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Science-fiction campfire |
| [Introduction]
The star ship S. S. Constitution has come up missing. They were on a long range patrol in an unexplored sector of space when they simply disappeared. The S. S. Majestic, under command of Rear Admiral Robert Presley has been sent on a search and rescue mission. Their findings and adventures are wide open. Main Characters: Rear Admiral Robert Presley, AKA "Skipper" 58 years old, graduate of Annapolis Space Academy, formerly Annapolis Naval Academy, North America. He is a career officer who worked his way up the ranks. He does things by the book when he can but is capable of thinking outside the box. His staff respect him and would follow him into the heart of a singularity if he so ordered. He has few ties to Earth but is fiercely loyal. Captain Frank Gafford AKA ""XO" is the executive officer. He is 56 years old. He too is a career officer of Earth Corps. Unlike his commander Frank did not graduate from any academy. He graduated from Cambridge University with a doctorate degree in astrophysics and enlisted in Earth Corps against his mother's wishes immediately afterwards. He enlisted at the rank of ensign and earned rapid advancement as both a science officer and command officer. Commander Serena McScott, 54 years old, native of Scotland and very proud of it. Serena is the ship's chaplain and is versed in all matters spiritual. Deeply devoted to her faith she is also deeply devoted to maintaining the morale of the crew. She is a graduate of Liberty University and holds a doctorate of theology degree. Commander Haven De Vries, 50 years old, weapons officer and assault specialist. He accompanies every team that leaves the ship for any reason. Sabine Allard, 35 years old is a native of France who lives up to her name. She has cat like reflexes, thus she makes a most capable helms officer. Dommy Thompkins, a native of North America is the communications specialist. A linguistics specialist he speaks every known dialect fluently and can easily figure out others. His nickname is "Voice". |
| "Red alert! All hands red alert!" "All stations report your status," Admiral Presley ordered. "Security teams are in position Admiral," reported Haven Commander De Vries, Weapons Officer. "Scans show no intruders." "Sir I'm picking up an energy field 100,000 kilometers ahead. It seems to be a tachyon field." "Could that tachyon field be some sort of sensor absorption device," asked Captain Frank Gafford, Executive Officer. "Full stop XO! If it isn't natural. The only natural thing that can absorb sensors is a singularity. If it was a singularity at that distance we'd all be torn to bits by now. We'll set here and see what they do." "Helm answers all stop sir," replied Sabine Allard. |
| XO, "Anything on long range scans?" "No Sir, absolutely silent." Scanner Control, "Just a minute..., I'm picking up a target." "Identify target, Scan Control." "XO, Sir, it's a Star Ship... not broadcasting Ident..." "Not answering Hail..." "Thank you Comms, keep trying." XO,"Scan Control, anything on visual?" "I'll put visuals on the Command screen, Sir." Scan Control turns a few knobs making small adjustments, then flicks two switches. The large screen at front of bridge flickers and dissolve to reveal the image of a Star Ship moving slowly towards them. It is clear immediatly that something is wrong. The bridge is damage the windows destoyed. There are black streaks along the hull. "Looks like we found the Constition, Admiral." "She's taken some beating, XO. Can you get a boarding party ready. When we get closer, I want to find out what happened." "XO, that isn't the Constitution. Look just above the bridge window. There's a Mark V interferonic scanner. There's only one ship in the fleet with a Mark V." "What are you saying? Weapons. Somehow the Constitution got the latest scanners?" "I'm sorry XO, that Ship is the Majestic. I'd bet a years pay on that. Don't know how it could be but it is." |
| "XO I believe your right. It does have the markings of the Majestic. So before we board her we need to make sure what she is. I don't want to send a boarding party into a situation with so many unknowns. Match her speed and course and bring us along side her. "Yes sir,"answered Sabine Allard. She toggled a few switches and announced that the course was laid in. "Engage Star Man Allard." "Yes sir," she answered and flipped another switch. Everybody could feel the motion as the powerful ship swayed under their feet and they could see the change of view on the screen as the sensors showed the incoming Majestic at a different angle. "Scan for any anomalies Scan Control. With that being the Majestic it could only mean that we're looking at a photo copy of ourselves from another dimension or parallel universe. |
| There was absolute silence on the bridge as all stared in wonder. It was our Star Ship and it had been through a lot and it could not have taken such damage without casualties. How many we couldn't tell. Even if it came from another dimension it was still our ship and our comrades. "Commander, I want you to assign a medical team to accompany you when you board. Assume it's a hostile environment until we know otherwise. Board on the forward hatch it's closest to bridge. Find out what happened and if there are survivors. Survivors are our priority. We need to know what happened." "Scan Control, Sir, Something is happening..." "Report!" XO sharply,"Tell what you see," "There's dozens of signals, Sir, flashing up and down. It's like ships jumping in and out of hyprspace." Scan Control paused as he adjusted to the data swamping his desk. All of a sudden his screens started blanking one by obe. This was followed by all the the screens on the bridge powering down one by one. As each screen closedhe closer, suddenly called out," there was a crunch sound. Helm who focussed on the other ship as it drew closer. She was pointing at the other vessel which was now transforming itself into a sleek twin hulled cruiser. It was festooned with defensive arrays but what drew helm's attention were the heavy torpedo tubes below the nose of the craft and the half dozen or more turrets. Most of this armament was trained on the bridge of the Majestic. "Hailing." "قم بايقاف اسلحتكم الان" Cruiser hailing," او ساكون الى تدمير سفينتك." "He doesn't sound happy." XO, "Voice what's his problem and why is he now targetting us?" |
