10

Garden World

Klankharis Garden World Tau Ceti 5a

47 days after the lunar battle

Nearly two months had passed since the lunar battle took place, and just over a month after the evacuation of the lunar base to a garden world belonging to their friends in the Tau Ceti system. Today was the meeting of the human crew of the ISS Tau Ceti, as well as Tau Cetian leadership. While settling the human population on Tau Ceti 5a was an ongoing concern, the primary campaign goal for both humanity and the Klankharis Realm was to ensure that the Possessor threat was addressed. This was a long-term plan, but given humanity's current state of affairs, one whose foundations needed to be laid immediately, and the infrastructure needed to begin placement within the next year. Many changes were going to take place, many of them a first for humanity despite being hypothesized (and often romanticized in fiction) for decades before the near-extinction of the human race.

Davidson and his people had decided unanimously that they wanted Earth habitable, and that once this was done, his people would build their own fleet of ships, utilising the technologies acquired from their previous trade with the Klankharis Realm and the acquisition of salvaged drone combat units from the surface of Earth. Although all the working units they had discovered from the AI schism of twenty-four years before had been destroyed in the battle around the Moon, the units that had not been completed because of the early fight were still available for research. Because of this, once Earth was in a position to begin building again, they would have the technology for both space folding and weapons research. If anything, Earth had a great deal of firepower at their disposal, thanks to the Machine War.

Most people agreed that this was more than likely the only thing good to come from that accursed time in their history.

Terraforming on Earth had already begun, with the second phase underway. The first phase involved over a hundred ships collecting samples from the atmosphere of the planet. The sheer number of ships was intended as a defence in case of any residual possessor infestation on the planet.

The second phase involved cleansing the atmosphere and decontaminating the water on the planet. Huge Klankharis sphere-shaped vessels referred to as bioformers were used for this purpose, each capable of deploying hundreds of biodrones, with tens of thousands of them being deployed. These drones would skim the upper layers of the atmosphere and use their powerful reactors to power several on-board atmosphere processing systems as the gases were scooped into the bioformer, releasing gases from the exhaust ports that had any dangerous particulate matter or radioactive isotopes dangerous to life in their composition removed and captured in dedicated filters. These ships would operate continuously for several passes of the planet's atmosphere, working continuously, before returning to orbit to allow their systems to be purged of contaminants and readied for another pass. The process would take at least twelve months, each month having the drones lowered further into the atmosphere until they were skimming the lower reaches.

Phase three would see dedicated atmosphere processors whose task was to reprocess the atmosphere at sea level, removing radiation and filtering contaminants from both the air and the sea. These would work continuously, hopefully rendering the planet livable within a year, but would remain deployed for several decades as they completed their task of total restoration of the planet's ecosystem.

Phase four would involve replacing the plant-life and greenery, rendering the planet the self-sustaining world it once was. This one was waiting on phase three, although genetic alteration would ensure that the plantlife could resist pests, were immune to radiation damage, and captured nothing harmful to any other form of life beyond their role in the ecosystem.

The final phase would be the attempted re-introduction of Earth’s pre-industrial ecosystem. This would involve seeding several populations of several species in isolated areas with a carefully balanced and continuously monitored predator-prey distribution so that predators had a food source, and their prey would neither be hunted to extinction nor breed out of control.

Each of these projects was to be announced to the human population at large in the coming months, with news of the first phase of terraforming already made public. Several individuals had already vocalized their desire to get involved, and human leadership had already passed along the desire of Earth's people to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.

“It’s a commendable way of doing things,” Hendirim told everyone seated in the conference on Midan, referring to the collective human decision to work the land they were allocated on Tau Ceti 5a. “The human people are resilient, as I have seen. They remind me a great deal of our own people during the war years.”

The war years for Klankharis went between Earth’s calendar date of 1056 and 1080 CE, and had involved a great deal of bitter fighting against the Possessors the first time around. At this time, Klankharis Prime was the only world to exist for them, and the war had decimated them to such a point that they were reduced to almost nothing.

It was a difficult war to fight for the Klankharii, as Stephen and the others had discovered. Consequently, both people now had something in common.

