Chapter 5
Up on Long Island, Raven was searching for the school while the others checked the area for anything else they could find. Any stones or wood was welcome by Idona. With some things to work with, she could turn some things into doors and windows for them, depending on what she found.
"Got something!" Raven called out. Idona went over to her.
"What do you see?" she asked.
"There's a large void under our feet. It's around twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide."
"A classroom, maybe?" Idona asked.
"Dunno, it's just a large void."
"Can you see anything in it?"
"Not yet, there's not enough light."
"Okay, I'll go get the troops and the tools and we'll dig it out." Raven nodded but stayed there as a marker.
Soon Drew, Idona and Monroe were digging out where Raven told them to. They put the sand to one side. Idona was thinking of making some bricks with the sand and some glass for glasshouses when they could make them. After digging for a couple of hours, Megan's shovel hit something hard. She stopped and probed it again. Each time she felt something hard.
"I've got something hard here!" she called. Raven went over and had a look and agreed she was right on top of the void. They kept digging and soon had uncovered a roughly six feet by six feet area of what was probably a roof. Idona knelt down and started pulling slabs of stone up and piled them away from the edge. Once a hole had been opened and sunlight entered, Raven took another look with her talent and said she could see some desks and chairs.
A torch was made by one of the warriors and Idona knelt down to light the room.
"It looks like ten feet to the floor," she said.
"Can you get down and back up safely?" asked Drew.
"Well, I can get down, but getting back up will be tricky. Anyone got a rope?" Drew went off to find if the warriors had brought one. No-one did, but there was some old wood around. Drew took it back to Idona.
"They don't have any ropes, but there's some wood. Could you make a ladder of something similar?" Idona looked at the wood and hummed.
"Maybe, it depends on how much wood there is." She checked it all over and then started working on the simplest ladder she could make. It would reach the floor but only just. She had Monroe and Octavia hold the ladder at the top to stop it from falling down. She then descended the ladder into the room. Drew joined her and the others stayed up on the top. They were handed torches and they started looking around.
There were desks, chairs, an interactive whiteboard, an old fashioned blackboard, pin boards, cupboards, projects on the walls and all had seen better days. The school must have been abandoned for a while before the bombs fell. Drew found the door and they went into the corridor. They discussed what to do and decided on each of them going in opposite directions but staying on that corridor. They'd look into the rooms but not go into them. They looked at every room they came to. Each of them was a classroom, storeroom or a toilet block. They must be on the top floor because there weren't many rooms. Idona found a set of stairs but they didn't go down them, instead they went back to the first room and Idona made better ladders from the desks she found. She incorporated the metal as well to make them more sturdy.
With the new steps made, the others could get up and down as well. Raven and Octavia went down one floor and looked around there. They were looking for places to sleep though with sand covering any windows, they'd need light day and night. Raven was searching for more voids and stairs down to the next floor. Drew and Monroe searched for anything they could use to survive. Cups, bottles, plates, cutlery, pens and paper even. Every piece of wood, metal or stone could be used by Idona to turn into something they could use. She could mould the metal into pans and wood into uprights, posts, planks and anything else they needed. With the sun being so intense every single day they needed shade.
Idona was already thinking about what kind of shade they needed and a simple roof held up with four posts seemed the best. It would let any breeze flow through but keep the sun off them too much. None of the skyborn had ever felt the sun so hot nor experienced sunburn. The warriors had warned of it, but with no experience of it, they'd not know the true danger of it until they had it.
Megan and Idona were bringing up desks and chairs to turn into the shelter. Once they had every stick of furniture from one room, Idona started making the upright posts. She made four and then started on the planks. They would be easier to move to the roof and once there, Idona could meld them together to give full coverage if necessary. With no fasteners, she would have to make it into a single piece, melding the wood together. It took her several hours to get them right and then they needed to dig out enough of the roof to attach the uprights to. Idona could make holes in the roof deep enough to attach the uprights to make them stronger. Once they were up, Idona climbed up the old ladder to the top and Wells and Murphy passed the planks up to her. One by one, she melded the planks to the uprights. The first one acted like a crossbeam and the others were joined to it. Once she'd done one side, they moved to the other and did that one. Once they met at the apex of the roof, the last plank curved over them and melded into it. Idona slid down the roof to the edge and then jumped off into the sand. Now they had a cover over the school and a place to shelter from the sun. The horse was immediately moved under it for cover. Once they had found a good place to live, the warriors would return to Tondc. After that, they were on their own.
