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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 15, 2010 4:05:44 GMT -5
Solaris by Floyd Geron Looney
Preface
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“I see it, I see it!” yelled 11-year old Stacy excitedly as she peered through the telescope on the observation deck. She left the telescope stand and ran to her mother who put an arm around her shoulders “It’s a big blue and white marble. Almost like Earth”.
“Yes, honey, I’ve seen pictures of it. Remember?” Her mother, Janice, told her as they left the crowding observation deck. “We are getting very close now, Stacy. Just a week or so and we will be orbiting our new home-world.”
“It’s exciting” her daughter almost squealed. Stacy had been depressed at the start of the journey, she had been depressed since she found out they were leaving Earth for good. The family had sold everything, their property, their business and vehicles for this chance at a new life.
The corridor was a little crowded but they managed to make their way down to the intersection that brought them to the Port side C arm. This arm alone contained more than a hundred family habitats but the corridor was empty except for a lone boy bouncing a light ball off the wall.
“Jake. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw Solaris!” Stacy yelled as she bounded toward him, letting go of her mothers’ hand. “You can see it when you go the observation deck. It’s a tiny blue marble right now”.
“That’s cool. We get to go tomorrow” the boy said, “It’ll be bigger then, anyways”.
Jake Haverford didn’t want to show it but he was as excited as Stacy, they would finally get out of this ship. Running up and down this corridor was as much exercise as they got but they wanted to be outside again. They were not the only ones either- the adults were getting cabin fever themselves.
Jakes’ father, Benjamin, worked in the mining industry and even he was tired of being cooped up after a year aboard this vessel.
As large as it was the Homeward had rules about who was allowed to roam the common areas and when, to keep order, so not everyone tried to pack in at the same time.
Before entering the family habitat Janice reminded Stacy that she had to complete her schoolwork before dinner. Stacy rolled her eyes. “Ah, mom, why can’t I do that tomorrow? It’s not like a truant officer will come and get me”.
Janice smiled “Your education is important, even if it isn’t mandated by law anymore. I’ll let you do the math quiz tomorrow if you finish the science class tonight.”
“It’s a deal!” Stacy told her mom before running off to play with Jake. They would try to throw the ball pass each other, getting a point for every ‘goal’. Besides racing up and down the narrow corridor it was one of the few games they could get some exercise at.
Freeze dried noodles for dinner, again. In your choice of flavors from beef to vegetarian delight, it was something everyone had to endure. Once they landed on the new world they would start growing real food again. She had seen the hydroponics rooms, row after row of seedling trees of apple and other fruits. They were getting a little bit of a head start.
In her own work aboard the vessel she had helped hatch dozens of baby chickens already, it was pleasant work after many months of dreary monotony. It had given her a new spring in her step that this ordeal was nearly over. She could see it in others too. It seemed everyone was preparing for the arrival.
She opened her little purse/pouch and took out her prize from her jaunt around the common area with Stacy. A friend, Debbie, from one of the hydroponics labs had given her some onion and radish. It wasn’t talked about but that particular lab had been giving everyone special treats all through the voyage, they left no-one out. It wasn’t much but it could brighten a day.
Stacy entered and waved before sitting down with her tablet to do her assignment in science class and Janice realized the boys were about to be home. Her husband Toby had taken their son Joshua to work with him today, they did this more often than Janice thought was proper but the kid learned a lot.
Four bowls of noodles were soon on the table with four artificially flavored fruity water drinks, each as they preferred. Toby and Janice liked their noodles totally drained of water before the flavoring was added while Joshua and Stacy liked theirs with some water. “Broth” they called it.
“Debbie gave us these” she said as they were about to begin eating, laying the plate of onions and radishes on the small table. Toby smiled and nodded while Joshua grinned broadly.
Stacy reached out and took a radish and said “Caution: natural flavor!”
They laughed.
She saw Toby momentarily closed his eyes before he began to eat. He prayed a lot for this trip and for his family to be safe. He only voiced his prayer once a week but the kids were always respectful and participated in his bible study on Saturdays. Janice didn’t know if they would pick up much of the faith but they did have good manners and respect for others.
“The hydraulic systems on the second and fourth rear landing gear are in perfect order” Toby informed her. “Joshua knows what he is doing as my assistant now, we were able to spare a man elsewhere today because of him. It will all be ready when we arrive.”
Joshua beamed. Stacy looked slightly jealous at this praise. Stacy had been praised more than once for her assistance at various duties aboard. This apprenticeship was important to a lot of people onboard, especially since it kept kids occupied. Not everyone participated, some were too young or others were interested in pursuits that couldn’t be apprenticed.
After the food containers were put into their wash cycle the table was cleared and became a display. Toby displayed the “township” on Solaris, many of the streets were dirt and very few of the pre-fabricated buildings had been completed. A large area nearby would become the Space Port, it was where the landings would take place.
A small green X over to one side showed the 2.5 acre area which was their property inside the township. Every family had one and each would be used differently. Toby had no idea what to do with it other than a two or three story building of some kind. An apartment on the top floor would be essential for all of the families. Many of their estates would be a thousand miles away.
So every family would have their land and then a small place in the town, a place to stay or do business. Many families planned that full time business would be conducted in the town by part of the family while others ran the estate business. Of course it would take many years to get to that point.
Tobey zoomed in on a portion of the image. You could see robotic tractors and other equipment as well as tiny people. “Who are those people Daddy?” Stacy asked.
