The response was as expected.
"I thought as much. I am here today to tell you that you have an opportunity to change that but it will require a fair amount of work on your part. The question is, do you want the opportunity to improve your conditions knowing that it will mean an investment of your own efforts to achieve it? Those of you that elect to do nothing will remain in tents separated from the rest of the prison population. This facility will be divided into about 50 compounds, each of which can house up to 2,160 inmates. You will have cells that will house up to 6 persons that are 8' x 40'. These cells look like the containers you would see on a cargo ship but are specially designed as living spaces and are nicer than any jail cell any of you have ever seen. Each compound will have a structure to house a dining hall, meeting hall, instruction facility and crafts facility that will be where you will likely to spend most of your time. There will also be gardens that you can operate to grow food and to grow flowers. There is a substantial exercise yard and outdoor sports area. A few days ago some of you marked out where these facilities will be located. Now it is time to build them. The Solarans will be placing the cell structures on their foundations starting today. These will need to be fastened down and a roof for each will need to be built. That roof will have solar cells in place to provide electricity for your cells as will most exterior walls. About a tenth are ready for installation and that will start in a few minutes. You will have to build the roof for the cells. As much as can be prefabricated, has been. The other structure in the compound will also need to be built. For those of you unwilling to participate in this project, you are to gather now around the flagpole with the large orange flag. You will be removed to your permanent tents and be isolated from the rest of the population. If you choose that route, you will live a no-frills existence. It will not be very comfortable and it will be very basic. If you want extras, you will have to work for them. The work you do will be recorded and provide a means to improve your lifestyle here."
After a few minutes, he continued, "Well that is encouraging, you are all willing to work to better your lot. I see no one opting for the orange tent villas." There was general laughter.
"OK, now we need to know what kind of skill sets we have amongst you and how much experience is there. I am assuming that the rest of you are willing to learn. The Solarans have been very generous with the construction materials they have provided. The buildings will be hurricane resistant. This is an opportunity for you to learn some skills that will improve your conditions. Those of you with sufficient skill levels will become our instructors and foremen. The cells for the first five compounds should be arriving any minute now, so if you will turn your attention to the North you will see them as they arrive. The remaining stacks will be delivered as they are manufactured. The expected production rate is about 3,000 units per week"
With that Andy removed the Warden and Josè from the platform. A minute later the stacks for the first 5 compounds started to arrive by teleportation. In an hour, 20 stacks had been placed and construction was underway.
Chapter 19 - Intruder
# Juneau #
# Monday, July 25 #
<Alert, Alert, Alert. There is an intruder at the Foster residence. I have tagged the intruder. Suggest response team be no more than four.>
<Andy, Gus, Pat, and Barbara responding.>
As soon as the four arrived, the intruder disappeared. <Where did he go?>
<Aston are you there?>
<Yes I am. Sorry the intruder surprised me. He went to a craft in orbit. >
<What?>
<The intruder is not from Earth and is in a large ship about 150 miles above Juneau.>
<That's interesting. Pat and I are going up there. The rest of you stay here but listen in. If we need help, you are the cavalry. Pat ready?>
<Yep.>
<Aston, give us coordinates within 5 feet of this alien.>
Andy and Pat teleported to the ship and mentally addressed the alien. <Who are you and why were you in the Foster residence? Reply mentally so we can understand you.>
The alien was clearly shocked that he had been followed. <How is this possible, your planet does not have a level of technology to allow this?>
<Please answer my question before my patience runs out.>
<My name is Collum Farn and I was . . . >
<Andy, ask him if he is Admiral Second Class Collum Jas Farn from the town of Drallon on Lota.>
<Excuse me, but would that be Admiral Second Class Collum Jas Farn from the town of Drallon on Lota?>
The shock on his face from the question silenced him. It took a few minutes for him to collect himself. <In the name of the All-One, are you a mind reader?>
<No I am not, but I take that response as a yes.>
<Yes, I am. But what are you? How do you know this?>
<Well for starters, we are not mind readers but can communicate mentally. You are a surprise to us because we thought your people had all been killed by the Sorzan. We are delighted to learn that the report of your demise was premature. Our ship, Aston recognized your name and alerted me. We are the gift from Aquarii, from Lota specifically and we are preparing to fight the Sorzan. I really need to know why you were in the Foster residence.>
<Very well, that is a reasonable request. Recently we noticed some strange emanations coming from that location that we had seen at a location in Mexico where there is a field of dormant volcanoes. We also noticed it at a few other locations at sea, the most distinct was about 100 miles from San Diego. We were investigating the cause of those emanations and trying to determine what they are. The Foster residence seemed to have a minor amount of that emanation so it seemed a logical place to start our investigation.>
<Admiral, do you have teams out now doing this investigation.>
<Yes we do.>
<Admiral, please recall those teams now. I will explain.>
<You have given me enough surprises to do just that.> He proceeded to recall all teams.
