The Decade Worlds

by Patrick McClafferty

  The AI made a noise Gareth could only identify as a sigh. “As you wish. Have you eaten today?”

  Gareth coughed gently. “I forgot.”

  “Fine. I’ll fix you a meal in your room.” Ell’s voice was definitely snippy. “Before you give blood.” She added.

  It was three days later that Gareth, feeling much better and weighing several kilos heavier, stepped into a transportation pod, resting the cane beside him. Although he didn’t need it all the time, waves of weakness would occasionally sweep through him, and he found that using a cane was easier than picking himself up from the ground. He was somewhat surprised at how heavy his reliable Colt felt on his waist. As he stepped into the pod, he felt Athena’s presence beside him. Since his illness he could tell when she was and wasn’t around. It was a distinct surprise to him how much she was around, and a comfort.

  The pod rose a meter and stopped. “Ell, please set the gateway for Gocaea.”

  “Set and locked in. Say hello to your family for me.”

  He chuckled. “I will. Pod, proceed to the gateway at a walking pace, and prepare for gateway transition.”

  “As you wish.” The neutral voice said.

  The air wavered as the transport bubble passed through the gateway, and Gareth winced at the glare. He thought for a moment, and then bit his tongue. Athena, how do I ask for something as simple as a pair of sunglasses? There was soft feminine laughter, and an object dropped onto his lap. He picked up his favorite pair of Ray Ban aviator sunglasses and slipped them on. The last time he remembered seeing them was tucked into the visor of his car, thirty-eight thousand years in the past. Thank you. He smiled. What would I ever do without you?

  You won’t have to worry about that. She replied softly. He remembered that once he had posited the question of what Athena would do if he somehow managed to save most of the intelligent life on Earth. She had said that she would just have to go with him, and he had thought it a joke at the time. Now the joke seemed to be on him.

  He took a breath and decided to get it out into the open. Athena, you seem to forget that I’m a happily married man. I don’t plan to leave Chiu for you. He held his breath.

  I never intended to supplant Chiu in your life, Gareth. The voice said softly. Chiu, however, is only human and will not live forever. I am, you will find, very patient.

  But that would mean…

  Chapter 4

  SEDONA

  “Attention.” The voice of the pod said in a dull monotone. “Exterior temperature is currently forty-four degrees Celsius. Please take precautions when exiting the vehicle.”

  “Thank you.” Gareth replied just as dryly. “Can you locate other people or transports?” He shuddered as he studied the blistered sandstone the gateway stood on, waves of heat making the air seem to ripple in the glare of the large yellow and the smaller white suns.

  “Affirmative.” The voice replied. “There are a number of both people and at least one class five transport thirty-seven hundred kilometers from here at zero three seven degrees magnetic.”

  “How quickly can we get there?”

  “One hour at Mach four. Safety restrictions prevent me from going faster in an atmosphere environment. My sensors indicate no habitations, so the sonic boom should not be a problem.”

  Gareth grinned. “Bring us up to one thousand meters, and go for it.” He leaned back in his seat and watched as endless kilometers of sand flowed by beneath him.

  “There is something under the sand up ahead.” The AI in the pod murmured.

  “Slow us down and decrease our altitude to sixty meters.” The pod dropped and slowed. At sixty kilometers per hour Gareth could see the sand beneath him churn. A black claw pushed out into the searing sunlight, and then another. “THAT is one big scorpion.” He commented as the creature pushed itself fully into the sunlight. Fifteen meters long and as black as coal, the creature snapped its claws at the translucent pod while the curved tail, complete with wicked looking barbed sting waved threateningly ten meters in the air. Chitinous armored plates on the head and sides of the body made the monstrosity a formidable opponent to any living creature and spoke of other, equally dangerous residents of this world. “I’ve seen enough. You can resume our course.” The sonic shockwave bowled the scorpion over, and Gareth saw it right itself instantly, snapping at the air in frustration with claws that could easily shear a man in two.

