Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 30

A bald man with very dark skin and yellow eyes greeted them, smiled and said, "You probably have some questions about where you are!"

Mark returned the greeting and said, "Not really!"

The man raised an eyebrow, smiled and said, "Entertain me, tell me what you see then!"

Mark explained, "This is an underground fallout shelter. The fountain in the middle is likely tied into a deep well and you're probably using it for drinking water as well as hydronic heating and cooling. Down one or more of the hallways in each of the corners is probably a greenhouse so you can grow food, and the fans on the roof are keeping the recycled air moving so it doesn't get stagnant.

I imagine since you are a fairly peace loving planet, no nation wasted money building their own shelter, but when you came together to create the space agency, you decided, since there was the possibility of discovering other life that may not be nice, you may need a safe space. The significance of the six sides would be each nation has one side, and the people on the balconies are families that are important to your nations."

Everyone, including Mark's own people, were amazed that he had determined that after seeing the facility for only a few seconds.

The man eventually nodded, "Uhh yes, that's pretty much it exactly! You are very observant!"

He introduced himself as John Baker, then went on to introduce Kurt Brand, Jerome Imlan, Russell White, Greta Harber and Katelyn Cross.

Mark introduced himself and the rest of the people with him, Liyana, Athena, Rayven and Maren.

With introductions done, the Director ushered everyone toward the boardroom on the other side of the fountain.

The boardroom table was a massive round table that could probably seat 20 people or more. The Director sat at what was probably his usual chair and the six leaders started toward what was probably their usual chairs, but instead decided to sit beside the Director. Mark sat down directly across from the Director, and everybody with him spread out on either side. Shanda and Cordero remained standing near the entrance.

The Director brought the meeting to order by asking Shanda and Cordero to walk them through what happened.

Cordero took the lead and went through what happened, "The launch was perfect, we performed a few maneuvers, testing the new lateral thrusters for steering, that went perfect, then we found our direction, increased our sub-light engines to max and engaged the FTL drive.

We were blinded by a bright flash and suddenly Magellan was gone, our ship was out of power and we had no idea where we were. Nothing was responding and we realized that the batteries would only maintain life support for a couple of days, at most, since there was no nearby sun to recharge them.

That was when the King communicated with us and asked if we needed help. He said he was just over a day away, so we did what we could to conserve battery power. It still didn't quite last, so when the batteries died, we had no heat and only about 6 hours of air left.

We ate our remaining food to give our bodies fuel and wrapped ourselves in blankets, but it just got so cold and we must've passed out from lack of oxygen, hypothermia or both.

When we woke up, we were in medical beds aboard their ship. They accessed our computer and calculated a few potential directions and said they would start looking for our home.

In the meantime, they took us to one of their planets and we got to do some sightseeing for a couple of days, while they tried to locate Magellan. Captain Kôté sent back some pictures, we confirmed what they were and then they brought us home."

The Director asked Shanda, "Is that an accurate report or do you have anything to add?"

Shanda stood at attention and said, "The report was completely accurate! The King saved us!"

"Thank you for the reports and we're glad you're back and OK! You are dismissed."

Greta spoke up, "Actually, I think they should sit in on this meeting. They're the only ones that can compare our way of life to theirs."

The Director waved towards a couple of chairs and asked them to stay and observe unless asked a direct question.

The Director looked at each of the leaders, as if asking them who wants to start, but all each of them did was nod their head, so he turned to Mark, "What's involved with joining your Federation? What do you want from us and what do we get out of it?"

Everyone was surprised that was what they wanted to open the meeting with.

Mark looked at Liyana who then started to go through one of her ambassadorial speeches, but they cut her off, "No offence Miss and I'm sure you had a very well practiced speech, but are any of the others here from other planets that have joined your Federation, we would rather hear an off-the-cuff report from them. Rayven, Athena, Maren and Mark put up their hands.

