Chapter 1: Going to Tychy

~~ August - Week 35 ~~

Sean and Lee were having their first real argument, and it was a dozy.

Sean was adamant that Lee was not going to Tychy. Lee was equally adamant that she would be on that ship doing her job, just as he would be. The fact she was pregnant was irrelevant as far as Lee was concerned. They only planned to be gone for ten weeks.

Sparky was also having an argument with Ross. She was adamant she was going with Sean and Lee. In Ross’s instance, he probably had more of a case because Sparky was due in four to five weeks.

This meant Sparky would have the baby before they got back. Ciar was the only female faerie that wasn’t pregnant. Sparky told Ross that if Ciar and Torcán came with them, then she would be fine.

She also told Ross that she needed to be with Lee and if Lee went, then she would be going. When Ross told Sean, he tried to use this argument that Lee was needed on Utopia and it could affect the birth of his grandchild and his child.

The arguments were settled in the dining room when Lee did the creepy voice thing when Sparky asked her, “Lee, do you need to go on this trip, and will I be safer going with you?”

Lee’s face had gone blank, and she had replied, “Yes.”

Sean then asked if they would all come back safely if she didn’t go?

Lee had replied, “No.”

When Sean asked her to qualify, her face cleared and she said in her normal voice that she didn’t know why she had to go, just that she did. Ross had learnt as well as Sean, that if Lee said something like this, it was better to go with her wishes.

Kyle, Tony and Debora wouldn’t be coming on this trip. Debora had no intention of getting on the starship and Tony was adamant he was staying with Debora. While Kyle wanted to go, Lee had convinced him that Debora also needed him.

As she had to go, then he would have to stay to look after their people human and otherwise. Someone had to oversee all the projects that they currently have in progress.

They would have a ship’s crew of forty-one. Engineering was taking just one team, and even helm was cutting back to half the crew. So was hospitality and only twelve of the scientists were coming. The aim was to set up the domes for Earth and have a quick look around.

Sean was leaving his people, Ellen, Abe, James and Joanna to look after the construction crews and provide law enforcement. Abe was also doubling as the Chief of Police in Sean’s absence.

They had hired six of the people they had gained from Prince Carl de Bou’s little army, to help with policing issues and even set up a Police Station. Abe had been put in charge of training them. Philip as the Mayor and his wife Ulani would also be staying to run things, with Kyle and Abe.

Sparky planned to leave Ide in charge. Ide was the elected Mayor of her village, and Sparky knew she could trust her to keep things running smoothly. Not that they had many problems. Hers was a very peaceful little village. She would miss her lovely home. Like Lee, she didn’t know why she had to go, but something inside her kept insisting that she did.

An interesting development occurred when Ivan and Iran said they wanted to come. Then their girlfriends, Wendy and Sasha and Sasha’s Brother Bray also wanted to come. The Burgis teens said they would be happy to do whatever jobs the Captain and Sean wanted them to do on board the ship.

Ivan and Iran argued that with Sean leaving four of his team behind they would be helpful with the construction. Bray also pointed out he would be able to help Robby with the animals and cleaning. The girls said they could help, in hydroponics and the kitchens just as they did now.

Gary and DT backed the boy’s request, and Robby was more than happy to have Bray along. He had been up to help on the ship many times, and he was a good worker. Tina and Larry also said they would have no problems with the girls coming to help, as they too were good workers.

The next lot of volunteers were the Pix, Dye Martyn, the Genteli Zan de Nar and the Prol family of six consisting of Bruit Bolo, his wife Francis and their kids, Franke, Grieves, Rina and Ivey.

Dye said she would be coming as the B&C Office representative and she could make sure the equipment left behind complied with the manifest the Captain had supplied for what effectively belonged to UNSEC.

Zan had joined the construction crew a few weeks before. Gary said he had no problem bringing him. The guy worked hard, and while he was still learning, he took instructions well and got on with the rest of the crew.

The Bolos said they would do whatever was required. Francis could cook, and Bruit and the boys would do cleaning and general labouring for the engineering crews. The girls would also clean and help wherever needed. They said they were happy to assist in the same capacities at the other end.

Sean and the Captain had been surprised when Essco said he was coming. Then Essco informed them he was the representative for GB & JK Corp. Since they were planning to set Tychy up as belonging to UNSEC, he had permission to determine where the domes were set up and to claim certain mining rights. Essco supplied a summary of his rights, excluding the crystals.

This was the first time that he had admitted his involvement with the company behind this expedition. At first, Sean wondered why he hadn’t kicked up more of a fuss when they settled on Utopia. Then he remembered they had used political reasons. Essco had obviously agreed that the situation on this planet was more delicate.

Tychy, however, was a different kettle of fish. They had found no indication on the scans that there was habitation by higher lifeforms as far as any building or infrastructure went.

Rai Jindal the other atmospheric physicist had been studying Tychy as her primary project since Sandra was looking after Utopia. Helen Christian, a Geophysicist, had been working on the project with her. They were coming on this trip.

They had found one area that interested them. They said strange readings were coming from this area, but they had no idea what they were. The signal was coming from one of the larger islands in the north.

It was located in the lower temperate to tropical regions, on the east coast of the island. The island was about the size of Madagascar. A lot of smaller islands were situated near it. The multitude of mineral scans in the general area and the surrounding islands were promising.

The valley close to where the signal came from had a long wide mountain range on the west, running mostly north south. It surrounded an undulating plain about 10km across and about a 100km long before going to the sea.

The team planned to check this area out first. Sean made sure Essco had this information. He too agreed this looked like an excellent place to set up. Sean was amused that the mineral scans had him more interested than the actual location.