Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize (8 page)

“Yes, it is true. I look a little more like Ambassador Esidarap. Would you agree?”

“Well, I would not go to that extent. I do not …”

“Let me just tell you the truth Captain. The people on the planet below are actually descendants of our ancient ancestors. The ambassador and I have found proof of that. In fact, the vessel that we arrived here with is part of this evidence. It is the same as our models of the ancient ships that are required study at the academy.

In the past, there was a great conflict on the planet, nearly wiping out their entire population. The surviving Kastat rebels left for deep space to colonize another planet. I think you know which planet I am talking about, the one you and I were both born on. The remaining inhabitants were abandoned on the planet. They were left without any technology, except for the vessel we were on. However, it was disabled and of no use to them at that time. Therefore, they decided to live a simple peaceful village life without the advancement of technology. They have successfully done this for over two thousand years, while rebuilding their planet into a paradise. Their directives and historical records indicate that their moon was prepared with animal and plant life taken from their planet and now it thrives on their moon. The directives indicate that the moon is to be colonized only when the planet is filled with peaceful village settlements and needs to expand further. For this reason, it is not right for us Kastat to colonize the planet below. Captain, our colonizing the moon is against the directives of the people on the planet that the moon orbits. It is also against the decrees of the present grand council, namely the leaders of the world below. Ambassador Esidarap has copies of those decrees signed by each council member for your records.”

“Captain Anderson took the decrees and looked at them. They were in two different languages. One he did not recognize and the other was his own. After reading the one he could understand, he thought for a moment and then seriously said, “We will not be halting our efforts to colonize this moon Mister Marcus.”

“Well, we should. It goes against our own laws.”

“Does it really? I think not. You yourself have said that you have proof that the people below are our ancestors. So that means that they are our people. They come under the umbrella of our authority. Of Homeworld authority and as such will have our protection as we colonize our moon. They can think of us as their guardians in the sky ready to come to their defense, if ever they should need it. They do seem rather helpless, so they could end up needing our help someday. The galaxy can be an extremely hostile place, Mister Marcus.”

“What you are really saying is, you want to be a bullying conqueror.”

“Now Mister Marcus, there is no need for name calling, we will be peacefully reunited with the descendants of our ancestors.”

“I cannot accept this brazen barbaric behavior. I will not be a part of it.”

“That is unfortunate, in view of your contributing value to our future advancements. However, if that is your decision, so be it. Homeworld can send someone else to aid us in your areas of expertise.” Turning to look at Taerg he then said with a visibly insincere smile and sarcastic tone, “You may spend the night here Ambassador, with your loyal supporter. In the morning, you can both be on your way back to the serene village life you so much enjoy. Please give my peaceful greetings to the grand council when you see them.” Then he stood up from his chair and confidently walked out of the room with his security officers.

“The grand council,” said Taerg, “will not be pleased.”

“I know,” said Victor, “I’m sorry, I did not imagine he would be so stubborn. I really believed we could reason with him. Don’t worry though, we will think of some way to halt this.”

Chapter Seven: Backdoor

The night, meant nighttime on the moon. There was no real night on the mothership, only shifts. In this case, they were in the process of colonizing the moon and establishing a military presence there. Therefore, to get people accustomed to day and night once again, the lights in most areas were dimmed at the same time as night on the moon. That is, night where they were presently constructing the beginning of the colony. All their time devices on the back of their hands and elsewhere took about two days to adjust to the day and night time of whatever environment they were in. In the meantime they would display the same time as the mothership. Fortunately, the night shift crew was smaller than the crews on duty during the day. During the night shift, there were a lot less people up and about. Conveniently, fewer security officers on duty to walk their assigned routes. An opportune time to do things without getting caught. Victor knew all of this. He also knew far more than anyone else on Mothership about her various control systems. He was the one who designed all of her system routines and all her program functions. Including the functions of life support, autopilot programming functions, the weapons systems and the life pods as well as many other systems. True he was a computer engineer, but his true calling had always been creating unbreakable programs for various systems that could not be hacked into by anyone. He was viewed by many as a genius computer programming scientist. He was so adept at this that the military had asked him to do research on a program that would control a whole fleet of ships at the same time.

Since the systems could not be hacked into by anyone, that is, anyone but him, Victor made a plan. He knew that he always made a way in, just in case of an emergency. To him, this was an emergency on a planetary scale. He also knew that no one, not even a gifted programmer could find that way in that he had created. He could even creep into the systems without anyone knowing he was there. While anonymously present, he could make changes and then sneak back out without leaving a trace that he was ever there. No one knew these things could even be done. The reason for taking these actions in the first place was that he did not like when authority was absolutely placed in the hands of one man. What if that one man became corrupt? This is what happened to captain Anderson. Victor once again saw the wisdom of having a council of people making the important decisions. This is why he did not want to be in charge as a leader. Victor, along with the grand council below, did not want this one corrupt man to destroy their future in regard to the colonization of the moon. So now was the time, to do something about it.

Victor told Taerg about his plan and that he needed him to be on the lookout for him while he was concentrating on making adjustments to various programs. He had to make sure that his plan decisively worked and that it would be irreversible. There were several computer terminals that would not have anyone near them. The module where the thousands of life pods were, had one and it was fittingly right next to where the launch bay was. Security would not be needed in there. So, he decided this is where they would spend most of the night, where he could make his plan come to fruition. His life would irreversibly change from this point on. He realized that he was officially choosing which side he was on. People on Homeworld would view him as a traitor. All these thoughts were racing through his mind. Even so, he went ahead with his decision, despite knowing many of the possible consequences.