They looked at Mark with confusion, then the Director asked, "Aren't you their King? How could you be from a planet that's joined the Federation?"

Mark explained, "Actually my planet hasn't even fully joined the Federation yet! On my planet the only foothold the Federation has is an island nation called Atlantis, which is where we took Cordero and Shanda."

"Please call me Trent, we'll hear about the island and your story later, it sounds rather confusing. Miss Rayven could you please tell us about your planet?"

Rayven explained that Atria joined the Federation just over 10 years ago. She explained life on Atria, before and then after the Federation. Construction, food and water were the main reasons her planet joined, but they now have trade and tourism, better living conditions, education, medical and an incredible transportation system. They also have better security, although planetary security isn't an issue, like it is on most planets, since almost their entire civilization is subterranean.

Jerome asked, "So your planet has no regrets at all about joining the Federation?"

"Of course not, before the Federation, literally everyone on the planet just dug and built things out of rock, now we have more leisure time and thanks to the Federation we have a good tourism economy. Atria is home to a number of golf courses, casinos and we're even starting to develop on the surface."

Katelyn then asked, "Shanda, Cordero you spent a few days among them on their island. What is your opinions on joining their Federation?"

Shanda then spoke, "We only saw a small bit of one island, but I was blown away by their society. The cities were clean, the air was not polluted, everyone flew around in public transit to get around. They're also very relaxed and have free public meals so you get to see lots of people everyday and no one goes hungry. Despite all the different species, everyone just seems to get along."

Russell asked, "So what's the process if we want to join your Federation?"

Mark then added, "We have two ways of joining the Federation, the slow traditional way or the fast probationary way.

The slow way, we send specialists in transportation, construction, medical, communication, finance, legal, education and security to work alongside their counterparts on this planet. Then each department comes up with a transition plan. It's usually 3 to 6 months of watching, then they suggest changes and it's a year or two to implement and tweak.

With Athos, a recent addition to the Federation, it was a bit different. They were desperate to join, because they had already been at war with the Empire for over 150 years, and were on the verge of losing their war. Their entire planet literally wanted to join as fast as possible. So we came up with the idea of a probationary period."

Katelyn said, "Well after what just happened, if you hadn't shown up, I don't think any of us would still be here. So I think we're inclined to go the probationary route. What's involved with that?"

Mark then explained, "The probationary way is faster, more or less we setup a security station in space and at least one outreach centre in every town. Those outreach centres provide information, medical, food, water and clothing as well as they function as transportation hubs for the public transit system between the outreach centres.

We give you a month or two to get used to our laws and then our laws become enforced. Your own security forces are welcome to go through an abbreviated training course and then they are paired with regular Federation security. Then, at a predetermined date, we hold a planet-wide vote, where the public chooses whether to stay in the Federation or not.

If they vote to stay in the Federation... they also get to vote who their senators are and we can begin to implement other technologies to help you live in harmony with your planet, such as power, construction, recycling, communication and education. If they choose NOT to stay in the Federation, we simply remove the outreach centres and any technology we gave you and leave you be.

On most planets, as long as the leader has been a good leader, they're usually elected as their senator. Rayven's father is a good example of that, he was the king of their people and he gave up his palace and staff for the good of the people and now he's been re-elected as a senator a couple of times and lives in the community just like everyone else."

Greta said, "So, you meant it when you said you wanted nothing from their planets?"

Mark smiled, "That is true, the goal of the Federation is to make sure that people everywhere can live happy, healthy, productive lives in harmony with their planets, free from war and oppression.

Even if Magellan chooses not to join the Federation, we welcome the opportunity to setup an embassy, where we can market whatever services you may need help with, plus you could open your planet to trade and tourism, which could help your economy."

Kurt then asked, "So what are usually the biggest hurdles, when most planets join your Federation?"

Liyana tried to explain, "Every planet has been different, for some the biggest hurdle is our laws and security, for others it's religion, or lack thereof, for others it's the systems we offer that end up putting thousands of people out of work or planets that have large labor unions. Without knowing the status quo here, I can't determine where the hurdles may lie."

