Alaytion Archives: Vivarium

Vivarium

Book two of Alaytion Archives

Al DesHôtel

Copyright 2000, 2010, 2016

cover art © 2010 Don Dixon/cosmographica.com

Smashwords Edition License

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Author's note: All characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older. All characters are fictional and any resemblances to actual persons living or dead is a coincidence

Forward:

This is the second volume of the history of Kaajii Morrell. It was compiled from the personal records of Kaajii Morrell, and from the early historical records of the Blink Alliance. These records originated as records of the early K.I.M. Laboratories of Physics and Energy and from the later Energy Lab. Additional data was obtained from the archives of the Terran government, used by permission. From a historical standpoint Terra of that period was subdivided into individual geo-political entities. Most of these entities were rivals and their records reflect events from their individualistic viewpoints. Every effort has been made to assure completeness, but because of the possibility that the information from Terra was censored we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this compilation.

Further information included in this history was obtained from the archives of the Alaytion Empire. Much of the archival data from the period covered in this book was lost during the Alaytion - Coq war of 87-342-3433.23 (Alaytion temporal measurement). What information we have obtained from the Alaytions is still considered sensitive and therefore, of necessity, has been severely edited for inclusion in this text.

-- Archives of Sans L'Toriel

R223-12 loo wewn, Chief of level 17 history

ONE

This trip up from earth was very different than the previous trips had been. Somehow the finality of it all had managed to sink in. Kaajii felt the weight of responsibility settling in on his shoulders. His tension must have been evident. Beth, Kaajii’s present close female acquaintance, got up from the co-pilot’s seat and moved over to his side of the spacecraft. Since Kaajii was doing the flying, it wasn’t very easy to stop and take a break. Beth massaged his shoulders and neck while standing behind him. Beth felt proud to be Kaajii’s girl, the girl friend of the world’s most feared man ... Kaajii Morrell, Director of Energy Lab.

Since the Energy Lab, built as a replacement for the now destroyed K.I.M. Lab, was organized and run by Kaajii, it too enjoyed the same notoriety as the K.I.M. Lab. The vast majority of world governments on earth resented Kaajii and what he had brought to the world ... utter chaos. Naturally most people back on earth were too short-sighted to realize that the resources Energy Lab provided to the world markets were only what the world markets demanded. The ancient law of supply and demand was still in effect, with Energy Lab doing the supplying and the free markets of the world doing the demanding, or something like that. All this was thanks to the invention of the Mass Converter, it allowed for direct mass to mass conversion, from any element to any element. In most cases waste products were converted to useful things ... like gold.

Beth thought of all of this while she rubbed on Kaajii. She still remembered the first time she saw him. He was playing roulette in Las Vegas, Nevada. She had watched him for close to an hour while he systematically built a small castle from his ever increasing pile of chips. Finally, after she could stand it no more, she asked him how he did it. ‘Simple physics’ he had said. It certainly didn’t look all that simple to her. Then, like a teacher showing a student a new concept for the first time, he explained to her how it all worked. Listening to the detailed explanation of the physics behind a small spheroid in a curvilinear path on a counter-rotating paraboloid she lost herself in his deep green eyes.

Already a senior in chemistry at University of North Las Vegas she understood most of what he was saying. His dark brown, slightly thinning hair was clean and well cut. The arrogance with which he gambled told her that either he was extremely rich or extremely smart. Being rich or smart was good enough for her. He had the look of someone who is intelligent. So that, combined with the fact he was wearing sneakers with a suit told her that he was probably smart. Might be rich, but at least he was smart. Sometimes that led to rich, but she would have to find out later, right now just looking into his beautiful green eyes was enough.

So, when he finished with the dissertation on roulette, all the while amassing still more chips, she could only stare. When Kaajii finished he must have noticed the dazed look on her face, he waved his hand in front of her face like one would do when checking for blindness. Snapping out of the trance she desperately tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound totally stupid.

Unable to come up with something better, Beth said, I’m hungry.

I’m Kaajii, glad to meet you, Hungry. and offered to shake her hand.

Sorry, I’m Beth Armstrong. I just ... sort of ... well, I she stammered.

It’s ok; most people get bored with me when I talk physics. If you really are hungry, would you mind having dinner with me?

Sure. she said and sealed her fate then and there.