| "He's ordering us to lower our shields and surrender sir. He says we've entered a sector claimed by something called the Cartillian Alliance that we are therefore trespassers who must appear before some sort of justice system." "Well at least we have a good idea what happened to the S. S. Constitution," XO replied. "What are your orders sir?" "We've just encountered our first alien culture XO. We're explorers who only fight if we're backed into a corner. Lower shields and surrender." |
| "Admiral, we know a little about the Cartillian Alliance. There was a group about 500 years ago that wanted to setup a paradise for their followers, as far away from from the Confederation as possible. It was a case of the further the better. I suppose it was inevitable that we bumped into them sometime." "Well XO, I hope they have managed to lose some of their old customs." "Such as? Sir." "A little primitive I'm afraid. They would bot have female officers on the bridge. They were also quite keen on chopping body parts off as punishment." Chaplain, "I've studied some of the groups from the Diaspora. The Arab speakers could be quite extreme. However after about 400 years they had either destroyed themselves, or the moderates won out. Unfortunately I have some bad news. As part of a research project all comms are recorded including everything said on the bridge. It is automatically analysed at Midnight Zulu every night and extracts of interest are played back to me in my cabin." "Chaplain! How could you?" |
| "I could because it's my job sir! I'm the morale officer aboard this ship. Therefore I must monitor every segment of the ship, including the command section on the bridge to watch for weaknesses in morale. I can tell you this ship is ready for first contact." "Lower all shields and power down our weapons XO," Admiral Presley ordered. "Let's hope this isn't the group of wild settlers tat left us all those years ago or the they've settled down. Contact the Cartillian Ship and let her know we welcome a welcoming party aboard. Allow five of their kind to transport over. Then have the shields and weapons on emergency power up on my command." |
| "Right then Chaplain," The Admiral all efficiency and determined to ensure that this contact went well. "Take a quarterdeck party and have the bosun pipe them aboard. I'm going to change into dress uniform. It will take me eleven minutes, so I need you to delay them long enough for me to change and to get down to the Officers Mess to greet them." "What about the alcohol sir? They're muslims.. Won't go for that." "Not a problem Chaplain," looks at the XO who nods back. "I think the XO has a party in mind that can cover that up. He can make the place look like a palace in 15 minutes." "aye, Sir, I'll get right on to it." XO disappears in search of his helpers. Chaplain leaves to go and brief the Bosun. "Silence on the bridge |
| About ten minutes later the Admiral made it to the transporter room. The Bosun was there with a well armed but discreet security detail. The XO was also there. "Bring them aboard XO." "Yes sir Admiral. Bay doors are coming open now sir. The Cartillians won't have missed you at all Admiral. They asked for a 12 minute delay in arriving themselves or at least what voice translated as minutes. They call them "Units" but they said from their scan of our computers a unit is roughly the equivalent of a minute and asked if they could have 12 units before arriving." "Well if they were in a hurry to board us they wouldn't have ask for a delay. On the other hand they could be delaying so they can get their invasion force together. I guess we'll know as soon as their shuttle craft lands." They watched as the Cartillian shuttle eased into the landing bay and softly settled to the floor. The landing bay had a force field over the hatch so that the bay remained pressurized in spite of being open. When a craft entered or exited the bay it could pass right through the force field but the air in the bay remained stable. Once the craft was inside the landing bay doors automatically shut behind them, reinforcing the force field. The welcoming party watched the craft land with both a feeling of exuberance and trepidation. They still weren't 100 percent sure what type of reception the Cartillians would give them. It was obvious from sensor sweeps that the Cartillans could easily blow them into a billion pieces if they chose to. So far they had not chosen to do so. The humans had never seen a Cartillian before and had assumed it was a nomadic group of humans who had left Earth for the far reaches of space centuries earlier. What stepped off the shuttle craft however was nothing like humans nor had they ever been. They looked like a cross between a frog and a gorilla. Admiral Presley showed no response to their appearance as did any of his crew however. He simply walked over with Voice at his side and said "Welcome to the S. S. Majestic. I'm Admiral Presley. my ship and I are at your service. |
