Rebirth Page 13

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  It was mid-morning on the starship Constellation and Paul Divine had just finished washing and dressing.

  "Charles I must tell you something, the thought of being amongst all this religion on board this ship makes me very uncomfortable, especially as here in the confines of this ship there is no way to escape from it. How about you, are you of the faith?" Paul Divine asked his friend.

  "I was born into it, but when I joined the Space Marines I sort of drifted away from it. Although, Paul, when I was in the midst of a battle the thought of someone out there looking after the faithful did sort of help me through the bad times."

  Paul Divine left the conversation there because what he had wanted to say was, well what about the other Christian faiths, and are their followers left out in the cold by your God, but Charles was his friend and he did not want to get into an argument about religion, especially aboard a Church of the Universe starship.

  "Plenty of my friends were Christians of other faiths Paul, and they all must have thought much the same thing. It sure must have made our God feel like a schizoid, trying to please all the different religions, but then I suppose he is above such petty things such as the differences between the various religious beliefs." Charles Bragg smiled across at his friend.

  "Don`t worry yourself Paul, I don`t believe all of the church`s propaganda, being in the space marines broadens the mind a hell of a lot." Charles Bragg added to his previous words.

  "Good, for I was beginning to feel a little lonely on board this ship, and way out in the cold." Paul said smiling at his friend.

  Paul Divine`s first job of the day was to meet with the leader of the colony. Alice Tarraway was in her very small office, in fact the only office on this part of the ship. It was tucked away in a corner of deck A, the same deck where Divine and Bragg were bedded down, and so he did not have to walk far to find it. There was room for a very small desk that was almost filled by her computer, the office also had three chairs, and four shelves fixed above one side of the desk, the other side being open so that Alice could squeeze by to allow her to get to her chair. Alice`s father had been quite famous in his day, a scientist of renown, he had died three years ago and Alice had found religion to fill the void that had sprang up in her life. She decided to become a new world colonist as the Church of the Universe termed them, and try to find a new life amongst the stars.

  Paul Divine took to her immediately, and why not for Alice was young, being only twenty-five years old, she had a good figure, lovely reddish hair and marvellous green eyes that Paul Divine felt he could look into for an awful long time.

  Alice took in Paul Divine in an instant, aged about thirty, he certainly looked fit as he stood in her doorway, he was just under six feet tall with blond hair, blue eyes and a charming smile, Obviously thought too much of himself and expected others to feel the same way about him.

  Paul Divine was soon sitting in a chair looking across at her when Alice interrupted his thoughts.

  "Mr Divine, you said you wanted to speak to me, well I am busy, can you tell me just what you want to know."

  Divine realised that he must have been looking at her for far too long, lost in his thoughts, so he quickly got his feelings under control.

  "Sorry Miss Tarraway, jet lag. So, you have some information for me, or so I am led to believe." Divine looked across at Alice smiling his most charming of smiles that appeared to be completely lost on her.

  "Oh yes, now I am the one to apologise, I should have given this to you when you first arrived." Alice said a little flustered at having made such a mistake as she searched through the papers on her desk in search of the file.

  "No matter, I was too tired to read it anyway. So, your colony is heading into the constellation of Perseus, the planet Persephone isn`t it." Paul Divine asked her, trying to start a conversation with Alice.

  "Yes, that`s right, far away from Earth and all its problems, or so my fellow travellers and I hope anyway." Alice was being rather brusque with Paul Divine, but he could not decide just why, unless of course she just did not like men!

  "Yes, I almost envy you, but I`m not the farmer type, fact is this is the only sort of job that I`m any good at, nosing around other people`s business, and being paid to do it, marvellous job for someone like me." Paul Divine said, once again trying one of his charming smiles on Alice.

  "Persephone, a Greek goddess wasn`t she?" Paul Divine enquired.

  "That`s right, she represented rebirth or springtime. I see the name of the planet as representing a new start for the colonists who are going there to live, a new chance to begin again, fresh as the spring can be, free as a.." Alice`s mind momentarily froze for she couldn`t find the word that she had been about to say, for Paul Divine`s cheerful smile had thrown her mind into a whirl and this thought alone annoyed her even more.

  "Free as a bird?" Pail Divine offered.

  "Yes Mr Divine free as a bird, and free of all of the troubles and government employees that make life so unbearable back on Earth." Alice said as she regained control of her mind again.

  "So why did the Church pick on that planet in particular, I mean they normally want some return for their investment." Alice seemed to take what he said the wrong way so Paul Divine hastily added. "I mean so that they can plough the profits back into another new colony world."