  “We are approaching the northern escarpment.” The voice woke Gareth from a half-doze, and he blinked in surprise. Growing three thousand meters from the sand rose a weathered wall of black rock, stretching as far as he could see to the right and left. On top of the escarpment, and disappearing into the distance he could see tall forests of boreal and deciduous trees, and scattered rolling grasslands. Somewhere on the distant horizon he caught the glint of open water from a lake or small sea. In the direct path of the pod he could see the shuttle parked, and a small encampment of a dozen or so domes.

  “How far does the escarpment stretch?” He asked in awe.

  “The northern and southern escarpments encircle the world, approximately where the Arctic and Antarctic Circles do on Earth. The northern and southern green zones are the only habitable spots on the planet, as you have seen.”

  “You might slow us down.” Gareth warned. “We don’t want to break any eardrums.”

  “Slowing.” The monotone voice said. Gareth shook his head in disappointment. He was used to dealing with AIs that had almost human social skills, and now he was trying to talk with a can opener. Below him someone pointed, and Gareth could see a flurry of activity. The transparent pod set down beside the shuttle and Gareth picked up his cane. His muscles had stiffened during the long flight.

  He saw the shocked expressions on the faces of the three women he loved most in the world as he walked toward them, leaning heavily on the cane. Chiu’s face had turned pale.

  “You look terrible, Gareth.” There was a definite edge to the dark-haired woman’s voice. “I thought Athena said that you were better.”

  He chuckled as he stopped before her. “Comparatively. I was only able to walk last week.”

  Chiu looked stricken. “You mean Athena was telling us the truth when she said you died?”

  He smiled sadly. “Twice. I saw the defibrillator sitting by my bed.”

  The woman’s sapphire eyes blazed. “I should have been the one to…”

  Gareth cut her off short. “You would have died, and there is nothing Athena or anyone else on any world could have done to save you. As it is, an anti-toxin is being manufactured from my blood. With its natural defense system, Puborg will be an ideal homeworld for the residents of Oseothan, after they are all inoculated of course.”

  A welter of emotions crossed Chiu’s exquisite face, and finally she cursed. “Oh come here!” She said, flinging herself into his arms, and kissing him soundly. Gareth was very busy for several minutes sharing kisses all around, and it was a good sort of busy.

  A smiling Lyndra pulled away from him slightly. “What’s with the soap bubble?” She asked, nodding at the transport pod.

  “The former explorers at Puborg brought six planetary transport pods with them, as well as several equipment sleds. The pods went into standby when they weren’t used for a period of time. The encampment was in tatters, and even the bodies of the fifty colonists had returned back to the dirt.”

  “Fifty?” Mairi said with a note of horror in her voice, her eyes going wide.

  “That’s why the world was supposed to be proscribed, but of course we didn’t know that.” He gave his adopted daughter another kiss on the cheek. “Is this the only world you’ve checked so far?” He smiled, taking a deep breath of the cool air that smelled of pines and cedars. “I may just retire here.” He murmured to himself.

  “This is the third.” Chiu said matter-of-factly. The first two we tried, we believe that they were Ceorean and Trilan, had locked their gates to transport.” She glared at him. “Locked the gate from the o
ther side.”

  His grin was feral. “That’s what they make Momar class Destroyers for; making house calls.”

  Chiu’s eyes narrowed. “So that’s why you are having Ell reactivate all those old warships.”

  He smiled and touched her cheek. “And it is why I asked your mother and father to put me together a bright military unit, from the university, to man the ship.

  “How many will you need?” Lyndra asked, cocking her head to one side.

  “About…” Gareth frowned. “I have no idea.” He hobbled over to the transportation pod and stuck his head through the clear wall. “Would you know the crew compliment of a Momar class destroyer?”

  “The normal compliment,” the bland voice began, “is three hundred, of which fifty are marines to guard shore parties. The destroyer can be operated by as few as fifty, but it is not recommended.”

  Gareth raised an eyebrow. “Well now.” He muttered to himself. “I have a lot to think about.”

