Books in the EMPIRE Series
by Richard F. Weyand:
EMPIRE: Reformer
EMPIRE: Usurper
EMPIRE: Tyrant
EMPIRE: Commander
EMPIRE: Warlord
EMPIRE: Conqueror
by Stephanie Osborn:
EMPIRE: Imperial Police
EMPIRE: Imperial Detective
EMPIRE: Imperial Inspector
by Richard F. Weyand:
EMPIRE: Intervention
EMPIRE: Investigation
EMPIRE: Succession
EMPIRE: Renewal
EMPIRE: Resistance
EMPIRE: Resurgence
Books in the Childers Universe
by Richard F. Weyand:
Childers
Childers: Absurd Proposals
Galactic Mail: Revolution
A Charter For The Commonwealth
Campbell: The Problem With Bliss
by Stephanie Osborn:
Campbell: The Sigurdsen Incident
ARCADIA
A Colony Story
by
RICHARD F. WEYAND
Copyright 2021 by Richard F. Weyand
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 978-1-954903-03-6
Printed in the United States of America
Cover Credits
Cover Art: Paola Giari and Luca Oleastri,
www.rotwangstudio.com
Back Cover Photo: Oleg Volk
Many thanks to
王睿
for verifying Chinese cultural accuracy.
Published by Weyand Associates, Inc.
Bloomington, Indiana, USA
June 2021
CONTENTS
2245
Arrival
The Basics
Setting Up Camp
Livestock, Toilets, Food, And Bedding
Second Day
Moving
Cubic
Quant #1
First Steps
2295
Big Trouble
The Chen
The Meeting
Plan CC
Address By The Chen
Opening The Convention
Forgotten Legacy
The Push To The Finish
Plebiscite And Celebration
Quant #2
Meddling And Infrastructure
2345
A Precocious Problem
Arcadia City
Getting Settled, Getting Around
The University of Arcadia
The Beach
Commitment
Study In Earnest
Revelation
Back On The Path
Quant #3
Silicon, Carbon, and Mathematics
2362
Government Project
The Prime Minister And The Bureaucrat
Preparations
Failure
Recrimination And Cancellation
Politics, Purchase, And Personnel
Preparations
Success!
Epilogue
Quant #4
Geodesic
Author’s Afterword
2245
Arrival
A blue haze developed over the display screen at the front of the passenger container. The blue haze flashed suddenly and was gone.
A planet floated in the display, taking up half the display on the left.
“We have arrived at Arcadia,” Janice Quant’s voice announced.
Perhaps two minutes later, gravity abruptly returned. There was a bit of a tremor as the building settled a bit.
“Peggy, look at that,” Matt said.
In the display, Matt could see from their location on the top of the residence hall all the way to the horizon. There were coastal grasslands close around them, with some structures in the middle distance Matt recognized as the barns.
Well beyond the barns, there was lush vegetation, with some small trees. Some looked like they were laid out in a grid, like orchards. In the far distance, blue-gray mountains marched across the horizon, falling off to the sea in the right side of the display.
A cheer went up in the compartment, and there was applause.
They had arrived on Arcadia.
The return of gravity was a relief. They had been in zero gravity, strapped into their seats, for almost two hours, since the big cargo shuttle carrying the passenger container had throttled back on reaching orbit. There had then been the transport of the shuttle and its payload by the interstellar probe to the big interstellar transporter. The passenger container had been latched by the shuttle to the roof of one of the colony buildings, where they had waited until everyone was aboard.
Arcadia had been the third planet where the transporter stopped. The interstellar flights themselves were instantaneous, but there was a delay at each planet to transport the colony buildings to the surface. Then the next planet, then Arcadia.
After four years of planning and training, they had arrived.
“Hi, everybody. This is Mark Kendall,” the voice came from the speakers in the passenger container. “We’ve arrived, so there’ll be no more zero gravity.”
The chairman of the Arcadia ruling council paused for the cheering in his container to die down.
“We’re here now, and there’s no hurry, so let’s make it a safe debarkation. There are some ladders and steps to climb down, and we don’t want anybody getting hurt. So let’s all take our time.
“It’s about ten o’clock in the morning here, so we’ve gone back a couple hours from the time zone in Texas.
“Our only jobs today are to get everybody into their temporary quarters in the colony buildings, and to make sure everybody has food and water available.
“Tomorrow we are going to start putting up houses and stringing fencing so we can let the livestock out. The livestock is all on time-release tranquilizers, and they have food for now, but we need to get them out grazing soon.
“But for today, let’s get everybody into temporary quarters. It’s going to be crowded, but it won’t be sleeping out on the grass like in Texas, so we’re moving up one step at a time.
“Now I’m going to turn over the intercom to each of the building managers, so they can talk to the passenger compartments on their own buildings.”
There was a pause, and then another voice came over the speakers.
“Hi, everybody. If you’re hearing me, you’re in one of the passenger containers on the roof of the hospital. My name is Meghana Khatri, and I am the administrator of the hospital. I also sit on the council as head of the health department.
“The first thing is to get everybody a bunk room in the hospital so we all have a comfortable place to sleep tonight. It’s going to be pretty spartan for now, and we’re going to be crowded.
“All the registered groups have been housed together. For the rest of you, think of it as an opportunity to make new friends. We’re all in this together, so let’s pull together like a team.
“When you debark the passenger container, take the supplies box under your seat with you. Yes, we’re still on rations and bottled water for the moment. We are going to try to get the kitchens up and running in the next few days, but there’s a lot of work to do first. Running electric and water from the power plant and septic lines back is an early priority. In the
