Hills Outside the Town of Tanque Verde
Apache Junction, Ak-Chin, Republic Territory
0910 Local, February 10, 2481
Douglas Pierce shifted his weight atop his horse, relaying to the animal he wanted it to stop. It had taken Douglas and his three horses almost an hour to travel from Tanque Verde to a site in the foothills just outside the town, where he was looking to stake a claim. His cabin was about a mile from town, surrounded by nothing but sage-like brush and cacti. Here in the foothills the climate allowed thick stands of pine trees to grow. The heat of the Sonoran-like desert below gave way to the cooler temperatures of the hills, and even snow during the winter months. Few plants grew in the forest’s understory, which consisted primarily of rust colored dirt and pebbles. Most of the pine trees naturally shed their lower branches as they grew, allowing a view relatively unobstructed by brush.
Douglas’ horse stopped not far from the stream running through his possible claim. The stream was cold and the water was clear, clean. Douglas dismounted his horse, letting it walk over to the stream for a refreshing drink. He untied several packs from the backs of the other two horses and sat them on the ground. His first task was to gather some wood for a fire then set up his tent for later that evening. Even though it didn’t get cold enough on a summer’s night here in the foothills to do a person harm, it was cool enough to make one’s feet cold.
Although the planet of Ak-Chin was one with no 25th Century technology, it was much better off than worlds such as Keswick, where technology had only advanced to that of the 15th Century. Ak-Chin’s technological advancement was about equal to that of 19th Century Europe or the United States, with a very few exceptions. According to historical records found by the Republic Exploration and Science Outfit, in 2331 several large dropcraft made emergency landings on the planet after their jumpcraft was attacked and all but destroyed. Most of the people aboard the dropcraft were killed, but approximately 200 survived and were forced to start new settlements from nothing. Ak-Chin had no electronics, motor vehicles, or aircraft; even electricity was in its early infancy on the planet.
Planets usually only came to this point one of three ways: a global war was fought and destroyed a majority of the population and almost all technology; large groups of people were stranded when their dropcraft crashed on a planet or couldn’t make it off, or a major disease outbreak decimated the planet’s population. There were other circumstances under which civilizations on planets had technological regression rather than progression, but these were rare. The most common two were so-called Purists who for one reason or another believed modern technology and society were evil and left to settle unclaimed planets on the outer fringes of known space; and dictators who effectively removed technology from society to make it easier for them to enforce their will upon the population. Regardless of how a civilization became this way, the end result was one where certain technological knowledge was lost over generations.
Republic law, along with various treaties, prohibited the advanced civilizations of the 25th Century from interacting with civilizations who may not comprehend modern technology such as aircraft and dropcraft. Within Republic space, planets with these civilizations were claimed by the Republic and quarantine zones set up around them. Aerospace craft were not permitted into the quarantine zones, preventing the transfer of people and equipment onto such planets.
Douglas’ normal job was as a blacksmith serving Tanque Verde and the surrounding area. Yesterday he finished what work he had and closed shop for two days so he could continue prospecting the site in the foothills. During a previous trip to the area to try his hand at panning for gold, he found almost an ounce of the shiny stuff and decided to return later. This was his third venture into the foothills in as many months and he was now almost certain there was a gold deposit nearby. Taking his pick-axe, small shovel, canteen, and a small sack he set out to survey the surrounding hills.
As Douglas walked he could smell the fresh scent of pine trees filling the air of the undercover. The gentle crunch of dead pine needles underfoot didn’t stop a bird in the forest canopy from whistling its tune. The eerie sound of silence in a mountain forest, almost like wind blowing through distant trees, filled his ears between each footstep and the bird’s occasional chatter. Douglas scanned the ground for signs of precious metal deposits, most notably the dark black sand that was indicative of gold. He walked past several long dark streaks as he made his way towards the hill to the north of the small dale he set up camp in. None of the streaks gained his interest until almost ten minutes later. An almost black streak measuring about two feet wide ran towards the stream from the direction of the closest hill. This was exactly what Douglas was searching for, and he followed it to the bottom of the hill.
The hill’s boundary was marked by a sudden incline in the steepness of the ground and small rock outcroppings sporadically located in the area. The streak Douglas followed led him straight to one of these outcrops, one worn by the flow of water from above. Rather than start the tiring work of picking at the rocky outcrop, he decided to shovel a sample of the sand below it into his sack and head back to camp. He would put tonight’s dinner over the fire and pan the dirt while it cooked.