| The Chaplain was discretely observing the Cartillians. She noticed that despite the suits they were wearing they also had a small tank strapped to their bodies on what she had taken to be a decorative harness. A pair of pipes led up to the nostrils of the creature. The creature who appeared to be second in command, noticed her observing him. He approached he and showed her the apparatus close up.with signs and gestures, helped by Voice, it was explained that due to their aquatic nature they needed to keep a supply of water from their home pond with them. This was why the Cartillians would never get into space. They were tied to their own planet and that would never change. The arrival 500 years ago of a fleet of advanced spaceships with the tools of civilisation had a severe impact on the Cartillian way of life. They had gone from being sentient swamp dwellers to space explorers. However, their society had disintegrated. The old ways were still followed by many Cartillians. And they could only get into space with the help of others. Those, like him. who had chosen to welcome the humans and their technology were called GrRoks by their fellows. In other words polluters of the Pond. It was no good trying to convince the elders how much better off that would be if they accepted the offers made by the humans. On his planet the population had trebled in the last 250 years. They were educated, had plenty of food and computers and more wives. He was losing track of all the benefits he was receiving. He now had three wives, each with their own small Pond and a dwelling place, He would soon hear the delightful chattering of little ones of his own. He would gain respect among his tribe and perhaps enough backing for promotion. While he was the senior GrRok he must also try to gain favour with his human masters. He had to make a success of this mission or they would dimply discard him and his mates. The doors to the Officers Mess opened silently. The XO had indeed worked marvels. He had created the illusion of an opulent tent of the desert complete with dancing girls and turbaned traders. The Cartillians screamed in terror and cowered behind each other. |
| (Author's Note: Sorry my notice got lost in my email.) "Close and discontinue simulation,"" the Chaplain yelled, "override authority by Chaplain's command. Begin simulation of Myrtle Beach." The doors closed momentarily as she tried to reassure the Cartillians. "What happened," XO asked. "The Cartillians are an aquatic race," Chaplain Franz replied. "The desert is the last thing they want to be around. Open Mess Hall doors The Mess Hall doors opened and the scene had changed to a beach scene with the whole Atlantic Ocean spreading out before them. "How did you do that," the Cartillian commander asked. "I'll show you," XO said. "Computer end simulation and restart in one minute," The simulation ended and the Cartillians could see that what they were witnessing was a computer simulation by technology far exceeding their own. It was going to be very beneficial to arrange a treaty with the human explorers. His human masters who had invaded his planet and enslaved his people hundreds of years before would be very happy. |
| The XO was only too happy to show off his skills to the Cartillians. Within minutes he had created a woodland scene with a large pond located in the centre of a woodland glade. The Cartillian commander assured the XO that this was his home pond and typical of the nature of settlements inhabited by Cartillians. They were soon engrossed in examining the style of settlement and the technological strategies used to enable them to travel outside their home pond. Before the humans had arrived 500 years ago, the Cartillians had developed very slowly. Advances in technology could take many years to become available widely. They were on the verge of discovering a form of interpond communications. and were considering the building of an Interpond transport system. A number of ponds had started work on these technologies. All could see the benefits. It was, however, difficult to have any concept of standards. Communications between ponds had begun using audio devices driven into rocky outcrops that surface in the ponds. Metal rods driven into the rock to varying depths could be used to generate a signal, somewhat like morse code.You could. of course, only communicate with communities who shared the same rock layer. It took many years to create the code and then that might differ from the code developed on another rocky layer. Eventually over many years the majority of communities had linked up and between them they developed the appropriate protocols. A skilled communicator could transmit a message to any government official on the planet within two days. Each pond tried to ensure they had at least 3 or 4 skilled communicators working with another dozen training. The new technology had lead to a major breakthrough in science as the various communities distributed their ideas, The interpond transport system became an urgent requirement. They had to share knowledge and to develop more up to date technology. One thing they had gained, from the restrictions their environment placed upon them, and that was a lack of knowledge of war and the means to carry it out. At this point the Pilgrim fleet arrived. The vast ships remained in orbit for weeks while drop ships fell from the sky. They were full of young well trained pilgrims determined to make this planet their own, They had surveyed the whole planet from space and discovered the planet to be inhabited by a number of lifeforms both small and large but not sentient. They set up half a dozen primary bases along the Equator and began to make themselves at home. They found it easy to grow the sort of food they were used to. Meat was another matter. It took some time for the cattle they had brought and the other animals to become accustomed to the local grasses and other food plants, It was now 5 years after the Pilgrims had landed and each base had become the focus for a small town. Ever since they landed the scientists among them had been studying the planet that was their new home. One of the younger mathematicians had made outrageous claims that he had decoded the banging rocks. He asserted that the constant low levels sound, that could be heard from almost any rocky outcrop, could be deciphered. It was proof of some sort of intelligence. In order to prove his point he had set up an experiment. With the equipment he had attached to the rock he proposed sending a series of prime numbers into the rock and to see what would happen. Meanwhile, life in the ponds was carrying on as normal. Communicators were at full stretch handling all of the commercial traffic it could. It was a new communicator, barely full grown and still with the remains of his tadpole tail visible, that first noticed something. He had not been allocated a signal to receive so was practising by listening to other signals and identifying where they came from. He took this signal because it was slow and steady. He noticed it was close by from the intensity but it didn't start off with the switching codes for its destination. That was odd. But as he listened to the signal he was amazed. 7 11 13 17 19 the numbers rang through his equipment 37 41 43 47 53 59, Somebody was sending prime numbers. It wasn't part of any procedure he'd been taught. He called his supervisor and showed the numbers 89 97 101 103 107 109 113 They continued 67 173 179 181 191 193 197 199... |
