REDEMPTION
— by Jeff Karamales
Chapter 18
Simulation Blues
AHCP
Facility TS-7, or as it was more commonly called by the Anthro Human
Colonization Project personnel that ran it, the Arboretum, was specifically
chosen and established for its similarity to the colony sites on Bastien and
Monarch. A small monitoring station was located at the far eastern edge of
the land that had been purchased and kept track of potential trespassers.
The three hundred square mile facility was divided into four training sites
and offered several terrain types ranging from mountains, lakes and rivers,
bogs and the thick woodlands Washington State was known for.
There were no roads leading to the different training zones and delivery of
the Abeona colony group was done by a civilian model of the Sikorsky CH-53
helicopter that was one of the largest available and able to transport all
of the colonists at once. Twenty-eight Furs sat in the jump seats along the
sides of the interior, the simple steel tube and nylon seats providing a
somewhat crowded compartment. They were blind to their approach to the
training area as the huge aircraft had no windows they could look out of and
had no indication of what waited for them.
Closest to the rear cargo ramp that formed the door were Sofiya and Hector.
The red fox watched as her First Officer swallowed hard at a stomach
churning buffet, not at all thrilled with flying.
“You ain’t gonna get sick, are you?” the loadmaster for the large helo asked
from where he stood next to the ramp, one hand on a safety rail while the
other was hooked by his thumb in the equipment belt worn over his light grey
flight suit with the AHCP patch on left breast and shoulder.
The South American grey fox started to shake his head no when another lurch
caused his stomach to heave and he nodded vigorously. The loadmaster was
able to get him a sick bag right at the last moment before the Fur’s
breakfast wound up on the deck.
“Don’t worry, buddy!” the man said, running a finger under the headband of
his flight helmet as he worked a large wad of chewing gum around his mouth
for all it was worth. “This ol’ bird ain’t falling outta the sky today! And
at least it ain’t like my last job on one o’ these babies! Used to get shot
at a lot! This ain’t nothing!”
Hector smiled weakly before plunging his snout back into the bag.
“So who were you with?” Richard asked with interest.
The loadmaster looked at the silver fox, figuring the Fur would never have
heard of the unit. “1799th Pararescue outta McDill Air Force Base. I don’t
reckon you’d have heard of us.”
“Are you kidding?” the silver fox said with a grin. “Good group! Real
professional!”
The man cocked his head, his jaws working on his bubble gum even more
furiously. “What were you with?”
“Marines. We all heard about the 1799th’s rescue of the Embassy in
Venezuela. Like I said, real professional!”
The loadmaster grinned in response. The Embassy personnel had already been
evacuated when the trouble started over a U.S. company pulling out of a bid
for access to the rich oil fields, which would have meant a number of jobs
for Venezuelans. Instead, one of the Arabian consortiums had gotten in and
brought their own work force with them. It had caused quite the uproar in
Caracas and when the protests targeted the diplomatic complex, the only ones
left by the time the irate crowd arrived were the Embassy Marines.
Further conversation was halted when the small box next to the loadmaster
flashed red. “Okay, folks! We’re two minutes out! Before we crack the hatch,
we’ll be treating this as an actual landing. That means you’ll need to wait
the approximate time for a ship to cool off before you can depart, and then,
‘for we crack the door, the pilot will be reading us the conditions outside.
“The cargo containers with your materials and equipment are already on the
ground, so once you’re out you can go ahead and start settin’ up. While a
real ship would be down for a few days so’s the crew could get a little down
time, we’ll be headin’ out after half an hour on the ground. Any questions?”
No one had anything to ask and the loadmaster nodded before giving Sofiya
and Richard a wink. They’d all been debriefed prior to boarding the
helicopter and knew that the training protocols that had been established
would treat the drop off at the training site as authentically as possible.
It wasn’t as realistic as their actual landing on Bastien would be, but it
was a fair facsimile.
With a long turn and sudden drop, the helicopter landed with enough of an
impact that many of the Furs grunted as they were crushed down momentarily
into their seats. From the cockpit the pilot and copilot shut down the
turbines that powered the gigantic rotors and within moments the whole of
the CH-53 went still and quiet. The loadmaster looked at his watch and
waited for the requisite time to pass before signaling that he was ready to
the flight’s captain. Over an intercom system that was nearly useless while
the aircraft had been in flight due to the noise, the pilot read out the
atmospheric conditions outside. Everything from the actual composition of
the air to temperature, relative humidity and wind speed and direction were
called out.
