The evacuation chapter 4

George was getting old and frail, and his notes documented his decline. The authorities were aware of this, and not only passed all his duties as agriculture specialist onto his son, Anthony ( known by everyone as Tony), but also named the town Georgetown in his honor as recognition of all he had done to bring agriculture to Mars, and his hard work and devotion to the settlement. They wanted to do this before he passed So he would see the recognition of his life work. He passed away in his sleep with Tony by his side.

‘It was a sad moment for the colony, and a memorial was held for him Which everyone attended. After it was over, Tony organized a overland trip to the Indian colony, in an effort to keep busy, and made contact with officials at the gate. He was welcomed and given a tour of the complex, which was pretty much the same as theAmerican town Georgetown, only a little bigger. Their water was secure, as was their electricity and food supply, and the settlers were in good cheer. Tony secured some new seeds that they didn’t have, mostly herbs and spices, and gave them some vegetableseeds they didn’t have. It was a successful trade mission. Contact emails were exchanged, and Tony returned home.

on the way home, he went a different way, following a comment someone at the Indian village made about a small settlement he did not know about.

It was the Brazilian colony, very small, about 4 buildings in bad condition, and 40 people living in their space suits, in miserable condition. Their food source was running out, and their water was bad. Tony made contact with Georgetown command base, and got permission to evacuate the village and resettle the settlers into emergency housing being built right now. Some of the settlers were ambulatory and needed medical attention immediately. If they stayed there, they would die. His trade mission turned into a rescue mission.

The rovers were crammed full, and when they arrived at Georgetown they were met by the entire medical team who took possession of the refugees. The American colony grew by 40 members.

Tony next set his sights on a trade mission to the lunar colony. It had been years, decades, since they had left Earth and the moon, and the Mars colony needed to grow and expand. In fact, Tony had never left Mars, and was burning to go. All the permissions were granted, the specialists were assigned, ariculture, engineering, medical, altogether a team of 6 members. And then they were off, on an adventure of a lifetime. The endlessly orbiting Falcon rocket that brought them here was refueled, provisioned for the 14 month round trip.

7 months later the team arrived, and placed in orbit around the moon, while the 6 members were shuttled down to the surface. For the first time they saw Earth, blue and white and so beautiful. They didn’t see green or brow. It was still in an ice age.

Once the team members were settled into their quarters, they began to work. Tony focused on the farming operations scattered around the village, the veggie garden, very large. The cereal farm, grain grown for the herd of miniature sheep with long shaggy wool, the fish farm next door with pools of water sustaining carp, bass, cod and salmon. The same technician ran both operations. Her name was Jamie, moon born, but her parents were from California, and as she said, Northern California, the best part. Now, Tony wasn’t a prolific writer, and the notes I read up til this point were dry and factual. But all of a sudden the pages were full with descriptions of Jamie, her golden blond hair, cut short, but as he told me, if it wasn’t for the living conditions on the moon would be long, thick and flowing to her waist. He was falling in love. 54, and never kissed a girl before. She was 40, and wanted to be kissed, and by Tony, who she found out his parents came from the same area as her parents. The universe brought them together.

no intimate details were written down, thank goodness, but they spent many hours learning animal husbandry, and even fish farming. It was too much for Tony to take in the short period of time, so when it was time for departure, Jamie requested to go with them, to install the programs so that the programs would be successful. After all, she was only the second in charge of the agricultural department on the moon, and it was running smoothly. and she would come back. She appealed to her boss, and to the president directly, and she must have been persuasive, because the mission was approve. They shuttled up to the rocket, and set course for Mars, and home.