| The young Cartillan communications officer didn't know it but what he had just discovered would lead to an Interstellar war or at least a war between his world and invaders from another. His superiors, thinking the prime numbers were merely a new training protocol by an instructor, ordered him to answer the prime numbers by the next sequential prime. He did so and communication began between the Cartillians and the Pilgrims. The Cartillians knew nothing of warring ways except for the occasional dispute over water rights that began to take place as transportation systems were developed between the ponds. Much like the subjugation of Native American tribes however, their cultures were about to clash and the technologically advanced Pilgrims would quickly subdue the non-warring Cartillians. The cartillian culture would be assimilated into the culture of the technologically advanced Pilgrims. The Pilgrims, who made no bones about subjecting any who were not exactly like them to servitude had quickly enslaved them. Their culture had been enslaved for 500 years. |
| First contact between Cartillian and Pilgrim was slow and painful. The young communicator had exchanged series of numbers with the Pilgrims. But there was a problem the series didn't match. Scientists were brought in to analyse the chains of numbers and to search for common ground. The two sides were both transmitting prime numbers but on different bases. The pilgrims had five digits on each hand whilst the Cartillians had only four. It took time to finally identify this. Meanwhile the Pilgrims landed there ships over all three of the continents on this planet. For the time being they would ignore smaller land masses. In the first one hundred years there had been small breakthroughs in communication and both sides were beginning to understand the other's nature. During this period the Cartillians made slow progress in the technological field, some huge leaps in mathematics and enormous progress in fields of mental health. The leaders of the Cartillians were being kept informed of the activities of the Pilgrims from information deduced by the Psychologists and were beginning to get worried. The Pilgrims had not wasted a minute in setting up bases and communication systems. They had identified areas of mineral wealth, which they began to exploit ruthlessly. The Pilgrims were industrious and fecund. So their settlements grew in size and capabilities. It was inevitable that they should soon come across the Cartillian Highways. The highways comprised pipes half buried in the earth and in which could be see the small cylinders the Cartillians travelled in. The Cartillians pedalled their vehicles which meant slow progress, but they were never in a rush. After all it had taken one hundred years from contact to actual meeting, The Pilgrims had planned for this meeting since first making contact. First Contact protocols were being followed loosely by the Pilgrims. They searched diligently for sentient life in every corner of the planet. They found none. No cities no surface vehicles or aircraft. The land was empty, They had not seen any Cartillian so despite the communications being made they declared the planet virgin. No sentient life to be deprived of their planet. A new generation of Pilgrims were beginning to arrive in mid-management positions. They had been born on the planet and considered themselves Ibnallah or children of God. Their mission in life was to make this planet a home for God's people. The Cartillians being a peaceful people by nature and also very long lived had very simple ideas about philosophy. The nature of their life in the ponds and the understanding of everyone's interdependence meant that the concept of ownership was almost completely unknown. The first communicator was approaching middle age and was now a department head. He was on duty when reports came of a breach in the high waterway... |
| What did it mean, they all wondered. It made no sense that that the high waterway would be breached as it was. The Cartillian, who had no sense of ownership or greed, simply could not imagine why anybody would destroy their waterway. Then suddenly reports began coming in that the pilgrims were capturing Cartillian. The Pilgrim were ruthless. Since the Cartillian had established no known civilization, the Pilgrim saw them as beasts. The Pilgrims, who had little respect for life, sentient or otherwise, quickly took over the Cartillan. Now 500 years later the Pilgrim were in full control. "Chaplain how much damage do you believe a hostile take over like this has done to the Cartillian culture, what are our options, and how do we best deal with these settlers," Presley asked. |
| Alright people you know what we have to do. Brief section heads and ensure no-one has any lethal weapons along apart from ready-use lockers which will all be locked." "XO. Sabine - launch at 20:00 hours/ Better make sure your guys grab a bite before they go and rations for four days." "Aye, aye, Mac." 17:47 and a klaxon sounded an alarm... |
