Emma is caught totally off guard by the bluntness of the question, and gulps as she feels a slight rush of adrenaline. I could be responsible for Earth’s first colony amongst the stars. She blinks as the enormity of the task begins to sink in, “I am...” she hesitates, then glances at Peter, who nods and offers a rarely seen smile in return. Emma turns back to Cindy and meets her gaze with resolve, “I’m willing.”
Cindy recalls the time Emma arrived on the bridge, mentally unhinged, carrying a small bucket of strawberries. She continues to stare at Emma, evaluating her, then adds, “I will still be in charge of the overall operation, but you will have direct control over the settlement’s planning and subsequent construction.”
Emma nods, clearly happy with her level of responsibility.
Cindy turns to Radclyf and Hayato, “And what do you two think of General Walker being in charge of the colony’s military presence?”
The two combat veterans have quietly been discussing this very point since George raised the suggestion. Hayato motions for Radclyf to reply on their behalf. Radclyf also glances at Peter before offering his thoughts, “Walker uses his head more than most military leaders. So unless Peter knows something we don’t, Hayato and I agree with George.”
Peter stands, tucks his hands into his jacket, and then adds his thoughts. “It is a shame that we’re even considering a military option for the colony, but with threats everywhere, and I don’t just mean Commander Jie, it is a prudent gesture.”
Without even pausing, Cindy points at Patrick, “Are you ready to be the colony’s foreman?”
Patrick stares back at her blankly. He did not expect to be involved in the discussion at all, much less singled out. He stammers, “If you think I am the one, then okay, but aren’t there better qualified people for the job?”
Cindy scoffs, “Who on Earth, literally, would work with Emma to set up the colony’s infrastructure, so as to cause minimal impact on the environment, while providing maximum return for us?”
Joe quietly chuckles to himself at Cindy’s play on words.
Without a moment’s delay, Cindy turns her attentions to John and Joe, “Get this ship out of the space dock. We will inform Earth of our decisions,” she hesitates for a second, puts a hand to her chin as a thought comes to mind, then grins cheekily, “No... Inform Earth of George’s demands.”
George feels a flush of embarrassment at her statement, “Is that really necessary?”
Cindy turns to George and says with resolve, “If we want this done the right way, then we will have to use every tool at our disposal, and if that means using your name, then so be it.”
George sighs, “Okay,” he says in resignation, “it just makes me feel like I’m some sort of dictator, that’s all.”
Cindy walks to George and puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, “Well, no pressure, but you do have the fate of humanity in your hands.” She walks back to her command chair, sits down, and says to the group, “We have a lot to do people, let’s make it happen.”
George mulls over her words, and those of Sharz, why me? All I wanted to do in the beginning was find out if the Gamin destroyed Manhattan on purpose. He casts his gaze around the bridge, momentarily awed by the path his life is taking, and look where I am now.
Joe activates his console, then grins as the Terran’s systems override the space docks.
John does not even wait for the dock’s restraining arms to be fully withdrawn before he activates a series of thrusters, then maneuvers the Terran out and into free space.
Joe is pleased to see that though the symbols are Gamin, the data they display is translated into English once again.
Location:
White House
Washington DC
Robert McKnight has been very busy working on his latest press release, I am sick of these lies and fabrications, he thinks. He stops, then stares at his desk, I am not a reporter anymore. All my work is censored. I am a puppet.
While he still dwells in self-pity, a Presidential aide enters the room, points to Robert, then says plainly, “Come with me.”
Robert sighs heavily, then follows the aide, he is rather tired of the games. He has little choice but to comply, he is the Presidential reporter, after all. Besides if I reported the truth, I would be spending the rest of my life in Leavenworth.
The President of the United States sits behind his desk smiling. Robert is instantly unnerved by the sight. With all that has happened, the last thing he expects to see, is the President, happy.
The President continues to smile as he greets Robert, “Ah, so good of you to see me. I have a new assignment for you, one better suited to your prying nature.”
Robert listens, and as he does so, he feels a sense of dread building up. This is worse that Leavenworth, much worse, he thinks. He can hear his own voice answer as though he were experiencing an out of body experience, “Yes Sir.”
Location:
Outback
Western Australia
General Walker looks up from his desk and is most perplexed to see his Australian counterpart, General Hayes, standing there. Walker blinks in surprise then says, “What in tarnation are you doing here?”
Hayes shakes his head and grins, “Who knows what’s going on these days mate? I do know that these are your orders.” He hands Walker a sealed envelope, then adds with a mixture of sympathy and excitement, “And that I am taking this facility back over.”
Walker rips open the envelope, muttering as he does so, “They’re probably sending me to Alaska.” He reads his orders, then reads them again. He looks up Hayes in disbelief, “I am to depart immediately?”
Hayes shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know what your orders are, mate.”
Walker frowns, “This must be some kind of joke,” he says, not quite believing the words before him. He leans back in his chair for a few seconds while he digests the news. Standing up, he offers Hayes a salute, then adds, “Well, that’s that then, I am relieved.” He glances around the office one last time, then strides to his room to pack. Well that Senator did tell me to expect new orders. Not sure if this is what he had in mind though. Walker shakes his head in confusion, then glances upward at some subconscious thought.
