Beyond the Farthest Star: Chapter 33

True to Noel’s word, things did start happening the next morning. News that the ancient city of Tikal had been rediscovered spread like wildfire, and Noel had no trouble putting together a team of people to scout out the city’s ruins. Over the next few days everyone was talking about what the discovery meant and what treasures might be found. Noel ended up with thousands of volunteers, all willing and eager to explore the ruins.

To his great surprise, even Mayor Thornton was enthusiastic. The mayor issued a statement urging the citizens of New Tikal to do whatever they could to help him. When Noel excitedly brought the document to Miles the old man had to read it three times before he figured out what was going on.

“This isn’t as good as it seems,” Miles said at last. “The mayor isn’t actually trying to help you. He has no intention of moving into the ruin on the surface. What he wants people to do is loot the ruins and bring its riches back here. Our leader sees this as a ticket to a more comfortable life.”

“Oh,” Noel said. “Well, that’s kind of disappointing. I was hoping he was on-board with all this. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he start opposing us.”

Miles shrugged. “It is what it is. Honestly, though, did you really expect anything else? He’s not going to want to give up everything he knows and embrace uncertainty. New Tikal is his whole universe. If he ever realizes what you’re really up to I think you can expect some trouble.”

“I really hope not,” Noel said worriedly. “By the way, where is Amy?”

“Oh, she had some business to attend to,” Miles said vaguely. “She left in a big hurry last night and I haven’t seen her since. I’m really not sure where she went or what it’s all about. I’m sure she’ll be back at some point.”

“I hope so. I was kind of hoping that she would be on our reconstruction team. We could really use someone like her to restore that buried city.”

“Um, right,” Miles said. “I’m sure you could. Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine without her.”

“At least we have you as a resource,” Noel said thoughtfully. “That’s better than nothing.”

“Oh no,” Miles said quickly. “I’m far too old for that sort of thing. I appreciate the offer, but this is something you’ll have to do on your own.”

“But this is the lost city of Tikal! How could you not want to be a part of this? Besides, you and Amy are the best technical resources that we have. Not having either of you on the team would be a tremendous setback!”

“Just wait until you’re my age and you’ll understand,” Miles replied. “I’ve done more in the past few weeks than I’ve done in – well, in a long time. The day has come for this old man to retire and hand the baton over to the next generation. That would be you, Noel. It’s up to you to lead these people into the future. I’ll be in the bleachers, rooting for you.”

Noel sighed. “That is not what I was hoping for.”

* * * * *

It took Noel several days to pick out his team, but by April 5th he had reached a decision. He picked twenty of the city’s most qualified personnel, gathered up all the equipment they would need, and the next day he set out for the ruins. His plan was for them to spend the next two weeks scouting out the buildings and making a detailed inventory of everything they could find. He knew that there was no way they could complete an exhaustive survey that quickly, but he was hoping that two weeks would be enough time for them to understand the buried city and learn what it would take to make it habitable again.

What he was not expecting were the crowds of people that tried to invite themselves along on the expedition. Despite strenuous protests, when his team left New Tikal early the next morning thousands of people followed them across the desert. The only thing that stopped them from flooding into the ruin itself was the steep cliff that was the city’s only means of access. The crowd watched as the expedition lowered its supplies and personnel into the fissure. When everyone had made it safely to the bottom the crowd reluctantly dispersed and returned to New Tikal.

While the throngs of people were disappointed that they hadn’t been able to enter the ruin, they weren’t entirely despondent. They had seen the city with their own eyes and knew that it wasn’t a myth or mirage. Over the next few weeks the story of the fabled lost city continued to grow. For the first time in centuries something new and exciting had happened, and people were eager to be a part of it. The terraformation of the planet was a monumental event, but this – this was different. In the eyes of many the ruin offered them a second chance – a new place to live, a new way of life, and a new challenge to overcome.

The expedition ended up going much better than Noel had predicted. By the end of the two-week period they were able to restore electricity and running water to several buildings within the ruin. The next challenge would be securing a food supply. His team had discovered that the city offered several different solutions, but they would all take time and effort to implement.
What was clear to everyone, though, was that even in its ruined condition the city was far better than their home back in New Tikal. The technology the city contained was simply astonishing. There were definitely challenges to be overcome, but if they were able to surmount them their civilization would take a giant leap forward. The potential rewards were great.

* * * * *

When the expedition returned to New Tikal it was greeted with great excitement. After resting and taking some time to go over their findings, Noel publicized the results of their trip. In the documents that he released he talked about the great treasures he had found in the city, its staggering level of technology, and the tremendous promise that it held to be the new home of mankind. The challenges, he said, could all be overcome. With some effort, it would be possible for all of them to leave their decaying, underground city and move back into the sunlight. Rather than waiting underground for the end to come, they could create a new future for themselves on the surface. All they had to do was work for it.