| "Battle Stations! All crew return to Battle Stations!" "XO to the bridge - find out what's happening. I'll join you in two minutes. Chaplain, secure our guests make sure they're comfortable." "Helm, secure Captain's barge and the Space Launch." "Master at Arms, make sure your people maintain an air of calm I don't want any accidental discharges." "Carry on. I'll be om the main Bridge." "Aye Aye, Sir." Chorus of voices followed by running feet. The skipper, Admiral Presley marched swiftly across to the Main Bridge. "Helm?" "All secure, sir! All stations manned in just under 2 minutes and 19 seconds. XO is secure in rear Bridge with secondary controls ready to activate. Standing by for orders sir." "XO, good time there XO still could do with a couple of seconds off that time. What do we know? What or who set off the alarm." "That would be me sir. I set off the alarm. I saw another vessel leaving the Cartillian ship and headed this way. It was accelerating. I thought it might try to ram us." "Thank you, Ensign. Sounds a little dramatic. But you did the right thing. Never take chances when something like that happens. Where is this vessel now," "Ensign?" "Sorry Sir! They are alongside port access lift but the Master at Arms has refused to allow them to board without your approval" "Excellent. Put them on videocom." The Videocom flashed up to reveal a fat face with bulging eyes. His forehead was glistening with sweat and he looked terrified. Behind him were others equally afraid and on the verge of panic. "You must let us board and get away from here, It's not safe down there." "What's not safe?" asked the skipper. But you could see what he was beginning to fear. 6-700 years ago Earth and her dominions had suffered from wave after wave of plagues. On heavily populated planets resistance built up and it was possible to impose good preventative tactics. However, a number of smaller planets had been unable to control the outbreaks and whole populations had perished, Now,of course, we had vaccines and other advances in medicines helped the survivor rates. This was of no help to the planet below. They had left before these advances had been made, "Get medical and security teams to port access lift and take all these people into quarantine. Everybody in EVA suits -keep the whole deck evacuated till they're in sick bay," "Voice, I want you to become a medic for a few hours... |
| "Aye-aye sir. I will do my best." Admiral Presley assigned voice as a medic for two reasons. One reason was that voice had been exposed to all the known plagues and was immune to them. The second reason was because voice had served as a medic with an elite military team prior to becoming an officer aboard the Majestic. He would be very well versed in treating the plague and Doc was definitely going to need the help. Doc was a medibot, a type of android that served as a medic. He was very sociable for an android. Part of his programming was to be very sociable because he had to communicate with people and bed side manner was a plus. The first medibots had been developed during the plagues. Doc was a much more advanced version. "Let's get these patients to sick bay immediately," Doc told Voice. "I concur with your diagnosis. They have a Centaurian Plague. We can save their lives if we can keep them hydrated. Nurse I want 1 mg of cerstantin per patient IM bId for six days starting immediately. I want you to establish Mestler's (22nd century IVs) on each patient and run 1 liter of normal saline full drip." "Aye aye Doctor," the nurse answered and put her team to work carrying out the orders even as the gurneys were being brought in to float the patients away. |
| Admiral Pressley assessed the situation and started to formulate a plan to establish control over the planet and to save as many lives as he could. He'd need to send the best away team he could. It would leave the ship dangerously undermanned. He called Commander De Vries down to the chartroom which had been set up as command HQ for the mission. He ordered De Vries to take over the rescue mission. The quartermaster was requested to supply food and medical supplies and two drop ships to carry them down. He was also asked to prepare the Admiral's barge to carry a contingent of Marines to the surface. The Marines would protect the mission and carry out any ceremonial protocols required. It was unlikely that there would be much for the Marines to do apart from protect. Commander De Vries would accompany the force in the Marines Assault Command ship. The flurry of activity produced an almost instant affect. The sleek Admiral's Barge may have outdone the the other vessels in terms of appearance. The white shell and gold plated highlights glittered in the bay lights. The other vehicles were blunt and businesslike. Wide doors fore and aft were ugly but were effective in unloading after the hard landing practised by these craft. Today, however, these craft would aim for a soft landing and a quick dispersal of the resources they were bringing. However, the pilots of the landing spacecraft could soon make out activity on the ground. Columns of small vehicles were rushing back and forth. They appeared to be picking up bodies and helping people who could hardly walk. It appeared the Cartillians were carrying out their own rescue operation. The slaves were struggling to rescue their masters.The question now was about whether the medicines, they brought, would help. Commander De Vries signalled his command to follow him to the central buildings he could see ahead. His pilot was picking up signals from the ground and was following them down... |
| XO quickly established a command post. His men now joined the Cartillians in gathering and beginning to triage the inflicted. Some were too sick to save and red ribbons were placed about their wrists. The ones who were only mildly affected and had the best chance of survival were marked with yellow ribbons. Many of these were still ambulatory and helped gather the sicker individuals. The ones who were extremely sick but not yet dying were marked with green ribbons. This was to help the department heads know what section to place them in. Each would have their own quarantine area. The dying would receive hospice care. The ambulatory would receive vaccinations and follow up care. The remaining group would receive the care needed to combat the virus raging within them. |
