Fulfilment of Hope

By Doug Lavers

Following on from Rekindling of Hope and Consolidation of Hope, this science fiction novel describes the rebuilding of the ecology of a primitive planet, its subsequent settlement, and the subsequent development of a new federation by one of the Shepherd children.

In this project, they are assisted by artificial intelligences, which are, effectively, life forms in their own right.

The alien super intelligences, collectively called The Bearing, continue to provide considerable help as the successful creation of this federation is critical to their plans for further developing the galaxy.

This is a book of ecological development, love and war, and disaster and recovery. It completes the trilogy of Rejuvenation books by bringing the story full circle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Aug 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482824360

Doug Lavers

An Oxford graduate and retired financial executive, author Doug Lavers used his wealth of knowledge and experience to write the Rejuvenation Series. After originally reading chemistry with a topic in solid-state physics for his thesis, Doug worked at a stock broker’s office for a several years before taking an MBA. He went on to work as an engineering cost analyst and later a money market dealer at Ford’s Research and Engineering Centre. He moved to the South Coast of England, where he met his wife, and the two relocated to Melbourne, Australia. Doug held a number of senior positions in the finance industry before becoming a financial planner. Now retired, he enjoys playing bridge, gardening, reading, travel, and debating green and ecological issues with his daughter.

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Copyright © 2014 by Doug Lavers.

Cover Design: Karen Phillips, www.PhillipsCovers.com

ISBN:        Softcover                978-1-4828-2435-3

                  eBook                     978-1-4828-2436-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people or events is unintentional except where required for historical background.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Toll Free 800 101 2657 (Singapore)

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Contents

Acknowledgement

Story So Far

Prelude

Chapter 1 Preparation

Chapter 2 Travelling

Chapter 3 Arriving

Chapter 4 Establishment

Chapter 5 Ecological Engineering

Chapter 6 Looking to the Stars

Chapter 7 Preparations

Chapter 8 Contact

Chapter 9 Empire building

Chapter 10 Hubris then Nemesis

Chapter 11 Reappearance

Chapter 12 Doctor

Chapter 13 Cadet

Chapter 14 Naval Lieutenant

Chapter 15 Empress

Chapter 16 Xicon

Chapter 17 Return

Chapter 18 A little peace

Chapter 19 Devastation

Chapter 20 War

Chapter 21 Conclusion

Addendum

Shepherd Genetics

About the Author

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Acknowledgement

T he assistance of Nick Root, Theresa Lavers and Richard Emery is gratefully acknowledged.

This book could never have been written without the tolerance and support of my wife Gill.

Melbourne, October 2013

Cover Design: Karen Phillips, www.PhillipsCovers.com

Book 3 Rejuvenation Series ©

Story So Far

I n the previous science fiction novel in the Rejuvenation series, " Consolidation of Hope ", the development of the two Shepherd twins was described.

The threat from the alien species known as the Calai was met by Earth effectively becoming a component of the Calai Federation with equivalent rights to the other planets. Tim Shepherd was instrumental in organising this integration with the help of the alien super intelligence collectively called The Bearing.

Separately, his sister Dr Katie Shepherd married a German soldier called Captain Hans Gretner, and the pair of them prepared to be taken together with about 4000 colonists to a geologically young planet at an enormous distance from Earth. Hans would be the Governor. The giant spacecraft which was to carry them was known as Habitat, and its resident artificial intelligence was called Sheila.

No trace was to be left on Earth of their final destination, and they would have to take all the fauna and flora required to reseed the planet.

The Bearing intended to continue to give them considerable assistance in setting up what would be known as the Outer Arm Federation.

The successful creation of this Federation was critical to their plans for further developing the galaxy.

"Fulfilment of Hope follows on from Rekindling of Hope and Consolidation of Hope". This science fiction novel describes the settlement of a primitive planet and the subsequent development of a new Federation by Katie Shepherd.

This is a book of ecological development, love and war, disaster and recovery.

It completes the trilogy of Rejuvenation books by bringing the story full circle.

