Colonists - Leader, part 9

BREVITY COLONY SQUARE

July 23, 2186

All too recently this same podium had been set up in the colony’s central square. The foot paths were the same as they had been weeks before, the benches still looking nearly pristine, and the people present were gathered to listen to the colony’s leader update them on the situation. Whereas over 600 had gathered at her last called meeting this time it barely half that number. Many were occupied with their ongoing colony work and others still were assisting in with the new supply rocket which had come from Earth.

“Good morning and thank you again for attending, Brevity colony,” Oum started. “I know many of you have already picked up the data stores from our incoming probe, I know I’ve enjoyed listening to some of the new music coming out of Old China. This has been a refreshing and welcome gift from Earth.”

Oum paused briefly before continuing, “It has also brought some additional news from the central governments back home. Shortly after we left from Earth it came to the attention of AWDI and PAC commands that there are other alien intelligences in the galaxy, not the Kamikaze. Earth informed myself and Major Decatur in an encrypted transmission from our supply ship. We weren’t given much in regards to detail except that at least two additional non-human intelligences engaged in combat with the Kamikaze at some point in the past. In light of this, Earth has sent us some defensive weapon systems to help protect our colony here. Major Decatur and his people will be working to deploy it in the near future should the need arise. While this is surprising, perhaps even shocking news, there is no immediate threat to us. This information was discovered years ago several months after we left Earth. So far as we know these other intelligent species have not made contact with Earth or any colony.”

Oum paused again to let the crowd think on the information. Several groups were murmuring among the crowd, worry and concern evident in their inflections. “As always, I make myself available to you for any concerns you might have. We’re all in this together and we need every one of us feeling confident in our endeavors within the colony. Major Decatur has agreed to answer questions as well. Does anyone have any questions now? I’ll tell you anything I have knowledge of.”

Several people raised their hands among the crowd. Oum pointed to a woman near the front, “Yes, ma’am, you in the green shirt?”

“Did Earth Command ask you to keep this information secret from us?” she asked.

“They advised that we handle the information dissemination as we saw fit. The Major and I didn’t want there to be secrets among us, hence why we’re telling you now,” Oum replied.

She added, “Will you make this data file available to the public?”

Oum nodded, “Before coming out this morning I had it copied to the colony’s public network share. It is available for everyone to view at their discretion.”

The woman sat down and Oum invited another man to speak, “What kind of weapon system?”

Oum motioned to Decatur who stepped up to the podium, “It’s an automated defensive missile system. Coordinated with our satellites we can use it to shoot down any hostile craft that enters the colony’s airspace up to about 2,500 kilometers.”

Another man stood, not waiting to be called on, “Are we inviting the Kamikaze to attack us? I mean, are we giving them reason to target this colony?” A ripple of anxious concerned voices rolled through the group.

Decatur shook his head, “No, we are not. We don’t have a HyperCOM here so the quantum entanglement method that the Kamikaze has used to track other colonies down is still not a factor. Our orbital satellites have not registered any strange activity within the Nile system. We are as safe as we’ve ever been, now perhaps more so.”

“Well what about these other aliens? Do we know if they’re coming to find us? Was it in a nearby star system?” the first man asked, now on the track of seeking information about the aliens.

“I’m afraid Earth didn’t tell us what star system they found this wreckage in. As for the other species themselves: we have no idea. Anything we assume about them are just that: assumptions and speculation. Earth did not provide us with a technical readout of the alien vessels they found. Everything we know is on the network share and that’s all we’ve got I’m afraid,” Decatur replied to the man.

“Do we know if our new missiles are even going to work against these new aliens?” the man continued.

“No, we do not know,” Decatur said flatly. The man grumbled as he sat back down, shaking his head.

Oum returned to the podium to continue answering the next set of questions as best she could. Over the course of the next half-hour a couple dozen questions were answered – or at least acknowledged since no one on Brevity knew much about the new aliens. For all she knew Earth had made contact with them and there was a grand alliance against the Kamikaze. Thankfully, before long, the questions changed back over to ones she could answer. Namely those about the colony’s current business: the supplies from Earth, someone floated an idea about creating a preservation museum for items from Earth, a few questions were asked about the plans for the new hydro-electric damn, and the like.

After the majority of concerns were allayed she stepped down from the podium where the Major leaned in to whisper in her ear, “This turned into a real town hall. They took things better than I expected.”

“Indeed. I’m not sure we could’ve had better colonists. I’m starting to think our best people didn’t go the Fanrong or the other early colonies,” she commented with a wry smile.

