The Supremum Factor: Book 1: Birth of the Empire

Chapter 8 Endless Recruitment

Having prepared for many long months, the first shipment drop-off to the lunar surface, came to a reality as large living module was dropped off filled with tools, supplies and a handful of people. As the transport left, a second transport arrived loaded with building materials, two more transports, on the way behind them, one with another living module the other with more building supplies. It would be two days later before the first transport would be back followed by more building materials and two more living modules. By the end of the first week, a large group of workers, donning pressure suits, worked tediously and long hours per day, assembling prefabricated structure parts for the construction of the first lunar base. Supplies were ferried on a daily basis. The transports, a totally new design, equipped the same turbine thrusters as the second generation transports Zee Corp had made, to ascend into the upper atmosphere at great velocity, but with solid fuel turbine thruster rockets to propel them in the vacuum of Space.
Nearly three weeks passed before Orion made his first visit. Outside the central building, in his spacesuit, Orion did his rounds, inspecting the completed work and watching as it progressed. A large power arm, operated by one man, helped put in place the large pre-manufactured energy absorption paneling on the ever growing central dome structure for added power generation, but also to filter the suns strong rays, each fitting together like a piece of a puzzle.
"Status report" asked Orion as he examined the work.
"Nothing much to report, except keeping on schedule sir" replied private Mason, a member of the engineering worker core.
"Good to hear. With all things on schedule, we should be fully up and running in no time," said Orion
"Yes sir. We are all hoping that. May I ask how the recruiting of researchers is coming along?" asked Mason.
"Very well," he began. "I have my top people meeting with potential candidates all over the globe. Some are already in training to prepare them to move up here. Others are still wrapping up their current employment and regular lives."
"When are they expected to arrive here?" asked Mason.
Orion looked up at the dome and replied, "Hopefully the dome will be finished in time for their arrival. Many will be required to begin wiring the complex while others to set up labs."
"Sir, I didn't realize that..." began Mason.
Orion interrupted and continued on, "Yes, we require them to finish the facility after the basic structures are complete."
Mason pondered a moment then said, "I have to wonder sometimes, the amount of thought you have put into things, sir."
Orion turned, looked at him, and smiled, "There is so much planning that sometimes it hurts to even think about it. But soon, we will reap the benefits of all this work." He looked away and towards the Earth, saying "even now, another new recruit is being approached by one of my most trusted."
Meanwhile back on earth in the city of Bristol, Lieutenant Brohan MacGyver entered into the shipping yard of Altran, searching for Mia Sanderson. He found her overseeing an important shipment, ensuring its safety.
Brohan approached asking, "Mia isn't it?"
"Yes," she replied, then asking, "and you are?"
"Ah yes. Brohan Macgyver is the name, but you can call me Bro."
She looked at him curiously asking, "haven't I heard of you somewhere?"
He looked at her and handed her a small envelope and said, "yes you likely have. This should explain what I am here for."
As Mia opened the envelope, she looked at the letter and her eyes opened wider. She looked up at Bro saying, "oh my god! Is this for real?" Looking at him she suddenly remembered how she knew him. "Lieutenant."
"Yes miss. I am here to personally give you your invitation, on behalf of my superiors. You are one of the brilliant chosen," explained Bro.
Mia looked at him some more, asking, "how is it that I have been chosen? I mean among everyone else, why me?"
Bro looked at her, then at his list, saying, "I have no idea what the choosing process is, but you were chosen by Mr. Zeenner himself. In fact everyone on my list was chosen personally by him."
Looking more at the document reading it, she said to him, "then it surely is an honor for me to join. But what of my current work here?"
"Mr. Zeenner has already made arrangements for you. All that is required now, is your acceptance. Notification to all those in need has been sent, with formal paperwork just needing signing by you, for all matters concerned in your leaving," said Bro.
"Oi. But what if I didn't accept?" she asked.
