The Horicon Experience (28 page)

∞∞∞

The paperwork the operations officer had to fill out was the kind he always hated – to report the death of a planet and its population.

The impact of the Red-tail weapon was equal to that of a meteor a hundred miles in diameter striking the planet’s surface at many thousands of miles per second. Their fragile atmosphere became a constant swirl of radioactive cloud and fallout. The intense heat of the nuclear blasts destroyed their ozone layer and upper stratosphere, allowing their sun’s rays to burn down unmercifully on the planet unhindered.

The operations officer made note in his report that they were very fortunate the tearing of space around the destroyed planet did not result in the collapse of their primary star and the destruction of their entire solar system. He’d seen it before.

“That Captain Citti sure called this one right,” the officer muttered to himself. “He saw it coming that very first day and we were too slow to respond. And no survivors.”

However, he really did not expect there to be any survivors. He knew the intense nuclear heat, in tandem with the sun’s unrelenting rays, would create an oven-like environment from which the heat could not escape. It would melt the planet’s polar caps causing devastating flooding, swallowing the continents and washing away whole mountain ranges. Cities would fall into the surging seas. People lucky enough to survive the initial blast and fallout would either drown or suffer fatal radiation poisoning or perish in nuclear winter. With any luck at all, a few of the primitive tribes that live deep in jungle regions or mountainous sanctuaries might survive and become the foundation of a new civilization.

But officer knew within himself that in another twenty thousand years when nature could restore the stratosphere, an ice age would begin, turning the entire planet into a frozen wilderness of barren, lifeless solitude
. Even if a few survive, there’s very little hope for their future
, he thought.

The operations officer closed his file and signaled the comm operator.

“Yes, sir?” came the reply over the intercom.

“Send a flash message to all watcher and picket ships. Abandon position and proceed to secondary assignment.”

“Yes, sir,” came the sad reply.

“Comm, inform Shalimar that the planet is beyond recovery. Also inform the Council of Nine that we won’t need that liaison officer now.”

“Right away, sir. Comm out.”

The operations officer leaned back in his chair, holding the condemning report in his hand. Perhaps they could rescue a few of the people from the doomed planet. They might even be able to rehabilitate these people into Galactic Axia society.

No, thought the officer. Why risk the safety of the Axia by grafting in people who destroyed their world out of their own shortsightedness and moral decay? Why allow into civilized society a people that thought so little of itself that they were willing to destroy themselves instead of living in peace with their neighbors?

The operations officer opened the file folder and made a final note on the last page.

Target planet closed. Orbital integrity and atmospheric stability destroyed. Red-tail equipment also destroyed. Restrictive quarantine ordered. Automated monitoring equipment installed on the planet’s nearest moon. End of report.

∞∞∞

Three days later Stan was gone. It was a lonely shuttle ride back from the spaceport for Delmar. When he got to the campus transit station, it was with slow steps that he climbed the stairs to the surface.

He was walking past the main entrance of the campus when the horn of a ground vehicle startled him out of his gloomy thoughts. Looking up, he was surprised to see the Senders in a rented carry-rig.

“Are you going to get out of the street, or do we just run you down?” Sherry called from her window. Delmar laughed and stepped to the side of the driveway so Jake could pull the rig up even with him.

“You’re just coming back from the spaceport, aren’t you?” Jake asked, leaning forward to see around his wife.

“That’s right,” Delmar answered. “How’d you know?”

“You forget,” Sherry said. “We’ve said good-bye a few times ourselves. Now get in,” she added and opened the door. Delmar squeezed in and Jake turned the rig around and headed off campus.

“Where are you taking me?” Delmar asked. “Or should I ask?” Sherry and Jake both grinned at him. “You people are always eating!” he said with a smile. “All right, let’s go!”

A short time later found the three at Sherry’s favorite local smorgasbord again. The Senders plied Delmar with questions.

“Have you heard anything about your assignment to another school yet?” Sherry asked.

“Not yet,” Delmar answered. “Should be today though.”

