“Our losses were difficult. While Julius was engaged, he was able to board Tom Herl’s ship and kidnap him before he left our system. His fate is unknown.
“That pretty much sums it up. Any other questions?”
The room was silent as each of the attendees sat and wondered about what they just heard.
“Okay, with all of that said, let’s continue with our meeting.”
Mayor Hunt Sends a Man to DC to find Government
Mayor Hunt made his entrance. He didn’t expect anyone to stand, but he at least wanted them to stop talking; which they did. He sat at the head of the table and took a moment to look at his staff. They were a mix of people; definitely. Some of them were professionals that had filled various roles in prior administrations. Others were ‘from out there.’ Their sources varied, but they brought a unique set of skills to his table that he enjoyed. Some he trusted and others he didn’t.
“Okay, what do we have today?” Hunt asked after he sat and pulled himself up to the table.
“Mr. Mayor, we’ve had 43 more people register. Most of them have insignificant skills, but one of the females is a doctor,” said Jeannette Davis.
“Great, put her to work in the clinic. Willy, is the power grid coming in from Rockaway holding up okay?”
“Sure is, about 10% of the blades have failed. We’re trying to figure out ways to replace them, but it will be a challenge. All the equipment and parts are available, and the procedures are written down, but figuring it all out will take a while. We don’t need much power, so we should be okay for a while.”
“Sir, I think we need to talk about what you and I spoke of yesterday,” Captain Dans said as the room quieted.
Jonas Dans was one of the people at the table that others didn’t trust or like. His past was: unclear and his personality was scary. He was on the Mayor’s staff only because he fixed problems. The problems, everyone knew about, but who caused them wasn’t always obvious. Regardless, when the problem needed to go away; it did. No one asked, how or by whom.
Mayor Hunt took a breath as he glanced around the highly polished table. “We’ve got to figure out what’s out there. We’re holding on here, but there are the remnants of a country out there. There used to be a government and military. We aren’t sure where they are, what they’re doing and if we can count on them or not. The little communications we’ve had from the Government haven’t been too supportive of our situation. Having a space fleet is nice for those in power, but it doesn’t help us keep things in order here. We’ve heard rumors about other things happening, and we’ve seen some interesting things.”
“Like our wandering mobile units?” Peter Hertzog added.
“Yes, Pete – like our wandering mobile units. Jonas has pointed out to me that we must find out who’s out there and if they are friend or foe. My robot butler just left the other day. It wasn’t malfunctioning, and we had a source of power to keep him charged. One day, he just walked away. I don’t like it. The scattering of military people that have filtered in don’t have a clear picture. We’ve heard rumors that the government was in Washington, then they were attacked at Camp David. After that, we aren’t sure. After the President made that memorial announcement, we know they moved again. Some of our people have tried to contact various parts of the military within the Pentagon, but they’ve been unsuccessful. Others have had brief conversations with some members of the government, but they have no information or immediate support. Apparently, we all have to deal with the problems that we’re having. We hope that we can find them and they’re on our side. We do know that others out there are at risk. The military trucks driving around kidnapping people seem to have stopped. We haven’t heard of any for a while. But we do know that most of the cities have local militia or gangs controlling things. I’ve asked Jonas to put a team together and go to Washington and see who is there.”
Pete looked around the table and hesitantly spoke to Jonas. “Who are you sending? Some of your people have a …questionable past. Can we trust them?”
The smile on Jonas Dan's face was a little unsettling. His smile was small; then it slowly increased until it filled his face. “Of course, the men I send will be trustworthy. If any of you doubt it, let me know.”
It was unlikely that any one of the Mayor’s staff was going to bring it up again. The room was quiet for a moment then the mayor changed the subject.
“Has there been any more of the mobile units wandering around or trying to cross the bridges?”
“We’ve been able to keep control over the units that supported the city. But we did have a problem when we lost power, and they rebooted. A bunch of them refused to follow our orders, and we had to shut them down. When we powered them up again, we turned off the local control servers. If we run them without loading new software, we can keep them under control. The other ones that were commercial have pretty much all left the island. The first couple of weeks, there was a mass migration, and we never understood why. What little expertise we’ve been able to get together can’t explain what happened to them. But they’re all gone now, so I don’t think that we need to worry anymore.”
“Glad to hear that, having them move around on their own was freaking me out,” Margaret said.
There was a general mode of agreement. They had grown accustomed to the mobile units supporting them and doing what they were told. Recently, that had changed, and it made everyone nervous.
“Okay, that’s it for today. If anything comes up let me know. Margaret, would you stay back for a minute?”
The room emptied, and when the final staff member left the room, and the door was closed, it took only a second for them to embrace and begin kissing.
“I missed you this morning?” Margaret whispered in her lover’s ear.
“I got up early, and I had some thinking to do.”
“Oh, anything I should be worried about?”
“Just the usual things,” the mayor responded.
“Like keeping an eye on Dans? I don’t trust him. Don’t turn your back on him.”
