Stargazers

9. Red Planet Arrival

     As Eric had told him that day, it took the Eplis and the other two Stargazer ships about a month to complete the rest of their journey. While some people onboard had started to become restless, they became more excited when the red planet started to come into view. Many of them could hardly believe it until they had seen it with their own eyes. Much to their surprise, Stargazer three was already back in orbit and undergoing its transformation into a station to orbit the planet and keep a watch out for the people below. Eric knew that since the weather patterns and many other elements to Mars was unknown to humans, he and the other engineers thought it would be best to have a human outpost in orbit, watching from above at all times. The crew onboard what was going to be called Stargazer Station would have enough people to make sure the station was always on duty, watching the planet at all times of the day. Eric was not one to take anything to chance and having eyes in the sky that were not just mechanical was best to look out for them and their future.

     Drummond couldn't help but also be pulled to the windows to see for himself, as this was a journey that only machines had made up to this point. He walked to the observation deck with his son and they both looked upon the planet they had been flying towards all that time.

     "I can't believe we're really here," Gabriel told his father.

     "Neither can I," Drummond said, unable to take his eyes off the massive planet.

     "I'm glad you came along," his son told him.

     "I didn't have a choice," Drummond reminded him.

     "Then I'm glad he didn't give you one," the young man said, smiling.

     Drummond couldn't help but laugh, fully aware of what his son meant. As awesome as this trip had been so far, it wouldn't have been as much fun if his father hadn't been there to share it. Drummond also knew he was in trouble. The White House might suspect that the Sergeant might have taken his son on the Elpis to save himself and his son against orders, taking advantage of his position within the Stargazer program. Drummond however would welcome a court martial with open arms if that meant the Earth survived long enough to give him one. He'd gladly spend some time in Leavenworth if it meant the world didn't end, and would burn that bridge when he got to it. For now, Drummond's goal was to assist Doctor Saunders and the people survive on Mars and make things work for the new colony, which could still be mankind's only hope to avoid extinction. Both Drummond and his son were startled as the Captain came across the speakers as he addressed both Elpis' crew and passengers.

     "Everyone return to your rooms or posts and strap in," Captain Webber ordered, "We are going to enter the atmosphere and begin our slow decent towards our landing zone which is ready to connect us to the parts of the colony that have already been constructed. You have ten minutes to get secured."

     The Captain actually gave everyone twenty minutes before the Elpis started to descend into the atmosphere. It was a bumpy ride at first but soon the ship managed to break through and start to cruise towards its destination. Four Stargazer ships had come before, with the first two and the fourth being combined to form one super station on the ground. Merging the Stargazer vessels created a massive dome, one the engineers on both ships managed to expand as high as they could based on the supplies and scraps from both ships they could use. When it was all said and done, the dome inside was tall enough to fit a six-story building inside, something that was never attempted. The highest building inside the combined ships was no more than four stories, and that was one of many apartment buildings that were constructed inside. By the time construction was over, the new dome was ready to house over twenty thousand people to become its own community. No detail was spared, as a town hall, elementary and high school, even a library was created so that they could all function together like a real town, a single collective. Drummond couldn't believe how massive the new dome was, surprised that the engineers were able to construct something so massive using the two ships as the skeleton of it. He was amazed and felt a sense of hope that Eric and his brilliant band of engineers has done the impossible, they were going to establish a colony on Mars. History was indeed being made, but it wasn't something they wanted; instead it was something they were forced to do out of necessity.

     The biggest vessel of the Stargazer fleet had no problem landing just half a mile away from the dome's colony, and a tunnel had already been constructed to connect the ship to the Colony, which would make departure for the passengers that much easier. Still it would take time to remove and organize over twenty thousand and to do that, the ship would require people to be patient.

     "It will take a few days, maybe even a week for us to get everyone moved into their new accommodations," the Captain said again, "But be patient with us, this is the best way to settle everyone in without incident. Thank you for understanding. You will be called out by section so please pack up and get ready for your turn."

     Drummond and his son were in the first section to leave the ship. Eric and his daughter had come down to help them carry their luggage to their new home. As they were strolling to the building, Drummond couldn't help but notice something.

     "What is it?" Eric asked.

     "There's no roads," Drummond observed, "That's odd."

     "That was intentional," Eric replied, "We didn't want to bring any cars to the colony, and walking promotes more exercise and social interaction. Burning fossil fuels instead of calories just didn't make sense to us. Roads also take up a lot of space and as you can see, we needed every square foot we could get, so cutting out the roads was a big space saver for us. We have some golf carts to use in an emergency, but that's about it. We will be installing mono-rails to connect to other parts of the colony, especially when the Elpis is converted."

     "Walking is good for us, Dad." Gabriel repeated, "I like walking!"

     "Same here," Drummond said, as he was not one to argue against good health.

     "What building is that?" Gabriel called out, pointing away to their left.

     "That's where you'll be going to school." Eric answered.

     "I have to go to school here too?" Gabriel replied.

     "You'll never get away from school," Jessica retorted, "But schools are necessary for not only education but becoming a social, law bidding citizen of this new colony."

     "What about sports?" Gabriel asked.

     "Like I said before, space is limited." Eric answered, "But we'll see about building something around here for you to play on. Physical activity is going to play a big role in our survival on Mars. We wouldn't want you to get out of shape, would we?"

     When they finally arrived at the building that would be the new home for Drummond and his son, they walked up the stairs to the third floor and settled into room 305. It was a standard two-bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, living room and even a den.

     "Do they all have dens?" Drummond asked.

     "No," Eric replied honestly, "But you will need a place to do your work. I'm not sure when we'll have office space available."

     "Fair enough," Drummond replied as he tossed a few bags onto the couch.

     "There's food in the fridge," Eric continued, "We had the boys in agriculture whip up some welcome packages for the people to start with. We might have to ration from there, but when we get ahead, we'll try to get things back to normal."

     "So, what now?" Drummond asked.

     "Get settled, in and try to get some rest." Eric told him. Meet me on the bridge of the Elpis tomorrow at noon. We're going to try make a very important phone call, check in on the home world... see if its still there."

     "Alright," Drummond said, sighing. "See you tomorrow."

     After Eric and Jessica left the apartment, Drummond settled down into a chair that was beside the couch. This was going to be the first time he spoke with his own government since being kidnapped by Eric and the Stargazers. He sighed again as he realized that no matter what happened, it wasn't like they could come out all the way to Mars to arrest him. He just hoped Earth would still be there to respond.