“Guten tag,” Georges replied, “Und danke.”
“I apologize,” Aziz said, “I don’t speak any German.”
“That is no problem, I will speak only in French,” he said, “Which one of you is the engineer?”
Danielle said, “Ich bin der Ingenieur.”
“Wunderbar,” he exclaimed. “Our engineer speaks no French. Translators always get in the way.”
“So I’m Franz Klein, president of our council. Did all of you hear my talk at the plateau?”
Marianne shook her head no and said, “The farm needed me that day. Aziz was helping me.”
“So you’re Marianne, I assume,” Franz said. “We read your letter. That was very brave of you to publish given the tensions of the time. I thank you. We thank you.”
“People were worried about fighting the wrong enemy,” she said. “El and I lived through one war. Neither of us want to see another one.”
“So true. You must be Aziz. I hadn’t realized you two were working together. And therefore, you’re Albert. I met you Georges when I was at the plateau. And Danielle, you’ve identified yourself as the engineer.”
Each committee member shook Franz’s hand as he went around the group.
He turned back to Albert, saying, “You don’t by chance speak German, do you? Our construction manager does not speak French.”
Albert shook his head, “Nein is the extent of my German. Does he possibly speak English?”
“I think he might, but I’ll have a translator available if he doesn’t speak it well enough for your discussion.”
Franz led the five of them on a tour of the center of the town at the top of the valley. “We want to understand if there’ll be seasonal floods at the bottom before building down there. We expect that to be the most arable land.”
Most of the settlers lived in tents. Aziz knew that had been the case for the first round of settlers on the plateau, but it still felt shockingly primitive to him. One of the few permanent structures is the engineering hall, where Franz showed them the machinery they have working to build new machines for themselves. Danielle appeared very excited by what they were doing.
A man comes up and joins the group. Franz introduced him to Danielle in German. The two engineers began chatting with each other in German. They remain in the building as the rest of the party moves on. Aziz cannot understand any of the conversation, but they’ve become very excited, still maintaining an obviously friendly tone by the time he can no longer hear them.
He’d noticed Marianne taking careful note of several things in the engineering building. As they left the building, he looked at her quizzically. She looked back and mouthed “Later” to him.
Franz quickly led them into the other sizable building in town. “This is our municipal offices. I think all the others will meet us here. And yes, they’re all here waiting for you.”
Franz turned to one man sitting in a chair, “Hans, sprechen sie Englisch?”
The man nodded his head. Franz turned to Alberto and said, in English, “Albert, this is Hans, who is trying to organize our burgeoning construction group. Albert, has overseen the construction of how many buildings on the plateau?”
Albert answered, in English, “Personally, 632. But we’ve built almost fifteen hundred buildings total on the plateau. And having to rebuild several after those damned creatures attacked.”
Hans looked surprised. Franz said to him, “Offenbar kommen Monster aus dem Dschungel und greifen ihre Siedlung an.”
Georges nodded at the explanation.
Franz shifted to English once more, to say to Hans, “Why don’t you show Albert some of our construction and you two can talk about sharing.”
Back in French again, Hans said, “Marianne, this is Lina. She is trying to establish our agricultural program. I was hoping you’d give her what tips you've discovered for farming on Dorado.”
Marianne shook hands with Lina. Lina said, “Are you up for a walk? It’s the better part of a kilometer out to the closest farming area. And we don’t have any horses available for riding yet.”
“I think it was year three before we could ride Pascal, my horse. I walk farther than that on my farm every day. Let’s go.”
“And Georges,” Franz said, dropping back to German, “I thought you might be willing to talk with Mathilda about your inventory management system. Something we’re still trying to get a handle on.”
Georges wandered off to an office with Mathilda.
Aziz turned to his host, “And what did you plan on us talking about Herr Klein.”
“Please, call me Franz. I was hoping you and I could talk about a vision for what our colonies cooperating would look like. Georges assured me you’d be a good candidate to have this discussion with.”
Aziz was surprised by that. “Well, I’ve only been on the council for a week, so I’m not sure how well I understand all the politics. And I’ve only been on the planet for a little longer than you’ve been.”
Franz replied, “We shall see, but I find no reason not to trust Georges’ assessment. Before we talk about that vision, though, I have a question about the plateau, if you’re willing to answer it.”
“Ask me and I’ll see what I feel comfortable saying.”
“I don’t completely understand what happened with Renee, your recent leader who I met earlier. I have to say, from the outside, it felt like a coup, with Georges usurping power. Is he really in charge now?”
