[Friday, October 14]

I’m in Erica’s office following up on several projects when Dakota comes in with Becca and Indy in tow. I suppose Jason took me seriously about expediting their approval to visit Yakushima.

I smile at them and say, “Good morning, ladies. How was your flight?”

Dakota and Indy shrug, and Dakata says, “Tiring, but then again, we’ve been up working since our meeting,”

“For me, it was exciting. That was my first time on a plane. Not to mention getting to fly right at the edge of space,” Becca replies.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. How’s your sister doing?”

“She’s in a coma. The doctor said that’s normal, though, and that the nanites will take a few days to repair the damage. By the way, thank you again, Sora.”

“I’m happy to help. So, what are you ladies here for?”

“We’ve integrated some of the functions you stipulated already, although there’s still more to do. So, I need to have Hestia run simulations and diagnostics on the new programming for Becca’s nanites. It’s far easier for her to spot mistakes than for us to wade through thousands of lines of code. One step at a time, though, right? Then I’ll give them a tour of the facility and get them set up in a corporate apartment,” Dakota says.

“If you need any help, just ask.”

“You can program nanites?” Indy asks incredulously, which makes me smile. I have no idea why that would be so hard to believe.

“Of course I can. I have a Ph.D. in Nanotechnology, and an M.S. in both Biotechnology and Programming from MIT. I’m surprised that you’re surprised since my degrees are part of my public bio.”

“I never thought about looking. I guess I was thinking that you’d be too busy to do something like that.”

I smile and shrug. “If something is important, you make the time to do it. Anyway, I was just about to leave because I have a date with my husband and wife that I need to get to, and I don’t want to be late. Nice seeing you two again. Good luck with the project, and enjoy your stay.”

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

[Sunday, October 17]

Of course, today is Chinatsu’s birthday. So, we’re having a party for her, but it’s just family and friends. Still, that’s over 50 people. We got a band she likes called Encore. I consider them to be okay, but they are far from being a favorite of mine.

The palace has its own little dance club, and that’s where her party is being held. Well, little is relative since it can easily handle more than 100 people. So, after we have dinner, we all head there, dance and have a few drinks, have her cake, and finally, at around ten, I head upstairs alone since I have to get up early tomorrow.

[Monday, October 18]

Teresa quietly wakes me up at midnight because tonight is going to be busy. Over the next ten days, the military is collecting all of the colonists from ten at night to five in the morning and transporting them to the ship, HMS Fortune. Of course, we’re keeping this as quiet as possible. The families selected were informed a week ago and told that other than momentos, they are to take nothing since everything would all be provided for them.

The escort fleet with Admiral Jessup is already in position with HMS Fortune on the other side of the sun from Earth, and they’ll be jumping from there as well. The other three colony ships are still being built, but the first of them, HMS Prophet, should be ready in six months. It will be larger than HMS Fortune and will be able to transport close to half a million people to Beta Hydri. They’ll be escorted by another fleet as well, although it won’t be nearly as large as the one escorting the first colonists. The next one will be named HMS O’Neill, and the final one will be named HMS Artemis.

The Geoformers have been busily transforming the first planet, now named Eridan with a moon named Bestor. The second is named Aurelia with a moon named Exos. The three, yes, three, semi-habitable moons around the single gas giant named Casper, have been named Riva, Bane, and Myst.

Engineers are building the first space elevator on Eridan at the same time. They are also building a base for the fleet on Bestor.

Just to be safe, they used antimatter weapons to wipe out all life on the planets and moons. The reason they used antimatter is the short life of the radiation they produce. Hours instead of weeks. It’s still deadly to plant, insect, and animal life, though. Then, they spread nanites across the planet to kill off anything left, e.g. bacteria or virii. Those are notoriously hard to kill. While I’m not too worried about the colonists themselves since they all have nanites to protect them, the other plants, insects, and animals do not. A week later, they shut them down, and seeded the surface with engineered fast-growing plants, trees, and such, along with insects and the like to establish an Earth-like ecology. They’ll be doing the same thing with the other planet and moons.

As you may remember, both Aurelia and Eridan are larger than Earth and both have moons. Aurelia has an atmospheric makeup of 74.2% nitrogen, 22.6% oxygen, and 3.2% various other gases. It has a circumference of 50,600 kilometers, 62% water, 38% land, and a comfortable 1.14 g.

Eridan has an atmospheric makeup of 75.9% nitrogen, 20.3% oxygen, and 3.8% various other gases. It has a circumference of 49,800 kilometers, 67% water, 33% land, and slightly higher gravity at 1.22 g.

Riva, Bane, and Myst are all denser than our moon as well as much larger with very dense cores which are active, so the three of them have strong magnetic fields. Otherwise, the radiation from Casper would make them uninhabitable.

Riva is a bit more than 10,810 kilometers in diameter with gravity at a pleasant 0.77 g. Bane is slightly more than 12,740 kilometers in diameter with gravity of 0.83 g and finally, Myst, the largest of the three, is roughly 15,970 kilometers in diameter with gravity of 0.86 g. All have dense O2/N atmospheres, and the lowest atmospheric pressure among the three is 0.8 kg/cm², so it’s quite livable for humans.

The geoformers did have to build reflectors for all three moons to warm them up since their average temperatures were barely in the double digits. It’ll be a while longer until they are warm enough and have the plant life to sustain more than a small population.

I still can’t believe how lucky we got with this system. Now, we just need to settle and defend the system from anyone else.

As an aside, the HMS Fortune will take much longer to get to Beta Hydri, due to the power requirements. They can only enter the higher part of the alpha band in jump space, so it’ll take 110 days, instead of 22 like the fleet and scout ships. One good thing about that is that the ecology of the planet will be better established when they get there.