“No kidding,” Decatur said resuming a more upright position.

As the crowd dispersed a younger man, a scientist by the name of Garner Moreau, if Oum recalled, approached her. Illarion stepped before her and held up a hand, though he did so rather gently and not in the forceful manner he would’ve when this colony was first founded. The man stopped, looking past Illarion as if his muscular bulk wasn’t there. He called out, “Madam Advisor. May I have a few minutes of your time?”

She nodded and approached the scientist. He was one of their dual-subject specialists, a biologist and geneticist. Decatur shadowed her out of curiosity. “Yes, please.”

“I’ve got a situation developing in my lab that I feel you should be made aware of,” he stated.

“Is someone in danger?” Decatur asked.

“No, there’s no physical threat posed to anyone. This is more of an ethical concern I felt I needed a higher authority for as it will, eventually, effect the whole colony one way or another,” Dr. Moreau stated.

Decatur nodded, “Then if this isn’t a security concern I’ll leave you to it, Advisor Oum. Doctor, if you’ll excuse me.” The Major disappeared behind Oum’s peripheral vision. Oum nodded at the scientist to continue.

“Over the last couple weeks we’ve made significant progress in combining Earth DNA with the DNA local here to Nile. They are remarkably similar - though Nile’s species are rather hearty as you’ve seen with our farming attempts,” Moreau explained. Oum nodded in acknowledgement. He continued, “We have successfully created a new species with our genetics work, a Earth-Nile hybrid species. With the ongoing concern over alien species – such as the Kamikaze and now these newer unknown extraterrestrials – I thought I should approach you about how to handle this situation.”

“You’re concerned that crossbreeding would be seen in a poor light?”

“Precisely. There’s the ethical dilemma of ‘just because we can does it mean we should’ that, as a scientist, I don’t consider often. We merely look at a problem and decide on if the potential outcomes are worth investing resources into investigating. The potential political fallout of such decisions are well within your realm authority. My most senior subordinate, Dr. Heying, is the one spearheading this research and is in favor of pushing forward with it. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to exceed my realm of authority given the potential fallout,” Moreau detailed.

“I see,” Oum mused. She had rightly suspected that Dr. Moreau didn’t want to deal with the fallout of his decision making. If things went badly he would prefer to avoid the wildfire of vitriol that would come this way. In such a small community as Brevity that would indeed be damaging. Oum, however, was the woman in charge. If she ok’d this course of action then it would be on her shoulders. She was fine with that, of course, the PAC had entrusted her to make these decisions. “I’ll need to consider it. Could you and Dr. Heying agree to meet with me at a later time? We can do so in my office or at the lab. I’d simply prefer to have you both with me to weigh the pros and cons of our options.”

Moreau didn’t seem to think Oum would say that. He nodded, “I uh, of course. Yes, that’s quite fine. I will talk with Dr. Heying and we will contact you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Oum said. The two bid farewell and she hung around the colony square for a while more.

She had found herself more frequently, though still perhaps not often enough, occasionally speaking with several of the colonists. Sometimes the colonists made small talk and they discussed any number of ongoing topics: their children, health concerns, perhaps starting a local mercantile economy (instead of the largely communist planning and execution they’d done so far), interests in setting up civilian emergency services instead of the military one overseen by Major Decatur, and other topics. A couple times she’d been approached by a farmer about having elections for leadership. The colony was so small that Oum flatly refused. She’d been given full executive and legislative control of this mission. And until such time as she saw fit it would remain that way.

In the not-so-distant past Earth had referred to the totalitarian rule of smaller nations by a single authority as “tin pot dictators.” Oum wondered if she was one such dictator. She wasn’t too authoritarian, she didn’t believe. The people trusted her and came to her with concerns, as Dr. Moreau had. They heeded her council more often than not. There was no crime on Brevity, there had been no mobs or protests, morale was high, the community was tight-nit… Oum settled on the idea that if she was a dictator she was a benevolent one. She also believed it was merely out of necessity.

When would this necessity end? When the Kamikaze are defeated? When Brevity expands to a second and third city? It eventually will and you know it, her inner voice said to her.

Sighing outwardly as she returned to her office in the Administrative Building, Ying Oum knew that one day – sooner or later – she’d need to set forth a specific governing policy. Earth Command had given her overall authority of the colony mission. However, as that mission turned into a new nation in earnest, her authority had to be continually ratified by the people. Even Old China had riots and issues it needed to reign in from the local people, despite the then-Communist Party’s absolutist rule.

