Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 3 - New Shores (9 page)

‘Well these so called vassal races look like a nightmare waiting to happen and I can see Leanne’s point of view too well. I will probably go unless there is a deal breaker on the planet and I will just leave my small dogs with my neighbour.’

Dave gave a wry grin as he considered Stan’s reply and spoke again as something in the list caught his eye.

‘Well so far it has been just a large lizard. You have even factored in extended supplies and transport, and the airport is conveniently close as well for getting there. So how do we get management to give the go ahead in a meaningful time frame?’

Stan brought Dave up to speed on what else he had been up to during the night, and the two men considered a couple of options to speed up the process as the rest of their co-workers began to arrive at work.

                                                            ***

Trooper Ian Stewart stood to one side of the bright headlights of another truck that come through from the gate at Perth Airport and stopped several metres from him. The truck was piled high with portable generators, army tents and drums of fuel and Ian had no problem sending them in the right direction.

‘Okay, go straight ahead for two hundred metres and take the second left turn, and then go ahead another four hundred metres. Then straight ahead of you will be the second compound. The quartermaster there will give you the unloading details and instructions for when you are to return through the gate.’

The truck driver thanked him and immediately drove off as another vehicle, this time a four wheel drive filled with civilians and camera equipment now stopped in the lights in front of him. The older driver paused for a moment to speak with a passenger before he turned and arrogantly spoke to Ian.

‘Soldier, I am Cameron Bates and I have brought my news crew here to record the colony founding. Where can we find the command post and the researchers running the show?’

Ian looked at the lack of preparedness of the vehicle and the passengers as he answered.

‘Now there are already reports of dangerous animals on this world that have injured several people so stay inside the field. The command post and research HQ are both on your next right turn that will then take you to the top of the field after several hundred metres. Watch out for larger vehicles and helicopters landing.’

The four wheel drive moved off quickly, as Ian turned his attention to the next vehicle, without any acknowledgement or thank you coming from the driver. He had the presence of mind to key his radio and advise the command post that they were getting visitors. Another member of his squad walked over to him and asked if there was a problem.

‘Maybe Ryan, the journalist driving seemed to be in a real snit. Just like one of those types to go off to do their own thing and get themselves killed.’

Ryan muttered a reply as he relieved Ian, who really wanted some sleep, from the checklist board.

‘Well this place is new world and could easily be dangerous, as a biologist thought he saw a large strange bear before it moved away.’

Ian yawned and checked his back pack and rifle by habit, before answering and commenting on what was bothering a lot of them.

‘We know the other gateways are present on this world from the other countries, but we have not found their locations here yet. The commander has got a series of long range reconnaissance flights looking for the other landing sites.’

Ryan did not answer him as yet another truck had arrived, so Ian made his way back to his squad’s position for a few hours of welcome sleep.

                                                            ***

General Robert Chiang looked over the stern faces of the Chinese politburo and knew that he had won shortly after he had been summoned to return. Several hours had been wasted while the older men debated the finer points of the Barede colony before giving him the go ahead. Fortunately he had his men already working at Beijing and Hong Kong, plus small detachments of Chinese marines had gone through the two gateways to survey the new world.

Robert headed off any further discussions or long winded speeches by speaking after first bowing, although he knew that this a real breech of decorum amongst his people. He noted that several of the older men behind their high benches arched their eye brows in annoyance, but he did not have time for their pride.

‘Honourable leaders, I have already have organised my men at the two gate ways and we leave immediately as time is short. For the glory of our land we will do our people proud and be valued members of the new colony.’

Without another word he bowed and then left the meeting, though a muted buzz of voices told him that the leaders were not impressed with his brusqueness. In minutes his official convoy was heading towards the closest gateway at Beijing international airport. Robert immediately raised the privacy screen in his official car and keyed two numbers in his satellite phone to begin a group call.

‘Hunan, Lee, get the first supply teams through the gateways immediately and I want loaded vehicles entering the gateways every ninety seconds. The camps will be set up at four ends of the field at both sites, and I want the central areas and gateways themselves kept cleared at all times. After six hours we send the vehicles back for reloading, and we need a cleared return area at the airports. The tanks and heavy artillery are to be left until last as they may trigger the Maveen to close the gateways. I want all the specialised industry equipment through immediately as that will strengthen any bargaining we may need to do.’

Robert completed the call as he could see the first checkpoints that now controlled access to the airport. He patiently settled down for a long wait before his convoy joined the procession of authorised vehicles heading off world.

‘Let the older men on their high benches parse the delays in deploying the tanks as they will….’ he evaluated.

The young general had already decided the best way to have a strong influence on the new colony, and it had nothing to do with armed force.

                                                            ***

John Mills stood by the lead truck and checked the straps holding down the dismantled sides and roofs of the two large sheds he had just bought and picked up yesterday. He then looked out of his large factory for a moment and took in the calm of the morning. He wanted to be away within another fifteen minutes before they encountered the beginnings of the Sacramento peak hour traffic.

John was allowing several hours to get to San Francisco and get into the queue at the airport. His wife, Diane, looked over and gave him that nice smile he had always found attractive, as he walked the length of the trucks and carefully checked their secured and well covered loads.

Diane was driving their newer F250 with the kids and their personal effects crammed in the back. The F250 was also towing their eight metre boat. She seemed relieved that they were finally leaving after the stresses of the last two years, and the short argument about their expensive house was already resolved. John already felt relief from knowing that they had a good chance of a new start as he crossed to Diane and gave her a kiss.

