Deep Space

Chapter 14

In the cabin passenger cabin of the South East England cylinder, Deeta Janes was dozing in her seat as the cabin's speaker system burst into life. "Rendezvous is complete," a voice said, "Thank you for your patience. We will shortly be commencing the burn to take us out of the ecliptic. The transfer will take approximately 16 months. Please take your seats and prepare for hibernation. Your hibernation mask will fall from the panel above your head. Please fasten the mask over your nose and mouth and breathe deeply on my mark."

Deeta looked up as the mask fell from the panel. She reached up and pulled it towards her in readiness for the instruction. She looked to left and right. All her companions had done likewise.

"Hibernation will commence shortly. You may find it helpful to count backwards from 10 on the following mark. Three, two one, Mark!"

Deeta looked up towards the cabin ceiling. A green vapour was passing down each of the tubes that fed the masks. "Ten," she thought. "Nine. Eight. … ". In her mind, she carried on counting. To anyone watching, she appeared to be in an unconscious state.

As the women of earth passed into hibernation, the shuttle from the Orbiter docked and the Sol5g mercenaries, the Gnarriott troopers and their captives disembarked. The women were dragged to a passenger cabin, secured and forcibly hibernated along side the other passengers. Crista, Nataya, Terrill and the others took Mayern, on a trolley, paralysed but still conscious up to the great domed chamber of Gnarff's suite. Mayern gazed up from her trolley, looking out through the great glazed dome, looking out into the black depths of the universe.

Almost her first sight was the bright, soundless flower of the explosion in the docking bay of the Orbiter as the package that the Troopers had left detonated. She watched as the whole station appeared to shudder in space, shiver to a standstill and then begin to twist out of orbit; its antennae and external structures splintering away as it began to spiral to its death.

Gnarff and Mead came into the suite. "I fear that the fate of the Orbiter is only a pre-cursor of that of Sol3a, Council Leader. You and your people are well away from it."

Mayern, unable to move, could only stare at Farrin Gnarff.

"You had few options, Councillor, and so little time. Look!" Gnarff gestured towards Sol3a shining brightly through the dome above them. The west coast of NorAmer was just emerging from the shadow of night. Even from space the explosive volcanic plumes were clearly visible, spewing into the atmosphere, triggered by the slippage in the Great Fault Line and carried like a shroud across the dying planet. Beyond, away to the east of the continent, the shape of the coastline had changed beyond recognition as the seas had already flooded in response to the flexing of the ocean floor.

"But now we must think of the future. Doctor Mead here has been helping me to ensure that your people will have suitable facilities at your destination. She has also been helping me with the problems that we discussed of making the colony self sufficient. You may find our ways of doing things a little direct at first but I am sure you will come to recognise their effectiveness. Doctor Mead, if you please…"

Mayern was only partly listening, distracted by panorama of devastation unfolding through the dome above her. Mead stepped forward.

"Your Excellency, Councillor," she began, formally.

Gnarff' swivelled his head towards her. "Get on with it," he grunted.

Mead coughed and began again. "We have a living space allocated to your people on one of the outer-world satellites of the Forgwin system. Once you are established there, the first priority will be to stabilise the population numbers. Councillor you will be aware that birth rates have fallen over the past five years to a dangerously low level. We estimate that around one third of your population will need to enter an insemination, incubation and breeding programme to reverse this trend. This will need to be a managed programme since previous attempts at encouragement have failed so we expect the allocation of individuals to this programme soon after arrival. In addition something like 10000 of you will need to be deployed in hydroponic farming to enable the facility to be self sufficient in food and other essentials and around 6000 will be needed for management of the colony, provision of local security services, that sort of thing."

Gabrielle Mayern could not respond; she could only stare up, wondering whether the horrors unfolding above her or those that were implied within the colony were the worse.

"That leaves around 14,000 of your population, Councillor," Gnarff interjected. "These will be available to help Sol3a to pay off its debts to the Forgwin system as a result of this evacuation. Normally we would propose a share cropping system for your farming but I am advised that the colony will only just be self sustaining from an agricultural perspective and we have no wish to put your people under a greater pressure than is absolutely necessary.

"Fortunately Sol3a has an important asset in its people and one which is particularly valuable in the Forgwin system." Gnarff moved to Mayern's side and reached across with one of his pincers. Deftly he clipped the buttons from her blouse and let it fall open. Mayern was unable to move. "The Gnarriott are a passionate race and find your fleshy bodies arousing. Even during our own discussions, Councillor, I found myself often distracted by the rise and fall of your breasts beneath your blouse, the curve of your neck, the discrete hint of cleavage, the way that lock of hair falls down across your brow when you defend your point of view. I must admit that I sometimes found it hard to remember that I was trying to ensure the best future for all of your people. I am sure we will help you find ways to turn these assets into a marketable commodity, one that will bring prosperity to your new home."

Mead watched with embarrassment as Gnarff toyed with Mayern's clothing. As an anthropologist she was used to observing sexual behaviour and she was hardly any stranger to Gnarff's tastes but she found this chilling. What was more, she knew the economic arguments for the Gnarriott proposition were sound but it was clear from her conversations with Taylor that the Federation would find it hard to accept. She could see that the mercenaries looked uncomfortable as well.