Part 1 - She's a real charmer

“This is a big step. Are you sure you're ready for it?” Jessy asked, looking across the table, assessing our hosts. “It doesn’t seem you have everyone on side since we are meeting in such a…” He paused, motioning around him. “Such an… inconspicuous space.”

Jessy was, of course, referencing the shipping container we were currently sitting in, located in… well, a shipping yard. The Sierra was left parked way outside of town on this backward little world called, simply, Farm World.

I suppose the name wasn’t any worse than Planet No Name, which was, in a way, my home world. Plus, it was, after all, an accurate description of the world we were currently on, as it consisted of a series of interconnected domes where the residents did nothing but farm.

The planet itself was more the size of Mars than Old Earth, only it sat closer to its solar system's sun, more like Venus, so it was super hot and required the domes for temperature control.

Picture Mars but covered almost entirely in little bubbles scattered around its surface with all sorts of different crops growing within. Put the planet in a close orbit to the local sun, and you would have a good idea of what Farm World looks like.

How are the crops not just burning to a crisp? The domes are built with Smart Glass that is used to control the amount of ‘good rays’ that will allow the crops to grow in their ideal climates. Each dome has a different crop, so the glass adjusts as needed. It was a monumental effort to get things just right with the glass and the soil needed to grow the crops, but in the end, the results were pretty brilliant.

Farm World was considered, if not the most important, one of the most important cogs in the human worlds. It provides all of humanity with nearly forty percent of its fresh fruits and vegetables… and it was owned by none other than – drum roll please – our buddies and yours, New Earth – Surprise!

Perhaps this is a good point for me to introduce myself. My name is Logan Pierce, and currently, my buddy Jessy and I are in the midst of talking with some of the locals looking to evacuate the planet. You see the PNN – the name for the coalition of planets that we represent – has been busy over the past two years actively migrating people from, well, crappy worlds with harsh environments, to worlds that are ideal for human life. In fact, some of these worlds were so perfect they were actually more suited for humans than Old Earth ever was.

Right now, Jessy and I are meeting in secret with Sam and Jen, the two locals claiming to represent the wishes of the planet’s residents. They reached out through the UMN – Universal Mess Network, the new internet of the universe – to ask for our support moving their people off-world and out of the hands of New Earth control.

Now normally, I’d be all over this. Frankly, that is what the PNN is all about: pulling worlds out of tough situations. However, in this instance, Farm World was too important to clear out. If we were to pull these people away from this world, who would maintain the farms? Millions across the ‘non-PNN’ worlds might starve, or at a minimum be very malnourished.

Something else to consider would be the fact that this would be a major blow to New Earth, and that was something I don’t know if I wanted to do. Sure, New Earth leadership are self-absorbed narcissists, so I’m told, but not everything they do is bad.

Yes, they tried to have me killed. At this point in my space-faring life, who hasn’t?

Really, I’d prefer it if one day we could put our differences behind us and align for the common good. So, you see, I’m not ready to piss them off any more than I already have.

I hope this sheds some light on the snag I find myself in at the moment. Taking this world may just draw a line in the sand with New Earth that I wasn’t ready to cross.

“Absolutely. The conditions on this planet are horrendous. Sure, everything looks peaceful on the surface, but the people are working like dogs. We can’t go outside without burning to a crisp, and we aren’t allowed to leave, even to visit families on other worlds. It’s horrible,” Sam implored.

“Really?” Jessy said, sounding unconvinced. “We were able to land here without incident and had no problems. The border patrol even seemed very friendly.”

Jen put her hands to her face in what appeared to be frustration as she spoke for the first time since our initial greetings. “We were told that the PNN would help those in need. Are you saying that you would abandon us here?”

Sam tossed Jen a lightning-fast glance that appeared to resemble annoyance, but the look vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

“No, of course not. The PNN wants to represent the best that humanity can be; the only challenge is that extracting your people will come at a high price to the human worlds outside of the PNN. The work you do here is extremely important for billions across the universe,” I replied. “We need to be thoughtful about how we are going to do this.”