| The Chaplain soon joined the ground party together with a contingent of assault engineers and their equipment. For religious reasons the dead should be buried as soon as possible. For health reasons the bodies had to be incinerated. The senior surviving Imams were quickly consulted and procedures agree to allow a respectful but speedy disposal of the bodies. The assault engineers constructed two high speed crematoria powered by two boat's engines. The conveyor belts from a steel furnace suitably toughened was used to carry the coffins through the furnace and the exit from the furnace the greatly reduced mass was compressed into a block of glass like carbon. Each block was imprinted with the deatils of the person who's ashes were there. There was also usually a symbol, mostly crescents but aoccasionly a cross would appear and even more rarely a medical staff or a scientists sigil. Among all the symbols on those dead there was only one aristocrat. A small child of one of the leading failies had been on a school trip when the plague began. By the time he had returned home all the great families had completely sealed themselves in and were not going to lower their defenses even for one of their own. The child might well jave survived he was fit and had been well fed. Unfortunately, even thgough he was a child, the high families were feared and hated by the general populace. He had been left in the street and shunned by all. The lack of food and clean water for seven days was what had killed him. Those that were merely ill soon began to recover. Initially there were enough to look after the sick and dying. As the funerals went on the numbers who had died became clearer.Most of the polpulation lived in the capital or in one of the Ten Towns. Where figures could be estimated it appeared tha almost half the population had succumbed, approximately twelve million people. None of the Cartillians had died from the disease. Some had died as a result of actions by the humans who feared a slave revolt. In the countryside it was impossible to guess how many had succumbed. Percentages in countryside tended to be less due to lower population densities, Someone was going to have to take control of the planet and manage its recovery. Meetings were already taking place and there were anti aristo groups forming. In areas where the Cartillians had been involved in rescue they were being asked to support a civilian republic. |
| The planet showed definite lack of leadership. While the people worked to save themselves there was no cooperation between the cities or even in the cities, Anti-aristocrat groups were forming, which meant a revolt could well be underway. However there was little to revolt against. The only leadership available came from the aristocrats who controlled but were hated by the people. There were no uniform laws or government from town to town. Each had attended to it's own affairs. "I want ten nurses to go to the homes of the aristocrats and inoculate them so they won't come down with this," the lead med tech said. "They are ignoring their vid coms so you'll have to knock on their doors. Since they won't let a human or a Cartillian in I suggest you expose some of your circuitry and allow them to see that you are androids and cannot carry the disease. Go immediately." Ten nurses prepared to leave for the towns. Admiral Presley also briefed them. "Allow the Overlords to know that by the authority of interstellar law I am placing the entire planet under martial law. I will be in charge and all activities will be under my authority or the authority of those I appoint. Since I know this is a planet of isolationists, who did not want to recognize interstellar law, I am prepared to back my authority up with the force of these ground troops and the entire force of a falcon class star ship. Somebody has to take charge and organize this chaos. The isolationists who first came here violated every galactic law there was once they discovered sentient life and chose to stay. The inhabitants of the planet may well have a right to claim the planet as home since they were born here but they have no central government and no cooperation between them. I will establish liaisons in my staff for the leaders of each town to deal with. If the problem is too much for the liaisons it will come to me.. My resolution is final. The first resolution I am going to make, which shall be known as Resolution 01 is that the townsfolk nor anybody else can own a Cartillian as a slave and they must pay the Cartillians or work out a barter system with them to have any services performed by them. Slaveryy is hereby outlawed and the Cartillians are now and forevermore free. The isolationists muust either work out a pact of cooperation with the Cartillians or allow the Cartillians to live independently of them and on their own authority." 'Do you realize what you just did," XO asked inn amazement. You not only freed the Cartillians but you gave them their own country!" "It's as it should have been from the beginning XO. Now we're going to continually monitor this planet to see to it that it stays that way!" |
| While the rescue mission was continuing and the numbers beyond help had almost reduced to zero other work was going on. All of the houses in each of the ten towns must be fumigated. Whilst every survivor was now immune to that strain of the virus it was possible a mutation would occur and new strains would be created. In time the settlers would receive up to the minute treatment and would no longer succumb to any of the common diseases know to man. They would also live much longer. Marine engineers were undoing the physical damage that had occurred and replacing damaged houses with new state of the art models. The ten families refused to consider any modifications to their homes. It was as if they had something to hide. The ten cities were set out on the vast plain that occupied most of this continent. Most of the land of this planet was in that one vast continent. There were a few isolated islands generally unvisited. The polar regions were composed entirely of ice miles thick. There were no traces of land under the polar ice caps. The roads between the cities were poorly made and were little used. The ten cities appeared to operate more or less independently. The cavern was immense and even the powerful lights at its centre could not illuminate the ceiling. There were odd reflections from the walls as large vehicles emerged from tunnels along the base of the icy walls. |
