Chapter 10

Oh man, as soon as we get in our orbit Sam’s “phone” starts receiving a bunch of messages. I ask Sam how her phone can receive a signal way out here. She tells me she has her “number” tagged so any calls or messages are directed to varying satellites and then to her phone. She says she can do the same to mine if I want her to. NO THANKS! Hahaha.

Sam tells me the calls and messages are all from either Mark or Dean, all asking the same thing. It seems the newsies are reporting 4 small ships leaving the moon area, then a short time later your big ship and 2 other big ships quickly leaving. They are playing up all sorts of doom and gloom scenarios, making the people almost hysterical.

I have Sam call Mark and Dean and I explain what happened. I tell Mark he should put on more Security for a while as I thought it would become known very soon that the ships belonged to me. He said he’d beef up Security for as long as needed.

Trank contacts Sam asking if I would do a press conference with Capt. James in regards to our ships and reasons for being here as the Earth governments and citizens were going nuts.

I said I would have no problems doing a press conference to calm things down. Though I predicted that things would heat up for myself, my employees, and my company.

We agreed to do hold it at 2 pm the next afternoon and they will let the news media know.

I tell Sam I want Furst to go and secure the area now and keep it secure. She tells me it is being done.

“Well so much for a quiet day tomorrow huh DD?” Sam says with a laugh. I just look at her with a scowl which causes her to laugh even harder.

I grab a Subway 30cm Spicy Italian sub and a Guarana from Chef and sit down to come up with something to say at tomorrow’s news conference.

Sam tells me to keep it simple and honest.

I tell her the most important thing will be to keep it short! Hahaha. I eventually get what I want to say in some semblance of order and Sam agrees it should be good enough ... for now.

I get some studying in for my classes as well as read some more on the ships and Arkadia. Sam and I discussed the requirements for Arkadia some more and I mentioned we should have someone keep a watch for ranches and farms with livestock that are for sale or having financial difficulties, with the idea of purchasing them or offering the people a place in Arkadia if they qualify. With no animals on Arkadia, we will need to get everything we want from here and take them there.

Sam says she will see if anyone is interested in taking that project on. She said we could do the same thing for tradespeople, inventors, etc. I tell her that is a good idea and to make it happen.

I ask Sam to take me down to the apartment as I’d like to check on it and we could go out for a wander around. We beam down and nothing is amiss in the apartment so we take a walk down to the park and she tells me a bit more about living on Arkadia both before she ascended, and afterwards when they returned. It sounded to me like many got bored with living and wanted a new adventure so when the opportunity to become an Energy Being came, they took it. She agreed that was probably the biggest reason.

I was getting hungry so Sam transported us back to the J&J. I want so badly to say, “Beam me up Scotty!” hahaha. Oh well, maybe one day.

I went to the replicator and told Chef I was going to choose individual plates this time instead of a meal from a restaurant. I browsed through different items and chose a rack of baby back bbq ribs, with garlic mashed potatoes and glazed baby carrots. I’m not a drinker of alcohol so I took a 355ml apple juice as my drink.

“Do you want all parts of this meal at the same time DD?”

“Yes please Chef, except for the drink. That can come before the rest of the meal. Whenever I order something you can deliver it all at the same time, except for the drink.”

“Got it DD. Your meal will be ready in 3 minutes 35 seconds. I can make an audible ding when it is ready if you don’t want to wait here.”

“I’ll wait Chef though the audible ding is a good idea if I should wander away.”

I grab the drink and put it on the table. I take a minute to grab utensils and napkins and place them on the table as well. I am just turning around when I hear a “ding” and know my meal is ready.

“Nice touch with the ding Chef. Oh man, this smells delicious!”

“You are welcome DD, enjoy your meal.”

Oh did I ever enjoy the meal! The meat practically fell off the bone it was so tender. The garlic mashed potatoes and baby carrots were very tasty accompaniments. I got a DD coffee and sat back to relax! I was tempted to turn on the TV and see what was on the news but figured, fuck it, I don’t want to know!

I was feeling a little lethargic after that delicious meal so I asked Sam if she’d accompany me for a walk around the ship. We walked for about an hour, Sam taking time to explain different aspects of the ship and answer my questions.

Such a huge ship! We only covered maybe 1/1000th of the ship during our walk. I mentioned this to Sam and she said next time we would use the slide belts or transporters. I knew from my reading that the ships had them, I just didn’t think of them. Yes, they would make my “walking” a bit faster.

Back in my suite I looked through my closet for a suit to wear tomorrow and saw a new suit ensemble. I asked Sam about them and she said it is my new suit in my Guardian Prime colors of black and crimson.

There was also a Guardian Dress Uniform available but she didn’t think I should wear a military uniform tomorrow. If I didn’t like it there was more I could look through on the replicator menu.

Huh, ok let’s have a look. Not bad at all. Nice black jacket and pants, choice of a crimson or black shirt, black or crimson vest, a black belt with crimson accents on each side of the buckle, and a choice of crimson or black tie. I looked to the floor and saw a nice looking pair of shiny, black, patent leather, slip-on loafers. The outfit looked very similar to something from the old Regis “Millionaire” collection. I decided I’d go with the crimson shirt and black tie thinking I didn’t want to look too much like the men in black hahaha.