‘Well sweetheart, we will be away from here, the crime rate, and our financial pressures real soon. I will build you a large new timber house that has nothing to do with a bank, and the kids can grow up as valued and as safe as I can keep them.’

His wife looked in the mirror down the length of the line of trucks as she answered.

‘I got around to the idea eventually John, and I have nothing else keeping us here since our parents passed away. You do what you have to do as I am fine here.’

John then spoke quietly with the foreman sitting with his girlfriend in the second truck behind the F250. He looked at the large and modern machining centre under his best canvas that filled the tray of this large truck. John next went to each of the next six trucks holding smaller mills, lathes, the portable foundries, and assorted tooling and cutting machines and in turn quietly smiled and spoke to each of the drivers. The men had also loaded as much metal stock that they could safely take with them and had ensured that the stock was well covered.

John now got into the lead truck of convoy and drove slowly down the street for a short distance before he stopped his truck. They waited patiently as the driver of the last truck calmly walked back and closed the gate without locking it. John looked back at the quiet factory and took in the sign ‘Mills Foundry and Toolmaking’ before he again led off the convoy.

The convoy had a few moments of anxiety as they drove past first the sheriff’s office and then the flashy office belonging to their local bank. John knew that if his bank manger had seen the convoy he would have raced over to get the sheriff to arraign him for defaulting on the large loans he had owing. Well John had taken care of that by leaving a letter in his office detailing that the bank could do what it liked with both the modern factory unit and their large house, and he had even been polite about it as well.

As they left Sacramento, John briefly looked down at the bench seat and he took in the data drives, the coiled roll of printed drawings and his special toolmaking equipment, all carefully secured inside the truck cabin. Today was turning out to be the first day in his new life.

                                                            ***

Captain Narindestat had waited until the humans had left the ship at the end of the day, before he convened a brief meeting in the ship's main hold, with instructions this time for only the senior crew to speak. Lieutenant Garendestat had glanced around the meeting as Lieutenant Marenkestat had joined him with several other lieutenants. Chief Halbindestat stood impatiently in front of his large team of engineers as the captain began to speak.

‘I will keep this brief as we have had a long day with the humans and we still have a lot of repairs to do over the next two days before we leave. We may stretch this to three days, but we want to be long gone before the Barus return to this system. I can report that I have received a brief message from Lieutenant Damofestat two hours ago and he reports the hyper drive module as being fully functional.’

The captain stopped talking as the crew had briefly erupted into calls of relief at the happy news, and he wanted several moments until they fell silent again before speaking.

‘This is great news to be sure, but we are still not safe until we are in space. The refuelling efforts are nearly complete though specific repairs still need to be completed. So does any of the senior staff have any other serious concerns that need to be resolved?’

Lieutenant Garendestat noted the still wooden, but respectful looks the crew were giving his father. Garendestat considered the amount of stress the crew had been living under for the last two months and was not surprised by this observation. He could tell that Emeria could feel the undercurrent of tension as well as he spoke.

‘Captain, we are in front with the sneak ship repairs and refuelling and we will shortly be ready to mount the ships on their pylons. However we should give thought to both the humans that remain nearby and the cargo we leave on this island, as when we launch the engine flare will incinerate most of the island.’

The captain gave his son an approving look as he answered.

‘Well that is a good point and we should move those damaged ships again across to another island, together with the other trade items as we will have time to do so. Get the humans to come along with you as they need the practical experience and the goods are now theirs.’

Emeria now took a turn to speak as she noted the still subdued but tense emotions in the crew.

‘Captain, I have tested the revised pressure treatment plan and we have additional information on a successful treatment program. Several of the crew who volunteered for testing are now fully recovered in their quarters and will be fit for work tomorrow. I can pressure selected parts of the ship to four atmospheres tonight and we should be able to treat all the crew over two nights. We should also insure all our females are treated as well.’

The captain studied Emeria thoughtfully for a moment before he spoke to his chief engineer.

‘Halbindestat, I want you and most of your engineers to take the night off and report for treatment. No arguments now and I know you are still working on the second aero spike engine and two of the mounting pylons so that they will fit the Maveen ships correctly.’

Halbindestat gave him a wry but tired grin as he replied.

‘Well we are the worst affected so I agree we need the night off. Now that aero spike engine is still showing a strange fault, and that is my main concern. If you can keep the humans away tomorrow we can get some work done so it is not total loss. Some of the pilots are passable engineers and I expect great things out of Marenkestat tonight as a result.’

Several of his junior engineers gave polite jibes aimed at Marenkestat, before the captain ended the meeting and the rest of the crew returned to their duties. Emeria led the engineers to the heavily built side holds, and the chief engineer sent the junior engineers and the female general crew away to fetch their bedding. She studied the local pressure controls in the holds for a moment before she spoke again.

‘Now chief, you and the engineers will be given a drink to get you to sleep with some additives that minimise the worse effects of the pressurisation. I will keep you asleep for six hours and all of you will be unwell for several hours afterwards.’

Captain Narindestat in the meantime had cornered Garendestat and Marenkestat.

‘We will go and fetch some tools and see how your engineering studies have benefitted the ship by fixing that aero spike engine. Make sure you give me the Chief’s toolkit because if either of you lose his best tools then he will come looking for you.’

The two younger Traders nervously followed their captain to engineering and knew that they were in for another long night of solid work.