Extraction [05]
After sleeping it off and downing dozens of antacids and aspirin, the constant hiccupping became more annoying than merely painful. All things considered, having eaten nothing for almost four thousand years, it was a surprise that my digestive system worked at all.
Idly I perused the Information Networks of the base while Jacob Nobel sought to make the new day much more productive than the last.
"Our original plan was to go overland towards the next Morgan base facing the straits of Prometheus and charter a ship heading to Gaia's Landing from there. It's clear now that we can't afford to sail home on a Morgan ship or wait months for a Gaian ship to arrive." Captain Nobel said to everyone gathered. "And by afford, I mean the price is our safety."
"My ship and my unlimited credit line are at your disposal, captain." I said.
He smirked. "Don't you mind then if I take fullest advantage of that." He began separating the fifteen surviving crew (sans himself) into teams.
"Dyer, Chen, Morenly, Galbar– you're on food detail. Buy up as much as you can, at least food and water sufficient for about two hundred people. Don't skimp on the luxury items. We may end up having to accompany the Sea Colony Pod back home, and we could all use the variety in our diet."
As a side-effect, buying up so much foodstock would temporarily inflate the price of food in the colony. It was a good reminder to the Morgans that the reason they could focus on more extravagant food items like meats (such as cattle in factory farm blocks) and certain species of seafood (in Gaian-designed aquafarms) was that they imported most of their basic grains and greens. Normally the exchange would go Gaian - Peacekeepers - Morgans, at significant markup, until they began to trade for it directly.
Now the Morgans could no longer be trusted to keep their deals straight.
"Ragman, Vittel, O'Leary – you stay here. You're security detail." A pause. "And you of course, Marsh."
Jennefer Marsh nodded. It was not as easy a job as it first appeared. The paparazzi were all but laying siege to the hotel and were trying all tricks to infiltrate the premises.
"Sevon, Thompson, Alleyne, Dobson – supplies. The Matilda lacks any and all amenities, go buy them."
The Matilda did not have any bathrooms or plumbing whatsoever. During our journey towards Morgan Transport, they crew 'did their business' inside the covered lifeboats, into chemical port-a-pottys; the contents later just tossed off the ship. Bedrolls, clothes, chests, fuel, flares, consumer electronics, books, body armor, flame guns, and like that – we could expect to spend several weeks aboard, might as well make it as comfortable as possible.
"Buford, Wallenstein – you're transport detail. Go find the trucks to haul everything we're buying and then have them wait at the docks until needed."
We had little worry about the Matilda being seized, since she was still floating offshore and even if the Morgans had divers, the ship was completely sealed from top to bottom. All hatches were more than just shut – they were molecularly bonded until I unlocked them. Also, piracy was quite unsubtle – where would they even take the ship?
"Buckley, you're with me. We're going to talk to the administrators of the base and get the word out to our Gaian brethren."
Then Captain Nobel turned to me. As a potential defector, I was nominally under his authority. "Don't torpedo anyone."
"Aye, aye, sir." I saluted. Hic.
So for a whole day, I stayed cooped up in that penthouse suite. I spent most of that doing research on the Morgans, their economy, and their society. It was better and worse than what I was expecting. Morgan Transport, for example, was the fifth settlement in the twenty-four years since Planetfall. Morgan was aggressive in expansion, the better to seize valuable resources.
Staring at the Chiron map, Morgan territory was centered on the twin islands of Ixion (which contained the supervolcano Mount Planet) and the slightly-smaller island-mount of Nephelen to the west. The pod that established Morgan Industries, their faction capital, landed on the fertile western slopes of Mount Planet. It was very well-situated for growth, with good fertile soil for hybridized plants, extensive mineral reserves, and the slopes to collect energy via solar and wind collectors. It was just that all other locations upon Ixion were mediocre.
Nephelen was a reprise to the conditions around Mount Planet; barren to the east, wet to the west. Morgan placed Morgan Solarflex atop the peak. It was a very inconvenient location for a settlement, but working alongside Morgan Mines slightly south of Morgan Industries, Nwabudnike Morgan set up the three most productive cities on Planet.
It was easy to get into the man's mind because his choices were so deeply influenced by geography. Ixion and Nephelen were connected to the bow-shaped continent of Hera, the one containing the Gaians and Spartans, via a narrow isthmus called the Pheres Arch. Depending on the tides, ships could cross from one side to the other with ease.
