Cindy enters the Town Hall with Ben, Keith, and the General, in tow. Entering the meeting room, she immediately notices that Emma appears to be rather subdued. Cindy nods to Barbara, then frowns at the many empty seats.
Barbara quickly explains, “George and Patrick have been working non-stop to get the Liberty’s systems running. Peter and Joe are working with engineers, assessing the damage.”
Ben steps forward. “That’s a crock, the Liberty’s systems were working fine. They were just shut down.”
Barbara grins wolfishly, “Really? Well then, how about I tell them to quit?”
Ben goes to step forward, but Keith swings an arm up to stop him, and says, “Let the lady finish.”
Barbara tilts her head toward Cindy questioningly.
Cindy motions to the two men, “Ben and Keith, representatives of the flood victims.”
“I see,” Barbara says, then continues, “Joe said he would get an assessment to us as soon as he can.”
Cindy relays her findings, “From what I saw in the air, there is actually little damage to the town itself. Apart from the flooded tent city, and a few washed out roads, we look to be in good shape.”
Emma surprises them with her strangely timid voice, “Months of work is lost, and with winter approaching, there is not enough time to grow more.”
Ben looks at her, “Winter? Oh yeah, we had some frost on the ground the other day.”
“Yes winter!” Emma says, “You know, cold days and nights, frost, perhaps snow, I don’t know. This is our first year here.”
Keith says angrily, “You don’t have to tell us about cold nights. Miss. I’m surprised you even noticed, since none of you live in tents.”
Ben stares at Keith for a few seconds, then looks at Emma and asks, “Grow more what?”
“Crops!” Emma says, becoming exasperated, “I was testing crops, and now with them gone, we can all look forward to more powdered and canned food.”
Keith puts a hand to his head, “Oh crap. I had no idea you were growing crops.”
“You’re a farmer?” Emma asks quizzically.
“Yes, and Ben is a miner, by trade.” He answers proudly.
Barbara glances at Cindy and Emma, then looks straight at Keith, “I am partially to blame.” Her comment comes out of the blue. Immediately, the room goes deathly quiet as everyone turns to look at her.
“I pressured General Walker into getting his engineers, along with Patrick, to work on my Radio Telescope. I should have waited.” Barbara confesses slowly.
Cindy nods, “We’re all to blame. I, for one, had this building constructed.”
Ben and Keith had not been expecting the meeting to go this way, and remain quiet.
Emma’s eyes suddenly fly open, “I have it!” she says loudly.
All eyes turn to her.
“You,” Emma says, pointing to Keith, “and your people, have nothing to do, and I have lost my crops.”
No one says a word, in the ensuing silence.
Emma stands, then begins to pace the room, mumbling, “We would need to construct specialized water lines, a filtration system, reroute power...”
Barbara stares at Cindy, then shrugs her shoulders.
Cindy begins to smile, “Hydroponics!”
Emma stops her pacing, “That ship isn’t going anywhere, so we could convert a vast area. Possibly enough to feed the colony indefinitely.”
Keith says, “And you’re going to need a lot of people to make that happen?”
“Hundreds, if not thousands, at first. We will need soil, lighting, and more.” Emma answers.
“Count us in,” says Keith enthusiastically, thumping Ben on the arm eagerly, “Sounds like we have a plan.”
Cindy nods in agreement, “As for construction within the town, housing should be our number one priority. All other considerations are secondary.”
“After we work on the canal, that is.” Joe says from the doorway, surprising everyone with his presence.
Cindy thinks back to her aerial survey, “Canal?”
Joe nods his head, “Yeah, it needs to be deepened and widened, especially where it nears the ocean.”
She recalls the watery landscape, “I saw some flooding there, I thought it was just runoff from the town.”
“I wish it was. But, on the positive side, the river’s flood gates did a magnificent job.” Joe replies.
“I noticed that from the air,” Cindy responds, “Fantastic job on that system, by the way.”