<Aston, Stay in my mind please and feel free to comment only to me when you see something I need to know.> <Admiral, what more can you tell me about these emanations. What is their signature and how often have you seen them and where?>
The Admiral told Andy when they first noted the emanations and where. It did not take long for Andy to confirm his suspicion that the Solarans were the source of the emanations. Particularly when heavy lifting was involved. <Aston, can you come up with a way to shield these emanations? If not, every time we teleport, we are drawing a pointer to where we start and where we end. That is not good.>
<Admiral, the emanations were caused by Solarans in the process of teleporting. The emanations appear when we have absorbed power to do some heavy lifting. That leakage has now been corrected. The fault that allowed the emanations to be detected should now be gone.>
<Your appearance has obviously shocked me and I apologize for appearing somewhat witless, but you were not expected or even anticipated. We were aware that some strange things were happening on your planet but had no idea how it came about.>
<I can tell you a great deal but it can not yet be shared otherwise our progress will be greatly impaired. Our numbers are pretty small at this point and we are being cautious that we do not become misused. I do have a sense that tells me when I can trust and when I should not and that sense is giving me a favorable reading on you. Before I start, are there others that you want to hear any of this?>
<Actually, there are. This may sound strange, but I would like to have you meet my wife, my son and daughter and their spouses as well as my second in command along with his wife, their children and spouses.>
<Please invite them.> Andy and Pat assumed full visible mode in Solaran unifo
rms but without disguise. <Aston, full scan on these folks, I have a feeling about this.>
When the others arrived Collum made the introductions including how they had come to be on the ship. Collum's son, Fass commented, <So you are the Solarans that the Earth news has be speaking of so frequently during the past month. I did not expect to meet you like this. Welcome to our ship.>
<Aston, I am getting a good read here all around. What are you finding?>
<All fit the personality scan, all are prime candidates.>
<This is a fairly large ship, how many do you have on board?>
<This is one of 71 ships that managed to get away from Lota. We also have four large ships that are stasis ships we have hidden on a planet in your Oort cloud with 8 million persons on board in stasis. This ship has 8,100 persons on board including families and children. On average, we have about 8,000 persons per ship. All of our ships are cloaked so they are not seen by the Earthians. There are only two of our ships in Earth orbit just now. The rest are currently orbiting Saturn since we do not want them in harms way. We had hoped to colonize the planet Mars, however there are two other alien groups here, one is observing and is small while the other is malevolent and intends your people harm. The latter accounts for most of the so-called UFO sightings reported on Earth. They are preparing some kind of invasion and it looks like it may be soon. Fortunately they do not have cloaking technology. They do have a considerable infrastructure built on your moon. Unfortunately, we do not have the offensive weaponry needed to counter any action on their part or we would intervene. We do have a substantial amount of intelligence on them but that would be useless to Earth since they do not have the means to use it.>
<Admiral Farn, what is the nature of that intelligence?>
<Please call me Collum. A bit less formal than this conversation calls for.>
<Agreed, Collum it is. I am Andy and this is Pat.>
<The species preparing to invade you is the Grell. The impression we have of them is that they combine extreme arrogance with a likewise extreme dose of xenophobia. They come from a system that is about 40 light years from Earth. They are humanoid in appearance but not human. Our intelligence includes the numbers of ships, the types, the quantity of personnel, the disposition of each and this is all current and constantly updated. They use energy weapons that are more powerful than anything Earth can defend itself against. They also have speed that your vessel cannot match. The second species is one we know nothing about. They are cloaked and elusive.>
<Thank you for that candor. There are a few things you should know about us. First thing is that we have been operational for six weeks. We started with 26 persons and are now at 100. Essentially we are all in training. I am the commander. The gift we were given by the Lotans six weeks ago was intended to be used to repel an invasion fleet of the Sorza that is expected to arrive here in seven years. Now we are finding that it must be ready sooner to meet the challenge posed by the Grell. When our ship selected us for the gift that would enable us to meet the Sorza, it did not bring physical weapons because those will not be necessary. The gift was a supplement to our genetic structure. It made some of us the weapons that we will use against the Sorza.> He went on to explain the difference between the primary implants and the secondary and to whom they could be applied.
