Chapter 10: Her Way

~~ Delta - Oct/02 - (Earth - April/2095) ~~

The scientists turned up for the meeting.

Most of them managed to enjoy a short nap and a walk around town. They were just as fascinated with the locals as the scenery. Several of the faerie’s kids took a fascination in them and happily acted as tour guides to their amusement.

When Lee took the podium, there were whisperers around the room, and the first group told the others who she was.

“Hi, I’m Lee, and I suppose as some of you may know I am your patron. Have all of you read the agreement your countries signed for you to be here?”

They all nodded they had.

“Excellent. Let me be clear. It is a binding contract, and I will enforce the conditions of the contract. If you don’t abide by the contract, you will be sent back to Earth and never be invited back.”

“Won’t that be a bit hard to enforce once we have more people coming here?” Barry asked.

“No,” Lee said.

Barry persisted, “Then how are you going to enforce it?”

Lee smiled at him and looked him in the eyes. They all watched Barry as he suddenly shivered violently. “It will be enforced, that is all you need to know,” she said with finality.

“Item 1. In the folder, you were handed was a hard copy of how the Policing system works here. As time goes by, I hope to find enough people in each group to become our form of a police officer. Here they are called Shields and yes they have magical abilities.”

“Item 2. We have some very sophisticated satellites orbiting Harmony. I took the liberty of sending out analyser probes for you. The data is on the pads I gave you under the heading ANZAC Block Data.”

“You will probably want a few days to go through this information. I also took the liberty of sending it back to your Committee’s on Earth. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Fuck me, it’s going to take months to go through this data,” Diesel said aloud. He looked up at Lee, who was grinning at him. “Sorry, Queen Lee, did you actually leave us anything to do?”

Lee laughed, “Yes, you have to prove it. In some cases, the mineral scans may require a deeper analysis than our probes as they don’t go much below 200m. I had Justin have a quick look at three that interested me, and he says they go much deeper.”

“Who is this, Justin?” Barry asked.

“Justin Ubobo has degrees in Gemmology, Metallurgy and Geology from Brisbane University. He is also the Emerald Wizard. His Country Emeralda is opposite yours on the southern continent. He also works on commission if you wish to hire him.”

Diesel sat up tall and piped up, “Justin Ubobo is here?”

“Do you know him?” Lee asked, surprised.

“To right, I went gem hunting with him several times. That guy can sniff out a gem at two hundred paces. I had to transfer to Sydney, so I didn’t finish my degrees in Brisbane,” he explained.

“So, he finished all three degrees. It doesn’t surprise me. Did his gorgeous sisters come to?” Diesel asked with a gleam.

Lee grinned, “Yes, they did. They currently live in Futura.”

“Damn,” Diesel said with disappointment. They all had to laugh.

Lee brought them back on track. “Item 3. Ambassador Robert Watson, who is your liaison here, had brought me up to speed on how your Block is thinking of dividing up Anzac.”

“Personally, I think you should just set up towns and run contracts similar to how we are doing it. This way, the people who move here benefit as much as the people back home. You, after all, are the pioneers.”

“I have also sent this structure back to Earth for their consideration. I think big business back on Earth may also prefer this option, and while they won’t own anything, they can lease from the towns like our people do.”

“If the towns collect a five percent tax like they do in Arden and the Trinity States then they can divvy up the profits between the Nations on Earth as they see fit,” Lee said. She noted Barry nodding his head. It would make his job easier if they did this as well.

Lee popped a map up on huge the 3D screen. She then zoomed in to a large bay that was effectively on the other side of the range of mountains to Clarksville’s location and across the bay. It was easy to access by boat and even airship.

“Item 4. If we build you a compound here, I think it’s an excellent jumping point to getting you started,” Lee said. The map then had different coloured dots appeared in a location within fifty klicks of the dot for the compound.