Joe adds, “I want to install some pump houses, and perhaps another drainage system through town.”
The group begins to discuss the finer points of Emma’s plan, then Joe’s. It takes a few hours before the group comes to a consensus on the details, but they eventually do.
Cindy is about to call the meeting, when Emma says, “I know this is off topic, but since I have you all here, I’ve been wondering. How did the Liberty plot such an exact course?”
Joe lifts his eyebrows at the unexpected question, and after a brief pause answers, “Well, we used the Gamin systems aboard the Terran to calculate the trip.”
Emma frowns, “But, with both planets in constant motion,” she stops mid sentence and shrugs her shoulders.
Joe responds, “Gamin navigation uses the rotational constant of the Galactic core as a reference point.”
Emma blinks a few times, then says, “In English please!”
Joe stands in silence for a moment, then says, “The Gamin navigate from solar system to solar system. They calculate each sun’s position and movement, relative to the galactic core. If they happen to end up off target by a little, it doesn’t matter much, since they use the sub-light engines when in system anyway.”
Emma gets a little exasperated and says, “But the Liberty travelled from planet to planet, and arrived right on target.”
Joe smiles, “Actually, no they didn’t. They were supposed to arrive outside the solar system. They got lucky, very lucky.”
Once again, the room goes quiet while everyone digests Joe’s comments. On that subdued note, Cindy closes the meeting.
Fish Fry in the Fall
Emma arrives at her workstation, and is greeted by a dozen members of her staff. She glances from person to person apprehensively. “Yes?” She asks hesitantly.
A petite girl steps forward, and says with a widening smile, “The fish are safe to eat.”
Emma blinks in surprise. So little progress has been made by the oceanic team, she had almost forgotten about them. “Okay,” she ventures, then adds, with mounting excitement, “Fill me in Julie.”
The diminutive scientist replies, “We have found that the river, lake, and ocean, all have the same assortment of aquatic life. We suspect there is an underwater cave system that connects the ocean to the lake.” She glances around, then after receiving encouraging nods, continues. “The fish, just like Earth’s, come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. We have identified seventeen distinctive species, all of which are safe to eat.”
Emma’s eyes open wide, “Seventeen! Well done.” She smiles sheepishly as she realizes that she has not given this team much attention lately.
Julie continues, “We have also identified a number of aquatic snakes, crustaceans, and jelly fish. None of which are poisonous to eat, but the acidic flesh of the jelly fish would make them unpalatable.”
Emma gazes at her team in amazement, “I can’t tell you how proud I am of you all.” She pauses for a moment then asks, “So, what are your recommendations?”
Another of her team members, a heavy set man, says with a wide grin, “Tell the contractors, the fish fry is open.”
Emma smiles with him, “I have heard grumblings that we haven’t built a dock into the ocean, nor any boats. I think we should add both to the colony’s work list.”
Julie rolls her eyes, “I have a feeling that somehow my secondary laboratory is going to get reprioritized.” She shrugs her shoulders, and sighs, “Those boys seem to b
uild what they want, when they want, regardless of the actual list.”
Emma nods her head, “It certainly feels like that at times.” She gazes around the room and asks, “Anything else? While we’re all here.”
The heavy set man frowns, then says, “Yeah. With the days getting shorter, I wonder if the leaves will change color and fall, or if the trees are evergreens?”
Emma recalls a report she had read from another team, and relays what she knows. “Autumn should be quite beautiful. Actually, the leaves are already changing in the northern parts of this continent.”
Julie gazes around in shock, “Have we been here that long already? What did we do, miss summer?”
Emma shakes her head, “No, we had our summer, at least what summer is to this region.”