Jerome looked like he was concerned and said, "That's what I'm worried about, we spent a lot of money designing this space agency, which employs thousands of people and here you come along and the agency really isn't even needed anymore and there are a lot of unions on the planet. Just curious, but how come unions are an issue?"

Liyana explained, "We understand what a union is supposed to do, but over time, most unions become a cancer to business productivity and profitability, not all, but most. They usually reduce productivity and they create a hierarchy that stifles advancement of the business, you get a lot of 'that's not my job' and they wait until someone arrives, all to perform a simple task that anyone could do. As such, unions are actually illegal in the Federation... but they're also not needed, as most people get over the loss of their full-time job or a union quickly, when they realize their taxes are easily paid with a few hours of work per year and much of what they currently spend money on is now provided to them for free. Most people happily take up sports, hobbies and other recreational activities in exchange for not having to work as much as before... in most of the Federation people just work part-time."

Jerome asked for clarification, "What do you provide for free to everyone?"

Liyana listed off, "Basic food, water and clothing are free, then there is basic education, medical, power, recycling, public transportation and communications for free."

Katelyn laughed, "That's pretty much everything people spend money on. So in the Federation, why do people work, if all that is provided for free?"

Liyana answered, "People tend to not want to be like everybody else, they want fancier houses or clothes, they want to eat at restaurants every now and then, they want to travel or play sports or do other hobbies that require money. The Federation frowns upon freeloaders and promotes having an active lifestyle and not just sitting around doing nothing all the time."

Greta then stated, "But some disabled people can't work!"

Rayven stated, "They won't be disabled once they get treated in a medibed."

Greta abruptly interjected, "You mean my dad, who lost the use of both his legs in an accident and has been in a wheelchair for years, could walk again?"

Rayven nodded her head.

Mark then said, "If you want, maybe we could go see your father and you all could see some of what we can offer?"

The leaders were pensive about leaving the safety of the shelter, but Mark assured everyone, "It's perfectly safe outside. The Empire won't come anywhere near this planet, now that they know we are here."

They dismissed Shanda and Cordero to go see their families and once outside they all boarded the shuttle.

Greta called her folks and said she was coming for a visit with some special guests and directed Maren to her parents place, which was on one of the other continents.

The leaders were in awe of the quietness and speed of the shuttle. They had airplanes, but the shuttle actually felt firmer, safer and flew smoother than any airplane they had ever been on, due to the inertial dampeners. Plus it flew a lot faster!

Greta was from the nation just to the north of the one that had the space agency and it typically was about a three hour flight, but they were there in about 15 minutes in the shuttle.

During that flight, they asked Mark about what had happened with the Empire and why they won't come near if the Federation is around.

Mark more or less summarized the battle at Athos, "The Empire had worn down the Athosians to only having 10 ships and they were barely operational. They were about to strike the final blow, by attacking with 50 ships, but they hadn't expected us. Just one of our ships took out all but one of theirs when they tried to attack."

The leaders were visibly upset, they had deduced that the Athosians were more advanced than they were, since they had multiple space-faring warships, when they had a couple of experimental ships with no weapons.

It wasn't long after the story was finished that they were landing on a driveway, in front of an old farm house. Greta's mom came out to greet everyone, while her father was sitting on a swing on the veranda, carving on a piece of wood.

A couple of minutes after the shuttle landed, a medivac flew in and landed beside them. Greta then explained who the special guests were, and that she wanted her dad to go into the medibed.

Her father was a proud man, but you could see the disappointment in his eyes caused by his disabilities. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to walk again, he didn't hesitate to go into the medibed. After a few minutes, the bed displayed 27:32 on the display.

Greta was giddy, "Your bed will be able to repair his body in 27 minutes?!"