Bro turned looked up at the main office building and said, "I would have to go over there and thank them for their cooperation and time, then leave with all documents."
"Well indeed, I accept. But I am going to have to make a lot of arrangements before I can leave."
Bro pulled out another envelope and handed it to her saying, "this will explain the whole process required and how to further contact us. When you have all your affairs in order, we look forward to hearing from you."
She looked at him, shook his hand then said, "I look forward to being part of the group. Thank you for coming."
After shaking hands Bro said, "Welcome to the team. I'll see you soon." He turned walking away.
Two days later in the suburbs of Fairfield East, in New South Wales, Australia, Bro arrived at Allstates Machining Pty Ltd. looking for another recruit. This time a tooling expert with brilliant innovative ideas. As before he greeted Luke Toder, same as all others and again a new recruit joined the team. From there his next trip was to Boston University, in Massachusetts.
As he arrived, Jenny Polsom was just exiting her campus building, a box in her hands. She looked outward towards Bro and stopped in her tracks.
"Mr Macgyver," she started. "I was wondering if and when you would be arriving."
Bro looked stunned by her greeting. He looked at her saying, "you know why I am here?"
She smiled at him and said, "Of course I do. I have been waiting a while for you to show up."
Bro looked at her and gave her both envelopes, and said, "these are for you. I assume you have been ready to leave for a while?"
"Absolutely," she replied. "I just need to tie up a few loose ends, which will take a few days."
"Very well," he accepted proceeding to ask, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you know I would be coming?"
Jenny looked at him with a quirky look, explaining, "a brilliant mind like mine, I would expect it. As well, I keep very informed as to what goes on in science and technology, especially when I hear about others being recruited."
"I see," he said looking down at his list of names. Then he showed her the list, her name on it, and asked, "then, could you tell me what this means beside your name? I couldn't figure it out, and didn't get any explanation about it."
She looked down at the sheet, to the number her name was listed at, and the marking next to it. "Well, I'll be......." she began, and nodded her head a bit. "He knew I was waiting to hear from you. Better yet, he knew you would show me this as well. That there marking, was meant for me to see. He's saying welcome to the team."
Bro looked at her then said, "he did tell me to wait for you, before leaving here, to have you on the next supply flight, bypassing any training required, after you accept."
"Interesting how he knows me so well," she commented.
Confused, Bro said, "Sorry? What does that mean?"
"Just that, I have undergone training for this, as an exercise among my peers here at the University, for fun and the thrill of such things," she explained. "Training for me will not be required. And I can be ready to leave temporarily tomorrow for the month."
"Just for a month?" Bro asked confused. "You plan on returning after that?"
Jenny uttered a small laugh saying, "part of that marking says one month to start, then returning before going back long term."
Surprised by her answer, he said, " I didn't realize that. Very well then. I will be waiting for you on the tarmac at Hanscom Field at eighteen hundred hours."
"I look forward to being there, Lieutenant," she agreed.
Bro left, a bit disturbed by the events that just unfolded. Next day on the airfield, after all supplies were loaded onto the shuttle, he awaited for her arrival. At Seventeen hundred and forty seven hours, he caught a glimpse in the distance of an approaching shuttle truck. In it several structural engineer workers, along with Jenny.
As she stepped out she greeted Bro, all her travel bags loaded on with those of her other passengers. She climbed up the stair case into the transport. He pointed her to her seat.
"This is exciting, isn't it?" she stated.
"Perhaps to you, I've already done this trip many times," said Bro.
Jenny looked at him saying, "you're quite right, I forgot for a moment. But it is for me."
"Yes, I would imagine that. Everyone I have seen has been very excited," he said. "But, I have to warn you, the acceleration factor of the transport is nothing you have experienced before."