Location:
Starship Terran
Planetary Orbit
Earth
Cindy had been challenged on every point, but eventually, the various political leaders ceded to her wishes. These last few days have been draining, to say the least. She rests back in her command chair, completely exhausted. She rubs her forehead, where a headache is developing. “Okay Joe, run that by me again,” she completely missed what he was saying.
Joe takes a deep breath, then summarizes his last statement, “We can’t reproduce the Gamin computer systems, these consoles,” he waves a hand over the four in front of Cindy, then continues, “the Gamin bodysuit, or their satellites. What we can do is replicate just about everything else. This means that the colony will only be able to communicate with Earth while we’re in its orbit.”
Cindy scowls in annoyance, “What about setting up our own satellites using their transmission technology?”
Joe shakes his head, “Nope, that technology is heavily integrated with their computer systems.”
Cindy frowns in confusion, “But don’t we have full schematics of the Gamin computer systems?”
“Yes we do, but we don’t even know how to manufacture the technology required to make the core components.” Joe replies with a sigh.
Her jaw drops, “Of course!” Suddenly an alarming tangent comes to mind, “What about the Liberty’s main drive and its interface with the ship’s internal gravity?”
Joe nods, “Well it depends on how they’ve set it up. Our computer systems are so far behind the Gamin’s, and thus, have much slower response times.” The color drains from his face, “Even a millisecond’s delay between the onboard systems would be fatal to the crew.” He begins to pace, that’s why there seems
to be two systems at work on the Terran, one is reactionary, while the other seems to anticipate. He looks squarely at Cindy, “I need to check out that ship down there.”
Cindy asks apprehensively, “Do you want to be on the Liberty when they test the main drive?”
He stares back, horrified, “Not a chance! But I should definitely talk with their engineers.”
Cindy nods, then returns to the original topic, “So, even setting up radio telescopes would be useless?”
Joe shakes his head, thinking, she is bouncing all over the place, “Yes they would be...” he stops midsentence, frowns, then begins pacing while muttering quietly to himself. The Gamin destroyed all of our radio telescopes, why? Finally he stops pacing, looks at Cindy then points to her, “That may just be the ticket.”
It is Cindy’s turn to frown as she says. “But New Earth is over fifteen hundred light years from here, my idea was ridiculous.”
Joe grins like a little boy who has just raided a cookie jar, “The lunar base has a complete communications network, and I bet there is more than one console.”
Cindy nods her head in excitement, “So we set up a standard satellite grid, some ground based radio telescopes, take a Gamin transmitter from the Lunar base, and we’re in business.”
Joe replies excitedly, “We just have to hope that I am right about the backup transmitters.”
John steps on the bridge and immediately notices how energized Cindy and Joe are. Before he can even introduce the man that follows him, Joe says excitedly “Great stuff, can you take me to the Gamin’s Lunar base?”
John is a little taken aback, “Ah, ok, but first, I have a Robert McKnight with me.”
Robert steps onto the bridge, whistles, then says with awe, “Amazing! The few images I have seen don’t do justice to this room.” He eyes meander over the raised command chair, the four alien consoles before it, and the massive view screen that looks like a window into space. He turns left then right, each side has a couple of chairs near consoles that are built into the walls. Finally, he glances back to see where George would stand, and finds, yet another bank of consoles built into the wall.
Cindy feels a welling of pride at Robert’s reaction, “Impressive isn’t it?” She asks.
Robert replies with admiration, “It is!” He quickly realizes he has been gawking, offers a sheepish grin, and continues. “Cindy, I mean Admiral, the White House has sent me as the Presidential reporter.”
Cindy grins back, “Oh I know you’re only here for political reasons, so let me make this abundantly clear.” Her voice gains a level of forcefulness that surprises Robert. “You can go anywhere, talk to anyone, and report on anything.” She pauses then stares at him with steely eyes, “But, if you interfere with any of this ship’s functions, or harass any crew member that does not wish to talk with you, I will leave you in a shuttle in open space.”
Robert gulps, heck, she would make an amazing President. So determined, forceful, he responds courteously, “We both know I am supposed to be the President’s little informer.” His face softens as he chuckles, then he adds with genuine sincerity, “But, what he doesn’t know is that I have no love for the man. He put a gag order on my report into the California incident, and again, when I reported the loss of the team that was transporting one of your infected crew members.”
Cindy’s lips purse together and her eyes narrow, “Yes, I too, have heard nothing about that group’s disappearance. Luckily, the spores were completely eradicated from the victim’s system. Unfortunately he was left severely brain damaged in the process.”
Robert gazes around again, “So you’re okay with my being here?”
Cindy studies the man for a moment, athletic, tall, intelligent, amazing blue eyes, and wavy brown hair, “Hmm, oh I am fine with you being here.” Let’s see if his character is as good as his looks. She adds, almost as an afterthought. “Go and find Peter, he will see to your room assignment.”