“How are your people?” Hendirim went on to ask.

Davidson answered. “Our medical officer has begun to take part in medical duties on the colony world,” he told everyone. “Most people try not to let her do too much in light of her present condition. John has begun to train the others in how to cook,” Davidson continued with a hint of amusement. “It’s been a long standing joke that he always made everyone ill from his own cooking, though he’s actually pretty good at it now.”

John began taking up the art of cooking as soon as everyone was brought to the new home world, alongside keeping busy with his tutoring Edward in the Klankharii language and Mephicia in English. Helen, while she was approaching the second trimester of her pregnancy, was adamant that she would be involved in the medical planning that was to take place with respect to the Earth survivors.

“Stephen?” someone called out.

Stephen had been letting his mind wander over various people, and he had just started to think of Janet and how she was changing, when he was brought back to the present by Hendirim's gently but authoritative voice.

“Sorry, I was miles away,” he said quickly. “Did I miss something?”

Everyone smiled tolerantly at him. “We were mentioning how well the survivors were looking since we brought them here,” Hendirim told him.

This was astonishingly accurate, Stephen agreed silently. With few exceptions, every survivor from Earth was looking healthier, more vibrant, younger. Once proper medical infrastructure was in place, any minor, chronic or residual health issues currently being monitored would be fixed. The Klankharis Research Division had put Earth's medical knowledge to good use.

There was a knock on the huge conference hall doors. Hendirim pushed a button on the table surface, and the doors swung open. Two guards stood in the doorway, while Miradima passed them into the conference hall. The doors closed again.

“Apologies for the delay,” Miradima told them all. “The testing of the defensive systems around the Sirius system took longer than expected.”

“How did they perform?” Hendirim asked.

“Excellently,” Miradima replied. “Power output has doubled, efficiency has increased to ninety-three percent.”

“That is most excellent news,” Hendirim replied. “Would you like to sit, fleet commander?”

Stephen gave a start at the title accorded Miradima. He had no idea she had been promoted to commander of the entire fleet. Neither did she, according to her surprised exclamation. “Prime?”

“Your promotion was approved two days ago,” he replied. “We are in dire need of strong leadership, ever since Darlamar retired on health grounds three weeks ago. You’ve been the best choice for us since meeting the humans.”

Clearly she had to absorb this information, as she sat slowly, next to Davidson. “Thank you,” she replied, clearly speechless otherwise.

Stephen believed strongly that she had deserved such an honour, especially as she was so instrumental in defending Earth against the enemy. Thoughts of what happened haunted him from time to time, and he felt uncomfortable in the hot conference room.

“It is difficult to get away from, I understand,” Hendirim suddenly told him. “Your thoughts are clear from your discomfort. Do you wish to take a recess?”

“No sir,” Stephen replied. “Just some unwelcome thoughts. I’m ready.”

“Very well. Shall we begin?”

“Yes,” Miradima replied, pressing a key on a pad she had extracted from her breast pocket. “The plans for a new alliance against the enemy.”

* * *

Edward was at something of a loss.

He had minutes ago been notified by the Tau Cetians that Jason and Leila had been caught pilfering from one of the human food stockpiles nearby, and that he would need to visit to address the situation. What had compounded the situation was that John Malakhi was in the area, had attempted to intervene, and was subsequently attacked by Jason. He was angered once again by his son's insistence on resorting to violence in a situation where violence was not called for, and he was not entirely sure how to go about dealing with this. After further clarification, Edward had been advised that Jason had struck out at John, whose injuries were moderate but not life-threatening or life-altering, and had used the excuse that John was making Leila feel unsafe.

It was no secret that Jason was very protective of his younger sister, but it was also unlikely that John had meant any harm. Indeed, witnesses to the altercation reported that John made no attempt to approach anyone other than Jason himself, so Jason's accusation that he was attempting to intimidate or assault Leila was, in itself, a lie.

That alone made Edward furious. He taught all of his children better than that.

"Mr. Mensar, the assailant is in the holding cell if you wish to speak to him," one of the English-speaking Tau Cetian guards told him, interrupting his brooding thoughts.

