Altis-5: Book #2 of the Sleeper Series

by J. Alexander Black

  The brief concluded with a huge holographic map showing the area designated for the first colony. It was on the same continent and latitude as the village but five hundred miles away on the other side of the mountains. The Senior Landing Technician requested that the town leaders form a delegation to meet with newly arrived town leaders after they were settled to welcome them in person and begin the process of settling in.

  Sande was not present; she knew the procedure and had seen it in action many times. She was at the clinic to supervise the packing but as Marcie had organized everything before leaving for the meeting everything was under control and she wasn’t really needed. She began to think of the wall paintings found in the cave so she sat down at her terminal at the clinic. She looked at the monitor that had been shut down prior to being crated. She pressed a key and the system woke up and immediately began receiving information. The system had automatically linked to the Olympus Systems Management Center and began an update. Sande walked away knowing that it would take several minutes for the update to complete.

  In his yurt, Ray was alone for what seemed the first time in ages. With Marcie at the meeting he decided to begin packing. Once they found out the Olympus was bringing permanent houses to replace the yurts he and Marcie had decided to use their yurt as a vacation home on their property by the ocean. His yurt would be crated to make way for another permanent building to be installed due to its proximity to the center of town. His prefabricated replacement building would be placed on the knoll by the river; it was smaller than they wanted but it would do. The smithy would be built adjacent to it from local timber.

  Captain Edwin Jorge of the HCTS Goliath was sitting in his Command Center. His command staff was silently going about their duties. The First Officer was standing silently by his side watching his Commanding Officer monitoring a stream of information generated by the ship’s Information System. They had entered the Altean system only a few moments ago, and the ship was maneuvering into orbit above the landing site on Altis-5. Even with Hevinian technology as advanced as it was and the fact that the Captain and the crew had done this many times before, it was still a dangerous evolution and required the full attention of the Command Center staff. Communication from the Olympus confirmed that the thousands of footprints were ready to receive their modules. Weather reports were coming in. All the colonists had confirmed that they were within their houses and ready. Navigation data confirmed their location. The surrounding space had been screened for any traffic.

  “We have obtained a synchronous orbit above the primary landing site Captain,” said the First Officer.

  The Captain was ahead of him already reviewing the procedures to ensure everything was ready.

  “We will lower the primary platform.”

  The pulsar beam formed at the center of the platform and descended to the planet below.

  Data fed to the Captain indicated the oxygen and pressure dome was forming over the platform as the beam began its descent. A shudder ran throughout the ship as the massive retaining bars were withdrawn from the platform freeing it from the ship. From a mountain top, ten miles away, just about everyone from the village and most of the off-duty Brigade personnel watched the beam descend. There was a slight delay while the beam settled and began changing from orange to red as the platform descended into the atmosphere and was affected by the planets gravity. The lower it got the more power was needed to support such a massive weight. Tom looked up at the transport; in the space left by the platform he could see plasma beams feeding the energy into the beam.

  “Stop!” yelled one of the Command Center staff. The technician had been monitoring the oxygen and pressure levels in the dome and had detected a slight lowering of the pressure and made the decision to halt the descent. “Pressure generator number 32 has failed. I am increasing the output of the other generators to compensate. It will take 16 seconds for the pressure to reach the correct level. As a precaution, I am running a diagnostic on the other generators.” There was a pause. The Captain watched the results of the diagnostic come in as the air pressure in the dome increased. “Pressure and oxygen levels are now correct Captain. The diagnostic shows all other generators functioning within specifications.”

  “Thank you, Commander,” said the Captain. “Do we know why the ship’s Central Monitoring System (CMS) did not report the pressure drop and initiate an automatic shut down?”

  “Yes, Sir, the pressure was dropping but was within tolerance. If the pressure had dropped beyond 1010 Hectopascals, then the CMS would have responded.”

  “Very well, Commander; May we continue with the descent?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Then let us proceed. We have colonists who I am sure are anxious to get on the ground.”

  The grid laid out for the first group of colonists brought by the Goliath included land in between the Lookout Mountain range and a large river, in all 20,000,000 acres of arable land with small 20 to 30 acre stands of trees dotted about. To the south, a wide desert separated the useable land from the ocean and to the north a long thin low mountain range formed a natural border with the rest of the continent.

