The Journey of Atlantis- The Children of Earth

Best Laid Plans

Captain Metcalfe thought about last night with Alex as he walked to the department meeting. Not long after leaving Earth for the last time, they had decided to cohabitate. She moved in with him since his apartment had been bigger and it had interfaces hers did not. A couple of years had passed since that ambitious step. Levi was pleased the relationship had endured the moving in stage with very little conflict. If he were not the captain, they would have moved in long ago. He held out a long time because he was the captain and did not want to make things more difficult for Alex and her relationships with her superiors and coworkers.

As he became closer to the conference room, his thoughts turned to the meeting. Usually, these meetings had reduced to housekeeping topics since leaving Earth. However, the topics today had a more serious flavor. The passengers were getting more restless knowing the sleepers were nearly completed. They were at a point, Levi knew, where things could get a little puckery.

Captain Metcalfe entered the conference room, and everyone stood at attention. "Please, be seated," he instructed. The department heads and a few upper-tier officers took their seats around the large, beautiful oblong table which had been made of real wood. He could have done this as a holo-conference on a secure channel, but it is always better in the flesh. "As you all know, the sleepers are almost finished, and we must start putting people to bed. A discussion at the start of our journey back proposed we could put people into the sleepers as we made them. However, it had been decided we could afford the resources for the new passengers to travel with us while the sleepers were being made. It also took a while to find the space to put half a million sleepers in and get them ready. It was hoped this decision would not come back to bite us."

"After discussing with Sonny off and on over the last couple of years, a phased plan has taken shape. We will start by taking volunteers to go first. This will get us part way. Sonny estimates a quarter to a third will go voluntarily. We will then start a conscription campaign which will progressively turn up the heat to comply with requests for sleepers. Sonny estimates another quarter to a third of their original numbers will go with some hesitation. This leaves a third to half of their numbers electing not to go to the sleepers. Which leaves anywhere from about two to three hundred thousand potential fighters. Sonny has had plenty of time to study every one of the recent members of our little colony and has identified people which could start trouble if there were trouble to start."

"Sonny and I have worked out various contingency plans which can be put into effect as needed. Therefore, I have called the meeting today so we can go over the plans and get everyone on the same page. When the shit hits the fan, I want my crew ready to respond quickly and precisely. The more we bungle this operation, the more lives will be at stake, even the ship itself. Three hundred thousand men can be a real army. In a ship with just a couple of million people in it, it's a huge army. We need to keep perspective when we execute our plans."

"The biggest advantage we will have is Sonny and Alice. They are our eyes and ears of the whole ship. They may not understand just how integrated they are and underestimate what they can do. By themselves, they could put down most of the rebellion. A smart person will see them as a first strike target, and we need to prepare for this. As of this moment, only low-level operations can be made from the newcomers. Sonny."

"Yes, Captain Metcalfe."

"I also want you to run a full diagnostic scan and compare it to a scan before the Earth visit. I want to know of any anomalies."

Sonny responded, "I anticipated your request, and a full scan has been in progress for two days now with no anomalies to report so far Captain."

"Thank you. How long before the diagnostic is complete?"