“Those are construction crews hired from the independent worlds. They’re well paid and happy to help. They know that Solaris will be a real asset and trading partner after it gets established” he explained.
After zooming out Toby showed them, again, where their land would be. When Toby zoomed in on their future estate they could see new details. Janice and Stacy gasped at the sudden new details. Obviously the map had been updated. Joshua had a wide eyed grin as he lowered his face toward the table top.
Their land was 500 square miles in all, but it was more wedge-shaped than square with an oddly shaped eastern side. Its shape looked a little like an ice cream cone, as the children had remarked on first seeing it. Now the rich detail was getting their attention.
The western end, toward the tip of the cone, was mostly flat grasslands going east it became a bit hilly and they could see a pond here and a creek there. Lots of trees now as you continue east and a slight elevation. Then a beautiful plateau with its own ponds and woods and a level area with a clearing that stood out to them.
Toby pointed at it. “I think that is where we should put our home”.
They all nodded. It was perfect.
“Jake will live next door too. It is perfect” Stacy said. Of course next door might be a hundred miles away.
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Post by icebear on Feb 15, 2010 21:37:20 GMT -5
Interesting to say the least.
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Post by Attero Dominatus on Feb 15, 2010 22:07:45 GMT -5
Yes interesting indeed.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 15, 2010 23:25:57 GMT -5
Thanks guys, Working on Chapter One at the moment
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 16, 2010 12:36:36 GMT -5
Chapter One ------------------
Chapter One
Stacy and Joshua Martin liked to explore the tent city, meeting new people and playing with other children of the new arrivals.
Dad had told them that the tent city would be safe enough as a temporary waypoint; it had proper facilities and health standards after all.
One of the best things about being on the planet instead of in space became apparent as they stepped off the ship. After looking into the blue sky with high wispy clouds the kids spotted a merchant selling real fruit. They didn’t even need to whine or beg because their parents were just as eager to bite into fresh fruit.
They also tried flavored ice and some kind of baked apple covered in a gooey flaky crust, it was very tasty. Moms warned them they would all have upset stomachs or spend some serious time in the restroom. Stacy felt the first tree she saw, moved her hands across the grass and stared at some strange bug that looked different than anything she had seen on Earth.
“It is called a Stockton Speetle” Joshua Martin said after scanning it with a hand computer “Named after Jonathon Stockton who discovered it a few years ago. It seems to be something like a mix of a spider and a beetle so they call it a Speetle. I can’t pronounce the Greek name for it”.
Their first hours after getting out of, not off of, the vessel felt like a Carnival. Those who had already been on Solaris had been there to greet them, far outnumbered by the arrivals. Rows of large tents stretched out next to the landing area and men in blue overalls instructing people how to find their assigned lodging.
They didn’t have much with them except for their clothes and personal items. Stacy sat on her cot and found it more comfortable than the one on the ship. When she turned on her tablet computer she found it readily connected to the local network. It didn’t have a lot but she explored what was there.
“Mother, if there aren’t any laws how do we know when someone is grown up?”
“Stacy, we don’t have a government like on Earth, that does not mean there are no laws. The General Agreement forms our basic laws. It guarantees our right to keep and use our land as we see fit and gives order to the society we are creating. It is something we have all agreed to. The General Agreement says once you have completed your education to our satisfaction and have shown maturity of an adult and are somewhere between fifteen and eighteen, you can be an adult. That would be up to me and your father. Once you are eighteen, you can make decisions for yourself”.
Stacy never asked many follow up questions. She seemed to get the idea in all it particulars the first time through. She also decided to try and read the General Agreement that evening but nodded off to sleep.
“Mom” Joshua said as he entered the tent. He quieted down when he saw his sister asleep on a cot.
“We watched a robot build a building. It laid down concrete like from a toothpaste tube from one side all the way around and then on top of the old concrete over and over until there was a two-story building” he explained with hand gestures. “Then they used high pressure water to cut out window and doorway openings.”
“That sounds interesting”
Toby had entered and stood next to his son. “They added the electrical and plumbing as well as the windows and doors. They built it in a couple of hours. It started as a carbon frame, like a cage and now it’s a complete building. It's called Contour Crafting. They're making this concrete-like stuff a few miles outside of town.”
“It is a very fast rate, they will finish the town in no time” the boy said as he and his father shared a glance. Janice laughed to herself. Those boys and their toys, some things would not change.
“We visited our township parcel” Toby told her as he sat at the table “They haven’t reached that side of town yet, still mostly on the east end”.
“We saw them inflating a huge balloon too, but dad said it wasn’t suppose to fly”
“It’s a Kevlar air sack, its expanded so they can build a frame over it and then lay concrete, they’ll end up with a big dome. The one we saw was going to be quite big too. Apparently it is where the Annual Meetings will be held, probably conventions and religious services too I bet. Probably seat at least thirty-three hundred I bet” Toby explained.
“That was about the middle of town, the main street or something, right Dad?”
“Where they plan to put many of the first larger buildings, yes. There’s the Import-Export Bank for one, it’s going to be a very important institution. We own a share, like everyone else, of course. One of the families we met on the ship, the Kibble family, owns a parcel right there across the street from the future meeting hall. I heard they plan a big hotel or something.”
“That would make sense. I’m glad they won that parcel in the lottery, they are a nice family” Janice said. She looked and saw the time; she would normally be preparing to make dinner. Her husband noticed and knocked on the tabletop. “There’s a noodle shop right here in the tent city, we should rouse our daughter and grab dinner there”.
