by Leon Castle
A new adaptation of the tripod miner has been developed and quickly becomes known as the caterpillar. This new version has a stutter laser head fitted to the front, with a hopper below to catch the pulverized mineral rock. The hopper feeds onto a conveyor belt which in turn feeds into a drum mill, crushing the rock into powder. It then passes through a separator which eliminates any waste, expelling it out a side chute. The now pure mineral is then transported by conveyor belt to the blast furnace, where it is melted and poured into large ingot molds, and once cool the molds are then tipped over, dropping the ingots onto a holding frame to cool further. The ingots are shaped like a letter T so they can be stored on a rack at the rear of the caterpillar, ready for a transport tug.
The tug will dock and slide them onto its own rack system, before transporting them away to the foundry. So looking at this huge elongated mechanical marvel it sure does look like a caterpillar, from the head munching on the rock face along each modular section to the final product coming out of its rear end.
Chapter 83
After three months, the Sobek is ready for its journey to U’kala.
‘Sobek initiating close orbit around U’kala,’ announces Val as the massive ship commences a slow orbit around the small mini planet. The Sobek maintains a neutral altitude of 50 kilometers so that it does not interfere with the small planet’s weak gravity.
‘This is a truly momentous occasion! Finally we begin preparation to build our city Sky Jewel.’ remarks the Croc.
The Croc and Taneasia have joined Val on this historic flight. Some of the original crew have also joined the mission, Tarillia being one of them to the delight of her best friend and now Queen Taneasia. Tarillia will head up the training team to bring the new people up to speed on the new gear.
The first priority is to mine out part of the rock to create the rock shell inside which the future city will be built. At the base level, the ice storage and conversion plant will provide air and water for the city, enough to supply two million souls for 100 years before Ice stocks need to be topped up.
Agriculture and air treatment are on the next level up. This area is also huge, the same dimensions as the lower floor, 200 kilometers long, 50 kilometers wide, and 400 meters high. This area not only supplies food for the city, it also cleans and re-oxygenates the city’s air supply using the plants and trees that are grown there. It is imperative for the structural engineers to get this right the first time! The distance between levels and support columns need to be spot on, the floor level above the agriculture level holds the great lake. With the associated entertainment facilities of the city, accommodation and retail outlets with food outlets are on the higher shell levels, looking down at the great lake and surrounding gardens and parks.
Some apartments are built into the outer layer of the shell providing a view of endless space. These are reserved for the highest ranking Mazuban’s only, while some are built facing into the hollowed out space of the shell. The rest are constructed in between the other two, 52 apartments deep, with interconnecting halls and corridors. This is a city designed to cater for two million people, a huge undertaking that will take a significant time to complete.
‘Val how long do you think it will take to mine out the area we need, and build the city?’ asks the Croc looking up at Val from the freshly drawn plans in front of him.
‘I’ve had some discussion with the mining engineers, structural engineers and the construction engineers and they all say the same thing. Between 150 and 200 years to complete the job!’
‘Well it would seem from that, you and I won’t be around to see it complete, we better make sure we give this project the best chance possible, for our future Grandson’s sake.’
‘Dam Right!’ Val’ responds.
The full resources of the kingdom are brought to bear on the project.
Chapter 84
Two hundred and fifty years later. The new Croc flies out to see the newly completed city, his wife, heavy with child relaxes with her midwifes in attendance at home on Thera. He officially opens the new city with much fanfare and pomp. He enjoys his life in the United Kingdom of Sobektar back on Thera, so he stays there, visiting the great asteroid city of Sky Jewel for royal events only. His younger brother is governor of Sky Jewel.
Long years pass. Now he is a much older and wiser Mazuban, he passes the mantle of Croc to his son. Events on Thera have grown intense as the struggle for world domination between the two dominant faiths has risen from scattered skirmishes, to all-out war. The One World Order struggles to contain the violence. Each side leaks information to the public that uncovers hideous acts and atrocities that their enemies have committed, from child abuse in their places of worship, to rape, torture and full blown genocide. The sad thing is these people claim to worship the same god and commit these atrocities in his name. The golden age of peace is now, at an end.
The new young Croc worries about the literal stability of the kingdom as the war rages on, as an increasing number of nuclear warheads have been used of late. He consults with his seismologists to get an idea how the escalating war is affecting the tectonic plates below their island home.
‘Sire the news is not good. We think the plates may be shocked enough by the explosions to possibly cause movement.’
‘Are you talking volcanic?’ growing concern now plain in his voice.
‘Yes, my liege, possibly. Let us monitor the activity to be sure,’ the seismologist responds, downplaying the dangerous threat.
‘I will recall the Sobek to evacuate us at once.’ announces the young Croc, concerned now for the safety of his young wife and the population of the entire kingdom.
‘I do not mean to be impertinent, my liege, but recalling the Sobek, is that not just a little hasty?’
‘Maybe, I guess, It may be a good idea to move the kingdom out to Sky Jewel anyway, incase this war gets totally out of control.’