  "As you say, Mr Divine, well the initial profits from Persephone should be provided by the twenty mining families that are also on this ship, so you see you don`t have to be a farmer to qualify to be here, but then mining is probably too much like hard work for you as well, isn`t it, Mr Divine." Alice said scornfully, thrusting the file into his hands before continuing with her tirade.

  "These miners will be looking for Dylithium crystals, although any other precious minerals that they find will also be welcome, a filthy back breaking job which will be well worth their effort if they can find any Dylithium. I suppose you know that it is very hard to find, but when found in sufficient quantity they will provide the power that will energise the twenty sixth century, now good day to you Mr Divine. Alice`s face was very business-like now, for she was back in control of herself and she had no time to waste on the likes of Paul Divine.

  Dylithium crystals were so named by the woman who discovered them, because she was an avid reader of any and all of the antique science fiction books, and in particular a series called star trek in which the power source that took starships across space was the afore mentioned crystals.

  Paul Divine felt that he had been dismissed by his Head Mistress, but he felt it would be worth risking her wrath, if he could get to know her better.

  Paul Divine wandered back to the area where his bed was, and he found Charles Bragg waiting anxiously nearby.

  "Am I glad to see you Paul, come on I am starving, I`ve found out where we breakfast." Soon Divine and Bragg were sitting down to breakfast on the colony ship, such as it was; you had a choice of porridge, porridge or porridge that plus a watery cup of coffee.

  "Thank God we shall only have to endure this for seven days Charles; I don`t think that I could take it much longer than that." Divine took up the list that Alice had given to him and looked at the names of ten families; all of them had boarded the starship after the explosion had occurred at the Chichester Laboratories.

  "It is seven days travel to Persephone, Paul, but we will have to wait there until the Constellation either returns to Earth or someone comes along to give us a lift, that is assuming that we don`t find the missing item. Earth will soon despatch a starship to collect us if we do find the two alien agents and the missing technology." Bragg said smiling at an annoyed Paul Divine. "What sort of person is this Alice Tarraway, Paul?" Bragg then enquired.

  "Seems all right, and rather pretty, fell for me straight away of course, it just might take a while for me to convince her of that fact." Paul Divine said smiling when he thought of the way he had been received by Alice Tarraway, Bragg was now used to the constant jesting from Paul
Divine.

  "Yes, the people I`ve been talking to say much the same about her, seems that she is well known for her ways. If a man introduces himself to her she immediately sets him up against her late father, if he doesn`t measure up against that scientific wonder then he`s history as well."

  "I am sure that you are wrong about her Charles, maybe she has been hurt before, or maybe she`s just choosey. Anyway Charles, to business, how do you suppose we find the names on this list Alice gave me, without attracting too much attention that is." Paul Divine wondered.

  "We simply walk along the corridors of the three decks and read the names of the families off the top curtain rail that encloses their little claustrophobic space." Charles Bragg answered.

  "Oh, well I guess that even I can manage to do that." Paul Divine said, smiling across at his friend.

  "Right Charles, I think that I will start on the top deck first, oh but first the two of us have to visit Alice Tarraway to ask one more question." The two men were soon squeezed inside of Alice`s office.

  Alice looked up at them and could not help laughing, after Paul had left, she had felt a little sorry for the way she had treated him, it had been the two messages from Earth that had been the cause of her bad temper, for she had thought herself clear of such troubles, now that she was aboard the starship. Therefore, when Paul Divine, a government agent, had entered her office she had replied just a little testily in response to his obvious charm.

  "Have you brought the big lad along to protect you, Mr Divine?" Divine grinned down at her.

  "Well you were rather mean last time, and as I needed to ask a favour I thought I had better bring Charles along to help."

  "I thought you were supposed to be the one to save the galaxy, obviously it must be Charles." Alice quipped.

  "No, Miss Tarraway you were quite right, it is Paul`s turn today." Bragg said smiling down at Alice Tarraway.

  "It is Alice to my friends, Gentlemen, will you please excuse my behaviour Paul, but I thought Earth and all its silly little problems were far behind us. But what is the favour?"

  "What do you know about the ten families on the list that you gave me?"

  "Nothing about any of them, you forget that the Church now has almost two billion followers, and although I know many of the colonists on this ship, unfortunately I don`t know them all." Alice replied to Paul Divine`s question, smiling at him this time.

  "Well could Charles look through the dossiers that you do have on them, for the Church must have had some files on them to have been able to choose these members of their church from all the other applicants." Paul Divine asked hopefully, but fully expecting his request to be denied.

  Alice thought for a moment about this request and finally decided on her response.