After a nice dinner, she maneuvered into the position of having him walk her back to her room. Then with some more careful manipulation she got him into bed. Well, maybe it wasn’t really manipulation, rather nature taking its course. After a few days in Vegas, he made her an offer to come work at the lab when she finished school. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse. This wonderful hunk of man wanted her to work for him. Thoughts ran through her head of spending all of her time with him. These ideas changed after she graduated. Upon her arrival at the lab she saw just how dedicated all of the people working there were. Since she didn’t see very much of Kaajii for a few years, the romance wore off. Besides that, his late lover, Inga Svien, had already laid an obvious claim to him.

It was only a few weeks after arriving at K.I.M. lab that Beth found out that Inga was the ‘I’ in K.I.M. and the Kaajii was the K. Shortly afterwards she found out that a man named Marcos was the M. While at the K.I.M. Lab she didn’t think any more about having Kaajii. It wasn’t until after the devastating explosion of K.I.M. Lab and the death of Inga that she allowed the fantasy of having Kaajii to re-enter her mind.

Not that she disliked Inga, but it was an unwritten rule of the jungle that you don’t take another woman’s man. Especially one with the obvious influence that Inga carried, even if she didn’t flaunt it. So, Beth had resigned herself that Kaajii was a non-option part of her life. When the FBI or CIA or whomever blew up the K.I.M. lab, things suddenly changed. Kaajii didn’t have anyone anymore. His long time business partner, Marcos, had left several months earlier. Inga was dead and Kaajii found himself in charge of the operation. Ever since the attempt on Kaajii’s life, he had been sleeping with Beth. She decided that she liked it that way. He didn’t complain, so neither of them mentioned the situation to the other.

Already halfway between earth and the moon the fleet of ships were at maximum speed. Since the ships of the now defunct Energy Lab used gravomagnetic propulsion powered by direct mass to energy converters, they didn’t need to take minimum energy trajectories towards the moon. The trip up from earth was a short seven hours by their timetables. NASA of the late 20th century could never compare to the present mode of travel. Indeed, NASA of present day couldn’t even keep up.

This was to be their last trip up from earth. Indeed, their headquarters, Energy Lab, had just been destroyed during their departure. This was their own doing, of course, to prevent mankind in general from acquiring their technology, and the United States government in particular. The detonation had probably killed thousands of troops on the ground. It certainly had destroyed a squadron of Air Force jets that were in hot pursuit. Now with nowhere to return to, they would be forced to live in the partially constructed lunar base.

This base was on the far side, largely unexplored, of the moon. Departing from earth’s gravity well was difficult enough that it prevented a great number of pursuit options. What few ships were capable of leaving earth with the present technology were usually enroute to Mars, and the proposed colonization thereof.

Beth, what do you think of the idea of declaring ourselves a sovereign nation? Kaajii asked.

Might as well, we don’t have much to lose. I would have reservations about sending an ambassador to the U.N., however. He or she might get ‘detained’ by U.S. forces.

Yes that could happen. I’ll have to think about it. However, if I remember correctly, there have been some cases where a nation requested recognition as an independent state and received it, all without sending an ambassador to New York.

I don’t recall having ever heard of that happening. she stated flatly.

Seems like it was in ‘98 or something. No matter. If there hasn’t been, then we will be the first. I’ll put it to a vote after we get settled in. Think of some names for what we will call ourselves. Since Energy Lab no longer exists, we can’t very well go by Energy Lab Associates. And I know everyone will agree that Kaajii, Inga & Marcos Lab of Physics & Energy is out of the question. Although, the U.S. government is probably still referring to us as that. Kaajii said, staring out of forward ports of the spacecraft, Evader I.

I agree, something new is needed. Indeed, we are a new order aren’t we? I mean, we are the first group ever to take up permanent residence off of earth ... and not be considered an outpost or colony. Both of those imply there is a parent state somewhere dictating policy.

Right. And we do our own thing. Why don’t you check on the others? He said turning around to look aft at the refugees.

Nodding acknowledgement Beth began working her way back towards the galley of the small ship. The ship was only 30 meters in length, but it certainly took long enough to walk to the other end. Especially when there were people everywhere, all available seats were filled and many were sitting on the floor.

Kaajii meanwhile called up some displays to check on the fuel usage of the ship. Even though it used direct mass to energy conversion for power, the mass did have to come from somewhere. In the early days he had used gold dust in a hopper. Since gold was very dense and also stable it made sense to use it for fuel. The problem was the delivery system. The air blown particles got to the converter well enough, but they eventually jammed into every crevice in the tubes and valves.

