details and answer any questions …” the Neogorilla said as she turned the main screen on and brought up the map of the planet. “Save the questions for a moment. When we get the warning, we're going to immediately move our people out under one of several plans. Alpha is the most basic; it is if we have a long enough lead time to evacuate people and equipment thoroughly. Obviously, we'll be dispersing them so no one target will be easy for the aliens to hit …”
~~*^*~~
The space crew worked on refueling and resupplying the Magellan as the ship came in closer to the planet. Sharif was not thrilled about doing it gratis, but he understood the need. He didn't like the haste though; that was when something usually went wrong. “At least we don't have to supply the crew with much provisions. They've only got so many mouths to feed on board,” he grumbled to Jeeves.
The provisioning didn't stop him from doing a bit of long distance trading with the crew as the ship made her final turnover. He ended up doing a lot of the trading with Franny Rojas, the life support tech. She wanted seeds but had a few things he didn't have. She also gave him a few family recipes to try.
She clued him in on a project of the XO's. She was reluctant to tell him so he talked to the XO. She shrugged off his interest. “It's not really a secret,” Ynes admitted as she explained the greenhouse project. She told him about how they were growing seedlings in a small, closet-sized greenhouse on the ship.
Sharif shook his head as he listened to her recording. When she showed him video of the compartment he was amazed. She went on to explain how they'd tried it in an unused airlock but had eventually settled on a cleaned-out storage closet rigged with UV lights. “You just grow them for a week?” he asked.
After a minute, she responded back. “Yeah. The first shoots are the most flavorful. Ten days or so and they are harvested. Soak the seeds in water with a little hydrogen peroxide to kill any salmonella or E. coli to germinate, rinse, then stick them on top of wet soil, cover with an empty container and let them grow for five days or so. Pop the lid off, spritz them with a bit of water, then put them in the sunlight for a couple days for the chlorophyll to come out and turn the shoots green. Then you can snip them and eat them,” Ynes explained.
“Wow,” Sharif said with a blink.
“My gram did this back before the war. She had a tiny greenhouse on her balcony in the city. She'd supply local restaurants and stuff. Each shoot is packed full of flavor. Oregano, radish, corn …,” she smiled.
“I'll definitely pass that on. It sounds like a really good business opportunity,” Sharif mused, already putting the idea in his inbox for things to explore. If they survived, he reminded himself.
Ynes snorted a minute later. “Well, if it takes off, remind them who gave you the idea. I want a cut or at least a discount,” she said.
“Right,” Sharif replied with a grin.
Chapter 4
“Here we go again,” Max said to himself as he scrambled over the rocks and under the low overhangs. He was feeling his age as he scouted with the others. He didn't care for caves. They had interesting smells, but the further you went in the more repressive the smells were. He didn't like the smell of mold and whatever dripped from above.
He had to admit, he was having trouble getting around a bit. His age was catching up to him despite his rejuv. That happened with Neos, more frequently with humans. Something Doctor Glass had promised to work on but didn't have the resources to attend to let alone disperse a fix.
Not that it would have helped adult Neos like Max at all. But it would have been nice to know any pups, cubs, or kittens wouldn't age as fast as his generation did.
He moved slowly when a twinge in his hip kicked up again. It was always his hips, back, and joints. The humidity sometimes did it to him as did the exertions of climbing over the rocks. He had to be careful about the rocks too, several of the explorers had cut their hands on sharp jagged surfaces. Two of the cuts had been
infected.
His thoughts returned to family as he finished scouting a narrow tunnel. He'd never really gotten serious about settling down. He couldn't father children due to his injuries, and his genetic damage, let alone his unique genetic heritage, was not something he wanted to pass on. He appreciated Menolly's efforts on his behalf, but he wished she'd drop it.
Which was why he was half-glad he was out and about despite not being around to monitor her and her last trimester. He'd planned on hanging around her more and more, but the hospital she worked at had brought up too many negative feelings and memories in him. Painful things he'd rather not have to remember he thought.