Ying looked at the time, it was only a little after 1300 hours. The day stretched out before her as her schedule looked filled into the early evening. Fortunately tomorrow’s afternoon schedule was fairly open. No doubt an hour or two would be taken up with Dr. Moreau’s concerns. That would be for tomorrow, however.

BREVITY COLONY OUTSKIRTS

July 23, 2186

Early nightfall

Anthony Drake, one of the colony’s ranchers and general handy-man, stepped out from the back door of his hab unit. His was slightly larger than those closer to the colony’s center since he was responsible for looking after the so-called “space cows” here on Nile. The scientific name of the local life was called “bovine niloticus” - the Nile Cow. The animals were remarkably similar to the cattle he had rustled on Earth in his past life. He lamented that his old family home had been more decorative than this one, yet he had little to complain about otherwise. His wife and two sons were with him – that’s all he needed: his family, his God, and his job as a rancher. The planet and climate didn’t bother him much as all that could be adapted to.

Walking barefoot into the remarkably Earth-like green grass he looked up at the alien night sky. Guess it’s not fair to call it alien since this home? Besides, I’m the alien here. The sky was clear, no clouds, and no moons this time.

One of the cows in pen bayed loudly. Then several more calls went out. Anthony didn’t register it at first, but when the staccato reached a higher frequency – one he’d associate with panic if this had been Earth – he decided to investigate. He grabbed a light from inside the back door and shouted to his wife in another room, “Honey I’m checking on the cows. They’re being whiny tonight.” She shouted some acknowledgement back to him.

Anthony stepped back outside and walked over to the cow pen. The animals were definitely upset about something. The wood-poled fences were enough to keep the creatures inside. About thirty of the animals were loose and running along the far fence in serious distress. He swung the flashlight around looking for the source of the problem but couldn’t see anything. Smelling anything through the festering cow dung was impossible so he had to rely on his sight.

“Damned cows, stop yellin’ for a minute,” he said snappily to the distressed animals. Not that they’d listen to him. He wanted to listen to see if anything was making any odd noises. The alien cattle could’ve been set off by the power grid in the barn snapping off, they seemed especially sensitive to electrical currents in the air.

About that moment he could hear a loud clattering – almost a snapping sound – coming from the barn. He hopped over the wooden fencing to get closer and look inside. A few meters from the unpainted brown open double-doors he stopped. Looking inside with the light something moved. He didn’t get a good look but it sure didn’t look like a cow. Anthony’s fight or flight instinct kicked in, and since he didn’t have a weapon, he turned to run.

Making it just a couple steps, his right leg was pulled out from under him. Landing harshly on his left side and left arm he lost his breath, having it forced from his body. As he was pulled across the slick night grass all he could hear was incessant clattering like the snapping of jaws.

Ashley Drake called her husband’s name again as she approached the back door, “Anthony!” No reply, as before. “I swear if you’re playing some stupid jump-scare trick on me again we’ll have cold rations for a week. I won’t cook a damned thing!” She hadn’t been too concerned, he’d only been gone twenty minutes or so. These cows were stubborn as a mule when they got “whiny,” as her husband called it.

Stepping outside now she shouted as best she could manage, “Anthony! Where are you?!”

Silence was her only reply. She began walking somewhat more cautiously toward the cow pen, that’s where he said he was going after all. In the distance she could barely make out a flickering light on the ground. Getting closer she realized it was the flashlight that her husband had pulled from the magnetic anchor at the back door. It wasn’t really flickering so much as the cows’ feet were crossing on front of the beam.

Approaching the fence and looking over she called again with more concern now, “Anthony! Where are you? Are you in there?” Still no reply.

In the moment Ashley realized that the cows were milling about aimlessly. The dots connected in her head, Wait a minute: didn’t Anthony say the cows were whining? Why are they calm now?

Her instincts kicked in and she turned to run back towards the hab, as fast as her legs could carry her. The denim of her jeans made a furious fipp noise as her legs propelled her forward with every step. Rushing in the back door and slapping the lock controls she moved to gun locker in her room.

Moving quickly she entered the code into the gun locker's panel. She pulled free the IAR-9 used by the Mobile Infantry – the Infantry that she was a part of.

"Milky Way above Shenandoah National Park. Photo by William McIntosh"

I do not own nor claim copyright of the image. It was found using an online search under the Public Domain license.