A Colony on Mars (32 page)

The shuttle landed and a bus picked up the crew members. There thirty seven crew members on the shuttle five more had stayed behind to maintain the ship. Twelve of the crew members were female, the rest male. The bus driver took them on a driving tour of Mars, all of the developed caverns and even some that had been pressurized but had little development. The driver ended the tour by dropping his passengers off in downtown New Phoenix. Gil welcomed them in their language. He asked if they had brought the books and videos that he had requested, they had and they handed them to him. Al of them were a little taken aback by this strange little hairy man that spoke their language, but not very wel . They just couldn't believe that he had learned it in a few hours. One of the council members brought a clipboard with a lined tablet on it and asked Gil to get everyones name they it would sound out in English and write the names on the tablet along with their rank or job or some other identifying characteristic. Gil started gathering the requested information. When he was done the councilman took the clipboard and ran off with it. The crew members found seats at the tables in the town square. Each of them had an empty bag that he used to put his space suit in. Gil then started describing to them what all had taken place. By the time he finished the councilman had returned with name tags for each of them. Gil explained that they should affix these to their jumpsuits above their vest pockets. They wil ingly complied. In appearance they were quite similar to Captain Eurokoma, similar enough to tell that they were all of the same race. Al of them possessed slight variations in appearance just as Artonians and Earth people did. Gil asked, at the suggestion of the Council Chairman, if any of them were hungry or wanted a beverage. That set off a round of conversations that Gil could not follow. Then a lieutenant Soravov asked “What do you people eat and drink?” Gil explained human food to them then he explained Artonian food to them. He told them that we all drink fruit juice from many kinds of fruit combined in many different ways. It is a the most popular drink on Mars, but everyone has their own favorite concoctions. I wil just have a variety set out and you can taste several. I wil also have them set out a buffet of human food and Artonian food for you to sample.” Within minutes there were a dozen pitchers of Juice set out and one of plain water. There was a stack or reusable plastic cups. Within an hour there was a makeshift buffet set out on several of the empty tables shoved together. There were trays, silverware and napkins as wel . One of the councilmen was getting al this on video. The juice was sampled with about the same reaction you would expect from a group of humans trying a new product for the first time. Some of the Dedovians had two glasses of the same juice, several went for water and had several glasses of that. More water was summoned. Some tried a little of several juices then settled for a ful glass of the one they liked best. When they took a tray they knew what it was for. They knew what the napkins were but examined the silverware closely before attempting to use it. They exhibited little skil in handling the silverware. One of them fished around in his pocket and came up with a pair of tongs. He used the knife he had been furnished and proceeded to eat contentedly. The others just did the best they could with a fork and a spoon. The food item that was most popular with them were the cooked vegetables, none of them took any meat but the boiled potatoes went well. None of them took any of the raw vegetables from the Arton food selection but they all took raw fruit and fruit salad. Gil had a brief conversation with lieutenant Soravov then explained to the servers “These people from Dedov are vegetarians though they are familiar with cheese, they would like to try our cheese and they wondered if we had any nuts. They customarily eat with a small pair of tongs and a sharp knife. They also like bread. They drink milk from dairy animals. They also drink wine and they like a product that sounds a lot like beer. Could you kitchen folks see if you could find some of the foods they like but that you do not have out. Soon trays of cheese and crackers and bread and pitchers of wine appeared. Several pitchers of milk were brought out and a large bowl of nuts.

“That is wonderful” said lieutenant Soravov, “You have all the foods we like.”

The fifteen other Artonians that had been learning the language appeared and helped themselves to a tray of raw fruits and vegetables and glasses of juice. They seated themselves with the crew wherever there was an empty seat and struck up small conversations. Lieutenant Soravov asked Gil

“How is it that you people speak our language?” “Gil started to reply but then realized that Lieutenant Soravov had asked the question in English! Gil replied in English “We learned your language since you have been here, apparently you have learned English since you have been here also.” “Not so much, we are not as quick as your people are.”

Admiral Carter had said in his latest communication that he was wil ing to take the gamble. I just finished watching the video of the crew having lunch and we all came to the conclusion that these are sincere people of good intentions. We are convInced that their planet is in a disintegrating orbit and we are going to help save as many of them as we can. I wil see you on Arton in about six months Captain Cummings. Make sure that you have that radio for us when we get there. Beyond that continue sending all the information that you are able to gather on these people. I would be especially interested in hearing what our Artonians discover from their videos and books. We wil outfit our ships for maximum passenger accommodations and plan to depart Earth for Arton within one week unless we hear from you otherwise.