“We really are at war with the creatures that have been attacking us. In the middle of the last major attack, Renee admitted to working with them. She seemed, I don’t know, a bit broken at that meeting. She said they’d promised they would only kill Marianne and me, leaving the rest of the colony alone.”
Franz’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “They were supposed to target the two of you? I guess you and Marianne are not big fans of her, so I have to weigh what I hear about her from you.”
“I’ll tell you what I know as honestly as I can, but yes, I’m certainly not unbiased in this matter. The first encounter with the creatures was when Marianne’s husband was killed, more than a Terran year and a half ago, I guess. It was well before I got here. The second one was when it tried to take me, but Marianne managed to surprise it and presumably kill it. Renee hated me after that. Maybe before, but that was my first interaction with her. I’d barely been on the planet at that point.”
Franz nodded and Aziz took a deep breath before continuing.
“Back to Georges, he'd been keeping some of Renee’s actions constrained and, from what I’d seen, he’d won over a majority of the council before that major attack, when four of them came. She was somewhat in shock and he kind of took over the council unofficially. When she said that she’d been working with the creatures, he ordered her arrested. We just convicted her of treason a few days ago, although to be honest, we really have no idea what to do with her. Right now, the citizens of the plateau are outraged at her and he’s stepped up and been welcomed. We have an election in a few weeks, and that will show whether he really has support or not. It will be interesting to me to see if there’s a backlash against me, personally, given the level of bias against my kind. Do you have any brown people in your colony, Franz?”
He looked at the floor uncomfortably, then looked up to say, “A few. And I know they feel some bias against them. I have to admit, I was surprised to see a North African name on the committee. You must be doing something right, Aziz.”
“I’m surprised to be here, or on the council. I really just wanted to have a farm with Rania, but she died from the sleeping sickness shortly after we got here. Marianne was assigned to host us; I think Renee arranged that because she knew Marianne hated our kind. I think Renee does too.”
“You and Marianne seem to get along well now.”
“Very much so. We’re about to get married, but I don’t think Georges knows that yet.”
“Well, congratulations. Something else you seem to be doing very well at.”
“Thank you, but back to what we’re supposed to be talking about, I have a question for you. Were you given any guidance by Heinrich Schmidt before you left about how to interact with us? Do you intend to follow that or do what’s best for your colony?”
Franz laughed and said, “Well, you are direct, Aziz. I suspect that is why Georges wanted you here. I hope you understand that I have some need for confidentiality, but I can say the subject was broached.”
“I hope you understand how devastating it would be for both colonies if we were to become enemies. I’ve not been through the horrors of war that Marianne has, but I can still understand the downside. Can you? How old were you when your city was pacified?”
“I grew up in Bonn, which never saw much violence. As did Heinrich. I think it’s part of why he chose me for this job.”
“I suspect war would drop both colonies to below the sustainable level. I think we would all die, some in the war, some in the ashes. And before you think war is winnable, I have listened to Marianne and Eleanor talk about war too much to believe that. No matter what secret weapons Heinrich sent with you.”
Franz looked at Aziz with a bit of frustration in his eyes. “I definitely understand why Georges wanted you here. You’ve left me in a very uncomfortable position. You’re too blunt for me to dance around, which I expect is what I would be doing if I was having this conversation with Georges. I think you know where I’m at. And I want to do the right thing.”
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“You need to decide whether your loyalty is to Neu Ruhr or Bonn.”
Franz nodded his head. “Let’s assume there is no war. What would that look like to you?”
++++++
As soon as the committee members were all on the shuttle and the shuttle was in the air, Georges asked everyone to summarize what they’d learned in their individual sessions. “Let’s start with you Aziz, since yours was perhaps the most important discussion.”
Aziz nodded, but said, “Before I start, I’d really like to know what Marianne saw in the engineering building. I’m guessing that was important.”
Everyone looked at Marianne. “Did no one else notice? There were tools and parts for a Spectre in the corner.”
“Spectre?” Georges asked.
“One of the standard fighter jets at the start of the war. They were still in limited use when I was in the peace brigade. The tire tracks on the floor matched one too. They have at least one fighter jet. I’d guess two.”
“Are we in trouble if it comes to war?” Albert asked.
“Everyone is in trouble in a war. But not especially from the Spectres. There is a reason they were in limited use. In usage for or against us, they would need to fly low as a ground attack platform. But as it turns out, one well aimed shot from a plasma rifle brings them down. Neither of the ones that tried support for us made it more than an hour. Give Eleanor and me plasma rifles and let us dig in a bit, and we’ll take them both down within fifteen minutes. Of course, they’d destroy the entire village in those fifteen minutes. Any war is going to hurt both sides more than anyone understands.”
