Aurora (The Exodus Trilogy) (2 page)

First, it was the admiral himself. When offered the position of Commander of the Armed Forces, the admiral had politely but decisively declined, giving his unsolicited “advice” of holding elections as soon as possible, to establish “legitimacy.” Supposedly Hamilton would rather farm or fish or something, who could tell. The insult to the governor was unspeakable.

Then it was the former executive officer of the Exodus, Tina Hammer, going off to build boats! The first human ever to set foot on the planet, now building fishing boats and dinghies instead of honoring herself by climbing the ranks of the Aurora Administration.

And even Ramon showed doubts these days! Although Ramon Solis had never spoken a word about it to his face, Havelar recognized the signs. He knew he had to keep him on a tight leash if he was to keep his old business companion in the fold.

All in all though, there had been little opposition so far, but he knew it would surface sooner or later. He had vowed to make sure this colony didn’t repeat the mistakes of Earth. The way he saw it, Earth, and especially America, had reached its finest hour when disaster had struck. So his mission now was twofold: first, it was a matter of recreating the laws and establishments of the world left behind; second, it was to make sure this new world was held so tightly together that it would develop faster than Earth, without all the detours and misguided social experiments that had hampered development in such a way that when disaster had struck, they’d been unprepared. If anything like that were ever to happen here, they would be prepared to deal with it. That was why he’d had to accept certain elements he’d rather have rooted out before launch—certain scientists of doubtful loyalty and families of intelligent people who, though they might not agree with his politics, would, given the proper incentives, breed intelligent children who in time could be given a proper education to see further than their politically naïve parents.

Havelar had made his decisions on how to rule, and why, before the project was even named, because even back then, he had known that the only solution, the only hope for mankind, was to start anew. And the responsibility he’d taken on was one that would demand both wits and careful planning, and even a fair share of ruthlessness when necessary. As for opposition, he knew he would be able to deal with them in due time, when the colony was fully established, and the immediate needs of the colonists were taken care of. Come next spring, the farms should be fully operational, all the basic services functioning, and both power supply and stockbreeding programs would be up and running. At some point this winter, he should have a fully equipped army at his disposal, and be able to squash anyone who dared oppose him. He knew well the dangers of trying to suppress opposition by force, but damn it, building this new world was his responsibility, and he’d do whatever it took to get it done. And by next summer, the Human Expansion Program would be up and running too. He didn’t expect any problems whatsoever with the part concerning geographic expansion. At least not anything serious. After all, they were all here to make this a new Earth, a new home for the species. The other part, the secret part, the one only discussed with his inner circle, would be another matter entirely. That would take both whip and carrot to get started, but he already had eyes and ears screening the candidates. When that came out, he would have to be absolutely certain that he could hold on to power and crush anyone who didn’t comply. That would be the time when any who might represent the opposition would have to make themselves visible or forever hold their peace. Acceleration of evolution. He pondered the phrase for a moment. No, the words felt wrong. Human Expansion then. That would introduce the plan in a more subtle way, more humane in a way. After all, what was the goal if not humane? His goal was the survival of the species, no less. Of course, those not convinced by either whip or carrot would have to be eliminated. There could be no other way.

His pacing was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Enter,” he barked. The door opened slowly, and Thomas Dunn, his favorite spy, peered in, obviously noticing the mood of the room. Havelar broke into a half smile then. Of course. Thomas Dunn was one of those exceptionally perceptive people, who just seemed to be able to sniff out anything. Sometimes he’d swear the man had clairvoyant abilities. The FBI had never been able to unveil the conspiracy that had taken place before launch, involving such prominent figures as Trevor Hayes, the National Security Advisor, and even Senator Joe Buchanan, the man leading the entire Exodus project. But Thomas Dunn had found the leads and connected the dots. One man had done what the entire government apparatus had been unable to do. To have such a man on his team was invaluable.

“Ah, Thomas! Just the man I was hoping to see. Please, come on in. The rest of you, leave us. Now!” The room was cleared in seconds, leaving Havelar and Thomas alone. Thomas gestured vaguely at the door after he’d closed it.

