Second Chances (85 page)

“You deal with them in your neck of the woods, we'll deal with them here,” Dunn growled, looking at the others for support. He got a few grim nods.

“Right,” Adam said grimly, eyes flashing. “The only good dino or alien is a dead one,” he snarled, fists clenching.

That had some mixed reactions. Some were in agreement. Mitch wasn't; he was horrified by the idea. People were unhappy and even more unhappy as they took sides on the debate. “Well, it's different for him; he's here safe behind the walls with armed guards and robots. What did you expect? Just like a whiny liberal democrat,” Dunn pointed out.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Mitch demanded, turning on the colonel with a glare.

“It means when you're out in the thick of it, the only good dino is a dead one,” Adam growled.

“I go into the bush all the time,” Mitch said indignantly.

Yung Li put a hand up between them. “I think we take a break for dinner and let some heads cool off,” she said. Others agreed. Mitch grumbled but agreed.

They broke for dinner and chores. The extended break put off further discussion to let people think about it. It was clear to everyone that both Mitch and Dunn needed to cool off. Dunn had the gall to smirk at him in passing, further infuriating Mitch.

------*------

That evening he talked with Sandra as they got ready for bed. She reminded him he's death on scorpions. “That's different!”

“Is it?” she asked, eying him. “For them? Out there? The shark hounds? Facing raptors day in and day out? If you had a choice between saving a pack of raptors or killing them to protect Cassie, Tucker, and I, Mitch, what would you do?”

He stared at her then sighed. She caught his hand and pulled him into bed. He sighed again, this time in contentment as she snuggled down on top of him and then wrapped his arms around her.

------*------

The next morning they tried to keep the conversation light and on neutral grounds. When they compared notes they found it odd that they named some animals the same. Bolladon, Barox, some of the others. “That really is weird. Some are descriptive, but some of the others are far out of left field. Okay, Tauntaun I get. They even look like them. Well, a big shaggier, with the curly fur in places, but still, we get the point.” Mike shook his head.

“So, what's going on? Mass hysteria?”

“I wish I knew.”

“That psychic thing?” Jack asked, looking at Mitch. Mitch shrugged. “Did you ever do that thing in Mike's stomping ground when you visited? I've been meaning to ask.”

“No, I forgot,” Mitch replied with a shrug.

“Hang on a minute, back to the names,” Evan said, holding up a hand. “Maybe the aliens downloaded the names into us?” he suggested, looking at each of them in turn.

“But we can't access it unless we see them?” Trinika asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Hmmm...true.”

“Why not stuff we can use? Maps and stuff? Why names and not that stuff?”

“Because aliens are aliens, and who knows what goes on in those floating minds of theirs?” Curt said, sounding amused and disgusted.

“If they even have a mind.”

Mitch nodded. “Programming. We're not even certain they are sentient. They are decision making to some degree, but they admitted to following a maker's programming. So...”

“So, we're talking in circles. Mark it down as something to ask them if we ever get the chance again, then move on,” the colonel said, sounding testy.

“Agreed,” Kirafiki rumbled.

The discussion turned to why the Bolladon was not edible, but the Barox are. “See, some animals on Earth are like that. Musk deer, Sloth, you get the idea.”

“Okay.”

“It's all in the diet,” Olaf said. “We ran into that with reindeer.”

The colonel nodded. “Grain fed versus other foods? So if we fed them other stuff...”

“They may or may not be able to digest it. From what we've been able to understand, the Bolladon survived because it's armored and tastes bad. Whatever predators came with it either died off or they are on another continent.”

“I see.”

“But the Bolladon do serve a purpose; they eat some of the alien plants Terran animals can't eat. Like those noxious ones that kills anything around it,” Evan said. “If they weren't around in the food chain, we'd be overrun with the stuff. And it's poisonous to handle.”

“Probably why the Bolladon taste so horrible,” the colonel said.

“Yeah, but that noxious puffball spreads worse than a weed. It kills everything around it and just sucks the nutrients out of the soil. When it dries out it explodes like a fungus ball, spraying all over the place to start its life cycle all over again,” Evan said. Some of the others who had experienced the insistent alien plant nodded grimly.

“Ah.”

“So we're saying the Bolladon serve a purpose in the food chain. We just need to...I don't know, direct them to the areas that have the worst of the alien weeds or find a way to manage them. Fortunately they don't breed fast,” Evan said.

“Yeah or we'd be up to our necks in waddling armored tanks,” the colonel said, snorting. He held up a restraining hand. “Okay, I get your point. We need to manage them like we did with animals back on Earth. Agreed. Moving on...”

Mitch glanced at the others then shrugged. “Fine then. The next animal on the agenda...”

------*------

The next morning Mitch hinted that the aliens might not like humans slaughtering species into extinction. “That's the point of this planet, isn't it? We screwed our own planet up with pollution and global warming. The aliens are about preventing extinction. What do you think they'll do when they find out we're killing animals in job lots just because we feel threatened or don't like them?” he asked.

“That's...” Curt shook his head.

Adam scowled. The African and Haitian looked concerned, but then shrugged the idea off. “It's a problem we'll solve later,” Kirafiki said indifferently.

Mitch didn't like reaction from others, some agreed with him, but they looked at him with different eyes, like he was in contact with the aliens. He realized he'd played into Dunn's hands again. The colonel had built suspicions against him, now he was confirming it.

“We do not know what they will do. They are aliens and can swat us like flies. But as you said, they are programmed to protect life,” Evan said, frowning as he rubbed his chin. “Either way, we have no control over the situation as it stands. It is something to keep in mind, however,” he said, shooting a look at the others. Jack for his part nodded. Mike shrugged. “Fine then, let's move on to something a bit less contentious right? I understand Doctor O'Connell is doing a briefing this afternoon after lunch. But since we've got some time, may I suggest we work on the borders? We're still wrangling the exact borders between Colonel Dunn and Kirafiki...” he said.