Edward nodded, stood up and approached the guard. "Take me to him before I change my mind, please."

* * *

"YOU BELIEVE THEM?!" Jason roared at Edward from the holding cell that he was trapped behind. The loudness of his voice was modulated by the audio systems that were the only way to communicate with people behind the glass-like window.

Edward had listened to Jason complain about being manhandled by the guards, wondering when it was that his own son had become so... Whiny, for lack of a better word. Throughout their entire lives on Earth, Jason had no other choice but to defend himself from others, and knew when to keep his mouth shut in the face of odds. This was how Edward knew he was lying with every word he spoke.

"You lost the right to get indignant at me-"

"Speak in fuckin' English, Pops!"

Edward waited to see if Jason was going to go on and make any other outburst. When he didn't, he continued. "I am speaking in English, Jason. And as I was saying, you have no right to get indignant at me for-"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WORD MEANS!"

"And yet I thought I taught you better than that," Edward replied coldly to his son.

"You know what? FUCK YOU!"

Edward started to walk away.

"No, wait! You CAN'T! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THESE-"

"If you finish that sentence," Edward turned sharply to face Jason behind the cell, allowing some of his fury to show on his expression. "You and I will never speak again. You will be dead to me, I will leave you to face the authorities of this colony entirely without any support whatsoever, and I will make sure that no-one decent ever speaks to you again. Do I make myself clear?" Jason's expression was defiant. Edward was ready to walk away. "I asked you a question-"

"I heard you!"

"Then wipe that look off of your face before I assume you mean to kill me in my sleep and instruct these guards to take the necessary precautions."

Jason's expression changed from angry defiance to shock in an instant. "I would never do that to you-"

"DO NOT LIE TO ME!" Edward roared. "You steal supplies from common food stores, attack an innocent party whose only 'crime' was to intervene on behalf of the colony, three months after you assaulted and badly injured his colleague for no good reason at all-"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR-"

"Was it fair when you beat him to within an inch of his life just because you chose to jump to a conclusion rather than do even the simplest of fact checks?" Edward glared at Jason, hard. "Did I not teach you better than that?"

"I didn't do it!"

Edward continued to glare at Jason. "That's the last time you insult me."

After a moment, Jason resumed glaring at his father again. Edward no longer cared. "You wanna claim insult because you don't like what I'm saying? Whatever. See if I give a fuck."

Remembering the trick that John had used last time, Edward maintained the cold expression on his face and simply asked "So what?"

Jason punched the glass, screaming at his father. The material was stronger than any glass-like material Edward had ever seen, and the glass didn't even flex or distort. Not a single sound could be heard except over the audio pick-ups. "FUCK THE MIND GAMES!"

"Indeed," Edward told Jason. "Fuck the mind games, indeed. Starting with your deliberate attempt to lie to the guards who detained you for stealing, your attempt to lie your way out of the situation-"

"I'M NOT LYING! YOU KEEP-"

Edward turned to the guard as Jason continued his tirade in words that Edward was no longer listening to. "Can you see to it that his pick-ups are disabled while mine remain active?"

The guard, a male who had reasonable English speaking skills, nodded. He tapped a few controls on a nearby panel, and the sound from inside the cell ceased. Now the hallway was deathly quiet. It might be comical seeing Jason gesticulate wildly and scream silently at the glass, if the situation weren't so serious.

"Now I can hear myself think," Edward continued quietly, while maintaining his glare at Jason. "I suggest you stop throwing your arms around like a crazy person and listen to what I say. It might be the only chance you'll ever have.

"You will no doubt continue to lie in the future, as you have done today in the presence of these guards and myself, and no doubt you will continue to deny anything that you have done, but know this. There are cameras set up everywhere that valuable or sensitive items are kept. They caught you stealing from the stores. They also caught you beating your fists against John's body when he attempted to intervene. They also caught the fact that, at no point, did John approach or even look at Leila. I know they caught all of these things, because I watched the video for myself before coming here, SO I KNOW YOU HAVE LIED TO ME!