Just then, I heard a beep in my ear as SAGE, my AI assistant on the Sierra, opened a channel only Jessy and I could hear through our earpieces. “Their credentials all check out; they seem to be who they say they are. Both Sam and Jen were born and raised here on Farm World. They both started working at the age of twelve. Sam is twenty-nine years old and has been working the apple orchards for most of his life, whereas Jen is twenty and works in the potato and carrot fields.”

“Listen, we will work with you, but we need to be careful,” I said, not letting on about the information SAGE just provided and focusing my attention on our two hosts. “New Earth isn’t going to just let you go so easily; they are going to put up a fight.”

“How many people would you say you have on this world, and how many would want to migrate?” Jessy asked.

Sam looked over to Jen as if looking for the answer. “I don’t know, maybe a few hundred million?”

“Logan,” Rita chimed in from the Sierra over the comms, “There are two billion, three hundred million and change on that planet. It’s more than the entire population of the PNN by one hundredfold. They need to get their shit together if we are going to help them.”

I took a deep breath and proceeded to monologue to myself in my head. Something I did from time to time.

‘Sigh…,’ I thought, ‘if they didn’t even know how many people were on this freaking planet, they were not even close to being ready for us to step in. Something about this isn’t right. Was this the wish of a few small groups bored with what they were born into, or were these people really suffering?’

“Okay, there is a lot of work to do to make this happen. First, you need to get your information straight. You need to rally the people around this cause, and you need to organize yourselves into groups,” I started.

“But...,” Jen said, cutting me off when Jessy put up his hand to stop her.

“Please, you need to listen,” he said, putting his hand back down. “You are way off in your numbers for this planet. You need to get your information together and listen to what Logan is telling you. The PNN can’t just come and take everyone away; it requires a lot of coordination, and frankly, it doesn’t sound like you are ready.”

Jen put her head down, but her face started glowing red. Sam didn’t seem to react.

“Okay,” I started again. “What I would….” I started to say when we heard a commotion coming from outside the container, drawing the four of us to a standing position, very alert.

“People en route to your location,” SAGE announced in my ear.

A man standing guard outside the container stuck his head in. “People are on their way. Looks like guards. You need to get out of here,” he said, looking at Sam.

“Okay, it appears this meeting is over for now,” Sam announced as a banging sound rang out from the outside of the container.

“WHO IS IN THERE?” a booming voice yelled from the far end.

“Go, go, go,” the guard standing at the open side of the container said softly, urging us to hustle out the door. “We have a high-speed transport just outside the shipping area. Get to that, and it’ll take you back to your ship.”

We did what we were told and high-tailed it out the open end of the container. Thankfully, the guards appeared to be on the other side, trying to get in. Strange that not one of them thought to come around to this side, but hey, I wasn’t going to complain.

Jessy and I ran in the direction the guard had pointed us, with Jen and Sam in tow. We made it almost halfway, weaving through the shipping yard, when the transport came into view. It looked almost like a small pickup truck they had in ancient Old Earth movies, only this one hovered.

Small pockets of dust from the hard-packed dirt we were running on began kicking up in front of us, causing me to look backward only to notice the guards on our tail with their guns raised. Clearly, one of them thought we were enough of a threat to start shooting as more clouds of dust started striking all around.

“Hurry,” Sam yelled, urging us on faster.

“Are they serious?” Jen yelled, sounding more annoyed than scared. “That one almost hit me.”

“Well, I don’t think they are trying to be friends,” Jessy said sarcastically.

We moved through the shipping containers, making a series of sharp turns to lose our pursuers as we continued in the general direction of the transport. Gradually, we closed in as I could just start to make out the driver, who seemed to suddenly become aware of what was happening. His eyes almost bulged from his face as he sat up sharply in his seat and floored the accelerator, causing the truck to jump forward. For a moment, I thought the guy was going to peel away and leave us alone, but he soon turned in a sharp, aggressive arc and began heading back in our direction.

As the driver neared, the guards came into view again, letting a hail of bullets fly over our heads. How they didn’t hit anyone at this point, I don’t know; it was like they were trained by the Stormtroopers from the original Star Wars movies my dad and I used to watch. Again, I wasn’t going to complain.

“Jump,” Jessy yelled as he launched into the air, landing in the back of the truck bed. I did the same, using the extra power my spacesuit granted me to clear the walls of the truck bed and land beside him. Turning, I kicked the tailgate down, extending my hand to Jen, pulling her inside. Jessy did the same for Sam, as we soon found ourselves piled on top of one another as bullets flew by the truck.

