Chapter 1: Preperations

I was 40 when they discovered Columbus and released the news. There was quite a bit of arguing by the polies when they opened up the planet for colonization. It was a regular circus. Being uninterested in such things, I ignored the whole thing. I didn't care one way or another. Retired for medical from the military at 35, I figured that I had done my share already.

Then, on December 7th, 2041, they passed the Colonization act. The people would be selected by lottery. If your name was pulled, you went. No choice in the matter, you were gone. Those who refused would face unmentioned punishment.

Needless to say, I got a notice. Since I only check my mail once a month they sent out the suits to tell me. That was a laugh. I live in a retired missile base. The suits had to find the entrance first and then they had to find a way to knock on a blast door that you can drive a semi through.

When they finally found the phone box to call inside, I decided to give them a hard time. I answered and told them that they were on private property and would have to leave. The one doing the talking responded by saying that they were representatives of the government. I told them that I didn't care as I was retired. They would still have to leave.

The fun really started when the guy pulled out a badge and told me that if I didn't open the door and speak to them they would have to force their way in. That was really a hoot. The blast door was layered armor plating like the Navy used to use on them old battleships. It was two feet thick and it required a special hydraulic jack to open and close. This was powered by my wind generator on top of the hill that the base was buried under. It took a couple of minutes to open all the way. I used a different door to go out when I was walking, but that one was really well hidden.

Since they weren't interested in leaving and since it would probably get noisy when they tried to use explosives to blow the garage door, I decided to go out the hidden front door. Needless to say, I had my rifle and was wearing my dragon skin vest. I also had my Kevlar duster on. That thing actually cost me more than my vest. The vest was old surplus military. The duster was custom. I also had my revolvers on and my 9mm behind my back where the duster did a good job of hiding it.

I went out the door and sneaked up on them from the side and asked them what they wanted.

They both jumped at the sound of my voice and spun around with the talker going for his gun. By the time he had it out, I had my rifle aimed at his belly button. I figured that if the idiot was stupid enough to shoot, he deserved what he got for dinner.

He looked at my rifle and stated that it was a felony to threaten federal officers with a weapon. I stated that they were trespassing and that since they hadn't identified themselves properly, and were armed that I'd be within my rights to start shooting right now. I also pointed out one of the video camera's that were aimed at them and said that they were on film.

The quiet one started whispering to the talker. They went back and forth like that for a couple of minutes before the talker put up his gun and stated that they were there to inform me that I had been selected as a colonist for the planet Columbus.

I said, "I'm not interested in being a colonist. Go check your records on me. I retired five years ago with a medical from the Army. I sure as hell ain't going to a new planet just to get myself killed because some yahoo decided that I was a colonist."

The talker responded by saying, "You don't have a choice. By act of the Government of the United States, the colonization bill was passed. All selectees were by lottery. The fortunate ones who were chosen will either go or be charged with a felony. This would also mean that you would end up in prison for twenty years and would forfeit your pension and loose your property. You either go to Columbus or to jail."

With that, the quiet one handed me a large manila envelope and said, "Sir, you've been served your notice. You have thirty days to respond."

They left after that, and I went back inside. I took the envelope to my office and grabbed a cup of coffee. After sitting down at my desk, I checked the documents inside. There wasn't much, just an explanation of the Colonization act and what was required. It also contained a government credit card. The explanation for that was that I could purchase supplies and such for myself and any dependents that I might have.

I didn't have a wife or kids, and both my brothers had died during the war in 2010. The kids were grown now. I hadn't seen the kids for years and didn't even know if all of them were alive or not. That was something I would have to check on. I wasn't going to let the suits take the base back from me. It wasn't much, just a command and control center for several remote silos. But it was home. I bought the place at an estate sale when I got discharged. I had gotten a nice parting package when I was retired so I purchased the place. It was actually rather cheap since the property was in a remote location with no description of the base. All that was told was the size of the land parcel and that it had been a former military outpost of some type.

The land was only a couple of acres in size and didn't have any timber or valuable minerals. Even the water was by pump from a deep well.

I got on my computer and tracked down the oldest boy. It took a couple of hours, but I finally got in touch with him on my sat phone. The funny thing about him was that he was only a year or two younger than me. I'd been that surprise package when my mother found out she was pregnant. I was 20 years younger that the next brother and 25 years younger than the oldest. I barely remembered either of them and my nephew didn't at all.

Well, I made arrangements to meet with him and an attorney to transfer what I wasn't taking. I decided that I would try to keep the old five ton wrecker if I could find a way to take it with me, but most of the rest would end up being his. I was taking my survival gear and my guns and that would be about it.

A few days later, I met with Chris and the shyster in town. Chris had flown in the day before and stayed at a motel on me. I had plenty of cash, but it looked like it wouldn't do me much good so I splurged a bit and got him a room in the best place in town. It was a resort with full spa and such.

We got the transfers taken care of and went out to dinner. Chris told me that he was going to arrange to get his family moved out here the next day, but it would take a few weeks. I told him to have at it since the place was his. I'd get the stuff I was keeping out of there and show him how to get in.

