Week 11
Day 1
Everyone returned to their assigned posts and I had to purview the construction of the Transit and Holding. The formeris starting to take shape as more trees are cut down and used to make the wall. So was the later, as its wall went up too and Dr Leong contributed in a five raptors for company. But its frightening to see the raptors runnning in the moat. It could not climb out the moat as the sides are too steep.
Someone asked a very interesting question; ‘what if it rains and flood the moat?’
‘Well, then they get to escape and we catch more to bring back here. Its a simple solution.’ I liked Doctor Leong as he thought out everything well. I offered my fishing rod to the good doctor but he politely declined my offer.
If only things was that simple.
‘Commander, we need you at the Transit area.’ It was Major Feeley.
Heavy Metal has stopped work at the edge of the jungle. It was attached by a T-Rex who thought it was a sizeable meal. The bite of the T-Rex took some damage on the hydraulics which operates the doze, and its not working for now. I told them to shut it down as its doen a lot of work the last few days. Elder Cheng found a tooth in the hydraulics gear and he wore it on his neck for souvenier.
So we directed most of the M-Bots to work on the settlement.
I received a very unusual request. The young newlywed will like to spend their honeymoon at Tip’s Nest alone. I had to agreed so I send the team back and left the newly weds for a three days stay there. All the spare personnels were assigned to complete the ramp and Holding Transit.
Day 3
The cavern is operational now. We also had a canopy build over the vertical cave so it will not become a waterfall when it rains. Big Mouth had a new facelift with the new ramp in place. The third automated revolving twin cannons was relocated to the platform to cover the jungle. I had a bunker built at the top of the ramp as a guard house to watch over the ramp. There is a bunker at the platform which watch out over the Holding. Both bunkers are made from logs which we stacked up to make the walls and roof.
A defense wall was built across the ramp at the top to prevent any unauthorised entries.
The message came in at 1600hr; the EDS Triton is arriving ahead of schedule; due to dock in orbit at 0700hr the day after tomorrow.. We are to get ready to received our first batch of colonists.
I just felt a heavier burden has been added to my shoulder.
The night it ran and filled up the moat but not to the top; swe had to drain the moat of water if we keep raptors..
Day 5
EDS Titan did arrive on time. Its shuttles flew and landed several time to unload the colonists. It also more equipments including spares for Heavy Metal and addtional defense weapons.
I had the colonists sent to the Transit or the colonist called it Main Village. The families numbered a hundred and sixty three including twenty one below sixteen of age. They were awed by the space and they immediately started work on constructing their new homes with the materials supplied by EDS Titan. The units are build with prefabricated sheets and basic amenities are provided for them to install.
The inmates are brought to their new homes and they also did the same with the materials given but their units are larger. Each unit can housed twenty inmates with separate bunks. I did a count and compared to the records. There are twenty ladies with five kids in tow. These ladies and kids are given a two units for them to stay in at the right side of the camp. The men are housed in the four units on the left side. Each sub-camp has a wire fence built around it, and in between are the walk path of the guards.
Penal Guards are tough people as they deal with the worst. The are dressed in the black uniform with the protective vests and carry PH350 in their holster, unlike the inmates who are dressed in orange shades. The guards also carry the energise rod which emits a high voltage to break up fights and to handle the inmates. When the guards are on perimeter patrol or guarding it, they are armed with PH 762 PDW or PH900 depending on their skills. The guards are commandered by Warden Andre Tomas, a man with a kind streak for the capital punishment. He is assisted by Senior Guard Kim Toh; a short squat man with a knack for swinging his truncheon on any offences. Among the guards are five ladies personnels and fifteen men.
I was told to address the inmates at the partially completed camp.