I tried them on for fit and was surprised that they fit so well. Even the shoes. I saw a smile on Sam’s face and asked, “You scanned me didn’t you?”

“Not I DD, you got scanned when you went in the MedBed and your measurements are saved in your profile. The suit looks very good on you DD.”

“Thanks, Sam”.

I got undressed and hung everything back up so they’d be ready for tomorrow. Uh oh, I wonder if we have any scans from clothing stores?

“Sam, do we have any scans from clothing stores? Sports clothing, casual, business, etc?”

“Yes, we do DD. I sent scanners out during our shopping day. That info should be in the replicators too.”

“Excellent. Continue to have scanners out whenever we go to a store or restaurant and have them scan for new items.

Is there anything we need to go over before tomorrow, Sam?”

“Nothing I can think of, DD.”

“Ok, Sam. See you bright and early in the a.m.”

“Good night DD. Pleasant dreams.”

Up again before the alarm and feeling wiiiide awake! I’m pretty sure it’s due to the PicoBots and enhancements but I’ll take feeling this good every day!

I go to grab a coffee, contact the Commanders and Ryker before hitting the gym for a light workout.

“Good morning Chef, how are you this fine morning?”

“I am excellent DD and yourself? Did you want a DD coffee this morning?”

“I am great, Chef. You must have been reading my mind. Yes a DD coffee for now please.”

“Here you go 1 DD coffee.”

“Thanks, Chef.”

I turn around and think just how easy this is now. Getting a coffee and meals from a replicator and Sam had my suits and uniform made in the replicator. Hmm, I wonder if maybe replicators make things a little too easy. I can see using them on board ships due to space limitations and in space at a shipyard but maybe not for everyday use on Arkadia. I start wondering if people can get things too easily will they take everything for granted. Will they still take care of things they have if they can be replaced easily and cheaply by a replicator? This is something I’m going to need to talk to Sam about.

I see Sam come in and ask her for a minute or 3 of her time.

“Sam, can you tell me what life on Arkadia was like before you guys got replicators? And what it was like afterwards?”

“Sure DD. Let’s see ... well before we got replicators there was always a new version of something coming out and they usually lasted a long time. Afterwards, there were fewer new things and they didn’t seem to last as long. Nor did the older things. Of course, there weren’t any manufacturers to complain to because everything was created by your replicator. After awhile most people had the same type of things, there were very few if any new products coming out as after a few were bought everybody would just replicate them.”

“Ok stop there. That’s what I was afraid of Sam. I have worries about having replicators in homes and businesses on Arkadia. I understand using them on board ships due to the space limitations and in space at shipyards etc, but I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t have them for everyday use on Arkadia.

I worry that if people can get things too easily they will take everything for granted and that they will no longer take care of things they have if they can be replaced easily and cheaply by a replicator.

And it doesn’t sound like there would there be any incentive to create new things. Like you just said a person could invent something but as soon as few were sold people would start replicating them and giving them to friends and family.

What do you think about having replicators removed from homes and businesses on Arkadia?”

“You have valid points for removing replicators DD. Though if you remove them, you should remove them before anyone goes to Arkadia, and that way no one has a chance to get used to them.”

“Thanks for listening and your opinion Sam. I’m going to contact Ryker and see if they can all be removed from Arkadia.”

“I’m your PA DD, quit trying to do my job.” I looked over and see Sam is grinning so I didn’t take it to heart.

“Point taken, Sam.”

I contacted my Commanders for a sitrep and was told all was quiet in the system. There are some pissed off people on the moon though since they are no longer allowed to live on Earth and can no longer transport freely back and forth. I filed that info away for the moment and thanked them for their reports.

“Sam, the Commander mentioned that there were some pissed off people on the moon because they are no longer allowed to live on Earth nor travel freely back and forth. I think this is might be something we want to keep an eye on.

Can you get some Furst to keep an eye and ear open on Lunar Base for us? Also, have them check any computer or similar devices that are not connected to the Confederacy network.”

“Absolutely DD, we definitely want to know if it goes beyond people being pissed off. I’ll get some Furst on it right away.”

“Great. I’m off to the gym for a bit Sam. See ya later.”

“Do you mind if some of the Security girls and I came to the gym DD?”

“No of course not Sam. I hope you and everyone else knows they can use it anytime they want to.” It didn’t click in my mind that they couldn’t actually USE the equipment...

“Thanks DD, we’ll see you there momentarily.”

I got to the gym and see a few more pieces of equipment in place. It looked like a couple of each piece of equipment had been added. There was still a lot of space so I didn’t care if Sam or anyone decided to get more equipment placed for use.

I start out on an elliptical machine and had been going for about 5 minutes before I saw Sam and some of the girls from the Security detail walk in. I almost fell off the freaking machine! They are going to kill me dressing like that! Each one in the sexiest workout attire you could imagine. A mixed assortment of crop tops, Capri yoga pants, yoga shorts, and too tight short shorts. The main theme being skin-tight and form-hugging!