It took the Elpis close to two weeks to unload all its passengers safely into the new complexes that were located in the central done. While many people were impressed with the size and scope of the new town/colony, which alleviated many fears of living within small spaces for the rest of their lives, it was still a restrictive zone, no bigger than a small town. With close to thirty thousand people residing there, it would become cozy when new babies were born as live moved on without Earth. People were assimilating into their new lives a lot better than Eric had hoped they would. While being on a new planet should have freaked many of them out, the fact that they made the colony look as much like home as possible made it easier for the new citizens of Mars to adapt to their new surroundings.
The food supply was maintained and the scientists who left on Stargazer one to get crops started before everyone arrived were far ahead of schedule and looked forward to using parts from Elpis when they started to hollow it out to build more greenhouses, which would in turn allow them to create more crops and try to diversify their food supply. What the agriculture boys didn't tell the government was that they used the emergency stash from a bunker in Denmark, and brought it to Mars with them. When asking for the seed supply, they told Denmark that the seeds were going to be stashed in a bunker in the US. The only way they'd get caught is if the asteroid is stopped and the Danes ask for their seeds back. It was a risk they were willing to take; doing whatever was in their power to preserve live on Mars. They had no idea which seeds would grow and which crops would fail on the red planet, so taking as many varieties with you as possible was the smart bet. It was no surprise that potatoes were again the champion of all veggies, proving to them all that spuds could literally grow anywhere. But this wasn't what was keeping Drummond up at night. What was worrying him was the lack of communication with Earth.
At first, he was sure the government refused to speak with them for launching the stargazers without consent. Then he started to dread what everyone else in command was thinking but was afraid to admit. The asteroid had hit the planet and everyone on Earth was dead from the extinction level event. Despite the overwhelming feeling he got every time he thought about it, Drummond refused to believe it. He was sure that one of the other projects was successful; he badly wanted it to be true. Yet the alternative was just as scary as well. If Earth survived the asteroid, it was only a matter of time before the United State government came to mars to claim the Stargazer Colony for themselves and assume command. That was something he was sure that Eric or the people living in the colony wouldn't be very fond of. All of these possible scenarios were what kept Drummond up every night. His son could tell the old man wasn't getting any sleep but he didn't talk about it. He refused to burden his son with things that might never come to pass and were completely out of their control. But the more time passed on, the more concerned Drummond became.
Almost six months after arriving, Eric called on Drummond to meet him at the Elpis, which was in the process of being stripped down and remodeled. Drummond hadn't been out to the Eplis in months, and was surprised to see how far they had gotten gutting the ship. The plan was to turn the Elpis into a massive research center, giving the scientists and engineers more room to do work at a safe distance from civilians. That way if something went terribly wrong, the main dome and the people in it were separated and not affected by anything. Drummond approached the closest worker and asked where Saunders could be found.
"He's in the hanger, inspecting the Squadron." The young man answered.
"The Squadron?" Drummond repeated.
The young man smiled. "You're in for a treat, Sir."
Drummond walked in the direction the young man told him to go and finally came across what he was talking about. The aft side of the Elpis has been constructed into a hanger, filled with what look like fighter planes. Each one of them had two seats and were no larger than the F-16 and as he walked closer to one of them, he was spotted by Eric who called out to him.
"Over here," Eric yelled out, "We're almost ready to test out our newest additions to the fleet."
"What the hell is going on here?" Drummond roared, walking up to Eric. "Why wasn't I informed that you were constructing military air vessels?"
"We've been designing them for quite a while," Eric replied, "And construction on the first few started after Stargazer three arrived, because that was the ship that carried these fine aerospace engineers. With my help, we've invented some pretty bad ass fighter planes that whose sole responsibility is to protect the colony and the station in orbit."
"Wait," Drummond said, interrupting Eric. "These ships can leave orbit?"
"Yes," Eric confirmed, "With my engines attached to them, they're capable of flight in and out of the atmosphere."
"Amazing," Drummond said, looking over the blueprints there were on the table before them. "So they can fly up to the station?"
"Yes," one of the other men standing around the table replied, "We already have four fighters stationed at the Stargazer Orbiter."
"How do the ships fight?" Drummond inquired.
"We don't have the metal to make munitions." Eric replied, "So we used the engines to generate enough power to fuel cells that would fire..."
"Lasers," Drummond finished as he realized what it was, "You've invented laser guns for these aircrafts?"
"Not me personally," Eric modestly denied, "Someone else figured that one out."
"So are you ready Sergeant?" the other man asked.
"For what?" Drummond asked.
"We're going for a ride," Eric replied, "Don't worry, we'll be back in time to pick up the kids from school."
"A ride," Drummond repeated, "In one of those?"
"Yes," Eric said, laughing, "We're going to visit the station."
Drummond could hardly believe it, but less than an hour later he was in a full space suit complete with its own oxygen and in the back seat of one of the fighter jets, ready for takeoff. The small jet didn't need a runway to take off as it had engines that lifted it off the ground, and once it was elevated fifteen feet, the engines that Eric designed kicked in and the Jet screamed out of the hangar and was moving amazingly fast. Drummond was impressed with how fast the thing was movie, but was also surprise how little the cockpit was shaking.