‘Penal inmates of Holding Block 102; welcome to your new home. Here as you can see is a brand new world; but be careful behind those trees are vicous predators. Nevertheless this place is a lot better than where you were before. Here you have air to breathe and skies to look at. And a new home when you get released. But in order for us to reach that, you must behave in this world. Your camp as you can see needs to be built. You will do so now and the sooner you do it, you will get to stay in there. If anyone of you wants to fled this place, please do. We cannot protect you out there but we can do it you stay inside the camp.’
‘Is it true the clips we saw?’ I looked at the man who asked me. He is about my age and stand withered like an older man.
‘Yes, sir. And more deadly than that is not shown.’
‘So you are sending us to die. You might as leave us at the mines; we had better air there. And life too.’ The man’s words drew applause from his peers, and I can see he is not what he appears to be. I took the initiative to invite three men for a ride in the LTV. It will be guided by another LTV and shown a view of the place. The rides took place for fifteen minutes each and a total of fifteen men joined in turns. Everytime the trio returned theyt looked glum or fightened on the tour sighting.
‘Explain to your friends. The view speaks better than the words.’ I was improvising on a famous quote. Some of them then saw the moat and its inhabitants. Elder Cheng was feeding them with chunks of meat from an earlier catch. It was dramatic scene for some of them including the guards. They soon marched into their camp and resumed work on their quarters.
On the order side of the plateau, Major Feeley did a similar introduction but she did not provide the tour. She gave them a free holographic show in the yard and explain to them the dangers. Soon they started work on their housing and was left to their mumbling on their new home.
EDS Titan brought more than equipments and supplies, it brought us a religous team of priests with different faith among the colonists. Soon we will find the works laid out for us to deal with them.
But the best news is additional working robots named W-Bots which are suited to work the menial works of construction and maintenance unlike the M-Bots. We freed the M-Bots from the chores and let the twenty W-Bots took over.
The W-Bots are designed like the M-Bots except they do not have any phaser guns in their fingers, and they only have two arm limbs with bigger hands to grab the surface. Their palms can be magnetised to clamp on metal surfaces.
‘Warden Tomas, you may stay in BASE with me.’ Warden Tomas is a man close to retirement age but he looks older. Probably part of the job benefit as he taking care of a hundred penal hardcore inmates. He walked to my in with his slouched shoulder but he is big man too. He may have towered over me but his dropping shoulder put him to the same height with me. I offered the Warden my hospitality at BASE but he declined. He would prefer to be with his personnel on the raised platform which four units has been setup like the ones at the outpost but there is no cannons on it.
‘Tell me about your care, Warden.’ He did. The man I spoke to earlier is PP10207 Mathew Burns; a political detainee and eco-terrorist, and bomber. He is responsible for the murder of two thousand people when he poisoned their water system. He is on life sentence but commuted to fifty years on leniency. He has forty five more to served and will be a free man when he is ninety five.
There is also PP10234 ‘Mama’ Pepe; a mass murderer who has child here with her; also life sentence commuted to fifty years. She has forty eight more to go and will go free. She is only in her early thirties and deemed to be dangerous.
PP10256 Carlos Carli; a demolition expert and is in for life. He has appeal for a lighter sentence but the Board of Penal may extend his stay as he is still a threat. The motion is still in appeal for approval.
All of them are life sentences or long sentences inmates with the parole a long time to coem and thr release much longer. By sending them here, its like sending them to do good before they end their life but they looked at it as a curse to be here.
Among the three, PP10207 is the unofficial leader in this one hundred inmates. He is to be watched at all times. All the inmates have a transceiver like us in their forearm and they can be tracked by trackers. PP10207 walks around with three personal guards including one PP10233 named Mongol; a large bulky man with scars on his body. He was a former ringfighter; illegal fights and banned by the authorities. Mongol is a mute and PP10207 is his spokesman.
‘What about your personnels?’ I know its a sensitive question, but has to be known.
‘Other than Senior Warden Kim Toh, is another Guard Sani; a sadistic one. He was a last minute addition to the team as he has connections in the Board of Penal. He is not liked by many including his own guards and if he dies, no one will care.