………..
One month later the dirt road had reached out from the township more than five hundred miles and they stood on their own land as robots and their operators put their house together. They built it exactly as Toby Martin designed; one small area was a second story where rooms belonging to the children would be.
“We will have a chicken coop back there. Someday we will have cows and our own fruit trees and be able to raise most of our food with a garden and greenhouse” Toby told his kids, as they watched a heat pump being installed and on the other side of the house a well was being dug. It would be capped with a purification system on the side of the house.
The power would be provided by a new type of nuclear battery with a tiny core inside of a strongly shielded container. You could kick it around like a soccer ball without having to worry about radiation or damaging it, it was solid state. It would produce a steady stream of power for twenty-five years, providing the family with more than 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy annually.
Not that this house was going to require a quarter of that. The future of the estate might require other buildings, equipment and even vehicles. Toby Martin was an engineer by trade and he had some ideas about what they could do with the land. One thing was certain; his skill at fixing machinery was going to be valuable.
Janice was already being recruited as a curriculum advisor and educator by the Distant Learning School. She could do much of this job from her home. Two days after moving into their new home an aircraft using ducted fans landed on their lawn. Toby Martin was needed on short notice, the message had arrived just an hour before they arrived.
Stacy assisted Joshua in completing the chicken house while their father was gone for most of the day. When they were finished Joshua noticed gray clouds in the distance and commented that they should soon build a walkway of concrete or rocks because gathering eggs in mud would be a pain. Stacy was still admiring the product of their hard work and thinking that soon the first chickens would arrive.
Toby got home before the rain started and they sat for a family meal. Janice had baked a small bread loaf and made a pot roast with carrots, onions and potatoes. They were still getting use to real food again but were all eager to dig in.
“After I fixed one of the concrete robots, one of the gears had bent, I got to see inside of one of those automated factories. Two people can produce almost anything once the machinery is in place and the pattern set in the computer. The machines can even make several items in a single day. It’s not just blind production. It is very controlled and very precise because they only want to produce as much as they can sell” he told them. He explained that this would free up people to do more important things than produce common trinkets and household wares.
Solaris had been studied by scientists for six years before colonists began showing up and they had barely scratched the surface. So no one was surprised when Stacy found some type of super dense clay by the side of a creek on the estate. When Toby wrote to the head geologist at the Solaris Science Institute he was told that a mineralogist would go out to take a look.
Sure enough, it was something new. You could step on it and kick it without making a dent but if you hit it hard enough with something really solid, it would dent. Joshua and Stacy decided it would make good floor or wall tiles and set about forming their own business.
The first Annual Meeting was coming up and the kids decided to make enough tile samples with enough decorative patterns to see if they could get orders. They rented a booth near the entrance of Meeting Hall; it was still partly under construction, although the main conference center under the dome was completed.
“If we get enough orders I can rig the machinery to produce them, you saw how easy it was for me to build the hand operated press” Joshua told his sister as they pored over their business plan at the dining room table “I think those twenty patterns we made will be good enough to give people an idea of the product.”
“I just don’t see how we can get people to stop by and give it a look. I’m not sure we have anything to get the attention of potential customers” she responded. They had worked hard on the project, on their own time, for months. Stacy imagined a throng of people just passing their booth heading for more interesting things.
“The kids will go for the fun booths Stacy, but a lot of the adults will be checking out the booths with handmade furniture and stuff. You saw the brochure” he said. She groaned. They hadn’t even remembered to put an ad in the brochure for the tiles. Joshua just made her feel worse by bringing it up.
“S&J Martin Tile Company flubs their first chance at publicity, I remember the brochure” she told him with a sigh. They had put up a website and it was accessible through the family site and the main search page. Although who was going to search for floor tiles when they didn’t know anyone on Solaris made them?
“They will sell Stacy, I’m certain of it”
………….
The really big tiles that Joshua had made as a surprise certainly got Stacy’s attention and when put on the outside of the plain wood booth, it brought the curious adults. Just as Joshua said it would.
The tiles from off-world were pretty expensive. Many people used wood, metal or even some kind of plastic for their floors. How anyone would do that and not be reminded of a years’ confinement on the Homeward boggled their minds. As a matter of fact they had made reasonably sure their tiles were one of the cheaper choices, Joshua’s machine could crank them out without needing any real human attention.
Their mom was shopping while Dad talked to others who would be attending the first Annual Meeting of the “shareholders”. A few times they saw Toby lead people to the booth, he was pretty proud of his kids. They even got some orders.
“That’s Donald Davidson the guy they elected as the Chairman of the Board, he’s been trying to get this place finished before today. Too bad they didn’t get the vestibule done, I bet it’ll look cool with the glass walls and ceilings” Joshua told her. Stacy agreed he looked harried but instead of going back to work, it was his busiest day ever with the Meeting that night, he came right up to the booth.
“These are very good samples, who made these?” he asked, looking at the extra large ones that Joshua had made himself.
Her brother beamed “I did those”.
Mr. Davidson picked up one that depicted the Homeward for a closer inspection. “This is marvelous, young man. Your name is Joshua Martin is that right?”