Robert stares at the command chair, his eyes getting wider, “Is that carved from a single opal?”
Cindy grins, he is a natural reporter that’s for sure. All he has done is seek information from the second he stepped onto the bridge. She waves for him to come closer, then steps out of her chair, as she proudly states, “Even has kangaroo hide as the covering for the cushion and armrests.”
Robert turns to Cindy once more, “I didn’t expect you to be so cordial, especially with me being forced on you.”
Cindy raises her eyebrows in mock surprise, “Oh, you weren’t forced on us. Everyone that gets on board, only does so with our approval.”
Robert stares back at her, slightly transfixed. His mind races over the events of the last few days. He suddenly feels a chill work its way up his spine, “So, the nationwide power outage,” he nods to himself, then adds, slowly, “It was connected to this ship.” He gulps as he comprehends the ramifications of his statement, then stares at Cindy with unease.
Cindy smiles at him, “You connect the dots very quickly Robert. I am impressed.”
Robert frowns, “But surely you did not want General Walker here, and he rode in the shuttle with me.”
Cindy grins widely, “You want to report something? Well, report this. We requested, actually we demanded, that General Walker be assigned to this ship. Furthermore, he is to be the military commander of the New Earth colony when we establish it.” She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, “He just doesn’t know about that last bit, yet.”
Robert is still reeling from the fact that the America-wide power outage was related to this ship, typical, I was sent here without being told any background information.
Cindy notices his stunned expression, then says, “I am about to go and tell him. Do you want to tag along?”
Robert stares in awe at Cindy, “Hell yes!”
Cindy makes her way to the main hangar deck, where General Walker is waiting patiently. At her approach he stands, salutes, then says “Reporting for duty as ordered.”
Cindy salutes back, then says, “Okay General, that’s the last time you salute me.”
Walker stares directly ahead as he replies, “Yes Admiral.”
“Oh come now, technically you out rank me anyway.”
Walker replies, “What are your orders?”
Cindy stares at Walker for a few moments, then says “Are we always going to start off on the wrong foot?”
The General stares back at Cindy, “I don’t know why I am here, other than you requested me.”
Cindy almost whispers, “Actually it was George who requested you, but if you would rather go back, than be in charge of New Earth’s military arrangements…” she shrugs her shoulders.
Walker replays her last words in his mind then says slowly, “Are you serious? You want me to be in charge of the colony’s defenses?”
Cindy replies, “We’re convinced that you’re the best person for the job.”
Walker scratches his head, suddenly aware of how sparse his short grey hair is getting. He raises the first of many concerns, “What’s my budget? It all hangs on how much is going to be spent, really.”
Cindy places her hands on her hips, “You will have to get used to something here General, there is no budget.”
Walker frowns in confusion, “There has to be,” he states bluntly.
“General, once we leave Earth, we need to make sure we have everything we need to defend ourselves against threats, known, and unknown. So if you think we need it, we will get it.”
Walker stares at Cindy incredulously, “Anything?”
“Two of anything if you want!” Cindy replies with a wide grin.
Robert, who has been recording everything, glances at Cindy and Walker. “You’re okay with me reporting this?”
Cindy turns to Robert, then addresses both men, “You both had better get used to the fact that you’re free to do your jobs anyway you see fit, just never interfere with the ship’s operations.”
Walker scratches his chin, “If I a
m to be in charge of the colony’s military, what about this ship?”
Cindy replies quickly, “I’m glad you asked that. Radclyf, and Hayato have combat teams which are independent to any forces you bring. Also, they are in complete charge of all military assets on this ship. Once the colony is founded, you will have complete control over its military, with Emma being in charge of the colony as a whole.”
Walker stares at Cindy as he grasps the meaning behind her words, “So while I am on this ship, I am simply a passenger?”
“I am glad we see things the same way General,” Cindy replies. After a brief pause, she adds, “So do you want the job, or shall I have John transport you back to Earth?”
General Walker lifts his arm to salute, then frowns. Instead he holds his hand out, “Count me in.”
Cindy shakes his outstretched hand heartily, and says, “Welcome to the Terran.”
Location:
Gamin Lunar Base
Earth’s Moon
Joe just about runs toward the main control room while John walks slowly behind. The atmosphere is thick and has a foul smell and taste to it. John scrunches up his nose, Damn, George didn’t fix the air here.
Joe is oblivious to the foul air as he checks console after console. Finally he stops, and stares at a pair that rests against one of the control room’s walls. They are not installed into the wall but appear to be last minute additions.
John catches up to Joe, and glances around, “Did you find what you were looking for?”
Joe points to the two consoles, “I need to check, but I am pretty sure we can take one of those.”
Two hours later, with George’s help, the console is loaded aboard the Terran. Joe spends the next few hours making sure the Lunar systems are still working normally. Finally, when he is one hundred percent certain that all is well, he contacts Cindy, “Your radio telescope idea looks like a go.”
Colony (Terran Chronicles Book 3) Page 15