“We've got water over here!” a voice called out. He looked up and barely missed bopping his head on a stalactite.
“Everyone check in,” Max growled over the radio network as he finished his scan and then turned back. “Jim, location?” he asked over the radio.
“Fourth fork on the left,” the radio report came back faintly. Max nodded once and followed the signal and directions. Finding water was good … as long as it wasn't tainted he reminded himself.
~~*^*~~
Once he was certain Benny had his hand firmly on the day-to-day operations, General Elliot dived into the planning. He had to familiarize himself with the maps of the planet and deal with the daily reports from scouts working on finding potential hides and cache locations. Along with that, they looked for potential sites for ambushes and fallback routes.
He knew it wouldn't amount to a hill of beans when the enemy came. Well, some of it. But it was good training for his people he thought. He was cautiously optimistic about how well setting up the planetary militia was going. They hadn't had their first exercise yet; that was coming he thought, glancing at the exercise plan he'd drawn up. But they'd get there, he thought.
The TOE was still a concern, especially ammunition and special weapons. They had no idea what they were up against, which was a problem. The pie in the sky ideas some were coming up with though … he shook his head. He appreciated Bubba's idea of a rail gun, but it'd have to be a heavy weapon with the tech they had available to make it. Red had started to build one, but there was no telling how many he'd be able to make, nor how they'd power the thing or keep it powered in the field.
Then there was the anti-air missiles that Benny had pitched. Model rockets didn't have what it took to punch out an aircraft, but it was a start he thought. It was a pity that they had so few, another thing that needed to be addressed.
The limited industry he had access to was being pulled in too many directions at once. He was painfully aware of the old saying about time too, and about protecting his logistics.
He rubbed his brow. “Anyone who'd want this bird needs their head examined,” he muttered before he plunged back into the work.
~~*^*~~
One person Jack had to brief personally and daily was Menolly. He'd talked to her several times, but she had been subdued. It came to a head during their off time. She was upset over Magellan's arrival and the news they were told. Jack was concerned she might miscarriage again.
“I should have known there would be a snake in Eden,” she said over and over, wringing her hands in her distress.
“Hey, don't be like that. One is enough, remember?” Jack said gently.
She stopped to stare at him. After a moment, she caught on but then shook her head. She wasn't willing to be diverted. “Our golden age is over before it really had a chance to begin,” she murmured, fighting tears. “What will happen to us? We're defenseless!” her eyes stared into her husband's imploringly.
“It might not be that bad. Aliens … who knows? It might be a misunderstanding; it might be something else. They might come and want to trade!” he said with a shake of his head. “Come on, let's leave melancholy Menolly out of this,” he teased. She glowered at him. She hated that nickname, and he knew it. She poked him in retaliation as she glowered at him, tears momentarily forgotten in her urge for revenge.
Jack oofed obediently, then wrapped a protective arm around her. “That's better,” he said, rubbing her bicep gently. “Keep your head up. Remember, people will be watching us to see how we react. If we break our poker face, they'll crack. Morale is important here,” Jack warned.
She looked around the porch and out to their neighbors doing Saturday chores. After a moment, she nodded as she hugged herself to him tightly.
~~*^*~~
It was agonizing to have to wait until they could have a proper two-way conversation without a significant time delay. “I'm sorry we came here, but we had to get out of there, and this seemed like the logical place to go,” Captain Sean Cooley said, seemingly genuinely contrite.
“I know. And I know you are worried about leading them back here. I am too,” Jack sighed. “We'll deal with it.” He was aware that the aliens might get it right … or miss entirely. Or they might miss and head to Janus instead.
At least Eden had some warning. Janus might not get any at all he thought bleakly.
“I know.” Captain Cooley opened his mouth to say something further, hesitated when he realized it was redundant, and then shrugged as he looked away in embarrassment. After a moment, the captain cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
Jack snorted. “For what? Not condemning you for coming here? You didn't have a choice, I know that. You got us a word of warning. Now it is up to us to use that wisely. I wish you'd divert to warn the other colonies too. But I know Sol needs to know.”
