Post by Floyd Looney on Apr 21, 2010 15:32:27 GMT -5
Carni
The landing shuttle flew low over the Taz-4 colony and looking out the window I could see a golf course, hotels, pools of clear blue water and a mall flying by. Soon we were landing at the small port and being given our bags from the baggage compartment outside. Soon all of the passengers stepped aboard the tram for a ride to the Customs House.
All they did at the Customs House was to collect the Visitor Tax from each of us. They wouldn’t have cared if I was bringing a platoon of heavily armed soldiers as long as we all paid the Tourist Tax. Alas, all I brought with me was a small bag with a change of clothes and some money, of course.
Stepping outside I looked around and saw the dome of the Holographic Theater, I could see a stadium of some type farther away and I could smell flowers on the cool breeze coming from the ocean less than five miles away.
All I really knew about the colony was what I had read from an online brochure. They chose this spot on this world very carefully. Future colonies had been planned in other climates, like the mountains for a skiing resort but those had been on hold due to the danger. If the threat from the carni could be nullified this whole world could easily become a paradise.
The reward for solving the carni problem was substantial, prime real estate anywhere on the planet. Up to 10 square miles of your own sovereign territory to develop into your own tourist trap, or whatever else you wanted to do with it. It was quite an offer and I was sure that there had been dozens of adventurers and reward seekers here before me, but still there had been no solution.
The city was safe from the carni it seemed. They seemed to cede this much to us invaders but no more. There were sightings of carni almost regularly on the outskirts but only the foolish would leave the safety of the city. I climb into a robotic taxi and give my destination, plus the fare in advance.
There had been scientific expeditions to many parts of this planet before the colony was placed here, and those had gone alright. The problem cropped up when the colony was built. Having so many of us here at one time seemed to have offended them, further science expeditions had been attacked most viciously.
The Taz-4 colony took up an area 5 miles wide and 10 miles north to south along the ocean coast of the tropical region on the largest continent. The present population was said to be around 90,000 citizens and probably 25,000 tourists. There were several hotels along the beach, rental cabins and all that but I would stay farther inland at the massive Alpha Omega Arms Hotel, Casino & Convention Center. The Alpha Omega boasted 2,400 rooms for paying customers and a full range of amenities all with their own price.
I noticed there were orchards and farms growing everything from coconuts to papaya, mango to pineapples and banana. The colony was created to give weary space travelers a taste of the old fashion tropics. The huge building next to the luxury golf course was indeed a massive mall with hundreds of stores and kiosks. I bet they had brand names and knock-offs and counterfeits from just about every corner of colonized space.
There should be no problems buying the military-type weapons should it come to that. When founded this place wasn’t going to allow weapons but as soon as they met the carni they revised that policy. Now it has the least strict gun laws of any settled planet: None.
The biggest problem is that the carni, while not intelligent enough to be considered sentient, are clever enough to be a real pain. One of the best suggestions was to build a tall wall around the colony and live on the ocean. Of course, trying to bring maritime vessels to the colony through space would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
Another suggestion was to gamma soak the whole dang planet and then to seed the forests and wildlife. The time to have done that was before everyone knew about the planet, doing it now would be very bad PR. Of course it might become necessary should the carni prove intractable.
The Alpha Omega was as massive as I’d imagined and their employees aimed to please, my room was on the twenty-third floor. The baggage boy carried everything and a pretty young thing was there to show me how to open the door with the wave of the hand or an eye scan if my hands were full.
The room was nicely appointed with a sitting room, a separated bedroom and bathroom and even a small kitchenette. Like every other room it had a balcony with a sliding Plexiglas door. The view was marvelous, the colony stretched out before me. I could make out a church or two and on a slight rise was the Governor’s House, the capitol.
I heard the bleep of the VP and answered aloud “Answer”.
A holographic image exploded over the center of the sitting room of a gentleman in his early 30’s with short-cropped blonde hair and a good tan. A surfer dude, people called them, but this man had on a dapper and well fitting suit. No tie, they didn’t do ties out here in the tropics of Taz-4.
“Mr. Kyle Marangue?”
“Yes”
“I am Mark Renault the Governor’s Liaison and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Taz-4. I would like to schedule your meeting with the Governor for tomorrow morning at 10A”
I smiled “That would be fine. I’ll be there with time to spare, but don’t keep me waiting”
“The Governor Adolph Haas is a very prompt man, I assure you”
The holographic projection vanished. They had known exactly when I arrived in my room, was I so special to deserve individual attention? There were likely dozens of other reward seekers who were going to be at the session tomorrow afternoon. How many were being invited to meet Governor Haas separately?
Ah, who cares? I pull a bottle of sake from the fridge, knowing my hotel bill was already being charged for it. Then I peruse the amenities menu and pull up the holographic display of a local girl for hire. I wasn’t going to think about tomorrow until tomorrow.