“Roger that,” the loadmaster said with a final crack of his gum, which he
pulled out and stuck to the strut next to the rear door. “We’re popping the
seal.”
Cool, damp air flooded the compartment, dissipating the seemingly permanent
reek of jet fuel. Sofiya, others in the compartment mimicking her, closed
her eyes and turned her nose to the clean air that wafted over her. It
smelled of recent rain, forest loam, plants, growth and decay along with a
number of different animals that had been in the immediate area before the
helicopter landed.
“You are clear to disembark,” the loadmaster told the Furs with a grin.
Sofiya had learned that many of the colony leaders before her had a small
ceremony that each performed upon stepping foot for the first time on their
respective worlds, but she was still undecided as to what would be fitting
for taking over from another group, and simply exited the aircraft and
motioned the others to gather round her while the flight crew got out and
stretched a bit before flying back.
“We have much to do. This weather may change at any moment, and it is most
important to get shelter and supplies taken care of first.” She saw many of
the Vulps agree with her and pressed on. “First to be done are the Great
Dome, operations, medical and storage. If there is time then to be putting
up personal domes will happen.”
The red fox vixen picked up a stick and knelt in front of a patch of bare
dirt and began to draw a diagram.
“From pictures and reports of Bastien, the layout of the colony is being
very random. That and we are unsure of the condition of many domes, so it is
my thought to put everything in a large circle around the most important
domes. Having the doorways facing in to the center is best.”
Hector and Richard looked at the crude drawing and both nodded in approval.
“That will enable us to help keep an eye on each other without being
intrusive,” the South American grey fox said. And with the Great Dome,
medical and operations in the center…I think this will work very well.”
“It reminds me of the way the Roman Legions set up encampments while on
campaign. It was easy to defend if something happened, the layout was
efficient,” Richard agreed.
“What do we need to defend against?” Suki Oniwa, an Asian red fox vixen from
the Toyohashi Class 12 group asked. The former electronics technician had a
furrow between her golden colored eyes. “The other colonists were there for
four years and nothing harmed them.”
Sofiya looked at the other female. “This is true,” she agreed, “but I would
rather be ready than not. Four years is not so long to learn all, and there
are large predators that we know of from the reports that they sent to
Earth. I would prefer to have all protected. It is easier to keep watch for
trouble.”
“But what about the domes that are already there?” Rupert Campbell asked.
“Why don’t we just move into those?”
This was another point that Sofiya had considered, but the idea hadn’t sat
well with her. “I do not want to use the domes that the original colonists
established,” she told the group. “I want to maintain the original site, but
as a memorial for those before us. I would not sleep well in a dome that one
of the other colonists had lived in for so long before dying. It
feels…wrong.” Before any questions could be hurled at her, the vixen pressed
on. “Of the pens for the animals, we will use, just as the equipment that is
still there. But I do not wish to disturb where the Felis colonists lived.
To me it would feel as if putting a house in a cemetery.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Hector said as he contemplated what Sofiya wanted.
He was ready to dismiss the idea of setting up and moving into what the
Felis had already established, though as he listened, he had to agree. It
would mean more work, but that was negligible to claiming the home of
another Fur that had died in the manner the Felis had. “I, for one, would
prefer not to begin our lives on Bastien living in a mausoleum.”
The others nodded or vocally agreed once their leader’s reasoning had been
stated, and Richard, sitting next to his vixen, had to admire how Sofiya got
the others to follow what she wanted without making it an order. While she
might seem soft spoken, there was a core of steel in her and if it came to
it, she could bring her formidable will to bear. His chest tightened more
than a little in pride and admiration for the female that he loved.
“If there is nothing more, we must begin. We must get the Great Dome built
soon I am thinking,” Sofiya told the group as she cast an eye towards the
sky that was growing a deeper grey by the minute. “Sleeping in mud is not
the way I wish to start the next eight weeks!”
All of the Abeona colonists took part in the construction of the Great Dome.
Each Vulps grabbed a batch of materials, either panels or segments of the
frame. As one half of the contingent headed back for the cargo containers
that had already been dropped off before their arrival, the other half began
to assemble the structure that would be large enough for all of them to
sleep in once complete.
