Bootstrap Colony (44 page)

Mitch nodded. “Okay, so,
obviously we need to get each of you up to what we have here.” Each of the
leaders nodded.

“Right now we have a triangle
trade going between us three.” Mitch pointed to Jack and Mike. “We need to
expand that to Evan’s village, the planned mountain village, and others. Jack
has a few running vehicles left, and Mike has one of the salvaged flex fuel
trucks and a few of mine on loan.” He saluted Mike with his bottle. Mike grunted
and nodded.

“We just added two trucks to the
fleet. We have seventeen more trucks under various stages of construction that
should allow us to expand our trade and maybe expand our villages,” Mike said
and then sighed. “Also one beat up hummer to finish repairing.” He got a dark
look for a moment. “It is going to be another year before we build more complex
electronics and equipment, but we might be able to use existing electronic
databases in the interim....”

They spend the evening going over
the general plan, and touching each village’s part in it. They broke up deep
into the night; yawning Anne led the visitors off to guest quarters.

The next morning Angie flew Jack
and Axel back to Copper town, and Jacklynn returned a reluctant Evan to
Travis’s temporary base.

Travis called in two days later
with the report from the abandoned village. “Jacklynn just left with another
load just as the gust front of the herds hit,” he reported. Mitch came in to
the room, and leaned against the door jam. “I am glad she did, they stomped her
landing area flat,” Travis said, sounding disgusted. Mitch nodded.

“The eastern folk took off
yesterday after we saw the sky south west of us. It looks like a storm
approaching.” Mitch frowned. “As much as I would like to squeeze as many loads
as we can before it hits, I think we are going to have to pack it in by
tomorrow.”

Jolie hit the transmit. “Roger
that Travis.” She turned to Mitch. “Do you want them to head back now?”

He shook his head. “It is too
late in the day. Besides, it is Travis’s call.”

There was a squelch of static
from the speaker. Jolie turned to it. “Ten four base. He’s right Jolie,” Travis
said. She looked up and then at the transmitter mike.

She blushed, easing up on it.
“Sorry, open mike,” she finally admitted. Mitch snorted.

“Roger that,” Travis replied,
getting back to business.

“So what is it, cracked block?”
Lisa asked softly.

He took a look. “Is that what you
think?” He turned to her. “You're the expert here Lisa, you tell me.” She took
a look and then bit her lip. He sighed. Ever since the second batch of refugees
had shown up she had crawled back into her shell. Even Brian and Dora could not
seem to pierce it. Someone might have made an indiscreet pass at her, he would
have to check.

“Lisa relax, I am not going to
bite you,” Mitch said softly.

She shivered a little. “Yeah, I
think it is.”

He nodded. “Okay miss mechanic,
where is it, and what are you going to do about it? How did it happen, and how
do we prevent it from happening again?”

She looked down at the engine for
a moment. He sighed afraid he had put her back in her shell. “It’s right here.”
He looked at her hand and spotted her pointing. “You can see it right here,
going down here.”

He nodded. “Okay I see it now.”

“I think it was caused by thermal
shock. The ice cold conditions outside, and the thermal variances in the engine
probably did it.”

He nodded. “Okay I buy that. Now
what?”

She looked around. “We have to
pull the engine, and then swap it. Salvage what we can, and then the block will
have to be scrapped.”

He nodded. “Okay we can do that.
We can also keep the block for school.”

She looked up. “School?”

“Yeah, so you can practice on an
engine, and teach others,” Mitch replied. She blushed.

“Okay so how do we prevent this
again?” he asked, handing her a wrench. She bent over the engine, and began to
take it apart.

“We will probably need to get the
trucks; I mean all the vehicles under cover during winter.”

He nodded. “Good idea.”

“I need more space here though,”
she said. She didn’t even look up as she loosened the bolt and handed it to
him.

“Okay, so you want to expand?” he
asked, smiling a little, knowing the answer.

She paused at the next bolt.
“Yeah. I guess so.”

He nodded. “Okay, Maggie wants to
expand too, if we build a barn or two next year, we can move the animals out,
and then expand the garage into that space.”

She looked up. “Really?” She
seemed excited. He nodded as he moved the engine hoist over.

“Yeah, why not. It will stink for
a while though.” She waved to the garage. He nodded. “Yeah, good point.” He
laughed. “We will have to park the vehicles in the warehouses for now.” He got
a thoughtful look on his face, trying to plan how to re-arrange things.