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Back at The Homestead Kane called for Charlotte to make contact. He talked to Clarke and Atom through her.
"There's an emergency council meeting," Kane said straight away. "I have no idea what it's about."
"Will Shumway be there?" asked Clarke.
"No, he'll be somewhere else, probably doing whatever Jaha wants him to do."
"When's the meeting?"
"In a few minutes. I've only just been informed."
"Then Finn, Roma and Troy can go look for St Lucia, it's one of the nearest islands, but it's still almost a hundred miles away. As soon as they do, Finn and Troy will come up to you and take them down there. Do you have anything you can send with them? Water canteens, two days of food, and a knife should do. After that, it's up to them."
"They'll bitch about the few supplies you provide them with."
"So? He was willing to send us down with only the clothes on our backs. We're actually giving them more than we were allowed!" Clarke said.
"I have to go to the meeting. If Charlotte can keep in contact with me, she can tell you what's happening in the meeting as we get to know." Charlotte nodded that she could do that.
Clarke sent Troy and the others to find St Lucia. Clarke told them to find one of the towns to send them. Anything Jaha and Shumway found there, they could use.
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In the meeting, Jaha stood up and looked around at them all.
"I've called you here to inform you that we are sending the prisoners to the ground. We have had no contact with the others who went down so we don't know the conditions on the ground. It is imperative to know before we try to go there ourselves."
"What are we sending with them?" Kane asked.
"Nothing. We will need all of it ourselves," Jaha replied.
"You need to send them down with something, Chancellor," Kane said, objecting to the conditions.
"If they find the place is habitable, then they can rejoin us and the resources will be available to those who work."
"So they'll rejoin us and we pardon them?"
"No, they are still criminals. We will be building a prison down there and they will be kept locked up until we deem them rehabilitated."
"And what if we never find them worthy to rejoin us?"
"They will stay in prison until they decide to co-operate and live by our rules or they stay there until they die," Jaha said, shrugging as if it was obvious.
"We can't do that, Jaha! We'd need to hunt and gather food all day and night just to feed ourselves! There'll be too many people in one place to do anything else."
"So what do you propose?"
"Can we use those already on the ground? If we can make contact and get the one who can teleport to take some people to the ground to explore, we can find our place before we go down." Kane said.
"Absolutely not! I do not want those mutants anywhere near our new home!" Jaha barked out.
"What about you son?" Kane said, quietly.
"He made his choice when he showed his abilities," Jaha said, disgusted that his own son would choose to join them.
"So you're saying that those children on the ground are now dead to you?"
"To us," Jaha responded. "They are no longer a part of us. They will not be allowed to live among us pure humans." Kane sat back, hoping that Clarke and the others were able to hear the drivel coming out of Jaha's mouth.
Suddenly Troy and Finn appeared, grabbed Jaha and took him to St Lucia and dropped him into a town on the eastern side. They reappeared on the Ark within a force field.
"We have put him on the island of St Lucia, Kane. Anyone else who is like him will join him. We are not disposable!"
"Shumway," Kane said. Troy nodded and they left to find him. Kane took over the meeting.
"Councillors, it has come to my attention that Jaha and Shumway were working together to take a few people with them to the ground and let the rest die up here. Even if he took everyone in the stations, he was planning on leaving the prisoners behind." There was a commotion at that.
"Can you prove it?" one councillor asked. Kane pulled out a paper document and laid it in front of the person to his right.
