Chapter 13
Excerpt from Alexander Harlow's Personal Journal. Day 529, Endeavour, Terra Prime
Project Animagus was a complete waste of time, I've decided to abandon it for now. In hindsight it was always a long shot, I don't have enough experience with the bodying modding function to improve my human body, never mind using it in combination with a macro to simulate an animal body.
Still, it's something to keep in mind for the day when I do master the BMF, after all who wouldn't want the ability to turn into a two hundred plus kilos of fuck-you on command, but my dreams of mauling people as a lion will just have to wait.
Day 534, Endeavour, Terra Prime
Alexander snapped his medical textbook shut and glanced at the clock. Only two o'clock in the afternoon. He sighed deeply. Now that the refugees were settled into temporary accommodations and the major headaches of their arrival dealt with he'd suddenly found himself with little to do.
Oh he still needed to check in with his forces in the Falling Skies universe twice a day, but Clayworth had that well under control, it was almost annoying. Alexander had spent the previous few months planning his the incursion and campaign, he expected to be there fighting alongside his troops, not stuck playing delivery boy. He understood why Clayworth had sent him back, he even agreed with it, it would be the height of foolishness to risk their only way home getting hit by a stray bullet, but that didn't help with his sudden feeling of uselessness.
Leaning back in his chair Alexander chewed on a pencil thoughtfully, he had the entire multiverse at his fingertips, he could go anywhere he wanted, do anything he wanted, see anything he wanted. He glanced up at the posters above his desk and suddenly shot forward, his chair making an awful clatter as it's front legs slammed onto the floor, an evil grin stretching on upon his face.
***
A few hours or so later Alexander was still giggling every time he thought about his little prank. Hefting a small backpack he decided to ride to the Endeavour Scientific Research Organisation's (ESRO) Space Research Centre, it was situated well outside the city itself, but still only sixteen kilometers away, an hour or so's ride, and he could use the time to calm down.
The ESRO, often pronounced Ez-Ro, was still a fledgling organisation, with only a few dozen personal working for it, but it was quickly growing, it already had three dedicated facilities and a few labs as part of other organisations. The Space Research Centre was by far the largest, with twenty full time researchers, and plenty of room earmarked for future expansions. The second largest was the Advanced Medicine Research Division, split over two sites, it's own large facility were a lot of pure research was done, and a smaller lab in the main hospital where human trials were done under the strict observation of Dr. Das.The final facility was the main ESRO building near the centre of Endeavour itself, there most of the administration was handled, along with smaller research projects into different salvaged technologies.
There was some debate between the military and the ESRO about who should have control over weapons research, but Alexander had told them it was his personal fiefdom, he wasn't about to let anyone else have control of WMDs, and most of the research was done at the main military complex using a mixture of ESRO and military personnel.
As he pedaled along the smooth road Alexander waved to people as he saw them, quickly leaving the city proper and heading out into the construction zone. The idea was to keep building until they had enough room for at least one hundred thousand people, fifty times their current population, mainly avoid the chaos of an organic settlement, he wanted a nice orderly capital city for his empire. And well it was always good to be ready for a sudden influx of people. It was estimated it would take years to finish the already slated construction, but that was alright, it kept people employed and busy.
After half an hour he left the construction zone and entered the wide open expanse of what in another world would be rural Victoria, occasionally sighting the local wildlife. It was becoming less and less common to see the large Red Kangaroos and other indigenous species as more land was cleared for farming and they learned a healthy respect for the new human neighbors.
The local farms were a good distance away from Endeavour proper, the closest twenty kilometers away from the edge of the construction zone. The last thing Alexander wanted to do was overrun his farmland in twenty or thirty years time.
Farmers were one of the few groups on Terra Prime that consistently used motorised vehicles in their daily lives, between the labour saving farm machines and their transport Alexander was hoping someone would come up with a replacement for the petrol supply needed, as it was he needed to make on average ten trips a week just to supply enough fuel.
The ESRO was working on Star Wars hover vehicles, but like a lot of the technology for that universe it was incredibly advanced, and would likely take a good long while before they were ready for local production.
Finally Alexander approached the Space Research Centre, it was basically a large paved lot surrounded by a tall wire fence to keep the wildlife out, with buildings and hangars dotting the area providing workspace for the scientists and engineers. Skidding to a stop Alexander propped his bike up against the inside of the fence and headed towards the main building, a large white prefabricated structure.
Alexander quickly made his way to Dieter Hoffmann's office and tapped on the door twice before poking his head in, finding the German man hunched over a large stack of papers.
"Hey Dieter, how's tricks?" Alexander asked, leaning against a filing cabinet.
"Huh?" Dieter grunted before looking up in surprise, "oh Alex, didn't see you there, Salvador's been all over my case about improving the safety procedures"
"It's cool mate, just wanted to drop this off, figured you guys might have a useful for it" Alexander dropped his backpack on Hoffmann's desk.
Dieter quickly opened the bag before looking up at Alexander in puzzlement, "Dirt? Rocks? Are they magic or something?"
"Nope, just plain old dirt and rocks, but you still might find them useful, I filled out the standard report on them, where I got them, local conditions, etc. Anyway I've gotta be going, things to do, people to confuse" Alexander said grinning, before offering a wave and heading out the way he came in.
"Alex, what did you do?" Alexander was half way down the hallway when he heard Dieter yell and burst into a ran, laughing the entire time as he raced out of the building.
***
Earlier that Day
"Bob?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Yeah."
***
It took all Alexander's might to keep from doubling over in laughter while imagining the faces of the people on the other end of the video feed, as it was his face was split into an almost painful wide grin behind his tinted faceplate.
He was standing stiffly in a form fitting spacesuit he'd obtained along with the clone armour, his right arm tucked behind his back, and his left hand held up with his fingers spread slightly in the classic Vulcan salute.
Oh and he was on Mars standing right in front of the Curiosity Rover.
Finally he felt mad laughter start to overwhelm him, so he quickly bowed deeply to the Robotic Rover, his hands in a classic prayer position, before triggering the transit marco he'd preprepared and vanishing into nothingness.