So, it went on all day, the Solar powered fresh water pumps were installed and carrier tubes were laid out in trenches to where the individual yurts would be placed. In the estuary, there were two small islands devoid of trees. The northernmost island had a high promontory that jutted out into the ocean. Wind turbines were erected on the very end of the island to catch the sea breezes and the base for a huge Solar array was staked out on the other island. Insulated cables would carry the power up the estuary under water to the consolidated water treatment/ power water to the consolidated water treatment/ power foot-long prefabricated pipes containing power cables, fresh water, grey water and sewage pipes were laid in trenches and connected together. When the pipes were connected all the way to the village on one side and the base on the other they were ready for testing. Once the CB’s gave the green light, then the trenches would be filled in and the turf replaced. With the Hevinian construction equipment doing the heavy digging and the availability of large amounts of willing labor under the direction of the CB’s, the village was mostly laid out by the end of the first day.
Power would be available within two days. In three, if the effluent from the plant was tested and declared potable, the consolidated water treatment center would be up and running. To lessen the impact on the environment and to preserve the feel of a country village, the native grasses in the center square and the paths between the yurts were cut down to four inches using reel mowers instead of covering them with a nonporous surface. It looked a bit sparse when first mowed but according to one of the surveyors, it would soon fill in and create a smooth lawn. Before the yurts were erected a synthetic, insulated yet porous pad was laid under the platform that formed the base.
Just as they decided they had done enough for one day, late afternoon clouds came in from the sea and a light rain fell on the area. To the teams who had worked in the eighty-degree heat, it felt refreshing as they made their way to the Barques waiting to take them back to the Orion. The rain stopped and the clouds parted as Marcie approached her transport, and someone spoke behind her. “Well, look at that!” the voice said.
Marcie turned around to the west to see Altis sink very slowly into a gap between the mountains. The sun was brilliant, almost painfully so, as it dipped down through an unpolluted sky. She knew now that she had made the right choice to come here. Her child would grow up knowing clean air and be able to drink fresh water from a stream. As she turned and headed east toward the Barque she was distracted by a flash of light in her peripheral vision. She instinctively turned her head to the right but kept moving as she tried to see what may have caused it, a minute later saw another flash. It was emanating from high up on a sharply pointed mountain north of the village. She kept her focus on the location for a few seconds more but it did not reappear. With the sun setting behind her as she walked to the waiting Barque she was curious as to what could have caused it. She smiled to herself; there would be many interesting phenomena to discover on this fabulous planet. She stepped onto the Barque and noted the time. The Barque was operating on Earth time and the digital readout showed it was ten pm and the sun had just gone down on this planet. On Earth, time was measured by how long it took for the Earth to make one complete revolution divided by twenty-four. Altis-5 was larger than Earth and rotated at a different speed causing its sun to travel at a slower pace across the sky. As her logical mind worked, she realized that if you took the time Altis-5 made a complete revolution then divided it by twenty-four the Altean hour would be longer than the Earth hour by about thirty Earth minutes. Using the standard Earth hour there were thirty-six in the Altean day. We will have to measure time differently here. At least the planet rotates in the same direction as Earth, she thought.
Feeling more hungry than tired, Marcie headed for the Café as soon as she arrived back on the Orion. Although it was late, the Café was crowded. She spotted Kris and Anne talking with Ray at the bar.
“Hello,” she said giving her husband a hug.
“How was it on the surface, honey?” asked Ray. “Kris and I would have gone down with you but with nothing to do we would just get in the way.”
“It was unbelievable. The air is clean and you can actually drink from the rivers and streams. We accomplished a lot today. Those CB’s really know their stuff. There was a beautiful sunset, really bright, and there must be something metallic in the mountains because as I was walking back to the Barque I saw a flash of light twice. Something must have reflected the sunlight I guess. I am really hungry.” She turned to the woman behind the bar.
“Anything left to eat, Susan? I am starving, haven’t eaten all day,” she said.
“I think there are some sandwiches in the back,” Susan said. “Let me check.” When she left, Kris gave Marcie a serious look.
“What exactly did you see up on the mountain?” he asked her.
“As I was walking back to the Barque I noticed a flash of light out of the corner of my eye, I looked over but could see nothing more. I continued walking while watching the location and about a minute later there was another flash. I assumed it was just something naturally reflective picking up the rays of the sinking sun. Why?” she asked detecting the seriousness of the question.
“In order for you to see the reflection the angle between you, the object and the sun’s rays must be just right,” he said.
“I understand that, Kris. What is your point?” asked Marcie, her thoughts distracted by her empty stomach.
“Well, the flash disappeared because a combination of you moving and the sun setting changed the angle. Which is okay, however for you to see a second flash there had to be a second reflective object that just happened to be at the correct angle or,” he paused realizing the implications of what he was about to say, “the first reflective object moved.”