Sofiya, Richard and Hector each made several trips for more materials before
assisting in putting the structure together. The vixen was one of the first
to start climbing the frame and linking the supports together in the
triangular pattern that made the dome. As the last few struts locked into
place, the vixen started accepting the clear panels and fasteners.
“Hector!” the vixen called out as she hung upside down with another panel in
her paw-like hands. When the grey fox paused and looked up, he had to smile
at the vision of Sofiya looking more like a chimpanzee than a fox as she
dangled from the upper portion of the structure by the backs of her knees.
“Gather a work team to begin the building of the animal pens. Richard, we
need to be getting the water storage put up so preparations for food can
begin.”
“We’re on it,” the silver fox replied cheerfully, standing as tall as
possible to give the vixen a quick kiss.
Sofiya accepted the kiss with a smile then turned back to her task. One of
the other advantages to being up in the framework of the dome was that it
was easier for her to look around at the progress the rest of her people
were making. With initial set-up being done so efficiently, two teams of
three had begun working on getting equipment unpacked that would go into the
kitchen section of the central structure, including the communications
system.
Two more teams were setting up the pens and two Furs were helping Richard
with the water storage system. The new item for colony use employed a frame
similar to what the domes were built from and would contain a large bladder
made of a semi-transparent plastic that would use sunlight to heat the water
it held. Small solar powered units would pump the water through a series of
ceramic, charcoal and fibrous filter disks while a device incorporated into
the design would bombard the water with a small, but powerful, ultraviolet
LED’s to kill microbes. The entire unit only weighed twenty pounds, and
three of them could process almost ten gallons each per minute. The filters
were so effective that they could actually process grey water and make it
potable, not that any of the Furs really wanted to test that.
One of the other new items were a refined solar shower, a refillable bag
that absorbed sunlight to heat water, that had been in use with campers for
decades, though the units they’d been given to test were supposed to be more
efficient. They would be taking six of these with stalls that could be
sealed to use on Bastien.
At the far side of the simulation site work crews had begun to construct the
domes that would be used for feed and supply sheds for the livestock and
another group was preparing to dig the pits for the latrines. Before the
latrine crew could even begin to break ground, Sofiya dropped down from the
upper frame of the nearly completed dome. “Charlotte, please be seeing that
the last panels are installed. I will be with the sanitation team.”
The other red fox nodded and scrambled upwards to take her friend’s place as
the other vixen loped across the compound. Sofiya arrived at the same time
as Matthew Sykes, the Adirondack Fur seeing the same problem that she had.
“Whoa, guys! This isn’t the best place for these!” the American said as he
waved his arms at the work crew.
The group was being guided by Neelu Rajpur. Before joining the AHCP, Neelu
had been an artist in India specializing in wood carving and painting. The
economics of her native land had forced her to give up her passion and she’d
volunteered when unable to find a sponsor for emigration. The Asian red fox
Fur looked up from where she and the others had been ready to start digging.
“Isn’t this far enough away from the rest of the colony? I measured it
first,” Neelu said as she looked past Matthew to the line of personal domes
that were being set up.
“Oh, they’re far enough away…until it rains,” the former construction worker
said with a chuckle. “It’s a little hard to see, but from here the ground
slopes right down into the middle of the whole place. If we get a hard
rain…well…”
The sanitation team looked horrified at what the American had just suggested
with one of the other vixens, Nan Pi-lei Quang from Viet Nam, rattling
something off in her native tongue. There was no mistaking the look of
disgust on her face or the shudder of revulsion.
“I ain’t sure what you said, Nan, but I think I agree with you!” Matthew
said with a laugh. “I saw a little spot over to the left here that slopes
the other way that might be better, and it heads away from the river, too. I
think there might be less rock as well. C’mon, I’ll give ya’ll a hand. It’ll
go quicker with all of us workin’ on it.”
Sofiya was impressed at the red fox male’s ability to explain why the place
the team had selected for the latrines wasn’t safe, and nodded at his
solution and offer to assist. He smiled at her as they passed by, a bundle
of stall panels on his back and a pick-axe in his paw as he led the crew to
a better location. Sofiya wasn’t sure if they could get cholera or other
diseases that stemmed from poor sanitation, but she was happy to forego
experimenting to discover the answer. She’d seen enough of the havoc poor
sanitation could cause from her time with the UN.