Prelude

T he communal intelligence known as The Bearing regarded their intervention in the affairs of the Human and Calai species as satisfactory.

The next phase of their plan required the successful transplanting of humans into the selected area in the Outer Arm of the galaxy, as the nucleus for the formation of another large Federation.

The notably xenophobic species known as the Qui continued their steady advance. Species they had conquered were faring badly.

The Bearing hoped that their long-term plan to control the Qui would work. Otherwise they would face the unpleasant prospect of organising a Qui genocide which would destroy other residual species at the same time.

They would need to provide an unprecedented level of assistance to both Humans and Calai.

Chapter 1

Preparation

A bout two years before the expected departure date, Katie started to interview the first of the possible colonists. She planned to see about 200 couples or individuals, which would give Sheila a sufficient sample to model questions and answers for the large number of remaining applicants.

After a further discussion with Sheila, she had decided to exempt trade tools and equipment from her 100 kg per person weight limit. However, she had also made it a requirement that tools and equipment would be thoroughly sterilised before being brought on board the Habitat.

A problem was posed by requests to bring pot plants aboard.

She was interviewing Yamato and Keiko, a young Japanese couple from Okinawa. They were agricultural scientists specialising in plant propagation.

After they had overcome their nervousness at the beginning of the interview, Yamato had glanced at his wife, and said; Doctor, our parents, brothers and sisters are sad that we wish to leave permanently, but they understand and support our decision. For many generations, our family has specialised in producing bonsai trees. If we are successful in our application to go with you our grandparents particularly want us to take two Japanese Cedar bonsai plants in their memory. These plants are several hundred years old, and we are not even sure when they were originally planted.

He paused for a moment.

Would it be possible to bring these plants with us?

Katie considered this for a few seconds. She badly wanted to ensure that the small townhouses that the colonists would be occupying would rapidly acquire human touches, and it seemed to her that little collections of pot plants would be quite helpful in this. She decided that it would also help the bulk of her people focus on the necessity for growing and nurturing the environment around them.

She liked the couple, and they would definitely be on her list.

Yamato, if you are selected, you and Keiko will need to talk to Sheila about ensuring that no pests are introduced by the trees, but I have no problem with the concept. The weight of the bonsai will not be included in your 100 kg weight allowance. You have been separately advised that the professional equipment you use would also be exempt. Specialist laboratories will be set up on the Habitat for people with scientific skills.

She smiled at the Japanese couple, Take great care of those two bonsai; there is a good chance that they will become exceptionally well travelled!

Keiko was much more perceptive socially than her husband, and said Dr Gretner, thank you for interviewing us, and we greatly hope we will see you in the future.

The pair bowed deeply to Katie before they left. They believed they had been given a fairly broad hint that they would be accepted.

*     *     *

Katie and Hans had a sad leaving party at the Institute in mid-October. However Peter and Zoë noticed that Katie and Tim were not as devastated as they expected. Immediately afterwards, Hans and Katie left for Germany to say goodbye to his parents, and then shuttled to the Habitat.

Shipment of the colonists up to the Habitat was completed by the end of the month.

A day later, and well before anyone had expected this, all the parents and relatives were invited to embark on a fleet of large shuttles, which assembled nearby.

A message from Hans in his role as Governor was relayed everywhere:

"Every volunteer is now aboard, and our preparations are complete. There is no point in remaining longer. We leave in half an hour; messages either way will be possible for the next two hours.

"People of Earth, we wish you well. Perhaps in the distant future, our descendants will meet again.

Goodbye.

There was no political impact; the number of people leaving was only the equivalent of those on a large cruise liner. A tiny number of people made the connection that this was similar to the first ship from Europe to the New World.

A few minutes later, the people in the shuttles saw the Habitat revolve slowly and start to move away. Soon, it faded from Earth’s consideration and history.

Nobody knew that The Bearing had assured Tim and Katie they would always be able to communicate while both were alive.