  You will not take any action until you are fully recovered, Ernst Gareth Köhler. The slightly grouchy voice of Athena murmured in the back of his mind. I went through considerable effort to keep you alive, and I would not see it all wasted.

  Ahhh, Athena; just the person I wanted to speak to. He shot back at her. What do you think of this world? You mentioned that if I saved much of the intelligent population of Earth, I would save you too, and you would travel with me. So, what do you think? Could you live here?

  Athena was silent for some time. Reach down and pick up a handful of soil. Ignoring the curious looks of his companions, Gareth walked a few meters into an open meadow, pulled up a straggly weed and stuck his hand into the loose soil beneath, scooping out a rounded handful of the rich black soil. Hold it out from you. As soon as his hand was stretched out the hand and soil began to glow, dimly at first and then so brightly he couldn’t look at it. His hand felt cool and comfortable. There. when he looked his hand was empty.

  Did that tell you what you need to know? He asked, wiggling the fingers of the empty hand.

  This is a young world. Athena said quietly. Younger still than Earth when humans first crawled from the seas. The soil is rich. The life you see here, both plant and animal, was imported. She made a humming sound. Still and all… it’s a good world, better than Earth even. I will be happy here.

  I was hoping you might. Gareth replied just as softly. I can picture a big caravanserai, larger even that the Inn of the Seven Sisters, built up here on the escarpment and looking out across the vast desert.

  You have the soul of a poet, my Gareth. Athena murmured.

  He chuckled wryly. Not really. He looked out across the wind-blown desert far below. “Tell me this Athena, if you know. Is there a way for people to travel across the sands safely?” He asked aloud, for all to hear.

  “There are several ways, my Gareth. Are you planning on taking a caravan across the sands?”

  Gareth smiled. “Not any time soon, but if we bring people here, they will ask, and they will want to travel and discover.” He waved a hand at the sands. “Look at it; a whole virgin world to explore. Never in the history of mankind have we had such an adventure before us and not just with this one world, but with four that we know of. There are dangers out there, and people will die, but the race will become stronger.” Gareth spoke slowly and from the heart.

  He stopped abruptly, reddening with embarrassment. Somewhere over his head Athena was humming something that sounded like a soft hymn.

  Very very good, Gareth. Athena whispered.

  Oh shut up. Gareth grumbled in embarrassment and Athena laughed.

  Chiu's arm wiggled its way around his waist as if by magic, while Mairi and Lyndra stood at his other side. “Did you really mean that?” Chiu asked in a hushed voice. “About the caravanserai, and living here?”

  Gareth gave her a squeeze. “Absolutely. Just remember this though; we will still have access to all the other human worlds, and as long as we can keep the gates operational, we will never be alone in the night again.”

  “Did you see this coming?” She asked hesitantly. “Did you see these worlds and the future of our race?”

  “Nope.” He admitted. “And we haven’t gotten there yet.” He gave her a wide grin. “The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”

  Her brow creased. “What the hell does that mean?” Gareth just laughed. In the back of his mind he heard a dry chuckle from Athena.

  Gareth went around, greeting the dozen or so marines, under the charge of Sergeant Xianliang and Corporal Yong. They were busy salvaging what they could of the original research station set up by the first exploration party, and erecting new facilities for the expected arrivals. A second group were busy drilling a well. He sat down heavily on a crate of supplies, and Chiu threw him a worried look. “It’s all right.” He said, wiping the sweat off his forehead, despite the fact that on the top of the escarpment it was no more than fifteen degrees Celsius. “I’ll just catch my breath and head back. There are a few questions I need to ask Ell; the first and foremost being ‘how hard is it to build a new gateway?’ I would dearly love to see gateways at both poles of this world.” He took a deep breath, and pushing heavily on his cane rose to his feet. “I think I should call it a day.”

  “Not alone you don’t.” Chiu growled.

  He smiled. “Fine. Mairi can come with me back to The Yeugate. Tomorrow I’ll try to bring out the other transport pods from Puborg. Then we can start shuttle flights back and forth to Puasheehchester. Ell and I need to get busy with the immunizations, and the faster we can cycle people into Puborg the better.”