The captain grimaced. He'd considered going to Janus. He'd hoped there would have been a ship in Pyrax to do that, but apparently, they'd just missed her. Oh well. “I know. The question is, will they do something about it?”
“We're a bit far out. They may not care, a case of cutting their losses since we wrote off Earth. But if the threat comes to them, they'll regret not acting when they had the chance,” Jack mused. “Fighting a battle in someone else's backyard is always preferable to your own; believe me, I know,” he said with a shake of his head. The captain and others grimaced and nodded in acknowledgment. “I'm going to stress that in my own correspondence. I suggest you do the same.”
Captain Cooley “I will. We owe you that much for the provisions and fuel, sir,” he said.
“I think I need to see your data. All of it. The raw, plus your thoughts,” Jack said.
The captain blinked and then turned to his XO. “I think we can arrange that,” he said slowly when Ynes nodded.
“Good. I'd love to talk to your engineers and sensor people. I've got tons of questions, but I suppose I should process the data and get up to speed first,” Jack said with a shake of his head.
“Wait, thoughts?” Ynes asked, genuinely curious as to where he was going and what he was thinking.
Jack shook his head. “Don't tell me you didn't spend some of the time trying to figure out the encounter. I bet you've gone over every decision, tried to pick them apart, your actions, etc., gamed out a ton of what ifs,” he said eyeing both civilian officers. Yness and Captain Cooley nodded slowly in acknowledgment. Jack nodded back. “Good. I'm betting your engineers have been picking that ship apart too, trying to figure out how it ticks from what little they've got to go on.” He smiled thinly. He would have done the same thing; that sort of itch would have been maddening for any engineer. “I'm interested in that, rather keenly since I'd like to get a rough estimate on when we might expect them to arrive,” Jack said with a grimace.
“I see. Okay, I can get Mort and Franny together with us to have a skull session. The same for anyone else. I know they've been doing a lot of off-duty skull sessions with the other crew members.”
“Bullshit sessions are fun. I'll bring a notepad, my own people, and the beer,” Jack offered with a smile.
“Now you're on,” Captain Cooley replied with a brief smile. “Just as a warning, Mort is an Irons and is reputed to have a hollow leg,” he said.
Jack snorted. “I'll tell Debbie to lay a keg in then,” he retorted. �
��You'll be in orbit in another two days; that should give her plenty of time to scare one up and lay on a barbecue.”
“Thank you, Governor. I don't know what to say,” Captain Cooley said honestly.
“Think of it as a nice way of doing a debrief. I plan to pick everyone's mind thoroughly as long as I've got you in my clutches,” Jack said.
Captain Cooley smiled. “Ah, gotcha,” he said with a nod.
~~*^*~~
Magellan's crew went over everything they had found. They'd done it before on the journey out; it didn't matter. Captain Cooley had them start over from the beginning, and they did it all again when they got down to the planet during the barbecue.
They pointed out some of the things they'd seen, things that one or the other person might have overlooked. Their audience listened and took mental and sometimes physical notes. Jack made certain Jeeves recorded the entire dinner party from every angle and microphone possible. He made certain his and other people's implants were also recording so they could compare notes later too.
A few things did get brought out that one or another Magellan crew member had overlooked. For instance, one thing was that the ship's visual sensors had spotted the alien ship had long fin-like radiators deployed like streamers from the ship's flanks. Mortimer Irons, the chief engineer, theorized it was about handling heat.
Jack had them download all their files, including their thoughts and musings however speculative and outrageous they might be. He teased answers out of Kathy Dugan, the sensor tech, about the ship's mass and possible compliment. They were all frustrated by the ambiguous answers.
“Look, it's not that we don't want to answer, Governor; it's that we can't. We don't know. We don't know how big they are; we never saw them. They didn't transmit anything back to us. They could be monsters or space hamsters!”