*     *     *

For the first few days, there was considerable upheaval within the Habitat, as all the immigrants sorted out their possessions, and started to get to know their neighbours.

They also discovered that there was no such thing as cash on the Habitat. Each colonist had their own credit card, and all transactions together with a basic salary went through a bank account linked to the card. They simply told Sheila to credit or debit a particular amount, and the transaction would take place immediately. There were warned that overdrafts would attract appropriate penalties. Nobody wanted to be the first to find out more details about this.

The colonists found themselves remarkable busy. Their Governor had decided that the best way to prevent them fretting and get over any irritation at having left so soon, was to quickly implement rigorous cross training programs.

There would be attached examinations, and it was made clear that eventual appointments when they arrived at the new planet would be heavily associated with the enthusiasm and ability shown. Also all manner of clubs and competitions were encouraged.

Zero G smashball was still a favourite, and a small league with no less than ten teams was established.

One enterprising group started The Habitat News Letter. The only restriction was that all the editions would be electronic since paper was likely to be scarce for a long time. Much lower quality paper would be available as a byproduct of the Habitat farms.

Hans and Katie encouraged people with particular skills like dressmaking or cooking to set up their own small businesses. Also, there were quite a large number of people involved with teaching, medical services, provision of food and clothing and miscellaneous consumer items, and the general administration of the Habitat.

Hans was wondering how the large number of small items that most people required would be produced, when Sheila introduced him to a whole floor of the Habitat which he had not seen before. Corridor after corridor was packed with basic consumer items, including toys, sportswear and bicycles as well as the more mundane such as soap and deodorant.

Sheila told him, In the further areas of this floor, I’ve stockpiled a large selection of the consumer goods and materials we will require when we arrive. For example, there are 10,000 house stockpiles. Each of these include a fridgefreezer, cooker, washing machine, drier, lights, iron, curtains, carpets, computers, screens and a large supply of copper pipe and plumbing accessories. Window frames and doors are also included, and there is a substantial supply of spare parts.

Hans asked her, Why can’t you make these Sheila?

The answer surprised him a little. Of course I can make them. However, this would be a huge distraction from the basic processes which I will need to undertake. As it is, it will be many months or possibly years before we really start to get ourselves organised.

There were about 200 colonists without partners. A number of social clubs were soon arranged to cater for their particular preferences; amongst the more exotic was the Tiddlywinks Club.

Hans remarked to Katie, That sounds like just a good excuse to meet members of the opposite sex and have a drink!

Katie laughed; I suppose there is some risk of them getting as far as playing a few games!

She paused. After all, it is a sort of serious game with real rules!

*     *     *

All the colonists were requested to assemble on the shores of the reserve three weeks later, for what was simply described as an important meeting.

At precisely 7 in the evening, Hans and Katie came across the lake, standing on a small shuttle. A golden cat was on Katie’s shoulder.

The shuttle stopped about 50 meters offshore, and for the first time Katie spoke to them all.

Welcome everybody. This meeting is at the request of The Bearing, who will make an address to us.

Her voice was clearly audible to everyone, despite nearly four thousand people being present.

As she stopped talking, a large opaque glowing sphere appeared next to her.

"Greetings, emigrants from earth. We are The Bearing. You are being transported over a distance of 18,000 light years to a planet which will be called Nova. This will take about three years. We are providing Sheila with a complete database at Katie’s request, which will assist in your planning. There are no nearby star-faring species, so you will be able to build a new civilization in peace.

"We are appointing Katie Shepherd the Overseer and Empress of your planet. She and her successors, who will always be direct descendants, will hold that position as Emperor or Empress. They will have ultimate responsibility for the actions of all species in that Arm of the galaxy and will be able to communicate with us at will.

Katie will find a suitable residence for her family in place when she arrives.

At that, The Bearing disappeared.

Even Katie felt a little surprised.

There was absolute silence for a moment, then Hans said, "We should be truly grateful to the Bearing for providing us with such a database.

I will be organizing specialist groups to study the information from particular points of view, and start to develop detailed plans on how we should proceed.