  The crowd on the mountain had a clear view of the massive platform as it continued on its descent to the surface. At 100 feet above the ground, the color of the beam changed to a brilliant red as energy levels intensified to support the increased weight as the platform came to a halt. Even at this distance the group could hear the clamps holding the eight segments to the center core unlocking. They felt the air pressure change as thousands of antigrav units kicked in and relieved the beam of its weight causing the beam to rapidly change back to a light orange then to a lemon yellow as the energy was reduced. Slowly all eight segments moved away and continued descending. Fascinated, the group watched each segment break up into smaller town sized pieces. Then, at about fifty feet above ground the town sized pieces halted as the individual farmsteads separated and moved to hover over their designated spots. Several of the farmsteads came straight at the crowd as they headed to the foothills of the mountain. Within about twenty minutes the dispersal was completed and the individual pieces lowered to the ground. There were several close enough for them to see the supporting legs extend and then bury themselves partially into the ground. Once the building was level and supported by the legs the antigrav plate under the platform slid out and began its journey back to the core. Once the platform had reformed the beam changed color once more as it accepted the load, then it paused as the secondary platform dispersed thousands of barns and other out buildings. Once the supporting platform was gone the legs supporting the house burrowed deeper until the house was in place level with the ground.

  At one farm near the town center allocated to Raymond Haskell and his family, they waited as instructed for the muffled clicking sound as the outside doors unlocked. The family stepped out onto the porch.

  The mother said, “Be careful girls. Remember the gravity is different. Wait here on the porch until the other buildings are down.” Raymond looked around at the seemingly endless meadow stretched out in front of him. He turned to his wife. “This is good land, Rita. We made the right choice coming here.”

  They heard a thud behind the house and walked around to see the farm’s huge barn and other outbuildings from the second platform lowering themselves into position. Raymond waited while the plates removed themselves from under the buildings and headed off. He waited patiently as the buildings settled into position, then said, “All right everyone, let us get the buildings inventoried and move some of the food supplies into the house.”

  The two teenage girls went running toward the buildings. Both girls had forgotten about the lighter gravity and fell over giggling after just a few steps.

  31

  Kaedian Troopers

  The Kaedian troopers had managed to evade any of the EDF searches and after several weeks of hard marching and living off the land had finally reached a low range of mountains with gently sloping meadows of tal
l grass. Wild game was in abundance. When they located a cave with a small entrance and a large interior with many stalactites and stalagmites of pure crystalline Desteron, Tactical Sergeant Kebel decided to make this a permanent camp.

  Desteron was well known to the Kaedians. It was, in its more refined form, used as one of the ingredients for camouflage against pulsar beam surveillance systems. Normally in its raw form it emitted a weak amount of deflecting radiation and had to be combined with other compounds to be effective but in the massive quantity lining the roof and walls of this cave nothing would penetrate. In this cave, they would be

  undetectable. Kebel posted sentries on top of the mountain above the cave since this was the highest point for miles around. He then detailed hunting parties and the construction of latrines and berthing areas. Over the next couple of weeks, they settled into a comfortable routine. Kebel maintained military discipline, convinced this was the key to survival. At noon on the fifteenth day Kebel received an excited call from the sentry. There was a massive ship descending through the clouds in the distance. He and the other men rushed to the sentry’s location; he was pointing to the south. Kebel looked through his direculars in the direction he was pointing in. The distance was great and even through the direculars it was hard to make out the five-mile wide ship with a wide beam descending from the center to the ground.

  “We have been rescued,” shouted the young sentry.

  “That ship is not Kaedian,” said Kebel. “There is no way a ship that size could arrive without being detected by the Hevinian forces. That is a Hevinian colonial transport. They are bringing in more colonists and by the size of that thing thousands of them. We will monitor their progress to see how close to us they come but I think we will be moving out in a couple of sunrises.”

  “No, we are tired of moving.” It was the elder of the two veteran Gladarius. “Our forces are not coming to rescue us. You know that and we know that. There will be women with these settlers. I say we wait until they get settled and at the right moment we help ourselves.”

  Kebel turned to him a vicious look on his face as he replied, “You are a fool. Do that and the Hevinian forces will know where we are and destroy us.”

  “We have been abandoned. Our Commanders have left us to fend for ourselves. I will no longer take orders from you.” The Gladarius pulled out a concealed weapon and, before Kebel could react, he shot him. He then pointed the weapon at the others. “You can follow me or not up to you. I don’t care. The crap that Kebel gave us about being combat wounded was just that crap. If we are rescued by our own forces we will be executed as cowards and deserters. Do as you please, I for one am getting me a woman then I am heading north to find a place to live. Decide now.”

  Each one of them knew he was telling the truth and that it was time to give up the fantasy of being rescued and think about surviving. One by one they agreed with the Gladarius.

  He put away his weapon, then stated, “Let us bury the Sergeant then watch the colonists’ arrival and make our plans.”

