Chapter 16 U S E K U K P Z C F M J S C Q K X V M K N V Z E V C V E C Y We were all trapped in the worlds we were born into, for the centuries since all the lands of the world had been discovered and settled, and populated. There seemed to be no escape for those who would rebel against the tyranny of the all-powerful bureaucracies and the power-hungry functionaries with who inhabited them. One could move to another country, but there was little difference. The sudden appearance of a new land, with no people, no government, inspired in many people hope that there could be change. None of the knew that it had been claimed before the first hills broke the surface of the ocean. from 'Atlantis Rising' by Howard Lawrence The C-24 descended over the dark blue water and approached the landing site. Myles could see land on either side of them now - to his right the mainland, to the left the long island that stretched for hundreds of miles along the west coast of Atlantis. The wide channel between them provided a large area of calm water, and the pilot set the big aircraft down gently onto the surface, taxiing toward a beach near a small group of ships. They soon disembarked onto a floating dock from which a small boat took them to shore. They were greeted by the site administrator, a man named Hugh Blackmon. Hugh got an assistant to fetch a couple of the small vehicles they used for travelling about the area. He drove one, with Sir Roland and Sir Walter as passengers, while Myles rode with the assistant in the other. They spent a couple of hours driving over the island, their guides pointing out interesting features they had discovered. The island was over three hundred miles long, the guide told Myles, and from around forty to sixty miles wide. They had explored only a small part of it, and a thorough survey would take many men and many months. They eventually returned to the small base, a cluster of metal buildings in which a little over a hundred men lived and worked. Sir Roland was a frequent visitor, and was interested in the seismic activity of the past two days. "We have had some noticeable tremors" said the Hugh. "Which is to say we could feel them - that's something new." Sir Roland sat down at a computer and displayed some charts on the large screens, one of them included a map of the continent - at least the parts that were visible or near enough to the surface to map them. "The one this morning was a good one" Hugh commented. "You probably didn't feel it if you were on board a ship, but it went on for a couple of minutes, rattled things a bit. "Yes, Sir, that's it." he continued as Sir Roland indicated a place on the chart. "Around 0810." "Looks like it was centered over near the central and north part of the mainland" said Sir Walter. "If they increase you should probably get most of your people on board the ships and get them out of the channel." "Indeed, Sir Roland" said Hugh. "We're taking no chances." Video of a unmanned reconnaissance aircraft showed the exposed parts of the mainland. There were some sizable mountain ranges, and in a few places flat land was exposed as well. In one large area there were several large lakes. "Those will be filled with seawater" said Sir Roland. "An interesting situation - over a long period of time they will contain freshwater, a process that might be accelerated by pumping the water out and replacing it with water from wells, perhaps. Finding sources of fresh water will be an important part of making the land habitable. "It appears that almost the entire continent is above or near the surface. And there are quite a few of what will probably be islands, many to the south and some others to the northeast. The territory may eventually be much larger than the main landmass." Hugh advised them that it was a good time for lunch, as most of the personnel were already done and the cafeteria would not be busy. The cafeteria was the only dining facility, serving the entire population, and Myles was surprised at the quality of everything from the buildings and equipment to the food. "A lot of the food in the fleet is flown in," Sir Roland remarked "so it's no different here." The Stejacs provided a considerable amount of their food, as they were sparsely populated and had a great deal of surplus land. Fishing was also a large part of food production there, and the November Alpha freehold bought much of their food from them. But specialty items, particularly those with a short shelf life, were flown in from North America and Europe. When they finished eating, Hugh asked if they would like coffee. Both Sir Walter and Sir Roland did, and Myles went with Hugh to fetch them. They had just returned to the table and set the cups down when Myles felt as if the floor was vibrating under him. He saw the coffee in the cups rippling slightly and heard the silverware vibrating on the plates and the table. He knew it was a seismic tremor - he had experienced a few mild earthquakes back home. He waited until it had passed before sitting down again. "That was a really long one" said Hugh. "The ones we feel to seem to be getting longer and somewhat stronger. We could be in for something big." "You shouldn't take any chances" said Sir Roland. "Go ahead and evacuate to the ships and move out into open water. I have a feeling about this, and it's the kind of feeling I've been having for years - the kind that is rarely wrong." "We'll move at once, sir" said Hugh. "Shall I alert your aircrew?" "Please do" said Sir Roland. "We should depart rather soon, I believe. Best to be out of the way as they evacuate. After we finish our coffee, of course." That was a matter of just a few minutes, and they watched from the window as men began leaving the buildings and preparing to board the ships. They would want to take any