“Hand me a number three wrench
will you?” she asked. He chuckled and got back to work.

Janet came into the dim room and
stopped. Mitch was standing in front of the class, pointing out the finer
pointed of a hadrosaur’s anatomy from a projected hologram. The dim room and
volumetric display always awed her. “And we see here they have down on their
bellies like many of the other dinosaurs. The bodies have normal feathers while
some areas most notably the feet have scales.” He looked at Janet. “Yes?”

“Jamal caught sight of them with
the UAV, they are about ten minutes out,” she said, wiping her hands on her
apron as she took it off.

He nodded. “Okay class, you heard
the lady placed everyone!” The class got up and filed out quickly.

“Remember to shake your clothes
and footwear out thoroughly! We don’t need any more scorpion attacks!” Janet
hollered after them. Mitch put the pointer down, flipped the off switch on the
display and then motioned Janet to lead the way.

The scouting party pulled in just
as the first flakes of snow began to fall from the sky. Lisa, Janet, and Mitch
were out to greet them. Travis waved, and then pulled into the garage. Lisa
went to oversee the unloading of the flatbed and stowing of the gear.

Travis got out and stretched,
then looked around. “What no greeting party?” he asked, shaking his head.

Mitch shook his head. “Too damn
cold out.”

Travis nodded. “Yeah, freeze a
guys nuts off.” Janet gave him a reproving look. Pete got out and waved to her.
She walked over to him.

Mitch watched as she gave him a
hug. “The kid did okay?” he asked Travis.

Travis nodded. “Yeah.” The rest
of the scouts unloaded and then Mitch ushered them inside.

As they entered the Great Hall
the lights came on and everyone hollered and hooted “Welcome Home!” Travis
flinched and then looked around to all the smiling faces. Banners were strung
from the different levels. Travis and Pete took it all in.

“I should go away more often,”
Pete commented. Everyone laughed.

“So, you knew we were coming?”
Travis leaned over to Mitch. Mitch shook his head no.

“Some psychic you are,” Travis
replied with a snort.

Mitch looked up then cocked his
head. “I keep telling people I lean toward numbers and slot machines, not
fortunes and astrology,” he said and then shrugged.

“Gambling? Remind me to never
play poker with you then,” Travis replied. He turned and nodded a thanks too
Janet as she handed him a beer.

“Naw, can’t play poker my tell is
too obvious,” Mitch replied, eyes dancing.

“What’s a tell?” Cassie asked,
bouncing baby Ricardo in her lap.

“A tell is a visual cue, some
give away to what cards you're holding,” Travis answered as he popped the cap
on his beer. “Damn, I missed having this,” he said. He took a pull and then
ahed in appreciation. Mitch smiled.

“So what is your tell?” little
Wayne asked, ready and apparently willing to play straight man.

Mitch looked over to him. “I wag
my tail,” he said, with a straight face. Doc hid a grin behind her beer. Wayne
looked confused.

One of the kids just had to look,
checking out his back side. “Wait, I don’t see a tail...” Travis, Mitch, Doc,
and Cassie laughed as the kids groaned; realizing Mitch had pulled one over on
them.

The storm lasted for nearly a
week; the community began to switch over to light winter duties. At first the
tedium and enforced inactivity was hard, having one hundred ninety one people
cooped up with little to do and only a few windows to look out of wasn’t easy.
Since there wasn't much of a view anyway looking didn't really help much. The
factories were working, but only so many people could be in there at one time.
With so many volunteers they broke the jobs down into six hour shifts.

Mitch worked on several projects,
bouncing into check on work groups then out. Travis and Gunny cleared a section
of the caves, Janet insisted on an exercise center. Grudgingly they moved the
weight room there, and then worked on one chamber for her racquet ball court,
another for yoga and group exercises, and even one area as an indoor jungle
gym.

Mitch tapped the pipe stockpile,
working with Vance and Brian they set up a jungle gym. They used the plastic
extruders to create slides and plastic tubing for the kids. Anne, Selma, and
Janet organized a small group of women to weave rope safety nets. Three weeks
into winter they held a brief christening ceremony, and the kids went wild.
Anne turned the old weight room into a dorm room. After a few days Janet
persuaded Mitch to have another party.

That evening out in the Great
Hall everyone was having a grand old time. The party was a big hit, all three
floors were full. Some of the new settlers were dancing in the corner to the
music from the speakers. Charlie, one of the refugees had asked if they could
make new instruments if they couldn’t salvage their old ones. Mitch nodded.
They had only one harmonica and a couple plastic penny flutes, that wasn’t
quite up to the quality this crowd wanted though.