Marcie went cold, “You mean like someone was watching me through binoculars?”
“Yes, something like that. I must go talk with Tom and discuss this with him,” said Kris.
“While you are doing that I have some questions for Commodore Querrion. I’ll meet you at Tom’s office,” said Ray to Kris. Ray turned to Marcie and pointed at her sandwich. “You stay here and enjoy your supper. I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” said Marcie. “I’m coming with you.” She scooped up her sandwich and followed after him.
16
Meanwhile, Back on Earth!
On Earth, the news that Orion had reached Altis-5 was received with unbounded enthusiasm. Karen Richardson had been sending regular weekly reports to her editor at the New York Times. Her weekly story of life aboard the Orion had captured the attention of millions all over the world. Even using pulse beam technology, it took over a week for the information to reach the SETI lab in Maine where it was sent by e-mail to the editor in New York. The first installment made it into the Sunday edition as a supplement. Monday morning the paper was inundated with calls from newspapers all over the world wanting to feature the stories in their own papers. The New York Times was happy to accommodate them, for a price.
In the three months since Orion had departed emigration application centers had been established in every country. They were staffed with Confederation employees hired locally but in a serious attempt to deter political pressure or favoritism they were managed by Confederation trained personnel from a different country. There was much to do; applications developed and distributed. For those who could not read or write properly, the center hired local outreach workers to go out and fill out the papers with them. Each application was fed into a scanner to ensure they were completed properly, and those that were rejected were given to staffers who would either call or write or in some cases visit the applicants to make sure they were correctly filled out. No restrictions were to be made other than to those currently imprisoned or those serving in the military. Those workers with binding contracts to companies were left to deal with that on an individual basis. As Colonel Winters enlarged the Earth Defense Force, many coun
tries began to tentatively downsize their armed services. Those not accepted into the EDF would become eligible to apply for planetary emigration. Felons had to complete their sentence and be evaluated before being eligible. This was carefully regulated to prevent countries using the emigration as a way of emptying their jails and getting rid of troublemakers, after all this had been done before in the late eighteenth century when England began shipping their undesirables to Australia.
In order to not deplete entire impoverished countries a lottery system limited the number of emigrants to twenty percent for each country. Applications were individual or by family. The scanner software was designed to assign each completed application a number and then, once the skills of the applicant were verified, randomly select ‘winners’ until the quota was met. As the successful applicants were identified the data was given to the Hevinian coordinators for ship assignment. It was not perfect and many found ways to circumvent the system but as the process moved forward many of those who had falsified their information were discovered and disqualified.
As the weeks passed and the successful applicants were informed, governments and businesses began to assess the impact of a reduced work force and a reduced customer base. A twenty percent reduction in citizenry affected both providers and users of services. Some small countries began unification procedures. Sharing the wealth became a catch phrase and many companies began to consider the prospect of opening businesses on Altis-5. Virgin and other companies with space projects in place opened negotiations with the Hevinians to access their technology. A whole new industry of privatized space transportation was beginning to evolve. The world would change but in the end, it would all balance out.
The first departure was scheduled to leave in three months and would involve the largest ever mass movement of humans. Two hundred and fifty thousand families would be the first to go and it would take all of the three months to get them staged. The method had been used many times by the Hevinians and it consisted of one large circular transport ship five miles in diameter. The transport would hover over a large plain encompassing part of northern France and Belgium, that had been cleared of all inhabitants. The entire center portion of the transport, over four miles wide, would detach and slowly make its way down to Earth descending onto the center of the plain.
On the chosen day, a huge crowd including Umberto and Beltran stood on a large hill, ten miles away, and watched the massive disk descend. The air space surrounding the area was full of news helicopters recording the event.
“What do you call this device?” asked Umberto. “The closest translation would be an elevator,” said Beltran. “Let me explain how it works in Earth terms. A center particle beam supports the disk, which holds enough detachable modular living quarters for up to three hundred and fifty thousand families grouped by town sized units in a prearranged grid. It rides down the particle beam to the surface of the Earth. Once it has stopped and leveled the colonists can move in and occupy the units. When everyone is aboard an energy bubble covers the platform as it rides back up the beam until it is recovered by the transport. The entire process from detachment to recovery can take several months. At the new location, the transport hovers over the planetary location and the platform descends. However once in the atmosphere the modular living quarters can detach by town sized grids and descend independently to the designated locations on the surface made ready for them. It takes only a few weeks for each to be connected for water/waste water and power supply. The town is laid out in a square and even has units for town administration, police, and other functions. Once the town is in location individual modules can be relocated to farm lands, etc. Simple enough, right?”