“Yes sir”
“I have just gotten a great idea. I’d like to place an order. It’ll mean some larger ones and some small ones, probably 1000 square feet. I’ll send you a message explaining what I’m looking for later, if you think you can fill the order within a month”
Stacy and Joshua exchanged looks. “We’ve already gotten some orders but I bet I can get a second machine going in no time. We should be able to, please tell me every tile won’t have to be unique?” Joshua replied.
“No. I wouldn’t torture you like that. I will need a bunch of the star pattern though, not the five points but the more realistic stars, yes those” the man said pointing out the pattern on the small tiles. “I am sure you’ll quote me a good price, I also expect the tiles you bring me will be as good quality as these”.
“Yes sir. You won’t need to worry about quality”
“This is made of that Stacy-Clay I read about in the Science Report?”
Soon he shook both their hands and walked away, with the big Homeward tile. He had left a medium gold coin behind for it. “We are going to be really busy” Stacy said, looking at the coin in her hand before putting it in his.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 16, 2010 22:48:38 GMT -5
Chapter Two
The yard was bustling with activity, tables laden with food of all types and kids dressed in their best clothes playing in a field.
Jake Haverford sat across the table from Stacy, watching his younger sister playing ball with other kids.
“Been a while” Stacy said. It’d been a whole year since the last picnic. She’d only seen Jake in person five times since they arrived. His family might be “next door” but that was more than a hundred miles away. She had seen him once at the carnival that came during the Annual Meeting a couple years ago; it had been a fun day. Since then it had just been the picnics. Not really as fun when it was your own yard.
“Why did you stop writing your online journal? I liked reading it.” Jake asked her.
“Nothing to write, everything is the same, day after day.”
He shook his head and smiled. “That is not true. You started your own business the first year, it’s still making money. You graduated this summer. You are practically an adult, and you would be if your parents said so”.
She laughed. “I am glad somebody read it. You’re probably the only one. If I wrote in my online journal now, I’d tell how I am going to represent my family at the Annual Meeting this year”.
She watched Jake’s draw drop and his eyes widen. “They are going to declare you an adult!”
Stacy doubted that. She still collected the eggs every morning, still brushed the cows and connected the milking machine. She was glad that the new technology made it automatic. The machine gave them milk, butter, cheese, cream in whatever amounts they asked for.
“It’s going to be incredibly boring. Sitting there listening to that stuff while there’s a carnival outside. Are you going to the Township this year, Jake?” She asked.
“I hadn’t made any plans. I am definitely going to try. I’d like to see your face after an all day session” he said with a laugh.
“Oh, Jake, I forgot. I read your story last summer. The one you put on your page with all that technical stuff. I found it very well written, the narrator becoming more and more insane as the story went along was the coolest thing”. Jake didn’t use the journal feature but he did often post thoughts and papers on all sorts of things.
Except mining, there was nothing about that topic. That was his fathers’ line of work and Jake cared nothing for it. Even when his father Benjamin had become the supplier of the super dense clay, Stacy-Clay, for their tile business, Jake wrote nothing of it. Stacy remembered being kind of disappointed in that.
It was the eve of her sixteenth birthday and every teenage boy within seven hundred miles seemed to think Stacy would be recognized as an adult. She was getting a lot of letters and unrequested gifts, she found it annoying and kind of insulting.
Her parents and brother found it humorous.
The S&J Martin Tile Company had made her and Joshua a lot of money. Their father had explained that the family had its own account, they had their own individual accounts and the tile company had its own account. Their tile company had paid the family account for use of clay as well power, water and rent for the use of the premises for more than a year before a cheaper supplier was found.
Switching to the Haverford Mineral Corporation had not been personal at all. For one thing they had to rent a tractor and dig up their own creek bed for the Stacy-Clay plus paying their own family for the privilege. Getting the clay from Haverford helped on both counts. It also saved them from doing that work themselves.
While she was thinking about that someone put a box on the table in front of her, it was George Teague. He was one of the teenage boys who paid way too much attention to her. She tried to be polite while giving them negative hints.
“Hi George”
“This is for you. I know your birthday is coming up, I think you will really like it” the tall, dark haired boy said. She caught a look of disgust on Jake’s face. George was tall and broad. He was very strong while Jake hadn’t developed much physically from when they were on the ship.
“You didn’t have to do that. I bet Frederick, Ray and James will be bringing me something too. It’s not like we’re family” She said.
Stacy looked into the box. A crystal touch lamp, no bulbs or wires, these were cut from natural crystal. These were very popular. Solaria Crystal cut into intricate shapes were sold on several Independent Union planets, two local companies had become wealthy making and selling them.
“Don’t you think that is kind of expensive for a birthday gift?”
He smiled and held her hand for a moment before walking off.
“Why don’t you just say no? Why not just say ‘no I am not going to get engaged’ or married or something to those guys?” Jake asked.
“They haven’t actually asked. Because I am not officially emancipated I guess. That means I can’t officially say no because it’s not officially happening” Stacy said “Or something like that”.
“We’re not here five years and we already got weird customs” Jake pointed out.
......
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 16, 2010 22:49:20 GMT -5
OK. Thats a preface, Chapter One and half of Chapter Two. I want some feedback.