Several weeks ago he had the technicians working on the ships convert everything to mercury. It made more sense for fuel since it was liquid at room temperature and could be handled by conventional plumbing. Just as long as you didn’t use lead soldered joints in the pipes everything was alright. A jarring thought had occurred to him a few days ago, one of impending disaster. If the temperature dropped appreciably, the mercury would solidify. This would present a very real problem in the fuel delivery. As with any new technology, this one had its own set of problems. He would have to work on that when they got the lunar base constructed.

Kaajii wondered how far along the construction had progressed in his absence. It was amazing just how much moon rock could be removed by the mass to energy converting tunnel guns that Brad Zimmsbury had developed. They had started with a small cave and had tunneled out a sizable labyrinth of rooms underground. At the rate that the crews were moving when he left, it was possible that they would be able to fly all of the present ships into the docking bays.

As he sat there in the command chair thinking about it, he noticed the lights blinking on the ship in front of him. This was his signal that Wick Brazil in Zeus wanted to talk to him. Since Evader I was damaged by the escape from earth, he and Wick were communicating via the running lights on Zeus and a small portable desk lamp aboard Evader I using Morse code.

Wick was sending him a message that he was to go first since all of his flight controls were operational. The landing order of the ships in the small fleet were set by how badly damaged the ship was. The less damaged ships would land earlier in the sequence. This was to prevent a damaged ship from crashing and thereby preventing the operational ships from landing safely. So, Kaajii acknowledged the signal and got down to some serious flying.

First he had to maneuver away from the fleet. After doing this, he noted that they had already passed the imaginary line past which someone on earth couldn’t see. So from here on in anything that the ships did would be un-viewable from an earth-bound moonward looking telescope. It had all been carefully planned this way, to avoid detection by the earth forces for as long as possible. The moon base that they were heading for was located in Wink crater on the dark side of the moon.

TWO

After leaving the fleet, Kaajii steered a visual approach to Wink crater. The view from the ship was nothing short of spectacular as their trajectory took them past the terminator line where a sunrise was just beginning.

Since the ships were over-powered and had plenty of fuel, no one ever worried about minimum fuel consumption flying. They simply pointed the ship the direction that they wanted to go and made adjustments as necessary. As he got near to the moon base location, he didn’t see any ships outside of where the landing zone was set up. Too bad he didn’t have the use of the scanner.

Reaching for the activate switch to the laser beacon he realized that it too was inoperable. In fact, most of Kaajii’s ship’s electronic gear was inoperable. Unsalvageable would perhaps been a better description. The cutting torch he had used on the equipment rack had made quite a mess of the radios and computers. Luckily the electronics to control the flight thrusters were located in the engine room and therefore were unaffected. Beth, make a note somewhere to work on redundant control systems or something. Might be easier to just double hull the thing behind the equipment rack. That way a leak wouldn’t affect it. Come to think of it a double hull design with a self-sealing layer between like the self healing car tires would probably work.

Got it. She answered jotting down the note on her notebook.

As he leveled the ship off just a few meters above the surface of the moon he turned to see the large airlock open and waiting for him. It looked like a giant mouth in the side of the rock, just waiting to swallow up him and his ship. Presumably, since there weren’t any other ships to be seen outside, the group here on base had moved the ships inside. That would mean that the airlock had been tested with a ship.

He eased the small spacecraft into the airlock. Once inside there were several ways of activating the lock. One was by coded laser pulse. This would strike a sensor and activate the vacuum to air sequence. The doors would close and air would be let into the lock from a reservoir. Then, when the pressure was equal to the pressure inside the landing bay the inner door would open. There were also manual controls inside that could be activated by a person in a pressure suit. Not having a pressure suit handy, and not being sure of the integrity of his ship’s airlock he wasn’t considering this option as the ship entered the lock.

The other two ways the airlock to the moon base could be activated were by remote control and via a ‘bump switch’. This switch had been installed to allow personnel on ‘flyers’ to enter the lock and simply bump into the switch to activate the airlock cycle. These flyers didn’t actually exist yet since no one had found the time to develop them. Theoretically they would be similar to a motorcycle, except they would work off a gravity field generator mounted in the bottom. Sled would have been a better description except for the handlebars and controls on the sketches that someone had shown him.

If he had to, he could nudge the ship into the bump switch. It was simply a long baton affair with fiber optics mounted down the shaft. Any flexure in the shaft could be detected by a change in the length of the fiber optic path. The circuitry would then initiate the airlock sequence.