A smaller island chain above it (named the Hydra Narrows) formed the dual-channeled Straits of Prometheus between Cronos and Unity to the north. He put Morgan Robotics at the very northern tip of Ixion where the Pheres Arch connected. Then, Morgan Transport was situated where it started, where he could cut a canal going north and south, directly below the Straits of Prometheus and opening into the Gulf of Phylira.
The continent of Unity to the north was shared by the University and the Peacekeepers, with the University primarily settled around the Uranium Flats to the north while the Peacekeepers made their settlements around the massive planetoid impact site known as Garland Crater. Lal's people were in particular very competitive to Morgan's, with higher growth rates and good availability of minerals and energy sources.
But that just meant they were a bigger potential export market.
University.
Peacekeepers.
Morganites.
This roughly vertical column of settlements and territories formed what passes for an international economy on Planet. The world map had Achilles as its center the same way Europe tended to divide the Earth between Easte and West.
I could see from the very incomplete Planet maps that they still had to explore the eastern half of Achilles – where they would run into the Manifold Nexus. Likewise, the Gaians had yet to explore their north, mostly likely because it was a pink fungus-filled hellhole. I knew however that if they persisted, they'd find the ring of monoliths they would call The Ruins.
While the Manifold Nexus was the control center for Progenitor engineering efforts and Planetary intelligence, to the point that whoever possessed it was subject to less reaction from native-life forms, I had a strong feeling that the circle of monoliths several hundred kilometers across had more to do with spacetime shenanigans.
What worried me most was the darkness to the east. I knew that Planet's largest continent was there, and there with very advantageous natural features like the Borehole Cluster and the Monsoon Jungle, would be Yang and Miriam's factions. It was big enough that they might not run into each other for decades. Or they might already be at war with each other on a scale we could not even begin to imagine.
But some things... would never change.
A whole day in the War was the difference between one Core Commander and a hundred thousand K-Bots. For Morgan high society gossip, it was an even longer span of time.
I'd smashed my way into their circle of power, showed off how I could buy off half of them and sink the rest, and then gave the highest of insults – totally ignoring them afterwards. The chatboards and talk shows were going crazy.
Half were convinced it was all some elaborate hoax or scam. That ship out there was made of aluminum or something.
The other half were absolutely sure it was a ploy by one of the other factions. After all, the Spartans and Morgans were in open war and the Spartans firing on the neutral Gaians was an open-and-shut case. The rescue was far too convenient. Or, rather, not convenient enough. What the hell was I doing with those submarines? If I liked the Gaians so damn much, why didn't I help them with the Spartans?
That was just so suspicious.
"Why didn't you?" Jennefer asked from over my shoulder as I watched the morning news.
"I didn't have submarines at the area until it was well over. It's not like I expected the Spartans to start shooting."
"That's what we figured." Jenny sat down next to me, half an arm's length away on the couch, and stared forward at the talk show on the big-screen TV.
It was a cathode-ray tube TV, a strange blast from the past in this far future society. Even the laptop computer on the table was just a terminal, connected via a wire to the hotel mainframe. The suite has its own 'micro-computer' system, while others were charged per hour for access to the public Net.
Morgan was the most like pre-apocalpyse Earth. Probably late 70s or 80s Earth, and even as the impending corporate dystopia envisioned by creators in that milleu. Due to the demands of survival and expansion on Planet, there was a need for certain levels of technological regression for the sake of ease of production.
It suddenly occurred to me that there I was… sitting around in the middle of the day in a lavishy furnished room, in sleeping robes, my fluffy slippers, with a pretty woman by my side, and trying to resist the urge to troll people on the message boards. And with every second, I grew ever-more wealthy. I was living the dream.
In any other life, I'd have looked forward to spending 40 or so years on the grid, kissing ass and punching the clock day after day, before I'd finally have enough saved up to retire and live a life of ease.
Ease or Adventure? This was the choice that Planet offered.
"May I?" Jennefer asked, holding out her hand. I passed the remote control.
Click. Away from the rubbish pundits and hey – Tom and Jerry! The classic ones from 1940s to 1960s. "This is amazing! That they still have these preserved…!"