"Now you can tell me again and again how you don't care about this or that or whatever else you want to, just because you want to behave like a defiant martyr, but that's not going to work, because you are not the center of the universe, Jason. You do not get to dictate what is or is not important to deal with just by claiming you do or don't care. That's not how it works." Edward stopped as Jason screamed silently at the glass again. He didn't need audio to read what Jason had screamed. He was again screaming that he didn't care. "Yes, yes, you don't care. That's been made abundantly clear. What difference does it make? The only difference it will make is whether or not you will make things worse for yourself, because there is no room in human society any longer for people who do not care about other people than themselves..." Edward stopped to take a breath, his expression softening as he realized what he was about to do. "You don't care about anyone other than yourself, and you are using your familial connection to your sister as an excuse to brutalize an innocent man. I taught you better than that. I taught you better than to lie to me, or to anyone else.

"I can no longer do anything to, or for you. Your sister needs guidance, and she needs protection, things that she cannot get from someone who would use her as you have done." Jason threw his fist at the glass again. Edward didn't flinch. "You can deny it all you want, but you have been proven a liar more than once, so I will never believe a word out of your lying mouth... Ever... Again."

Jason punched the glass repeatedly. Edward, despite becoming concerned about Jason hurting himself, remained still and kept his expression blank. Eventually, Jason ran out of steam, cradling his wrist.

Edward continued. "Consider these my last words to you. Any harm you try to carry out against anyone on this colony world or among our allies will be dealt with by the colonist leadership as they see fit. I will not intervene. You will not have me as an advocate or as- I know, you don't care, you never did care about anyone other than yourself, and now that's going to come back to haunt you for the rest of your life. You can live with your decisions. You want to steal, you'll be punished. You want to beat a man, you will be punished. You want to lie about it, you will be punished. And I will see to it that you are punished to the maximum extent that the colony laws permit. You will never see your sister for as long as you continue to lie and to steal from your fellow humans on this colony, and I will see to it that no-one ever trusts a word out of your lying mouth again.

"Goodbye, Jason."

Edward then stormed out of there before his cold facade could slip. He knew what he had just condemned Jason to, and he felt bad about it, but it was essential that Jason not know, lest he try to manipulate his father emotionally in order to get out of the consequences he deserves for his actions.

John was waiting for him outside the holding facility. "I saw on the video feeds," he said somberly. "Damn, Edward. That was harsh."

Edward blew out a shaky breath. "I know," he said quietly, bowing his head regretfully. "I hated doing it, but what other choice do I have right now? He clearly isn't going to listen to anyone, and if he's willing to lie like he has about this sort of thing, what about more severe things that are bound to happen in his future?"

"Hey, I get it," John reassured Edward, holding his hands to his sides placatingly. "It was a tough call. I just hope it works."

Edward nodded as he looked back up to John. "Me too," he replied. "How are your injuries?"

"Actually, pretty minor considering," John replied, flexing his left arm where Jason had punched repeatedly trying to get to John's head. "Though I gotta say, he's a damn sight stronger now than he was three months ago."

That wasn't much of a surprise, Edward thought. Even the oldest of the survivors was still young enough to benefit from the increased nutritional provisions that had been the staple of their diet since being rescued from the surface of Earth. Edward himself was stronger, faster, and a variety of irritating health problems had vanished within weeks. The shakes that used to plague him daily had all but vanished, and his hands and legs had never felt this steady. No doubt this was true of everyone in the colony.

"Is there a trained field medic nearby?" Edward asked, hoping that John would not begrudge him wanting to get Jason some medical treatment after the punches he threw at the almost indestructible holding cell glass. "I'm worried he might have broken something punching that glass."

* * *

Janet paced like a tiger in the ante-room off of the meeting hall where Stephen and his fellow crew-mates were holding their planning session. Her mood was already in the garbage pits because she had been excluded from it due to her "volatile nature", and now she had been informed by one of her people that Jason had been arrested for stealing from food stores, and for attacking John. Janet had previously been curious about why John was not present for this meeting, and now the question had been answered. She was feeling like a caged animal and needed to unleash all her pent up energies on someone. She knew it was useless, but it didn't stop her feeling frustrated and angry at the situation.