  "Yes but only in this room, and without letting anyone know what he is doing, we can say that there is a problem with the computer and Charles is trying to fix it. Normally such information is strictly private, but if it will help track down two killers then I will agree to assist you." Alice said contrarily. She was cooperating more than Paul Divine could ever have hoped for, maybe this was nearer to the real Alice Tarraway and not the head mistress. It was, and anyway Alice had decided that co-operating with the authorities was better than the possibility of there being two murderers aboard.

  Alice looked up at Charles Bragg, aged 53 he was an ex-space marine, he stood six feet tall with an athletic looking build; his fair hair was beginning to get some grey in it now but he was still very fit. This of course Alice didn`t know, but looking into his light blue eyes she saw that they showed a love of life, but also something else, they also told her that he had also experienced much in his life that maybe he would like to forget.

  "You can make a start now Charles." Alice said standing up and squeezing past her desk. "I have to check on the colonists to see if there are any problems. Please keep the door to my office shut while you work on the computer." Unknown to them, back on Earth, Formby, was doing exactly the same thing.

  With everything settled, Alice went on her rounds while Paul Divine walked up to the upper deck of this huge ship and started his investigation. He strolled along saying good morning to anyone who looked his way, for most had pulled the claustrophobic curtains aside to give a semblance of space. The curtains moved along rails that crisscrossed the ship giving individual families a little privacy when they wanted to get away from all the prying eyes. On this deck, as well as the middle deck below, two hundred colonists were crammed in. On the lower deck that Divine and Bragg were billeted on, there were only one hundred colonists, as they shared their deck with the engineering department where the ship`s engines were located. Beneath the lower deck was the vast hold of the ship where all the goods needed to colonise a new world were stored. Twenty-five prefabricated buildings large enough to house twenty colonists in each building, in an emergency. There was also much more; such as two hundred tents, ten tractors, two all-terrain passenger vehicles, five massive trucks, there were solar panels for the colonists` houses and a satellite for local communication. There was also food to last the colony for six months, if necessary, and miles of pipe and thousands of various fittings, and of course much more. It was all very impressive and very expensive.

  On the middle deck, Mariah Rigor was complaining bitterly to her husband about being forced to travel on the colony ship.

  "We are like a herd of cattle being moved to new pasture, why on earth did Tirana insist on our being his couriers, why couldn`t he do it, be a new world colonist, have to endure that silly bishop`s voice each morning as he leads the faithful in their stupid prayers, it is so unfair." Mariah said angrily throwing her towel down on the bed, one that she had just folded neatly after returning from the showers.

  "Maybe he didn`t have anyone to act the part of his wife; a single man would stick out like a sore thumb aboard this ship, and certainly raise questions from the leaders of the group. We are here now Mariah, make the best of it." Johor said.

  "If I ever get Tirana alone I will make him pay for making me endure all of this." Mariah promised, lost in thought for a moment as she went through in her mind all the things that she could do to Tirana.

  "We only have to endure it for a little while and then it is goodbye colonists." Johor said gleefully.

  "Goodbye and good riddance you mean." Mariah said angrily.

  On the deck above the complaining Rigors, Paul Divine stopped beside a family of three named the Clarkson`s, and he spent an enjoyable thirty minutes telling them about his contract with the Church, and how he was there to set up the communications room when the ship arrived on Persephone.

  "Why didn`t you board the ship on Earth?" Mr Clarkson asked, when they heard that he was one of the two men who had boarded the starship at Ganymede.

  "We are last minute replacements; in fact we nearly missed the ship when our shuttle broke down."

  The Clarkson`s continued to talk to him about many things, anything to alleviate the boredom that filled the ship, for after the excitement of the arrival of the colonists, life was now rather dull. Passing the time of day with someone who seemed interesting was as good a way as any he could think of. For these thirty interesting minutes, Paul Divine told them about his varied life style travelling about the stars, but never the full truth, of his being a government agent. One reason that people journeyed to the stars was to get away from the government of Earth and all of its various departments, and this he knew.

  "Well I mustn`t keep you from your chores and I have the rest of my exercise to complete, see you around." Paul Divine said.

  He left to stroll further along the deck to pass more of the morning talking to the colonists. He finally came to the end of the row and was now walking down the next row when he noticed the name of one of the families he wanted to speak to, the Hardin family from Texas.

  "Morning to you folks, how are you all." Divine now was instant American, as he could be instant English or instant French, my name is Divine, Paul Di
vine, how are you folks getting along?" If Paul Divine thought that Alice Tarraway was tough, he now found someone even tougher.

  "What do you want Mr Divine, why are you snooping around, I saw you talking to the other families, you one of them Government spies then?"

