Earth's Last Angel

by Leon Castle

  ‘What is this, favor my lord?’ remembering the training her mom has given her for this trip.

  ‘I would like you to help my son to feed my fish every morning before breakfast, would you like to do that for me?’

  ‘Would I ever! Can I mommy…please?’

  ‘Of course you can.’ Turning to the Croc, Lien-Lua smiles and bows. ‘You honor us, thank you Croc.’

  ‘On the day before you leave little one, I will have a special task for you.’

  ‘What job could be more special than this,’ wiggling her fingers for the fish.

  ‘Picking out seven new little golden friends to take home with you…perhaps.’ he replies with a grin looking to her mother for her approval.

  Her response is to jump up and wrap her tiny arms around the Croc’s leg, squeezing with all her might. ‘Thank you my lord, thank you!’ She runs to her mother, hugging her tightly.

  ‘Thank you for bringing me here, the Croc is even better than all the stories you told me about him, mommy!’

  The next day, after the previous night of satisfying food and entertainment, the guests enjoy a banquet for breakfast. Then it’s down to business. The Croc takes them to the immersion cinemas installed for this meeting. Once the delegates are comfortable, he takes them on a virtual flight out to the asteroid belt. He shows them through the Sobek, the prospecting vessels, as well as the tripod laser miners, and also the new, still under construction, mobile mining camps. After the virtual walk through they have a short refreshment break.

  During the break Yuri, the delegate from the central territory approaches the Croc.

  ‘How do you plan to get the minerals back here?’

  ‘As a plug Yuri, the plan is to take a three dimensional image of an existing old worked out open cut mine that you plan to use. Our shuttle takes a negative 3D shot directly above the pit, and relays the image to our mining data base, then an asteroid of your chosen mineral is selected that is just a little larger than your pit.’

  ‘The image data is then transferred as a positive image to mining control, which assigns a team of laser tripod miners to cut and trim the asteroid to match your existing ramps, haul roads, and benches in millimeter precision. The result is a plug of near pure mineral which is dropped into the hole of the existing old pit. Now you are ready to mine it providing employment for you own people.’

  ‘That is simply amazing Croc! How much will these plugs cost us?’

  ‘That my friend is the question we are here to negotiate.’

  After the break they return to the immersion cinema for the demonstration of the asteroid harvest and the shaping and transport of the plugs.

  Negotiations continue for the following two days. Trade deals are done and signed off. Part of the tradeoff for the Croc is the release of the Boddington reactor technology to the other trade delegates. Directly on their return home there is a flurry of activity converting their old fossil fuel technology to the new Boddington reactor technology. A few short months later, global air pollution drops more than 80 percent, city folks can now enjoy a breath of fresh clean air.

  The Croc now sends instructions to his brother Val.

  ‘Commence Mining Operations.’

  Chapter 67

  Now that the final briefing and inductions for the move to the new modular mining camps is complete, Tarillia calls the miners attention to an old mining custom.

  ‘The old gum tree out by the training center lake will become our boot tree.’

  Her statement is greeted by a mass of blank stares.

  ‘My grandfather was a miner back home, and told me about the boot trees. I thought he was kidding!’ whispers Stan to Taneasia.

  ‘Stan, can you tell us what your Grandfather told you?’

  A red faced Stan stands up to a few suppressed giggles from the huge crew. ‘Sorry boss, I guess I’m not such a quiet whisperer after all…my grandfather told me when I was a little kid that when the miners finished a contract, or moved to a new mine site, They would tie the ends of their bootlaces together and throw their boots up into an old tree at the mining camp. I guess it would mean that they were literally hanging up their boots, finished, done. So over a period of time the old tree would look like it’s covered in boot fruit.’

  ‘Yes Stan, that’s totally correct. It will mark the finish of all of your training, and it will also mark the start of your asteroid mining carriers. A new issue of boots will be given to you all. Tomorrow lunchtime we will have a barbecue to celebrate boot day, so bring along your old boots to throw up into the tree.’