Wow ! I love the crew already. They are a bunch of misfits to be let loose in this jungle and the raptors will pale in comparison to them.
I met Major Feeley, and she has her strory to tell me.
‘These are tough folks; they came, they listen, and they turned their back to me. Heck, I feel like I am a instructor in the kid’s class.’ I know no one at the age listen to the instructor, but do their own.
‘Let them be. They will soon learn soon enough. Any misfits I should know?’
‘Famed zoologist who was not selected due to his age, but now here as colonist; Professor Main Brown. Doctor Leong is worshipping his toes right now. And offering his living quarters. And my ex-husband and his mother, Austin Moore and Diana Moore. I hate these reunions.’ I should had handled the briefing here instead of the penal inmates.
‘By the way, Commander. Your dad and sister is here too. The High Command must had arranged the reunion for us.’
Week 12
Day 1
The sight is not something you get to see every morning; a herd of Diplodocus came to the Transit and it shook the grounds it walked on. I was there that hour to see someone but instead I was stirred by the sight of this large dinosoaus which is a herbivore. They stand tall and has a long neck estimated to longer than twenty five feet. One of it came to the new wall which we build and lean over with its neck to grab a solitary bush there. A kid standing about twenty feet started to cry and was not able to move. I rushed to the kid and grabbed him. I carried him back to the nearest half build shelter and soon had his mother grabbing him from me.
The Diplodocus looked at me as if its as curious as what I am. It let off a snort of breath from its nostril on top of of its jaws and raised it neck over the wall. It turned its massive body and walked away. I wondered what will happened if it rushed into the wall. I doubt we would had been able to hold it then.
‘I wished I could do that for you.’ I turned to look at the man who spoke to me. Its my father, Micheal Bent; eighty five in age and still sport a healthier body compared to mine. We did not see each other for over ten years and the last one was not great.
‘Micheal. How are you? I heard you came in with them, but I was busy on the other side.’ I am trying to make excuse and he knows.
‘I heard about the Penal inmates? Have you got them interned? I hope so. We are peaceful folks here.’ I did not want to do it, but I had to. We hugged and he offered to take me to his unit. I would had declined but he insisted and was leading me. Its simple square unit with two cubicles for living and one utility hall. All the food is served at the Common Hall in the camp so there was no need to cook. He has got a chair and table to work on, but that was about it.
‘Hello Susan.’ She is my sister and she is devoted to him. She never married and stayed at his side all the time, even after my mum died. She is a trained nurse and helps out at the Medic Units back on Earth. Susan offered me the chair but I decide to stand. We spoke for a while and I offered to send over more stuff but they declined. They will get their own soon. Susan is due to work in the infirmary as she is a trained nurse and Micheal will work at the workshop as he is micro-electronics designer. I excused myself and told them to call me if they needed assistance.
So much for a reunion as it was brief like the last time ten years ago. I just came back to say goodbye to mum before they pull the switch on her life support.
I saw Major Feeley talking to a man on the unit nearby and they seem to be very cordial. I think its time for me to go faced some raptors for company.
‘Commander, Warden Tomas would like to see you at the Holding.’
I stood over the dead body of the inmate which was knifed and thrown into the moat. They managed to drag it out before the inhabitants made it their meal, but the body is without its right leg and left arm, along with some ribs.
‘PP10289 Thomas Evans; multiple burglaries and rape. We saw inmate PP10233 Tumun ‘Mongol’ throwing his body into the moat at 0723hr. We dragged him out at 0755hr after some tussle with the creatures. PP10233 is in the holding cell now.’
‘Warden, this is your area of jurisdiction. Why call me?’
‘PP10233 claims that the colonist paid him to kill PP10289. The colonists are your jurisdiction.’ I disliked cross jurisdiction issues.
‘Who is the colonist involved here?’
‘Michele Moore, from the Moore’s family.’ I began to dislike this more.