"This is a comfy ride," he noted to the pilot in front of him.
"The hull is made of metal from one of the deconstructed Stargazers, number five if I'm not mistaken." The pilot replied, "this outer hull it pretty much bullet proof, that's how strong the metal from the hull of the big ships were."
"Wow," Drummond said, "And where were you recruited from?"
"Air force, sir." The pilot said, "Sanders recruited the best the country had. When he detailed his plan for us, it was hard to say no."
"So I've heard," Drummond said, thinking about it. Saunders recruited much more people from the military than he had anticipated, but he chose wisely.
"Make sure your air lines are secure," the pilot informed him, "We're about to leave the red atmosphere."
To Drummond's surprise, the jet had no issues breaking atmosphere and didn't even lose speed as it zipped into space. The pilot was clearly showing off as he did a rip around the red planet before making approach to Stargazer Station. Drummond actually appreciated the ride as it was amazing to see the whole planet from above. The small fighter used thrusters to slow down and eventually float into the hanger and dock with the station, which the pilot did with no problems.
"Welcome to Stargazer Station," the pilot said as he popped the cockpit open once the hanger was secure.
"Amazing," Drummond said as he stepped out. He had another surprise waiting for him when he looked around the Station hanger, as there were at least twenty-five more fighter jets docked into the station. This station had more than enough jets to fend off any attack. Those fears he had were slowly starting to melt away as he learned more he realized what defenses were being made. Once inside the station and out of hanger, Drummond was able to remove his helmet and space suit. Eric and the other pilot were already in there, waiting for them.
"You enjoy surprising me, don't you?" Drummond asked.
"It keeps me motivated," Eric confessed, "Follow me to check out the view."
They went to the station's observation deck, which showed off an amazing view of Mars below. The red planted looked magnificent from their orbital view, but Drummond couldn't help but remain worried about the colony's future.
"I can tell you're worried," Eric informed him, "I remember seeing that face whenever you thought our project was behind schedule."
"It's just who I am," Drummond confessed, "I worry about a lot."
"One thing I need to tell you," Eric said, pacing around the deck, "Is that this station holds most of our best communications technology. If or when Earth chooses to contact us, this is where the signal will go. That will give us a chance to review and talk about it before revealing it to the colony."
"Have you heard anything?" Drummond asked.
"We have," Eric answered, "We received our first communication from Earth about two weeks ago."
"How are they?" Drummond asked, as he was eager to know.
"Damaged, but alive." Eric answered, "The asteroid was blown up by the military who did some insane things I don't have the details to. But what happened was the big rock was shattered into about a few thousand smaller asteroids. While the rock was no longer a planet killer, there were still impacts; many of them. Whole cities were wiped out from unlucky hits. All over the world, there was catastrophic damage, along with an enormous loss of life. But no extinction; the human race survived. Because the debris took out almost every satellite in space, it took this long to get a new one into orbit to establish communications with us."
"What did you tell them?" Drummond asked.
"Only what they needed to know," Eric replied, "That we're alive, have enough food to last a while and that everyone is doing well in their new home. They were surprised to hear about the Station, but they think it's like the size of one they used to have circling around the Earth."
"You lied to them," Drummond said, rather annoyed by the idea, "How do you think they're going to react when they come here to assume command of the colony?"
"They're free to visit, but no one is assuming anything." Eric retorted, "I pretty much made sure of that."
"Is that so?" Drummond replied, wondering what Eric was referring to. "What makes you think can't stroll up and seize this colony?"
"For the same reason you needed my help," Eric answered.
"The engines," Drummond said, looking back out at the red planet. "You falsified the patents, didn't you?"
"That I did," Eric said, smiling, "No one can make the engines unless I show them what's missing. That's why you couldn't build them without me. Originally, I did that to prevent countries like China or North Korea from stealing them from the patent offices, and also to prevent you guys from abusing it as well."
"Fair enough," Drummond said, thinking about it, "So you knew one day we would come for your help."
"I did," Eric replied, "Call me paranoid, but I didn't think the patent office was all that secure. The fact that you were working on the engines long before I got involved pretty much proved that."
"Touché," Drummond said, finally cracking a smile. "So, they can't come after us even if they wanted to."
"I'm sure NASA will eventually send someone over to visit," Eric surmised, "But it will take them quite a while to get here without my help."
"They're not going to like that," Drummond told Eric. "Not one bit."
"I don't care," Eric replied, "I also took the time to inform the Military of your kidnapping. You are not in trouble with them any longer, so no court martial."
"Thanks, I guess." Drummond said.
"They're going to contact us again in an hour," Eric told him, "I thought you'd like to take the call this time."
"Yes," Drummond told him, "I would like that very much."
"Good, let's stroll over to communications!"Eric said, giving his bud a friendly slap on the shoulder. The two of them leftthe deck to take a phone call.