  The following day after a barbecue lunch everyone tied the ends of their old bootlaces together and the lads start throwing their boots high up into the tree. Some of the girls paint and decorate their old boots and then join the boys in throwing their boots up into the tree. It doesn’t take long for a competition to break out seeing who can throw their boots the highest. A total of 370 pairs of boots end up in the tree! After enjoying a few social drinks together, people start to drift off to their accommodation to prepare for the following day, the day that will officially began their careers as fully qualified asteroid miners.

  Construction crews have assembled the modular mining camps. A total of four camps have been built in mining field MF 0001, the new classification for Survey field SF 0001.

  Each modular mining camp is one kilometer tall and one kilometer wide. Each camp accommodates 20 LTMs plus service and support crew. The mining crews nickname the modular mining camps ‘Starfish’ because of the five large leg sections that protrude out from the central biospheres of each section.

  The top four sections are living space, with a massive hexagonal shuttle hanger on the fifth level, and a huge workshop on the lower level, both are the same width as the legs, giving the appearance of a huge hexagonal counter weight. The top central cylinders are linked together top to bottom, looking like four starfish stacked one on top of the other. The legs are access walkways to the laser tripod miners and staff accommodation, each laser tripod miner is docked on the end of its assigned leg.

  The first group of miners to tour through the now completed Starfish 001 is Tarillia’s crew of 40, plus 6 maintenance crew. The transport shuttle gently lands on the floor of the shuttle hanger, there is enough room on the shuttle hanger floor for at least 6 / 50 seat shuttles. The crew is a mixed bag of sweats from every remote corner of Thera.

  Tarillia, the crew’s dirt boss, calls for everyone’s attention when they are all off the transport shuttle and assembled in the flight lounge.

  ‘Ok guy’s listen up! This handsome young Mazuban here is Gosha, and he is going to show us through the starfish.’

  ‘You are too kind, little one.’ smiles a small, powerfully built, silver frilled, older Mazuban. A livid scar runs from his right eyebrow straight down his face to his jawbone.

  ‘Your mother would be so proud!’

  ‘You should know, Papa.’ she smiles, giving him a hug.

  ‘Just leave your luggage here and we’ll come back and pick it up later. I have four friends to help me show you around. What we’ll do is split into four groups of 10, the rest will be with me. Please let me introduce Maria, Marcos, Amelia, and of course Frank.’

  After splitting in to five groups they begin the grand tour of their new home away from home. The groups go their separate ways, crossing each other’s path at regular intervals throughout the tour. The layout of the Starfish is quite simple. The upper deck houses the offices, training room and pre-shift instruction room. As well as a well equipped medical center. The second deck is the entertainment level, which has the main restaurant style mess and a wet mess/bar done in the Wild West saloon theme, called the ‘Stagger Inn,’ complete with double swinging wooden doors at the entrance. A small coffee café is tucked in next to the four immersion cinemas.

  On the next floor down there is a well equipped gym and a full size swimming pool. With the girls favorite floor next, shops! There is a nail & beauty shop, a fril
l dresser, a therapy spa shop with massage available, and of course a general store for shopping. Below the girls floor is the shuttle hanger with the flight lounge and flight control in a central glass hex-dome, outside floor space is the shuttle dock.

  Below this is the massive workshop area and docking space for the fleet of shuttles and laser tripod miners to be serviced and repaired. Life support and the life services plant are also housed on this floor.

  The reassembled crowd is noisy with excitement in the flight lounge.

  ‘Hoi! You lot, pipe down!’ yells Tarillia from the chair she is standing on.

  The noise gradually dies down.

  ‘You are each going to be able to choose your own room. As you have seen on your tour, the accommodation is in the leg sections of the starfish. There are 20 legs so you will be assigned a leg to choose a room in, your LTM will be docked to your assigned leg. Please team up with your cross shift operator and join the operators assigned to your floor. Then you can all pick out your room, so take your bags with you. I’ll see you all at the mess in one hour. The chefs have knocked up something special for us, so don’t be late!’

