Civilisation: Chapter 7

Everything seemed to be moving quickly, gathering momentum towards the day when the first of the ships would leave Algerian Prime in search of a new home, which would be any day now. Ships had been promised from several benefactors, most of whom Aldon and Zolin never met. They had taken it on faith that when something was promised, it would be delivered at the appropriate time.

Some ships were being built discretely and were being commissioned by some of the supporters who could find no other way to contribute to the cause. They had found that there were more people wanting to offer support than they could have ever imagined. Aldon was just grateful that the he did not have to personally trust everyone that offered help. Oluania seemed at ease in this role and he was more than happy to leave it to her judgement, although, almost no offer of help was ever refused.

Aldon could finally see the end in sight and after weeks of planning and preparation, the only outstanding part of the mission was access to the wormhole. Zolin had not given out any details regarding his part of the plan or who his contact was or the level of his involvement.

This was the most crucial part of the mission. They could have every ship on Algerian Prime fuelled and ready to go, but if they could not gain access to the wormhole, then the mission would be a failure. It was for this singular reason that Aldon asked Zolin for more information.

“I understand,” said Aldon, “I know you want to protect your contact and I know you promised you wouldn’t disclose their identity, but I need some confirmation that we can have access for thirty ships to the wormhole?”

“I know that you are worried, but we can have limited access to it. Our friend is doing this at great risk to themselves, so I am trying to honour their wishes.”

“Can you at least tell me how you are going to get thirty ships through the wormhole without being seen? I do trust you and if it was you doing this yourself, then I wouldn’t worry, but it isn’t and we are relying on someone else to do this for us.”

“You are right Aldon, this is going to be difficult,” Zolin said, “but we are planning it out as best we can and it is going to take time. We cannot get all the ships through at the same time. Someone would notice thirty ships lined up ready to travel through the wormhole.

“So, what we are going to do is to create some false logs in the system for travel requirements, but we are going to bury these in system so that if anyone asks any questions, there will be a reference to a log, but then it will take them years to find the correct log. Trust me Aldon, this is going to work. The only requirement is that the ships can only leave three at a time and deep into the night. I have calculated that this will work, but it will take us ten days to get all our ships out of there and into the universe.”

“That is longer than I had thought. I was hoping to get that part over with in one go, not have to stretch it out over a ten night,” replied Aldon.

“I know, it’s not ideal, but it is the only way to get it to work. If we do it all in one go we would be caught without a doubt.”

“Does it matter if all the ships are through?” asked Aldon.

“To the pilots no, but to everyone that has worked to help us, yes it would. Everyone would be tried for treason and their lives would be over, their families destroyed. Surely you understand that once the pilots have gone, we still have to try and convince everyone here that we need to move? We cannot stop everything that we are doing once the pilots have gone. We need to prepare for evacuation.”

“I know, I know, Zolin. I think sometimes the weight of the situation bears down on my shoulders and I can finally feel myself straining under the weight of it all.”

“The first part of what we are doing is about to come to fruition. The first of the pilots will be ready to leave shortly and then, we can concentrate on what we need to do here to help prepare everyone for when the time comes to leave. We must not give up now Aldon, the end is in sight for us, we don’t want to give up so close to our goal, so close to saving our people.”

“This is why you’re my most trusted friend Zolin,” Aldon said, “you are right, I think I just need to try and get some rest. All these preparations have been taking their toll, I’ve not been sleeping and my mind is a little clouded.”

“you need to take some time and rest, you are no use to us in this condition. I think things may start to get a little complicated, for want of a better word and busier when we start launching the ships, so we need you sharp and focused. Why don’t you go now and get some sleep? There is not much that you can do for, things seem to be progressing of their own free will.”

“Thank you Zolin, I do appreciate you always being there for me and supporting me when I would have long given up.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but you are not the type of person to give up on others, now go and get some rest.”

Aldon turned to leave, but hesitated in the doorway, as he turned back around, Zolin motioned for him to keep walking and so he made his way back to his home to get some much-needed rest.

When Zolin knew he was alone and that Aldon would not be returning, he put his fist to his mouth and gave a little cough. As he did, Oluania came out of one of the connecting rooms, checking around to make sure that they were alone before asking, “What are we going to do?”

“I do not know yet, but what I do know is that Aldon cannot find out?” Zolin said, although it was more of a question.

“I know he can’t, but we need to decide how best to dispose of the situation before he does find out.”

They both sat down and tried to think of a peaceful solution to their problem. Neither of them had seriously considered murder, but would the life of everyone on the planet be worth the cost of a single life? They both shook their heads simultaneously, realising that they had both just dismissed the same idea and not for the first time.

No one knew of Oluania’s involvement with the mission, but most people knew now that Aldon and Zolin were planning something. The Council were aware to some extent of what was happening, but they never considered that there would be considerable support for the mission, so they had ignored it, ignored Aldon and allowed him to continue in this pointless exercise.

This was the perfect situation. None of them had wanted the Council to know anything and so they had worked tirelessly ensuring that word never got out about what they were doing. That was until Zolin was woken earlier by an alarm.