Leaving the guards to pursue us on foot, the truck pulled away down the dirt path, exiting the shipping yard and pulling into a field of crops at a dangerous speed. I was used to intense speeds flying on the Sierra, but that was in the emptiness of space; in the fields with workers all around, I found myself getting very uncomfortable with how fast we were ripping down the road as people in our path did their best to jump out of our way. One poor guy took a face full of watermelon as he tripped over his own feet to avoid getting hit. I looked back to see him raise his head, seeds all over him.

Finally exiting the field and getting to some version of civilized roads, we continued towards the hangar hosting the Sierra. We made it most of the way back when an official New Earth patrol car pulled onto the road in pursuit, lights flashing.

“Why are they so desperate to catch us?” Jessy asked. “We didn’t do anything.”

“Well, your boss here,” Sam motioned to me, “is a wanted man. Maybe they found out he was here.”

I just looked at Jessy and shrugged, ‘Who me?’

“How would they have known, unless someone in your camp let on that we were coming?” Jessy said with a slight accusatory tone in his voice.

“What are you saying?” Jen shot back. “You think we did this? I was almost killed back there.”

“Settle down,” I replied, trying to keep everyone calm. “No one is saying that. Jessy was just asking, and besides, it really doesn’t matter who did what now. All that matters is that we need to get out of here without dying.”

“Don’t you tell me to settle down! I’m not some little girl you need to…” Jen started at me furiously when Sam put his hand on her arm to calm her. She only looked at him with anger in her eyes as she pulled her arm away. At least she stopped her rant.

“I’m sorry about that,” Sam said, trying to be reasonable. “We didn’t let on to anyone that you were coming, but we were worried that New Earth had realized we were looking for a way off this rock. They may have had us followed.”

I just shook my head; it wasn’t worth telling them they needed to be more careful. In fact, it was I who needed to be more careful. I’m not sure I can risk coming to these meetings like this anymore if it's going to draw out gun-enthusiastic responses now.

“Logan, do you mind if I call you Logan?” Sam asked.

“No, of course not,” I replied.

“Mind if you take us out of here with you? They seem to be onto Jen and me, and we can’t safely go back,” he said, trying to maintain his dignity while on the verge of pleading.

“Yes, of course. Perhaps we can work out a plan from Eden and get into deeper discussions there,” I replied, feeling sorry for him.

“Are we going to have a problem getting onto the Sierra?” Jessy asked. “Will the border patrol be alerted?”

“Probably not. The border patrol and local security are different factions. If we are lucky, they haven’t alerted them yet. Plus, we have some people on our side with border patrol, which is why you were able to get in as easily as you did,” Sam replied.

The truck pulled up to the hangar as we hopped out of the back. Our concerns about the border patrol were unnecessary as they only urged us on. Better yet, they even intercepted the guards that were right on our tails, holding them up so we could make it to the ship unhindered.

Thanks to the Quantum Malleum the Sierra was made from, we were able to manipulate the shape of the ship to make it appear like a standard shipping freighter. That, and the fact that we could mask our transponder code to read like any other ship, meant we were able to get access to this world with little trouble. Even still, I found myself almost flinching, looking at the Sierra as though I wasn’t sure it was my ship as we approached. If it wasn’t for Rita standing at the edge of the plank, I would have had to seriously stop to consider if I was in the right area.

“Hurry, get your asses up here,” she yelled in a tone that was less encouraging and more of a tone that suggested I need to exercise more.

We ran down the two-hundred-metre tunnel from the hangar dome that connected to the Sierra. Once we were on board, the tunnel would draw back away so we could take off without damaging any of the local domes around us.

“We have some guests,” Jessy said, thumbing over to Sam and Jen as we ran on board the ship.

“I can see that,” Rita said, not taking her eyes off the tunnel behind us. “It appears you lost your tail.”

“I told you the border patrol was on our side,” Sam said between gasps for breath.

When we were all onboard, Sam and Jen dropped to the floor, looking exhausted and breathing heavily from the short run. It was clear that in their line of work, cardio wasn’t a necessary skill to develop.