"Archival data had little mass constraints and were among of the few cultural artifacts that could be – needed to be – assigned to every landing pod. They're all we have left of Old Earth. Psychological relief is also important for survival" Jennefer winced at a gag that had Tom narrowly avoid having his head chopped off. "But I am not sure about all this… violence. I loved it as a child, but seeing it as an adult…"
"Slapstick is universal." I replied. "I remember how it didn't matter even if the viewer can't understand the language… like, remember Charlie Chaplin? You could be British squaddie or a Nazi or some Soviet conscript, but the American buffoon can make you feel a sympathetic hilarity in all his works. And some of the Tom and Jerry cartoons actually were produced behind the Iron Curtain!"
She glanced aside, but said nothing. The next episode was the award-winning "The Cat Concerto." Soon enough she too was howling with laughter as the physical gags, no matter how many times viewed, never failed to prod the funny bone.
Ding. Dong.
Someone was at the door. The smile abruptly disappeared from Jenny's face.
She stood up. "Excuse me."
I turned back to the screen. Suddenly it didn't seem even half as funny anymore. I sighed and slumped down the couch.
"Sir, there are some people from Morgan Central Bank here. Would you like them to bring up the papers and contracts here, or would you prefer to sign them later at their main office?"
Oh. The Bank! I forgot that I called them up to send someone who can set up contracts and form businesses. I grinned. Captain Nobel had his plan, and was most concerned with getting his people safely home. That was to be respected. My plans involving the Morgan faction were more for the long term.
This war between the Morgans and the Spartans started because the Spartans tried to extort the Morgans, and the Morgans said "Haha. No." The Spartans responded by claiming the entirety of the Sea of Nessus and performing shore bombardments. It's not piracy if you're at war, right?
A lot of valuable trade goes through Morgan Transport and the Gulf of Phylira. The Morgans wanted to close the gap, but putting a Sea Colony there would invite attack. Spartan Marines were nail-eating tough.
If the Gaians succeeded in plonking down a base, they could buy it out later.
If the Spartans shoot the Gaians, the Gaians are drawn into the conflict and the Peacekeepers have a reason to censure the Spartans. More trade, possible military support, or just a stronger alliance.
If the Gaians are forced back, the Morgans lose nothing. The Gaians would probably just put down the base on the Geothermal Shallows, then the Morganites get easier access to Gaian fish farms.
Win-win, whatever the result. Until I blundered into it.
An armistice, or a Blood Truce in the local parlance, would be signed eventually. I honestly could not care less about helping out any side in any war. Their technological and sociological development of Planet would proceed apace without need for any meddling from me. I could spend my remaining days happily exploring and doing research. I was fairly confident that eventually they would discover FTL akin to the Galactic Gates.
If anything, from what I remembered, their Psi Gate and Bulk Matter Transmitter might even be better.
I could go home.
But what was home? Was it Earth? Or was it Empyrean?
There was a closer and more urgent issue...
Be it in seven or seventy years, if aliens arrive, then better to be safe than sorry.
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MEMSTOR from DATALINKS keyword "Colony Pod":
- n received:
A Colony Pod represents the manpower and resources necessary to build a new base. Setting up a new base is a lengthy and involved process. Due to the scarcity of heavy metals on Planet, a Colony Pod make take years to build. Once emplaced on a suitable site, the colonist unpack the main pod and scavenge the materials to set up their new colony. A new base is built around a Thorium Nuclear Reactor to set up the base's initial infrastructure.
New Bases are rarely built less than 1000 kilometers apart, but smaller mining and agricultural settlements tend to dot the Territory claimed between bases, following Roads and Mag-Tubes built by Terraformers. In case of a massed Mind Worm attack, they either shelter deep inside town bunkers or evacuate to the Perimeter Defense of the main Colony.
- search keyword "attack mindworm town bunker"
Due to the nature of psychic attacks exerted by Mind Worms, it is not uncommon to find that bunkers that managed to withstand Mind Worms trying to chew through the bulkheads are filled anyway with citizens that had torn each other apart in sheer terror. For this reason, citizen militia are often organized and supplied with flame guns to fight back against Mind Worm attacks.
- search keyword "why not sentry guns to defeat mind worms"
Since Mind Worms attack via the mechanism of Resonance fields, they can also short out electronics and disrupt targeting data. Mind Worm Boils typically strike in such numbers as to drown tanks.
A/N:
See Profile for a rough map of the area.
