I sat.
"Admiral," said the Keeper, looking at me, "apologies for not including you sooner, but the council has been discussing mutual interests between it and the sectors. We are now at a point where your input is requested."
"No problems," I responded. "I've been catching up with family matters, and some outstanding work."
"How would you summarize Gaia's expectations in one year's time?" asked American Indian.
I thought for a moment.
"It depends. If nothing has happened, normal trade happens. Maybe some immigrants. If the Darkness is coming up the spine, expect refugees. How many depends on how far away it is, and what ability to retreat has been granted us. Might be just ship loads of people taking the opportunity to escape well ahead of time, or it might be a full exodus. If the Darkness hit the Australian sector first, you either get nothing, which would suggest the jump point wasn't discovered, or you get full on Darkness. You won't know until it happens. We could all be dead by then, or nothing at all might have happened."
"Immigrants?" prompted the newest member of the council, a middle aged woman.
"I've been pondering advertising the fact a new jump point has been found in the Outback system, and a new Earth like planet would be available in about a year's time. Might encourage a lot of people to emigrate instead of flee in stark terror later on. I've been thinking the more people we can move to Gaia next Door opening, regardless of the threat at the time, the less we have to move later."
"You mention this now?" she challenged me. "Surely this a matter for the council, not the likes of you."
A few people bristled at the hostility in those words, but I gave her a warm smile.
"You don’t get a say in it," said the Keeper, preventing me from answering.
"What?"
"Hunter is the Duke of Hunter's Run, which includes the Outback system. If he decides to advertise a new found planet, and people flock to Outback to move there, the Door will open, and they will pour through. All you can do is accept them graciously, the same as you will inevitably accept the fleeing masses when the time comes."
"I thought we were already past this," said Bigglesworth. "We've just concluded agreements on where sectors can set up within the Gaia system. It doesn’t seem to matter if this happens next year, or ten years hence, from emigration or refugees. We are all agreed this is going to happen. The timing of the transition of people would seem irrelevant."
"Only to you General," said the new Objectionable. "The council has a majority, but not all people here will be accepting."
"This is not the time or the place," said Aboriginal Woman.
She looked directly at me.
"The council will advise you of our position on your 'ponderings' before you leave the system, and we hope you will abide by our wishes."
I bowed my head to her.
The Keeper threw something onto the wall, and I turned to look at it. It was a map of the system, with areas designated for sector convergence of stations. I took a moment to study it. They'd done a good job.
"You know," I pondered, "it’s a pity we can't built a proper Dyson sphere. Something just inside the orbit of Seven would provide enough space to house the entire populations of every sector, with plenty of space to spread out."
"Such an undertaking is currently beyond us," said Price. "But who knows what could be accomplished by a system with a huge population all working towards such a goal?"
"What are you people talking about?" demanded new Objectionable.
"Look it up," I said. "We'll all be long dead before something that ambitious could be built anyway."
"Let's move on," said the Keeper, "shall we?"
They did. I wasn’t sure why I was there, but I tried to look interested. We talked about the building of sustainable cities on the triangle worlds, and how to allocate people to them. We discussed potential needs for food, clothes, and medical needs, assuming all surviving humans poured in here as soon as the Door opened next year. It carried on further into storage needs if the worst didn’t happen then, giving more time for more preparations in the following years. We talked out the worst case scenario we could think of, and what Gaia needed to do to prepare for it.
We covered what expertise was going to be needed, and if it was already available. With one full day left for the transfer of people, some rushed reassignments were made by Walter to bring key people and their families here in less than a day. Jane took the movement orders, and arranged ships to bring them.
The meeting broke up around two, without having had a break for lunch. The council took themselves back to the station to meet again and continue their discussions, and the rest of us headed to the Dining Room on Deck Two.
Twenty Four
Eric and Jessie returned not long after I’d dived back into emails again. Slice led them into my Ready Room and we took seats at the conference table.
Their faces were alive, so they must have found something interesting.
They made me ask.
"So what did you find?" I asked, after the silence had become awkward.
"Nothing useful," said Eric.
"But lots of potential," said Jessie.
"Clear, like mud."
The three of them grinned at me.
Jane came in and threw a map on the wall.
"Spoilsport," said Jessie, although she was still grinning.
We looked at the map.
There was a single jump point on the far side of the Gaia system. On the other side, there were two more jump points. Neither of those systems had been checked yet, but at least there was room for expansion here.
"I see what you mean about potential. I assume you mean the system you did enter doesn’t have a viable planet, but with two more beyond it the odds are good at least one of them does. And possibly the number of jump points after that is endless."
"Yes," they all said together.
I looked at them. They looked at me.
"What do you want to do?"
Slice nodded at both of them, but they were hesitant to answer.
"I'm coming back with you," he said. "You owe me a Cruiser, and we have five systems to check out fully."
"We?"
"Well I do. Besides, I need to get back to my own business. This has been a nice vacation, but the wife was not amused I didn’t bring her."