“Item 5. There is a broad range of mineral resources that we’ve located within easy reach, and I’ve highlighted possible locations for your first satellite towns. On those open plains, areas are a multitude of animals that can be domesticated.”

“Item 6. Be careful when you set up that you don’t disrupt the natural migratory paths of these animals, it’s an area I particularly would like you to explore as part of your studies.”

Pictures of different animals appeared. “Snorre and Yves, his brother, said this one taste’s a lot like venison, this one is very similar to beef, and this one is related to our pigs. So far, they have had little trouble rounding them up, and they seem content to stay where they put them. Now they have to learn how to breed them.”

Lee then flashed up pictures of different grains, fruits and vegetables that they had already identified as eatable.

“I’m sure you will find more and even different varieties on the northern hemisphere, but these are the ones we have identified so far that are similar to both. What do you think?”

“I’m wondering what I’m doing here?” Trish said in wonder.

“Trish, we have barely scratched the surface. We were only looking for the obvious. I would love to know what else you find. I simply wanted to know if we could make a go of what was here without introducing too many earth species.”

“I believe that we can and that you can. Nick’s people have already swapped several of the grains we were growing here to local varieties that have been identified, and they are doing well.”

“You may have to start with small plots, but you can increase them over time, just like we are. There is a lot of work involved in learning about their diseases and pests. What each animal eats and even if the crops will grow where you put them.”

Trish was being to see that Lee was correct. They did have a lot of work ahead of them. She was excited to find out. “I like the idea of a central compound first,” she said.

Robert joined in on the discussion. “I recently contacted the councils, and I think we are starting to sway them to Lee’s way as well. I also discussed that the Tax could be sent in goods like minerals and produce. They liked the idea of them sending people and you sending goods back.”

The others had to laugh. Population control was a big issue on earth. The viral infection that had mostly affected human fertility sixty years before had helped cut it back, but there were still a lot of people on Earth.

“So, do you wish to live out of your ship, or would you prefer a compound? Alec and Justin designed theirs like this,” said Lee.

She flashed up an aerial shot of their compounds. She then rotated it around on the 3D screen so they could see it from different angles. They now had a central four-story-high dome in each compound.

“I think it’s very functional. Their two countries are divided by the river, and they decided to work together. This side is Rubyvale, and this side is Opal City.”

“When did they start building?” Barry asked he liked the basic set they had and agreed it was very functional.

“Two to three weeks ago,” Lee said.

“What!” Barry blurted.

Lee grinned, “We wizards don’t muck about when we build.”

“How long, until ours could be built?” Trish asked.

Nick said, “The dome is already manufactured, we thought one similar to the ones we build Justin and Alec would work well for you too.”

Lee flashed up a dome showing its different levels and then floor plans. “This set-up can comfortably hold five hundred people, and there is plenty of lab and storage space.”

“It comes with the replicator/recycler system, a computer system, Anita’s plumbing system and de Ray crystal power cells. It takes us about a day to erect.”

“What about the one we bought with us?” Barry asked.

Lee shrugged, “We can toss it up as well.” She pulled the map of the bay she had up before and looked at it. “How many can it hold?” she asked.

“Us and the crew, about seventy people,” Trish answered.

Lee pointed to spot that was about fifteen klicks from the first. “Here, it gives access to these three main deposits. There is a bit of everything that would get you started being copper, iron, zinc and several other primary metals.”

“The river is deep and wide here and leads back to the other location as well. This river junction would be easy to moat. I even picked up gold in this region, and Justin said there might be diamonds here. He is happy to do a more extensive search if you wish.”

“Why not put the main compound there?” Diesel asked.

“The first location allows you to grow and gives you access to the sea, a port and us. It is the better location for building a transport drop point and farming and fishing. The other spot is more mining and forestry.”

“The logs can even be sent down this river to the port and the minerals on barges as well. Note that I do expect you to repopulate the forests if you do harvest the trees and it must be done sustainably, and mass clearing is not acceptable. I also don’t like open-pit mining.”