“Well, in that case, this should interest you,” Jake said, pulling an envelope out of his pocket. He handed it to the young man. Delmar looked at him in shock.

“How did you . . .” he started to say when he saw that it was from the Personnel Department.

“We picked it up from the liaison officer on our way here,” Sherry answered. “Service Liaison Chaplains enjoy certain privileges. Now read!”

TO: Trooper Delmar Eagleman,     Mica Computer Training Institute, Mica City, Mica

Report at the earliest possible date to the liaison officer of your district for immediate transit to the Galactic Axia flight training base on Rodar. Present this order to the training officer for admission into the Observation Training School for instruction in Survey. You are required to present yourself to the base medical office for a pre-flight training physical as soon as practically possible.

Major Naskele, Personnel Department

Delmar looked up at the Senders, his face mirroring his shock.

“I got it,” he whispered. “And flight training too.”

Sherry squealed and Jake pounded Delmar on the back. Delmar just sat there in stunned disbelief.

The afternoon passed quickly. The trio finished lunch and the Senders gave Delmar a lift to the liaison office. A trooper-first reviewed Delmar’s orders and then checked the schedule of outbound service ships.

“We can ship you out mid-afternoon tomorrow,” he announced.

“That would be just fine,” Delmar replied happily.

The trooper filled out some paperwork and handed Delmar the second copy.

“Here’s your copy of the transit orders. Report to pad 9-Baker by three tomorrow afternoon and give this to the ship’s load master.”

“Thank you sir,” Delmar said with a grin.

The trooper looked at the happy young man before him. “Now get out of here,” he said, reflecting Delmar’s smile, “and have a good trip.”

Delmar and the Senders spent the rest of the evening loading the furniture into the Sender’s rented carry-rig. He asked Jake how he was going to get the furniture the several hundred miles back to Port Mulvey. “You’d be surprised how big the hold is in one of those transport ships,” Jake answered. “I’ll just drive it in, park it, and then drive it back off when we get home.”

“And the rig?” Delmar asked.

“I’ll turn it in to the rental agency in Port Mulvey, They have branch offices all over the planet.” Delmar nodded his understanding.

Delmar set his travel kit and uniforms on his bed and packed the rest of the things he had collected. It was getting dark by the time they had all of the furniture and boxes securely loaded. It was too late to take his school computer back to the equipment office, so Delmar decided to take care of it the next morning.

Jake locked the carry-rig and the three headed over to the school cafeteria.

“The least I can do is buy you one meal,” Delmar said as they approached the food synthesizer. Delmar entered his student ID number and then waved the Senders forward. Jake and Sherry smiled at each other and moved up to make their selections. Delmar made his choice and then all three took their trays to a table near the windows.

“Before we remove the covers, I insist that we pray,” Jake said firmly.

“What’s wrong?” Delmar asked. “You don’t trust synthesized food?”

“You got that one right!”

They bowed their heads while Jake offered thanks. Delmar managed to keep a straight face. Stan had told the Senders about the improvements in the quality of the synthesized food since Ert had adjusted the programming, but neither of them believed such improvements possible. When Jake finished the prayer, they raised their heads and looked at each other. Jake cocked an eyebrow and lifted his tray cover.

There in front of him was a perfect steak and baked potato dinner. On the side was a dinner salad. All of the synthesized food looked perfect in both appearance and texture. Jake looked up at Delmar, shock clearly registered on his face. Sherry removed her tray cover and examined her food. Her seafood platter looked fresh and delicious. Her surprise was obvious. All eyes focused on Delmar’s tray.

Lifting the cover, Delmar’s smug expression fell when he beheld his hot roast beef dinner. It looked anything but appetizing. The bread had a green tinge while the slices of roast beef looked closely related to corrugated cardboard. Covering both was a vaguely bluish gravy. The corn on the side was the right shade of yellow, but it was covered with red and green polka dots. Delmar’s jaw hung slack while Jake and Sherry laughed at his expression.
Ert
, he thought.

“I told you prayer changes things,” Jake said and dug into his repast.