  With that, the crew file out of the shuttle flight lounge organized into groups assigned to each floor, with a service staff member to guide them. The excitement is electric as conversations buzz in the new starfish. Everything smells fresh and new, this is the transformation of a new house becoming a home.

  ‘I’ll take this one here, A 7.’ Taneasia comments to Marcos, The rooms are self-contained, with an en suite bathroom and walk in wardrobe. A small fridge and food heating unit are in the kitchen, with a comfortable lounge in the living area, and a queen size double bed in the bedroom.

  ‘I like the view from the top.’ Taneasia comments adjusting the lens on the external viewer down and in to see down the entire length of the starfish. Her entire wall projects the view so that she feels like she is standing on the edge of a platform looking down.

  ‘Pretty impressive,’ comments Marcos. ‘Check this out.’ He retrieves the small controller from Taneasia, pressing three buttons in sequence.

  ‘Holy snapping duck shit!’ she squawks, as the entire room, including ceiling and floor, snaps into the complete 3D spherical view of outside. She flings her arms out to get her balance as she sways back and forth.

  Marcos can’t help himself, and explodes into a loud roar of laughter.

  ‘You rotten mongrel!’ she swipes at him, with a grin.

  ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve got to admit it is pretty damn cool!’

  Feeling a little steadier on her feet Taneasia asks him ‘So what else can it do?’

  Marcos shows her the other functions of the controller, including setting control to voice command. Taneasia’s favorite function is full room view with different landscapes, she is just a little partial to the deserted island clip with palms gently waving back and forth with the sea out front, waves washing up over the sand. The sound quality is perfectly real, and with the air gently blowing from the vents she could swear she was sitting on her bed at the beach.

  The vision is a 24 hour film clip so she can enjoy watching a sunset or the night sky with stars blazing overhead. Marcos leaves her to unpack.

  Taneasia finishes unpacking then has a refreshing shower, dressing in some light casual clothes. She heads down the hall that opens out to the central floor, where she finds the escalator near the edge of the open floor center. Walking over to the balcony, she looks down over the edge to look for the restaurant. From her vantage point she can see her friends moving around four floors below her. She looks across the 200 meter gap to see Stan emerge from his room, he spots her and waves. He then walks around to meet her. They rode the escalator together down one floor to the entertainment complex then they walk over to the mess.

  ‘Would you like to share a table with me?’ asks Stan a little shy.

  ‘Ok,’ replies Taneasia.

  A waiter met them at the entrance, ‘A table for two?’

  ‘Yes thank you.’ Taneasia replies before Stan could respond, winking at him.

  ‘The cheeky flirt!’ Stan thinks, although he is secretly flattered.

  ‘This way please,’ he waiter directs, taking them to a small cozy booth.

  Some tables are set out to seat four in little booths around the edge of the restaurant, with larger table settings towards the middle of the floor. Their setting is for four, with soft leather upholstery and a blue marble tabletop. The silverware is polished to a mirror finish. They order drinks while they wait on their meal, and engage in some light conversation.

  Quite quickly the mess fills up with happy, hungry people. The chefs have simply outdone themselves, the food is superb. The waiters are kept busy bringing in the food and drinks to the hungry horde.

  After the meal, Stan invites Taneasia for a drink at the wet mess/bar, the ‘Stagger Inn.’ She accepts and smiles at the 10 gallon hats and cowboy boots on the barmaids.

  After enjoying a couple of beers, Taneasia decides she wants to check out the cinemas and see what movies were on, Stan readily agrees.

  The cinemas are a short three minute walk from the wet mess.

  There are four cinemas with four different movies on. The first is a girly romance movie, the second a fantasy adventure, the third a horror movie, and the fourth a science fiction adventure. Stan looks at Taneasia a little nervously, he really doesn’t want to endure a chick flick.

  ‘What do you reckon, Stan?’ she says with a devilish grin on her face ‘Romance in Paris? Or ‘Android the final chapter?.’

  ‘You choose, I’m cool with either of them’ he lies.