As the transport took off, Jenny was not well prepared for the g-force factor, but recalled what Bro had said. Within ten hours, they finally arrived at their destination. The shuttle docked at a makeshift port. Several receiving workers ensured proper seals before the main doors were opened. On the other side, a welcoming team greeted the new arrivals. Among them, was Orion, standing off to the side. As Jenny was greeted, she looked around, then finally saw him behind the others.
"Mr Zeenner, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," said Jenny dropping the bag she was carrying in her right hand, readying to shake his hand.
Orion looked at her replying, "the pleasure is also mine, to have you on our team."
"I wouldn't miss this at all, sir," Jenny thanked. "I look forward to getting to know you."
"There will be plenty of time for that. But for now, let me show you around our facility, not that there is much to see yet. But hopefully you will have a big hand in helping getting things moving along, as I was hoping you could," said Orion.
"Yes I can see, there is much to do. I assume you know I'm your person for the job," Jenny confirmed.
"Yes indeed. But first, let's get you settled in with all your bags." Turning to Bro, Orion asked, "I trust all went well?"
Bro looked at him replying, "more than I expected sir. Very clever the note you left for her, I must say. How did you know she would understand it."
Orion looked at him smiling and answered, "It would take too long to explain. Right now we need to get these people settled in, so we can keep on schedule. Ask me another time and I'll explain it to you."
"Yes sir, I will and look forward to the explanation," said Bro.
Orion turned to Jenny motioning her in a direction, saying, "shall we show you to your quarters?"
"Yes, that would be an excellent idea, sir," replied Jenny.
"Until we get more of this facility finished, you will have to share with two others. Space is currently limited as you might guess," said Orion.
"Yes, that is fully understandable, sir," said Jenny, looking around at the large open space. "I assume you used a vacuum polymer seal between the structure and lunar surface rock?"
"Indeed we have," replied Orion.
"Tell me something. Rumor has it that everything you do is based on visions you have. Is that true?" asked Jenny.
"Very true," replied Orion, turning his head to her as they walked along. "You do your homework well."
"Thank you, sir. I try my best all the time," said Jenny.
"Yes, I am quite aware of that. But tell me, what ultimate position do you think you will have on the ship, once it will be built?" asked Orion.
"I couldn't say, sir," replied Jenny.
"What position would you want to have?" asked Orion.
"I'm not even aware of what will be available," said Jenny.
"Have you ever watched Space trek?" asked Orion.
"Long ago when I was growing up. It's what aspired me to become the best," replied Jenny.
"Then thinking of Space Trek with all the positions available on it, what would it be that you prefer to have?" asked Orion.
"Well let's see," began Jenny pondering over her decision. "I think it would have to be a science officer. I do like discovering all kinds of new things."
"Then that's what you will be. Which means you will be in charge of the ship's main scanner, identifying what all is around us," said Orion.
"From the sounds it, you plan on installing radar, micro wave, uv detectors and all those others on the ship," said Jenny.
"Oh no, those systems are too primitive. You'll be working with a real scanner like they have on Space Trek," said Orion.
"A real scanner?" repeated Jenny her eyes opening wider with excitement. "We actually have the technology for that?"
"I've had it for twenty five years," said Orion, pulling his prototype out. "Here take a look."
"What? You have a portable scanning unit?" said Jenny with even greater excitement, taking the device from Orion, playing with it. "This like the most awesomest thing I have ever had my hands on. But how did you come up with it?"
"Same way I came up with the fusion generators," replied Orion.
"Is that what is powering this facility right now?" asked Jenny.
"In part. Much of the outer shell is covered with an energy absorbing plating, similar to solar panels. But in this case far more efficient, also protecting us from the sun's radiation, as there is no atmosphere here on the moon to do that," said Orion.
"Then the facility is powered by solar radiation? But why go to those length's?" asked Jenny.
"To conserve the fusion generator power. Also, so that we have emergency power, should the generator go down," replied Orion.
"Why not just install two generators then?" asked Jenny.