Doc swirled in, wearing a new
dress. She seemed to sparkle and glow, lighting the room with her very
presence. She looked at his face, and then dimpled into a mischievous smile,
knowing she had had a reaction from him. “You look beautiful,” he said huskily
to her. Her smile widened. “Take those canary feathers out of your mouth,” he
growled. She giggled as she tucked her arm into his. They made rounds around
the room together, talking with the various knots of people.

She even enticed him onto the
dance floor for a slow song. Later in the evening when there was a lull while
the teens argued over music he maneuvered her into the center of the room. “Can
I have everyone’s attention?” She looked over to him, as do the crowd. The
conversations began to die down. He nodded. “Well folks, we have had quite an
adventure for the past three years.” He looked around.

“That is right folks; it has been
three years to the day and hour since we arrived on this world.” He looked down
at Doc. “Now I am going to ask this lovely lady to take another adventure.”
Slowly he bent down on one knee and took her hand. There were gasps from the
female crowd. Doc was blushing, her freckled skin matching her fiery red hair.

With his free hand he pulled out
a ring. He had made it in the machine shop with a gold ring made from a chunk
Travis had brought back, and an artificial diamond. “Doctor Sandra O’Connell
will you do me the honor of being my wife?” he asked as the crowd oohed and
awed. He slipped the ring out and held it up for her and the others to see. She
gasped, and then gave a watery chuckle as she nodded. Tears were tracing down
her cheeks, happy tears.

He slipped the ring on her finger
feeling his thundering heart, realizing it was applause from the watching crowd
as well. He stood up, grasping her cheeks with both gentle hands and kissed her
on the forehead, then on her lips. “No more tears Doc,” he murmured to her. She
gave a watery giggle as her hands come up and around him. “I have one request.”

She looked up at him quirking an
eyebrow. “What is it?” she asked playfully.

“Can I have my foot back?” he
asked. He felt her take her foot of his, and then put it back.

“Only if I get another kiss,” she
demanded.

He smiled. “If you insist...” He
bent down to comply.

“Oh I do, I do,” she murmured
with a delighted smile.

The next morning they heard some
strange noises in the Great Hall and went to investigate. Doc called Mitch in
urgently. He came at a run but paused at the chamber entrance when he spotted a
familiar small alien squid flying around the room.

“Oh great, not them again,” Janet
muttered, having come up behind him. Mitch noticed Gunny and Travis had
weapons. He snapped his fingers, and then motioned for them to lower their
weapons. Scowling Gunny complied. Travis gave a reluctant nod as the creature
buzzed his head and then complied.

“
A situation has come to pass.
Error threshold requires extraordinary measures,”
the familiar voice filled
the room. The creature bobbed around, and began to change colors at an
increasing rate. “
Please prepare yourselves for transport.”

“Great,” Mitch growled and closed
his eyes just in time to blot out the whirling around them. Doc had somehow
made it to his side, she clutched at his arm and hand.

When vertigo ebbed he squinted,
not really sure he wanted to open his eyes but certain he had to do so
eventually. They were on what looked like an astral plane, much like their
first visit by the aliens before they were transported three years ago. Off to
his left was the planet, quiet beautiful.... and rather far away. He heard
Doc’s shuddering breath, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

In small groups additional people
began to pop in. Each group came in with a flash of light and soft bang. “Damn,
going to get a migraine again,” Mitch muttered. He leaned over to Janet. “Grab
a couple people from our neighborhood and have quiet chats with as many of each
of the other groups as you can, get as much info too them and from them as you
can,” he ordered. She nodded.

“We’ll compare notes later,” he
told her. She nodded and waved to Gunny and Maggie to help. Maggie nodded and
moved off into the crowd. Jack, Evan, Helen, Axel, and Mike waved and then
separate themselves from their groups to come over.

“So what is this all about?” Evan
and Jack asked, almost in perfect unison.

Mitch shrugged. “Either something
has changed, or they are just checking in.” He looked up to the stars above,
then down. He quickly closed his eyes and sways. “Damn, shouldn’t have done
that.”

Doc clutched his arm. “What’s
wrong? You’re very pale!”

He swallowed. “Just afraid of
heights dear,” he told her. She gave a watery chuckle.

He opened his eyes and looked
into hers. She winked at him, and then motioned her head to the waiting group.
He gave her a kiss, not caring about anything for the moment. Her mouth
puckered with a lurking smile as they came up for air.