"This is a copy of the document I found. As you can see, Jaha and Shumway had a lot planned for people once on the ground. I've been in contact with those on the ground and right now, they are making a place for themselves down there. Between us, we decided that Barbados was a good island for us to live on. Each person will be asked and Charlotte - who is a telepath - will look into their minds to see if they are like Jaha or not. Any who are, will go to St Lucia, those who just want a quiet life, will go to Barbados. The only problem we have is that some of the parents will want to be with their children. They are better off where they are. They've made contact with people who still live on the ground, descendants of those who survived the bombs. They are the true owners of the planet Earth. They are spread all over. They have taken our children in and are looking for places for them to live. They are currently in New York State, on Long Island trying to find a place to live there. If they do, that is where their village will be."
The document was passed from person to person until it made its way back to Kane.
"So what now?"
"Those two boys will take Shumway to St Lucia and drop him off there. What they do there is up to them. They are now on the ground and alive. The rest is up to them. They have the same choices that those he wants to leave behind have."
"So what do we do?"
"We get everyone ready to go to the ground. Anyone we find with those talents are to be left alone, adults too. One of the ones on the ground is a telepath. We've been talking with those on the ground. I want everyone ready to go within the week. People will be put aboard the ships and Troy will send the ships to Barbados. Once everyone's off, he'll bring it back and cargo can be loaded on board. People first, Cargo second. Each time they use their talents, they need to rest afterwards. It takes energy to use them. Troy will take two loads down. He'll rest the next day and then two more loads will go down. We'll continue like that until everyone and everything we need is down."
"Some may be resistant to it," one councillor said. Kane nodded.
"Those will be sedated or arrested and then taken down. No-one is to be left behind. Right now, everyone will be going to Barbados unless they've shown they have a talent. Parents of those people will still have to live here until they have a place available for them. Right now, a group is up in old New York on Long Island, digging through several feet of sand to reach the buildings there. Once they have a place to live, they will be expanding it, keeping in mind the availability of food, water and shelter. I've been told that New York is a desert wasteland where only those called nomads live. The Commander has said that Clarke and her group can see if they can make their homes there."
"Will they be able to?"
"I don't know," Kane replied, humbly. "They are trying something we've never been prepared for - living on the ground. They will make it one way or another. It's up to us to follow suit and make our own place in the world we weren't born to. It will be hard work and we'll have more than a few people wanting an easier life, but there isn't one. Down there, we need to find enough food and water for everyone every day. It will be hard, but worth it. Our own kind of society, not Jaha's."
"So what needs to be done?"
"Can you start organising each station to get ready to go down?" Nods greeted him when he looked at each one of them.
"We'll need more than the people in this room to organise everything. There's a lot to do. We need a head count on everyone. Don't rely on the official numbers, we don't know if Jaha and Shumway altered them. We need an inventory of all cargo, and again, the official lists are useless for this. We need to know how many people can fit aboard the ships, who should go first, how much cargo can fit in them, which cargo goes first, what cargo we can leave behind and most importantly, who is with us and who needs to be sent to St Lucia."
"When are those with talents coming up to check on people?"
"Not for at least a week. I want everyone working on preparing to go to the ground. Those who are in league with Jaha still want to go to the ground and will be keeping their heads down and working alongside us so they can. They won't want to draw attention to themselves if it could get them floated - or left behind."
"I understand," the councillor said.
"So, Councillor Marshall, can you start with an inventory of all the stations? Pull in whoever you need and go station by station, please." Marshall nodded her head.
"Councillor Gattis, please make a start on the headcount for everyone aboard. Again, pull in who you need." Gattis also nodded and bent to make notations on his pad.
"Councillor Lanoue, if you could get with Guard Miller and start checking the ships for how many people can go down, please? One of the engineers, Kyle Wick can help you with anything shipwise. He can tell you if it's possible to move things to make more space or if it's integral to the ship."
"How many ships, Sir?" Lanoue asked.
"We have three exodus ships and a dropship that Jaha intended to use initially for sending the prisoners to the ground to see if it was viable. For some reason he changed his mind and decided to leave them behind instead." Lanoue nodded his head.
