Chapter 3
Friday 10:48am FST – October 29, 2250
Bishop and Mac followed Sam to the administration building which was five stories tall. It was the tallest building in the town and appeared to be constructed of white marble on the outside. While the architecture was mostly Greco-Roman, the roof was more Asian in design.
“Grandfather was a fan of both the Romans and Japanese culture,” Sam said, noticing Bishop studying the building.
“I hope the roof isn’t too traditional.”
“Of course not, just made to look like wood. The marble itself is just a shell on the outside. So don’t let the building’s appearance fool you. It is the most secure place in Elysium. The entire building is built with Durellium, the same kind of metal that is used to construct starships.”
“Glad to hear it,” Bishop replied as they walked up the stairs to the entrance. The administration building was also on an elevated patch of land, making it even taller than every other building in town. He watched as Sam approached the doors and, instead of swinging open, slid to either side.
As the group stepped inside the large, spacious lobby, the first thing that attracted his eye was the large rock garden with a miniature waterfall feeding a strip of water that ran along the outer edge of the garden and was teeming with native fish to the planet. There was a receptionist area, where a young man was working. Upon seeing the doors open, he had immediately stood up, recognizing Sam who motioned for him to ignore them. A set of stairs led up to the second floor, but Sam ignored it and guided them to an elevator which had a translucent, blue forcefield instead of a door.
“Grandfather preferred to have a bird’s-eye view from his office,” Sam stated as they all entered into the elevator.
The small space made Bishop slightly uncomfortable, as bad memories tried to surface. They were always there, locked in the basement of his subconscious. As a way to ignore them, he started listening to the music playing in the elevator. One of the constants despite the alienation between Humans and Terrans – elevator music. He recognized the tune as a rendition of the popular Terran song “Baby, You Are Toxic.” It was a ballad and one of a few songs each year that transcended its planet of origin to spread out amongst all the planets and species in the GFP.
But as he was listening to the lyrics, he suddenly noticed a particular smell – lilacs. The perfume that Sam was wearing had the distinct smell of lilacs. Visual cues didn’t bother Bishop so much, but smells were a different matter. An adrenaline rush occurred once he had registered the smell, his body coiling, ready to fight. The calm, rational part of him knew that it couldn’t be THAT individual.
To help with that fact, he started looking more closely at Sam. Her long black hair trailed down past the nape of a long, slender neck to her shoulder blades; blue jeans and a white blouse shirt accented her slim, hourglass figure. She was very lovely, a fact he couldn’t deny; the exact opposite of that person. Bishop felt his body relaxing again while, at the same time, he felt a hand gently grab his left arm. It was Mac, surreptitiously lending Bishop support, and acting as an anchor, to let him know that the Captain was there. But the days where Bishop had needed such tangible support were behind him. Still, it was appreciated and he indicated such with a slight nod of his head.
The small episode had lasted for only ten seconds and, finally, the elevator came to a stop after its minute-long ascent.
The forcefield disappeared as the group entered a long hallway with doors along both sides. Unlike the main doors leading into the building, these were clearly Asian-inspired and designed to slide open rather than swing. Sam led them all to the end of the hallway where a double-set of doors had a holosign stating that it was Mayor Stafford’s Office.
In the office was a large, wooden brown desk with various holoprojections on top. Most of them were indications that messages and work required the Mayor’s attention. The back of the office was nothing but large force screens looking out over the canyon with a screen on each of the side walls looking out over parts of the town. Various pictures, showing the previous two mayors and stages of the town lined the wall as well. In the center of the office was a holographic image of the entire town and surrounding area.
By the entrance to the office, was a smaller desk and, sitting at it, was a young woman who immediately jumped up, “Madame Mayor,” was the business-like tone that came from the assistant. However, there was a slight tremor in her voice, trembling in her hands, and brown eyes wide with fear. “Messages are coming in from everyone living outside the town. They are evacuating their homes and heading here.”
“Thank you Cassie,” Sam replied as she indicated that Bishop and Mac should stand by the large holoprojection of the town. “Hold any further calls unless it is an emergency and give us some privacy. I have some things to discuss with the Colonel and Captain.”
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Cassie pressed a button on her desk and a force screen appeared around her. Not only would it provide some protection in an emergency, but the screen cut out all noise so that the assistant wouldn’t be able to hear what was being said yet see if she would be needed.
“She is afraid,” Bishop said as the screen flared into existence.
“Can’t blame her,” the Mayor replied. “She is young and thought, like many, that the Cren threat would never become real.”
Bishop and Mac studied the holographic representation of the town as Sam joined them. “I have ta say Sam,” said Mac, getting down to business. “Elysium is very well fortified, more than we would have expected. Isn’t that right Colonel darling?”