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Post by icebear on Feb 17, 2010 10:58:48 GMT -5
One thing I could state as a very near certainty is that nobody is going to be using concrete, steel, or any other sort of heavy building materials even ten or twenty years from now, much less by the time we get to the stars and particularly nothing heavy is going to be wanted on any sort of a starship on which mass and what it takes to accelerate mass to relativistic speeds will be a primary consideration. Russians are manufacturing plastic foam building blocks now (пенопласт pronounced pyenoplast) and some of the materials of the near future are totally astonishing: www.monsterbows.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2139&p=14899en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AerogelAerogel or solid smoke or something like it may be a major building component in five or ten years. Again, any need for steel on other planets will likely be filled with steel produced on those planets after arrival.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 17, 2010 13:12:21 GMT -5
The concrete would come from local sources. Whatever is handy, cheap and easy to access is what people will be building with. This colony sent some machines and equipment ahead because they would need them on the planet. I should make it clearer in the story that this "concrete" is actually a hi-tech, locally produced product.
Contour Crafting
Here is a video:
animation
prototype
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 17, 2010 19:35:52 GMT -5
Dang, I wish Attero would give me some feedback on my story. I am itching to post the second half of the second chapter.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 18, 2010 17:31:50 GMT -5
The several months since the picnic had certainly been interesting. The representatives to the Annual Meeting were having some bitter arguments over what issues would be brought up and when. She had to participate in all of the online preparation now that she would represent the Martin estate.
The S&J Martin Company had gotten two big off-world contracts. She had no idea why people on other planets would be buying tiles of all things. Something so simple and relatively inexpensive would be more economical there wouldn’t it?
The buyers explained that the S&J tiles were stronger than any other tiles they knew of, besides some heavy metal or expensive fiber ones. Not that it really mattered, it was only important that someone wanted to pay for it. Joshua only had to program what was ordered into the computer now and it was almost all automatic after that, unless something broke in the machines.
Then they had brought in friends of the family, even Jake, to publicly acknowledge that Stacy was now an adult. She thought it was an elaborate joke at first but it turned into a solemn moment. She even wrote it in her online journal ‘I have the best parents!’
Joshua also worked for their father and both would be on the far side of the continent for most of the month. They were working aboard an exploratory drilling ocean platform. Officially Jake was now an employee instead of an apprentice, he had been very proud of the promotion.
As it was every year during the week of the Annual Meeting the booths had been set up and there was a carnival atmosphere. People were crowding the usually quiet city. It was almost abandoned during the rest of the year by comparison.
Stacy decided to ride her motorbike all the way to what they were calling Center City, it was more than 600 miles but it only took a few days. There was just the one road really but she made plans ahead of time with 2 Inn’s along the way. When she arrived in the city, she had reservations at the Kibble family’s Pioneer Hotel. It was across the street from the large domed Meeting Hall.
She felt free. She had responsibilities but she was a free individual. Everyone on Solaris was free, a free world. She could ride a motorbike without some government agency permission or jumping through nonsense hoops.
She was tired when she arrived. The first thing she did was to collect some gold from her bank account. She tasted some of the fare from the booths and was delighted to see kids manning their own booth. She was a bit stunned, how did they manage to grow bananas on this planet? She got in that line like everyone else; it had been a long time.
Then she entered the Meeting Hall, the glass enclosed vestibule looked smaller than it had when they were invited in to see their tiles. She saw the tiles depicting the Earth and the ship moving across the stars and the arrival at Solaris. The Solaris tiles were closest to the entrances of the Conference Center; this way was freedom it was saying.
It certainly told the story. It evoked dormant emotions in those who had made this pilgrimage.
Then she was back amid the happy environment of the carnival outside. She heard people talking about an unscheduled vessel showing up. She was too tired to think about that and brought herself upstairs. She hung her new dress and vest in the closet before showering and getting some sleep on the bed.
The next morning she decided to get to the share holder meeting early. Stacy thought there might be a few people around but the place was packed. She pushed her way in far enough to find a familiar face.
“Mr. Benjamin Haverford!”
“Why, hello Stacy. How is the tile business?”
“Fine, but what’s going on here? Why is this place so packed so early?”
“A ship arrived last night. It says it came from Earth” the man answered, as if that explained anything. After the long pause he added “They claim to be an envoy from the United Nations”.
“What? The UN didn’t exist anymore when we left” she said “The whole planet was nothing but anarchy”.
The man nodded. “I think those colonies the United Nations established have something to do with this. I did hear rumors they were trying to rebuild Earth.”
“I don’t understand what that has to do with us”
Mr. Haverford was silent again for a moment. “They may have set up a proxy government on Earth and are reinstituting the United Nations in order to run that government. Your right though, what does that have to do with Solaris?”
Later they all watched the unscheduled vessel land at the Spaceport, a ramp lowered and several vehicles drove down the ramp. Then they watched as the line of vehicles began it way uphill toward the Meeting Hall. After the vehicles parked in front of the building a group of people entered the building, they apparently brought their own photographers too.
Finally they were all seated in the Conference Center facing the small stage, a large projected image above the stage made it visible to everyone. Mr. Davidson strode out on the stage, the 3,000 representatives fell silent.
“Hello shareholders, welcome to the fifth annual meeting. We have unscheduled guests, as everyone knows, I want to explain why they came” he said. He took a drink of water before he continued “They are representatives of the newly reconstituted United Nations Alliance, comprising the Earth and its ten colony worlds”.
“They have come to seek diplomatic relations with Solaris as they plan to do with all of the Independent Union worlds. Obviously, diplomatic relations with Solaris is an impossibility, I explained this to them” he said, the chuckles had died down. “I explained that we do not have nor do we want or need any type of government. They left after saying that this was improper and some other words.”
After some laughs and applause they got down to their usual business.