∞∞∞

After dinner, the Senders drove off campus to their motel. Delmar walked back to the dorm and went up to his room, entering what had been his home for the last several months. Taken back by the starkness of the place, he’d forgotten how bare it had been before Sherry had redecorated after taking the boys shopping.

As he moved across the barren room, he noticed the message light blinking on his school computer. Curiosity got the best of him and he turned on the machine. A quick scan of the log revealed only one message. He activated the file and a few lines appeared on the screen.

I WANTED TO CONTACT YOU BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR RODAR. IT HAS BEEN ENJOYABLE WORKING WITH YOU. I WILL KEEP IN TOUCH. THERE ARE MANY INTERESTING THINGS IN YOUR AXIA THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS. HAVE A GOOD TRIP TOMORROW.

YOUR FRIEND, ERT

P.S. HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR DINNER!

∞∞∞

Delmar’s last morning on campus was hectic. After breakfast at the cafeteria, (although he was suspicious, the French toast was perfect), he went back to his room to pack his travel kit. That done, he packed the school computer into its original box and turned it in at the equipment office. On his way back to the dorm, he saw the Senders pulling onto campus in the rental carry-rig. He ran upstairs and grabbed his bags. On the way back down, he stopped and checked the bulletin board for a final time.

A single envelope hung precariously by a stickpin. It had Delmar’s name scribbled in pencil. He could see that it was from Professor Angle. Delmar stuffed it into his pocket for later and then stopped at the dorm office to turn in his room key.

Heading outside, he took his bags over to where Jake had parked the carry-rig and stowed his gear in the back. Delmar and Jake squeezed in beside Sherry and they drove off campus. It would be almost an hour before they crossed the city and parked the carry-rig in overflow parking at the spaceport. A shuttle carried the three of them to the terminal complex.

Their late lunch at the spaceport was more strained than Delmar would have liked. It always seemed that he was losing or leaving behind those he loved. This couple had been a significant part of his life these past months and he would sorely miss them.

All too soon, the boarding call sounded for Delmar’s transport. It was when he hugged Jake and Sherry that the stiffness he had been experiencing all morning seemed to lift. They pulled apart and without another word Delmar gave them the Axia salute and walked out to the waiting ship.

After stowing his bags, Delmar found his seat and was pleased to see that it was next to a window. His view of the landing pads was excellent. Unexpectedly, the ship’s captain spoke over the intercom.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “If you will look out the starboard side of the ship, you will be able to see Empress Ane’s ship, the
Mary Belle
, landing on pad 2-Alpha.” Everyone jammed over to the windows to see the sight.

From his window seat vantage, Delmar could see the oblong cylinder of the
Mary Bell
e
come in for a smooth landing. Being only the size of a private freighter, the larger ships dwarfed it by comparison. Delmar was admiring the resplendent Mican-blue paint and Axia seal on the
Mary Belle
when he heard someone mention that it was the third or fourth paint job for the little ship.

A second announcement by the captain instructed everyone to return to their seats for lift off. Delmar was able to continue watching the Empresses ship, but unfortunately, the forward hatch was on the side facing away from Delmar’s transport so he was unable to see who came out. From all of the fanfare, he suspected that Empress Ane herself was onboard.

From their vantage point in the terminal, the Senders also watched the
Mary Belle
land. Everywhere that ship went it caused a stir. When it had landed, they turned their attention back to Delmar’s transport. They watched the ground crew remove the power connections and secure the hatches. Seconds later they watched it silently lift into space, carrying a part of their lives with it.

∞∞∞

Captain George Citti and Akir Asmed stood on the hanger deck of the mothership. They also felt the sadness of the rest of the crew. They knew they had been too late to save the closed planet from destroying itself. To George and Akir the one good thing that had come of their mission was the foundation of a new friendship. George hoped it would be a lifelong friendship.

“So, where are you off to?” Akir asked George.

“I’ve been assigned Watcher duty over the planet Panay out on the rim,” George answered.

“Panay?” Akir replied. “I’ve never heard of it.”