The back gate of the Sierra closed as the tunnel connecting us to the dome retreated. Within moments, we were feeling the intense acceleration of the ship as it shot upwards, clearing the small natural atmosphere of Farm World and into space.

I looked over to Jessy, who had a huge smile on his face from the sheer adrenaline rush of the getaway. We both started laughing. “Well, you wanted some more excitement than just hanging around Eden,” I said.

“I got that for sure!” He replied, continuing to laugh, slapping me on the back.

“We almost got killed, and you clowns are laughing?” Jen shouted between her panting breaths from the floor where she still sat. Sam just shook his head, looking too tired to be annoyed.

Rita looked over to me, eyebrow raised. “I see you brought a real charmer on board this time.” Then she turned to SAGE. “Please find our guests some quarters. They look like they could use a cleanup and a rest.”

“Definitely targeted,” Rita said without looking up from a console as we joined her on the bridge moments later. “The security chatter mentioned you by name, Logan. And they ID’d the Sierra, despite the QM disguise. They knew it was you.”

“Great,” Jessy muttered. “So much for inconspicuous.”

“Means Sam was probably right,” I said, sinking into my chair. “They were likely watching them, waiting for us to show.”

Rita scoffed at the mention of Sam.

“What’s that about?” I asked, looking at her.

“They seemed completely unprepared. They didn’t even know the population count.” She said in frustration. “Amateurs. Playing revolutionary without doing their homework. Could have gotten you killed.”

“Could have,” I agreed. “But this is what we do, isn’t it? Help the ones who stick their necks out, even if they’re clumsy about it. We’ve pulled people out of worse spots.” I thought back to the early days, liberating mining moons where corporations fought tooth and nail to stop us. We even faced down New Earth patrols around fledgling colonies. We’d gotten better, smoother, but the core mission hadn’t changed. Find those trapped under oppressive regimes – corporate or New Earth – and offer them a way out, a chance to join the PNN, build something better on worlds like Aurelia or Veridia. Worlds that, strangely, seemed almost too perfect.

“Still,” Jessy said, jumping in. “Stirring up a hornet’s nest on a Class-A strategic world like Farm World… New Earth won’t let this go. This feels different than grabbing a few disgruntled miners from some backwater moon.”

He was right. This felt like drawing a line. And it forced the question: were we ready for the fallout? Was I ready? My gut instinct was always to help, consequences be damned. But Farm World… disrupting forty percent of the food supply? Pissing off New Earth this badly? Was it worth it?

“So, what’s the plan?” Jessy asked, pulling me back to the present. “Take them to Eden, debrief them properly, and figure out if this Farm World situation is salvageable?”

“That’s the first step,” I nodded. “Get their story straight, see who else might be involved. But Rita’s right, this is bigger than our usual ops. We need to talk to the…” I paused, taking a breath before swallowing down the next words, “High Council.”

I couldn’t notice the corners of Jessy’s mouth curl up at hearing me say it.

The ‘High Council’ was a term someone came up with to describe the collection of leaders across the five planets and two moons that the PNN now populated. I had come up with the ‘Fellowship’, but someone had convinced people that the ‘High Council’ was better.

I knew Ringo had something to do with it, too. I just couldn’t prove it. ‘High Council,’ It sounded ridiculous, pompous, for a group of people just trying to keep a few million refugees safe and fed.

“Council won’t like the risk,” Rita predicted. “Especially not for a group this disorganized and of that size. It’s more people than we have across the entire PNN. Even if you include Mom and Dad’s world.”

“Probably not,” I admitted. “But leaving two billion people under New Earth’s thumb when they’re asking for help… that doesn’t sit right either.” It was the same dilemma we kept running into, only magnified.

Our dream of offering refuge, of building free worlds, was bumping hard against the reality of moving billions. We’d grown fast, maybe too fast, from a single ship to a multi-world coalition. Each liberation brought new citizens, new challenges, new resources, but also new enemies and bigger targets on our backs. We were playing in the big leagues now, whether we liked it or not.

“Let’s get back to Eden,” I said finally. “We’ll figure it out from there. SAGE, plot the course.” One crisis averted, another just beginning. Business as usual in the PNN.