No one is surprised to find workers, supplies, and equipment, at the beach the same afternoon that Cindy updates the work request list. However, many are surprised that construction continues through the night, and late into the next day. In less than two days, Hawking adds an impressive marina to its list of buildings. A main walkway, with a half dozen side ramps, stretches out into the ocean. Each ramp is easily long enough to accommodate a decent sized boat. The entire area is protected by a pair of impressive breakwaters. Within a week, all types of ramshackle and hobbled together boats line the docks.
Emma spends some of her evenings watching the fishing boats come in. Though something is bothering her, she can’t put her finger on it. She examines the various fish that are caught, and every now and then, takes one for her team to examine.
The days shorten, the evenings start to cool, and as predicted, the forests burst into vibrant colors. With much of the critical construction completed, the many work crews begin to enjoy some real leisure time, perhaps too much leisure time.
Patrick, who has been finishing up one of the construction projects, lifts the visor on his suit and stares at the out of breath man before him. The man takes in a huge lungful of air then gasps, “Quick, there’s a fight at the dock!”
Patrick stares at the man, then asks incredulously, “Why didn’t you use the radio, or call General Walker?”
The man’s chest rises and falls as he gathers his breath, “I wanted to keep this on the down-low.”
Patrick looks down the road toward the marina in the distance, “Well, let’s go then.”
The two men take off at a run. Patrick’s bodysuit enables him to run much faster than any human ought to. Everyone that sees him sprinting, is stunned by the extraordinary sight.
Patrick arrives at the dock, then quickly steps from his suit before it has fully retracted from his body. He strides up to a pair of burly looking men, each with bloodied faces, and loudly demands, “What’s going on here?”
The two men circle each other with fists raised. The taller of the combatants spits out a mouth full of blood, then says, “This little shit damaged my boat.”
The shorter man, his eyes already swelling shut, responds venomously, “Dick is full of it, I got down here to find him trashing my gear.”
Patrick sighs, then demands, “Richard, is that true?”
“Yeah,” Richard responds angrily, “Gotta teach this little prick a lesson.” Without warning, he lunges and takes a wild swing.
Patrick’s raises his right arm, and catches the fist in mid swing. Everyone stares in amazement as his right hand now grips Richard’s. Someone in the crowd gasps, “Did ya see that?”
The smaller man, seeing that he has an opportunity, grabs a nearby fishing knife. He rushes at the entangled pair, the jagged blade aiming straight at Richard’s stomach.
Patrick twists, then with blazing speed, intercepts the hand that holds the blade with his left hand. He stares into the eyes of shorter man and demands, “Are you stupid?”
Patrick shoves with all of his might, causing both men to stagger back. His muscles glisten with sweat while his sleeveless shirt sticks to his back and chest. Both men regain their balance, then begin to circle each other, with Patrick in the middle. A growing crowd of onlookers encircle the men.
A jeep screeches to a halt, out of which steps General Walker. He strides through the group, then once he sees who is there, says, “Patrick, will you tell me what in tarnation is going on here?”
Patrick glares at Richard, then the shorter knife-wielding man. He replies as casually as he can, “Just a little disagreement, General. These fellas are about to shake hands. Aren’t you two?” He directs the last comment at the circling men.
Richard glances at Patrick and the General, then drops his fists, “Yeah, just a misunderstanding.”
He steps toward the shorter man, his hand outstretched. “I didn’t break any of your stuff.”
The other man lowers the knife, steps forward, then says, “Die, you pig.” He lifts the knife as fast as he can, and drives it into Richard’s stomach, all the way to the hilt.
Richard staggers backward, clutching at the protruding handle. He falls back, and lands heavily on the ground. Blood bubbles from his mouth, and his eyes go wide as shock sets in.
Patrick stares at the smaller man. “Why?” He says, completely baffled by the ferocity of the attack.
General Walker pulls a handgun from his side, but Patrick’s fist is quicker. With one blow, the shorter man is knocked senseless. He is out cold, even before he hits the ground.
Walker puts his gun away then speaks into a radio. He walks over to the stabbed man, and says, “Hang in there, medical’s on the way.”