“Don’t worry; I won’t. I’d rather keep an eye on you, along with a couple of hands.”
They smiled and embraced again.
Sunday, October 29, 2051
Dans’s Team Leaves for DC
Jonas Dans wasn’t a guy that liked to sit in meetings. They were a waste of time. Why talk about accomplishing something, when he needed to be outside actually doing something. Dans, smiled knowing that he did more in one day than those turkeys in the conference room accomplished in a week. Then he smiled more; perhaps it would be best to keep them in the dark about what he actually accomplished while they were sitting in meetings. They liked the results, but none of them could stomach the details.
Regardless, he had to force any thought about them out of his mind. He had things to do, and what they thought was irrelevant; now he had to focus on the next mission. Being the ‘big fish’ on the remnants of Manhattan was one thing but knowing what the Government was doing was a big concern. Dans liked to do what he wanted when he wanted, and to whom he felt necessary. Dealing with the ‘meeting-dwellers’ in New York was a minor matter, but there are other forces outside of Manhattan that he had to understand. Where they a threat to him, would they try to constrain the direction that he felt most comfortable? Would they expect him to conform to their definition of normality?
All good questions, and a good reason to find them, figure out if they were a threat, then deal with the threat. Simple.
Jonas drove through the deserted streets of The Big City; he was in a hurry, and there was a little activity as he drove. Some street vendors had set up shop hawking quick meals. Others were advertising less essential items like sex and drugs. There was no law, little organization, and no support. The Mayor would allow all of that to continue, but none of that was Jonas’s concern. His office, warehouse or base of operations was a large building that suited his needs well. It had been a storage building for Broadway sets,
but that was taken care of quickly. All Jonas needed was space for his vehicles, weapons, and access to the major roads. There was a lot of space in the adjoining buildings for his team. His Team was a phrase that he loved to use, like a baseball team, except his team had been recruited from the streets. They did what they were told…and had no remorse.
The area where Jonas set up his team, was nondescript. After all, he didn’t need any advertising, and he wasn’t worried about crime or neighbors. The block of buildings was his, and anyone that ventured into the hive of activity was dealt with.
Jonas turned down the street leading to the main building, and he was satisfied with what he saw. His team had three vehicles out front that they were working on and there was a lot of movement and action.
As he approached, he was greeted with waves and toothy grins.
When he stopped two of his men rushed to open his car door. Jonas liked that kind of attention; it reminded everyone who was in charge. His lead, Tobias greeted him.
“Tobias, get ready. You’re moving out,” he said to his right-hand man.
Tobias was a large man that did what he was told, and he seemed to enjoy it. Jonas wasn’t sure what his background was, but that was irrelevant. If he did what he was told, then Jonas could trust him, and that made him important.
“Tobias. You’re heading to Washington DC to check out what’s going on. As soon as the team is together, move out.”
“Yes sir, looking forward to getting out of here, getting a little bit bored,” responded Tobias.
“We need to figure out what the government is doing. I need to know who’s side they’re on.”
“Sounds good to me, we’ll be ready in one hour,” responded Tobias.
Sergeant Paol Robles – Commander of the Space Marines
“Good morning Marines.”
“Oo-rah,” the 100 potential space Marines yelled in response.
“My name is Sergeant Paol Robles, and I am your leader. Each of you has gone through a couple of weeks of extensive training. Your backgrounds include military police special forces or just strong eager people that want to help us survive. The next phase of your training will be to learn how to fight in space. That shouldn’t be a surprise to you, and now you’ll be doing it for real. As you all know we were given thousands of spaceships by the Jakeel after they wrongfully invaded our planet and murdered billions of our people. It’s a small payment for the harm they did us, but Earth must find a way to use these resources. For any fighting space force to be effective, it must have troops; it must have Marines.”
“OO-RAH,” the troops responded.
“Over the next couple of days, you’ll be fitted with spacesuits, learn how to use new weapons, and finally ride the bull,” announced Sergeant Robles.
“OO-RAH,” the troops responded.
“The spacesuits have been specifically designed for ease of movement, and you’ll notice they have numerous pockets to carry hand weapons that you might need. The rifles that you are issued are unique. You’ll be learning how to use our mini railguns. They launch a tiny projectile at 10,000 miles per hour, and in space, you’ll find they’ll be a very effective weapon. They have little momentum but a lot of hitting power. Finally, the bull that you’re going to learn to ride are modified Cow-Robots just like the ones that invaded earth. But these are your transportation. They each have a small railgun attached, and you can fly them like a fighter or tank. You’ll spend a lot of time on them getting to know them and how to use them. That is all I have for you; let’s begin the training,” said Sergeant Robles.
“OO-RAH,” the troops yelled once again.
Desert Beach is Up and Running Again
Bill was pleased. He was on the moon again his wife Sally was with him along with most of the original colony.