Umberto’s mind was reeling; nothing on Earth could come close to the size and scope of this transport ship. His mind began to do the math. If they reached their goal of transporting twenty percent of the Earth’s population even with these massive transports it would require fourteen hundred trips split between 200 transports. It would take a minimum of 2 years to complete. Add in the human factor and it’s more like three, he thought.
Minister Beltran made his excuses and left in his white Barque to meet with the Captain of the Goliath. The President turned to board his personal Jaguar piloted by Colonel Winters. The copilot Captain Terence Alverez was in his third week of training and already had complete mastery of the ship. Normally the Colonel was the only Jaguar pilot authorized to fly the President around but it was time.
“Mr. President,” said the Colonel, “with your permission I would like Captain Alverez to command the return flight.” Alverez was astonished, he wasn’t expecting this. Unknown to him, Winters had made the suggestion before they left.
“Very well, Colonel,” said the President and as a sign of his confidence in Alverez he said, “Perhaps you would join me in back Colonel. We can use the time to discuss the status of the EDF.”
Once they were airborne, the steward brought over coffee and doughnuts. Sitting comfortably in the easy chairs Colonel Winters updated the President. The President could read all the details on a particle beam holo projector installed in the cabin but preferred the interaction of a conversation especially with Colonel Winters; they liked each other and were becoming very close friends.
“Personnel assets are at 75,400 divided into four Brigades including the Altean Brigade. Here is a breakdown.”
For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed the disposition of the Earth Defense Force.
“So, as you can see we have the assets in place,” continued Don, “to carry out missions prescribed by the Confederation on a Global basis, the key to which from a military point of view is rapid deployment and superior fire power. By the end of the year I estimate that the total number needed will be 2 million just under half of which is needed for command and control, supply and logistics. With the World Confederation in place there will be minimal opportunity for any continental conflict and internal strife can be handled by the individual countries police forces with assistance as requested.”
“The Confederation is growing,” said the President, “But there will be problems along the way. What do you see as our biggest threats, Don?”
The Colonel thought for a moment.
“The Kaedians are not done with us yet. We surprised the hell out of them but I believe they will be back and much better prepared. That’s number one. I believe they will strike our Altean colony first. Number two will be pirate attacks on our supply route to Altis-5. I have met with the head of the Commonwealth security forces traveling with the fleet. He has informed me of sporadic pirate activity throughout Hevinian occupied space. We believe there is a leak and the pirates are being informed of the supply ship departure times and destinations. Number three is the internal threats to the Confederation itself. Right now, everyone seems to be behind the idea but as you said as things settle down there will be those who will try to usurp power. Freedom of religion and preservation of race is the cornerstone of democracy but our history shows that both have been used many times to foster individual gain.”
The President went silent. As usual Colonel Winters had a clear picture of the situation. He knew the Colonel was right. It was a big job to tackle these issues, too big for a Colonel.
“Don, I want you to continue to build the EDF but I also want you to take on the responsibility for Global and colonial defense which will include protecting our Altean supply lines from the pirates. I realize I am giving you a huge increase in responsibility so I am promoting you to General. This will give you the staff and assets to get the job done. What do you say?”
This time there was no hesitation. “I’ll take the job and thank you, Mr. President.”
Back in his tiny cubicle that served as his office in the old U.N. building Donald thought about the structure of his new Global command. There was structure in place with the three EDF battalions on Earth to handle Global defense but he needed to beef up the forces on Altis-5 to protect the supply lines and the col
ony. For now, command and control for the defense of the colony and the supply lines would remain on Altis-5 but he knew eventually that would have to change and then he would have to bring his friend home.
17
Suspicious Reflections
Kris and Marcie found Tom in the middle of a stack of crates with Colonel Frulé and Sergeant Deming. His Brigade Office was diminishing rapidly as many of the packing crates were being staged for delivery to the surface.
“Do you have a moment Tom?” asked Kris. Tom saw the concern on Kris’s face. “Of course. What’s up?”
Marcie quickly explained what she had seen. As
she talked, Tom walked over to the hangar wall, opened
a panel and brought up a holo map of the area and they
pinpointed the spot. As Marcie was finishing, Ray walked
in.
“That is interesting,” said Frulé. “It may just be
possible that some reflective mineral is laying on the
surface up there and the sun’s angle was just right.” “Commodore Querrion says the last Hevinian visit
was five years ago, and since then the planet has been
left to develop naturally,” said Ray. “Oh, and the area
described by Marcie has never been a landing site.” “I would like to take a look,” said Kris. “Unless
anyone objects, I’ll take my Jaguar down in the
morning.”
“OK Kris, but just to be on the safe side take some
back up with you,” said Tom. “Sergeant Deming, ask the
Sergeant Major to assign a three-man fire team to go
with Mr. Blackstock in the morning.” Tom turned to Kris.
Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series Page 17