As the stern of the ship cleared the outer door, it began to close. Kaajii couldn’t actually see this, but he could see the sunlight from outside reflection begin to dim. That was good he thought, someone was waiting for him and had used the interior manual controls to operate the lock for him. After the door closed, he could hear air hissing outside. This in itself indicated to him there was atmosphere building up in the lock since sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum.

As he watched the mechanical air pressure gauge on the dash, it slowly edged towards the normal mark. Once there, presumably, the inner door would be opened. Looking over at Beth he saw that she was looking in the chart box for the post flight checklist.

While waiting for the inner airlock door to open, Kaajii shut down the main propulsion unit. This consisted of putting the mass converter into a standby mode and turning off the primary gravomagnetic drive unit. Once inside the landing bay he could just use the vertical unit and tilt the ship like a helicopter to move about. This was also much safer since a primary drive unit on one of these ships could do an unimaginable amount of damage if accidentally put on full thrust inside a confined space.

The massive inner door slid slowly upwards to reveal a partially completed, but fully functional docking bay. It was equipped with a duplicate of the new ship size mass replicator brought up from earth and several smaller ones nearby. It had a large overhead crane system and several repair stations for the ships. At present these repair stations consisted of little more than a toolbox and a painted off area for the ships to set down in. It was a remarkable amount of progress.

A person was directing him to one of these repair stations. As Kaajii maneuvered his ship to the designated area, he noted the number of ships present. Doing mental arithmetic he concluded that the ships must have been replicated here on the moon. He definitely didn’t remember there being this many ships back at Energy Lab.

After setting the ship down on its extended legs he powered it down and opened the hatch/ramp. The battered lab technicians hurriedly exited, carrying armloads of their personal belongings. He looked over at Beth who was still staring out into the docking bay.

Where did all these come from?

Moondust most likely.

Very funny. You know what I mean.

Yea, I was thinking about that myself on the way in. There must be close to twenty ships in here already. And more coming in behind us. It’s going to be crowded alright. Kaajii said as he unbuckled and got up from the pilot’s chair.

The last of the technicians had disembarked when Kaajii set foot on the platform. He was greeted by a rousing cheer from the group gathered here in the docking bay. Someone was nearby taking pictures with a compucam. A young lab worker ran up the ramp and gave Kaajii a cup of something, by the smell it was certainly fermented. It was then that he noticed that almost everyone had a plastic cup in their hand. There was a large group over by the tunnel leading down into the Alpha section.

As Beth emerged from the ship another cheer went up from the crowd. Kaajii motioned for her to follow him as he worked his way around to the crowd by the downshaft. Upon arrival he noticed the large cake in the shape of the moon. He didn’t believe it, the cake was actually the shape of a spheroid, sort of. It was obviously deforming because of its own weight. The thing looked to be over a meter in diameter. It was gray and pockmarked. Holding it up was a model of the old NASA lunar lander -- inverted. On top was a model of the spacecraft now filling this giant room.

Handing him a plate full of cake was Mona Zirres, the quasi social activities coordinator for lab. He heard another cheer and turned around to see Wick emerging from the Zeus. This had the makings of being an all-night party. Looking around the crowd he saw a guy with fake antennas glued to his head. He couldn’t tell for all the green makeup who it was. Yep, this was going to be some party.

Finding a convenient sufficiently elevated flat surface, Kaajii deposited himself there to partake of the cake. Beth sat beside him. It was obvious to anyone watching that she had laid claim to him. Obvious to everyone that is except Kaajii.

About halfway through his cake the airlock once again opened, revealing the nose of the Tasmanian, Natissa’s ship. As she nosed it down to build forward momentum, Kaajii saw it. The damage to hull #7 was serious. He instinctively stood and set down his food. Walking a few meters he then saw the rest of it -- the ship looked like it was about to break in two. The starboard side was dented in almost a meter and the top twice that. It looked as if a giant hand had grabbed it and squeezed. Kaajii had serious doubts about its flight worthiness.

As the crowd saw it, a hush fell over them. The revelry stopped and then low moans were heard. Natissa was attempting to extend the legs. The moans were actually the groaning of metal as the hydraulic rams pressed the I-beams through the wrinkled door covers, now nonfunctional. As the legs of the craft touched the floor the ship began to tilt. Apparently, some of the legs hadn’t extended properly. Natissa eased it down onto its belly. With only some of the legs extended the ship came to rest at about a 30 degree angle with horizontal.

The ship was so crooked that when the door was opened and the ramp extended it didn’t reach the floor. The ramp was nearly a meter in the air. Kaajii, who had made his way to the front of the crowd, cleared the gap with a single bound and was inside of the ship in a flash.