Stacy Martin wondered why people would fly across the stars for months and months just to leave so quickly. They would probably visit the other Independent Union worlds before heading back to Earth. That is a very long and quite expensive a trip for a ship not carrying cargo or anything else.
Then business matters got her attention. Road Corporation would become an independent entity and the weather monitoring system would be merged into the Space Port Corporation. Those were the most contentious decisions. She was surprised that people could argue so fiercely over such mundane matters.
After she returned to the hotel room she sent messages to her parents, brother and Jake about what had happened. They had all known of course. The Solaris News Agency, a very small operation, had beamed streaming video images of the ships landing and the visitors’ arrival and the liftoff.
That’s a very expensive trip for nothing. I do not like this at all. She had written.
Yes. That is quite strange. Her father had sent back, replying to all.
That is very weird, indeed. We all heard but we were working at the time. Joshua sent.
Stacy has a point. They had their reasons, whatever those might be. Her mom had responded.
Stacy had laughed at Jake’s response, which he sent to all. So are you going to marry me or not?
She had a few more long days ahead of her at the Meeting Hall;
she started getting ready for bed.
…….
Jake found her the next day before the meeting started by sneaking up on her in front of one of the booths. “Baked apple?”
“Hi Jake. Yes, baked apple. Yes, I’ll marry you”
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Post by Attero Dominatus on Feb 24, 2010 0:34:05 GMT -5
That is a good intro.
I like the construction methods and technologies, but the concrete structures should only be used for structures that are not built to take things like weapons fire. I would mention things like militia buildings being made of the more expensive but stronger carbon nanotubes.
Just about everyone should be armed as well. It could be that parents like to teach their children how to safely and accurately use firearms as early as possible and they are often presents on birthday celebrations.
Settlements spread thousands of kilometers apart would likely rely on air transport until the road networks are completed and even then it would still be used for fast transport. That far into the future, carbon fibers would likely be much cheaper than they are now and engines would be more advanced, allowing larger loads to be carried. Obviously, these planes would have military uses for adjusting artillery fire, reconnaissance and dropping bombs (these could be made by the auto-factories and mining explosives could be used as filling if there is no dedicated defense industry while fuzes would be well understood enough to be made).
As for fighting the Alliance forces, the trick would be to draw the bulk of their infantry forces onto a diversionary front and use guerrilla attacks on their logistic and command assets. Constant use of harassing artillery fire would be essential to keep their soldiers awake and exhausted, while sniping fire would be used to kill officers and psychologically damage the enlisted soldiers by forcing them to witness their fellows being ripped apart. Deliberate triggering of rock slides and avalanches would work well too, along with self-forging penetrator explosives and directional (claymore style) mines in an ambush situation.
Of course there would need to be a command and communication system for all of this or else there would not be a concerted effort, but maybe some of the colonists saw the day when Earth would re-organize and set out to conquer, and planned accordingly.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 24, 2010 2:53:49 GMT -5
Guns are common. I should have already mentioned that. FanJet light aircraft are one of the main forms of transport, there are roads, but the traffic is very very light.
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Post by Floyd Looney on Feb 24, 2010 3:01:25 GMT -5
CHAPTER 3
“Jan, don’t wonder too far. You’ll get lost in those woods!” The young woman said catching up and picking up the little girl who was around three. “Why do you make mommy run?”
She nuzzled her daughter and the girl giggled.
Twenty-one year old Stacy Haverford carried her child back toward the house that she shared with husband Jake. It sat on land on the opposite side of the continent from where the Homeward had landed a decade earlier. The estate was brand new and nearly eight hundred miles to the new township they had named Weston. It wasn’t Center City but, then again, she remembered when Center City was mostly tents.
“Why don’t you play in your sandbox, you will have plenty of years to explore. Besides, you can’t escape since I can track your GPS location” she said with a laugh, pushing the girls belly button and being rewarded with another giggle.
Officially she had surrendered her positions with S&J Martin Tile Company, selling her shares to her brother, for a fair price. She still owned shares in quite a few concerns, even owned 1% of the Solaris News Agency.
Their new estate had a higher elevation and would be perfect for growing apples, the southern half of the estate might be better for grapes or olives. Jake thought there might be major salt deposit in the far southwest part of their land. He often flew over the land in his newest toy, a lightweight ducted fan aircraft with four seats. Stacy did not like it all that much but the views were gorgeous.
The road wasn’t in view from the house, it was six miles away.
They had their own private road connecting to it. Stacy and Jake had quickly put up their portion of the money for the road and even for topping it. No muss or fuss or bureaucratic nightmare, no paying for that which she did not need. Stacy had really grown to appreciate why her parents had come to Solaris and created a world with no permanent government plotting to spend your money and control your life.
The people who came to Solaris as colonists were not the shiftless or lazy; they were the people who knew how to take care of themselves. Then they came here and formed a system where no one could take your income or wealth away from you to give to those a politician or bureaucrat deemed more worthy.
The people who came here called that theft.
If you and a neighbor disagreed over a property boundary, you chose an arbitrator and you settled your differences. Violent criminals, very rare in this first generation of the colony, were usually killed. Every family had weapons and children often accompanied their parents to hunt or target practice.
The family of George Howard Miller had set aside a one square mile of his estate and built a college. There were no “useless” courses at this college, by design. Science courses were taught by real working scientists in association with the Solaris Science Institute. Medicine was taught by real doctors and real medical researchers. Engineering courses were taught by real engineers, even her dad had signed up for teaching that. There were also classes and lectures on liberty and economics and then there was the non-core literary classics course.