  Going over to the ticket booth Taneasia purchases the two tickets. She goes back to Stan, who is keeping their place in line to go into the cinema.

  ‘Got the tickets!’ she says waving them at Stan, covering the title with her fingers.

  Stan can’t see which movie she has picked on the waving tickets so he resigns himself to going to the chick flick.

  Passing through the ticket gate, they head for cinema one, the chick flick. Stan’s head drops, just as he is about to go into the cinema Taneasia grabs his arm, and tugs him away.

  ‘Where are you going, clown? I’m going to see a real movie, are you coming?’

  Instantly Stan lights up. ‘Damn right I’m coming! Which one is it?’

  ‘Cinema three, Android the final chapter,’ she grins.

  ‘You’re a stinker Taneasia! You really had me going there for a minute!’

  Taneasia just grins some more, saying: ‘Come on mate this way.’

  Getting comfortable along with the other 20 moviegoers, they adjust their leather recliner seats, extending out the leg rest and tipping the backs a little.

  ‘Where is the screen?’ whispers Stan, with a frown.

  ‘It comes up just before the movie starts.’ Taneasia whispers back, grinning to herself. Stan is looking up towards the front of the cinema.

  Music softly plays in the background as the cinema gradually fills up. Then slowly from the front section of the chair arm a telescopic rod with a small hand size dish on its end extends. At full extension the dish aims itself at Stan’s face and switches on creating a light shell. The light shell adjusts itself to perfectly match the curvature of his eyeballs.

  ‘This is unreal!’ comments Stan.

  ‘So…you really are an immersion cinema virgin then? Just wait until they fire up the movie!’ Taneasia laughs.

  The movie previews leaped onto the screen, the first preview being Romance in Paris. He was glad he didn’t have to sit through that soppy yarn. The next clip of the fantasy adventure looked OK, so he decides may come back later and check it out. The horror preview scares the living crap out of him, he loses count of the times he tries to wipe his face to clean off the blood, only to find his hand is clean. Then the 3D monster chases him and had a go at biting off his head! to his shrill scream, although on that score he is not alone, the whole cinema is airing their ton
sils. After the movie Taneasia cannot shut him up!

  ‘My God! That takes getting your head into it, to a whole new level! And the sound was unreal!’ marvels Stan.

  ‘Maybe we should do this again sometime?’ he cautiously ventures.

  ‘Yeah…maybe,’ smiles a non-committal Taneasia.

  ‘I’m heading down to the shop floor to catch up with the girls and the shops, so I’ll see you at work in the morning.’

  ‘OK. Thanks for your company Taneasia, enjoy the rest of your day off. I’ll slip down and check out the gym.’ replies a secretly disappointed Stan.

  He walks her over to the escalator and accompanies her down to the gym floor, after they said their goodbyes they go their separate ways, Taneasia continuing down to the shop floor to meet her girlfriends.

  Chapter 68

  ‘Captain, I am picking a unique fight signature coming from Thera, sir.’

  ‘And you would be correct, Nolack-1, How are you cruising Val?’ comes the mischievous jibe.

  ‘I should have guessed you could not stay away. big brother, it’ll be good to see you again.’

  ‘These inserts are unreal. How far out are you?’

  ‘Hang on I’ll check with the pilot.’

  A few seconds later: ‘Gordon reckons we are about half way. Roughly 23 million miles or so, we’ll see you in around…five hours.’

  ‘That’s awesome! Hey, you are shaving a couple of hours off the trip, what have you been up to..?’

  ‘A wee tweak here and there, I’ll show you when we get there.’

  ‘Too right you will! I’d better get cracking and get ready for you getting here.’

  ‘Val…here’s the thing, I’d like to sneak in under the radar if you know what I mean.’

  ‘What no official welcome?’

  ‘Yes mate, I’d like you to assign me to your best miner for the first official cut of our first plug. I’d like to ride shotgun with him or her. The last time I visited it was a very sad business indeed, this time I’m here to have some fun!’