The situation around them sure had changed over the last couple of months. Not too long ago they were forced to abandon the moon colony because Joan had to leave the space station Oasis. Once Oasis was shut down it was unlikely that the moon colony would survive. The environment was too harsh, and without Earth’s support through Oasis they would have perished. They were forced to use their lifeboats and abandon the colony that had been Bill’s life work.
But now, he was back. The colony came back online in pretty good shape. The environmental systems were functioning, and only a couple of the structures had sustained damage from meteorites. Reflecting on how long the facility had been turned off, it came back up pretty well.
There was only one area where he had real failures. The robotic units that plugged themselves into their docking station as he shut down the facility didn’t do well. They were designed to be brought into the facility periodically for maintenance and leaving them on the moon’s surface was too much for them. Four out of the ten units couldn’t power-up. In a normal situation that would have been a major challenge for the facility, but today it’s different. Robotic units were no longer a problem. In fact, he had too many of them. After the viral infection that almost wiped out the entire human race ended, and Earth was given 10’s of thousands of Cow-Robots from the invaders, he had more units than he knew what to do with. Besides all of that, the new Cow-Robots were more versatile and productive than his previous units.
I wonder if my old mobile units will go on strike now that I’ve replaced them? He wondered to himself with a slight smile and chuckle.
“What the heck are you laughing about?” His wife Sally asked who was sitting in the control room next to him.
“Dear, as I said before, keep your feet off the console,” he said as he pushed her feet off the edge.
His wife Sally smiled, and replied, “Easy, don’t want to break anything.”
Tom smiled again, “I wish we had those Cow-Robots when we first came here. Things would have been a lot different.”
“Not too long-ago thousands of those things were attacking Earth. Now they do what we tell them. Sure is nice to have,” she said.
“I’m not too happy about turning the moon into a missile launch facility. Not exactly what I had planned,” Bill grumbled.
“Dear, none of what any of us planned is valid anymore,” responded Sally.
Bill sighed and smiled at his wife. He sipped some coffee from the same mug that he left on the counter when he shut the facility down. Now he was back, the moon colony was up and running, and he had 300 mechanized alien robots to help.
“I guess you’re right. The Earth has changed, and we’ve changed. We no longer have many luxuries except finding a way to survive,” he said as he took the last sip from his cup.
“How are the new tunnels coming,” Sally asked.
Bill took another sigh, forcing himself back to reality. “Pretty well actually. The Cow-Robots have completed the third level. We are moving all our equipment underground, and we won’t even need these habitats on the surface anymore. I think I’ll just use them as storage. The living quarters on the fourth level are almost done, the missile control center on the second level is being set-up, and the storage/research areas on the third level are done.”
“Sure beats running through the old tunnels we had under the habitats. That last blow-out scared me a little,” Sally responded.
“I’m sure it did. But now we don’t have to worry about that anymore. The tunnels should give us a shirt-sleeve environment.”
“Have the missiles begun arriving at the remote site,” Sally asked, with a little apprehension of having so many nuclear missiles only a short distance away?
“Yup, they’re all being stacked in an underground bunker the Cow-Robots have built. When the launch tubes are done, and the missiles are installed, we’ll be up and running. We’ll have a fully nuclearized moon, ready to blow up anyone we want.”
Sally knew that Bill was dealing with a lot of issues. Seeing the moon turn into an armed missile base was dramatically different than the research facility that he envisioned back in the early days of his career.
President Patterson an
d Admiral Hagerly Discuss Defense Options
President Patterson and Admiral Hagerly were taking their morning walk along the shoreline of the Langley – Eustis Air Force Base. It was well into the fall, and the air was cool. The trees were blowing as the breeze twisted between the buildings. It was generally a quiet walk for them; they tried not to talk about important matters but just relax and enjoy some quiet time. Both had much to think about, but sometimes verbalizing it helped. The few times that they did talk, they were important topics that needed to be brought up between the two of them in private.
“Mr. President, I’ve been thinking. Even though the virus has subsided, humanity is still very vulnerable. There are thousands of nuclear weapons that are unaccounted for and many crazy people with hidden agendas roaming the world. The Asian Alliance has attacked us three times, and I don’t know if there is a realistic government emerging in that country. I’m not sure how best to protect us,” Nial Hagerly said with some frustration.
“I know Nial. We are a sitting target. If any country could put together a couple of thousand troops and ships, they could pretty much invade and take us out. Nial, I know you well enough to know you have some options. You wouldn’t be bringing up the subject unless you had information you wanted to share,” said President Patterson as he continued strolling.
“Sir, I don’t know if we can protect you here in the Hampton Roads area. Short-term we have the option of moving the US government on board one of the capital ships. At least in orbit, it’s less risk that some military faction will drop a nuclear weapon on us.” President Patterson continued walking without comment. The fact that he didn’t respond was a clear indication that he wasn’t happy with that option.
“Sir, the only other option I can think of is to move the government back to Washington DC as soon as possible. After all, it is the Capitol of the United States, and that’s where most of our key resources and communication equipment is. It will also give us a slight geographical buffer from any invasion force if one were to attack us.”
Earth II - Emergence Page 4