Beth watched anxiously as he reappeared on the ramp. He was carrying something. Looking closer she saw that it was someone. Or at least part of someone. The other end of the body was being carried by another person. Kaajii and the other a technician, Barry Tanake she thought, handed the body down to several people gathered below the ramp.

More and more bodies were handed down from the damaged ship. As Beth watched, she counted eleven motionless forms handed down. Then the still mobile crew and passengers emerged and jumped down. Finally Natissa took to the ramp, aided by Kaajii. She too had been injured. Although walking she cradled her right arm and her face was caked with dried blood. The front of her overalls were also stained with blood. As Kaajii and several others helped Natissa down from the ramp the first of the medics arrived.

Gurneys, improvised from anti-grav equipment carts carried the dying and injured away from the ship. The medics, by the side of the carts hurriedly began evaluating the injuries as they boarded the lift in the downshaft.

The lift in the downshaft, now operational, was constructed from a lift unit off of a ship. Or rather, it was replicated from a ship size vertical lift unit. Attached to a platform with small anti-grav units to keep it away from the sides of the shaft, it made a suitable elevator car. The medics and stretcher carriers boarded the lift with as many people as the lift would hold. Then someone would activate the controls, mounted on a pod, and the gates would close. The car would then descend rapidly to the lower Alpha level, 1285 meters below the surface.

At this distance below the surface they were impervious to direct nuclear attack, meteor fallout and all radiation coming from space. On earth the atmosphere provides deep-space radiation shielding needed for long term inhabitation. On space ships this is often neglected, the feeling is that the occupants won’t be in the ship long enough to worry about the accumulated effects of deep-space radiation exposure.

Most space agencies of the world learned the hard way that radiation protection is important. Shielding by moon rock, as they were, the inhabitants of the Alpha wing were receiving less radiation exposure than most people on earth. This was even more pronounced as the earth’s atmosphere deteriorated.

As the elevator reached the bottom, the passengers who were able moved off the platform. Those who weren’t able were carried off. With the call button pressed the elevator automatically closed the gates after a few seconds of unbroken sensor beams and returned to the docking bay level. There it picked up more passengers. The elevator was large enough that it could hold an entire ship. This was deemed necessary should they ever build hangers farther below the surface.

The twenty meters of rock above the present docking bay wasn’t felt to be adequate in the case of direct nuclear attack. Most of the lab people felt that it was inevitable that they would be attacked by a force or forces from earth. The most likely candidate at present was the United States. Contingency plans were already in place to seal off the vertical shaft in case of attack. Presently, only horizontal airlocks separated the main Alpha wing from the vertical shaft leading up to the docking bay. These would obviously have to be reinforced in the future.

As Kaajii and the others disembarked from the lift, Natissa tripped and nearly fell. Kaajii caught her just in time. The look she gave him was so pitiful he choked up slightly at the sight of her. Had he not been in public, he might have actually shed tears for her. Looking out into the empty corridor, no one was in sight.

Which way? Kaajii asked.

This way sir. replied one of the technicians, who led the way to the infirmary.

Down the corridors past many, many empty rooms they went. After a while they took a set of stairs downward. Funny, Kaajii didn’t remember this in the plans. The original drawings only called for a single level Alpha wing. Apparently, someone had thought it necessary to provide more than one level. Who, he wondered?

After reaching the bottom of the stairs they doubled back and then passed some large, white doors. No logos or decals were present. Probably a lack of time, no doubt, had prevented the proper labeling of the medical section. As this was obviously a medical section they were entering. All of the walls were lined with handrails. Every so often an outlet in the wall at eye level stood empty. Presumably, for the oxygen plug-ins that would be necessary later.

Passing through a second set of doors they were awakened from their dazed state by a hubbub of activity ahead. The noise and confusion washed over them like waves. People were lying around on the floor. Some were on the makeshift gurneys. People in blue rushed in and out of the many rooms leading off the main hallway. This must be the emergency room.

It amazed Kaajii at how much had been built in just a few days time. The people of the energy lab must have been working double shifts to construct all of this in so short of a time. Granted that it was all still in the unfinished state, but it was for the most part structurally complete. All that remained was the installation of fixtures. That was apparent by the lack of lighting. Every so often along the ceiling there would be a portable, temporary looking light. The floor was of a bare metallic substance. The walls appeared to be made of stainless steel or some other high nickel content alloy. The ceilings were made of who knows what, but had the texture of cotton candy. After glancing at it Kaajii was sure that someone had listened to his lecture on sound control in a room.