| Dommy Thompkins was monitoring the Comm board when he came across a strange transmission. It was like none of the languages he knew. His Analyze program said it was a pitch-based language, which explained why it sounded like music. Nothing unusual about that. There were a thousand known pitch-based languages. What was unusual was the precision timing. Biological entities almost never used precision timing for anything, but the "notes" of this language were "on the beat" to an accuracy better than 99.99% Dommy leaned back in his chair and murmured, "Like a talking machine." There was plenty of Artificial Intelligence in use, plenty of chat bots and all kinds of simulations of speech, but this was speech that ONLY a machine could understand. Strange. And where was it coming from? That was difficult to pin down. |
| Ten. One for each Pilgrim city. All advancing smoothly, into the cavern.Like flickering stars their reflections bounce from the smooth ice of the ceiling far above. The sound of the vehicles echoed softly through the space of the cavern. A dull throbbing from massive motors, occasional rattles from loose fastenings and the easily recogniseable whine of powerful electric motors. The vehicles towed equally massive trailers identical in size and all totally devoid of external markings to distinguish one from another. With absolute precision the vehicles locked into the spokes protruding from a central hub standing in the centre of the cavern. Lights flashed briefly as the vehicle occupants disembarked and made their way to a central auditorium beneath the the floor of the cavern. The Pilgrims progressed in the order of their city with ten being first until all the ten cities representatives were seated. In the centre of the auditorium was a huge metal frame holding huge screens. The screens were filled with images produced by powerful computers. The computers had been removed from the Pilgrim space ships and used to create this master system, in complete secrecy inside the cavern, 500 years ago. A small group of the aristo families had been set to build this command centre and the tunnels that served it. Initially they used the colony builder robots that were part of the equipment carried on colony ships. Each city had arranged for a certain amount of equipment to fail or disappear with no questions asked. The early work had soon come accross the Cartillians and initially had helped them where the Pilgrim tunnel could also serve the Cartillian ponds. It wasn't long before the Pilgrims realised their military superiority and enslaved the Cartillians and put them to work on tunnels and other construction for the Pilgrim cities. When the work on tunnels and command centre were finished they were used by the ten ruling families and their servants only. The whole planet was carefully controlled by these families. In time the ten cities connected their city managers to the central computer. In five hundred years attitudes changed and the Imams had become less influential and the power was now in the hands of technologists. The crimes for which the Mullahs used to demand the death penalty had now disappeared. The only crime which still killed the death penalty was computer hacking... |
| Dommy studied the strange transmissions for hours, subjecting them to every kind of computer analysis he could think of, but though they were obviously produced by intelligent entities, he could find nothing that would give him any hint of what they might mean. He toyed with the idea they might be some form of art, and not meant to convey literal meaning, but the amount of expensive energy needed to send them would seem to indicate they were more than just entertainment, that they were something of extreme importance to a culture. But what culture? Where was it? Who was it? |
| Dommy notified XO of his findings. "Sir I've been getting some very strange transmissions on the comm channels." "Explain." "They originate someplace in this sector. They don't match any known language and neither the translator nor I can figure them out. They seem to be talking in jibberish and the communications aren't on any subspace frequency." "Then what frequency are they on?" "They're on 1030 AM sir." "Let me hear Voice." Dommy turned a knob and static filled the air followed by the melodic tones of a big band. "Dommy have you never heard of music? That''s Earth music, circa 1920-1940 AD. It was very popular. Where's it originating from?" Dommy checked his equipment. "It's coming from the planet sir. Looks to be one of the Ten Cities. It could be being relayed from there. The signal is disturbing for some reason. Of course I recognized music. There's just something about the music that doesn't make sense. It's like there is a hidden code in it." "Okay Dommy, I believe you if you say you believe there's a code. Have Linguistics analyze it and keep me posted." "Aye aye sir." |
| Rashid was on security duty. His job was to protect the delegation from Sabaa the seventh city. Whilst they were in the auditoriun he looked after the vehicles. To pass the time he had an antique reproduction of a dansette radio set. It had been recreated from the drawings hel accessed on the central computer he had used fifteen years of his 3D printer raw materials to make it. It was superb. He had been helped by a communications specialist to get the circuits correctly tuned. He understood how radio worked and had some knowlege of radio and it's peculiaralities. Because it was an AM channel there was a tendency for the signal to become distorted amd to stretch this, of course, distorted the sound. The voices became even harder to understand. Add a distictive Scottish accent and you could argue it was another language. Rashid was enjoyibg the music and found the accsnt totally understandable. For a boy born in the Gorbals of Glasgow, the notoriously dangerous slumms and tenements of Scotland's second city, to have become an Officer in the space navy was not uncommon. But for a black muslim many who appeared to be gay it was a challenge. His ability to remained focussed for hours helped. On missions abord the Naby's vessels there could be no discrimination. Each crew was a closely knit family. He tuned his ears in as Glenn Miller asked "Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo ?" Rashid could have sabg it himself he'd heard it so often. |