‘I supposed PP10207 told you this.’ This smacks of a conspiracy. And they just arrived here less than forty eight hours.
Tribunal briefs; recorded by Recruit Jane
Day 1 Week 12
Murder of PP10289 Thomas Evans.
Summary below;
‘PP10207, this is an enquiry and not a trial. Please explain to the tribunal here what exactly happened.’ I setup a simple tribunal with me and the warden plus a representative from the scientific team; Doctor Leong. We are trying to find some evidence or witnesses account to submit for an investigation.
‘Commander Bent, this is a fragging kangaroo court hearing and I may dislike the proceedings, I would like to the subject closed. So I would accept this fragging enquiry.’
‘Thank you for your fragging honesty and can we fragging start please.’
‘For the records, my name is Mathews Burns. My Penal reference is PP10207, formerly of Block 102 and now a resident of this jungle holding hell hole. I was advised by PP10233 in a handwritten note on the sands of this yard; we do not have any written materials in this hell hole. PP10233 wrote that he wants to kill PP10289 for he has been bribed by a colonist named Michele Moore. PP10233 went to looked for PP10289 but he saw the man was dead by suicide. He came over to tell me that 10289 was dead. I tjust told him to discard the body into the moat. He did just that. But I will conclude that PP10233 did not kill the man as he was already dead by suicide. That sums up my statement.’
‘Guard Ian Stone; Perimeter Duty; I was walking my rounds when I saw PP10233 carrying a body across the yard towards the moat. I shouted at him to stopped but he kept on walking. When he reached the moat, he threw the body into the moat.he then walked back to the inner yard without looking back. I ran to the moat and saw the body being mauled by the creatures. It was then Guard Dina joined me, and we both took out our PH350 to shot at the creatures.’
‘Guard Mark Stowe, Off Duty; I was in my quarters when I heard the shouts and shots from the moat. I ran out of the quarters and saw the shooting at the moat. I thought that someone could had fallen in. I grabbed the long metal rod with a hook given to us by the Maintenance guy for this purpose. I ran to the moat and saw that it was dead person in the moat. I used the rod to grabbed hold of his shirt lapel and hauled him out.
‘Doctor Bashir; Medical team. I was in the yard to check on the inmates for any infections or diseases when I heard the commotion. I ran to the moat to assist and saw them pulling in the body. I examined the body and found him already dead. There was mising limbs due to the severing o t by the predators. I also found lacerations and puntured wounds on the body at the chest and throat. The cause of death was a deep cut on the external and anterior jugular veins with massive bleeding. Although there were other signs of wounds but the body has been mauled badly, so I cannot conlcude the other causes. I estimated time of death at 0500hr to 0700hr.
‘PP10233 Tumun ‘Mongol’written statement. I did not kill the man. I came, I saw, he was already dead. I asked the boss and he said to throw it away. I did as I was told. I was given credits by a colonist named Mrs Moore to kill him but he was dead when I came. I did not hurt man. Creatures in the water did it.’
‘Michele Moore, Colonist 13455589. I do not know the accused and victim. I do not know how my name came to be in this trial. I did not bribe the accusedto kill the victim as claimed by the accused. I am a respectable academic instructor and this claim is unsupported unless its a conspiracy to discredit me. ‘
There was no murder weapon found at the scene or on the person. Other witnesses said they did see Mongol approached the victim, but they did not see him assaulting or killing the victim. In view of the lack of evidence and unsupported statements, we cannot find any real cause to judge the accused. The accused is released on probation for a satisfactoy period.
I cannot placed my finger on it, but I suspected that PP10207 was behind all this to create mayhem. If I had convicted Mongol, therre could be a penal riot. If I freed him, it goes to show he has control. I let the later be the statement for now.
‘Major Feeley, tell me more about Austin Moore.’ The Major was shocked at the trial and now with my request.
‘He is lousy lay if you want to know, but I will report all I know; intimate and otherwise.’
No comments:
Post a Comment