As they neared the commotion Kaajii helped Natissa to sit down on the floor. He went in hopes of getting a medic to help her. Upon arrival into the middle of the activity he got lost in the action and began instead to help the medical personnel, who, obviously, had their hands full at the moment. While giving CPR to an unconscious man, he came to the conclusion that Natissa with her one broken arm would just have to wait for a little while.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity a woman came up to him and asked him to stop. Seeing the stethoscope around her neck he complied. Checking for life signs she listened intently for several seconds. Eventually, she looked up at Kaajii and shook her head. She then covered the dead man’s head with a nearby towel and hurried on to the next case. Kaajii just stood there, the shock of the disaster setting in. He just stood there and shook.

Looking slowly around he saw what looked like several surgeries taking place here in this room. Since the energy lab had never recruited a large medical force, it was apparent to him that they had to be understaffed. He would have to rectify that in the future. If there was any future.

Most of the medical personnel had been recruited by Inga back in the days of the K.I.M. lab. Since she had an affinity for medical research, she tried to get more of that type of person. Most recruitment was covert since the whereabouts and methods of the K.I.M. lab were secret. Almost all persons recruited for K.I.M. or Energy labs were done through personal contact with one of the leaders of the labs. Inga had certainly done her fair share.

Presumably, Kaajii thought, she had listened to lectures at the medical universities and approached professors to put her in contact with promising candidates. Or, perhaps she had watched the crowd and then checked up on a few records. Allah only knew how, but she had managed to obtain some of the best medics that Kaajii had ever seen. He would have to remember to talk with a few of them later when this commotion died down to find out how she had done it.

If Inga had followed the general operating procedures for recruitment of lab personnel she had tried to find bright, frustrated individuals with few ties to society. The object was to find someone who wouldn’t be missed then they ‘disappeared’, someone who didn’t mind vanishing from the world. This person would ideally have a high IQ and decent morals. They would also be frustrated with the present bureaucratic system. Good academic standing was not a requirement since many brilliant individuals failed to achieve in a rigid environment.

Once recruited they were given the opportunity to excel. They had unlimited resources, very little paperwork and almost no regulations. There was a morals and ethics board set up that was staffed by appointed individuals from the lab on a rotating basis, but this often gave generous leeway to the scientists and enterprising individuals. While some of the laboratory experiments that took place in the labs would have appalled the American Medical Association and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals they were, nevertheless, necessary to the advancement of the sciences. If medical science were to succeed, some mistakes were going to be made. Better to make them quickly and get it over with than to over-regulate and overburden the researchers, Inga had preached.

The medical facilities at K.I.M. lab had been the finest that money could buy. The lab had several Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems, several CAT scanners and many, many pieces of specialized equipment. It had, before its destruction, had one of the finest operating suites available in North America. No one else knew, of course, but it did provide internship for some 35 medical students working with 11 board certified doctors.

Most of the medical group were working with variations of Kaajii’s inventions in one form or another. Many would like to present him with their own pet projects and see if he could help them. Most realized that they had lifetime jobs just figuring out how to use what he had given them already. Sufficiently so that they had little time to formulate their individual projects in a fashion that Kaajii could help them with. It was presented to them in a rather strong fashion, several years ago, by Inga, that Kaajii had only a rudimentary understanding of physiology and endocrinology. He had almost no understanding of microbiology. This was a rude awakening to the microbiologist aficionados in the group since some of the latest equipment that they had to work with was light years ahead of anything that they had laid hands on back at their universities.

Most of the medical professions were well represented. Except for psychology. Marcos detested it, Inga tolerated it, and Kaajii could care less for it. So, the mental sciences were neglected. This was probably just as well since all three of the principal scientists were more involved with the concrete rather than the abstract and had a more firm grasp of reality than most human beings could ever hope to obtain.

So, with a broad cross section of the medical field the older, more experienced doctors continued the training of the interns. It was a good system and resulted in a more one on one approach than any of the first year medical students could have ever had hoped for in the outside world. The doctors were happy with all the equipment, unlimited resources and apparent lack of regulations stifling their creativity. Only the morals and ethics committee could ever get in their way and then it would have to be something pretty serious.

During the move to the Energy lab much of the heavier medical equipment had been left behind. The hopes were that new equipment would be obtained. What was deemed necessary was brought, but the larger stuff had to wait for transport. This never occurred due to the premature destruction of K.I.M. With the exodus to the moon even more equipment was lost or damaged. So, here on the moon, thousands of miles from earth, the medical situation was less than desirable. There was plenty of talent, but very little equipment.