“What was that for?”

He smiled to her. “Luck,” he
murmured. She nodded.

“As I was saying.” He turned to
Jack and the others. “Something may have changed.... I might have had a hand in
that.” He shrugged.

Mike snorted. “Why am I not
surprised?”

Mitch shrugged. “Idle
hands...Idle hands...” Then smiled ferally. “They didn’t tell us
not
to
try to save Earth after all,” he said. He shrugged as Evan and Jack raised
their eyebrows in surprised amusement.

“I told Janet and the others to
go take a long chat with our compatriots we haven't yet met while we have the
chance,” he changed the subject. “You might want to tell your people to do so
too.”

Jack nodded and whispered to
Helen. She looked stubborn for a moment; he gave her a pointed look and
murmured to her it might be their only chance. She then sighed and motioned
Axel to one group while she headed to another.

“Well, here are our hosts now,”
Doc said, looking up. They all followed her gaze, watching as the alien squids
came in from above, and more came up from below.

They were all sizes, some truly
huge, measuring hundreds of meters in diameter. A few were tiny, smaller than
ten centimeters. They were clustering around in a globe, swirling arm tentacles
with a riot of color.

The largest creature settled in above
them, lightning them with shifting colors. “It feels like we're in a new age
club,” Doc said. Mitch snorted.

“
There is a conflict.”
Mitch’s attention became riveted to the largest creature as did everyone else
as it rumbled and pulsed. With each word it seemed to pulse color. “
Error in
program parameters has triggered emergency programming.”
The riot of color
faded for a moment.

“
You the one designated Mitch
Chambers come forth,”
it finally said
.
The tentacles rippled, and
then one pointed to him. He squeezed Doc’s hand then stepped forward. “
Your
actions have changed our parameters outside accepted limits.”
He shrugged.
“
You have manipulated variables. Your actions in revealing our visit to you
and your transport have altered your species perceptions.”

Mitch nodded. “Good.” He looked
up at the riot of color above. “You never said I couldn’t,” he replied as he
smiled.

One of the other creatures
responded. “
Your actions have raised survival of your species from one
percent to twenty percent.”
Some of the people murmured and then began to
cheer a little.

“Good,” Mitch nodded. “Good.” Doc
grinned.

“I was hoping Bob and his team
would be able to use the money and videos to turn public opinion around and
focus attention on you and on the asteroid threat,” Mitch commented, loud
enough for all to hear over the murmurs. The room became quiet.

Mitch turned to the crowd.
Somehow he had ended up at the center of things. “I set up a plan to try to
save Earth folks. It looks like it has some small chance of success.” Mitch
pitched to the watching crowd. Some of the people cheered at that. Jack patted
him on the shoulder.

“
You are not inputting data
correctly. By altering this variable we are now in error. Your potential
survival threshold increase has changed the accepted variable parameters set
forth by our makers eons ago,”
the giant squid pulsed, and then turned a
saucer shaped eye to him.

“They are robots?” Doc looked at
him bewildered.

The aliens flared. “
You do not
have the ability to begin to comprehend our existence,”
One said.

Mitch looked up interested.
“Wanna bet? You may be many things, but I think I narrowed it to one of four
possibilities, most of them have artificial beginnings.” He ticked them off on
his fingers one by one. “Clouds of nanites are possible, as are artificially
created or enhanced organics.”

He watched for a response, but
didn’t read one he could readily identify. “Energy beings are a more likely
possibility.”

One of the creatures bobbed. “
See,
you do not have the ability to understand....”

“Then again, you might be memes,”
Mitch interjected not even hearing the put down.

The alien’s all froze as one and
then the one hovering near came closer. “
How could your primitive primate
brain conceive of something like that?”
It asked. Its colors seemed to
flutter faster and faster.

“Pay dirt huh? Guess I win the
bet,” Mitch replied. He looked over to a thoroughly confused Doc. “A meme is a
thought, in this case they are thought projections made real, or as real as it
got.” He shrugged. “I am not sure if they use dimensional folding or force
fields though....” He got a distant look. Doc stepped on his foot, and then
indicated the bobbing alien with her head meaningfully.