It was their first real college and the Miller family had set up an electronics and software business right next to it, employing some of the students. Some students also opted to work at the Miller orchards or as tutors. Stacy and Jake and many others had been happy, very happy, to be contributors, receiving voting shares for its Council of Governors.
A few months back a trade vessel had landed with merchandise looted from Earth, included hundreds of old books and documents from the New York Metropolitan Library, Library of Congress and from London libraries. Miller had purchased the lot of them and then built a library for the college, its literary course now done in the same building.
Setting up the Annual Assembly was now done mostly before it met, the issues to be debated and who would lead the debate for “both” sides, assuming there were only two. Objections to the entire topic could be raised and be adjudicated months in advance. Jake had full trust in Stacy to attend these Annual Meetings, the size of which had doubled along with the number of estates.
Several newcomers had proposed a council be set up to oversee the curriculum of childhood education. More than half of the families objected to the topic even being debated, there was clearly no such authority in the General Agreement. It seemed to happen every year that things would be debated from licensing ground vehicle drivers to standardizing weapons proficiency training. There was no such authority for any of it to be mandated, people had to be reminded from time to time that Solaris was not Earth.
The main Space Port did have authority to control its own air traffic and even kept tabs on air traffic across the continent. It did not give orders but it did explain to pilots about weather and traffic conditions. It did, however, have full ATC authority for in and out bound space vessels.
The new Meeting Hall was simply an expansion of the old one, doubling the seating capacity and at the back of the stage were seated the entire Board of Directors, some of whom were also officers within the organization. Stacy waded through the crowd and sat with people whom she knew. Many of them couldn’t wait to be done and back out in the annual bazaar.
One of the interesting topics was whether or not a small militia that met and trained on the estate of Mathew Harris Rodgers could be considered an organization that could sell shares. Was it an actual club or a hobby? Stacy had already decided that if they wanted to organize in that way, then they should be allowed to do so. It was natural for young men and some young women to want to play soldier, it might even be a good business concept.
The Independent Union had sent a liaison to explain why they had been setting up and arming their own defense forces. They believed the United Nations Alliance, controlled by its colony worlds but pretending to be based on Earth, was becoming a real militant tyranny. The IU thought it was obvious the UNA would attempt to declare itself the government of all humanity, such was their rhetoric.
The Solaris Science Institute sent a man to the stage and he reported that something had been spotted entering the solar system.
“A trade vessel passing closer than our satellites is reporting that it is a vessel from the UNA and that it has taken up an orbit around one of the outer gas giants” he told the assembled representatives. Then the Chairman of the Board took the floor, it was a position that Benjamin Haverford hadn’t really wanted but accepted. Her father-in-law looked grim indeed.
“I think we all know a threat when we see one” he began “Solaris is hardly what could be called a military power, not having any kind of forces at all. It seems to me that it would be prudent for me to initiate a proposal. Something we have only done twice before during an Annual Meeting. I propose that we all buy shares in a planetary defense organization, to be created, which will build or purchase the needed equipment and supplies and hire the men and women necessary to defend us from an attack by the UNA”.
“Are there any objections raised to this proposal?” The Speaker of the Assembly asked.
Someone raised a point of order that this was exceedingly rare and could be construed as an abuse of power by the Chairman.
There were many objections to this point of order and the man defended it saying all we had to go by was talk of threats. “I for one am I not willing to trade my liberty for security against a threat that might not be real” he said before he sat down to catcalls.
Stacy had never seen one of the meetings become so contentious, because everything truly controversial was handed beforehand. One of the newcomers had the floor; she worried because this one had thought some type of government should control education and licensing road drivers. The newcomers, though, also had fresher memories of Earth.
One of her neighbors stood up and moved, replaced by her mother, also a representative this year. “I think we should be prepared for whatever the UNA throws at us, Tracy” her mother whispered. Tracy nodded. She had no doubt that a real defense was needed.
The man came to the podium and motioned for calm. “My name is Jonah McReynolds, I head the Newcomer Association. We have fresh memories of Earth, we have seen family members and friends brutalized and killed in the streets or as they slept. We suffered as our freedoms and rights were taken away from us one by one. Some of us remember when the colonies returned with their troops and, as they called it, restored order.”
It was quiet enough to hear Johan speak without the microphone and speakers. Tracy was on the edge of her seat.
“None of us have any doubt that the intention of the United Nations Alliance to attempt to dominate all of humanity. The Independent Union worlds have done themselves a disfavor by making trade agreements and then customs agreements and then allowing UNA embassies on their planets. This mistake has emboldened them and made them stronger and more ambitious”.
“Solaris is right not to do any of these things. The UNA might not have giant fleets of heavily armed vessels but they are stronger than us militarily. Their Alliance is weak the attempt to impose their will might make it too strong if they succeed. They know this. We must meet this challenge and push them back. It might be to our advantage to have a conflict sooner rather than later, they will be stronger later” he gazed around the whole conference center “If we defeat them while they are still disorganized and weak, we can shatter them”.
Resounding applause echoed through the chamber for more than a minute. Tracy imagined that people were viewing at home across the continent and they too would be applauded. We will come together voluntarily and we will defend our world, we can repel the UNA attack.