Most of the smaller items like scalpels, retractors, I.V. stands, and such had been replicated. The larger equipment had taken a back seat to more vital needs like air and water during this initial construction of the moon base. Large equipment like a CAT scanner or MRI would have to wait until the large ship size replicator was free. Even then, it was necessary to have the manpower to move the equipment down to the infirmary. So far there just hadn’t been time for this. The incoming wounded didn’t help matters either...

Kaajii walked out of the emergency room, dazed. He didn’t have a destination in mind, so he just wandered. After a little while he stopped and looked around. Amazing how much alike the rooms looked in this section. Actually, he was lost.

He sat on the floor and assessed where his life had gone. Here he was, with his ragtag group of renegade scientists, thousands of miles from earth in an artificial environment. There were casualties caused by the departure from earth. Maybe if he had turned himself into the government, things might have been different, but then again maybe not. He had a very thorough understanding of the way that large bureaucracies operated. There was little about them that was equitable or fair. Most existed for their own benefit.

What a mess he had created. It had never hit home to him before that others were actually getting killed because of him. All those at K.I.M. lab had been names and memories. Nothing like actually seeing someone die. No. Actually having someone die while you did everything that you knew how to keep them alive. Now it hit home. With full impact.

THREE

Kaajii sat there thinking about home when he heard the footsteps. At first they were echoed clicking, indistinguishable as footsteps. With the approach of the person he made out that it was definitely footsteps. He looked up in time to see Mike round the corner of the hallway in which he had secluded himself.

Thought I might find you roaming around here somewhere. Mike said.

Yeah, haven’t finished my grand tour yet.

Sitting down on the floor, across the hallway from Kaajii, Mike continued, It’s not your fault. What happened back there, it wasn’t anything that you did wrong.

Funny it doesn’t feel that way. If I hadn’t led these people up here more of them would be alive right now. Me and my ‘new order’ bullshit has managed to get a lot of good people killed.

Hey, they didn’t follow you blindly. They knew the score. Still, they chose to follow. You’re the leader here. You’re the brains in this operation. The rest of us are just along for the ride.

Hell of a roller-coaster isn’t it? Kaajii asked.

After staring into Kaajii’s face, searching for some answers, Mike said, Don’t be down on yourself. Yes Inga is dead; yes more have been killed getting here. Now, however, we are safe. At least for a while. Think of it this way, it would have been their time to see Jesus sooner or later anyway. Who knows? Perhaps this was the intent of the man upstairs all along. We can only wonder. The final point is that they lived an exciting life in the time that they spent with you. A life that they chose. Any of us, at any time could have stepped out. We all have had chances, many times over. You included.

Looking to see Mike pointing a finger at him he realized that he could have stopped after the first several million dollars were made. He could have retired, anonymous. Instead he had been spurred on to create even better and more wondrous things. He had a vision of the future and what it might be. That vision had been cloudy lately. What was happening to him?

After a few minutes of searching for an answer, he came up with something. Maybe this wasn’t the right hypothesis, but it seemed to fit. Based on all of his acquired knowledge he came to a conclusion. Mike, I’m getting old.

We all are Kaajii, sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves won’t do any good. Wasn’t it you that was always running around saying to bop until you drop? Maybe you ought to listen to yourself every once in a while.

It’s not just that, dammit. I’m really getting old. I’m almost 30 and don’t have a wife and family. I don’t have anything to show for the last 10 years except a lot of misery and a few trillions of dollars. All useless now.

Like you’re breaking my heart man. Good grief. I can probably find you thousands of people who would gladly trade places with you. Think of all the ignorant masses on earth. They toil day and night all their lives. And for what? A cheap place to live, lousy food and a shallow grave. You got it made. Don’t ask for any sympathy from me ‘cause you won’t get any. You and everyone here is rich. And I don’t mean just in dollars. Agreed that the cash is useless here and even back there it was locked down after the commodities market crash. Think of it, you can make anything you want. YOU have created the technology for it. If its material things you want, just say so and I’ll whip you up a batch of whatever it is you want. A thousand TVs -- no problem, a million stereos -- no problem.

