fspring Ch. 033

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"Yes, I think so, but what does it mean?"

"It means there wouldn't have been much room for offensive weapons or much spare energy for that matter. These things up there are little more than dismal prisons for an increasingly desperate and impotent people."

"So what do we do? Fight a war? Wipe them out as they did with the Darnaqs?""

"No. I will not be a party to genocide. For the moment we carry on as planned. We will supply the supercomputer, research will continue and we get the Pumpernickel production going, if we can. In the meantime we search for a suitable planet in the forbidden zone so we can evacuate these poor devils to a place where they can live with dignity. We cannot hold these people responsible for the sins of their ancestors."

"Do you think this can be done?"

"Yes, I do. And now let us have something to eat and stop worrying. We will talk some more about this some other time."

By the look of it a much relieved Al helped himself to some food. I wasn't hungry and settled for another beer.

***

Olympus was looming large on the screens. Pedro had brought the Pygmalion into position. We were two hundred miles above the planet surface. Olympus was revolving slowly before us. It would take sixty hours for a full rotation. Maintaining our vantage point would enable us to analyse the entire surface with our sensors. Our scientists and Pedro's crew were evaluating the data as they came in.

Feng and I were sitting in the mess room, guzzling beer and awaiting developments.

"Tell me, Frank, what do you think happened to all the equipment the Torgons brought with them?"

"I gather it is on an island as far away as possible from any area settled by humans. They would not have liked the idea of humans getting hold of that stuff. An island with existing Darnaq infrastructure, a city or town with an airport most likely."

"You realise we've got to find that shit and destroy it. It mustn't fall into Torgon hands again."

"We'll not destroy it, we'll steal it."

"And take it where?"

"Ever heard of a place called Olympus?"

"That's ten light years from Okton4. You'd need a fleet of ships with hyper drives. Where will you find those and who could pay for it? Not even my uncle is that rich."

"You keep forgetting about the shuttles. They had to have them or they couldn't transfer their people and gear to the Planet surface. They would have to be large, capable of travelling in hyperspace and armed. I estimate they would have needed at least twenty of those per mother ship. There is your fleet."

"How would they have travelled? In formation with the big ships?"

"No. Not necessary. They would have sent the mother ships ahead. Once they reached cruising speed, the shuttles, which are really heavily armed freighters, would have jumped ahead of the main fleet and waited for their arrival. When they met up, the shuttles matched speed, docked with the big ships and clamped themselves to the hull. From then on the shuttles could be mobilised easily in case of an attack. The Federation does something similar. They have highly mobile small fighters attached to some of their heavy cruisers."

"And you want to steal these things?"

"Not want to, have to. They will be sitting somewhere chock a bloc full of weapons and other important gear, mothballed and ready for action in no time at all. I don't want the Torgons, the humans on Okton4, or your uncle, get a hold of that lot."

"You'll need a lot of help to bring that off. Where will you get that?"

"I'm thinking of Talla's people."

"You seem to have a lot of faith in these people."

"That I do, my friend. That I do."

***

We had been in position for about thirty hours when Jack came to me with a preliminary report. He brought Dennis, the meteorologist, with him. I asked Feng and Juan to attend the briefing. Pedro is the strategist of the duo, Juan is the better pilot. It would be Juan who would land the Pygmalion. I figured he would like as much information on the surface conditions as was available.

We met in the briefing room.

"I'll let Dennis go first," said Jack. "Much of what I have to say builds on Dennis' findings."

"These are preliminary findings," said Dennis, "so the figures I am giving you are not set in stone, though the margin of error won't exceed ten percent or so. There are two things which come as a surprise. Gravity on the planet is about two thirds that of Earth. Considering the size of Olympus that is much higher than expected. Consequently the atmospheric pressure is also about two thirds of that of Earth, being roughly equivalent to ten thousand feet elevation back home. Oxygen content is thirty-five percent compared to Earth's twenty-one. Precipitation over the general land mass is poor, most of it occurring in the mountainous region, partly as snow, partly as rain. The highest temperatures so far recorded are forty degrees centigrade in the equatorial valleys. Night time figures aren't available yet. That's about it for now."

"Thanks Dennis," Frank took the floor again. "Now let me explain what this means to us. The first, obvious thing is that we won't have any trouble breathing. People back home live at elevations of ten thousand feet without discomfort. The higher oxygen levels mean we don't even need to adjust to the lower atmospheric pressure. We'll get as much oxygen per breath as we do on Earth. That is the good news.

"We have taken pictures of some of the vegetation. Because of the distance and the steamy atmosphere in the valleys they aren't terribly good, however we seem to be dealing with fern like vegetation, mosses, fern trees and so forth, indicating that the planet on the evolutionary scale is about at a stage equivalent to the early carboniferous period on Earth. That is not so good for us as it means lots of nasties.