“Awfully anxious to get out, sir...” he said. Havelar chuckled, taking a seat behind his desk.

“You don’t miss much, do you?” Thomas grinned back at him, but said nothing as he took a chair from the far corner and placed it closer to the desk. Havelar waited for him to sit down before pushing his tablet over to him. Covering the screen was an image of a young woman. A face he knew the younger man had seen several times, and more of late. Havelar eyed him carefully as Thomas seemed to think hard on what was to come.

“Sir... Don’t tell me she’s a dissident. I don’t know her all that well, but honestly... It’s Ramon’s daughter.” Havelar shook his head, and motioned for him to calm down.

“Don’t worry, Thomas. I don’t suspect her of being a dissident. And you would know.” He waited for a couple of seconds before he continued.

“She’s one of the candidates for a program I have planned. It’s too early to discuss yet, but I want you to have a look at these files.” He swiped across the screen, and a folder with a list of names appeared.

“I want you to see if there are any weaknesses in our analysis of each and every one of these candidates. I want you to focus especially on medical history, not just the candidates themselves, but also their parents and grandparents, however far back you can get. And hereditary traits, such as intelligence, personality, and so on.” Thomas looked puzzled, so Havelar decided to explain a little. Not too much though.

“I know it’s a little different from what you’re used to. But this time, it’s not about rooting out disloyal members of our colony. I don’t think loyalty would make much of a difference in this matter. No, I just want to make sure the candidates are healthy and smart. That’s all,” he said, with a cheerful smile. He knew Thomas well enough not to expect him to believe that there wasn’t more to this, but as long as the spy did his job, Havelar would be content. Thomas had shown himself to be trustworthy, and in time, he would be given access to his inner circle. Ever the cautious man though, Havelar had a habit of selecting his closest associates carefully, and over time. So for now, he kept his most inner secrets to himself.

MARIA SOLIS

Maria Solis was striding across the field in front of the campus, passing along the greenhouses where she would usually stop by to check up on her experiments. Even though, she was in a hurry, she allowed herself a moment to take in her surroundings. The field was covered by grass, and flowers painted the landscape around it in a hundred different colors. It was early morning and 55 Cancri A was still creeping upward, bathing the landscape in its warm, yellow glow, which seemed to make every color more vivid and every contrast sharper. Aurora’s summer was truly something. Not as warm as she’d been used to in Los Angeles, but that was just fine. The rays warmed enough that she could wear her short sleeves, and had she wanted to dress up for a party, she would have no problem wearing a skirt or a dress. She didn’t even mind the facemask much anymore; she’d gotten so accustomed to it. She looked around, still impressed with the growth of what had been their landing site just a couple of months ago.

Fort Andrews was becoming a town. Small, yet very town-like, with features such as distinct divisions between the different districts. At first, they had simply called it the camp, although after a few days, someone decided that they needed a real name for the place. She didn’t know how they had decided on the name, but for whatever the reason, and though some people resented it, the camp now carried the name of the last president of a nation long gone, on a planet far away. The town was located in eastern Verdi, not far from the coast. An hour to the north, a wide river called the Trickler had proven to be rich in small wildlife.

One creature, the river snake, looked more or less like snakes on Earth, except for their grey fur and the two small “arms” that ended in a small claw from each one. Then there were the dragon fish, which were as long as a human being and as wide as two, with six fins on either side, and a strong, wide mouth with razor-sharp teeth that, at first, had puzzled the biologists. There didn’t appear to be any natural prey for the dragon fish, and the biologists wondered whether there was some yet-to-be-discovered species that would prove to be further down the food chain. They discovered that it built land-based nests out of the tall trees on the northern bank. As they continued studying the dragon fish, they realized that the dragon fish were herbivores that used their teeth for sawing, and that they used their fins to actually climb up the trunks to their own length and thus reach the lower branches. It was these observations that made them reconsider their earthly notions that had caused them to classify the species so falsely, as the dragon fish was an example of an Aurora amphibian.