Kaajii just looked at Mike blankly, whereupon Mike continued, Look Kaajii, you are the richest man I know. Hell, I’m richer than anyone else I ever knew outside of the lab. Like I said, if its material things you want, you got it, in spades. Of course, if it’s something else that too is no problem for you. You are probably the most brilliant son-of-a-bitch that ever walked the face of the earth. Even more brilliant than good old uncle Albert E. may he rest in peace. You have achieved in a lifetime what most races only have dreamt about across several generations. Past ten years my ass. You are just breaking 30 and acting like your life is over. And don’t give me any of that mid-life crisis crap either. You and I know that it is all a bunch of malarkey, dreamed up by bored housewives trying to keep their bored husbands happy with their spreading cheeks.

Kaajii got a chuckle out of that and said, Mike, old boy, you have hit the nail on the head. I am having a mid life crisis. Just not the sort that you think. I’m going to be 30 in a few months. I’m not unhappy with my physical or mental assets. I’m unhappy that I will only have a few more years in this dimension to discover what secrets the universe holds for me.

Uh. Sorry. I hadn’t thought of it from that viewpoint. For myself, I have been thinking about it from the more common perspective. Like what am I going to leave in this universe when I’m dead. A big pile of money and nothing else.

Yeah. Thought so. Don’t sweat it. I still got a good fifty more years before I can’t move anymore. So I guess I had better have fun while I can. Kaajii said.

That’s about the size of it. We can’t expect to live forever so we have to make the best of it while we can. Me, I just hope to live long enough to see what you do. Voyeuristic tendencies I guess. Mike said, smiling.

And I always thought you were in the security business because you liked the power. Boy, was I wrong. You just want to look up some broad’s skirt. Kaajii said, returning Mike’s now mischievous grin.

Speaking of girls, how are you and Beth?

Why do you ask?

Just wondering. I know how close you were to Inga. You took up with Beth awfully quick. I’m not prying mind you; I just don’t want you to make any wrong decisions because it’s convenient. The general consensus is that Beth caught you on the rebound. Now why are you looking at me like that? Mike queried.

Like what?

Like someone just caught you playing with yourself in public or somethin’

After Kaajii’s laughing subsided he said, I guess I haven’t had much time lately to think about Beth. She was there when I needed someone, a shoulder to cry on ... so to speak. I’m not real sure there is anything serious between us, or ever will be.

Couldn’t tell by looking at her. Just how serious were you and Inga?

Enough. Kaajii said and motioned to his finger, as if implying a ring was on it.

Uh boy. Me and my big mouth. Sorry.

‘tis ok. Caught me by surprise too. Just about the time I thought that maybe I ought to tie the knot with her the damned Feds blew KIM. Really haven’t had time to evaluate anything else since then. Beth. I dunno. She’s comfortable. Kaajii spoke slowly, sorting out his thoughts between words.

If I were the kind to give a buddy some advice it’d go something like this: Beware of comfortable. It happened to me once. I too was with a girl whom you would call comfortable. Bitch was talking marriage inside of six months.

So, what’d you do?

Ran like hell. Not that I’m knocking Beth mind you, but you don’t seem all that interested in her. She’s nice and all, but I don’t see sparks in your eyes. Come to think of it, I never saw you that way with Inga either. No offense intended. Mike said.

None taken. I know what you mean. Inga and I had our moments. Beth and I ... well ... I don’t know yet. But, as I said, I’m getting on in years. Maybe I should go ahead and bite the bullet. Get hitched, make some rug rats and the whole works. What do you think? Kaajii asked.

I’d give it some serious thought.

Why? I don’t see the women beating a path to my bed. Of course they would probably have to fight Beth at this point. What are you getting at anyway?

In case you haven’t noticed, Beth and Natissa together in the same room at the same time tend to lower the temperature a few degrees.

Oh?

You really haven’t been paying attention have you? Mike said tilting his head slightly.

So that explains it.

Explains what?

That explains why Natissa, cradling a broken arm, didn’t utter a single word of discomfort today when I helped her walk to the infirmary. And why Beth was mysteriously absent when the commotion started to die down. Kaajii looked at Mike.

Mike nodded in confirmation.

And it also explains why Natissa has been knocking herself out to get projects completed. I mean, not that others haven’t been working double time, but, Natissa has been pulling some 16 hour shifts for weeks. She is not only doing it for the good of the cause, but to impress me. I heard some grumbling in the ranks about ‘Natissa the Hun’ and such. She is driving everyone around here hard, very hard. All to impress me.

Could be. So what’s your next move?

I don’t know. Gravomagnetic field generators are simple compared to this game. What would you do?

Kaajii, as much as I would like to, I’m not going to give you any advice on that matter. It’s up to you buddy boy. It’s your game, your neck. I would however, advise against sharing a bed with either of them while checking out the other.

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