"Councillor Whyte, I need your help with making the lists of everyone to go down. Who goes first? When do we send those who are ill, elderly or infirm? Which resources will we definitely need down there and which can we leave until last? There is a lot to do and I have no doubt that many more questions will arise before we've even got half of it done!"
"When do we start?"
"As soon as this meeting is over unless you have prior engagements. Make no mistake, these tasks cannot be put off until later, we don't have the time or air supply to dawdle."
"In that case," Lanoue said, "with your permission, I'd like to get started on my part of the task."
"Granted, and with that, the meeting is adjourned. We'll meet again in three days at midday here." They nodded, got up and left. Kane sat down and sighed. It would be a long two weeks to get things sorted and he knew there would be resistance. He hoped Troy and Charlotte got the rest and food they needed to restore the energy they were going to use over the next month!
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Raven and Octavia were looking for the stairs to the next floor down when they came across a door that led to the outside. They looked at each other and then tried to see out of the window, difficult to do with debris and sand gathered against it, but they wondered if it was a balcony or a ground floor door. According to the maps, they should be at least one floor above the ground and maybe two. If this was the ground floor, maybe the sand wasn't as deep as they thought. If they could dig out an area then hopefully they could start to figure out how to farm in the spring. They kept looking and after an hour, they found three more doors leading outside. They came to the conclusion that they must be on the ground floor. They went back up to the next floor to fill Idona and Drew in on what they found.
They went back to have a look and Raven tried to find any voids, but the sand was everywhere.
"Think we can live down here?" asked Idona.
"Why?" asked Drew.
"Well, apart from the fact that it would be more secure, it's also cooler. There's no sun down here, so the temperature is much lower."
"Maybe, but I don't want to sleep in the cold, we had enough of that on the Ark."
"Yes, but that just means we're used to it." Idona thought about it. "Okay, how about the top floor? It's not as cold as here, but it's cooler than outside." Drew nodded.
"I can live like that, but as soon as we are able to make or uncover more buildings, I'd like a proper place to live, not underground. It's almost like the Ark in here, enclosed and dark."
"I know, but with the sun high and hot all day and very little rain, we have to be careful of our health. It would be safer for now down here. I don't mean stay down here all the time, we have lots to do out there. We just sleep here and once it gets dark, we come in here for shelter and safety. We still don't know who or what's out here." Drew saw the prudence in that.
"Do we do guard duty?"
"Yeah, we need to learn that from the Trikru before they go back home. Everyone will have to do it, not just a few. We all learn and we all stand watch day and night."
"Got it. So how are we going to build a community here?"
"Not a clue," Idona said. "I mean I can make things but to get this sand all dug out, we're going to need a place to put it. I doubt I can turn all this into bricks without some kind of mortar or cement or whatever it's called."
"Where are you going to get that at?" asked Octavia.
"Again, not a clue. Maybe there's one of those building stores around somewhere. We just have to find maps of the area and then try to find a hidden building among sand dunes that have buried it." They looked at her with horror.
"Are we going to have to dig out each building just to figure out what it is?" asked Raven
"Probably, unless you can see what's in the voids," Idona said. She stopped to think about things. She turned around and went to one of the walls to look at it.
"I think if we can dig out another building, I can deconstruct it brick by brick and if I save the cement that holds them together, I may be able to crush it back into powder. Maybe I can use that, I'd have to experiment." Idona was still thinking about it and didn't see the looks of wonder on the faces of the others.
"Where are we going to put the sand in the meantime?" Drew said. "If we just put it to one side, the wind's gonna blow it all over the place and rebury what we've dug out."
"I know. Maybe there's a hole somewhere we can fill in," Idona said, shrugging.
A shout from above had them heading up.
"What's up?" asked Idona to one of the warriors.
"Nomads approaching. This is the only source of water for quite a few miles."
"They can drink and stock up," Idona said.
"Thay may try to run you off or kill you," the warrior said.