  Folding her arms under her breasts, she gave him a hard look. “Don’t overdo it. The end of the world IS NOT NEXT WEEK.” She said with some emphasis. “We have years.”

  Gareth shut his eyes for a moment. “I know but… I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have a bad feeling about all this. Things have been going too easily.”

  Chiu’s eyes narrowed. “You almost died. I don’t call that easy.”

  “Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” He gave her a lopsided grin before he pulled her into a warm kiss. “I am not, however, dead. I’ll see you later.” He kissed Lyndra, and turned for the pod, where Mairi was looking at it curiously.

  “We’ll be done here in a few more days.” Chiu called after him. He waved over his shoulder.

  “There’s no door!” Mairi complained, studying the flawless exterior that looked like a shimmering soap bubble.

  Gareth laughed. “It’s Ecothiax technology. There are no doors.” With that he calmly stepped through the wall and into the pod. Mairi followed only a moment later, frowning furiously.

  “This is like the one you took to go underwater to Jafelon, The City That Time Forgot. How does it know to keep the air and people in, and water out when you’re underwater or in space?”

  Gareth’s grin widened. “I have no idea.”

  Mairi’s eyes widened to enormous proportions. “You and mother trusted your lives to a transportation pod that you don’t understand?” Her voice was becoming shrill.

  “Sometimes you have to have a little faith.” He told her, and then to the pod, “Take us back to The Yeugate, please. Same configuration as our outbound flight.” The transportation bubble rose slowly, cleared the camp at a modest speed, and then as soon as it crossed over the sand, flashed supersonic.

  “I think that I’ve been adopted by two crazy people.” The young woman, who must be almost sixteen now by Gareth’s best guess, shook her head in dismay.

  “And is that a problem?” Gareth asked, his face serious, but with a twinkle in his eye.

  She returned his serious look for a moment. “Not at all.” She was suddenly in his arms, hugging him until his ribs creaked. “I missed you, father. I thought I would die when Athena told us you were sick.”

  Gareth gave her a flat look. “Athena also told me about your attempts to come and see me. Until you have received t
he immunization, that planet is fatal. Once you receive the immunization and move there, that same planet will defend you against any invaders.”

  “But you lived…” She interrupted.

  “I died twice.” Gareth corrected. “Athena restarted me.”

  Her dark eyes filled with tears. “Don’t you ever do that to me… to us, again.” Gareth handed her his handkerchief.

  The sun was just setting as the pod appeared on the gateway platform of The Yeugate, and Gareth was taken again by how dim and red the dying sun appeared. Slowly freezing to death was a hell of a way for a world to go. He mused sadly. Mairi, standing at his elbow, steadied him when he wobbled. Her young face was thoughtful.

  “Is this what it’s like when you get old?”

  He gave her a sour look. “I somehow don’t think growing old will be my fate.” In the back of his mind Athena said nothing. “We should go now.” Gareth said wearily. “I’m better than I was, but I’m still a long way from being myself.” He turned toward the small transport Ell had sent to meet them. “How is the vaccine progressing, Ell?”

  “The first few batches are ready for administration.” The voice said calmly from the air above his head. “I would recommend that your daughter receive the initial dose, since she made such an issue of trying to get in to Puborg to see you.”

  Gareth glanced at his daughter. “What do you think?”

  Mairi smiled. “Go for it.” Her voice was surprisingly steady.

  “How long after she receives the vaccine until I can take her to Puborg?” Gareth gave Mairi a wink.

  “Three or four days should be sufficient.” Ell replied. “I’ll administer the shot when you get back to your suite. After today’s activities you should have a good meal and go to bed.”

  He chuckled. “Yes mother.”

  Gareth woke late the next morning, taking a long hot shower before he dressed and prepared to face his day. The suite, more a compact apartment complete with a small high-tech kitchenette and dining room, was unusually quiet. Gareth frowned as he made a pot of coffee.