Once the Great Dome was completed, the kitchen equipment set up inside, and
what would be the colony operations dome, a place that she could always have
at least one Fur working that would know how to get hold of her or Hector at
all times and route communications if need be, smaller domes began to pop up
at about one every twenty minutes. The paddock fences had already been set
up with yet more test items in the way of simple, inexpensive motion sensors
for the fence posts that would detect any animal approaching the livestock
that was larger than a house cat and sound an alarm.
Like so many other things they would be taking, the sensors were solar
powered. The tops of the devices were half spherical photo-sensitive cells
that would recharge batteries that were the latest in lithium-ion technology
with a more efficient recharge rate and longer charge life. They were also
in the flashlights that were charged by shaking them, and the small but
durable radios that had been redesigned for Fur use.
Most of the colonies that had already been sent out used solid state hand
transceivers that could clip to the waistband of shorts, or lanyards or even
be put in a pocket. The ones the Abeona group had were even smaller with
casings that were the same sort of ballistic plastic many militaries used in
their equipment, and there were even little earpieces that would loop around
a Fur’s ear with a thin boom microphone for hands-free voice-activated
operation, though they could also use the radio in the traditional hand-held
manner. The antenna was entirely contained in the radio, that part made of a
thin alloy wire over a mile long if it were stretched out and coiled within
the device. An external antenna was also available for extending the
distance and could almost double the device’s range to fifteen miles on
relatively flat ground.
Apart from the necessary domes that Sofiya had wanted up first as
essentials, a third of the personal domes had also been erected. The
latrines had been dug with a total of six stalls, and the livestock had been
corralled with feed and roofed over shelters. The water storage unit was
already full with four hundred gallons of treated, completely potable water
available. The next few days would see improvements being made such as hoses
being laid out for spigot and fountain points throughout the compound.
However, priority for the next day would include the primary solar collector
stations for the colony to use as its power source.
Most of the work had been finished just as rain began to fall in earnest and
the Furs headed into the cover of the Great Dome. There was hot food waiting
as three of the Vulps colonists had gotten permission to begin cooking for
the others, the meal an interesting blend of American, Eastern European and
Asian as the cooks had been Mina Brinkley of the Adirondack Institute,
Victor Rushenko from the Stockholm facility, and Myao Shin of Toyohashi.
There was also a selection of hot drinks and one of the furs had a stack of
warmed towels available for those that had got caught out in the weather.
Conversation filled the dome with voices that were tired from the hard work
of the day, but there was a sense of satisfaction as well. Sofiya waited
until everyone was finished with their meals before standing up from the
table and bench she and Richard had been sharing with Hector, one of his
housemates from Buenos Aires that had selected a North American kit fox as
her donor, neither of the other two missing the way Hector doted on the
young vixen.
Emanuella Diaz had come from a family of farmers and had taken it upon
herself to oversee the livestock, making sure that there was sound shelter
for the animals before getting her supper, and thus was one of the last Furs
to come in out of the rain. Hector had immediately been there with a warmed
towel for the vixen and sat with his arm about her shoulders as she finished
a bowl of soup.
“Before we all get too sleepy from the wonderful supper that we have had, I
would like to tell all of you that today was a good day!” Sofiya began. “You
have all worked very hard, and much was accomplished. With this level of
cooperation, the simulation colony should be completely functioning within
the next two days.
“There are some subjects that we do need to work out. The first is that many
of you will notice that your Personal Business Juxtapositioners are not
connecting to the Net or anything outside of the perimeter of the colony
site. This is not because your devices are broken or damaged. Each of our
PBJ devices has been temporarily closed out while we are here. That is why
the technician wished to inspect all of our PBJ’s. Once the colony
simulation has been completed, the temporary lock-out will be released.
“The second is that we will be treating this exactly as we would being on
Bastien. That means that there will benich okhorona…night guards. It
is still cold, but I have been warned that some animals are already up and
moving about, and it is still very much warmer than at the Adirondack
Institute. There will be a watch of two at the pens, and two teams of two
walking the colony at all times.
“I know that this will interrupt sleeping, which is why Richard and I will
be taking the midnight to four AM guard. I will need volunteers for the
other team and for the watch on the livestock pens.”