"Why didn’t you?"
"She'd have picked up on the underlying tone of all the meetings, and I don't want to worry her until I have to."
"Eric?"
"I'm staying. My wife is looking at accommodation down on Five near your family."
I looked at Jessie.
"I'm staying too. This is just too important to bail out on."
"Important how?"
"We need to find more living space for people than this system holds, if for no other reason than humans have proved we can't get along all that well. Once billions arrive, some of them will want somewhere else to go, and some of them will need to be forced to go somewhere else. We have a year to explore and find places for people to go. Two of us will do the work faster."
"All true."
"I've bought the next Hub to come out of the shipyard here," said Slice. "They are not very big, but can dock four ships, and have enough room in the center to provide for an AMS base. As they get further away, it can be sent after them as a forward base."
"Good idea. But can I suggest some caution?"
"How so?" asked Eric and Jessie together.
"We have to assume this galaxy has life in it. For all we know, the planets you find could be poisonous, or there is an intelligent species in the neighborhood which is hostile. Each new jump out you take, could be dangerous. So I suggest you down jump with extreme caution, remembering you won't have any support here."
"I've already told them that," said Slice.
"I've ordered the modification of a small freighter into a comnavsat builder," said Jane. "It'll be here by morning. Take comnavsats wi
th you and stay in touch with Gaia. I'm leaving a clone of myself to run the Hunter household on Five, and an avatar is already here on the Missile Cruiser. So stay in constant touch with me. If you get into trouble, at least we'll know what happened to you. How much we can help will depend on the assets available at the time. But knowing what's out there is the most important thing, given the stakes involved."
What she was alluding to, was the danger of the human race fleeing here, and running straight into a hostile species, or something else we couldn’t handle. Frying pan into the fire sort of thing. Nothing we could do if it happened, but caution might put off how long before it happened. Once we had defensive fleets in here, assuming any made it, any problem on the other side of Gaia was likely to be more containable.
It was always the danger with exploring. You never knew what was on the other side of that jump point. We'd been expecting a hostile alien species for six hundred years, and never found one. But this was another galaxy, and who knew what was here waiting for us.
"Be careful," I said. "Be paranoid and suspicious. If you detect intelligent life, don’t let it detect you. Report back to Gaia, and let the council decide what to do."
A thought hit me.
"Excuse me a sec, I need to follow up on something."
I pinged the Keeper.
"Jane is leaving a clone avatar behind. Can you get her added to the council? We need a voice there, both for the military perspective, being non-Gaia, and as a Hunter representative."
"Agreed," he pinged back. "I'll see what I can do."
I had another thought, and pinged Walter.
"Any chance you can put together a planetary survey team, and get them here before the Door closes?"
"Sure. Why?"
"AMS found a jump point out of Gaia, and two more on the other side. Two of them are staying to keep looking for jump points, but if they find viable planets, they need to be properly surveyed by people who know what they're doing."
"I'm on it, but I wish you’d thought of this a few days ago."
"So do I."
"Sorry," I said, focusing back on the AMS team. "Too much going on at once, and the clock is ticking."
"No problems," said Eric.
"I just organized a planetary survey team to follow up on whatever you find out there. Stay in touch with them as well as Jane."
"We will," said Jessie.
"Good luck, both of you."
I stood to go back to my desk, and Eric rose and hugged me. Jessie followed, and I stood there watching them leave. I wondered if I was going to see them again. Or not. Slice turned and nodded to me at the door, before leaving himself. I went back to my desk.
I was too distracted to work. I re-read the same email five times, without having any retention of what I’d read. Jane put me out of my misery.
"Council wants you."
Twenty Five
It hadn't been much more than two hours since they'd left the ship. Presumably they'd reached some sort of decision.
I sighed. The load was getting too heavy. I was beginning to be glad I'd be leaving some of it behind soon. The one thing I wasn’t looking forward to, was saying goodbye to my family. Probably forever.
My mood darkened as the trolley took me to the main airlock. The twins formed up behind me, and Jane fell into step with me half way to the Council chamber.
"I need to speak to all three of you," she said, "as soon as you're finished here."
"About?" I asked.
"The system data. Before I can do the visuals from it, I need enough data from the nightmare to establish a context and a viewpoint in the system. So I'll need to speak to each of you one at a time."
"Would be easier if we could simply record dreams," said Aleesha.
"Alas," responded Jane, "while teams are trying to do just that via PC's, it hasn’t worked yet. So we need to do it the hard way."
"Odd we haven’t had a nightmare lately," pondered Amanda.
"I was thinking the same thing," I added. "But it's probably because nothing major is happening at the moment."
Further speculation was interrupted by our arrival at the chambers. The Keeper was waiting for us, and this time he was not alone. A young woman was with him. He didn’t bother doing introductions, but ushered me inside.
"You too, Colonels," he said as the twins started to turn away.
