Paradise Blight

Chapter 2

The world changed, but still the Legion slept — such happenings not for their attention or concern. Only the proper signal would awaken them if their service was again required.

[Mora]

So beautiful, and I was its creator!

Well, one of many, actually. At the university, I took over the terraform ecological simulations and directed botanical selections. I jumped at the chance to come here to complete the terraforming, having arrived a year ago.

Tau Ceti Four? No, Paradise was a better name. I've always enjoyed gardening and now I had a planet-sized garden to play in!

A colleague, a molecular biologist originally from Dehli University, came to the window beside me. His bright smile contrasted with dark skin and short beard as he gestured with both arms to the outside panorama, a green forest in the lowlands on one side and a brushy grassland on the hills above to the other. "Not bad, is it?"

"Absolutely stunning, Samir. It still amazes me that the terraforming went so well and so quickly."

"No one guessed the initial conditions would be so ideal, but there is still so much work to do before the first ark arrives. Ready?"

Because this was such a pivotal meeting, I traded my typical gray work overalls for black leggings with a green tunic top — the dressiest outfit I owned. Paradise fashions were definitely casual. In the same spirit, Samir wore a buttoned-collar shirt instead of his usual t-shirt and white lab coat.

Yet, the ideal conditions bothered me, as if too good to be true, but enough of those thoughts for now. The hallway to the main conference room provided additional outside views through rows of rounded windows. The construction team really went over the top when they built the original habitat dome.

An older man with groomed white hair, intense blue eyes, and a big cheesy smile came over as I entered the conference room. He wore a dark suit jacket with matching trousers, the only one here even remotely formally dressed. Grasping my hand firmly within both of his, he said, "Mora Torr? Hi, I am Tom Sander."

This was the man in charge. Third generation, actually — his grandfather started it all. I had not expected him to come up to me.

"Pleased to meet you, Director."

"Please, call me Tom. I am looking forward to hearing your update."

Before I could say anything else, he turned away to greet someone else, giving me the feeling that his big smile was not so genuine, just part of the job. I supposed someone in his position had to worry about that kind of thing. Although, the way his eyes scanned my body gave me the creeps, but maybe I was too sensitive.

Murmurs of many conversations filled the crowded room like static as I took a seat in the back. Those seated at the front table under the windows were the who's-who of the Tau Ceti Four Settlement Project, at least in this part of the galaxy. Since I spent so much time working at the settlement sites, I had not yet met many of them.

The room quieted as the Director stood up tall beside the display screen and lifted a hand, that big smile still on his face."Welcome all," He said in with a projected voice. "The purpose of this meeting is to review preparations for the first group of settlers and allocate resources as needed. As you know, the Ark Hope will arrive in two-hundred days, and everything must be ready.

"First off, congratulations to us, and also those who came before us. This planet was ready in record time. The terraforming project only took ninety-five years from first microbial seeding. Ours was to be the third planet settled, but it was moved up to the first. Truly remarkable! Let's build off that success."