While her thoughts continued to storm through her mind, the hall doors opened, and everyone began filing out. Stephen was one of the first to leave, and spotted her pacing just as she spotted him. Both approached each other.

"What's up?" he asked, just as she asked "Can we go talk somewhere quiet?"

Stephen nodded to her and led the way to another building nearby. Like most of the buildings in their colony town, it was utilitarian and sparse, designed to provide limited shelter and privacy for its occupants. This was one of a small number of administration buildings with working areas and a couple of meeting rooms, one of which Stephen entered, Janet following not far behind.

She had never seen the inside of a clean building like this before landing on this planet, and she had been here only a few months, but she was quickly becoming used to the white walls, fake wooden table tops with sturdy if skeletal metal legs bolted to the floors, and movable green seats that could be adjusted in all kinds of ways Janet had never even thought might be needed but certainly helped when she had to sit in them for any length of time. Stephen had referred to them as office chairs, and she supposed that was appropriate for where they were used.

Sitting in one of them now, Stephen turned to her. His injuries had healed now, and he was the same as he had been before Jason's previous attack. Thinking about that assault made Janet's temper flare again, and she started pacing.

"Talk to me," he said quietly to her.

"Fuckin' Jason again!" She yelled, throwing her arms out as she did and whirling in Stephen's direction. "He's been caught stealing from storage areas. Claims he needed to get food for him and his sister, then he beats John when he tried to intervene, and then when he's arrested, claims that John was making moves on Leila."

"That doesn't sound right at all," Stephen commented.

"No, it doesn't, does it?!" Janet could not help snapping at Stephen at that point. Jason really was beginning to anger her with his constant defiant behaviour. It was causing problems among the security people whose job it was to ensure no violence or looting took place, and it was inciting others to rebel, when no rebelliousness was called for or of any help to their situation at all. "What's pissing me off is that she's backing up his story. I need to get to the bottom of this, and I'm not looking forward to talking to their father about it."

Stephen's frown did not help her mood, but his question was innocent enough given he didn't know Edward. "Why not?"

"Because he's obviously going to take their side in this, Stephen!" She stopped pacing, faced a wall and pushed at it with both hands, allowing herself to lean into it, head falling slightly as she let out a frustrated breath. "Jason's going to be a problem for the colony. He's always been a wildcard, and he's always been strong-willed and independent."

"Those aren't bad traits," Stephen countered in a quiet voice. "They're actually very useful."

"Yeah," Janet pushed herself off of the wall and walked to one of the office chairs near Stephen, sitting herself down in it. "But it needs direction. You know this as well as I."

Janet would later realize in surprise, that she had very quickly calmed down on her own, that Stephen had helped in that by remaining calm himself, and more importantly, she was far more easily able to reason her way around the colony's problems than she had ever been able to. For now, she was still concerned about dealing with this problem.

"Well," Stephen suggested. "Hopefully we will be able to find a good outlet for his mind." Having no other response for the moment, Janet nodded. Stephen continued. "We'd better get Edward in to have a chat."

Janet felt her chest thump heavily at that one. She definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

A few moments later, when Edward had joined them in their room, she was utterly floored by his attitude.

"I've stopped talking to him," Edward announced, an edge to his voice, though his expression remained placid. "He's gone too far."

"What do you mean?" Stephen asked. Janet hoped for something to explain this.

"You both need to see this," he said, extracting a small card from his jacket and dropping it into one of the desk slots. The wall at the end of the meeting room they were in changed color from white to black, and then video footage began to play back. Two views presented themselves. One was a stack of crates in a food storage room, the other was for the corridor outside the building.

They all watched as Jason and Leila both entered the storage room from the corridor after having snuck past a patrolling guard, beginning to open crates. These crates were packed with MREs, the kind that resembled ready-made foods that Stephen and the others of the Tau Ceti crew had sustained themselves off of while they were in the artificial gravity environment their ship produced during their two years in orbit of Tau Ceti 5. Jason started removing them from the crates along with his sister, talking quietly to each other, and removing not one, not two, but dozens at a time. He wouldn't have been able to carry those, even with his sister's help. Someone else might well have been needed, and that had yet to be explained.

