“Activate auto-level.”
“Auto-level activated.”
CeCe delicately touched the controls under her left hand as she surveyed the positions of the virtual pads around her; she wanted the ones toward the beach placed just…so. The massive ship settled the remaining meter to the first pad contact. CeCe took slightly more power off the ring and watched the pads sink into the soft ground. More power came off and the auto-level sensors adjusted strut extensions to keep the ship level. Finally, all power to the lift ring was cut.
“Ship is grounded; finished with close maneuvering.”
Wills entered commands to reconfigure her chair, “Struts set to level and active. Minimum clearance under the ship is four meters. Good landing, Captain.”
Helt was in his usual position on the screen and joined in the praise, “That was the best landing of a Rhino that I have ever experienced; Very good, Captain.”
CeCe smiled at the praise, “Maintain all systems at departure ready status. Say, just how many landings of a Rhino have you experienced?”
Helt looked nervous, “Ah…well, let me think about that.” He started silently ticking off things on his fingers while staring off into space.
CeCe got the idea, “This was the first one, wasn’t it?”
Helt smiled brightly as he reached his last finger, “One!”
##
Hayes had never seen a Rhino-class starship take off or land either, and he was impressed at the sight of something that size settling like a feather. A lot of the Foresters had retreated in fear but most just stood there with their eyes wide and mouths open. Eva was standing on his seat with a death grip on his right arm.
He lifted Eva off the seat and started walking through the crowd, repeating, “You will now meet my commander. He has brought this ship to move as many as possible to safety. Get a few of your belongings together; we must leave before midday tomorrow.”
Some of the crowd shifted toward the town, but Hayes could tell that those that remained were not yet convinced that what was being offered to them was a good thing. He could see it in their faces that being told that they were about to die and that strange people from the stars were there to save some of them was something that most of them had not managed to wrap their minds around. He kept repeating his message until the floater arrived.
It came in slowly and settled next to the Santana after Hayes cleared the space. The crowd stood at a respectful distance, but not as far as they had before; some things were becoming familiar.
Wills and CeCe exited the cargo floater and approached Hayes. Wills noted that Hayes was neatly turned out in a standard ship suit, but had two puppies under his left arm, the mother dog happily pressed against his right leg, and a little girl with her arms wrapped around his left leg, regarding CeCe and himself with wide-eyed apprehension. They exchanged salutes.
“Hayes?”
“Sir!”
“Have you become a family man in the short time you’ve been here?”
“No, sir, but it is well known among my peers that I have a way with the ladies.”
Wills was not, totally, convinced, “Hmm . . . yes; well, at least you’re not wearing a grass skirt.”
Hayes turned to the locals that surrounded them, “This is Admiral Reynolds; he is the leader of our mission. And this is Commander Copeland; she is the Captain of that ship and the one that landed it.”
The crowd was obviously impressed by that information and talked excitedly as they pointed at CeCe and the Weasel.
Hayes smiled at the look on CeCe’s face, “They are astounded by the size of the Weasel and that one little girl brought it down; I think it’s an old fashioned sexist thing.”
Wills smiled at CeCe’s expression and turned back to face Hayes, “So, Hayes, what’s your opinion of the situation here? We need to get loaded, and we don’t have much time to load as many as the Weasel can hold.”
“Sir, at this moment they are still trying to get enough to fill the Gregory Falls. If I had to make a bet, I would say that the arrival of the Weasel is near pointless.”
Wills took a long breath and let it out slowly while he looked at the crowd in the field. He took out his pad and configured it to match Hayes’ pad.
He walked over to some of the locals, “Will you come with me to a new planet?”
They looked startled by his approach and question. After a bit of whispering among a few of them, one older male stepped slightly forward, “We cannot leave our homes - <crops> must be brought in and animals fed - I have a <barn> I am <building> - not finished”
Wills let out another long breath and motioned for the man to come closer; he did, with trepidation. He put an arm down around the shorter man’s shoulders and turned him toward the sun in the late afternoon sky.
“Tomorrow, at this time, every living thing here,” he started pointing, “the grass, the trees, the dogs, all other animals, your crops, your children, and you will be dying. You will never finish that barn because you will be dead. You will never feed your animals again because they will be dead.”
He turned the Forester to face the Weasel, “This ship was used by my people to take millions of us to other planets. Our need to go to other planets was because there were many of us and we needed more room. We have found more beautiful planets than we can use and you and your