…
The landing shuttle flew low over the Taz-4 colony and looking out the window I could see a golf course, hotels, pools of clear blue water and a mall flying by. Soon we were landing at the small port and being given our bags from the baggage compartment outside. Soon all of the passengers stepped aboard the tram for a ride to the Customs House.
All they did at the Customs House was to collect the Visitor Tax from each of us. They wouldn’t have cared if I was bringing a platoon of heavily armed soldiers as long as we all paid the Tourist Tax. Alas, all I brought with me was a small bag with a change of clothes and some money, of course.
Stepping outside I looked around and saw the dome of the Holographic Theater, I could see a stadium of some type farther away and I could smell flowers on the cool breeze coming from the ocean less than five miles away.
All I really knew about the colony was what I had read from an online brochure. They chose this spot on this world very carefully. Future colonies had been planned in other climates, like the mountains for a skiing resort but those had been on hold due to the danger. If the threat from the carni could be nullified this whole world could easily become a paradise.
The reward for solving the carni problem was substantial, prime real estate anywhere on the planet. Up to 10 square miles of your own sovereign territory to develop into your own tourist trap, or whatever else you wanted to do with it. It was quite an offer and I was sure that there had been dozens of adventurers and reward seekers here before me, but still there had been no solution.
The city was safe from the carni it seemed. They seemed to cede this much to us invaders but no more. There were sightings of carni almost regularly on the outskirts but only the foolish would leave the safety of the city. I climb into a robotic taxi and give my destination, plus the fare in advance.
There had been scientific expeditions to many parts of this planet before the colony was placed here, and those had gone alright. The problem cropped up when the colony was built. Having so many of us here at one time seemed to have offended them, further science expeditions had been attacked most viciously.
The Taz-4 colony took up an area 5 miles wide and 10 miles north to south along the ocean coast of the tropical region on the largest continent. The present population was said to be around 90,000 citizens and probably 25,000 tourists. There were several hotels along the beach, rental cabins and all that but I would stay farther inland at the massive Alpha Omega Arms Hotel, Casino & Convention Center. The Alpha Omega boasted 2,400 rooms for paying customers and a full range of amenities all with their own price.
I noticed there were orchards and farms growing everything from coconuts to papaya, mango to pineapples and banana. The colony was created to give weary space travelers a taste of the old fashion tropics. The huge building next to the luxury golf course was indeed a massive mall with hundreds of stores and kiosks. I bet they had brand names and knock-offs and counterfeits from just about every corner of colonized space.
There should be no problems buying the military-type weapons should it come to that. When founded this place wasn’t going to allow weapons but as soon as they met the carni they revised that policy. Now it has the least strict gun laws of any settled planet: None.
The biggest problem is that the carni, while not intelligent enough to be considered sentient, are clever enough to be a real pain. One of the best suggestions was to build a tall wall around the colony and live on the ocean. Of course, trying to bring maritime vessels to the colony through space would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
Another suggestion was to gamma soak the whole dang planet and then to seed the forests and wildlife. The time to have done that was before everyone knew about the planet, doing it now would be very bad PR. Of course it might become necessary should the carni prove intractable.
The Alpha Omega was as massive as I’d imagined and their employees aimed to please, my room was on the twenty-third floor. The baggage boy carried everything and a pretty young thing was there to show me how to open the door with the wave of the hand or an eye scan if my hands were full.
The room was nicely appointed with a sitting room, a separated bedroom and bathroom and even a small kitchenette. Like every other room it had a balcony with a sliding Plexiglas door. The view was marvelous, the colony stretched out before me. I could make out a church or two and on a slight rise was the Governor’s House, the capitol.
I heard the bleep of the VP and answered aloud “Answer”.
A holographic image exploded over the center of the sitting room of a gentleman in his early 30’s with short-cropped blonde hair and a good tan. A surfer dude, people called them, but this man had on a dapper and well fitting suit. No tie, they didn’t do ties out here in the tropics of Taz-4.
“Mr. Kyle Marangue?”
“Yes”
“I am Mark Renault the Governor’s Liaison and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Taz-4. I would like to schedule your meeting with the Governor for tomorrow morning at 10A”
I smiled “That would be fine. I’ll be there with time to spare, but don’t keep me waiting”
“The Governor Adolph Haas is a very prompt man, I assure you”
The holographic projection vanished. They had known exactly when I arrived in my room, was I so special to deserve individual attention? There were likely dozens of other reward seekers who were going to be at the session tomorrow afternoon. How many were being invited to meet Governor Haas separately?
Ah, who cares? I pull a bottle of sake from the fridge, knowing my hotel bill was already being charged for it. Then I peruse the amenities menu and pull up the holographic display of a local girl for hire. I wasn’t going to think about tomorrow until tomorrow.
…