CHAPTER – Earth and Mars help Dedov

July 28, 2176: One by one the space fleet of Dedov began to return to their home planet. One ship had stopped at Arton and instal ed the hyperspace radio equipment in the Arton orbiter. The men working in the orbiter had no idea they were coming. They just didn't know what to make of having Alien technicians board their orbiter and start installing radio equipment. The technicians did not seem threatening and seemed to be doing what they had been told to do so the two men on the orbiter did not interfere. In the Mars communications center the radio message from Arton came in loud and clear. The speaker on Arton was speaking in the language of Dedov. Someone at Mars communications called Gil. Gil was nearby and was there almost immediately. Gil listened to the brief message for a moment then began to speak into the microphone on the desk. Gil conversed back and forth with the speaker on the other end for about five minutes. Then Gil began to speak in English, addressing the men in the Arton orbiter and the men in the Mars communications center at the same time. “This is Gil on Mars, the technicians who are in your orbiter are from the planet Dedov. We are already quite familiar with this race on Mars. The people there have just finished installing a hyperspace radio in your orbiter. They are leaving another radio with you that you wil have to figure out how to install on Arton. I suggest that you instal it where my people live on the upper class island. Artonians are more adroit at communications than Earthlings are. One of the men working in the orbiter came back in English with one question after another. Within the next hour Gil had brought them up to date on the entire situation. The radio had already been installed on Mars Runner and on the Earth orbiter. Arton now had instant communications with the star fleet Mars and Earth. Gil told them that the four Arton ships were en route to Arton and should arrive in about two months to assist with the evacuation of refugees from Dedov. Gil asked them to try as best they could to prepare islands on the planet to receive up to one mil ion refugees over the next several years. Gil explained that this would be temporary until the bulk of the refugees could be transported to Mars and Earth. April 22, 2178: Al four of the Arton Ships had been to Dedov and had transported 40,000 refugees to Arton. The Dedov fleet had transported 60,000 more so now there were almost as many people from Dedov living on Arton as there were humans and Artonians. The natives of Arton no longer seemed as oblivious to the affairs of their planet and the other beings on it as they had once seemed. The assignment that they had received to teach English to the people of Dedov had caught their interest. The island of elders had sent boats to the islands where the Artonian natives resided and transported a representative group of natives to each of the islands now populated by refugees. Even the disinterested Earthlings on the planet had taken up the cause and were using their boats to transport what surplus they had or could produce to help feed, clothe and otherwise assist the newcomers. Despite the best efforts of the Earthlings and Natives of Arton the conditions in the refugee camps was appalling and stil deteriorating. Yet more new refugees arrived almost daily. When they arrived they each had a smal valise of their personal belongings and nothing else. They had been told that there was plenty of food on Arton and there was. Plenty of food to prevent starvation but not the food that they were accustomed to eating. They had taken up fishing and were developing a taste for the abundant seafood of Arton, that resource that had never before been harvested, was abundant and easy to gather. No one starved or even went without enough to eat but they had to improvise beds from plants, occupy caves when available, do without toiletries and al the conveniences that they had enjoyed on Dedov.

May 17, 2180: Conditions on Dedov had worsened much sooner than had been anticipated. The planet's orbit had rapidly become more eccentric. The rescue effort knew that they would be lucky if it held together for another six months. The efforts of the combined space fleet had succeed in removing another 150,000 refugees but conditions on Arton had also deteriorated. Disease and hunger for their customary foods were taking it's toll. CHAPTER – Hopeless Rescue – Miraculous Save

May 25, 2180: Al was turning to despair then out of nowhere a space ship materialized into Dedov orbit. It dwarfed the pitiful ships being used by the space fleet of Earth and Dedov. Minutes later another of an entirely different design materialized, followed by another and another. Within one day there were a total of 75 ships in orbit around Dedov. Al of these ships were basically saucer shaped but they each fol owed a different design concept. Arton Three was just approaching Dedov and had come out of Warp drive when their radio boomed on.

