Chapter 6: Exodus

"Ship approaching Krust Space Port. Please identify yourself."

"This is the Beagle," replied our First Officer, "Who on Ear ... Osmum did you expect?"

"All right, Charles, keep your hair on. This is the Osmum Cargo Space Port. Please divert to the Passenger Space Port, one half mile north of Joot, their Capital."

"Make it so," said Susan.

"Aye aye, Ma'am," replied the helmsman.

Five minutes later we were landing in a field between Joot, and the river. There were a couple of buildings in one corner of the field. Two people left the smaller building, and approached the Beagle. As they approached, I could see that they were Ger, and Lieutenant-Commander Shaw. A few moments later, they were being led onto the bridge.

"What are you doing here, Gerald?" asked Charles. "I thought that was you at Krust?"

"It was, but I'm actually based here," replied Gerald Shaw. "There's not enough traffic yet to justify manning both ports fully, so we split our staff. The load-masters, and their equipment are at Krust, and the control gear for both ports is here."

"So Ger," I said, "are you going into the space business now?"

"Someone on the Council had to, and I was chosen. It's proving to be rather fun. I'm getting to see all the equipment that's being installed. I'm also learning how to operate it."

"Kah gave us a message for you. He has invited you, and Susan together with Brian, and Weem to the evening meal."

"We would be glad to accept. Have you got anyone you could send to let him know that we've arrived back?"

"There's no need. He already knows. We've been busy while you've been away. We now have the basis of a mobile phone system installed. So far, we have five linked towers; here, Krust, and at three other locations. The locals are going wild over mobile phones. They can't get enough of them."

"Those, and your transport devices," added Ger. "The pictures, and descriptions that you sent back from Larse have inspired us all."

"I didn't know that we had sent any pictures here," I said.

"You didn't," put in Charles, "I did. I sent them from Rannoc while you were away, both to here, and also to Earth."

"So far," continued Gerald, "we've had two different types of vehicle built by Lockheed-Martin, and we've brought in a number of Segways. We're also installing wind generators as fast as we can. There's still a bit of a power shortage, however, until we can get the Krust Hydro scheme going. Hey, we mustn't keep you. You've a visit to make."

"Why don't you two stay here for dinner, and we'll see you later?"

I gathered up my party, and we made the short walk to Kah's house. Perhaps I should mention that when we were here before I had found that Kah was a somewhat serious individual. This time, when we reached his house, he greeted us with an extraordinary enthusiasm. While I was wondering whether I should mention it, Weem greeted her father.

"You seem to be overjoyed to see me father. Did you think that the Admiral would abandon me somewhere along the way?"

"No. Not at all. There is so much to tell you. They've done so much. The progress has been so remarkable, I don't know where to begin.

"Why don't you start at the beginning,"I said, "that's usually the best way."

"Well, the day after you left, the Endeavour returned with a load of ... kit houses the Seabees called them. They were built at an astonishing speed. Joom was caught short. He has been recruiting miners ever since. Then before I could ask Chris what we could do to make it easier to keep in touch, he came up with this," Kah flourished a cell phone. "Before we knew it, we could talk to the mine from here. Since the start, Chris put up three more towers.

"That's good. Did he say how many more towers will be needed to cover the inhabited portion of Osmum?"

"Chris said that will take another seventeen towers, he thinks."

All through the evening meal, Kah enthused about the achievements of the Seabees. He told me that they wanted to expand their wind generators by building a collection of large machines on the foothills the other side of the river. My only thought was if we were making too much progress too quickly.

After the meal, he invited me to go with him. Kah led me into his study.

"I want to show you something that not many people actually see ... It's the first Journal of our flight from Thorangia. It is a story that we all know. Every few years we have someone take a copy of the Journal around to all the communities, and read it to them. Please make yourself comfortable, and read it. It will help you in understanding us. I have to go out now, but I'll be back before you finish it."

He left. I picked up the first page before me, and read.

Journal 1; Flight from Thorangia

Day 0

The end has arrived. The end that some of our physicists had warned us might happen. World war has reached a stalemate, and our enemies have sought a swift conclusion by dropping an atomic bomb on us. Our immediate reaction has been to retaliate, and that started the inevitable end of us all.

The radiation was spread by the high level winds that flow around Thorangia. It spread first from our shores to theirs and, then on round their side of the planet. It is due to reach our western shore soon.

Fortunately, we had being making preparations to set up a colony on Osmum before hostilities broke out. A small scientific community of some thirty people are already there., and a fleet of some fifty craft are nearing completion. This first fleet are designed with booster rockets for their take off from Thorangia, and with wings to assist them to glide to a landing on Osmum. Plasma drives will be used for the bulk of the journey, providing a constant acceleration, or deceleration with a turn over at the halfway mark.

The craft are going to be dangerously overloaded, with about a hundred personnel instead of their designed load of twenty each. As an administrator at the Space Agency, I was the designated colony leader, and together with my four assistants are the only people permitted to take our immediate families. The remainder of the colonists have been selected from the young people of both sides. We have an ample supply of our erstwhile enemies from a nearby prisoner of war camp set up to contain the stream of prisoners captured in the early days of the war.

There are several Doctors distributed throughout the fleet, and two nurses were allocated to each craft. Our passengers are to be kept mildly sedated throughout the flight to prevent too much activity in the overcrowded high gravity conditions. The drive will make them weigh more than twice their weight on Thorangia. They are not to be told that the water supply was to be recycled. I wish that I hadn't been told that either.

Later.

The moment of departure arrived, and the first six craft took off with a deafening roar from their rockets. All of a sudden, the seventh craft exploded violently on its launching pad. It was a good thing that these pads were widely separated. We were next, and sitting behind our pilots, I felt my stomach trying to relieve itself of my morning meal. The pressure forced me back in my seat as we climbed to our designated starting height. I think that all the cockpit crew drew breath when we were signed off by our ground control. Their last poignant words to us were 'Good luck'.