Katie then added, "A competition will be arranged. The subject is a town plan for our new city, which I would like to be called New Melbourne.

"The competition is open to any two individuals, or group of individuals. It will specify the location and the general design of the town, although the position of my residence has already been marked on the database. It should be based on a city size of about one million people. It will be a conceptual plan, so specialist town planning qualifications are unnecessary. However, coastal foreshores will always be Imperial land for a distance of 100 meters, the only exceptions being land required for yacht clubs and marinas, surf life saving clubs, public access water ramps, and port areas. Similarly, major rivers will have development free Imperial zones for 50 meters on either side, and minor rivers or streams of more than 2 meters width, 25 meters on either side.

"The competition will be judged in eleven months’ time, with the prize awarded one month later. There will be subsequent competitions on other aspects.

The first prize will be choice of allotment position when we arrive, with one allotment for every two individuals in the group. The winners can decide between themselves the division. Other worthy plans will be given the next priority for choice.

Hans added, To provide the only clues, the Empress loves trees and open spaces, and cannot abide ugliness. New Melbourne will be beautiful. He wanted to emphasize her new title.

Apart from this, when more detailed planning for the whole planet has been completed, anyone wishing to use land for farming or other purposes will be able to make application to the government for long-term leasehold or freehold land as appropriate. A study group will be set up to organise the conditions for this.

He paused for a moment.

Finally, when you all return to the town you will find that Sheila has arranged a communal party. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Travelling

S oon after leaving, Hans started to receive a steady stream of requests to grow pot plants and similar in the housing areas.

Sheila said "There is no problem in providing suitable pots. However, people will have to prepare their own compost mixtures. We do not have a ready supply, and we are in no position to start digging up the reserves. However, I suggest we allow one pinch of soil for each pot, to provide microflora, plus a few worms. A few weeks’ diligent collection and pulverising of suitable household rubbish will soon provide a growing medium. We have plenty of fertiliser to spare.

Actually, there is considerable merit in the idea. When we arrive, the pot plants can be used as the starting basis for planting gardens.

Yamato and Keiko were enlisted to help with this.

Katie had involved herself directly as Keiko had become a friend; Keiko, I think it would be a nice idea if most of the houses were given largish pots. These could be used for growing small trees, shrubs or flowers. Could you please liaise with the plant resources manager and quietly feed out plants to anyone who is interested. We should be careful to make sure that no significant diminution in our reserve material occurs.

The Japanese girl looked thoughtful for a moment and said, It might also be fun for us to start a small bonsai club.

Both women smiled.

*     *     *

The area selected for settlement was an island in a partially enclosed sea which had a remarkable resemblance to the Mediterranean. The name was soon adopted. There was a sheltered bay on this island nearly closed off from the open sea by a peninsula, the end of which had been marked as the site for Katie’s house.

The colonists with a background in farming and ecology had been aghast when they had first looked at the database. It was apparent that the land was mostly rock, with occasional areas of sand, clay and gravel. Land plant life was almost non-existent outside the swamp areas in the tropics.

One farmer was almost in tears as he spoke to Sheila and Hans. It will be impossible to grow things on this land – it is essentially abiotic! It’s all rock, gravel and sand!

Sheila said, "The reason we have brought food supplies and the like for nearly 10 years rather than the three years it will take to reach Nova, is that I will have to use galactic terraforming technology extensively. It will take us some time to start, and then we will have to breed sufficient numbers of animals and plants.

"When we arrive, I will be operating robotic terraforming teams. Each of these consist of three large shuttles. The first will travel over any approximately level ground, and will use an oscillating forcefield to fracture the rock into approximately fist size pieces to a depth of about two meters and a width of about 3 meters. Immediately behind the forcefield generator, small fold space translocation units will inject drops of water into the base of the fractured area. Since the drops are essentially emerging in solid rock, there will small but quite violent explosions which will churn the fractured rocks above the entry points. This will provide air spaces and further shatter the rock.