  Hardin was tall and well built without a trace of fat, his square jaw added to his truculence, his brown eyes suspicious of all strangers, and Divine was rather taken aback by his hostile reception and almost reverted to his normal way of talking, but only almost.

  "I am sorry friend; I am just trying to alleviate the boredom, with seven days to get through I thought it might be nice to get to know some of my fellow passengers."

  "Take no notice of Joe, Mr Divine, he`s just naturally suspicious of strangers, one of the reasons we decided to become new world colonists was to get away from all the government agencies on Earth, my name is Judith by the way."

  Judith Hardin looked as if she had endured a hard life, the little that Alice had included on her list of names said that she was forty years old, she looked more like fifty, but life in a mining town on Earth was hard, for Alice had also included this information. She might have been pretty when younger, but her fair hair was already turning grey and her brown eyes sure looked tired, maybe the fresh air of Persephone would revive her.

  "I don`t blame him, these days it`s difficult to know just who to trust, me I keep my head down and hope they don`t notice me." Paul Devine said.

  "Yeah well we agree on some things, except I don`t like to hide away like a sissy, when I see something is wrong I say it is right out." Joe Hardin declared aggressively.

  "Which is why we are having to move to Persephone, Mr Divine, we are a mining family from a mining community that goes way back, the hope is that we will find some of these Dylithium crystals, even a few would make life a whole lot easier for our family."

  "It must have been quite a trip from Texas; at least your accent says Texas, Mrs Hardin?"

  "Yes it was Mr Divine, and we almost didn`t make it."

  "Don`t go telling him all about us Judith; we don`t know who he is, or what he`s about." Joe Hardin bellowed, but Judith Hardin ignored his advice.

  "Don`t be foolish Joe, if he was a criminal then the Church wouldn`t have him working for them, would they?" Judith Hardin argued. "Well as I was saying Mr Divine, before we were interrupted that is." Judith Hardin said throwing an annoyed glance at her husband. "We got away from Calvert, that is where we lived, Robertson County, Texas. Well as I said we got away on time all right, after I finally got him out of his bed that is, but we ran into one of those summer storms around Baton Rouge and that put us right back, we finally got to the space port with only one hour to spare."

  Paul Divine had taken to Judith Hardin and doubted whether she could murder anyone, except for Joe that is, but he would get Formby to check up on her story to verify whether there had been a storm, that and to have a word with the folks back in Texas of course.

  "Are there any more Robertson County folk here with you, or are travelling to Persephone with a ship load of strangers Mrs Hardin?" Paul Divine enquired.

  "Oh no, there`s not just us, there`s also the Granger family and the Blewett`s. The men are both like Joe, argumentative like, and the women are both like me, sweet and neighbourly, which is as all women should be, don`t you agree Mr Divine." Judith Hardin laughed as she said this, and Divine could see the pretty young woman beneath all those years of struggling, hidden but just waiting to bubble to the surface, Joe should make her laugh some more, she deserved it. Paul Divine thought.

  "Hey Mum, it`s time for us to head for the galley, or else we`ll miss out on our lunches." Tom Hardin, son and heir to the Hardin family interrupted just now, he was tall and gangly with features that resembled his mother thankfully, but a body that would mature to resemble his father, and so Divine decided it was time to move on.

  "Goodbye for now folks, maybe catch you later." and Divine then proceeded to walk back down to 'A' deck to see how Bragg was getting on, and to send that transmission to Formby of course. Divine realised that he had probably wasted his time, or saved some, for the Grangers and the Blewetts were also on the list of ten names, which made the odds on all three families being spies for Aldebra a rank outsider. He would check the remaining seven names against the complete list of the colonists to see if any of the other names listed were also accompanied by some of the other families.

  When he got back to Alice`s office, he found that Charles had finished checking the list of names, and he had found that three of the names on the list of ten had journeyed to the departure point together.

  "There are also two families from a small logging community in Pendleton, Oregon, one of which was going to provide all the timber that the new colony will need, did you know that there is even a small timber mill aboard this ship, Paul?" Bragg said, much impressed by the organization that must have gone into organizing everything that would be required to get the colony up and running.

  Divine sat down in the chair opposite Bragg.

  "Well what we have found out by studying the list a little more is that there are now just five families that should be put to the top of our list to investigate." Paul Divine said cheerfully. "That should make things a little easier for us, assuming that the Aldebran spies are even on this ship."

  "Well that Aldebran space cruiser is still on a course that will take it towards the quadrant of space where Persephone is located." Bragg stated looking up from the list in his hands. "That must be significant Paul; the Aldebrans are not usually the type of people to go on long space cruises, and certainly not just for the fun of it."