An unexpected reprieve in the war appears to calm things down a little for a time. A new movement appears on the scene, calling for a unity of the faiths. They simply call themselves the ‘Children of God’. Although the two main faiths continue hostilities this new faith seems to have a calming effect and hostilities reduce to scattered skirmishes between diehard fundamentalists, hell bent on shedding Mazuban blood. A period of nervous peace ensues.
During the ongoing war the planet has copped a beating. Once pristine rivers and lakes are now rubbish dumps of stinking, rancid dead bodies, with other toxic waste and filth. Fish and aquatic life have been wiped out. Very few sources of fresh water remain, and these are heavily guarded. Unauthorized entry into the water catchment area or the lakes themselves results in instant death. Cities now have energy domes to keep out nuclear pollution, which darkens and kills all that it touches. Life outside the protected cities is a virtual death sentence. The only exception to this is the great southern land’s island chain as yet the pollution and the war have not yet reached out to them.
Chapter 85
Concern over the Queens frequent bouts of vomiting turn into great joy as the medic meets the Croc in the corridor of the medical center.
‘Queen Ishona is with child sire, a son!’ she blurts excitedly, ‘Congratulations, sire!’
‘This is indeed good news for the kingdom.’ he beams, a smile breaking out on his face.
Over the past few months Nolack-2 had picked up seismic activity directly under the island kingdom. Activity had risen slightly on a global scale, although his seismologists are now not too worried. Several tectonic plates were on the move again, but nothing to get excited about they say. The nuclear war is all but over. Still The Croc has a nagging gut feeling that he can’t shake even though the data shows no direct imminent threat.
Life goes on as normal during the next eight months, the Queen’s belly gradually getting bigger as her time for birth grows closer. Excitement mounts with the announcement that the Croc has listened to his gut instinct and has recalled the Sobek from duties on the
asteroid belt. It is now time for the United Kingdom of Sobektar to move off planet to their new home, the asteroid city of Sky Jewel.
With the arrival of the Sobek, months of packing and preparation culminate in the massive job of relocating everything from the island’s capital to the Sobek. A buzz of excitement and activity permeate the move. It will take the full month for the extraction. In the final week of the mammoth move the Queen begins to show warning signs that the birth is imminent. The Croc assigns two midwives for her 24 hour care, although he still keeps a very close eye on his Queen, calling in to see her when he can escape for a minute from the constant organizing and delegations of the move.
With the move almost, successfully complete, a deep powerful rumble vibrates the ground beneath their feet.
The Croc’s heart sinks, his gut feeling has been right all along!
Amidst the chaos, the Queen gives birth to her son, it is all over in minutes.
‘Quickly, get the last of the armory on board!’ he yells to his men moving the last of the top secret weapons aboard the Sobek, his biggest concern being the Hammer device. Inside the large black chest lies five such devices.
The lead lined steel chest is extremely heavy to move, and can only be opened by a Croc, a warning is encoded into the small display panel recessed in to the lid of the chest.
‘Only the blood of the Croc can open this chest and activate its contents, any attempt to probe or reverse engineer these devices will result in total annihilation of Thera’s Mazuban population.’
As the removal team moves into the small cramped strong room containing the black chest, a violent roar fills the air, the eruption jolts and lurches the room, slamming the door shut and traps the Mazubans inside. The reinforced concrete room is now on its side at a crazy angle, lava gushes through the gaping holes in the floor of the complex, sealing the strong room in a layer of molten lava. The team inside the room are cooked alive.
By this time the Croc has crossed the complex to the medical center. As he enters the front reception, the floor in front of him lurches, throwing him on his back. As he staggers back to his feet the floor opens up, exposing a huge gaping wound, lava spilling out and devouring everything in its path. He is dragged away to safety by two large orderlies as he struggles to free himself and go to his Queen.
As he looks on the whole complex starts to break apart, lava squirting and bleeding across the floor. No one could possibly survive this hellish nightmare!’
For an instant he sees his Queen and her two midwives with a small bundle he knows must be his newborn son struggling through the wreckage as another violent eruption adds to the carnage, then, they too, are gone.
The Croc screams out his Queen’s name as she disappears in the flash of bright orange lava.
‘There is nothing more we can do here, sire, we have to move, Now!’ yells the orderly, as they half drag the stunned Croc away to the safety of a shuttle craft that lands on the courtyard through the smoke and chaos.
Later that day, when the headcount is complete a total of 298,873 souls are listed as having been lost in the eruption, including the Queen with her son and two attending midwives. Condolences pour in from the One World Order and other trade partners all over Thera. The celebrations for the move to their new home are now canceled under the gloom of such devastating loss. Up through the cloud of volcanic ash the massive Sobek rises, leaving Thera forever, bound for their new asteroid home Sky Jewel.