"The second shuttle will follow immediately behind the first, and pulverise the rock into gravel to a depth of about 1 meter. The third shuttle will reduce the top 50 centimeters to dust and sand, and level the ground.

"The brackish coastal swamp areas in the tropics are full of large plants resembling giant kelp, although they are much more primitive. We will be harvesting these, followed by desalting and shredding. We will shuttle in loads of this material which will be ploughed into the ground. Fertiliser, seeds and a very sparing inoculation of our own soil will complete the process. Every 30 meters, a small amount of compost material rich in earthworms will be inserted, to provide seed populations of worms. Earthworm supplies may well prove to be a critical constraint, and I intend to start large-scale worm farms well before we arrive.

"With careful watering, we would expect a basic grass and plant cover to be established quite quickly.

"Each robotic team can process about 1.5 square kilometers a week, and I will have 10 teams operating initially. As manufacturing resources become available, I will produce more teams.

"For the first month, we will concentrate on processing our city areas and their surrounds. We will need to get operating farms established as soon as possible.

Thereafter, teams will be allocated to terraforming areas in other climate zones.

Sheila paused for a moment; As a farmer, you should be pleased. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is about six times that of earth. Given sufficient water and fertiliser, our plants should grow nearly twice as fast as on earth.

The newsletter quoted these comments in full, and there was an almost palpable sense of relief amongst the future biologists and farmers.

There was also an article on the terms on which businesses would be financed or operated when they reached Nova.

– All the colonists would have a basic salary.

– If they worked in a civil service or office function, they would receive a supplement to make the basic salary up to an appropriate figure.

– If they operated a business financed by Sheila, they would receive 10% of turnover or some other figures as judged appropriate as an incentive bonus. After five years they could purchase the business as an individual or partnership at a cost of four times average annual profit, with a loan. If this option lapsed, after 10 years the business ownership would be thrown open to tender.

– If they wished to start a new business on their own terms, provided a business plan was produced which met basic business criteria, a loan would be available. In this case, they would be entitled to all the profit, and suffer any losses.

The initial colonists would receive their houses and a shuttle free if they were a couple, and unattached individuals would be credited with a notional sum to be applied to a flat or property when they wished to purchase. In the latter case, an on request system would apply if they wished transport. For the next generation, loans would be available to purchase flats or properties.

Two further comments were added, In the long-term, the government only wishes to operate in areas where private sector involvement would be inappropriate. Also, from the third year onwards, there will be a flat tax of 10% on all salaries and earnings, with an estimated taxation amount payable monthly.

On the matter of shuttles, Sheila and Hans had a discussion about transport systems. Sheila said to him, "Hans, I know you are concerned about the construction of roads and the vehicles to use them. While I can easily handle the number of shuttles in use initially, in the long-term this will not be practicable. I believe that I can build a traffic management system which could be managed by a computer complex operating from the city and elsewhere. This would take the pressure off my resources. Comprehensive safety systems would be built-in, and I have plenty of time to completely test the coding.

This way, we could avoid the need to build vehicles travelling on roads, or the need for those roads.

*     *     *

When she appeared at relatively official functions, Katie always arranged to have her hair tied back rather severely. She quickly discovered that this had the advantage of ensuring that when she wore casual clothes and let her hair down she still looked like a 17-year-old, and unless someone knew her well she would not be recognised. Readopting her maiden name also helped, and this enabled her to move around quietly and anonymously most of the time.

She was very interested in how the social clubs were establishing themselves. Late one afternoon she casually dropped in on the chess club which was in the process of being formed. A number of games had been played between the possible new members, and one individual called Anton Sergei was clearly the strongest player.

He stood up and said, I would like to propose myself as the President of our new club. I think I am the strongest player here, and this should entitle me to the position.

This actually annoyed some of the people present, but they were hesitant to take him on directly as he had a strong personality.

However, a young woman seated at the back of the small hall said "Anton, you may well be a strong player, but I think that is a poor way to introduce yourself to your future members. It would be much better to sell yourself on the basis of your enthusiasm for chess, and your ability to draw in new members and teach them to really enjoy the game!