Benjamin Haverford’s idea of a defense organization passed nearly unanimously, a few did not vote and only a couple voted against. Those were for moral reasons, not because they favored the enemy.
They passed the militia plan for incorporation easily. Then they swiftly voted up or down on a dozen measures without debate, enough debate had happened online any ways. Obviously this would be the shortest Annual Meeting ever. It turned out to be a one day event, much to the unhappiness of vendors outside. The threat of war was also bad for business as Center City soon became a virtual ghost town again.
Fanjet aircraft, like the one she flew home in, were one thing but could Solaris actually build a military space fleet? Did it really need to? Tracy planned to be a part of this, in some way, Jake’s father would be a busy man but he was going to give her time enough for a talk. They were family now, after all.
After landing the aircraft and rolling into the barn she entered the house, Jake had cleaned and serviced all of their weapons. Tracy laughed out loud. It would be at least a year before any enemy troops could even hope to be here. What was really needed was a space force.
She found Jake and little Jan in the study, she asleep on the leather couch. Jake was studying designs for space vessels.
“I guess you heard” she said. He smiled “Obviously, I think everyone knows. I’ve been thinking that unmanned vessels would be much easier and more effective for us. At least if they were close to the people controlling them. I doubt we’d let totally autonomous warships traipse through the solar system.”
“That is a good idea” she said. She had been thinking of defense satellites, less maneuverable but far easier and cheaper to build.
It occurred to her that a layered defense would be needed. Manned ships scouting the outer edge of the system, unmanned ships attached to them as well as defending Solaris in addition to satellites and ground based missiles, lasers and attack craft.
“I’m not sure we have the resources and the time to do what we really need to do, Jake”
“I know that’s true. I hope the IU will send help. I don’t know if they agree or not, but I think Solaris will be the first target of any military action. As an example to the IU worlds” he told her, he really had been thinking about this.
“What should we concentrate on?” she asked.
“The people will have to organize, but we’re all armed already.
Some of us will have to learn to use heavier weapons, arm our fanjet aircraft but that is all doable. I am not worried about a small force landing; I think we can handle that. Satellites and ground based defenses can handle anything that comes into orbit” he said “I would think”.
“That will take up a lot of the resources” she added.
“I think we can concentrate on building a swarm of unmanned attack craft, I doodled a basic design. I’ll let the people like your dad and Miller Engineering work on the details. My father has asked me to take a leading role in the defense organization.” He gazed at her expectantly; did he think she’d be upset?
“Good, they need you” she answered “I want to do something too”
“We also have to think about Jan” he told her “She is far too young to be left alone”
“Jake. You aren’t thinking about going into space yourself are you?” she asked and he shook his head. “No, nothing like that, I simply don’t think Center City is a good place to bring her. It is likely to be their main target; they think we need it or something”.
Jake had a point. If the UNA believed that Center City, technically our capitol city, was vital it could be a real weakness on their part. Certainly there were important things there, banks, hospital, internet servers. The fact is all of that could be moved and spread all over the continent quickly and easily.
“They won’t know where our command centers are, they might think nuking Center City will end the war. They have no idea how decentralized we really are.” Jake said “My father has already given the order the Center City, Weston and other cities begin moving out all their important organizations and such across the continent. A few million square-miles to hide everything in while they try to attack an empty city or two, it will give us an opportunity.”
......
Two months later. Hundreds of young men and women were training to operate defense satellites and unmanned attack ships on computers before any of them had rolled out of a factory.
After two months the observatories reported that at least three vessels, assumed to be UNA warships, were orbiting outer planets of the solar system.
Jake had modified both of their fanjet aircraft with targeting computers, IU lasers and countermeasures. They both spent a few days per month training with regional militia groups in various capacities. Jake even had a large defensive laser installation built on the estate, dozens of miles from the house of course.
Stacy’s mother Janice had been put in charge of equipping and supplying an underground bunker, created from a huge natural cavern. The Thomas Mountain Caverns was kind of a tourist attraction, geologists and others had studied it in detail since it was found. It was very structurally sound. Many children from a third of the continent would be safe there from any bombardment, it was thought.
Benjamin Haverford told her that they had, in fact, received ultimatums from the UNA vessels in the far edge of the solar system. They were being sent out continuously on a loop. He had ordered that nobody respond to these. “That is why we assume we have another eight months or so. The people I sent to the IU worlds might not have enough time, though. Their closest worlds will need a few months to even receive our requests” he said, then sighed.
“So we have to act as if we’ll get no help” she concluded.
“That is right”
She knew, though, that Solaris wasn’t building any large manned space vessels. It would simply have eaten too many resources and might have taken too long. That would have left them more or less defenseless. Her brother Joshua had sent her a message from “somewhere” saying the first unmanned attack vessels were almost finished and were set to begin tests. Her father also wouldn’t mention his location but reported his project was going pretty well. “On time” he said.
Some of the layers were coming together but the outer layer was not happening at all, and if the closest IU worlds wouldn’t participate then the solar system would be open for the enemy. She also received two sets of armored vests, one of the layers being Stacy-Clay. A little bulky perhaps but the Haverford Material Company was only two months old.
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Post by Attero Dominatus on Feb 24, 2010 23:50:24 GMT -5
Very good.
I would recommend space mines as well. They could be as simple as carbon fiber nets several kilometers wide that rip apart anything that hits them because of high impact velocities. When cooled to match the background temperature of 3 kelvin, they would be undetectable.
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