Janet Edwards: Earth Flight

Lolmack shook his head. ‘Don’t build your hopes impossibly high, Lolia. The vital thing is to have Lolette openly acknowledged, so we can stop living in fear of being made clanless. We must contact clan council at once.’

I was startled to hear Lecturer Playdon join in the conversation. ‘I’ll excuse both Lolia and Lolmack from this morning’s dig site work so they can discuss this development with their clan. Tomorrow, we’ll still be working on the Eden ruins in the morning, but in the afternoon we’ll be packing and moving to London Main Dig Site.’

‘But the General Marshal’s making a statement about the Alien Contact programme tomorrow afternoon,’ said Krath. ‘We can’t miss seeing that.’

‘The announcement is at 17:00 hours Earth Africa time,’ said Playdon. ‘We’ll stay here to watch it, but I want everyone to be packed ready to leave directly after it finishes. Fortunately, Earth Africa is on Green Time plus two hours, while Earth Europe is on Green time, so we’ll gain two hours in the move.’

He paused and pointedly glanced towards Fian and me. ‘I’ll do a last inspection of the dome just before we leave. Students aren’t allowed to move dome walls, so I’m sure I won’t discover any of them are missing.’

Fian and I exchanged embarrassed glances, while the rest of the class laughed at us. Everyone knew we’d illegally moved the wall between our two single rooms to make a double.

‘How many days holiday do we get before starting work on London Main?’ asked Krath.

Playdon gave him one of his evil smiles that meant bad news. ‘None.’

There was a collective groan from the class. We all knew Playdon’s smile meant there was absolutely no point in arguing, but Krath tried it anyway.

‘None? We’re supposed to get at least three days break when we move dig sites!’

‘You all missed an entire week of work due to the alien probe,’ said Playdon, ‘so you’ve got some catching up to do. Clear away breakfast now.’

I started piling plates on to a tray, picked it up, and looked at Fian. ‘Do you believe me becoming a clan member will really help Lolia and Lolmack?’

‘They obviously think so. It’s much bigger than just those two and their baby though, isn’t it? 92 per cent of Handicapped babies are handed over to be wards of Hospital Earth. The older sectors have the highest populations, so at least a quarter of those babies must be being born to Betan clans. If the clan attitudes change so it’s easier for Betan parents to come to Earth with their baby, it could mean thousands of children each year have a chance to grow up with their family.’

Fian was right and my psychologist had been totally wrong. It wasn’t pointless making myself unhappy over the unfairness of things, because there was something I could do to change them for the better.

When we sent the signal to the alien probe, it had been a significant moment for humanity. When the Tell clan of Zeus welcomed me as a clan member, it would be just as significant a moment for the Handicapped children of Beta sector.

At exactly 16:59 hours the next day, Fian and I sprinted into the hall and found the rest of the class sitting on neat rows of chairs facing the wall vid. We collapsed on to the two empty chairs next to Krath.

‘What took you so long?’ Krath shook his head at us. ‘It was only one wall. You could have built a whole dome by now.’

‘The wall didn’t want to go back,’ said Fian. ‘We won in the end, but …’

Amalie sighed. ‘Please don’t tell me you fixed the bottom corners first.’

Fian and I exchanged glances. ‘We did …’ I said.

Amalie shook her head sadly at our incompetence. She’d been born only a few years after her world came out of Colony Ten phase and was opened up for full colonization, and had spent her childhood helping to assemble buildings from flexiplas sections. ‘It’s much easier if you start with the top.’

‘Why aren’t you two in uniform?’ asked Dalmora.

‘We’ll be going through Earth Africa Transit,’ said Fian. ‘Playdon suggested we’d be less conspicuous in civilian clothes.’

‘It’s starting!’ Krath shouted.

Everyone went quiet and listened to the presenter on the wall vid. ‘Earth Rolling News now joins the cross-sector live link from Academy in Alpha sector for an announcement by General Marshal Renton Mai, commander-in-chief of the Military.’

The image changed to show a man in a pure white uniform, standing at a podium with the flag of humanity behind him. He began speaking in a relaxed voice. ‘The light-based communication from the alien probe clearly has a huge amount of data content. Deciphering that content and locating the alien planet of origin is likely to take a considerable period of time. Alien Contact is therefore moving from initial response phase into a longer term commitment and there will be a number of changes.’

I held my breath as the General Marshal went on.

‘Military Base 79 Zulu on Earth will be upgraded and become the permanent base for the Alien Contact programme. It will also house two research groups. One investigating the alien technology discovered in Earth Africa, and the other concentrating on the light signals from the sphere.’

I started breathing again. Alien Contact was staying on Earth!

‘The guard on the alien sphere will be maintained but downgraded in scale,’ continued the General Marshal. ‘A search for the alien planet of origin has already commenced in Alpha sector, and will be extended into other sectors.’

He paused for a moment. ‘There are corresponding adjustments to the command structure. The command of the Alien Contact programme will become a General Staff position reporting directly to me. Colonel Riak Torrek is promoted to the rank of General and will remain in overall command of Alien Contact, and in direct command of the search efforts. Commander Nia Stone is promoted to Colonel and takes command of Military Base 79 Zulu and the guard on the alien sphere. Commander Mason Leveque is promoted to Colonel and takes command of the twin research efforts as well as threat assessment. Commander Elith Shirinkin is promoted to Colonel and takes command of the five Earth solar arrays.’

The vid image panned out to include the audience, and the General Marshal started taking questions from eager newzie reporters. I was startled by the first question.

‘Delta Sector Vision here. What about Fian Eklund and Jarra Tell Morrath?’

‘Captain Fian Eklund is promoted to Major, and Major Jarra Tell Morrath to Commander,’ said the General Marshal.

I gasped, totally grazzed by my promotion. It was nardle enough being a Major, but …

‘Commander Tell Morrath and Major Eklund will be reporting to Colonel Leveque while continuing with their specialist pre-history training,’ continued the General Marshal.

‘The rumours that High Congress ordered their removal from the Alien Contact programme have now been confirmed by several discontented committee members,’ said the Deltan reporter. ‘What’s your opinion of this controversial interference in Military staffing?’

‘The Military Charter states the Military should remain politically neutral,’ said the General Marshal. ‘I can’t comment on the decisions of Joint Sector High Congress Committee, however a few hours ago I was sent extra clarification of that particular order for the public record.’

He glanced at the Military forearm lookup attached to his sleeve. ‘High Congress state that Commander Tell Morrath and Major Eklund were removed because they do not have the appropriate skills to assist Alien Contact at this point. This is a purely temporary measure to enable them to continue their studies. They will return to the Alien Contact programme as soon as either the sphere’s message is translated or the alien planet of origin is found.’