Anyhow, I would like to challenge you to a game, as I was also considered quite a strong player in the town I came from. If you win, you can organise the club your way, and if not I have some suggestions which might be acceptable.

This was actually disruptive to the flow of the meeting, but the young girl seemed to have a powerful presence of her own, and most of the people present decided this might be fun to watch.

Three moves into the game, Anton realised that he was totally outclassed. It only took Katie a dozen moves to dismantle him. As she played, at least one member of the audience realised her true identity.

As Anton rather shamefacedly toppled his queen, he heard a voice behind him addressing the girl; My Lady, would you consent to be the Patron of our club?

Hans had quietly made it clear that in any sort of formal gathering, that was the appropriate form of address for Katie.

She agreed, and added "I would like to suggest that Anton be made temporary president, and a full election be held in three months’ time. In the meantime I think that a subcommittee should be formed to devise a draft constitution. There are several examples in the database which could be used as models. The Constitution can be voted on at the same time as the election for club officials.

By the way, when I’m at the club, please call me Katie.

Anton, still a little shocked at being so easily beaten, could only smile a little hesitantly.

*     *     *

Hans was having a quiet discussion with the other four members of Platoon 29 from the Naval Academy who had volunteered to come to Nova. He had always been surprised at how well Patty Croft, Anna Sears, Henry Banting and Barry Owen had meshed together. He did not know that Sheila had been extremely careful that the platoon members were completely compatible in the first place.

Anna had asked an interesting question, Hans, I have been wondering how we are going to keep our soldiers occupied for the next three years. While we are travelling, any military function they could provide is simply irrelevant. How are we going to handle this?

Patty said, It appears to me that we need a general discussion about this including Captain John Harding and all the non-commissioned officers.

Hans agreed, and the meeting was arranged for the following day.

*     *     *

At nine o’clock following morning when the officers and NCOs had assembled and taken their seats around a long table, Hans stood up.

"Good morning, everyone.

One of the problems we have as a military organisation, is that over the three years we will take to travel to Nova our personnel are likely to be seriously underemployed. We need to find routines which will maintain military discipline, while using a good proportion of the time reasonably productively. I’m open to suggestions as to how we achieve this.

In fact, all the staff had already started to think about this. The NCOs were much more concerned than the officers, as bored troops would make life difficult for them.

Henry Banting was a solidly built soldier with distinct traces of African ancestry. He said, For part of the time at least, we could insist that troops learn a more civilian orientated skill, for example, welding or electrical machinery maintenance. Assuming that we stick with a five day working week, that would keep them out of our hair for perhaps two days.

Patty said in her broad Australian accent, "I have been studying the database with respect to the space regions reasonably close to Nova. As far as I can see, there are five inhabited planets with civilisations varying from primitive to industrial. The more advanced planets have populations of several billion.

In the shuttle bay, we have a destroyer and five scouts. Sheila has designed them so they can each be managed by a crew of 15. Why don’t we arrange that each scout crew specialises in the culture, history and main language of one of the planets. From a fairly early stage, we are going to have to start to keep an eye on them. My reading of the appearance of The Bearing, is that they clearly intend us to take a leadership role in our part of the galaxy.

There was a pause for a minute or so as the group thought about this.

Hans said "Those sound like sensible suggestions, so let’s build them into our planning. If we use two days a week on each of those ideas, we can use the remaining day to remind our people that they are in the Nova armed forces!

"In future, I’m sure we will think of other possibilities. Please let me know if other suggestions occur to anyone.

"Henry, can you liaise with everyone here and produce a report on the civilian skills area, including what is available and how we should partition it. It might be an idea to include a selection element, so our people can within reason choose areas of personal interest.

"Patty, could you chair a study group with all the officers, with a view to producing a plan on how we should handle the nearby species. I think it will take some time for a final plan to be completed, but it would be nice to have some sort of interim report at our next meeting. I expect the Empress will be interested