Dunn realized what the professor had done right off. He'd brought them back to a divisive wedge between himself and his erstwhile ally, reminding Kirafiki that they were at odds on the sore subject. If he wanted to keep the damn nigger in his pocket, he'd have to play nice and give some ground. He ground his teeth as Evan pulled up the map.

“Now, I know you both reject the one hundred kilometer limit for your own reasons...” Evan said, zooming in to their location. “So, what if we split the difference?” he asked, using the scale to mark the midpoint between their communities. “And then go from there?” he asked. “It's a compromise I understand, but that is usually the case in things like this. No one ever gets all they want in a compromise after all, but we do get something done...”

------*------

After lunch Sandra came in and took her turn. She answered questions on medicine, pulling up files and printing them to hand out to those interested in various things. She then went on to discuss changes in human biology. “We have determined that there is a lower gestation time,” she said with a nod to Yung Li. “Child development out of the womb increases; it is nearly double the meter stick established on Earth.”

“This isn't Earth.”

“Right. I know that,” she said, fighting the testy feeling that welled up when Dunn interrupted her. She understood why Mitch had so many problems with the man. “But we are human; some things should translate over. And no, before you get on to me, I've already factored the longer days into account. It still doesn't compute. We're averaging a four- to six-week shortening in pregnancies. I thought something environmental was triggering premature births, or the stress, but the infant's development is spot on,” she said shaking her head.

“So, what does it mean?” Yung Li asked. She was in Doc's infirmary almost daily for checkups. Doc had prescribed her vitamins and additional foods to help her and her child develop. The little woman barely ate, afraid of gaining weight.

“That I'm not sure about. We in the medical community are keeping an eye on it, and we're working with Maggie and the other vets too. I'll get back to you if anything changes or if we learn anything more,” she said she turned at a knock on the door.

“Come,” she said, straightening.

“Is it my turn?”

“You folks want a recess or do you want to get your mind blown right away?” Sandra asked, turning to the group.

“Ten minutes,” Evan said, rising to his feet. “I don't know about the rest of you but I've got to visit the rest room,” he said. “Too much fruit juice,” he mumbled, headed for the door.

Sandra wrinkled her nose and sniffed as others followed the professor out.

------*------

When they were back Piotr took his turn to give his report and presentation.

Piotr confirmed the planet had a 28-hour day, and he had broken the year into 30 native days that was 16 months long. Mitch used the computer to keep track and print things, including maps he handed out to everyone. He showed them images of various things or wrote entries of things that were new. His computer system and AI impressed them all as did the holographic interface used for the presentations.

Mitch dimmed the lights for him. He showed them holographic images of the night's sky as well as the planets and moons.

“Big deal,” Colonel Dunn said, yawning. “We all see this at night.”

“He's getting there,” Evan said, sounding excited. He reached up to touch an image of a slowly revolving orb. “Is it blue for a reason? A gas giant like Neptune?” he asked, turning to the astronomer.

“No. I need to do a spect ...” Piotr frowned in confusion, looking at Mitch.

“Spectrographic analysis,” Evan supplied with a nod. “Got it.”

“But from the greens and blues, I am fairly certain we are looking at alien worlds. Worlds that are in the same orbit as the world we are on. The...”

“Goldilocks zone,” Mitch supplied. That caused a stir as a few people caught on.

“Are you telling me there are more Earth-like planets right next door?” Jack asked slowly. That generated a gasp of surprise from Yung Li.

“Why not?” Gunny Usher said, running a hand through the Marine stubble on his head. “If the aliens could do all this...,” he shook his head.

“Indeed, why not,” Evan said with a nod of his own. “I think we can make the safe assumption that the aliens didn't drop all their lifted people onto one planet. Obviously some aliens would need different things, different environments, atmospheres, resources,” the Professor said in a hushed tone. “Think of all the things we could learn! Are there others like us on those worlds?”

“Are there any on our world?” Mitch asked. That made a few people turn in surprise to him. He shrugged. “We don't know. We're on one continent roughly the size of Australia. “Terran resettlement continent? What are the others like?”

“I'm curious to find out,” Gunny Usher mused. “But afraid of what we might find,” he admitted. Mitch hid a frown as a few people nodded in agreement.

------*------

Each of the representatives planned to set up their communities like Capital Base as fortress enclaves. “Basically, castles. Once our homes are secure, we can move out from there,” Mitch said. “We don't need it all. We can expand gradually like our ancestors in Europe and elsewhere did,” he said, pulling up a map of base. He showed them how it expanded over the years. “Each year as we need it, we expand. Or if we are cut off, we can create the nucleus of another community elsewhere,” he said, nodding to Chief Roberts and Mike.

“We're not turning the entire planet into one big state park,” Dunn growled. “We need room for our kids you know,” he said.

“I know that,” Mitch said, bridling under the other man's statement. “But I don't think anyone wants a wooden ranch style home, do you?” The colonel shook his head. “Welcome to our new reality. Defense. That should be right up your alley Colonel. A good offense is a good defense works in reverse too. Even if we do find better ways to deal with the animals and plants, we're still going to want to have walls around us.”

“True,” Evan said. “Can you do preform concrete?” he asked.

Mitch nodded. “Get me the iron for steel rebar, limestone, and we're good. I can get the rest of the materials locally. Once we do that, I, or should I say the construction crews,” he said correcting himself, “can make forms for wall components, bridges like we've been doing or other things as needed.”