Indentured Read Online Free
Author: Scott McElhaney
for the enactment of your stupid laws!” one of the other clones shouted, “What about our rights?”
With a prolonged blink of her eyes, she calmly raised her hand to stop the outburst.
“ You were raised in a world where you had the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You were entitled to those rights and I’m sure you would admit that you were satisfied with these rights. You were denied none of these - NONE . You lived out your full lives with complete liberty to pursue happiness and I imagine you all did so.”
More than half the class burst forth, knocking down chairs while their shouts intermingled into an unintelligible chorus. Then, as quickly as it started, their shouts became screams of pain, forcing them to the floor in writhing agony. Declan just sat there with his eyes closed trying to digest it all.
“ I’m going to assume that nothing more will be accomplished today, so we’ll continue this tomorrow,” she stated, proceeding toward the door.
Declan reached out a hand hoping to stop her.
“ You said that Alpha is our foreman and that we have bodies designed for the jobs that… well, that I imagine we will be expected to do for the next 20 years. What are these jobs?”
The classroom became silent for the most part while many tried to regain their composure. She stared at him for what felt like ten seconds, then returned to the front of the classroom. She cleared her throat and waited until the muttered complaints finally stopped.
“ This ship and others in its class are the first ones sent to any potential life-sustaining planet. Our job,” she gestured toward the classroom, “ Your job actually is to establish the initial ground base for the first Colonial Craft which typically arrives within 10 to 15 years. While you might be just a group of 21 people, the next Colonial Craft will be bringing anywhere from 100 to 500 people. These people are going to have an unimaginable workload when they arrive, so we don’t want them having to spend anytime on housing, plumbing, and electricity. That’s where you come in.”
“ We’re going to have to build 500 houses on some untamed planet with no resources whatsoever?” one of the females asked.
“ I’m just a divorce attorney. What skills do I have to offer?” another demanded.
“ A lawyer? I’m Jackrabbit – the drummer for The Crackheads!”
“ Seriously? That’s awesome!” another laughed, “I saw you guys when you played at The Riverfront in Greensboro!”
“ Quiet down, please. Quiet please! QUIET!” Ensign Rowe interrupted, “Believe it or not, I completely understand your lack of self-confidence in such a venture. But you’ve got to understand that the job is not even half as big as you’re probably imagining right now. First of all, our technologies are far superior to the technologies you remember. Second, you are not expected to build 500 individual houses with individual plumbing and electricity. Here’s the generic version,
“ You are not being dropped onto a planet with a bunch of saws, hammers, and whatever other primitive tools you are accustomed to. You will arrive on the planet with five pods or… well, I don’t even know what to compare our pods to. Imagine an average train car from your time. Each pod is equal to about 4 or 5 train cars worth of storage. So, you will arrive on planet with about 20 to 25 train cars of supplies – much of the building supplies being prefabricated in some fashion. Also dropped at the landing zone will be two APCs or All Purpose Construction vehicles and two 4-story building frames which will basically be the steel skeletons of the two housing facilities. Keep in mind that I’m just giving you a small overview. The point is, this will be much less construction work than you are probably imagining.”
“ If we’re taking care of these future colonists, then who is going to be taking care of
With a prolonged blink of her eyes, she calmly raised her hand to stop the outburst.
“ You were raised in a world where you had the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You were entitled to those rights and I’m sure you would admit that you were satisfied with these rights. You were denied none of these - NONE . You lived out your full lives with complete liberty to pursue happiness and I imagine you all did so.”
More than half the class burst forth, knocking down chairs while their shouts intermingled into an unintelligible chorus. Then, as quickly as it started, their shouts became screams of pain, forcing them to the floor in writhing agony. Declan just sat there with his eyes closed trying to digest it all.
“ I’m going to assume that nothing more will be accomplished today, so we’ll continue this tomorrow,” she stated, proceeding toward the door.
Declan reached out a hand hoping to stop her.
“ You said that Alpha is our foreman and that we have bodies designed for the jobs that… well, that I imagine we will be expected to do for the next 20 years. What are these jobs?”
The classroom became silent for the most part while many tried to regain their composure. She stared at him for what felt like ten seconds, then returned to the front of the classroom. She cleared her throat and waited until the muttered complaints finally stopped.
“ This ship and others in its class are the first ones sent to any potential life-sustaining planet. Our job,” she gestured toward the classroom, “ Your job actually is to establish the initial ground base for the first Colonial Craft which typically arrives within 10 to 15 years. While you might be just a group of 21 people, the next Colonial Craft will be bringing anywhere from 100 to 500 people. These people are going to have an unimaginable workload when they arrive, so we don’t want them having to spend anytime on housing, plumbing, and electricity. That’s where you come in.”
“ We’re going to have to build 500 houses on some untamed planet with no resources whatsoever?” one of the females asked.
“ I’m just a divorce attorney. What skills do I have to offer?” another demanded.
“ A lawyer? I’m Jackrabbit – the drummer for The Crackheads!”
“ Seriously? That’s awesome!” another laughed, “I saw you guys when you played at The Riverfront in Greensboro!”
“ Quiet down, please. Quiet please! QUIET!” Ensign Rowe interrupted, “Believe it or not, I completely understand your lack of self-confidence in such a venture. But you’ve got to understand that the job is not even half as big as you’re probably imagining right now. First of all, our technologies are far superior to the technologies you remember. Second, you are not expected to build 500 individual houses with individual plumbing and electricity. Here’s the generic version,
“ You are not being dropped onto a planet with a bunch of saws, hammers, and whatever other primitive tools you are accustomed to. You will arrive on the planet with five pods or… well, I don’t even know what to compare our pods to. Imagine an average train car from your time. Each pod is equal to about 4 or 5 train cars worth of storage. So, you will arrive on planet with about 20 to 25 train cars of supplies – much of the building supplies being prefabricated in some fashion. Also dropped at the landing zone will be two APCs or All Purpose Construction vehicles and two 4-story building frames which will basically be the steel skeletons of the two housing facilities. Keep in mind that I’m just giving you a small overview. The point is, this will be much less construction work than you are probably imagining.”
“ If we’re taking care of these future colonists, then who is going to be taking care of
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