Leona said, “I don’t think that the two of you should spend every waking moment together. Perhaps you should ask Scout to reassign you to separate work stations.”
Jane said, “It’s not just waking hours. We sleep together, too.”
Leona looked disgusted. Her face became contorted, and she felt sick to her stomach. John noticed her reaction and felt compelled to clarify his sister’s statement.
John said, “We don’t sleep together like that. We just share a sleeping space. No incest here.”
Jane said, “Yeah, that would be disgusting,” as she pushed her brother aside.
Leona said, “Perhaps you should try to spend a night apart. Maybe explore dating other crew members.”
John said, “Everyone here is married or engaged.”
Leona replied, “Not everyone. Becky Garcia is single, and so is Joanne Clay.”
Jane said, “Great for him, but what about me?”
Leona said, “There’s plenty of available men, too. Jordan is single. Jack and Lane are also, and so is Notah Yazzie.”
When she heard Notah’s name, unexplainable shivers shot across her body. Something about him didn’t sit well with her. She decided to ignore it and deal with the problem in front of her.
Jane asked, “But what if I ask someone and get shot down?”
Leona said, “Then try again. There’s someone for everyone, even in our small community.”
John asked, “Then what if it doesn’t work and we still need to constantly be together?”
Leona replied, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, you need to see if you can live separate lives.”
The three stood and the siblings walked out of Leona’s office. Leona entered everything in her electronic chart, and made other notes for herself. She prepared for her next appointment, and tried to put everything else out of her head.
Over the course of the journey, Leona never found herself with the time to be bored. She was also never lonely, as the parade of people through her office only ended when she closed the doors and went to her quarters. Her day was 15 hours long on average, so she never had time for her mind to wander. She was also never lonely because the need for her services never seemed to end.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sabotage
General Rich wouldn’t give up without a fight, even if it required a less than legal solution. He called his lone remaining operative into his office to discuss a covert operation. The Operative opened the door and marched to the desk. He stood at attention awaiting his orders.
General Rich said, “I have a secret, voluntary mission. I would like your help.”
The Operative asked, “What is it, sir?”
Rich answered, “It’s a two pronged attack on Scout Ellison’s colony.”
The Operative said, “Then I don’t think that I want any part of it.”
Rich said, “You’ve made your feelings about this man clear in the past. I know about the assassination attempt at the rally.”
The Operative asked, “What makes you think I haven’t changed my mind?”
Rich replied, “Because I know that you hate him as much as I do.”
The Operative stated, “I see what you are, though. You’re a megalomaniac. Your only motivation is power and money. You have a world view I can’t agree with.”
General Rich said, “Maybe you can put aside your opinion of me to destroy a common enemy?”
The Operative said, “Why, so you can have me killed the same way you killed my team?”
Rich said, “I told you already, that wasn’t planned. It’s just part of the risk you take when you join the army.”
The Operative said, “I don’t think I can ever trust you after what I saw in the desert.”
Rich asked, “Can you trust your own gut to tell you that we have a common enemy?”
The Operative answered, “I trust that I only have 362 days remaining in my commitment before I can return to civilization and use my skills in the private sector, and away from madmen like you.”
Rich said, “I’ll offer you something I don’t think you can refuse.”
The Operative asked, “And what might that be? I can’t be bought with money. I’m not so forgone that I’ve sold my soul for dreams of wealth.”
Rich said, “But you’re in a rush to get out of here.”
The Operative said, “Okay, now you have my attention.”
Rich said, “I’ll offer you early exit with pay if you take on this mission and see it through to completion.”
The Operative said, “That sound like a very tempting offer. There must be a severe risk involved.”
Rich said, “There is.”
The Operative said, “Okay, tell me what the mission is, so I can make an informed decision.”
General Rich said, “The mission is to be completed on two fronts, so you will need two teams to complete it. The first front involves Scout’s stockpile of supplies. He’ll need to refresh his team’s food, water and medicine, along with other things in order to continue the building of his colony.”
The Operative said, “I understand they’re trying to terraform the planet, so they may have taken everything with them that they need.”
The General replied, “That doesn’t mean that they could take everything at once. They’ll need food while the plants they took with them take root. They’ll need to replenish the water, unless they’re crazy enough to try drinking the Martian water. I don’t think that they’re that foolish. They’ll also need to replenish soil and other things to make plants and animals grow.”
The Operative asked, “Okay, so how do you propose that we cut off the supply chain?”
General Rich replied, “We destroy the storage facility. There’s no way that Scout would try to gather all of his supplies right when the ship arrives. He must have a liaison here on Earth doing all the grunt work. I need you to find that liaison and disrupt him without killing him or doing anything that might let the public know we’re trying to destroy Scout. That would create an outrage and a new threat to our way of life.”
The operative asked, “And what’s the second prong?”