Patrick stares at the scene in total bewilderment, then says to Walker, “Well, I guess you’ll get to use that detention center we built.”
Later that evening Cindy puts the report down, looks at Walker and says, “We’ve been lucky for a long time. This is the first serious incident since our arrival.”
Walker nods and replies, “Yes, but now we have one man in critical condition, and another in a holding cell.”
Cindy chews on her lip for a few seconds, then says, “I want your recommendations.”
Walker leans back in his chair and ponders what to do. After a few moments he replies, “The criminal should be deported back to Earth.”
Cindy’s eyebrows raise up at his suggestion, “That’s quite harsh, don’t you think?”
The General leans forward, “It just might deter others who think they can get away with committing crimes here.”
Cindy slowly nods, then says, “You might just be right.” She glances back at the report, then adds, “Patrick wants the man’s contract pulled, and I have to agree. His wages ended the day he stabbed Richard.”
It’s Walkers turn to be stunned, “And you think I am harsh. Who knows how long until you go back to Earth.”
Cindy turns her gaze to look out the windows. “Spring, General. I expect we will be leaving in the spring.”
Winter Wonderland
George sits on the edge of the bed next to his sleeping wife. Their quarters on the Terran feel bleak and bare compared to the beautiful scenery below. He holds her hand, and whispers, “Not too much longer and we will be going home.”
Lisa stirs, then smiles, “You’re so sweet when you think no one’s paying attention.”
“How are you feeling today?” He asks with care.
She sits up, “Great! It only takes a week or so off the planet, for me to feel normal again.”
“Five times now, you’ve tried to live on New Earth, and each time you get very sick.” George laments.
She sighs sadly, “I am sorry to have disappointed you.”
He gives her hand a gentle squeeze, “Oh no, you could never disappoint me. I should never have dragged you out here, to this place.”
Lisa’s words come out choked, “All I have done is keep you from your work!” Tears well up in her eyes, then begin to fall down her face.
George feels crushed, “You’re more important to me than anything in the world,” he smiles and tries to cheer her up by adding, “More than anything in the Galaxy!
”
She smiles back and says, “But not in the universe.” Feeling a little better, her tears start to dry up.
“Well, that’s a tall order,” he says with a huge grin.
“Sorry for crying, I don’t know what’s come over me lately,” her red rimmed eyes stare at him soulfully.
He gives her hand a gently squeeze, “I have caused you a lot of stress these last few years, and for that I am truly sorry.”
Lisa stares at her husband, “Everything changed for us when that meteor destroyed Manhattan.” She shakes her head and sighs.
George takes a deep breath, then turns his attention to the Gamin bodysuit that is attached to the ship’s power grid. “It really all started when I put that thing on.”
Lisa looks at the alien suit, “You have made a good friend though,” she points out.
He smiles, “Sharz! He has become a good friend, hasn’t he?”
“You bet, and if it were not for that, I doubt we would even have this colony.” Lisa chimes in.
He sighs, “Now don’t you start. If anyone else were in my shoes, they would have done the same things that I have done.”
Lisa stands up and shakes her head, “You keep telling yourself that, Mister.” She stares long and hard at him, “I am very proud to be your wife.”
George does not know what to say, so he changes the subject, “Do you want to see what we’ve been up to these last few months?”
“You bet. Cindy has been keeping you very busy.” Lisa replies, acting cheerful for the first time in weeks.
George shakes his head while grinning, “Sometimes, I think Cindy would have me work twenty-six hours a day.”
George glances at his suit, then decides to leave it. The pair walks hand in hand to the bridge, where they find John in a deep discussion with Joe, Radclyf, and Hayato.
Lisa notices the serious expressions, then says, “Hey, where have you guys been hiding?” She glances at Radclyf and Hayato, and when they don’t respond, says, “Yes you two.”
Colony (Terran Chronicles Book 3) Page 28