“Attention Arton Three,” the voice said in English, my name is Funutuoie, I am the commander of a fleet of ships from what would translate in English to

“The Intergalactic Association of Civilized Planets.” We have been Monitoring the events of Earth, Mars, Arton and Dedov for a long time. None of your planets have ever attracted us to make contact with you. None of you have ever met the minimum qualifications for Inclusion into our society. Frankly until Earth suffered its catastrophe, Earth worried us a great deal. Since the holocaust on Earth we have been very pleased to see the change in the Earth, and the attitude of the people now living there. We have been sending ships to patrol Earth for the last four hundred of your years. The only reason that we have now chosen to intercede is a charitable interest in rescuing the people remaining on Dedov. We have dispatched an adequate number of ships to remove the remaining population i during the next 26 Earth days, four hours and 42 minutes to be exact. That is that is precisely the time remaining before Dedov will loose orbital stability and plunge into it's sun. Don't worry before that happens all of the people will be safely on Earth. Please communicate this message to al the other ships in your armada and have them start loading as many of the pitiful refugees from Arton as they can accommodate and move them to Mars. Don't worry about the rest of them we will transfer those remaining on Arton to Earth for you. Beyond this one gesture of good wil , that we are committed to , you wil not hear from us again until you have developed enough to be invited to join us. My best estimate is that will be several thousands of your Earth years from now. You should now get on your radio and retransmit this message to your ships and planets. By the time you get back to Earth or Mars the people of Dedov wil have been there for several of your months. We wil take over the rescue effort from here on . Once again ,this is the one and only communication you will ever receive from us, until we deem you ready to join us. Good luck and God's speed.

The com center on the Arton Three had recorded the entire message. It would be played again and again on Arton, Mars and Earth, over the coming centuries.

Captain Horn of Arton Three immediately relayed the message that he had received to all of the planets and ships, but they had already heard the original message. Al of the ships from Earth and Dedov went directly to Arton and began loading refugees. Several of the ships were already loaded with refugees from Dedov so they just changed course and headed for Mars. Six Months later when the Arton ships came out of Warp drive and approached Mars they learned that indeed the entire population of Dedov had already been on Earth for more than five months. The ships of the intergalactic Association of Civilized Planets had done exactly as they said they would do. Within four days of the transmission their ships had begun to materialize in Earth orbit and shuttle the refugees to down to the planet.

CHAPTER – Earth receives the refugee from Dedov

June 1, 2180: The saucer shaped shuttles each carried 950 to 1050 passengers. The shuttles all landed in open spaces in the American West. They always landed near rivers. As soon as the last passenger was clear the shuttle would return to the mother ships for another load. Each passenger carried a bundle that could be strapped on like a back pack. In each parcel were found 365 packets of food that looked like one ounce plastic tear open envelopes. Instructions, written in Dedovian language, told the user to mix the contents of the package with what amounted to approximately eight ounces of water. This would provide the user with a nutritionally balanced diet. The 365 packets would keep him sound for one Earth year. The product when mixed was tasteless, but after a three ounce meal you were no longer hungry. Each pouch also contained a blanket, an air mattress and a large pack of tissue. Each pack weighed almost forty pounds. In addition to the packs they had been issued each immigrant also carried a small valise of personal belongings, clothes and treasured memorabilia. Each group refugees were put down no closer than one mile from the next group. Within one day's time there were four thousand such groups dotting the American West. The human population of the planet had been told that the mysterious ships had promised to deliver the people to Earth but had no idea of when or where they would be delivered. The people of Earth, were now outnumbered by the people of Dedov. The Earthlings stuck to their guns and insisted that the newcomers learn English. Since the people of Dedov were a lot better at language skil s and since the people of Earth were their hosts they readily agreed to do so. At that point the little Artonian linguists stepped in and started teaching English. Each Artonian was teaching twelve, one hour classes per day. Since the Dedovians also had a faculty for language, they were able to communicate in English within a matter of weeks and were quite fluent by the end of the first year. The arrival of the Dedovians triggered a herculean effort on the part of the humans on Earth to relocate and assimilate the four mil ion Dedovians into their population of only two hundred and fifty thousand humans. It took the Humans and Dedovians almost five years to get all the wrinkles ironed out. By the end of five years both populations were totally integrated. The Dedovians had all learned the English language, the populations were totally integrated, everyone had a home, everyone had plenty to eat and everyone had a meaningful job to do.