General Rich replied, “That’s the more direct approach. The ship has to return and reload to take supplies to Mars. I want to try to destroy or disable the ship when it returns again.”
The Operative said, “But the spaceport officials won’t allow us to attack a research vessel.”
Rich said, “That’s why you have to make it look like you’re on a simple training mission, and the destruction of the ship is a complete accident.”
The Operative said, “So what am I supposed to do to stop the ship from reaching its destination?”
Rich said, “It’ll be easy enough to send you on a bombing run. Then you just get lost and have your bombs dropped on their ship.”
The Operative replied, “So I have to look incompetent. That doesn’t sound like something I want to do.”
Rich said, “We’ll absolve you in the investigation, leaving you free to pursue your private sector goals.”
The Operative said, “But the court of public opinion will have already found me guilty of being an ignoramus. You can’t change that.”
Rich said, “No, I can’t, but I can make sure that you find a job where your skills will be put to use.”
The Operative said, “How can you accomplish that?”
General Rich said, “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve made many friends and bedfellows. Some of them owe me, and some are just too good a friend to deny me. Trust me on this one.”
The Operative asked, “What kind of job are we talking about?”
Rich answered, “I have friends at Bank of America, Coke, Pepsi, FedEx, Kellogg’s, and a whole host of other corporations. I can get you a job in upper management with any of them.”
The Operative said, “Okay, if I take this mission, I‘ll receive an early out with pay, right?”
Rich sa
id, “Upon completion, that’s correct. You’ll be paid for the remainder of your contract. You’ll also get a job offer from someone I convince to hire you. The job will be lucrative, so you won’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life.”
The Operative said, “I know that I’ll regret this, but I accept your offer. I’ll assemble two teams to complete the missions.”
The General replied, “Good, I’m glad you saw it my way. I’d hate to have had to get rid of you.”
The operative said, “That’s another reason to take it. You’re way too powerful.”
Rich said, “I don’t have that much power. Wealth is power, and I’m not that wealthy. This nation and our allies have unparalleled wealth, so we have unparalleled power. People like Scout Ellison threaten that power. He’s a dirty, no-good, tree-hugging hippie. He has to go, and so do his followers. Our nation’s power must not be lost, and continuing to hold the wealth of the world is the only way to hold that power. Then the rest of the world must come to us for everything.”
The Operative said, “I wasn’t crazy, you’re mad. Wealth isn’t power; military might is power. You keep the rest of the world in check by having the greatest military force.”
Rich said, “The only way to have a great military is to have great wealth. That’s why we must remain wealthy.”
The Operative said, “I don’t quite understand how Scout being on another planet threatens our wealth and power.”
Rich replied, “Because he’s taking our resources with him. He can’t be allowed to drain our wealth and move it across the galaxy.”
The Operative said, “I’ll complete the mission, but I still think that we’re taking this way too far.”
Rich said, “That’s your right. Now accomplish the mission. Dismissed.”
The Operative turned about and marched out of the general’s office. He rushed to the barracks to retrieve his list of trusted associates. He needed to recruit as many of them as possible to accomplish his mission. His list had thirty names, and he intended to attempt to recruit all of them until he had enough people to perform his tasks.
The first one was a trusted corporal named Wilkes. He found his bunk, and was fortunate to find him in it.
He said, “Corporal, are you awake?”
The corporal awoke from a deep sleep and said, “I am now, sir.”
The Operative said, “I need to find a few great men to accomplish a covert mission. Are you up for the challenge?”
Wilkes replied, “I’m up for anything, sir. May I ask the nature of the mission?”
The Operative replied, “No, you may not. Just know that it’s dangerous and you could die. It’s covert in its nature and information will be given on a ‘need to know’ basis.”
Wilkes said, “You can count on me, sir. I thrive on covert danger. Safety’s for wimps.”
The Operative said, “Good, report to General Rich’s office at 0800 tomorrow.”
Wilkes said, “Yes, sir.”
The Operative had recruited his first team member. He needed at least eleven more. He wanted half a dozen men for each prong of the mission. In the supply chain portion, he needed two lookouts, a sniper to remove any witnesses, and three people to burn the supplies and put out the fire before it spread. On the other side, he needed three teams of two to fly over the spaceport and destroy the colonists’ ship.
By the next morning, The Operative had managed to recruit ten people. This left him two people short of his goal of a dozen. He would have to do more than simply lead the teams; he would have to physically participate in the operation. He walked into the General’s office and hoped for the best.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Routine
Scout needed to keep his crew busy at all times. He figured that the busier they were, the less likely they were to go insane. He set up a routine for the crew that included meetings and regular duties with a strict schedule. He didn’t want to run the ship as a dictator, but he also didn’t want to deal with an insane crew.
Every morning at 0600, ship time, the crew had a daily briefing. Everyone was required to report the previous day’s events to the rest of the crew. Everyone always knew what was happening on the ship. There was a briefing six days per week with one day off.