"During that period the oxygen content on Earth was about what it is here, allowing some rather unpleasant creatures to evolve. Scorpions two feet long, predatory dragonflies with a twenty-eight inch wing span, monstrous spiders and cockroaches, you get the idea. Most of the valleys will be swamps. All in all a rather unpleasant environment to start a colony in. I suggest therefore we stay out of those areas for now."

"What do you suggest we do, Jack?"

"Much of the planet is what we would call desert. These areas appear to be sterile, as they are in some places on Earth. What makes them interesting for us is that there are a number of underground rivers and aquifers, some rather close to the surface. I propose to look for a place as far away from native vegetation as possible with comparatively easy access to water. If I have water I can grow things. Competition from native flora and fauna I can do without. We've only seen half the planet so far. There are already a few places that appear to be suitable. Let's see the rest first before we make a decision on a landing site."

"Sounds like a sensible plan. If that is all for the moment I guess we close the meeting. We'll meet again when we have some more data. Time for something to eat and a few beers."

We did just that.

***

Some thirty hours later Frank and Juan came to see me.

"We've got a site," Jack said. "Juan is happy with it, so am I."

Jack put two photographs in front of me. One was a picture of a massive desert with a huge crater in it, the other was a blow-up of the crater. It looked like something you might find on the moon.

"Alright Jack, what am I looking at?"

"Only a meteor could have made a hole that size. The thing is about fifty miles in diameter, a thousand feet deep and the bottom is as flat as a billiard table. There is an aquifer below, at least the size of the hole."

"How do you explain that?"

"That's something for the geologists to work out. There are two things that excite me about the place. The isolation and the underground water. The water has got to be reasonably close to the surface or we couldn't have detected it from space. It seems ideal. The only possible problem might be the water quality. We just have to go there and check. I doubt there is any indigenous life within a hundred miles in any direction."

"When do you want to land?"

"At the moment the place is on the dark side. It will be light in about eight hours. If we land just after dawn we'll have thirty hours of daylight to get our bearings."

"Sounds alright to me. Go for it. I'll get everyone assembled and tell them the news. It's just about mealtime anyway."

Half an hour later we were all in the mess room. I addressed the meeting.

"In about eight hours we'll be landing on Olympus," I said. "I know some of you have been flat out these past three days. Have a meal and perhaps a couple of drinks and get some rest. I want everyone alert and fit when we touch down. That's all for now."

I had a couple of drinks with Feng and Talla and went to grab a few hours sleep myself.

***

I was woken up by the bell. Juan informed us over the speakers that he had taken the Pygmalion out of orbit and was heading for the landing zone. Touchdown would be in two hours. I got dressed and headed for the mess room. Talla was helping Ben in the galley, something she had been doing lately.

After the meal I gave everyone a pistol with two magazines with the instruction they were to be worn at all times when outside. Trevor and his boys received an assault rifle and ammunition in addition. I had opted for projectile weapons. Blasters have their place, but an old fashioned bullet will stop a lot of things a blaster won't, especially at a distance. Trevor asked me to give a rifle to Talla as well.

"Talla can shoot the penis off a fly at a hundred yards," he said with a grin. "I want her to cover us when we secure the perimeter."

I did as I was asked. We weren't expecting anything out there, but unexpected things can happen and do. Better to be prepared.

The actual landing was a bit of an anticlimax. Juan had sat down the Pygmalion so gently, the first indication we had that we were on the ground was when he switched the engines off.

"Amigos, we have arrived," his voice came over the speakers. "The probes will now sample and analyse the outside air in case there are any unforeseen surprises. When that is done I will equalise atmospheric pressure with the outside and adjust our gravity field to that of the planet. The differences are not very big, but some of you might experience a bit of discomfort for a few minutes until your body adjusts to the new conditions. All being well, I will be opening the main hatch in thirty minutes from now. Make sure you are wearing something warm. The temperature on the ground is presently three degrees above freezing. That is all. Good luck."

Thirty minutes later the main hatch opened and the gangway extended to the ground.

Olympus lay before us, ready to be claimed.

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bigguy323bigguy323over 11 years ago
Well, I found Chapter 32, but the name is still wrong and NOT in Talemaster's list.

x

bigguy323bigguy323over 11 years ago
Am I the only one who has noticed that the name of the story is misspelled? Also, what happened to Chapter 32?

There is something wrong with the posting.

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
slick

smart move on your part to see how many people are following the the story,bad move as there are not to many people that would catch this and think you just left the story as is you have talant this kind off switch should should be left to the also rans. you want a following, respect the following

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago

almost skip this did not realise that it was offspring with it being fspring but i did do a double look and liked it

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
Thank you so much

I was beginning to fear this story had been abandonned like so many others (much to my dismay), so glad to see you continuing on. Keep up the good work.

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