<Excuse me Andy, but are you not telling us too much of your capabilities?>
Andy smiled. <Yes I am.>
<But why would you do that?>
<Collum, how else do you think we go about recruiting for the Solarans? I am asking each of you to join us as Solarans. Aston has done personality scans on each of you and you are all prime candidates. I also think that it is pretty interesting that the gift from Lota in Aquarii is coming full circle. We were expecting to deal with the Sorza by ourselves. Our ship feels that we can do this and was expecting a small number to be involved. We have had a difficult time finding suitable candidates partly because there are not enough people that fit the necessary parameters. However, my impression is that you may have a substantially greater part of your population suitable for the role we have assumed. I expect to continue to command until Aston, our ship tells me that someone else can do this better. Also I have no intention to place any of your ships in harms way or to supplant the governance of your people. Instead you and others like you would become their guardians. Aston tells me that all four of your children can accept primary implants. What do you all think, will you join us?>
They all looked at one another and grinned. <That looks like a yes to me.>
<Andy, in all my years I can not recall ever having been stunned by a series of events in such a short time span. I suspect that this will not be the last of the surprises you will send my way. You see, I have a gift somewhat similar to yours. I can read people and know who to trust and who I should not trust and you have been exuding trust since you arrived here on this ship. It was another of the shocks coupled with your appearance and everything else you have related to me. It is going to be a great pleasure working with you. What do we do next?>
<Aston tells me that he has already delivered the implants. The parents all have the secondary implants and the younger folks have all successfully received the primary implants. Aston will explain how to establish a portal so you can physically visit the ship and meet with other Solarans. He will guide you in training your new capabilities. This will all take effect over the next 24 to 36 hours. Merely take it easy in the meantime to let your bodies adjust to the changes. In the meantime I need to prepare for a visit to the Grell.>
<But that would be fatal to you. Their weapons can't be stopped and they have thousands of ships.>
<Do you happen to know which of their ships is their flag ship?>
<Yes, it is currently located on the dark side of your moon. It is the largest of their ships.>
<You now have the ability to communicate with our ship Aston. Would you be willing to give him access to the intelligence you have gathered on these Grell?>
<Yes I can do that but what do you hope to accomplish?>
<My intention is to send them back from where they came or if that doesn't work, destroy them. They are threatening my planet and that is something I will not tolerate. We will keep you informed without exposing you. If you will excuse me, we have some planning to do.>
Andy and Pat returned to the ship and declared an emergency. Everyone showed up at the ship.
Pat described the meeting with the Lotan survivors and the disturbing news they brought with them. Meanwhile, the intelligence gathered by the Lotan ships had been sent to Aston for review.
<Before you all become depressed by this news, you should know that Pat and I have been discussing this with Aston and he strongly feels that we can win this. He is now reviewing the data collected by the Lotans to determine if there are any weaknesses that we can utilize to our advantage and apparently he has identified some that are significant. We believe from the data available that the Grell have been around since the 1940’s. This is supported by the number and frequency of UFO sightings over the years. Why would they wait so long to mount an invasion in which they clearly have a technological superiority? Our belief was that the use of atomic bombs in 1945 and the testing of the thermonuclear devices in the early 1950’s has deterred their invasion. It is likely that their ships are not resistant to those weapons. They must be a fairly patient people if more than a little malevolent. Aston believes that it will not be necessary to defeat all 3,348 ships of varying size, only the largest of their warships. We need to support this theory with a little reconnaissance. Aston can you give us a further rundown on what you are seeing on the moon?>
<Indeed. The multiple bases on the moon suggested that they have a large population there and the intelligence confirms that. They have a ship crew population at around 300,000. The intelligence the Lotans have gathered suggest an additional military population of a similar size and a support population on somewhere in excess of 800,000. They also have a sizea
ble non-combatant population of about 600,000. All told they have about 2,000,000 Grell living on the moon. That is surprising. Since they have been so slow and cautious about their preparations to invade, we may be able to spook them off. The first step in that process would be to go to their major ships invisibly to determine if we are detected and what their response would be. I do not see that they have an intruder detection mechanism but that needs to be confirmed. If true, you should have free reign to wander about the ship and gather more intelligence. I do not think we want to destroy the super ships because I think that is how so many of them arrived here, probably in stasis. They will need the means to exit. We need to confirm that. I do think that we may have to remove some of the carrier sized ships from the equation. That should be the factor that motivates them to move on. >
<OK, we currently have enough primary implant Solarans with sufficient training for 13 teams. I want to hold 6 teams in reserve in case things go awry. If that happens, Aston will provide direction. The six teams will power up and teleport aboard the ships. If you are trapped while aboard, blast your way out. Make sure they understand that is what you intend to do. If trapped do enough damage to get free. Teleport back to the ship rather than home. Pat and I will board the flag ship, the rest will board carriers. Limit your time aboard to one hour and then report back to the ship. If you can, maintain communications with Aston and report everything you observe. Even minutia might help. If their reaction to our visit is to invade, then the goal is to disable as many of the carriers as we can and then the battleships. An energy ball inside their engine room should do the trick. Aston, keep Collum up to date on what we are finding. Is everyone ready to go? Godspeed, let’s do this.>