“Indeed Mac,” Bishop replied, though he was annoyed that the Captain was up to his old shenanigans with the “Colonel darling” appellation. “I am certainly impressed, Madame Mayor. We did not expect such a fortified town. In fact, we hadn’t expected fortifications of any kind. I thought I saw the GFP logo on the town sign, but no government-funded project like this would have included such fortifications.”
“You are correct Colonel,” Sam responded and reiterated, “but please feel free to call me Sam. This is a government-sponsored town. Or it was until five years ago. Our contract with the GFP has been fulfilled and Elysium is like any other town in the Federation. As for the fortifications, you noticed them on the way in. Grandfather was an entrepreneur who also wanted to make the town a secure area considering the ever-present threat of the Cren. So while he was digging one of the richest mines in the system, he started work on Elysium. He turned this large hill into a plateau because of its close proximity to the mines and the natural defense of the canyon on the north.”
Sam pointed to the north side of the holographic display, “The canyon is over 1,000 feet deep with a large river running through it. The cliff face is steep and would take the Cren a long time to climb. The sides of the plateau are similar as well. Grandfather artificially crafted them so that they couldn’t be climbed easily. You’ve seen the walls and gate, which is the only gate and path leading up to Elysium. But also, there are plates extending out from the walls over the cliffs so that the Cren, should they decide to climb the cliffs, can’t just climb over the edge. They would have to try and cling to the metal roofs that extend over the cliff edge.”
“Essentially,” Bishop interjected. “We just have to worry about their flyers and the entrance into Elysium. I’ve currently deployed 50 men to the North, West, and Eastern walls. The bulk of marines will stay on the southern wall and protect the gate.”
“So then, when will the Cren attack us?”
“From what I have read of the previous war, the Cren will focus on the most densely populated areas first. But even that depends on how long the fleet can hold them off. At around 10:30 am FST, we lost contact with Headquarters.”
“Which could mean,” Sam continued as she went to sit behind her desk while Bishop and Mac sat down on the chairs opposite, “that the fleet has been destroyed or has retreated and the Cren have already started to attack the major cities.”
Bishop nodded at Sam’s assessment. Conversation paused for a minute as the three of them let that sink in. Within the privacy screen, Sam’s assistant was working and taking calls. During the short lull, he received a notification that the comms and intel teams had arrived.
“Madame Mayor, is there an office for our comms and intel teams to set up,” asked Bishop.
“They can set up in the council room on this floor,” came the reply and Sam hit a button on her desk. “Cassie.”
“Yes, Madame Mayor?”
“Please head down to the lobby and escort the marines there to the council room where they can set up.”
“Right away ma’am.”
The slight blue glow abruptly disappeared as the privacy screen was turned off and, within a minute, Cassie had left the room. Bishop looked over at Mac who had, surprisingly, stayed quiet up until now.
“Sam,” Mac said. “The Cren didn’t block communications of any kind during the first war? Or am I forgetting that?”
“You are correct, Mac. From what I studied of the war, the Cren never employed this kind of tactic.”
“Did ya study this while ya were in the service?”
“I did. Four years in the air corp.”
At this, Mac rolled his eyes and sighed in an exaggerated fashion, “On no, a flyer. Ya get the cushy flying, while we do the grisly dying.”
Not missing a beat, Sam amusedly said, “Shut up lobster roll.” The term came from the fact that a marine’s uniform was red. “Complain all you want about fighting on the ground, but at least you don’t have to deal with space itself trying to kill you.”
A slight cough issued from Bishop’s throat as he needed to get everyone back on topic. “We are going to need a way to communicate if the Cren are blocking communications,” Bishop said while noticing a look pass between Mac and the Mayor. “Our own comms may be blocked when they come for us and I don’t want to be caught with my pants down.”
“There are quite a few people who would love ta see that Colonel darling,” Mac interjected with a grin.
This elicited a laugh from the Mayor as she responded to Bishop, “We have low-tech modes of communication. All of our buildings in town are connected by LAN lines and I could send some people to extend those to each section. We also have some devices that use radio waves instead of the faster-than-light waves that modern comm devices use.”
“Excellent, if you could start having those LAN lines set up so that I can communicate with my officers, that would be a big help.”
“Of course, but Colonel,” Sam said as she shifted in her seat. “How long will it be before the GFP can send in another fleet and more marines to drive the Cren back? I didn’t want to ask this in front of other people, but it is something I must know.”
Bishop was reluctant to answer as he answered, “Three days, Madame Mayor.”
“Three days,” Sam exclaimed, looking over to Mac who nodded in confirmation. “Space me!”
Author’s Note: Always happy to receive constructive criticism!
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