After dinner, I dropped him at the resort and headed home. After my shower, I got on the net and did quite a bit of spending. I had the govinment card so I decided to see what I could get. Turns out that I could get quite a bit, so I splurged on stuff that I'd always wanted but couldn't afford.

A few thousand in purchases later, I hit the rack. I got a decent nights sleep that night. No nightmares from when I'd been in South America for a change. That was a messy war down there. We'd finished the Drug Cartels and several of the governments that either supported them or were outright owned by them. I was in Special Ops which ought to explain the nightmares.

Over the next few days, I got my travel trailer packed with what I was keeping and picking up the stuff that I'd bough off the net. That set of titanium cook wear was nice.

When everything was set up and ready, I got in touch with Chris and showed him around. After that, I gave him the keys and the access codes and headed to camp.

That's right, I was off to training camp again. This time was going to be fun since I doubted that they'd be able to teach me much.

I got there early in the morning and had to sit and wait for the office to open. Nobody showed up until after 9 A.M. What a way to run a training camp. If I'd been in charge, they'd have been there at 7:30 and opened by 8 am. Some jobs are just so much garbage.

I'd been there a week getting my stuff into the pod they assigned to me when an old friend contacted me. It seemed that his daughter was 'Selected to Colonize' just as I had been. He actually wanted me to marry her so that she'd be left alone on the ship and on the planet when we got there.

Since he was an old friend, I met with him and he explained the deal. Carmen had been a mechanic in the Marines and the appointed government had decided to offer her a job with the Colony operating her own shop. They were going to give her a special pod set up as a maintenance shop and let her run it. If I married her, my friend would arrange to get me hired by the camp as a survival instructor and by the colony as a scout/explorer. If I took the deal, we'd get the shop pod and a family pod.

Then he hit me with the biggie. The family pod would be a pre production experimental pod with deployable wheels that I could use while exploring. It would be large enough to sleep 4 and have plenty of room. A lot more room than the single that I'd been assigned. Carmen added that I'd be able to store extra gear in the shop pod and there would be enough room for my wrecker. The colony admin types would love that part as they would have access to a big wrecker along with someone who could drive it.

I accepted the deal, and the next day I was a newly wed with a wife almost young enough to be my daughter.

The next few months were interesting. I got my new pod and the equipment I wanted for it, including an upgraded solar set up and a wind turbine that I could mount on top of it. I even got a hold of an experimental helicopter that we loaded into the shop.

I had a reload room set up in a small closet in my pod, and plenty of ammo for my guns. I had two .357 magnum revolvers and the 9mm for belt guns and two .44 magnums in twin shoulder holsters. All of the revolvers were special orders and made of much better materials than normal production. They were a lot more accurate and had longer range also. They were break open double action, too. I loved all four those things.

I also kept all of my own guns. I even had a replica of the Ferguson Rifle. This was a breach loading flint lock that fired a .65 caliber ball. It was a nice piece. There was also the Barrett .50 caliber snipers rifle with a day/night scope. I also had a pair of sporterized M1 Garand 30.06's. These things were even rarer than the original M1. They were set up with a synthetic stock and had an external magazine that held twenty rounds. With the rebuilt action, it was no longer a thumb buster.

To add to all of that, I had a .44 magnum lever action Marlin that my father had left to me with a .50 caliber Desert Eagle automatic that I had never fired. I'd seen dad shoot it a few times, but he was a much bigger man than me and had the hands for it. I figured that it might be nice in an emergency, but I wasn't going to shoot that cannon unless it was at a target that was going to eat me and it looked too big for the other pistols to handle. I've seen the bear that dad killed with that thing, so I know that it can drop a big critter. I just didn't want to be the one that had to shoot it.

I made sure that Carmen had matching weapons in her shop pod plus what she wanted. Then we both got two compound bows each. I'm not much with a bow, but I figured that they would be nice if we ran low on ammo. It's a lot easier to make an arrow than it is to make modern gun powder, although I had 1000 rounds for each caliber in both of the pods, and plenty of powder, cartridges, percussion caps and lead for reloading. We even had the equipment to make new cartridges for each caliber and plenty of bullet molds. I know that an automatic won't work well with black powder, but I knew how to make it if I could find a source of sulfur. The nitrates could be extracted from animal droppings and urine if you must know.

We also had enough food in each pod to last up to six months. On top of that, we had a lot of freeze dried camping style meals. We had enough of that stuff to last both of us a year in each pod. Those pods ended up loaded.

The governor even had an old BDRM Soviet armored scout car in Carmen's shop pod. I don't know where he found that old thing. It must have been seventy years old or more. He'd even gotten it converted to run on diesel. It was loaded full of a bunch of stuff for the colony, as he put it. I wondered what he had stashed in it.