A typical meeting started with Scout taking a roll call. If anyone was absent, he had Jordan or Lane retrieve them. The only valid excuses for missing the briefing were illness and injury. The penalty for missing the meeting was being escorted to the briefing.
Scout would say, “Why do you feel that you are exempt from the rules?”
The only valid answer was, “I’m not exempt. I’m here and ready to serve the crew and the ship.”
Once everyone was assembled, the meeting would begin. Scout would read his notes to the crew. He told them how far they’d traveled so far, as well as how much longer the trip would be. Jordan and Lane gave their report on the weapons systems as well as proximity reports. They told the crew if they’d shot anything the day before, and told them about threats from Earth. Next was the communications report. Cindy Fink would inform the crew of any pertinent news from Earth, and gave progress reports from Snicker and Skittle. The robots sent a report to the ship every day to keep the crew updated on their progress. Shai gave everyone a ballot for the dinner menu. She wanted everyone to have a voice in what was served on the ship. Everyone else gave their reports after the menus were finalized. The meetings took about thirty minutes every morning, but they could last as long as an hour.
After the meeting, everyone reported to thier work stations. The day shift had twenty minutes to report to their work station following the daily briefing. That was usually plenty of time to get from the common room of the ship (which was located adjacent to the bridge on the first level) to the various work places even with an occasional pit stop.
The work at the stations sometimes caused boredom, and monotony set in among the crew. Many of the tasks that were assigned were not very challenging (except for the tasks assigned to Leona, Shai and Jordan-they were very busy.)Most of the crew simply stared out at the stars and the blackness of space with little to keep their minds focused. Many people’s minds would wander, and the imagination is a very powerful thing. People see all sorts of danger when the imagination has no boundaries in reality. This phenomenon is exactly what Scout was trying to avoid. He tried rotating people’s assignments, and creating a rigid routine. Every person was required to check in with the bridge every two hours to ensure that everyone was still sane. The average day shift workday lasted from 0600 until 1730 in the beginning, so that the crew had little time to get bored. In theory, the schedule was flawless. In reality, it led to exhaustion. Many of the crew began to hallucinate due to fatigue, so Scout shortened the workday to 0600 to 1430 after the first month. The night crew, which was only four people and Heath Goodbar, then took over from 1400 until 2300. Heath Goodbar handled the overnight shift, but everyone was available in case of emergency.
Meals were served on a regular schedule every day. Breakfast was served at the briefing, and the menu was voted one day earlier. Lunch was served at 1100, and everyone not involved in intense work was required to gather in the galley to take lunch together. This was a time to break up the monotony of the day. Dinner was served nightly at 1800 and both the day and night crews took dinner together. The dinner schedule was set up that way so the two crews could stay in contact with each other. The night crew received a fourth meal break at 2100 for a small snack, so that they didn’t have to work hungry. Shai prepared the night crew’s late meal earlier in the day. They used the ship’s ovens to re-heat their food.
The daily routine was changed on a weekly basis in order to give everyone a chance to do everything on the ship. This also kept the crew’s minds busy so they wouldn’t wander. A few people were exempt from the changing of duties. Leona needed to keep everyone sane, so she kept busy with her list of patients. Scout needed to lead the crew, so his job never changed (
or never stayed the same, depending on how one views the command of a ship.) Jordan was too valuable as the ship’s engineer, but he and Kathy also rotated into the engine room. Shai was the only qualified cook on the ship, so she prepared meals every day. The rest of the crew, however, took turns being her sous chef.
The crew needed more distractions from the journey’s darkness and boredom. The work only provided so much relief because a lot of the work involved confronting the darkness. So the crew gathered almost every night after their shift in the game room. There was a billiards table with magnetized billiards balls, and a television in the corner. They could receive radio and TV signals from Earth, but they were not very strong as the nearest communications satellite was too far away. The signal would improve as they approached Mars. There was also an area filled with fitness equipment that the crew was required to use at least twice a week.
Scout had told them, “When we get to Mars, I don’t want anyone to be too weak to walk. I know that Mars only has a third the gravity of the Earth, but it’s still stronger than we’re experiencing in space. Everyone will need to work their muscles for at least two hours every week. You can do more than that, but that’s up to you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Liaison
Scout’s Liaison on Earth was Scott Olson. He was making sure that the colony’s recruitment and support efforts continued even in Scout’s absence. He was in charge of preparing the supplies for the terraforming team. He spent his days gathering the legal limits of the supplies that the team would need. He went to a different store every day, and traveled to different cities when he had exhausted his options in Portland. He even occasionally went to neighboring states to collect the supplies.
Once the supplies were gathered, Scott would ship them to the hangar in New Mexico. He scheduled a regular pickup every week to ensure that the supplies did not pile up in his home and attract suspicion. The UPS truck made it seem like a small business was operating out of his home, which was perfectly legal.
MARS: Renaissance Page 19