Graham Heights
Rainier
en.wikipedia.org
Chapter 25
One World
One World
Journal Entry - March 17th 2094
Julia A Scott
Julia A Scott
It was all I could do to rip myself from the old journals, but the ships have finally entered the straights and will be here in four hours. It will be quite a sight to see these six ships that made up the Floating spaceport. We have been waiting almost a year since our first contact with the One World group from Central America. According to Jordy this group has been rebuilding the technology and scientific communities somewhere near a dam in what use to be called Panama. At first we knew only what Jordy told us. Once we accepted each other’s stories Jordy set up a simple communications system we got to talk with a One World representative, but still could not comprehend the scope of what they have accomplished. However, that changed when an arch arrived and brought us video and audio equipment so we could set up a proper communications station. In the Video link we were taken on a tour of an incredible facility built right in the midst of the jungles of Central America. One World was the dream of the CEO of a multi national company that was trying to change how the world operated and how we saw ourselves in the universe, not just our planet or country. He wanted to promote Clean energy and forward thinking, but it was just too little too late. The world imploded in on itself before his ingenious plans could unfold. Now Mr. Monroe and his organization were rebuilding, not to save this world, but to leave it. He had an incredible amount of technology and intellectual power, plus a few nuclear and fusion power generation systems. But that alone was not enough, he needed a population of people that had the willpower to do something that had never been done before… leave Earth.
And that’s where Graham Heights comes in. We have rebuilt this area from almost nothing to a regional power that was focused on rebuilding mankind, not just domination. We build homes, communities, a judicial system with an economic power that was unmatched by any for almost 3,000 kilometers in all directions. If you wanted to trade with us, you traded under our rules and regulations. We had a constitution that looked after the good of both the individuals, businesses and the general welfare of the Whole nation. Human nature was not eliminated, but mitigated. It was socialism meets capitalism and yet neither. Many of the items that were developed in schools and universities went on to create new industries and businesses, but the costs were kept low and the general welfare of the whole was always weighed in the equation of whether we could produce the product and what it would cost the customer, no more gouging or scalping.
We have had our ups and downs, but for every misstep there were also lessons learned and progress that has lead us to the people and nation we are today. At present, we have almost fourty nine hundred citizens and about eight hundred that want to become citizens of the nation of Rainier. Our nation is named after the mountain that towers over us and the people that were strong enough to survive this place. We are today, what a few souls had hoped that we would be. The hall of Heros still stands out at Graham Heights with the names, pictures and biographical information of those that worked tirelessly or even gave their lives so that we could have this nation. The Great Hall will remain here on Earth, but we will leave it with the care takers. The few that will stay, as they are too old or just unwilling to slip the bonds of Earth and venture out to an insanely unknown universe.
I will take with me the a copy of the journals. These writings and files that were created with the sole purpose of maintaining the integrity of who we want to be as a society. The Founding Elder Alan M. Scott and the first counsel, have written thousands of letters and journal entries so that we as a people would remember where we came from and what we are capable of, both good and bad. These journal describe a people that studied, worshiped God and served each other so that we would have a chance. I believe that any leader, elder or head of family should study these volumes so that we may forever maintain the principles that built this place.
Now we are packing to leave. We are packing up what we have built and taking it… to the stars. As I said earlier, the ships that are making their way down the Puget Sound are part of the One World fleet of ships that he used to rescue man’s knowledge and best minds before the old system imploded. I still find it amazing, that one person had the ability to accomplish all that. Moreover, that he was still alive. He said that with the cache of knowledge that he was protecting and the scientist that he rescued, was so great, that they were able to complete the work on fusion energy, single stage to space-craft, interstellar drives, extended life and the annihilation of cancer, parkinson's, alzheimer's and many other anomalies in the genome. Most of his citizens have implants that assisted with memory, motor functions or just replaced an appendage all together. They also had AIs like the one we met just after first contact. His name was Jordy and he is with me today. He sort of adopted us. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but we have noticed that even though many of the AIs look alike, they are not. Its like looking at identical twins. They may look like each other, but spend enough time with them and you can start seeing the differences.
Jordy keeps telling us how life will be different when we get aboard the Creatos. Our days will be scheduled based on the ship’s needs and not by the sun or seasons. That each one of use will undergo a series of test and evaluations to best determine what we will be trained to do and that many of us will be shipped to the colony ship in orbit as soon as we have decontaminated ourselves and our belongings. Only a few will be chosen to server on the surface fleet.
I ask Jordy if others were being shipped to the colony ship and he indicated that we were not the only colony that survived the near extinction of man. That other small groups had managed to hold onto their humanity and not de-evolve to animalistic tendencies. Which then got me wondering what happened to those groups that were animalistic or resistance to the One World group. We ourselves, have seen no aggressive behaviors from these people or their machines, but seeing the size and advanced nature of what they have as compared to our best efforts, it would take a mere flick of a lever from One World and the settlement’s animalistic nature would be swept aside like a dust bunny.
My great grandfather left me with a piece of wisdom that I employed as soon as I talked to Jordy. “If we were to encounter a superior force, we had but two choices; outsmart them, or if it was benevolent, to align yourself with them.” He told me this in his hoarse voice of advanced years.