"We have two here. The second one is just not active yet. But they also require fuel, which we would have to keep an abundance of. Plus the energy absorbing plating would become kinda useless allowing the radiation to pass through if we didn't harness the power for our use," said Orion.
"I didn't know that. Nor did I even know we had such technology yet," said Jenny, some other questions coming to mind. "If you have all this advanced tech, why do you need me?"
"Why indeed. The answer to that is, we have it, but it's still in it's primitive stages. We need to refine the technology, making it far better. Like my scanner here. I have upgraded it over the years, but it still doesn't have the potential it could have," replied Orion.
"So basically, my job is to help tweak all the tech we currently have," questioned Jenny.
"That and to help develop anything else that we need. The hand scanner is basically for hand use. We need to develop something for a ship's size, capable of much further distances. Same with the rest of our tech," said Orion.
"That will require dismantling this scanner in order for me to understand and make it better," said Jenny.
"This one, no. I have a second one that I made, along with another partially assembled for you to work with when the time comes," said Orion.
"When will that time come?" asked Jenny.
"As soon as we get most private living spaces built, along with your lab together. You will be working with others on the same projects," said Orion.
"It's already sounding exciting," said Jenny.
"Eventually we will have our own machine shop and small scale factory for turning out parts we need, but anything like circuit boards, the specifics will be sent to one of my semiconductor fabrication plants to be produced there," said Orion.
"I see some machines in the distance digging into the lunar surface. Are you making sub levels to the facility, or mining for ore?" asked Jenny.
"Both in fact. The lunar surface is mostly composed of a high concentration of silica with alumina, lime, iron oxide and magnesia. There are also trace amounts of titanium dioxide, sodium oxide and even Iridium," replied Orion.
"So mining is a big plus?" asked Jenny.
"Here we are," said Orion, pointing to her temporary living quarters. "To your question, yes. The extraction of the aluminum and iron will be conducted as soon as we get a processing plant built."
"When do you expect to build the processing plant?" asked Jenny.
"First we need to excavate a large cavern underground so that we have the space for it.," replied Orion.
Setting her belongings into her shared quarter's, Jenny came back out asking, "the machinery we have for digging, I assume that it is all electric and fusion powered?"
"You are correct. It's one of the first of it's kind, put into development a few years ago. It was very expensive to design and build," said Orion.
"But you can utilize it anywhere, can't you? It's not dependent on having an atmosphere around it," said Jenny.
"You're quite right. But it does need an atmosphere to refuel the generator," said Orion.
"When fully fueled, how long can it go for?" asked Jenny.
"Roughly a week, depending on how much it is used. Currently we have enough stored fuel to last a year, before we need to have more shipped here," said Orion.
"A year. That seems like an awful lot to have on hand," said Jenny.
"Not as much as you would think," said Orion.
"Just curious, but how is the air kept from becoming toxic to us with so many here? I assume scrubbers of some sort?" asked Jenny.
"Yes, we have three in place currently. The carbon they extract will also be used at some point for other needs. So far we have discovered that the moon rock has very little to no carbon or nitrogen for our needs to create the hydroponic gardens. We will need it for that, as well as for our mineral processing plant. Right now, back home, they are extracting large amounts of carbon for our use here, along with plenty of compressed carbon dioxide. Once every two weeks we receive a container full," said Orion.
"By the sounds of things, you plan to have a lot more people brought here," said Jenny.
"Once we get aluminum production going, I plan to get many more here. But for now the amount that we get arriving daily is more than sufficient," said Orion.
"Basically you are doing endless recruiting. A little at a time," said Jenny.
"That about sums it up. But hopefully in a year's time, we will have about two thousand, if not more, people here." said Orion.
"That's going to be a lot of people. Are you personally choosing everyone yourself? Bro mentioned that on the list he had, that you had chosen all of them yourself," said Jenny.
"I am choosing everyone myself, but among recommendations given by others. This facility has to remain secure against terrorism you know. I also only choose the best," replied Orion.