"Oh," Idona said, understanding what he meant. They waited until the Nomads came closer.
"You are trespassing on Trikru lands!" said Milton, the Trikru warrior.
"We are just looking for water," one of the Nomads said.
"Wish Charlotte was here to read their minds," Raven muttered.
"What do you really want?" Idona asked them. One of them narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.
"You are not from here, you have no business asking that!"
"I have every right! The Commander has decreed that this watering hole and the lands around it are now ours. We are to become Trikru and we are building a village here! This is our land now!" She felt Drew, Raven and Octavia close ranks with her with Monroe, Murphy and Wells not far behind them. Megan stayed where she was on guard duty.
The nomad removed his head scarf to show his Trikru tattoos.
"Roscar?" Milton asked, his own eyes narrowing.
"Sha."
"What are you doing around here?"
"Coming home. The Commander tasked me with finding the source of those rumours coming out of the dead zone. I'm on my way to tell her, but I needed to talk to another of the Nomads who lives alone at the other end of this long island."
"Anyone else live on this island?"
"Not that I know of, " Roscar said.
"How far is the nearest settlement in the dead zone or near here?" asked Idona. Roscar thought about it for a few seconds.
"Maybe a hundred and ten miles to a settlement in the dead zone. But here? Maybe twenty miles, over the bridges heading north. They are settled along part of the river."
"Is it also sandy or can they farm there?"
"Both, they have places they can plant and for their horses to graze, but around them, it is still covered in sand. Not as bad as here, but maybe a few inches deep." Idona nodded to him.
"So what now?" asked Drew.
"We still need to find a place to dump the sand we're digging out," Idona said.
"There's a place to the south where you could dump the sand into the ocean. There are some sandbars there that make the water dangerous. If you dump the sand there, you can fill it in and make it safer for people to travel by boat." Idona took out the map and looked at it. She couldn't see where they could be sandbanks, but she did see that below the airport, there were some small islands. She took the map over to Roscar.
"Show me, please," she said, showing him the map. He took it and looked at the world as it used to be.
"I'm not sure what I'm looking at," he admitted.
"This is what the island looked like before the sand buried it. This is the watering hole here," she pointed out. Roscar traced a path to the south and pointed to the islands below the airport.
"Here. These islands are now dangerous sandbanks. The waves crash against them and it is dangerous for boats to travel here."
"That's a big area to dump the sand into, Roscar," Idona said.
"There is a lot of sand," he said, shrugging.
"Okay," drawled Idona, thinking hard. "If boats need to come here, where do you think they should travel? Which path should they take?" Roscar looked at the map again and traced the waterways and channels.
"This one is the nearest to here," he said, pointing to a man made channel wrapping around the left end of the airport.
"So if the boats hug the land around this western part, we can fill in the eastern part?" Roscar nodded his head.
"It would be better. Boats need to move around this long finger of land to reach this bay. If they stay to the western side, they can reach that channel easier." Idona nodded. She mentally checked how far it was to the shore there. According to the scale on the map, it was over two and a half miles to the other side of the airport. A long way just to dump sand. The nearest place to dump it would actually be to their southeast. On the map, there was a place that looked like a lot of channels going nowhere. There were no houses on that patch and she wonderd if it was too marshy to live on. With sand covering most of the island, it would be a good place to dump some more. Once Troy had recovered and had arrived with th eothers, they could make plans to bag up the sand and he coud transport it to the shore where others could then either tip it out or shovel it out into the water below the airport.
She nodded to herself.
"Alright, as long as the Commander agrees, we can move some of the sand away from where we are digging. Maybe in time, we'll have enough space to build a settlement." Roscar nodded.
"I need to be on my way. I will inform the Commander of what you want to do."
"Mochof, Roscar," Idona said, bowing to him in respect. They watched as he gathered his things and left heading west and the bridge.
"Okay, according to this map, the nearest point to dump the sand is over two miles away. For now, we need to find bags to put the sand into and then once Troy's here and rested, he can transport them to the shore." Drew and Raven nodded.