Rayven corrected her, "No! It's fast, but not that fast! That's 27 hours and 32 minutes, which isn't all that bad, considering the level of damage, and there's likely going to be a bit of a recovery period after that! Fortunately he still has his legs, it would've taken much longer if those had to be regenerated as well."

Greta then realized, "I guess a day isn't bad, considering there was nothing the doctors on this planet could do for him. What's the longest you've ever seen anyone take in the bed."

Rayven then smiled and pointed at Mark, "He took almost a week! But that was in a much older model of the medibed and much different circumstances.

With 27 hours to go, the leaders asked if Maren would give them a ride back to the agency for the night, but since it was nearly supper time, Greta's mom invited everyone to stay for a barbecue before leaving. They had just slaughtered a couple of cows and the corn was scheduled to be harvested in two days time.

Molly was a strong looking lady, Greta looked a lot like her, they were both about 5'8" with their black hair in corn rows and had blue eyes and both looked like they had large D or DD-cup breasts. Molly was a bit more heavy set and aged though, as the years of running the farm by herself was obviously taking its toll on her body.

She instructed Greta to go pick some vegetables from the garden and gather some corn from the south field, while she dug out some steaks to barbecue.

At the mention of garden, Maren's ears stood up as she looked around and saw the large garden and offered to go pick the vegetables.

That was when Molly noticed that Maren was a bunny and she laughed, "Go right ahead dear, you'll need to dig up some potatoes, but feel free to grab yourself some carrots, radishes or whatever you want."

Rayven laughed at the look on Maren's face, as she grabbed a couple of buckets and offered to help.

Greta also grabbed a couple of buckets and started walking away, so Mark offered to help retrieve the corn. Liyana was the ambassador, so she could talk to all the leaders and answer any questions.

Once they got around the edge of the house, Mark could see that the field was about half a kilometre away and it was right next to a big field of sunflowers. Mark smiled as he took one of the buckets, "I haven't had sunflower seeds or corn in forever!"

Greta looked at him, "Please don't take this the wrong way, your highness, but you don't fit any perception I had of what a king would be like... here you are wearing a cowboy hat and then actually offering to do physical work... it just seems un-kingly."

"Please, just call me Mark, and I get that all the time! I'm a King by title, but I was more or less forced into the role. Every now and then, they try to make me change this or that, but some things you just don't change. I think they've given up, trying to get me to lose the cowboy hat."

"That explains a lot, you weren't brought up as a royal with a silver spoon in your mouth. So what did you do before becoming a king?"

"I've done a lot of different jobs, but I was a cowboy on my friend's horse ranch when I stumbled across an Atlantean ship that had crashed on my planet some 10 years earlier.

I lay down in the medibed, without realizing it took a genetic sample... the analysis determined I was a direct descendant of the original king. The next thing I know, the Atlanteans show up, take me to their planet, declare me their king and here we are!"

"It makes you more relate-able to the general population, I think, and you seem to be having no problems handling the pressures of leadership! Plus you look good in a cowboy hat!"

Mark tipped his hat, "Why thank you ma'am!" as Greta laughed and they reached the edge of the corn field. It looked like a good healthy crop! Mark had taken one of the buckets and they each collected a heaping bucket full and then headed back to the house.

Maren and Rayven had returned earlier and everyone, including the other leaders, were busy washing, peeling and cutting the potatoes and carrots on the porch when they arrived. The leaders all seemed very humble and willing to do mundane tasks.

Greta's parents had a very large custom made barbecue, it was over 2 metres long and about half a metre deep, but it was wheelchair accessible.

During the harvest they would have a barbecue every night for the people they hired to harvest the corn and the sunflowers. It was the one way Mike, Greta's father, felt he could contribute. However, tonight, Mark and Trent manned the barbecue.

Overall it was a good meal and lots of good conversation about how to transition Magellan into the Federation. After the meal, Maren took all of the leaders, except Greta, back to the space agency and all of their people back to the Poseidon, including the staff that came with the medivac.