expensive equipment and tools with them, but there was not much. They would probably be underway within a couple of hours. Before long they had boarded their aircraft and talked as the pilots began preparing to take off. "As I said" said Sir Roland "I've had these feelings often over the years - from the time I became aware of your uncle's work. Most of my direction has come from following those instincts, and thus far they have served me well. I suspect at some point, probably soon, there will be some sort of major activity - sudden and violent. You should probably get word to anyone you trust in the government or other institutions, at least have some attention focused on it." "I'll do that" said Sir Walter. "Since it looks like our visit is about to be cut short. When we return home we'll need to set up a continuous link, and involve the entire Council." "That seems prudent" said Sir Roland. "I expect to remain here for the duration. We're quite safe aboard our ships, and we will want to document this as it happens. We'll have manned and unmanned aircraft over the area constantly." The pilots taxied the aircraft out into the open channel, and minutes later they were airborne. A little over an hour later they landed and reboarded their ship. They had time to clean up and change clothes before dinner, and some time to check for news from home. Myles had a brief chat with Sarah and Tanya, then checked in with Frank, the chief of security at his estate. There was not much new, but Frank was being somewhat more vigilant that usual, sending men outside on regular patrols in the surrounding area. People were escaping from the isolated cities - finding their way out over the rivers that had suddenly become like prison walls, into the surrounding countryside. They soon learned to avoid the populated areas, which had organized law enforcement and security services, instead going into the rural areas. Since those with the financial assets and connections to escape in more conventional ways, these where mostly the criminal underclass, and they were like dangerous predators in the outside. Frank wanted to know if any of them entered his area before they got too close. Myles reflected that if the criminals were fleeing the cities, the situation must be bad indeed, as they normally thrived under those conditions, preying on the weaker ones trapped with them. He wondered what would happen if a much greater disaster followed the one in progress. At dinner he told Sir Walter what Frank had told him. "Not surprising" said Sir Walter. "One is tempted to suspect it is part of the plan - turning the cities, which were always a dangerous situation but essential to the political power of those in power, against them. If so, it seems to be working." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They left early the next morning, and were back at the freehold by early evening. Along with Sarah and Tanya, Tyler joined them at dinner. Gordon and Alex had requested his assistance with their work, and although he knew it worried Tanya, he had to go. "There aren't any operations underway" he told them. "It's all reconnaissance, recruiting - other organizational things. Gordon and Alex have done good work for us, building alliances and recruiting trustworthy assets. We have a much greater power in the area than the freehold could manage with only its internal assets." "If we end up with a war, of any sort, that will be important." said Sir Walter. "The larger freeholds are preparing to secure large territories around their own properties, and that requires working with the people who live there. They can benefit from our defenses, but we need their help as well." "I'll have to go back to November Alpha if, or when, the big event happens." he continued. "Even if it isn't as dramatic as Sir Roland expects, once the land is exposed sufficiently we'll have to start planting our settlements there. If the world is in a relatively calm state at that time, there may be challenges to our rights to it. We must be prepared to defend ourselves." "Can you defend it against large nations, like our own, or the Russians?" asked Tanya. "We have a few tricks, unexpected ones." said Sir Walter. "I believe we can discourage any outright attacks. But they like to be seen as reasonable, and it's likely our claim at the World Congress will take months, and we could probably drag it out for years if we need to. But things have gone well so far, and I have hope that our good fortune will continue. "In any case, you'll be in charge here, Myles. Which means you can't be gone for any length of time. It looks like we may be beginning the final act, in terms of Atlantis, but what happens here is far less predictable. The League has no intention of letting go of its possessions here, even after we have a firm base in Atlantis. And that may take years. So we have to find a way to manage the situation here, and be prepared at some point to assume control of the government. "That's the tricky part, and it's why we are interested in our unknown, shall we say, associates in the resistance. Their presence could be good or bad. A large part of Tyler's mission is learning about them. Gordon has military contacts, among men still on active duty - he hasn't found out anything, which suggests that it's a small operation, and they are being very careful. But it's something we need to know and be prepared to deal with, whatever form it takes." Before going to bed, Myles sat on the balcony outside his bedroom - a bedroom he had shared for several years now with Sarah and Tanya - talking and drinking. Sarah and Tanya were drinking wine, Myles had vacillated only briefly between brandy and whiskey before choosing the latter. He was tired and more than a little worried - he realized that