"It's going to be hard and sweaty," Raven said, "but if we can get down to the ground level and Monty can figure out how to make the soil viable again, we have a good chance of building our own place."
"Good, I'd like to find a place to settle down," Idona said, "Let's get back to exploring and figuring out if we can keep the sand out of our new home."
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Over the next three days, they worked at getting the rooms in the school cleared for their own use until they had buildings on the surface - wherever that was. One of the warriors took Megan and Wells off to learn how to fish. For now, it would be their main source of food. Wells learned quickly and was soon their best fisherman. It was a couple of miles to trek to the shore, but Wells and Megan caught several fish each day. Wells would gut and clean them and Megan would carry them back. Megan had said she needed something to carry them back in because they were slippery. Idona had made a box for her and she used it to bring their catches back. Each day she would wash it out as soon as she got to the shore while Wells set up his fishing lines. They enjoyed cooking the food over the fire, but sometimes they would fall off and burn up. Idona had made some small shallow pans and they fried them instead. The Trikru showed them how to get oil from the fish and they used it to fry the fish in so they didn't burn it too much. With many different fish in the area, they had different tastes and textures too so each time they ate a new one, it was a taste test.
The next day, the Trikru warriors were returning home to Tondc. They had promised to send someone with some fresh meat the following week and each week after that until Troy and the others had finished their tasks with the Ark. Idona took that to mean that they were now on their own and would only provide food and maybe goods, but nothing else. Any fighting was down to them. Drew and Idona drew up a roster of guard duty.
Drew said he'd łike to lead a team to check out the airport. Wells had said that most of it was only covered in a light dusting of sand from what he could see. Idona sent him off with Octavia and Murphy. If they found anything worth bringing back that they could use, they were to do so. She asked for tools and clothing more than luxury items, but if they found plates, cups, pots and pans or even some how-to books, they would be invaluable.
When they got to the airport, they looked for a way in. They found it around the back towards the east where the planes were. There was a hole in the wall where the luggage was put onto a conveyor belt and disappeared into the wall. They entered through that and fought their way through piled up luggage and crawled through small holes until they found themselves on the belt at the other end. They got off the belt and had a look around. They moved through the security barriers and passed the belts and machines and came out at a set of steps. They went down and found themselves on a concourse with stores all around them. Most of them were food premises and some of them they could see were covered in a type of moss or mould. They stayed away from them and started looking for the places that didn't have food. There weren't many. They found a couple of clothing stores and a newsstand which sold odds and ends, mostly stationery and books. They checked them and found them to be romance or thriller books mostly, none of the kinds of book they needed. They moved on to the next place and checked the clothes in there. They took some of the clothing and moved on to another store that had coats, packs and boots in it. They packed bags with the clothing and grabbed coats as well. They'd need to check what size each person was for the boots. They were not going to drag loads of boots back in the hope they fit.
In another section, they came across a store that hadn't opened yet. It was another food place, but this one still had everything wrapped up. Octavia went back and grabbed another few packs and they spent another hour wrapping plates, cups, bowls, cutlery and pots and pans in the clothing and carefully placing them in the packs. In the end, they each had two packs to take back. Drew put a pack on his back and another on his front and grabbed both straps to keep them on him. Octavia and Murphy opted to just wear one and carry the other.
They made it back by nightfall and were exhausted. Idona was on food duty while Megan and Monroe were on watch duty. Idona gave them their meals and a bottle of water. As they ate, Drew pointed to the packs and said plates and stuff were in there. Idona dug them out and wiped them down and stacked them to one side for use later on. They would have one more meal before they slept. They would be used then.
Drew was slated for night duty, but he was exhausted so Idona volunteered for it. He said he'd do her next shift which was the following afternoon. She agreed and the three exhausted people trudged down the steps and wrapped themselves in their blankets and were asleep almost as soon as they lay down.