Aziz said, “I don’t think Franz really understands what you just said. I wish he could have heard that. He understands that the war would be wrong, but he thinks he can win it. I think if we can get your message to him, he’ll be convinced to pursue peace not war. He effectively told me that Heinrich Schmidt wants him to conquer the plateau.”
“What did you say to him?” Georges asked.
“I told him he needed to decide if his loyalty was to Bonn or to Neu Ruhr. He understood that distinction. I think he’ll probably do the right thing, even without knowing about the weakness of his fighters. Take his delusions of an easy victory away and it becomes a no-brainer for him. My guess is he has a dream of flying the fighters over us and asking us to surrender to his control.”
Georges frowned.
“Oh,” Aziz continued, talking directly to Georges. “You should know he also wanted to understand whether you really have control of the colony. He saw the treatment of Renee as essentially a coup. One she could still return from. I tried to stress how I saw it. I think the results of your election are VERY important to your relationship with him. If you win resoundingly, he’s much more likely to deal with you in good faith. If it’s close, he may hold back to see if Renee is coming back to take power. And bring vengeance on anyone who openly opposed her.”
“I hadn’t really thought of intercolonial repercussions of our politics, but it makes sense. Anything else?”
“I think his non-war vision is very close to ours. If we can push him away from considering a war, I think we’ll find a very willing partner.”
“Thank you, Aziz. You accomplished exactly what I was hoping you would. Danielle, how did your meeting go?”
“They have machines I would die for. Some of them have new innovations that were created in the five years after we left originally. But they’re also more focused on mining than farming. To be honest, it does not seem like they’re actually prepared to ever be self-sufficient. Which means there’s ample incentive to trade.”
“Or try to conquer,” Georges said.
“I will second Danielle’s observation about farming,” Marianne added. “I think they can only grow about two thirds of the food they need long term as they are set up. And I think we have much more fertile soil, unless they can farm the valley floor, which they aren’t willing to do yet.”
“And they need our lumber, too,” Albert said.
“We’re also better set up to make plastic from the leaves here,” Danielle said. “It really would work well as a symbiotic pair. But I think we need to get both colonies thinking of themselves as Doradan, not French and German. Just like Aziz asked Franz, are our loyalties to Paris or to the plateau? To Terran tribes or to Dorado?”
For the rest of the short flight, they discussed details of what they discovered. Shortly before their flight ended, Georges said, “I want to send out a summary of this trip to the entire community tonight. I would like everyone to read it and sign off on it this evening, or suggest changes. I’m not going to mention the fighters; I would like to consider that classified information for the moment and none of you should speak of it, even to the council. Marianne, you should raise it with the defense committee. I may call for another meeting of that committee in the next few days. Oh that reminds me, I need to replace Jacques as the council member on the committee. I guess I'll appoint Jean. So he'll know as well.”
As they left the shuttle, Marianne asked Georges if they could have a minute of his time. “Aziz and I have a favor to ask of you. I don’t know what the process is here, but would you marry us? Just a little ceremony with Eleanor as the witness and my two children there.”
Georges broke into a huge grin. “I knew you two had become close. I guess I didn’t realize how close. I’d be honored to. As far as I know, this will be the first wedding on the planet. Only fitting that it is between the biggest hero on the planet and the hero of the day. How soon?”
“We were thinking in about three or four weeks,” Marianne said. “I’m going to ask them to make me a special dress at least. Something to do with some of that award you got the council to give me.”
“I assume this isn’t public knowledge yet?”
Marianne shook her head. “I’m about to tell Eleanor when I pick up Pierre and Genevieve — they stayed with her all day.”
“If they tell you the dress is too low priority, let me know.”
“But don’t bump it above clothes that were lost in the attack.”
“I think all of them have at least a few pairs of clothes now, so that’s no longer as essential. Once the event has happened, may I announce it to the colony? Both because it involves you and because it is the first wedding.”
Marianne looked at Aziz and he nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Focus on the first wedding if you would. Play down me as a hero. I just want to be a farmer and raise my family and enjoy my time with Aziz. I’ll be happy when I can walk away from public life altogether.”
++++++
Eleanor was having fun, trying to help Mar order a dress. Not a traditional wedding gown, but still something special, something pretty. Neither of them were particularly girly girls, but this was a fun change. Marianne seemed almost giddy thinking about it. Eleanor could not believe how much she’d missed this. She’d not known Rania very well, but Rania must have been very perceptive. She saw this coming before anyone else did, even Marianne or Aziz. And nudged it forward a bit.