Fort Andrews stretched over an area of more than two square kilometers. There were already several housing areas, and all living quarters had at least one airtight room by now. The communal air-filtering facilities provided clean filtered air to the living quarters. The fusion reactors just north of town produced electricity and power for everything from greenhouses to air filtering to light and heating, come winter. Havelar’s headquarters were located south of the reactors, right next to the hospital. The hospital was still the only building that was completely airtight. The shuttleport, where the first shuttle from the Exodus had landed, was located at the southern end of town. It was a fenced area, and currently held a storage facility along with a communications center. It also housed a barracks for the security forces. Originally, the plan had been to keep a small security force, but as soon as Admiral Hamilton had relinquished command of the colony, new recruits had been taken on, and although Maria didn’t know how many they had at the moment, she knew there would have to be more barracks built to house them all.

On the far side of the Trickler, and a ways to the east lay the camp where Major Tina Hammer, the former executive officer of the Exodus, had started a boat-building project along with a few of her friends from Selection. They had already built a small shipyard from timber and some supplies from the Exodus, and the plan was to get a few fishing boats and a larger exploration vessel ready before next spring. They already had orders from several who pictured themselves as the future fishermen of Aurora, and the exploration vessel was something the administration was planning to use for exploring the Verdi coastline. Further exploration would obviously demand larger vessels, which would come in due time. Maria thought the former scramjet pilot might one day be the richest person on Aurora, and her enterprise could turn out to be a stroke of genius.

North of Tina Hammer’s camp, their immediate world was bordered by a string of mountains, already called the Rockies by some and the Himalayas by others. Time would tell who won that argument. There were plans to exploit the rich mineral deposits there, and geologists were already exploring and mapping the most promising sites on the southern slopes. As soon as the planned bridge across the Trickler was ready, sometime next summer, mining would commence. Whatever lay beyond the mountains no one could tell yet. All they had were the images from the Exodus, the mother ship that had carried them through space to their new home on Aurora. The starship now acted as their satellite, and would provide them with reconnaissance and weather data for years.

West of the settlement were a mixture of grasslands and forest in between lakes and hills. There were mountains as well, but none very close. Beyond the first lakes, whatever they knew came from images sent down from the Exodus. Maria thought she stood a decent chance of being part of the first team to explore the western region. The expedition was due to set out just after harvest was done, and would be led by Professor Jeremiah Lowell. They had been teammates back in Selection, and Jeremiah was someone she trusted 100 percent. However, he was also a loud mouth, and she just hoped he didn’t botch it. It was common knowledge that you shouldn’t be too vocal criticizing the way things were handled by the administration, and Jeremiah did have a tendency to cross that line now and then. So far, it had been overlooked, but since Havelar’s takeover, he ought to be more careful, she thought.

The colonists were still restricted to the immediate area surrounding Fort Andrews. They still didn’t know enough about what lay beyond, and so the administration had deemed it safer to place certain restrictions on movement. They had defined a perimeter that surrounded their settlement, and the restrictions were tighter to the south and west than to the north. On the northern end, they were usually allowed to go as far as the Trickler, which was a popular spot to go for bathing and private excursions. And there was a bit of traffic going between Tina Hammer’s settlement and Fort Andrews as well.

The time for first harvest would be here soon. With luck, they would have time for two harvest seasons before winter. They needed everything they could manage to grow in that time, or winter would be very uncomfortable. Luckily, everything grew faster here. The climate was a little cooler than most of them were used to, but it suited the genetically enhanced seed well. They had large stocks of seed, and in time, Aurora would bear potatoes, apples, corn, grains, and fruit. They even had a decent stock of animal embryos, which was still stored on board the Exodus. They had decided not to start breeding animals until next year at the earliest. Animals needed to be fed, and until they had a surplus, there simply wasn’t enough food for animals of Earth origin. Sure, there were grasses in abundance, but they also needed to feed them through winter. But in a year or two, hopefully there would be a small number of cows, sheep, and pigs around.