It was evening now, so he advised Taerg that they should get some sleep for a few hours before the lights dimmed. He set the time device on his hand to wake them up in four hours. It had been a long day, so they both fell asleep immediately and woke up four hours later to the sound of the alarm. They both wanted to sleep more, but Victor introduced Taerg to the caffeinated malt drink he missed so much. Taerg made a sour face on his first sip, but seemed to get used to the strong taste and he finished it off. They started their secret mission to the module that held the life pods by inconspicuously making their way there. When they met someone, Victor pretended he was giving Taerg a tour. They only met three individuals on the way.

It was completely dark in the life pod module, but Victor did not need extra lights. His personal recorder provided enough light to easily make his way to the terminal. The terminal itself when activated, lighted up their immediate surroundings. Then Victor set to work, he needed all of his ingenuity and all of his cunning to pull this one off, considering the time constraints. Captain Anderson was a very intelligent person, so he knew something decisive had to be put into place for every possible eventuality. He knew it would take all night, but that was suitable because they would make their escape when everyone on the day shift was waking up in the morning. In the usual morning confusion, they would get away, hopefully unnoticed.

As he suspected, they were not interrupted during the adjustments in programming and while he was entering commands to be initiated at certain times that were now fast approaching. However, as they made their way through the launch bay, they were noticed by two security officers. They did not seem to notice Victor much, but they seemed very suspicious of Taerg. So, Victor and Taerg were both commanded to stop. Victor told them that they were leaving as per the command of Captain Anderson. After one of the guards checked with the security commander, they let them both go. The security officers watched them walking toward their ship for a few moments and then continued on in their duties elsewhere. After they disappeared from view, Victor and Taerg continued walking right by their ship and onto another much larger ship.

This ship was state of the art, and far more powerful. It was even equipped with two life pods for deep space travel. Victor’s reasoning was, “Why take the antique, when you could acquire the latest and greatest model?” It was not stealing, these items belonged to him too. The Kastat rebels had taken everything when they had abandoned the people of
Paradise
in darkness, so Victor thought he would bring something of use back. The launch bay was mostly empty, except for a few scattered ships. Their old one was there and near it this large one. She was called the
Luminous.
Most of the other ships of the fleet were either in transit or on the moon.

As the
Luminous
left the launch bay no alarms were activated, although Taerg noticed some people in the control room waving their arms frantically. Exasperated that they were not able to do a thing about the inevitable departure. After they travelled to a safe distance, Victor stopped the vessel and waited.

*                       *                       *

When Captain Anderson walked on the bridge, he thought it was going to be another typical day. The only exception being, the departure of Victor Marcus and Ambassador Taerg Esidarap. It was unfortunate that Mister Marcus was abandoning them in their efforts to colonize the moon. He would make a report about this and make sure the government on Homeworld received it as promptly as possible, considering the vast distance this report would have to travel.

He was feeling generous today, so he decided he would let them sleep in and depart at their own leisure and hopefully avoid any further problems. He knew Victor Marcus could cause trouble if he wanted to. However, he did not expect what happened next, at all.

First, he received a report from launch bay control, that someone had gained unauthorized access to the
Luminous.
They had launched and escaped without being prevented by anyone. He realized that it must be Victor and his new friend, but why could they not be stopped and captured? He demanded to know the answer, but the control officer reported that the system would not cooperate with their commands. Only mobile communicators were operable. The launch bay doors could not be closed. Communications could not be established with the
Luminous
. Weapons were offline. While he was finishing his conversation with him, another report came to his ears. This one, he found hard to believe and it was in Victor’s voice.

“All personnel, prepare for departure to Homeworld. All systems including life support are cycling down for deep space travel. Life pods are entering their standby modes and will begin hyper sleep upon each individual entering their preassigned life pods.” All personnel prepare for departure …”

The message kept repeating itself and no one was able to turn it off. No one could terminate any system operations, as they were all locked out of the control programs. Even he could not gain access. The system did not recognize his codes. It kept calling him a lifter operator.

“Sir, we’re being hailed.”

“Go ahead put him on.”

“I can’t sir, I’m completely locked out.”

However, as if of its own accord, Victor’s smiling face appeared on the view screen.

“Well, captain or should I say lift operator? This is goodbye. I suggest that you head to your life pod, by now the air is probably a little thin in there. When you arrive at Homeworld, you can report to them that I had to relieve you of your authority. However, just in case you are unwilling to divulge this to them, I have taken the liberty of writing the detailed report myself. It will be broadcast to the appropriate channels upon your arrival, before your life pods begin their wake up cycle routines.”

“How could you do this to us? This will severely interrupt our colonization efforts. You have betrayed your own people Mister Marcus. You have abandoned over two thousand people on the moon and …”

“And you don’t have much air left. I suggest that you put your oxygen mask on, and head for your life pod.”

Captain Anderson noticed the air was dissipating and the other officers were collecting their masks. They were putting them on and looking at him expectantly. He stood up from his command chair and yelled, “I will be back Victor Marcus and you will be charged for your crimes against Homeworld. I promise you, I will personally see to that.”

“Yes, I know you will try, but that will be about seven years from now. A lot can happen in seven years, Mister Anderson the lift operator. Who knows? Maybe you will be promoted.”

There was no one left on the bridge, they were all running for their life pods in the nearby officers module. The captain looked at the image of Victor on his view screen with disgust. He was panting now and desperately reached for his mask. He put it on frantically struggling with the straps and then ran to his personal life pod in the special room next to the bridge. He had no choice, because Victor had given him no choice.