Every once in a while, Eleanor could hear Aziz or Pierre outside, running around playing. Genevieve was taking her nap. She was happy the two of them were going to have a father again. Something Genevieve had never known. But she was especially happy for Marianne. She had filled her life with so much bitterness after Andre died. Was killed, Eleanor corrected her own thoughts.
Marianne and Andre had hardly been a storybook marriage. They’d argued a lot. They’d had a fiery relationship back on Earth before they left. Always been like that since children, from what Mar had said those long nights while they waited for an attack. The pressure of the unknown, the tenuous nature of your own existence made you want to open up to whoever you were with. Say what was in your heart. There was love between Mar and Andre, but also lots of built up expectations, assumptions. The assumptions don’t carry much weight when you're pregnant, doing too much work, and trying to manage a two year old.
As far as she could tell, the sex stayed good until the end. And the love was still there, just stressed by everything else.
Eleanor looked at her friend’s giddy expression. Mar had never looked this happy before her wedding to Andre. Maybe things were finally going to be easy for her. Life was going to return to normal.
++++++
Georges sat at his desk, pondering what else could be done immediately. In the week since his trip to Neu Ruhr, the colonists’ tensions about the Germans seemed to have cooled. But Georges still worried. He did not trust Franz not to start something. The two had exchanged a few messages, but it all felt like both were holding their cards in reserve. Georges believed that he had one advantage; he knew about Franz’s card up his sleeve, but he knew he could beat it, if at a severe cost.
Before he could think any farther, the emergency alarm sounded on his device. Something had scaled the cliff. Not at the eastern prominence near Marianne’s farm, where they had come before, but on the north side, some three kilometers west of her place. He immediately messaged the guards to take the cannon to the spot and fire at the first available moment. He then sent out a message to all the citizens within a kilometer of the attack to evacuate into town, avoiding the northern cliff.
His finger had just hit send when he got another alert. Additional creatures had scaled the southern cliff. He sent a follow on message to evacuate a wider band.
A moment later he got his first update from Patrice.
Georges replied,
Georges sent the recommended orders. He wasn’t going to let the colony fall this easily. He sent one more message.
Franz
We know about the Spectres. Do you realize they’re vulnerable to plasma rifles? Marianne assures us that she could take them out if need be. But we need your help right now. The creatures have brought a multi-pronged attack on us. I think our only hope may be your Spectres. Let us work together for Dorado. This is my plea for help. And we need it urgently.
Your friend and fellow Doradan, Georges Clements
He took a deep breath and hit send. Then, for the first time in his life, he closed his eyes and prayed.
Every five minutes or so, he received an update from Patrice.
++++++
++++++
++++++
Georges anxiously awaits the next update. Before one comes, he hears an enormous roar outside. And then another. And then explosions to the east. More explosions.
Georges sent another message.
Franz
You saved the day. I cannot even imagine how many lives you saved. Maybe all of us. We’re forever in your debt. Long live all of Dorado!
Georges
Georges was still sitting in disbelief when a response came,
We’re all in this together. And thank Aziz. I honestly don’t think I would have done this without his counsel. I think there are many more frank discussions we need to have.
Your fellow Doradan, Franz Klein
Georges sent out one last message.
To all the citizens of Nouveau Gaul Plateau
As I expect many of you witnessed, we were assisted in the battle against the creatures by fighter jets sent by the Neu Ruhr Valley colony. Without their help, our survival was in grave doubt. They have our eternal gratitude for the support.
I personally apologize to the citizens for not being completely forthcoming about the armaments possessed by the valley colony. We learned of the jets during our visit a week ago, but I believed the information was better controlled for the time being. Franz Klein, the president of the Neu Ruhr Valley council, did not realize we were aware of the weaponry and I believed it was to our advantage to maintain that edge. Today, I revealed to him our information, as well as other information that needs to remain secret for the time being. I asked him for his help and he graciously provided it.
Right now is a time for grieving and then rebuilding. I do not yet know the extent of the losses, but I know there are fatalities and significant damages to houses. As we’ve done in the past, we must come together and help each other through these times.
This incident has further emphasized the co-dependence of the two colonies on each other and our need to think of ourselves as Doradan, rather than French or German. Our committee last week discovered many opportunities where cooperation between the communities will be highly beneficial to both sides. My hope, and I believe this is shared by my counterpart Franz, is that we can learn to work together. There will always be community pride. I will always be a member of the plateau first, as will my children. But I hope all of us can learn to think of each other as brethren, who may speak a different language, but are part of the same new world.
Your servant, George Clements