going into combat, to the degree that he had done so, had not worried him so much. "This seems to be getting really serious" said Tanya. He looked across the table, Tanya never showing much emotion in her expression but her body betrayed her, and Sarah quietly gazing at two people she loved more than anything, silent. Myles knew she did that when she was worried. "It is" he said. "But we are at least doing something. Our advantage is in being aware of the threat, for a long time. The freeholds go back over twenty years, and we're in a much better position to survive and be around to pick up the pieces if things get really bad." "What are you worried about most?" asked Sarah. "The bomb we're sitting on, of course" Myles grinned. He wanted to put them at ease, even if he didn't feel that way himself. "As Sir Walter said, we're in a good position - those millions of people out there, the ones who aren't such bad people perhaps, but never paid attention to what was going on around them, they're the ones who will have a hard time of it. "And the masses of parasites, no need to try finding a nicer word for them, who live at the public expense in return for political support - who knows what they will do when the host can no longer support them? We're already seeing it as they escape the cities that were cut off from their supplies - they're roaming the countryside looking for food, and victims. We at least can defend ourselves. "But it's likely to be messy for a while. And we'd be foolish not to worry a little. Just don't worry too much - that can be as bad as not worrying at all." Sarah smiled, but it wasn't an especially convincing smile. Myles remembered when she was a carefree young woman with no more concerns than what to wear or which party to go to. He didn't love her any less then for all that he was already deeply involved in more serious things, but he liked they way she had been revealed as the sort of person he always knew she was. Tanya, so often the one who had needed comforting, put her hand on Sarah's leaned against her, their cheeks touching, and they sat that way for a few minutes. "When you have men like Myles and Sir Walter" Tanya said "What can you possibly find to worry about?" "And Tyler" said Sarah. "Yes, we are lucky." "And we have women like you" said Myles. "Otherwise it would hardly be worth the effort of living." Both women smiled, knowing he was completely serious. Seemingly more relaxed, they finished their wine. Myles looked at the night sky, both moons visible. One lay near the horizon, small and pale, while the other was high in the sky, flooding the countryside outside the walls with a light almost as bright as an overcast day. He wondered why moonlight always seemed cold, even on a warm night like this one. "We should probably get some sleep" he said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, after a quick breakfast in their quarters, they went to see Tyler off. Myles offered to fly him out to his rendezvous with Gordon and Alex, but Sir Walter did not want him away for even the few hours it would have taken. After a final embrace with Sarah and Tanya, he got into the car and departed for the airfield. Sarah and Tanya went back to Myles' apartments while Myles headed over to Sir Walter's offices. He was already at work, looking at an array of screens, one of which showed a real-time view of Atlantis from an altitude sufficient to show the entire continent while showing as much detail as possible from that distance. He was exchanging text messages with Sir Roland - Myles watched them scroll on the side of one the screens whenever they conversed. "There's not much to report" said Sir Walter. "Except that the tremors do seem to be increasing in frequency. There were a couple more yesterday after we left, and another this morning. At this rate it might be a while before anything happens, but one never knows. We could use more time to set get defenses set up for our area, and I hope that Tyler and Gordon, and our allies on the outside, can improve on that." "Meanwhile we wait, I suppose." said Myles. "That's about it. You know what they say about war - interminable boredom punctuated by moments of terror. We may be in for some dull days, perhaps weeks, but at some point have to act quickly and decisively - with little time to prepare." "Any news from the situation in North Kansas?" asked Myles. "We don't have anyone near the area" replied Sir Walter "so reliable information is hard to come by. But some gossip is getting out, and it seems the army isn't doing well. The terrain - mostly heavily wooded hills - isn't a good place to be for those not familiar with it. The locals are, and of course the army isn't. We learned long ago that you can train men for jungle combat, urban warfare, any imaginable scenario - but once they are on the ground in enemy terrirory most of that training is useless. At least until they learn the territory well enough, and by then they're mostly dead." "So if a saboteur within the ranks wanted to further weaken the Army" Myles said, "he could send large units on what would not only be a wild-goose chase, but a rather deadly one. I wonder how many men they have tied up in there." "We have some estimates based on what the locals saw as they arrived, but they probably aren't worth much." Sir Walter said. "Gordon called in earlier and we talked about it - he suspects they have two thousand men at a minimum, and it could be more. He's discreetly working his active duty contacts, and may get something. But with the Army already at such a low strength, they can't afford this. "So, we wait for a while. See if you can get a link set up with Gordon, or at least with whatever base they're using - we want as much real-time information about their activities as we can manage."