  32

  Murder on Altis-5

  Andreas Verens was happy he had left Earth; there he was a man with a wife, two teen-aged daughters, a son eleven years old and no prospects. When he had inherited his father’s farm in southern France he quit his manufacturing job and moved in. Within weeks he discovered his father had been deep in debt and as he was now legally responsible under French law he was forced to sell the farm. With nowhere else to go he had applied for his old job at the bicycle factory but was told they were laying people off. The country was in the middle of a severe depression. Destitute, he had applied for state aid and was given a small apartment and a small allowance. For two years he managed to take care of his family taking odd jobs where he could get paid under the table, otherwise the French government would deduct any earnings from his allowance. When news of the opportunity to emigrate to Altis-5 reached him he applied immediately. The French screeners had been informed that if they could qualify anyone who was receiving state assistance and as long as it was justified they should give them priority. So, when he filled out his form the hired French worker encouraged him to list his occupation as a farmer and give his old farm as his address. His application flew through the screening process and within days he was approved. The German supervisor who was employed by the World

  Confederation reviewed the paperwork but saw nothing irregular and gave it the final stamp of approval and his application was sent to the Hevinians for space allocation. Andreas could not be happier; his wife and children were ecstatic. When they finally arrived on the new land he felt that he had been given a new opportunity and he would work hard to be successful.

  On the fifth day on Altis-5 he had gone to the central water distribution at the town to fill his containers. His farm was on the far northeastern edge of the new colony and it would be several more days before the Hevinian Technicians would arrive to connect the utilities. He crested the slight rise at the outer boundary of his allocation. From there he could see his farm buildings with ease. He increased speed anxious to be home, but as he drew closer he thought it looked strange that there was no one outside. What was the matter with them, there were chores to do. He pulled up outside the barn and walked over to the house. He was surprised when his family did not come out of the house to greet him. There was nothing but eerie silence.

  He called his wife’s name, “Nora, I’m home.” Nothing but silence. Worried now, he rushed into the house. The place was torn apart and there was no sign of his family. He ran from room to room shouting their names. Finally, in the master bedroom he found his son, on his back, spread eagled on the bed, a huge blast wound in his chest. In his right hand was a hand gun. Andreas rushed over to his son and cradled him in his arms. It was obvious he was dead. With tears streaming down his face he rushed outside to check all the outbuildings but there was no sign of his wife and daughters. He jumped back into the truck and drove around the area calling their names but to no avail; they were gone. His mind was in complete turmoil what the hell could have happened to them? I was only gone for a couple of hours, he thought.

  Back in the driveway, he looked around at the house and barn trying to make sense of it all and he saw that the larger farm truck was missing. He walked around the house looking for any sign of what happened. His mind was in a panic. He forced himself to calm down. I must call the Sheriff, he thought. He went over to the communicator but it was smashed beyond all use. I’ll have to go get the Sheriff. His mind was struggling. He could not bear to leave his son but he knew he must. He went back into the bedroom and stared at his dead son, he felt the grief overwhelming him, he shook his head and his mind began to clear. His neighbor was less than five minutes away so he decided to go there and call the Sheriff. On the way back to his vehicle at the rear of the house, he saw several boot marks and gouges in the dirt as if someone or

  something was being dragged along the ground. They’ve been taken, those boot prints are either military or construction workers boots. I need the Sheriff and quick. He jumped into his vehicle and sped away so fast the water containers fell off the back of the vehicle.

  The town Sheriff had been a Policeman in Philadelphia previously and knew nothing about tracking so they contacted Raymond Haskell who considered the situation and contacted the EDF. Tom immediately contacted Kris and Andrew. Kris, because not only was this was a civil matter, but he was the best tracker available. They also needed Andrew because he suspected this was the work of the Kaedian troopers and he spoke Kaedian. Fully armed and with supplies for a week they walked over the bridge between the village and the base where they were met by Françoise and a fully manned Barque.

  Frulé said, “It looks like Andrew was right. This is the work of the Kaedians. I have communicated with Sheriff Stein and we will meet with him and the farmer at his house. The Sheriff tells me there are tracks so it seemed like a good place to start.”

  With that they climbed aboard and in five minutes they
were arriving at the house. Introductions were quick; Paul Stein, the Sheriff carried no weapons and gave the impression of being a quiet and simple man. Françoise believed he had seen something hidden underneath the mild exterior and as he extended his hand he offered a unique handshake. Surprised, Stein returned the correct response as he shook his hand. They both smiled at each other feeling the bond of a brother Legionnaire. This will be an interesting conversation over a drink when this is over. How did a former Legionnaire end up as cop in Philadelphia? But that was for another time.

  Andreas briefed them on what he found when he arrived home. He assured them it was as he found it. Nothing had been touched. Kris and Paul quickly went through the house. They began with the son; there was no blood on the body or the bed. He had been killed by a single blast from a pulse beam weapon. Kris removed the gun from the boy’s hand with difficulty since his grip on the weapon had been strong. The gun had been fired twice then they noticed the blood on the rug in front of the bed.

  Kris looked over at Andreas. "Your son was very brave. He obviously knew where you kept the gun and tried to defend his mother and sisters. It looks like he got at least one of them before he was killed."