This message proved to be tremendously popular, although there were a few who were not in favor of it. Some people were content with their lives in New Tikal and saw no particular reason to change. But there were countless others who were restless and eager to do something with their lives. Without even knowing it they had been longing for excitement and adventure, and what Noel offered them was the chance of a lifetime.

But there were others who were very concerned about Noel’s proposal. The mayor of New Tikal saw this as a threat – and he was determined to do something about it. As soon as he saw the report that Noel had released he called an emergency meeting of his cabinet. The cabinet consisted of four people: Kevin Cole, who was over the city’s finances; Scott Glover, who was head of security; Robert Finch, who was his political adviser; and Carl Perkins, who was over day-to-day operations. The four of them were old friends of Mayor Thornton and had been in positions of power for many years.

“So what seems to be the trouble?” Carl asked, when everyone had finally made their way to the mayor’s office.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the mayor replied. “Have you been locked in a closet somewhere? Do you really have no idea what’s been going on up there on the surface?”

“I don’t see anything to be concerned about,” Carl replied. “Someone found some old ruins, and it apparently has a lot of useful technology. Personally I think that’s a good thing. This town could use a little sprucing up. It hasn’t changed very much in centuries.”

“It’s not a good thing at all,” Robert replied. “Noel Lawson doesn’t want to loot the ruin; he wants to establish a base of operations there! He wants to turn it into a functional city.”

“Why not let him?” Carl asked. “I don’t see any particular harm in it.”

“It actually might not be a bad idea,” Kevin said. “If people start moving out of New Tikal that leaves more resources for the rest of us. Besides, it’s unlikely that a significant number of people would leave. People may talk about it, but the frontier life is not for everyone. There aren’t many people who can live under those circumstances.”

“You’re not seeing the big picture,” Robert said. “Yes, right now the surface city is not a threat. What you don’t realize is that it’s not going to stay that way. The reports indicate that the technology in that city is astounding. If Noel succeeds in repairing the city, it will be far more powerful than New Tikal – powerful enough to become a threat.”

“Exactly,” the mayor said. “We can’t let a powerful rival civilization develop on the surface of Mars. There’s just no way we could compete with them. We need to nip this colonization idea now, before it’s too late.”

“Why not just outlaw it?” Scott asked. “I could send some men to guard the city’s entrance and make sure that no one leaves. That would put a stop to it right there.”

“You’re out of your mind!” Robert exclaimed. “If we did that we’d have a riot on our hands. Besides, the election is coming up. Doing anything to keep people away from the city right now would be electoral suicide. It would guarantee our defeat.”

The mayor nodded. “I agree. Whatever we do must be done with great subtlety and care. We’ve got to come up with a tactic that will kill the colonization effort without causing a political firestorm. We need to shift people’s opinions on this issue.”

“But the ruin could be a valuable resource,” Kevin protested. “There’s no telling what sort of riches it may contain.”

“We can always go loot it later,” the mayor replied. “After all, it’s not like it’s going to suddenly disappear. After we’ve squashed this uprising and returned everything back to normal, we can quietly send out a team of loyalists and have them take whatever is worth taking.”

“That might work,” Scott said thoughtfully. “But how are we going to stop all of this?”

“Maybe we could eliminate the movement’s leader,” Robert said thoughtfully. “Noel seems to be the one responsible for all of this. If he was no longer a factor the whole thing might calm down.”

The mayor nodded thoughtfully. “Now that’s an excellent idea. If we eliminated the movement’s leader we could issue reports and use the media to change people’s opinion. We could say that the first reports were in error, or the city was more damaged than was first thought, or whatever. We could even plant a bomb and blow up the whole ruin, if necessary. Yes, I think that just might work! Noel caused this problem; eliminating him might just solve it.”

“Do you want me to arrest Noel?” Scott asked.

The mayor shook his head. “No, let’s do this quietly. The last thing we want to do is attract attention and make a big public spectacle. If people found out what we were doing the political damage would be incalculable. I think it would be much better if Noel simply disappeared.”

“How would you like to arrange that?” Scott asked.

Mayor Thornton smiled. “Let’s invite him to dinner tomorrow evening. A nice, quiet, secluded dinner – just him and the four of us. He’ll arrive, but he won’t leave. If anyone asks what happened to him we’ll simply say that after the meal he left to go back home and, sadly, we never saw him again.”

“I’ll make sure that the media doesn’t start asking questions,” Robert said.

“And I will give the invitation to him personally,” Scott added. “I can also make sure that the investigation into his disappearance doesn’t turn up anything.”

“Very good, gentlemen,” the mayor said. “With a bit of luck, this should all blow over in just a few days!”