Aside from all the supplies and equipment that Carmen and I had managed to acquire, I taught class three days a week. The basic survival course I was teaching was mostly voluntary. I had about fifty students. Most just showed up and went through the motions. A few would actually listen and those were the ones I focused on. I taught them more than the required skills. They learned how to start a fire without matches for one. Not an easy skill to gain but it can save your life in an emergency. A lot of people have died because they didn't know that a shoe lace and a stick can make a bow for a bow and spindle fire starting kit.

I also taught them how to build an emergency shelter with their parachutes from the pods landing gear. It isn't hard to make a tent out of a large parachute. It comes with all you need except for the framework. Along with that, I taught them how to make snares out of wire and how to braid a rope out of vines and other such skills. If you want to take the time, it isn't hard to make a small net out of vines for fishing. It won't last very long but it might keep you alive.

The kids in this group weren't very knowledgeable about wilderness survival but were very focused. Especially one named Mylee or Myleigh ... I don't recall for sure but she was very focused. After watching what she was packing on her pod, I decided that if I had a choice for a neighbor, she'd be the first on the list. She and her friends would be welcomed at my home any time they wanted to stop by.

Also in the group were a couple of older men and one woman. They knew a lot already but were willing to learn new skills. They also taught a few things that I hadn't known. It worked well for the small group,. We taught each other quite a few things. One of the boys taught me some tricks with computers that I hadn't known and one of the girls gives a great therapeutic massage. That one made it to the second space of my preferred neighbors list. Two of the men were my age, and also vets. The woman was a rancher. That got a high rating for neighbors too.

On the days I wasn't teaching, I worked on getting my pod set up. I had a lot more room than most since I had a family pod that would normally be issued to a group of four but I needed the bigger pod since my job for the colony would be as a scout and explorer. I used all of that extra room for supplies and equipment. I had figured that the more I had, the less I'd want so I got as much as I could into it that the weight allowance for it would allow. By the time we were to launch, I had only about ten pounds left of my max weight. I don't know how they established that allowance, but I knew that a pod could launch or land with a lot more than they would let you have.

During the time that we were at the training camp, Carmen taught basic maintenance on vehicles. She also taught a few other things as time allowed. We were both busy during that time and hardly saw each other. We'd either be teaching or looking for that one little thing that could mean the difference between living or dying.

That summer, the classes were increased since the school aged kids were on break. That meant less time for other things but gave me a chance to work more with my students. I pushed hard on the basics since nothing is more basic than waking up in the morning still able to breath. I even had a few camp outs where the only things allowed were what you had in your pockets. If you didn't have a candy bar, you did without. After the first one, it was interesting to see what some of the students would show up with. One even had a backpack with all the camping gear he could carry. That didn't last long because on the second impromptu camp out, the only things they were allowed to bring were what they could put in their pockets. It isn't survival if you look like you're going on vacation.

After summer was over and the kids went back to school, we were back on the 3 days a week classes. It was during this time that my step mother came to see me. I hadn't seen her in years. We had just kind of lost contact after I went into the Army.

Anyways, the day she visited she brought some of dads old stuff. She told me that with my brothers gone there was no one left to give it to. She had his old footlocker and some large boxes for me. She also told me that both of her girls had been killed in a car accident a few years ago. I hadn't heard and was saddened to be told. When Mom died, dad had spent a few years just existing. Then he left me with Jerry, my oldest brother. He was gone for 2 weeks and showed up suddenly with Marsha and her two girls. All he said was, "Meet your new mother and sisters.

Marsha had lost her husband about the same time as Mom died. Dad had met her on one of his business trips. They stayed in touch for several months, and then decided to get married. It wasn't love, at least not at first. Dad needed someone to help raise a young boy and Marsha needed help with her two girls. They worked out an agreement and got married.

At first, I was resentful because I didn't want a new mom. I wanted my Mom back. Marsha finally sat with me one day and told me that she wasn't there to take over for Mom. She was there to be a mother but not the mother. She told me that Dad just couldn't keep up with a son my age and two more grown up. She needed help because it was hard to work and raise children that were between five and seven. She just didn't have enough time for them and work.

After that, we became friends. I never called her Mom but I learned to love her like I did my own. I also learned to love her girls like sisters. It hurt to learn that the girls who used to follow me around all the time were gone.

That's when Marsha dropped the big one. She had a brain tumor that was untreatable and two grandchildren that she couldn't take care of any more. She wanted me to take them in and raise them. The only thing I could think of to do was to lean forward and hug her and say, "I guess this is payback for when I was a kid. I'll do my best Mom."

Marsha hugged me back and said, "I know you never called me that before, but I always thought of you as my son. I know how hard it was for you at first to have to deal with two girls younger than you and I know how much they loved you. They used to ask me about you after you disappeared but I couldn't tell them anything. The only reason I found you is because of the Government releasing the list of those chosen as colonists. You are the last living member of my family except for my granddaughter and grandson. They won't have anybody else after I'm gone."

"I'll do the same as you did, Mom", I said. "The best that I can. I'll have to contact my wife and let her know but I expect that there won't be much of a problem."