I raised eyebrows at him, but all he did was smile, and waved us all in.
On the left, was a slightly bigger table with two chairs. On the right was a much bigger table with four chairs. The Keeper sat on the right hand chair on his side, and so I sat on the left hand chair on my side. Jane sat next to me, and the twins next to her.
The councilors sat there silently, waiting for us to settle.
"Admiral Hunter," began American Indian. "The council has endorsed your idea to promote Gaia and attract people to move here when the Door opens in a year's time. We will be ready, regardless of the situation we find at that time."
"Just so you know," said the new Objectionable, "those who opposed all of this have been granted permission to build a station, and move to the new system just discovered. We will have first claim on any habitable planet discovered in the future, where we will implement the same policy Outback has had."
I nodded. There didn’t appear to be anything worth saying to that, and cheering would have seemed slightly inappropriate. The malcontents who wanted solitude were moving on. Probably the best thing all round. I wasn’t sure why I needed to know about it though.
"This council's business…" started American Indian.
"…has several more items before concluding," said the Keeper.
"Proceed Keeper."
"Firstly, I’d like to introduce you to Colonel's Amanda and Aleesha Peck. With Duke Hunter, they form the three dreamers. I thought you should meet them, so that in the years to come, you can at least tell people about them."
He looked to the woman at his side.
"This is the new Head Keeper."
There were shocked looks from some of the councilors.
"My work here is done," he went on. "The Keeper has now read the full prophecy for the first time. Nothing has changed other than the voice who speaks for Prophesy. I will be leaving Gaia with Duke Hunter in the morning. My work now is in helping out there to prepare for the trials to come, and to be there for the first confrontation with whatever the Darkness proves to be. I thank the council for their support of me during my tenure as Keeper, and I wish all in this system the best for the years to come. It is unlikely we will meet again. I bid you goodbye."
He stood, bowed slightly, and left.
I took it as our que to leave as well, and stood. The girls followed me up.
"Duke Hunter," said the Indian Woman. "Go with the full support of this council. Do what must be done, even when others believe you are in the wrong. You have our blessings, and those of the higher beings we commune with. Those of us who pray, will pray for you and those with you. Save the ones who are savable. Leave the rest to the cosmos, and their own karma. You more than anyone, walk the hardest path. But know this. You are the one chosen to lead the human race into its next phase. We will prepare, and welcome those who come. When the time comes, we will ensure the family you leave behind thrive and prosper without you. Your line will continue."
"As will all your families," added far left. "Those who arrived today, related to your crew, are settling in as we speak, and are being made welcome. They will become the core of a new city. In time, they will continue as you have, in service to the human race."
I bowed slightly to them.
"We have a gift for you as well," said American Indian. "We have officially recognized the Duchy of Hunter's Run, and in a gesture of appreciation for the role you have voluntarily taken upon yourself, we have deeded the city which contains your parent's and the families of your crew's homes to the Duchy of Hunter's Run as an Embassy. As such, the land belongs to the Duchy, and you may appoint any
one you wish to administer it for you, in perpetuity."
"Thankyou."
I was deeply touched. And now needed to do some thinking.
"I have a personal message for you as well, Duke Hunter," said the Aboriginal councilor. "Your skin may be white, but your soul is of the Dreamtime. In the slack times between chaos, visit the Dreamtime. The Elders wish to speak to you."
"Thank you," I said again.
I bowed again, and we made our way out.
The Keeper was waiting outside for us, and fell into step with me.
"You have no idea what any of their names are, do you?"
"Um, no. I can't seem to remember them."
"Jon, their names were on plaques in front of each of them."
Amanda sounded concerned.
"Really? I couldn’t see them."
"Didn’t you commit the names to PC storage?" asked Aleesha.
"I thought I did. But if so, they aren’t there now."
"Interesting," said the Keeper.
Enigmatic, and not particularly useful. He didn’t say any more. Instead, he turned to Jane.
"Colonel, I'll need a suite on BigMother please. And some help moving my stuff from my quarters here on the station. I'm packed and ready to leave, so send the help as soon as you can. I've been here for ten years, so I'm afraid I have a fair amount of stuff."
"Confirmed. Anything down on a planet?"
"No. I moved here completely when I was elevated to Head Keeper. I'll also need somewhere to live on Hunter's Haven, at least for while we're there."
"How long will that be?" I asked him.
"You tell me and we'll both know."
"Swell."
The Keeper stopped, and waved to us as he headed off a different direction. Jane led us back to the ship.
"When do you want to talk to us?" Amanda asked Jane.
"I'll do Jon as we head down to the planet. I'll come back for you two, and go back and collect him after."
"Where am I going?"
"Dinner with your family."
I sighed. Time to say goodbye to them. Last time I left, it was goodbye for about four days. Instead it was actually goodbye for a year. This time, it was probably for good. I started hunting for an override on tears. I was likely to be needing one.
Hunter Legacy 11: Home Is Where the Hero Is Page 10