| Dommy was back in the XO's office an hour later with his findings. "Good call, sir, on getting Linguistics involved. They think it might be in ancient train code from 20th century Earth." "I never heard of that." "It's a linear code. In the header file is the locomotive and when you reach the caboose you know the message is over. For example, Silver Streak acknowledge partnership prior and wilder off the porch" "I don't know what that means, Dommy." "I don't either, sir. I'm just giving you an example of the code. Right now we're analyzing Chattanooga Choo Choo carry me home. We haven't reached a caboose yet." "It sounds like it could be a recall signal for an agent." "It does, doesn't it? So that still leaves the question open. Who is this agent and why is he using this code? Where did he come from? Why is he here? Why is he being recalled at this critical moment?" "All good questions, Dommy. I want you to get Security in on this, as well. We need to assess the risk factors." |
| Leila's family had originally lived in Thamania, city number eight. However, she was a member of a refugee family who had been taken in by the citizens of Sittaa, city number six after Thamania had been destroyed. Of the original fleet of fifteen Pilgrim ships: two had not made planetfall due to issues with control systems; one had fallen uncontrolled into the ocean where the spaceship floated for two weeks, out of range of any possible rescue or escape. Those aboard the ships that made successful landings could hear the cries for help until the power failed. It was assumed that all of the crew and passengers had eventually died. Twelve ships had made a successful planetfall. All twelve were able to start terraforming straight away. A feud that was centuries old had flared up between Thamania and Tinaen, second ship. which quickly escalated. Both crews were determined to destroy the other and to make a proper job of it this time. Both ships launched scout ships and headed for the asteroid belt. Their aim was to create a kinetic energy weaopon more powerful than a nuclear warhead. They were both too determined and it was so easy. Identify asteroid fit with jetpack, aim it and wait. Thamani was hit first. The Tsunami, caused by the impact, could have had serious consequences,for any of the other cities as all were vulnerab on the lowlying continent. had it not met one coming the other way from Tinaen. There were few survivors in either city. Those there were had been allocated to one of the remaining ten cities. Rashid's family had originally come from Tinaen. Neither cared abouttheir different roots. They only cared for each other. |
| Rashid was having breakfast when a security team burst in on him. "Freeze or die!" Rashid put his hands up and he was kicked away from the table and forced to his knees. "Hands behind your back!" Once he was securely handcuffed, they let him stand up. "What have I done?" he said. "This must be a mistake." Two of the security agents had been rummaging through Rashid's rooms, pulling out drawers, overturning chairs. One of them made a shout. "Look at this!" It was Rashid's stack of old vinyl recordings. "Code disks!" said the agent, holding up one that was clearly labeled Chattanooga Choo Choo. "Let's go,"said the boss agent, pushing Rashid toward the door. Outside was a huge dark grey vehicle marked SECURITY in small letters of a lighter grey color. Rashid could only think of Leila and how she would not know what happened to him or where he had gone. |
| The plague survivor's gathered in a conference hall to hear what Presley had to say. Most simply watched from their vid cams. Presley's speech was short but determined. "Citizens of the Ten Cities and all Cartillian civilizations. I communicate with you tonight to inform you that by order of Imperial regulations a central government is being organised to assure cooperation between the Ten Cities. Had regulations been followed by your ancestors this would not be necessary. However each of you, whether you were born here or not, is a citizen of the kingdom of King Osama Al-Tihr. As such compliance with this regulation is mandatory. Each city will elect four leader to send to either house of Parliament. The first seession of Parliament will be three months from now. Good night." |
| AlJuma'a AlAsharat, or Central Council, literally Group of the ten. Were furious. Many leapt to their feet screaming and shouting. When order was finally restored and delegates resumed their seats and they were able to get the proceedings under way. The Chairman insisted on following the Agebda and in discussing the Adniral's edict under 'Any Other Business. The first item of business was to confirm House Wahid as the leading house for the next year.It took a while to get through the Agenda but It gabe time to the more politically astute to have private one2ones and to establish a position. A proposal was put to the council to allow Cities to put members forward for the Planetary Parliamnet, to stand as MPs for the Parliament. They would control the Parliament and at the same time could make it appear truly democratic. The King would approve and if he didn't he had an heir who would. |
| Leila was surprised when Rashid did not show up at his usual time. She was watching the trivideo, but at this time of day there was nothing on but boring political news. Nevertheless, she was glad she had turned it on when Rashid's picture flashed on the screen. Under the pic was the caption Spy Captured Today In.... She thumbed the expander button and sat down to watch the full story. How could Rashid have been a spy without her knowing about it? It seemed impossible. |
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