He shrugged and turned his
attention to the aliens. “So you see, we may be primitive, but we can adapt and
learn new concepts over time. We have a vast imagination, sometimes one that
becomes a bit overactive but it has helped us evolve over time. The idea of
memes has been proposed several times over the past two decades, and has been
conceived in various forms in speculative fiction for nearly a half century.”
Another of the aliens bobbed over, then a third. They interlocked tentacles,
and then spun slightly. Doc and Mitch ducked out of the way. “It looks like we
pass,” he commented to Doc.

“Pass on what?” she asked. The
creatures pulsated, and then the aliens further away bobbed and began to
pulsate too.

“Hmmm I think the pulses are more
than random,” Mitch observed. He blinked and shielded his eyes as light and
color splash over the creatures. There were echoes on his retinas with each
pulse. “Possible evidence of a visible thought process or communication?” Doc
gave him a harrumph and dug her hand into his, clutching it tightly. Cassie did
the same to her mom.

He suddenly realized she was
probably scared. Although she was a Doctor and scientist, exploration of the
unknown of this nature was a bit beyond her field. The flashing began to fade.

The dancing trio shift and
separated. “
You are have been reclassified as inheritors, but you are still
young.”

Mitch nodded thoughtfully. “We
have so many questions to ask, like how the animals that went extinct or
evolved millions of years ago have changed little in that time?”

One of the aliens bobbed. “
We
placed a genetic stop within their genetic code to limit mutation.”

He nodded. “I assume you did that
to us as well?” One of the small aliens bobbed up and down. He took it for a
yes. “All right, so they adapted to the new environment, then you stop genetic
mutation somehow. So some of the animals who can adapt to changes in the
environment can, but others fail and die.” The aliens grew still as they
processed that idea.

“
What do you mean inheritor?
We have taken the precautions to make sure all is well in the reserve.”

“Did you?” Doc looked up. “How
many humans now live on the planet compared to the ones transferred?” she
demanded.

One of the aliens shifted, and
then ran tentacles as if to caress the distant planet. “
Three thousand three
hundred twenty one. Error. Numbers are not as projected. Query, what happened to
the missing humans? Why are the hiding?”

Travis gave them a long look.
“They aren’t hiding, they are dead,” he said curtly. His face was dark.

“
Query, statement must be in
error.”

Mitch quirked an eyebrow. “You do
realize that you transported untrained tool users with minimum adaptation to an
alien environment with a mix of unknown flora and fauna?” The nearest alien
bobbed. “So of course some of the humans that could not adapt or protect
themselves were consumed.”

The bobbing stopped. “
Error.
Limited gene pool will cause genetic anomalies.”

Mitch nodded. “Of course it will.
Those three thousand three hundred and twenty one people are scattered in small
groups with limited interaction between them, further limiting the gene pool,”
he sighed. “Now, can you explore that line of thought?”

Doc looked at him, “A meme
thinking? A thought thinking? Are they even sentient?” She looked a bit
confused.

He shrugged. “Think of them as
software Doc, an AI if you have to. That is what I am doing.”

“
Query not understood.
Elucidate further,”
The center squid like alien replied.

He nodded returning his attention
to the aliens. “Sure, the species you transported, do they show genetic
anomalies due to inbreeding?”

Again, a squid seemed to caress
the globe. “
Query confirmed, there is a twenty three point two one percent
recorded deficiency from established parameters. Explain.”

He shrugged. “As we explained
with the transported humans, this too happened with the animals. Some adapted
quickly, others fell victim to animals that adapted already.”

“
Error, Earth Reserve
contaminated by other reserve animals.”
One of the alien’s reported.

Jack grunted. “You bet your ass!”
Axel called from the crowd.

“
Query, comment not
understood.”

Jack gave Axel a glare.
“Rhetorical comment. Disregard.” He had had some experience with Mitch’s windup
toys and was starting to understand how to talk to these aliens.

“
Query, contamination error.
How did it occur?”
One of the small aliens bobbed near Maggie’s head. She
started, ducking, then slowly straightened.

“Most likely, a land bridge.
Although some may have flown or floated in as well,” she replied. “Plants that
spread seeds by the wind could have been blown across continents. Animals that
fly could have as well.” She shrugged.

“ Like those Sharks,” Jack
growled. The alien bobbed and moved on.

“
Error, specimens of local
term dinosaur in minimum status,”
the large alien reported.

Mitch nodded. “I think you mean
many of the species you transported are extinct?” The aliens bobbed and then
shifting tentacles. He nodded. “That is because some populations went extinct
because they couldn’t adapt fast enough. Your genetic tampering also played a
part I bet.”

The creatures stilled and then
all seem to turn to him. “
We are in error?”