Chapter 86
What the Croc did not see that fateful day is the narrow escape of the younger midwife with a small bundle wrapped up in her arms. The Queen had slipped and fallen into the lava flow as the floor heaved and lurched. The second older midwife had grabbed the Queen’s arm to save her, but she too was dragged into the lava flow with her Queen. Tripping and stumbling her way through the heat and wreckage, the young midwife dropped the precious bundle as the floor beneath her opened, revealing a surge of lava lurching up from the depths. She just managed to scoop up the baby as the searing lava touched the side of his face, scalding him. She could not hear his pitiful screams above the roar of the seething lava. Blind panic had well and truly set in as she stumbled, dropping the little newborn time and time again. By some miracle she made it to the beach on the other side of the island, and finding a small abandoned boat, she pushes it out to sea with her now very limp, badly damaged little bundle.
Days after the terror of the eruption the young women and the small near dead baby are rescued and taken to a nearby island. The medical staff are very careful with the small baby, his wounds are horrendous, half of his little face is burnt off. It is just a cauterized flat piece of flesh, there is no eye socket, and his nose is gaping open, his little mouth welded shut on the burnt side.
One leg is badly broken and twisted. Over time and much loving care he pulls through, his leg mends with a slight twist.
His mouth is fully opened and his lips repaired as best they can, leaving him with a hideous grin. His nose is rebuilt using skin grafts from his good leg. The rest of his head, however is a different story, doctors manage to open a hole where his ear hole should be. His skull has been smashed on top and the side of it is fused flat, they manage to put a composite fiber plate on top of his skull to cover his brain, and the composite will stretch as his skull grows.
By the age of two he has learned to walk a little and is starting to talk.
The young midwife, however, has not fared so well. Since the eruption she has not uttered a single word, the scars both physical and mental that she bears become too much. Three months later she is found at the foot of a 160 meter cliff, her small young body smashed by the fall.
Chapter 87
Doctor Webber-Dixon has been the boy’s attending physician since he and the young women were brought to his small hospital more than two years ago. Surprisingly, the little one is starting to walk quite well with a slight limp, and he is starting to talk. His interaction with other children, however, has not gone so well, his appearance frightens them so they steer clear of him.
Having recently married into a wealthy rural family, the doctor broaches the idea of adopting the young boy as their own with his new wife. At first she is skeptical and a little afraid of this damaged little boy, but after a couple of trips to the hospital to visit him she finally agrees. Now he has somewhere to call home.
‘What do you think we should call him, dear, George perhaps?’
‘No…that would not do, I plan to call our own son George. What about Phoenix?
‘Whatever, for darling? What a strange name!’
‘Well think about it for a second, he did rise up from the fire of the eruption!’
‘Then Phoenix it should be,’ she smiles.
‘Phoenix Webber-Dixon, it has a good ring to it, don’t you think darling?’ standing stretching his arm frills.
After the formalities of registering the boy as their adopted son, they are able to take him home. The young couple keep the boy away from prying eyes for several months until he settles in. To cover his hideous face, she makes him a black veil to wear, convincing him that flies are evil vicious things that are full of loathsome diseases, so by wearing his special veil he will keep them away. The young lad takes this as gospel truth, and wears his veil everywhere for the rest of his life. From the age of three he especially forms a psychotic hatred of flies, taking great pleasure in slowly tearing them apart.
After a further two years he receives the news that his adopted mother is going to have a baby boy, he is going to have a little brother. Phoenix and his little brother grow up as brothers do some days good, some not so good. Before long the boys grow in to teenagers. Phoenix is by far the smarter of the two and the leader, even though he has now reached his full height of 102 centimeters. George now towers above him, a handsome athletic young Mazuban popular with the ladies. He is fiercely loyal to his older brother, and will do anything for him.
Phoenix and George have a dark secret. People from ou
tlying villages have started to disappear in the darkness of night, only to be found weeks later badly mutilated and tortured to death. No one can figure out why or who is doing this.
After several years the random killing spree suddenly stops, puzzling the authorities. Surely everyone knows murder carry’s the death penalty! With the passing of time the bizarre atrocity’s fade into the realms of urban legend.
Chapter 88
One evening in the following spring, some friends of the doctor arrive for a meal. During the course of the evening the discussion turns to religion. As it turns out, one of the visitors is a member of the united in faith group, ‘the Children of God.’ in fact he is on the elected committee which oversees the global faith. Phoenix listens closely to everything that is discussed, including the doctrine and politics of the higher order members. Something just clicks with him, maybe this visit was not such a waste of his time after all. Soon after, Phoenix throws himself into his studies, not only join, them but to finally make something significant of himself.
Years slowly, pass as they do. Phoenix and George are now full grown Mazubans and members of the committee and due for election. Six weeks out from the election three members fell sick and died. The dead host was blamed for luring in the other two to a poisoned feast. Soon after, another member died in a mine shaft collapse while he was on a tour. That left only seven very worried members, counting Phoenix and George. Three of the remaining members join Phoenix and George. The rest simply disappear forever, never to be seen again.