Douglas took to the task of setting up the fire and starting it quickly as he wanted to find out how much gold, if any, was in the sample he brought back. He lit a handful of dry pine needles and set small sticks in a pyramid fashion on top of them. He wanted to keep the smoke to a minimum so he didn’t give away the fact that anyone was here. Once he had the fire going well, he prepared the food he brought along with him and hung it in a pot over the fire.
With dinner cooking he now turned to the dirt sample, taking it down to the stream with his gold pan. He squatted down by the edge of the stream, dipped the pan into the water, and sloshed it around in a circular motion. A golden nugget, which looked to be several ounces in weight, clunked around in the bottom of the pan seconds after he began. Douglas smiled when he heard it in the pan, then something vibrated in his left pants pocket.
“Oh not now,” he said to himself as he set the pan on the ground.
He stood up and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small plastic device resembling a box of chewing tobacco. He flipped the box’s lid open and looked up at the tiny screen concealed within it. Scrolling across the screen was “Priority 5 Contact AKN CTL 15.5MHz”. He sighed angrily, closed the box, and slid it back into his left pocket. Barely three hours into his current quest for gold and he was interrupted just as he came across a good sample.
Douglas quickly kicked sand onto the fire to extinguish it. While the embers were cooling, he gathered up his camp and began to put the packs onto the backs of his horses. By the time the fire’s embers were cool enough so they didn’t set anything else alight, Douglas had all his equipment packed, on the horses, and ready to go. The only task remaining was to get rid of any evidence someone had set up camp here as well as he could. After that was finished, he mounted his horse and began the ride down the hills, back to his cabin.
As he descended towards the El Tablazon plain, he could catch glimpses of its rust colored expanse through breaks in the forest canopy. The area he was surveying to make a possible claim only lay around 5,000 feet above the plain, but that was high enough to see the snow covered top of Mount Taylor poking above the distant horizon.
Almost five years ago Douglas constructed a hidden room on the side of his cabin in which he set up a low power radio system he could use to covertly communicate off-planet. He didn’t use the system often, perhaps only once every two months, but even so he'd grown to dislike it. Another 45 minutes would pass before Douglas got back to his cabin, and he wondered what was in store for him once he got settled in to his secret room.
- - -
Douglas closed the gate of the small corral in which he kept his 10 horses and walked towards his cabin. The temperature was already into the low 100’s on the El Tablazon plain, where Douglas’ cabin and workshop were located. A warm breeze, just barely noticeable, blew in from the west but didn’t do much to ease the oven-like temperatures. The horses thought better of standing in the blistering sun and had moved into the shade provided by a small pole-barn at the far end of the corral.
The cabin was far from luxurious but it was large for only a single person. Douglas built it when he first came to Tanque Verde, and added onto it three times since then.
Douglas grabbed the door handle of the cabin's back door and pushed it open as he walked into the kitchen. Latching the door shut, he continued on making sure the other doors and windows were also latched. He didn't want anyone walking in on him while he checked in with his superiors.
Electricity was very new on Ak-Chin, and Douglas' cabin was too far from town for the local power company to run power lines to it. By day, the interior of his home was lit primarily by sunlight coming in through the windows. By night, candles and oil lamps illuminated the cabin's cozy rooms.
Entering the larder, Douglas pulled on the hidden release mechanism that allowed the false wall to swing open. His secret radio room was as dark as night, the small oil lamp he held providing little illumination. He checked the fuel and oil levels in the tiny generator then started it. Once it spooled up to speed he flicked the light switch in the wall to his right.
The room was miniscule, just wide enough to fit a small table at the far end, and long enough for the generator and table, along with some space to move the chair a bit. A radio set that looked like something from hundreds of years ago sat atop the table flanked by a small printer, scanner, and palmtop computer. Several pencils and a tablet of paper, which he used to take important notes, lay on the table in front of the radio.
Douglas flipped the radio's power switch then sat down and powered on the computer. He tore the used top page from the pad of paper and discarded it as the equipment started and became ready for use. Tapping the on-screen email icon, Douglas hoped whatever instructions awaited him would be something quick so he could return to his claim.
A single new message sat in his inbox waiting to be read. As he reviewed it he wrote a few short notes and ideas on how to implement the instructions on the pad. Two of the things he would need to do were moving his horses to another corral and planting some TNT near town. He sent an autoresponse then powered down the equipment.
"I've a busy couple days," he thought to himself, "Better get to work."
Douglas exited the radio room and ensured the false wall was shut and looked like a normal wall. He extinguished all the lamps then set off for the corral to get a horse for the ride into town.