So, when we saw the first drone, we knew that we were facing a superior colony. We had to face our fears and ready ourselves for whatever came next. Above all we had to keep our people from believing the worst before we found out if this new force was malevolent or benevolent. Two weeks later Jordy and his mule stepped out of the woods and walked up to the gate to show us who was knocking on our door.
I can still see it on the video screens; Jordy, the AI, had approached the gates with a boldness that the guards were not used to. However he made no aggressive gestures so, the captain of the watch, Pat Hoe went out to meet him. Jordy wanted to show Pat that he did not have to wait for an invitation so he took a 1” steel pole and easily bent it in half. Jordy then opened a pack on the mule and pulled out a tri-corder. He scanned Pat and told him all the ailments and injuries that he had had. Jordy then gave Pat the Tri-corder.
Jordy clear voice commanded, “Please give this to your physicians so they may better serve their patients.”
That pretty much set the tone for our interactions. Pat deemed the AI as honest enough to be allowed in with a security team that… well, watch the… stranger? Jordy was brought to our Administration building and where we sat down with the current Elder board and representatives to discuss what One World wanted from us and what we could possibly offer them. It was difficult to categorize Jordy at first. He was not Human, but he acted and looked as such. He had a sense of humor and could read emotions from those around him. He also had the ability to listen to a half dozen conversations and respond accordingly to any of them. It did not take the elders long to accept Jordy’s proposal and a message was sent to One World. Within two days the first Arc arrived. It was an impressive vehicle that was able to travel over any terrain. You could see that it had already traversed numerous obstacles and had a few battle scars. I was puzzled that our new benefactor would travel on the ground and not via air or water, but that was a question for a different time. This Arc carried communication equipment and more medical supplies as well as three more AIs, one with extensive medical background. The other two specialized in constructions and engineering. It was their job to get us ready for the next step with the parent organization.
Jordy explained that One World is looking for groups such as ours, that want to make thier part of this world better not just for themselves but for all mankind. However change is always stressful and so should be done slowly and carefully. It’s not six months since this AI walked in on us and now Jordy was in my office charging. He.. it hated the term charging and preferred to call it sleeping. His point was that we humans recharge when we sleep and he was doing the same thing. However we humans could be woke up from their sleep and Jordy, well that didn’t go over so well. Luckily the AIs only recharged or septed once every three days. The rest of the time they were overseeing improvements to our power production facilities, here on the island and the six dams that were refurbished to provide as much power as we could get out of these old systems.
Electricity was our life blood and since we had no access to fossil fuels we used everything from tidel and traditional hydro systems to solar and wind energy to power our generators. With Hydro carrying the lion share of the load, it was always difficult to maintain power levels during the drier part of the summer, so we had to slow down and give our agricultural system most of what we could produce. The shortages were routine by now and most had stopped complaining, that’s until Jordy and his AIs stepping in. They have improved our solar systems and energy storage facilities. Also showed us how to build absorbers systems that took the sun's energy and turned it into cooling for refrigerations and comfort. It was interesting to have a cooling system that worked better when the sun was at its hottest.
The two engineering AIs also survived the inland waterways and natural bay that the area was famous for in its former life, to ensure that the fleet can make its way to the island. It was determined that the fleet could not make its way past the Narrows as debris from the two suspension bridges, that use to span a pinch point the lead to the Southern part of the Puget Sound, known as the Narrows. This debris would fowle up the propulsion system on the bigger ships. So we were moving back to Fort Lance in Commencement Bay. I’ll miss the island and the security of these walls. I only hope that those that remain will be able to sustain themselves here.
I look out my window and floated back a few years when we made the moved to the island. It was the third time that we had moved our Capital in the last seventy years and this old penitentiary would have made the perfect home for our Capital for decades to come. It’s thick walls protect us from raids and the fenced areas are perfect for trade. We have a 360 degree view for 10 kilometers and water that helps reduce the size of any attacking forces. We still maintain the surrounding area from The North side of Commencement bay up the Valley and the as far South as the Nisqually river. From there we head East till we hit the mountains. It was large and was full of renewable resources, but we were not immuned to raids and other groups that wanted what we had built. It did not happen often, as a matter of fact it has never happened while I have been the Chief Elder. But that does not guarantee that it wouldn’t. Our garrisons stay ready and our probes and drones are always patrolling. It is the cost of success and security. Which brings up another factor in aligning ourselves with this One World, Our security system did not detect Jordy’s approach, he just appeared at our door with no warning. That’s when my grandfather’s words reminded me that this day would come and what we did next would set the stage for our future. We were fortunate that these machines were sent to help us and improve much of what we have. One World proved their benevolence and so deserved to be invited in. They could have snuck in and taken out much of what we had and left us striped of our strength. Instead our doctors have medicine and procedures that had never seen before, our engineers are going back to school and our manufacturing facilities have as much power as they want. All of this in six months.
With all that said, they are coming… to us.
As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.
Book 4: Obsidian Arrows
Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss
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R. A. Legg
R. A. Legg
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