Several hands shot into the air and Sofiya smiled at the willingness of
others to take what was generally considered the worse shift possible.
“Thank you Hector, Emanuella, Kizu, Joel and Neelu. As for the other times,
those that wish to also volunteer, Hector will take your names. It is
important to see to it that your relief guards are awakened thirty minutes
before hand so that they may wake up fully. Viktor and the other cooks have
already promised to have hot drinks and tasty things to eat available at all
times. Also, Yun Chu Shi has brought in the container of rain clothing for
all to use. Unfortunately, we do not have boots to wear, but cold weather
footwear may be recommended for some with the wet and the mud.
“Finally, all guards will have radios, hand lights and the devices the
Richard will now demonstrate. If there are any questions, please come talk
to either myself or Hector.” The red fox Fur gave the other colony members a
warm smile and sat down as the silver fox stood, an item that looked like a
white baton in his hands.
“One of the things that the engineers in Stockholm came up for us to use are
these shock rods. It works like a cattle prod, or personal stunner
protection device. All you have to do is touch the end to whatever is giving
you trouble, push the trigger button, and it’ll zap them with enough juice
to either stop it cold or make it run away.” He depressed the thumb trigger.
Between the two nubs an arc of blue-white electricity crackled loud and
bright enough for all to see and hear.
“Just like the firearms, these will be stored in the armory module when not
in use, and you will log in to carry one. Night watch, the first teams will
sign for theirs now. When you wake up your relief and hand the rods over,
make a note in your PBJ who gets it and send it to me.”
Richard had been appointed as the colony safety officer, a position that no
one had balked about, much to Sofiya’s relief. She wanted her partner in a
position of authority simply for his knowledge and experience.
“These aren’t toys. These are very serious weapons…as serious as any of the
firearms. Treat them with respect. The first individual I find misusing them
will find his or her tail shaved before the end of the day, I can guarantee
you that. All rods will be returned to the armory module by oh eight hundred
in the morning so they can go on the charger.
“And as these are experimental and Stockholm wants a complete field trial
and evaluation, losing one may cost you your five-year bonus. So let’s make
sure I get them all back in the morning, okay?”
The rest of the contingent nodded and voiced agreement with the occasional
weak chuckle before Richard reclaimed his seat and Sofiya stood back up.
“I realize that it has been a very long day, and many may want to seek their
beds. We will all stay in here tonight, and tomorrow night we will have all
of the personal domes up for privacy. As such we need the tables and benches
moved to the sides. While it is more than acceptable to be talking and
spending time with friends, all I ask is that we are being considerate of
others and talking is done so quietly.”
Many of the Vulps agreed that it had been a long day and the combination of
hard work, laboring in the cold rain, bellies full of a hot meal had many
yawning and more than ready to call it a day. The main area of the Great
Dome was cleared, tables and benches stacked against the inner wall opposite
the door and sleeping pallets were doled out with pillows and sleeping bags.
There wasn’t as much conversation as Sofiya had anticipated, and those few
that stayed up a little late talking did so in whispered tones that were
easily lost in the hissing of the rain on the plastic panels of the
structure. With another smile at the assorted Furs, Sofiya set up a pallet
for her and Richard as he handed out the shock batons and gave last minute
instructions to the watchers that would soon be heading out and making sure
that the promised hot drinks were available. She was already laying down
when the silver fox joined her under the sleeping bag that had been unzipped
so they could both snuggle under it against the chill air. With a wide yawn,
her tongue curling over on itself, the red fox settled against Richard’s
chest and the circle of his arms.
“At least we will have a small rest before taking our turn on watch,” she
murmured drowsily.
“I don’t know how you do it, but you’re doing everything right,” the male
whispered in her ear. “If me and Jack had had an officer like you back in
the Marines, we’d have followed him anywhere if he’d done the things you’re
doing.”
“I am doing nothing special, charivnyy. I do what is right and it is
only proper that I share the same burdens as all the others.”
Richard nuzzled the juncture behind her ear before shifting to kiss her on
the cheek. “And that’s what makes you so good at this.”
Sofiya didn't hear the last as she slipped from waking to sleeping in the
space of a single heartbeat.
— NEXT CHAPTER —
Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.