
Subj : New Beginnings(39)
To   : All
From : SkyHawk #1
Date : Tue Aug 29 1995 11:01:54 PST

                              New Beginnings(39)
                              By Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)

     "Candar...hey, Candar, you awake?"
     "Uhmmm?" She opened her eyes and looked up at Dr. Grayson. She had fallen
asleep next to Jerry, her head on his chest. Jerry was sleeping, his face
illuminated by the flourescent lights above. The room was warm, power had been
fully restored. "What time is it?"
     "About 11:00 a.m. You slept the day away, must've been burned out. I
checked everyone over, there are a few injuries but, they've all been treated.
The dead will have to be buried soon."
     "God. Don't remind me. Something I don't want to deal with right now."
     Grayson nodded. "Your going to have to...Governor."
     "Huh?" She sat up more.
     "The colony voted Carnigan out. As soon was restored, some of the colony
techs retrieved the ship's logs with Kevin and, the whole group saw the video
record. It totally exonerates you all, from take-off till crash. Henry might
be the only one to blame." He looked down.
     "Damn." Candar got up and stretched. She looked down at Jerry. "Henry was
a good man. He just made a mistake. He should have consulted us before cross
connecting like that."
     "Doesn't matter now." Grayson took her arm and began checking her pulse.
"How are you feeling? Any more symptoms?"
     "None. Really strange as I said. Almost as if I'm not sick anymore. Maybe
your instruments were off."
     "Candar, I operated on your brain, remember? I saw a tumor there! It does
exist. I don't know when it'll start up again, it depends what area of the
brain it invades. But, you have a new responsiblity now. You need some people
to assist you as staff. I don't think Carnigan and his hand picked politicians
are what you want."
     "I guess not." Candar sat down again, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her
blonde hair was stringy and filthy. God, how long had it been since she had
been in a shower? Or any of them for that matter? "Is William Sorenson around?"
     "He and Kevin after the vote got to work checking equipment. We have two
survey vehicles they are preparing. One is ground, the other air. I have a good
medical crew and, we're trying to set up a small hospital. Till then, I'll
operate out of here."
     She nodded. "Good. Well, I didn't want this but, if everyone seems to have
such confidence in me, I'll do the best job I can. Is Jerry recovering
alright?"
     "Yes, he should be able to get up in about four days. By that time if we
move fast enough we should have the hospital up and some of the base structures
you wanted. I assume you don't want full city planning?"
     "Not yet." She looked around. "Is there any coffee left? I need to wake
up."
     Grayson poured her a cup from a dispenser and handed it her. "Just made
it. Nice to see your feeling so well. The plasti-foam for the temporary
buildings and most of the cargo also survived the crash intact. And, the
medical supplies."
     "Thank god for small favors. Thanks, Grayson, now I've got work to do.
Take good care of Jerry." She tossed her hair back and tied it into a pony tail
with a piece of cloth.
     Grayson smiled. "I will. And, Governor? Don't strain yourself too much.
I'm here if you need me. Sorry I blew up at you earlier. It wasn't your fault.
Or the crew. That crash was unavoidable. Everyone knows that now."
     "I appreciate that." She coughed. "I think I'm getting a cold. Yeah, I'll
be careful." She left quickly before he could say anything further.
     God! Governor? She hadn't wanted this. Not at all! So much for an early
retirement. Her life now would be filled with nothing but work. She had never
run a colony before. But then again, neither had Carnigan. He had been a
successful buisness man on Earth and had seen opportunity come in the form of
Hycenda. Too bad it was all gone now. She walked purposefully down the
corridors toward the colony area. She noticed all the lights worked now and,
her jacket felt hot. She took it off and swung it over her right shoulder.
     Reaching the door, she hit the access panel and, for the first time in
over a day, it opened automatically. As she entered, several people turned and
got up. She looked around. The large section had been converted into better
living quarters, each area sectioned off for families and general public areas.
Sheets and homemade partitions were everywhere. No where was there a dead body.
The place looked clean.
     "Welcome home, Governor."
     She took a step back surprised as, Kerry Lions came forward. She handed
Candar a drink. "We're toasting our good fortune. The fact we're all alive
after so terrible a journey. You and the crew are incredible! And, there is no
blame on anyone."
     The room erupted into thunderous clapping and, some cheered. Candar felt
tears coming to her eyes, trying to accept what had happened. She waited for
the clapping to dide down. "Thank you, everyone. I...I really don't deserve
this. But, you all put me in so, I'll do the best I can." She looked over and
saw Carnigan and his bunch standing by the far wall. A surly bunch. She
continued. "I'm not good at speeches. We have a lot of work ahead. I want
anyone who has any kind of tech background to meet me in the crewmans lounge. I
also want anyone with background in running a city or buisness." She saw
Carnigan straighten up. "I've never done this before. But, I do know what the
priorities will be. We need to form scout teams to explore the area. We need
full communications and medical set up. A base of operations is essential.
We'll cannabilize this ship for whatever we need that wasn't brought. We're
going to be here a long time..perhaps for generations without contact from
Earth. We have to survive."
     Kerry smiled. "This is our home now. A new beginning....."