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The next morning, Idona was checking the map for any place that had solar panels. She knew from history classes that a lot of places in America had solar farms. Huge places that held solar panels. Idona was looking to see if there was any way they could get some and take them to their new home. If they could figure out how to light the rooms in the school, it would be better for exploring. So far, they had only explored the two floors of the part they were in. Raven and Idona had thought they were at the west end of the building where it was built higher. They'd anticipated at least three floors, but if Raven's idea was right, then the top floor of the building had been destroyed in some way. It also meant the sand was not as deep as they thought. Once Murphy was up, she'd ask him to take Raven and Monroe and go explore as much as they could without bringing the building or sand down on them.
Idona herself wanted to go see the airport to see if they had a cargo area. It should have, most airports had cargo areas. If they could find it and open some of the crates, they might find more equipment and goods to aid them in their endeavour to get their new settlement up and running. If the airport was one of the main ones around New York, then it stood to reason that there would be loads of smaller buildings around it for the different companies of air freight, cargo handling, airplane repairs and maybe even mechanical stores or repair places for the machines and vehicles they used around the airport.
They needed to start building, but Idona thought it would be a good idea to go explore the airport first. If there was a place near there they could alter to make homes for themselves, it would be better on Idona's energy reserves. She didn't want to wipe herself out like she did with building the Homestead. Altering an existing building was better than building from scratch.
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Back at The Homestead, they were getting ready for the big move. Charlotte, Troy, Finn and Miller were all resting and relaxing, making sure they ate and drank and slept when needed. Clarke had told all of them that they were not to use their skills unless absolutely needed, they had to reserve them for the move. Clarke agreed with Kane on how much Troy was allowed to move in one day and that he had a rest day in between. She'd impose that on all of them as well. They were due to make contact with Kane the following morning to fine tune some things and for Troy to take the first ship load of people down. Most of them were people who were willing to learn to hunt and fish and find places to live. They'd start and in a couple of days when more came down, they'd begin to mark out where each building would go or where they could dig them out. After almost a century, the sand and debris had built up around the coastlines. They might have to trek inland to see if any housing there was viable for their use. Clarke sent them to bed early to make sure they were well rested.
The following morning, everyone was up and eager to start. Charlotte contacted Kane and he agreed to have them come up to help organise everything. Charlotte, Atom, Miller, Finn and Troy went up to the council chambers. It was decided to have people line up for two ships. One would go to Barbados and the other was destined for St. Lucia with anyone who was more in line with Jaha than Kane and a peaceful life.
They were pleasantly surprised to find most of them wanted peace and a life on the ground among friends, building their own community that was different from the Ark. Of nearly 3000 people, only twenty four people were like Jaha. Kane suspected they were his people from before they had found the air supply problem.
After Charlotte had done her part, Atom had her sleeping in the council chambers with Miller and Finn as her guards along with Sgt Miller.
Troy and Atom checked the first ship going to Barbados and when they'd checked everyone's harnesses, Troy took them to Barbados. He had them off the ship as soon as he could. He told them a little about the area and suggested looking to settle first in the airport as it was still standing after a century. He told them of the different animals he's seen on his brief visit and that the island was around two hundred miles long. They would have a lot of places to explore over the next few decades just to map everything out. He told them that whatever they found on the island they could use, but cautioned on letting everyone have firearms. People with grudges would use them on each other. Major Byrne was in charge and she agreed. She did assign several civilians to use guns, but had made sure they knew what they were doing first. Once he'd finished, Troy waved to them and then stepped back into the ship and took it back to the Ark, ready for the next lot in two days' time.
The ship with the ones headed for St. Lucia would be the hard one. Troy had to take them there and then get them all off the ship and return with it before they even knew what was happening.
Atom and Troy went on board.
"Sorry about the delay, we've hit a snag with some of the passengers," Atom lied.
"What snag?"
"Some of them are going in the other ship and those left behind don't want to wait. We've decided to send you first to mark out a new settlement while Kane figures out the other ship."
"There's not a lot of us," said one guard.