John came into view in the corridor, walking past the door initially before seeming to realize that something was amiss. He quietly approached the door and slowly opened it. Jason was then seen to be looking over at the unseen door in surprise.

"What are you doing in-" John began, but was cut off as Jason had jumped off camera in one view and into the other view, where Jason had propelled John against the opposite door and started pummeling John with punches. John was defending himself as best he could in the confined space, and within seconds, three Tau Cetian guards-people had intervened and contained the situation. Jason was walked out of view by two of the guards, and Leila had been escorted by the third. John was resting against the wall as playback ended.

Edward sat down in the chairs opposite Janet and Stephen. "Jason tried to claim that Leila's well-being was being threatened by John, and that's why he assaulted him. He didn't know at that point that I had already seen this footage."

Stephen nodded silently. Janet was angry still, but for very different reasons to those she had stalked into this room believing were true.

"I suspected John was innocent of the claims Jason was making," Janet spoke in a low, guarded voice. "How many others know that there are cameras in the store buildings and admin offices?"

"No-one," Stephen replied immediately. "Only the Tau Cetian security details they've established here have the knowledge of their existence, and possibly Davidson and John. I didn't know they had been put in."

"Well, after what you've seen, now you know why I refuse to associate with Jason any longer," Edward replied, though his voice was strained, and he looked a little haggard. "He's on his own, and I won't intervene in any punishment that is meted out against him."

Janet nodded once, then looked to Stephen. "Court-martial or civilian court?"

"That'll be for you to decide," Stephen told her. "You're more skilled in administration of a population than I ever will be."

"Is that why they excluded me from your meeting earlier?" She couldn't help the edge to her voice. It still stung.

Stephen didn't say anything for a few minutes, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't like that either, but can we talk about that later, please?"

"We have to earn trust," Edward replied before Janet could say anything else, though she desperately wanted to. "That takes time, and we've only been here a few months. Notwithstanding the fact that we are all changing..." he trailed off as he gestured toward Janet's body.

It was true, of course. In the few months since arriving at this colony, she had slowly added weight. No longer could she see her own ribcage when looking at herself in a mirror, her hips appeared rounder, her arms slightly thicker, and her skin a slightly darker and far less gray-tinged brown. Her hair had also started to take on a sheen and a silkiness she had never known in her life. Painful hunger pangs were mostly a thing of the past, only ever occurring if she had on the odd occasion been caught up in an activity and forgotten to eat. To avoid gluttonous behavior among the survivors, Helen had distributed nutrition packs and instructions among the survivors about the importance of careful planning of their nutrition. Most people chose to use MREs and vitamin-laced water to avoid having to plan meals. Not everyone could make their own meals and balance their nutritional needs. The results were promising, and Janet felt stronger and healthier than she had ever been in her life.

"I have been feeling frustrated lately at having nothing for me to think about," Janet admitted. She did indeed feel the need to chew over a complex mental problem, something she neither had the luxury nor ability to do before. She wasn't the smartest person on the planet. She wasn't even the smartest person in this room, but she wasn't a moron either, and her intellect was slowly developing as her health improved. "I'm still hoping I can make myself useful."

"There's another meeting about colony management in two days," Stephen told her. "I'm going to insist you be included in it."

Pessimistically, Janet didn't believe that Stephen was likely to affect the outcome too much, especially as Davidson seemed to have it all in hand and was still unsure of her, but she was nonetheless grateful Stephen was willing to try. She took his hand and squeezed it, hoping to convey her gratitude. "Wanna go get something from the cafeteria?"

She did not miss Edward's smile as he stood at that moment. "That'll be my cue to go and discuss this with security." With that being said, he stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

In the quiet of the room that Edward's departure left them, Janet let go of Stephen's hand and took his face in both her hands. "I don't say it often enough, but thanks," she spoke quietly before landing a brief kiss on his lips, feeling his smile as she did so. He leaned into it, and for some minutes, that's all they did. "Come on, let's go get to the Cafeteria before something else happens that we need to deal with."