So, now that we are caught up with everything. I spend the night at CMCC with General Chambers watching as they collect the colonists and transport them. Thankfully, they are able to do it quietly enough that the press doesn’t catch wind of it.

I don’t really like keeping things from the public, but in this case, it’s for the best. I’ve already explained my reasoning behind it, so there’s no need to go into it again.

My parents and younger siblings, along with Anne and George won’t be leaving for the ship until the last second. All of them disappearing suddenly would have the press sniffing around in no time. Plus, it gives us a bit more time together.

Hopefully, everything else goes just as smoothly.

[Thursday, October 28]

Sometime early this morning, the transportation of all of the colonists is complete, except for my family, Anne, and George. We’ll be flying them all up in my plane and then, finally, I plan to fully explain to the colonists what is going on since Cal called me a few days ago to inform me that General Crary had to use the military police to break up some demonstrations that got out of hand. Thankfully, they dispersed without any type of weapons being needed.

The Fortune and her escort fleet are scheduled to jump for Beta Hydri at noon today once the last of the seed and ova are delivered. If you’re wondering, the seed and ova represent just about every kind of plant, insect, and animal, even sea life, from Earth, minus the ones that contribute nothing to the ecology, as in mosquitos and the like.

Thank God that artificial wombs were developed a few years ago. Remember Genelife? Yep, the Chinese corporation that tried to abduct me. Regardless, they are the ones that developed them. Funny thing though, everyone just calls them BIB’s (Baby In a Bag). Power, nanites, nutrients, and blood are all that’s needed. It’s going to make starting up the colony so much easier.

Anyway, we load up on my plane and fly out to the HMS Fortune. I’ve never been there, so after I talk to the colonists, Cal will be taking me on a tour of it.

The flight takes several hours, but we finally arrive and land in the docking bay. Of course, Cal, General Crary, and Captain Lewis are there to meet us. They salute as I descend the ramp.

The docking bay is huge, much bigger than the ones for HighPoint Station and Lone Star Station. Even without the fleet there to guard them, Fortune is heavily armed and defended. On top of that, they have 200 wings of F-50 fighters, 200 wings of F-60 strike fighters, 100 wings of AC-310 gunships, another 500 wings of V-23 dropships, and finally, 100 wings of C-21 transports. Of course, there is also the 3rd, 8th, and 9th Armies with all of their associated equipment, most of whom are fertile females.

After greeting them, they led my party through the ship to the command center. I take a seat in the Captain’s chair, and Captain Lewis inputs his code for a system interrupt to display me on every monitor and phone in the ship.

Once he indicates that I’m live, I begin, “Good afternoon everyone.

“I’m sure there is a lot of confusion about why you all are here. Today, I’m going to clear that up for you. You were told you were being resettled as a safeguard, and yes, that is true, but what you haven’t been told is that it won’t be in the Sol system. You will be the first colony ship to be sent out from Earth to Beta Hydri. For those who are familiar with it, it’s almost 12 light-years away and has several habitable planets and moons.

“You are being sent there in secret, and only a handful of people know where you are being sent. You are going there to establish another system for humanity, but also as a safeguard just in case the war goes badly. You, and the colony ships that will be following yours, are my backup plan. If everything goes wrong, you are my guarantee that humanity has a future.

“By the time you reach Beta Hydri, the geoformers should have an Earth-like ecology up and running for you. Amongst you are farmers, ranchers, teachers, scientists, engineers, and all the others you will need to begin a civilization. In this ship is everything you could possibly need to accomplish that.

“We’ve done everything possible to make it as easy as we can for you to establish yourselves. The shots you were given just before you left Earth or Mars were nanites. They will protect you from disease, heal you in case you are injured, and allow you to live in good health for approximately 200 years. They also increase your strength and bone density, so you won’t have to worry about the slightly higher gravity. You are among the few citizens that have them right now.

“I’m sending Anne and George Windsor as my representatives and governors of the Beta Hydri system. Please, give them the same respect that you would give me. Anne and George are uniquely qualified to govern, and they will do anything to protect you and your rights, just as I do.

“I apologize to all of you for keeping this a secret until now, but I’m sure you can see why we did. In my opinion, you are undertaking the most important endeavor in human history. On the trip to Beta Hydri, take the time to get to know your fellow colonists, and develop the close bonds you’ll need to work together to build new homes for humanity. Remember, no person can stand alone, and at no time has the saying of ‘love your neighbor’ been so true.

“Finally, no one with any kind of criminal history was chosen as it would make things just that much harder if they fell back on what they’ve known. For the first year or so, you will live under martial law. Admiral Jessup is in command, and he will make sure that the military treats everyone with respect and dignity, but let me be clear about this: break the law, and you will be dealt with harshly. Until you are more established, life will be difficult enough without a criminal element making it harder. I’m sure I’m making myself perfectly clear here, and be assured, I mean every word of it. Anne, George, and Admiral Jessup will do as I’ve instructed. Please, you’re my people, and I care about every single one of you. I’m hoping that you will care for one another as much as I do. So, help one another when needed and build tight-knit communities because you may very well need your neighbors just as much as they need you.

“God Bless each and every one of you.”

Captain Lewis turns off the camera, and I close my eyes for a moment. I open them when Cal pats my shoulder and says, “Very well done Sora. Let’s hope that they’ll do just as you asked.”

“I’m hoping so.”

“Ready for a tour of the Fortune?”

I nod. “Definitely.”

They give me a tour, then I say goodbye to Anne, George, and my family. Afterward, Cal leads me back to my plane. We take off and stand by. A few minutes later, they jump for Beta Hydri as tears slip down my cheeks.