"I know, but with you on the ground, you can figure out where to build and who does what. You'll be the core of the leadership on the ground. Ark rules don't apply down there, it's up to you to set new ones." Atom looked around as if he thought they'd behave on the ground, but he knew differently. Neither he nor Troy were going to let on that they knew of their intentions once on the ground. Charlotte had told them that this group all intended to make others do the work while they lazed around, reaping the rewards of other people's hard labour. The lead guard nodded and smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.
"We're the new leaders down there?" he asked.
"Well, yes. Someone has to take charge and as Kane will be up here sorting the others out, you need to take charge on the ground and get everything sorted from your end. Kane can't do that AND do this as well," Atom said as if it was obvious. The others nodded.
"What about the cargo?"
"That will be coming down on the next ship. Right now with the air supply running out, we want the people off first. On the next ship will be everyone who can't fit into today's roster. After that, we'll be taking a few people back up to get the cargo." Again they nodded, pleased that their own private plans could be implemented into the new government which was run by themselves.
"Ready?" asked Troy.
"Yeah, we're ready," the first guard said and Troy took them to St. Lucia. He'd deliberately chosen a place around halfway to the southern tip. It was a place Roma and Finn had spotted from the air when they'd come over to check it out. There was a large open grassy area, which was probably used for some of the sports they used to play. It would be a good place to put them. Troy set the ship down and all of them left the ship. Troy never strayed more than an armslength from Atom just in case he needed a quick getaway.
"Where are we?" asked the man.
"You're around halfway between the north and south tips of the island," Atom said. We chose this place because of the flat ground here. It would be ideal for planting your crops. There's a river just to the left," Atom said, pointing to where it was. "And to the right is a small village. It may be a good idea to explore them first to see if they can be adapted for your own housing. We don't know what the weather is like here except for sunny most of the time. Kane did agree that anything found on the island would be used by yourselves including any firearms you find. Whoever gets them is up to you, you're in charge." They nodded and the lead guard began to divide up the people into teams and gave them specific tasks to do.
"We'll take the ship back for the next lot," Atom said. The lead guard nodded and Troy and Atom took the ship back to the Ark. The guards never realised they'd been played.
Once back, Troy took the others back to The Homestead for rest and recuperation. The next time he went, he'd be bringing those with skills back. So far, that would be Myles, Sterling, Fox and Kath Colonna. They didn't know what their skills were yet, but Kane had said they could be invaluable on the ground.
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Two days later, they went up again and took another load of people down. On the next shipment, he took a load of cargo and then went back to The Homestead to rest. The next two loads would be cargo. With only fifty people left on the Ark, the cargo was going down. The next time he went, should see one more load of cargo and one with the rest of the people and as much cargo they could fit into it. Whatever was left, would stay on the Ark. Troy and the others were not going to take every single scrap to the ground just in case they needed it. Whatever was left behind, stayed there.
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Once everyone was on the ground, Kane gave a speech.
"Okay, everyone. We are now on our own island! This is our new home! It will take lots of hard work to build our community the way we want it to be. We will live here. Those of you who have family among the skillful will have to wait before you can join them. They are building a new settlement on Long Island. Right now, it is covered in sand and is a desert. They are having to dig out the sand to find things they can use.
"They have a small water source and have to fish for their main source of food. Right now, there is not enough space for anyone else. Let them build their own settlement in their own way before wanting to go there. Like us, they have a lot to do and they have even less than us. We have all the cargo from the Ark, they don't. We can start building or emptying out the buildings we find, they'll be building from scratch with nothing. We can build this island into our own slice of paradise. I want people to start clearing any areas the first group have designated as living areas, places to build and any buildings they think we should utilise. This is our new way of life. We are free from the confines of the Ark and we can roam all over this island. Right now I need people to explore the island, find things we can use and find places we can put new villages." Kane looked around him at all the people he could see and saw hope on their faces, a kind of relief to be on the ground.
"Welcome home!" he yelled and everyone cheered and whooped.
"Let's get to work and build for our future!" More hollers and cheers accompanied his statement, and everyone was in happier spirits as they went to start their new lives.